Chapter 299 Banquet
It was Earl Song Lu’s 60th birthday, and he specially invited relatives and friends to the banquet. All the important people in the capital would attend.
Yun Chen and Huo Gannian naturally also received invitations.
But this time, what Yun Chen received was no longer an invitation letter written by the old Earl Song Lu, but a show card tied with an exquisite ribbon.
The person who signed the letter was Countess Song Lu, and there was an extra name "Song Qiaoqiao" written at the end of the letter, which was obviously added later.
Yun Chen had met Song Qiaoqiao, the fifth daughter of Earl Song Lu, during the autumn hunt.
When she was injured, Song Lu took Song Qiaoqiao to visit her, wanting to recruit her as his son-in-law, but Song Qiaoqiao fled on the spot.
Song Qiaoqiao had no romantic feelings towards Yun Chen, she just admired him.
Now that she knew Yun Chen was a girl, Song Qiaoqiao was extremely happy. She invited Yun Chen to go out for fun several times, but Yun Chen declined every time for various reasons.
It’s not that Yun Chen doesn’t give her face, she also likes Song Qiaoqiao, a lively and lovely girl.
But now that her daughter's identity has been revealed to the world, Yun Chen has been a man for more than ten years. She feels very uncomfortable when she suddenly loses her identity as a "man".
It was quite embarrassing, like forgetting to wear outer clothes and walking down the street in just pajamas.
Faced with Song Qiaoqiao's enthusiastic invitation, her heart was pounding with anxiety.
Huo Gannian pinched her little face and laughed at her:
"My son Chen is the bravest among all the armies. He is not afraid of even 200,000 Black Scale Cavalrymen, but sometimes he is afraid of a little Luoqun."
Yun Chen was distressed: "I have never learned the etiquette of girls, and I rarely interact with girls. Sigh... I am so nervous..."
This tense mood continued until the banquet.
The carriage of the Huo family stopped at the gate of Earl Song Lu's mansion. Huo Gannian told her, "Don't worry, I'm here, your rules are the rules", and then strode to the front hall, with Ye Yan and Buyan accompanying him as guards.
Yun Chen was served by Lan Qian, a young maid who had just arrived at the Huo Mansion for two days, and went to the inner house of Earl Song Lu's Mansion.
Lan Qian was a maid that Yun Wang specially selected from the Yun Mansion in Youzhou. She was petite, but very smart in speaking and doing things, and had very good manners. She was taught by Bai herself.
She got off the carriage first and was about to take the small steps that the ladies had to take when getting off the carriage. When she turned around, she saw Yun Chen had already jumped off the carriage neatly and was brushing his skirt like a man.
Lan Qian's lips twitched slightly. "Miss, you are wearing a skirt today, not a martial arts robe, and you are not riding a horse, so there is no dust on you. No need to dust..."
"Oh...indeed." Yun Chen reacted and realized that in order to attend today's banquet, she had specially put on an indigo and pink women's riding suit, with a stand-up collar round robe on top and a waisted horse-face skirt on the bottom, and a jade pendant and sachet hanging around her waist.
Although the style is very chic, it is obviously women's clothing at first glance.
Coupled with the pink and light color she specially chose, she looks like a heroic and pretty beauty no matter how you look at her.
Lan Qian looked at Yun Chen's face with satisfaction. It was worth it that she got up early in the morning to put on makeup, comb his hair, and put on accessories for Yun Chen. Everything was just right, neither too heavy nor too light, perfectly highlighting Yun Chen's clean and generous temperament. He was so beautiful that people couldn't open their eyes.
Lan Qian was just imagining how the women in the inner house would envy, admire and feel inferior to Yun Chen when they saw him. Then she saw Yun Chen, with his hands behind his back, taking square steps and walking into the house in a carefree manner, just like before.
"My dear lady! You are going to meet the ladies and daughters of various families, not to fight with the generals of the enemy country!" Lan Qian ran over hurriedly and forcibly supported Yun Chen.
Because she was running a little too fast, Lan Qian didn't pay attention to her footing and stepped on a stone. She twisted her foot and was about to fall.
Yun Chen was quick to act and put his arm around Lan Qian's waist, holding her tightly in his arms. His voice was gentle and powerful:
"No hurry, walk slowly, I'll wait for you."
Looking at Yun Chen's face, which was made up but still couldn't hide his heroic spirit, and feeling the strong and powerful arms around her waist, Lan Qian was distracted for a moment and her face turned red.
She had the agility and reliable strength of a man, but without the slightest hint of frivolity.
Lan Qian's heart was pounding for a moment, and it took her a while to come back to her senses. She quickly said to Yun Chen:
"Miss, when we enter the inner house, all the ladies from different families will be there. Please keep your mouth shut and don't touch the ladies. Be obedient."
Yun Chen was puzzled, but nodded in agreement.
Yun Chen and Lan Qian were led by the maid of the Earl's Mansion, avoiding the front hall where men came and went, and entered the quiet inner house with winding paths.
From a distance, Yun Chen heard bursts of chirping coming from the inner hall.
She paused at the door, feeling a little timid.
She had always been drinking and laughing with the men in the front hall, and this was her first time attending a banquet attended only by women.
What are people in Kyoto saying about her recently?
Most of them praised her for being a heroine, but many also said that it was inappropriate for her to dress as a man, that she was dissolute and shameless, and that she was a lowly woman who always hung out with men.
If he entered this door and was stabbed by the soft knives of everyone's gossip, leaving him covered in bloody lip marks, Yun Chen didn't know what to do.
I can't just beat him up like I did to Su Zhengyang before and be done with it.
As if seeing Yun Chen's concerns, Lan Qian straightened the hem of her dress and said with a smile:
"My dear, my dear son-in-law said, just go ahead. With him around, you don't have to worry about anything. Being impolite is also a form of decorum, and being unruly is also a rule. My dear son-in-law said, no matter if he will have a high position of power in the future, today he is still a marquis and a general, so my dear, just be happy."
Feeling much more comforted, Yun Chen mustered up his courage and stepped into the hall.
The maid guarding the gate said in a sweet voice:
"Major General Yun Chen has arrived—"
In an instant, all the sounds in the hall stopped abruptly.
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