The wind is gentle and the fun is endless

Just as Huanhuan was feeling sorry for herself, Xiaoyu knocked on the door and came in, saying, "Miss, Miss Xiangyue is here."

As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Xiangyue walked in with brisk steps, saying, "Brother and sister-in-law, I haven't seen you for a few days. Are you doing well?" Her tone was as cold as Xu Qu's, but her words were heartwarming.

She slowly raised her eyes and looked at Xu Xiangyue who was dressed very beautifully. She cheered her up and said, "Sister Xiangyue is here. Your brother is in the study. I will go and call him out."

Xu Xiangyue hurriedly pulled Huanhuan who was about to turn around and said, "Sister-in-law, no need. Let brother do it. I am mainly here to visit sister-in-law this time."

"Then let's sit down and talk." Huanhuan then took Xiangyue's hand and brought her to the table and sat down together.

After Xiangyue sat down, she saw Huanhuan looked tired, so she asked with concern: "I heard that sister-in-law's foot was injured. Is it serious? Sister-in-law doesn't look well."

"I just sprained my ankle. It's okay now. Thank you for your concern, sister." He quickly regained his normal composure and replied with a smile.

"That's good." Then Xiangyue blinked her bright eyes and asked, "Are you having fun with your brother in Yonghe Village these days?"

"It's pretty good. Yonghe Village has beautiful scenery, and Uncle Ye and Aunt Ye are kind and welcoming." He said slowly, handing Xiangyue a small fruit plate and said, "This is the crabapple preserves I brought back from Yonghe Village. Come and try it, sister."

Xiangyue took the plate, picked up a candied fruit and put it into her mouth to taste it. After swallowing a candied fruit, Xiangyue couldn't help but say: "Well, it's really good, it still tastes the same."

He smiled and said, "I prepared a portion for my sister a long time ago. I was thinking of sending it to her later. Now that she is here, I will take it back later." Then he asked casually, "What about my sister? What have you done these days?"

Hearing this, Xiangyue became interested and said, "I went to attend Miss Shen San's birthday party."

"Oh? Is there anything interesting?" He said slowly and handed Xiangyue another candied fruit.

Xiangyue took the candied fruit, but was not in a hurry to put it in her mouth. Instead, she fiddled with it in her hands, saying, "No, they are all old acquaintances. We just arranged a few actors to sing some songs and play some usual games."

"Well, sister-in-law..." Xiangyue lowered her eyes, with a hint of hesitation, and seemed to be hesitant to speak.

He looked at her slowly and sincerely said, "What's wrong? Why are you embarrassed to be with your sister-in-law? If you have anything to say, just say it directly."

"I saw Miss Lu." Xiangyue raised her head. "In my opinion, whether she did it intentionally or unintentionally last time, your falling into the water was always related to her. This matter can't be let go like this. This time I always felt that she seemed to be avoiding my eyes. I think she was doing this because of something on her mind." Xiangyue was still complaining about Huan Huan falling into the water.

Huanhuan was grateful after hearing this, but she didn't want to pursue the matter anymore, so she said, "Thank you for thinking about my sister-in-law. But this matter has passed, and we don't have any evidence. How can we hold Miss Lu accountable? I think we should just forget it."

Xiangyue opened her eyes in confusion and frowned slightly, and asked, "Sister-in-law, you don't even know Miss Lu, let alone offend her, but she made you lose face in front of so many people and made you a laughing stock...Sister-in-law, do you really want to let it go so easily?"

"What can we do? We don't have any evidence." He shook his head slowly and said, "I think Miss Lu is also a love-struck person. She and your brother have been engaged. If we hold on to this, someone will inevitably associate it with your brother. Wouldn't that give others more gossip after dinner?"

"This..." Xiangyue lowered her head and said hesitantly: "What sister-in-law said makes sense."

Speaking of Miss Lu, Huan Huan suddenly remembered something and asked, "Xiang Yue, I wonder how many times your brother has said goodbye to you over the years?"

Xiangyue was about to put the candied fruit in her hand into her mouth, but she was startled when she heard the words, and the candied fruit in her hand fell to the ground. She wiped her hands with a handkerchief and said, "Why did sister-in-law suddenly ask this?"

"Nothing, I just remembered it and asked." He answered with a smile.

"This... Sister-in-law, to be honest, mother would arrange a marriage for my brother every year. As far as I know, there are probably three or four young ladies mentioned." Xiangyue said as she recalled.

"What kind of girls are they and why didn't they come to fruition?" he continued to ask slowly.

Hearing Huanhuan's question, Xiangyue's doubts deepened. She asked with doubtful eyes: "What's wrong with sister-in-law? Why are you suddenly interested in these things? But what happened?"

He smiled slowly and said, "No, no, I just want to know more. I want to be more careful in social situations in the future, so as not to encounter things like this Miss Lu again."

Xiangyue nodded and said, "What sister-in-law said makes sense."

Then she fiddled with the embroidered handkerchief in her hand, and said while reminiscing: "In addition to Miss Lu, I was also deeply impressed by the granddaughter of the retired old master - Miss Geng. Initially, my mother asked someone to come to the door to propose marriage, and everything was fine at the beginning. Later, they directly told the middleman that they wanted to find a well-read man for their granddaughter, and my brother had no interest in taking the imperial examination, which was not what the old master wanted."

He slowly sat down at the table, put his chin on his hands and listened carefully.

"In fact, although my brother has suffered from ear disease and hearing loss since he was eleven years old, he has never given up reading. Your sister-in-law has also seen how many books you have in your study. In my opinion, my brother is more knowledgeable and well-read than most people, and is not worse than those who have passed the imperial examinations." Xiangyue looked at him slowly, her eyes seeming to seek confirmation.

He nodded slowly and said, "Yes, there are many benefits of reading. A person's knowledge, spirit, and talent are all closely related to it. The criteria for judging reading should also be diverse, and cannot be simply measured by imperial examinations."

"I think they probably don't want to find someone who studies, but someone who can enter the government. It's just that saying it out loud makes them seem too utilitarian, which is inconsistent with their status as a scholarly family, so it's hard to say it directly." Xiangyue still spoke so frankly.

"I vaguely remember that after Miss Lu and Miss Geng, mother stopped looking for marriage partners for my brother from scholarly families. Later, mother introduced my brother to girls from wealthy merchants' families, and also girls from military generals' families. In short, no matter how many people she introduced him to, it didn't work out for one reason or another until it came to my sister-in-law. I guess this is fate." Xiangyue smiled playfully when she said this.

Seeing the beauty smiling in front of him, he couldn't help but smile too, but sighed in his heart, thinking that those girls who didn't get married probably had heard something from their families, probably about ear diseases or prostitution. But the Feng family had no connections, so they couldn't find out anything, and because the Xu family didn't care about the dowry, they agreed to the marriage.

"Then Xiangyue, do you think that they refused the marriage proposal because they discovered your brother's ear disease?" he asked slowly and tentatively.

"My mother specifically asked about it, and it's not true." Xiangyue was very sure about this.

"Then... could it be due to some other bad habits..." Huanhuan was interrupted by Xiangyue's slightly aggrieved voice before he could finish his words.

"Sister-in-law, are you still thinking about what Miss Lu said that day? My brother is definitely not the person Miss Lu said, and the news about Miss Lu's father is definitely wrong. Xiangyue can fully guarantee this." Xiangyue stood up as she spoke.

He quickly pulled her to sit down, and thought with a wry smile: Why should I say all this to Xiangyue?

What could she do now? Considering that Xu Qu had never gone out to drink and never stayed out all night after marriage, she hoped that Xu Qu would correct his behavior after marriage, so she accepted it.

"If Xu Qu goes to that kind of place again, I will have a good talk with him." Huanhuan made up his mind secretly.

Then Huanhuan and Xiangyue chatted for a while. In order to let Huanhuan have a good rest, Xiangyue left after a while.

The weather was getting noticeably warmer, and cicadas were chirping non-stop in the trees.

At noon, Huanhuan and Xu Qu had lunch in his own Xin Garden. Xu Qu found that Huanhuan, who usually had a good appetite, rarely moved his chopsticks, and couldn't help asking, "Madam, are you feeling unwell? Why don't you have a good appetite today?"

Huanhuan had already made a plan in her mind. She would not pursue Xu Qu's visit to the brothel for the time being. When Xu Qu made another move, she would discuss the matter with him frankly. So she shook her head and said, "It's okay. Maybe it's because the weather is too hot. I just don't have a good appetite."

"Then Madam, you can eat some of the crabapple preserves we brought back from Yonghe Manor. Crabapple fruit is effective in treating abdominal bloating caused by indigestion." Xu Qu, who had some knowledge of medicine, calmly introduced to Huanhuan.

"Okay, got it." He answered slowly and obediently.

After lunch, they slowly returned to the main house to rest. Xu Qu took You Cheng, who had just delivered the letter, to go out to do some work. When they left the Xu residence, the carriage had already been prepared and was waiting for Xu Qu and You Cheng at the gate.

Seeing Xu Qu had already walked to the front of the carriage, Youcheng thought for a while and finally stopped Xu Qu who was about to get on the carriage. He told Xu Qu what Huanhuan had asked him: "Sir, there is something I think I should tell you after thinking about it."

"What's the matter?" Xu Qu answered casually.

"This morning, as soon as I walked out of your study with the letter, the young lady stopped me and asked me...asked me if I often go to places of red-light district." Youcheng said to Xu Qu with a helpless look on his face.

As soon as you said this, Xu Qu was obviously stunned. He asked calmly: "Oh? How did you answer?"

"I said no at first, but the young lady stared at me and asked me to tell the truth, as if she already knew something. Then I remembered that in the past few years you often went to various brothels to drink and watch dances in order to disguise yourself as a spoiled and dissolute playboy, so I said that you often went there a long time ago." After saying this, Cheng realized that he had said something wrong and lowered his head with a little shame.

"What did the young lady say?" Xu Qu's face didn't look good.

"I emphasized to the young lady that it happened a long time ago, and that you had a reason to go there, but I think she didn't seem to listen." Youcheng raised his head and explained hurriedly.

Now Xu Qu understood. No wonder he was so listless while eating at noon. It must be because of this.

Youcheng frowned and asked again, "Sir, what should we do..." Xu Qu raised his hand to signal Youcheng not to continue, and said, "Let's go do the business first." After that, he got on the carriage and lowered the curtain. Youcheng sat dejectedly beside the driver, who whipped the horse and drove away.