The wind is gentle and the fun is endless

No one knew where Youcheng had gone. He hadn't shown up in Xinyuan all morning. Huanhuan and Xiaoyu had to suppress their curiosity and wait for him. Finally, after lunch, they saw Youcheng and Xu Qu coming back from outside.

While Xu Qu went into the house to change clothes, Xiaoyu pulled Youcheng in front of Huanhuan and said, "Youcheng, today we heard that our master was engaged to a lady on the mural. Tell us what happened."

Then he responded instinctively, "How could that be? How could you be engaged, young master? That's not the case."

Huanhuan saw that his reaction didn't seem like he was lying, then looked at Xiaoyu and asked doubtfully: "Xiaoyu, did you hear it wrong?"

Xiaoyu frowned, pulled Youcheng's ear with her hand and said, "Youcheng! Tell the truth! Don't make me sound like someone who makes up stories to stir up trouble."

Youcheng tilted his head and grinned, shouting, "Master, Madam, Xiaoyu hit someone, please help me."

Xiaoyu said without any fear: "Youcheng, the young master can't hear you shouting, you'd better think it over carefully and tell us the truth." After that, she said to Huanhuan: "Miss, I definitely didn't hear it wrong. I heard several people say so." As she spoke, the strength in her hands increased.

"Oh, oh, let go, let go, let me think about it carefully. Only if you let go can I think about it carefully." Youcheng began to beg for mercy.

Xiaoyu let go of her hand and said, "You'd better think it over and tell us the truth!"

Youcheng rubbed his red ears, lowered his head and complained a few words, then said as if he suddenly realized something: "Oh, I see, you are talking about a lady named Bihua, not the lady on the mural, and she is not engaged. She is just the young master's childhood sweetheart, and the elders are jokingly arranging an engagement for them."

Ah? It really is like this! Huanhuan felt a little uncomfortable after hearing this, and was about to ask in detail when Xu Qu's voice came from the room, "It's done again!"

Youcheng heard it as if he had heard a life-saving horn. Even though he knew Xu Qu couldn't hear him, he still responded in a loud voice: "Hey! Young master, I'm here!" After that, he gave Xu Qu a hypocritical apologetic smile, and then quickly slipped away, escaping from this "troublesome" place.

Xu Qu changed his clothes and took Youcheng out again, leaving Huanhuan, who was worried about something, tossing and turning during her lunch break. Finally, she heard Xiaoyu announcing that Xiangyue had arrived in a daze, so she simply got up to greet Xiangyue.

Xiangyue came into the room and saw her sleepy and still wearing her middle clothes, and asked in surprise: "Sister-in-law, are you not ready yet?"

Huanhuan then remembered that Xiangyue had told her that she would take her to attend a poetry and music meeting hosted by Miss Chengxi Jiang this afternoon.

She slowly apologized to Xiangyue and hurriedly dressed up. She was not good at makeup, and she was worried and in a hurry, so she accidentally painted too much of her eyebrows. Xiangyue reminded her, and she realized it. So she picked up a handkerchief and tried to spread it evenly, but it got worse and worse. In the end, Xiangyue couldn't help her save it, so she had to wash it and repaint it all.

In order to be quicker this time, Xiangyue started to put on makeup for her directly. Soon the makeup was done. She slowly looked at herself in the mirror and felt that this was the best makeup she had ever looked like since she was a child. She hurriedly expressed her gratitude to Xiangyue.

Xiangyue smiled and said, "You're welcome, sister-in-law, but we have to hurry up, we're already late."

Huanhuan picked up a beautiful dress and was about to put it on, but Xiangyue stopped her and said, "Sister-in-law, did you wear this dress last time you went to Madam Cui's place?"

After thinking for a while, he said, "My sister has a good memory. This is what she wore."

Xiangyue stopped her and said, "You can't wear it this time. You should change into something you haven't worn at the banquet."

Time was urgent, so Huanhuan didn't bother to ask why. He found a piece of clothing from the closet according to Xiangyue's request, put it on, and got on the carriage with Xiangyue and rushed to the west of the city.

On the way, Xiangyue introduced Miss Jiang to Huanhuan as the daughter of a Hanlin scholar. She was proficient in music, loved poetry, especially the pipa, and was considered the best in Shanghuai.

Then she introduced to Huanhuan that normally, different clothes should be worn for different banquets, but the emperor advocated frugality, so he was not so strict in this regard. And today's host, Miss Jiang, usually paid great attention to her appearance and would know how to choose dishes according to the guests, so she asked Huanhuan to change her clothes just now.

After finishing her talk, Xiangyue seemed a little tired and closed her eyes to rest. Her tense nerves gradually relaxed, and the "fresco" lady came to her mind again: even the servants knew about this person; the elders wanted to arrange a marriage between her and Xu Qu, which showed that this childhood sweetheart was very recognized by the elders; then she and Xu Qu should also be very compatible, right? Could it be...

Suddenly, a thought that she didn't want to believe came into her mind: Could it be that her husband got married so late just for her!

This thought shocked her so much that she sat up straight, because she had discussed this issue with Xu Qu, and she thought that they had opened their hearts to each other at that time. However, Xu Qu had never mentioned such a young lady, which made her feel that her sincerity and trust had been misplaced.

Huanhuan felt a little sad. After hesitating for a long time, she finally pushed Xiangyue who was resting with her eyes closed.

Xiangyue opened her eyes and saw Huanhuan looking sad, so she asked, "What's wrong with sister-in-law?"

Licking his lips slowly, he asked, "Sister, can you tell me about Miss 'Mural'?"

Xiangyue was a little surprised and asked, "Sister-in-law, what are you asking about?"

"I heard" paused for a moment, then continued, "That lady was going to be engaged to her husband?"

Hearing this, Xiangyue's expression was a little embarrassed. She was stunned for a moment and said, "The elders did have this intention, but that was a long time ago. At that time, my brother was not yet... only a teenager, and in the end he didn't get engaged."

Xiangyue seemed unwilling to talk about this matter. After saying this, she lifted the curtain on the car window and turned to look outside, muttering, "Why hasn't it arrived yet?"

Seeing Xiangyue like this, Huanhuan didn't want to ask any more questions and just gave up.

Soon the carriage arrived at the gate of Jiang Mansion, and the aunt and sister-in-law hurriedly got off.

As soon as they entered the banquet hall of Jiang's house, Miss Jiang came forward to greet them. After exchanging greetings with Huan Huanxiangyue, she teased Xiangyue: "Oh, you, the most beautiful lady in Shanghuai City, are really very stylish. Not only is it difficult to invite you, but you are also so late."

Xiangyue was not angry and said, "I will drink three glasses of wine as punishment later, that's all."

"How dare I? If you tell anyone about this, I'll get you drunk. Not to mention others, my third cousin will be the first one to not forgive me." After saying that, he took Xiangyue's arm affectionately and led her and Huanhuan to their seats.

Seeing them both sitting down, Miss Jiang said again, "You came at the right time. I was just about to play a piece of pipa music."

Then Miss Jiang sat in the middle of the hall again and played a wonderful pipa piece. After the piece, the ladies around her applauded and greeted her. Miss Jiang was very proud and shuttled through the crowd, accepting all the compliments from the guests.

However, I slowly heard a lady next to me say to her friend, "Tsk! Look at how proud she is. She is always so arrogant and acts like she has great skills but no one understands her. Now she is almost getting carried away." The lady next to her said, "Don't worry. There are many people who don't like her. Someone will take action."

I don’t know if it was really because of Miss Jiang that people were dissatisfied, or if some people just weren’t very good at speaking, but suddenly a lady stepped forward and “praised” her, saying, “Miss Jiang’s pipa playing is superb, and she ranks second in Shanghuai.”

Miss Jiang's face suddenly changed when she heard this. She was gloomy and unwilling, and said, "Then tell me, who is the first?"

The young lady didn't seem to realize that she had said the wrong thing, or perhaps she did it on purpose, and said, "Isn't it that Miss Xie who is outstanding in everything..."

"Are you talking about that green painting?" Miss Jiang interrupted with a hint of disdain.

"Alas, you are not related to her, nor are you her elder, but you call her by her nickname. This... is not good." Another young lady, who was watching the fun, teased Miss Jiang.

Miss Jiang felt a little guilty, but for the sake of face, she said in a calm and cautious tone: "Bihua has already married off, and there is no place for her in Shanghuai City. Now if I am second, no one dares to claim first."

"You don't know this. She came back a few days ago. So you, Miss Jiang, will be the second today. I'm afraid you will definitely be the one." After saying that, the ladies around her laughed secretly. Miss Jiang felt humiliated and was so resentful that she couldn't speak.

And Huanhuan, in his heart, also had a preliminary understanding of this "fresco" lady: she was outstanding in everything, married, and returned to Shanghuai a few days ago. Huanhuan became more silent, and for some reason, he had a bad premonition in his heart.

Therefore, Huanhuan was completely absent-minded. He finished the banquet listlessly and then returned home with Xiangyue.