How could I possibly be confined in a cage?

After Yanru finished bathing and drank some porridge, the rain that had been falling for a whole night and day gradually stopped.

The sky was spotless, and as the sun set, the evening glow enveloped the fields, covering them with a golden cloak.

After changing her clothes and tying up her hair, Yan Ru, wearing a brocade cheongsam with a slight pearlescent sheen, leaned against the balustrade and gazed quietly into the distance.

As soon as the little creature saw her like this, it knew she was "meditation" and pulled the cuckoo, who was waiting on the side, away.

The little thing was strong and dragged Dujuan all the way to the top of the stairs before letting go of her. Dujuan was fuming. "What are you doing? I still have to serve Sixth Concubine."

The little thing rolled its eyes. "Hmph, you've only been serving Sixth Concubine for a few days! She hates being disturbed when she's meditating. Don't try to be clever."

Du Juan retorted, "I was personally assigned by the master. Even the sixth concubine didn't say anything. What are you pretending for?"

"Hey, don't disbelieve me. Besides, even if you were sent by the master, so what? If you don't get the sixth concubine's favor, you'll still be kicked out."

"You..." Du Juan was finally exasperated with this scoundrel. "I'm not going to argue with you. Just wait and see what happens in the future."

“I’ll be better than you in the future,” the little thing replied.

After arguing for a while, the two stopped talking and went downstairs, leaving Yanru alone in the quiet.

Aimless, Yan Ru felt empty inside. In her hand was a bamboo fan with a faint bluish-green hue, embroidered with two fish playing in the water in silver-white silk thread.

The weather had already turned cool by then. Yan Ru, wearing a lace shawl, held a fan and gently fanned herself. The cooler the breeze, the calmer her heart became.

Unconsciously, he looked towards the outer study, which was hidden by the shade of the trees across the way. Unsurprisingly, there was a window open there, and Song Yuanliang stood still in front of the window, looking quite desolate.

Yan Ru stared straight at him, and he stared straight at Yan Ru. They looked at each other in silence, tears streaming down their faces.

Her heart was parched, and her tears were merely excess moisture on her skin. Tears from Yanru's eyes rolled down like pearls and disappeared on the rain-dampened railing.

Feeling utterly dejected, Yan Ruxian couldn't withstand Song Yuanliang's hurt and questioning gaze, and lowered her head, unable to look at him any longer.

She stood up and looked at the osmanthus tree in the courtyard, which was once full of flowers but was now withered and bare. Yan Ru reached out to catch the water droplets dripping from the eaves.

Her fingers weren't closed, and water droplets slipped through them and fell to the ground, too small to even make a dent.

The tiny osmanthus blossoms that once covered the ground are now scattered by the rain. Water dripping from the eaves washes the blossoms apart, and the water flows into the mud, where they may soon be crushed by someone's foot.

Yan Ru watched for a while, but her heart was heavy. She subconsciously wanted to look at Song Yuanliang, but he was already gone.

Turning back to her room, Yanru said softly, "The flowers have fallen."

He collapsed to the ground with a thud, unconscious.

In the Guo family's villa, Qingru's face was still sallow. Guo Zixing had already seen her true appearance, but he didn't say anything and even asked Qingru to serve him personally from now on.

Every time Qingru tried to retort, Guo Zixing would stare at her with an all-knowing look, leaving Qingru speechless.

Well then, Cui'er's background was fabricated anyway. As long as Guo Zixing doesn't care, why should Qingru make a fuss?

If they left the Guo residence, they wouldn't have such a good opportunity to directly contact Commander Guo. So, following Guo Zixing's advice, they continued to make themselves appear sallow to conceal their original appearance.

Serving Guo Zixing wasn't difficult, since Hongyu did all the actual serving work; all he had to do was follow along.

Guo Zixing is currently putting the Lü family's affairs aside. Anyway, he has her in his hands and is not afraid of her causing any trouble. The most important thing is to resolve the marriage with the Qiao family.

These past few days he's been sending invitations to the Qiao family's daughter every day, but he's never succeeded, which has made him so angry that he doesn't want to bother with her anymore.

But General Guo advised him to persevere, saying that this was a test from Magistrate Qiao. So Guo Zixing patiently arranged to meet him every day, but all the visiting cards were written by Qingru.

Qingru was deep in thought, pen in hand, when Guo Zixing swaggered in. "What's wrong? Still haven't figured it out? You'll have to deliver visiting cards again tomorrow."

“I’m telling you, sending out invitations every day is making girls look bad. These days, everyone’s sending love poems. Yours is so outdated.”

Guo Zixing was taken aback. "Why didn't you say so earlier? You made me run around for nothing."

Qingru sighed helplessly, "I've never dated any prostitutes, how would I know what they're thinking?"

It was simply because she was thinking about the huge drawer full of love letters that she and her sister had received, and how young people these days no longer liked such an outdated method as sending out invitations.

After thinking it over carefully, Guo Zixing said, "If you can't figure it out, don't bother thinking about it. Tomorrow night, Zheng's daughter is returning to China and is going to hold some kind of... something 'party'. You're coming with me."

"It's a party, huh? What did you say?" Qingru thought she had misheard. "Why should I go with you, young master? This isn't appropriate."

Guo Zixing crossed his arms and looked her up and down. “You’re definitely not suitable in your current state, but you would be suitable for Miss Lü.”

Qingru's eyes widened, her heart pounding, and she instinctively wanted to deny it, "You... what are you saying? My name is Cui'er, not Miss Lü."

Although they had tacitly acknowledged each other's identities, Guo Zixing had never revealed them, so Qingru had always assumed he didn't know. When his identity was suddenly exposed, Qingru was still somewhat flustered.

Guo Zixing smiled and said with a hint of sincerity, "I've been working for the police station for a long time. I knew it the first day I saw you, but I just thought that a young girl like you wouldn't be involved in your father's affairs, so I didn't expose you."

"What, I'll spare your life, and you can't even come to a cocktail party with me?"

Qingru didn't expect him to suspect her on the very first day. She was touched when he explained that he knew her identity but still helped her hide it. However, when it came to her father, Qingru would never back down.

Therefore, he said seriously, "I didn't expect you to help me so much, but my father is definitely not a black-hearted merchant who sells counterfeit goods. There is a misunderstanding here. So I originally wanted to go back to the city to hire a lawyer to file a lawsuit, but now... later, I don't know why they arrested me, and then it became like this."

Guo Zixing didn't expect her to do anything immediately, but said half-jokingly, "Selling counterfeit goods only means being locked up for a while and then released, but your father... is not simple."

Qingru grew anxious. "What do you mean? How is it not simple? Did he offend someone and get framed? Or..."

"Hey," Guo Zixing stopped her from overthinking, "It's not what you're saying. You know your father hosted Japanese people before, right?"

Qingru nodded, wondering what the connection was. Guo Zixing continued, "Not only that, after your father was imprisoned, that Japanese man went to visit him and tried to bail him out. When the bail failed, he gave Chief Zhang a large sum of money to make things easier for him in prison."

Qingru still didn't understand. "What's the connection between these two things? There's a foreign concession in Sifang City, and many foreigners would go to the shops there. Is there a problem?"

Guo Zixing pointed out, "You need to understand that not all foreigners study these things because they truly love Chinese culture. In previous years, during the Eight-Nation Alliance invasion of China, countless people were burned, killed, and looted. Many foreigners saw China as a prized possession and wanted to take a bite out of it. Among them, Japan was the most ambitious and treacherous..."

“What does that have to do with my father? We have no connection with him.”

"Perhaps. Why would someone be kind to him when you're not related to him? Besides, if it's just hearsay, why would they arrest you two sisters? It would be unnecessary."

Qingru could not refute it, and could only murmur, "No, my father is definitely not a traitor. Young Master, you must find out the truth and clear my father's name. I will offer all the wealth of the Lü family."

"You've gotten it so quickly," Guo Zixing said, concealing his joy. He whispered, "These things are confidential. If you weren't a member of the Lü family, I wouldn't want to tell you. You'd better watch yourself."

Qingru nodded fearfully, tears welling in her eyes. Guo Zixing looked away and said, "Don't cry. You don't know my situation. I have no real power in this city. I'm just learning how to do things at the police station."

"If you really want to clear your Lü family's name, you'll have to help me. Once I get married, I can become a young marshal, and then I'll naturally have the standing to investigate the facts for your family."

Qingru was extremely grateful. She hadn't expected that Guo Zixing, despite coming from a military family, would be so warm-hearted and would naturally help with Guo Zixing's requests whenever possible.

"Tell me, how can I help you?"

Guo Zixing said with satisfaction, "I'll take you to the Zheng family's gathering tomorrow. You'd better do your best. That Qiao girl is always putting on airs with me. You must teach her a lesson tomorrow, and then I'll step in to smooth things over. Leave a good impression on her, and we can naturally arrange a marriage."

After saying that, she winked playfully, signaling Qingru to listen.

Qingru was puzzled. "Are you sure you can do this? What if you mess it up?"

Guo Zixing waved his hand casually, "You don't need to worry about that, just focus on your acting. Um... get all that stuff off your face tomorrow, and change into some nice clothes while you're at it."

Qingru nodded, then thought of something else, "By the way, since she's a young lady who's studied abroad, she must know how to dance at the ball. Can you dance?"

Originally, it was just a casual question, but Qingru naturally assumed that Guo Zixing, being from a military family, must have been born with these tricks.

To everyone's surprise, Guo Zixing paused for a moment, then said with an unnatural expression, "I really don't know how to dance. What kind of dance is this for a man?"

Qingru took a deep breath and stretched out her hand. "Okay, I'll teach you. Ballroom dancing is a basic etiquette for parties nowadays. Everyone should know it, regardless of gender. It's called 'modern'."

Looking at her outstretched hand, Guo Zixing felt slightly awkward. He grew up in his hometown and no one had ever taught him these things.