The banquet lasted until dusk before the guests of the Prince of Dongjing Residence dispersed.
Madam Wei sat cross-legged on the horizontal couch. She had changed out of her thick auspicious dress and was only wearing a soft cotton robe. Two maids stood in front of her and behind her to remove her jewelry, comb her hair, and serve her to bathe and change her clothes.
Jiang Ya stood in front of her and said with a stern face, "Why didn't you tell me about the riddles? Why did you bring the old ancestor's shoes with you? I didn't know about it at all. "
Madam Wei lifted her hand and twisted off the ring on her finger. She glanced at her and said, "Do you think I can't see your little thoughts? If I told you, you would definitely leak it out in advance. This is an important matter of choosing a wife for your brother, not something you can mess around with."
"I'm not messing around." Jiang Ya was unconvinced. "Didn't you promise me to take a good look at the person I chose? In the end, not only did you make arrangements, you even gave the bracelet my brother gave to someone else. You didn't even ask if I liked it."
Seeing her daughter throwing a tantrum, Madame Wei smiled and said, "It's just a bracelet, it's not like I'm going to marry her. As for that lotus lady you mentioned, I've also seen her. To be honest, she's not as outstanding as you described. Look, I gave her four riddles, but she couldn't guess any of them, right?"
"I think it's because she doesn't want to cling to the Prince of Dongjing Residence, unlike some powerful women who only want to fly up the branches and become a phoenix. Hmph." In any case, she didn't like that Miss Situ. She was so pretentious and disgusting.
Madam Wei laughed even more happily. Her shoulders trembled slightly.
"Mother! What are you laughing at? Am I wrong? I just don't like those despicable people who come for our Jiang Family's power. "Jiang Ya couldn't help but squeeze to Madam Wei's side and hugged her arm coquettishly.
Madam Wei shook her head and slowly stopped laughing. She wiped the corner of her eyes and asked, "Then what kind of woman do you want to find for your brother? A woman who hates wealth and doesn't eat the food of the world? Hua Lan, you are the daughter of our Jiang family. How can you be so short-sighted? Alright, I won't say anymore. Don't get involved in this matter anymore. I have my own plans. I will find a good lady that your brother will definitely like … "
After a pause, she poked Jiang Miya's nose and teased, "She's also a good sister-in-law who doesn't dare to bully you."
When Jiang Qiya saw that she couldn't persuade her mother, she felt vexed. However, she didn't continue to pester her mother endlessly. It was just that whether her mother would listen to Madam Wei's words was another matter.
Xue Rui sent Second Aunt Xue and Xue Jinxun back to their respective residences. He changed into a light outfit and rode out again.
Yu Shu and he had agreed to meet at the market on the east side of the city. The Xue Estate and the Yu Estate, one was at the foot of the imperial city, while the other was on Baochang Street, which was a little farther away. Therefore, the two of them went home to change their clothes. By the time they met again, it was already night time.
There was no curfew in the northern part of the city in September. There were only a few small shops, restaurants, dance halls, and music halls that were closed on North and South Main Street. It was the busiest time of the day.
When the lanterns were first lit, Yu Shu and Xue Rui led their horses and walked among the endless stream of people. Occasionally, people would turn their heads to look at them, but they didn't recognize them.
"Madam Wei gave four riddles. The answer to each riddle is the same item. Whoever can guess it will get the gift. Among them, there's also a Jiang family heirloom. Can you guess what it is?" Yu Shu thought that it was not easy to guess and gave him a few more hints.
"There's a piece of jade, a dagger, a pair of shoes, and a box of sweets."
Unexpectedly, Xue Rui answered without thinking, "It's probably a pair of shoes."
"Oh." Yu Shu was surprised and looked at him suspiciously, "Did you hear this from your Second Aunt?"
Xue Rui shook his head. He didn't stop to rest when he escorted his daughter back to the residence. He was afraid that she would wait for too long and wouldn't have the time to ask about these details.
"I already knew that the Jiang family's heirloom is a pair of shoes." He smiled and didn't tell Yu Shu that Jiang Huaiying had spilled the beans when he was drunk when Jiang Huaiying had a drinking competition with him.
Yu Shu thought of his' unspeakable 'relationship with that Prince of Dongjing, so she didn't ask further.
On the other hand, Xue Rui asked her with some concern, "Which of the four riddles did you guess?" He thought that she better not guess the pair of shoes. Otherwise, it would be fun.
"I didn't guess any of them." Yu Shu shrugged.
Xue Rui secretly sighed in relief. Then, he was in the mood to tease her, "What kind of riddles are so hard to guess? You can't even guess them?"
He remembered that she was very good at riddles. On the opening day of Wang Ji Lou, it was the Lantern Festival. There were customers looking for trouble in front of them, and in the end, it was Yu Shu who came up with a question that baffled them.
Yu Shu said for no reason, "It's not that I can't guess it. I just don't want to be the one who stands out." She muttered, "I feel that today's birthday banquet isn't that simple."
It seemed that there were a little too many young ladies. The last part of the riddles was a little abrupt. They even brought out the family heirloom. She didn't believe that there wasn't something fishy going on.
"Say, do you think that Madam Wei is planning to find a daughter-in-law for the Jiang family?" Yu Shu didn't guess out of thin air. Prince of Dongjing was still a bachelor over thirty years old. There was a rumor that the Emperor intended to marry Prince of Xiang's daughter, Princess Xi Wen, to the northeast. Even though it was left unsettled, the position of Princess of Dongjing had always been up in the air.
Xue Rui's eyelids twitched. He turned his head to look at her and didn't know whether he should answer or not.
Yu Shu caught the movement in his eyes. With one look, she knew that he was up to no good. She immediately stopped walking and said in displeasure, "It's really as I thought. It seems that you already had a plan. Why didn't you tell me?"
Xue Rui saw that he couldn't hide it from her, so he confessed, "I was thinking that this has nothing to do with you. It's just you coming over to pay your respects and have a banquet. After that, it'll be over. There's no need to tell you and cause you to worry and misunderstand."
Yu Shu had been puzzled since she saw Jiang Miya today. She couldn't understand why she treated her so warmly and led her to Madam Wei the moment they met. When she heard Xue Rui's explanation, she instantly understood.
So Jiang Miya had pulled her into the backup army of her eldest sister-in-law! This Jiang Miya, Princess Chun Wei, was truly a good person. To think that she had admired Jiang Miya's true temperament. It turned out that she was also full of schemes.
To think that Xue Rui thought that this had nothing to do with her and didn't stop her from delivering herself to him.
"What am I worried about?" She narrowed her eyes and looked at him. She suppressed the evil fire in her heart. "Tell me, what are you afraid that I'll misunderstand?"
Xue Rui sensed her anger, but he didn't know where it came from. Since they were on the streets, he could only pull her sleeve and bring her against the crowd to a small alley.
"Ah Shu, don't be angry. If I said something wrong, just tell me." He lowered his voice and looked as if he knew he was wrong and wanted to correct it.
Yu Shu said gloomily, "Why don't you go ask your good sworn sister?"
After the incident with the Fate Destroyer, she fell out with Jing Chen. From then on, she hated people who disregarded her wishes and wanted to manipulate her life. Jiang Miya's actions could be said to have violated her great taboo.
Fortunately, she was careful and didn't steal the limelight at Madame Wei's birthday banquet. But even so, Jiang Miya's pretense of being intimate with her had already caused trouble for her in the eyes of others.
Xue Rui was very smart. When he heard her words, he instantly understood the crux of the matter. His face immediately darkened and he said in a deep voice, "You're saying that Jiang Miya didn't invite you to the banquet just to accompany her?"
Yu Shu didn't say anything, but the annoyed expression on her face clearly told Xue Rui the answer.
Fire burned in Xue Rui's heart. He knew that with Jiang Miya's reckless personality, it was very possible for her to act on her own. There was an eighty percent chance that Yu Shu's name and background were already placed on Madame Wei's desk.
Seeing that he was silent, Yu Shu raised her head and looked at him. She saw sparks faintly pulsating in his dark eyes. It was obvious that he was angry. Her heart palpitated and she felt that it was unreasonable to vent her anger on him just now. Based on how much he treasured her, if he found out that Jiang Miya was up to something, he probably wouldn't even let her attend the birthday banquet today.
Her heart softened and she moved her fingers that were tightly clenched by him. "Alright, don't be unhappy. I didn't do anything wrong. Looking at Madame Wei's appearance, it doesn't seem like she would like a girl like me. I didn't answer any of the four riddles, so I don't think I can enter her eyes. You see, I don't have a family background and I'm not beautiful. There are many smart, beautiful, and well-born young ladies at the banquet. How can I be ranked? "
She was angry because of Jiang Miya's silent scheming. She didn't really think that Madame Wei would like her. Moreover, even if Madame Wei and Jiang Miya had a brain cramp and liked her, they still needed to have the ability to take her down.
The Emperor would let her, a person who had lost her life, become the daughter-in-law of the Jiang family that he was afraid of. What a joke.
Xue Rui's rage unknowingly subsided when he heard her admit defeat, and he placed his hand on her shoulder. If it wasn't out of consideration that there would be people passing by here at any moment, he would probably be unable to refrain from embracing her in his arms, so as to let her know that in his eyes and heart, the woman she spoke of was instead the most satisfied and good girl in the world.
"Then you don't blame me?"
"Blame you for what? This matter isn't your fault." Yu Shu rolled her eyes at him and hit his chest. "At most, I will just ignore that Jiang Miya in the future."
Xue Rui thought about it and said, "Jiang Miya is a very stubborn person. Even though I don't know why she has her eyes on you, if you want her to give up, she won't easily give up just because you ignore her."
"What can she do to me?" Yu Shu didn't agree. Before today, she thought of Jiang Miya as her friend and was willing to give her face. But after today, who did that girl think she was?
Xue Rui smiled and sighed. He patiently explained to her, "Previously at the Cui family's gambling den, you also saw that Jiang Miya has a temper that wants to see the world in chaos. She loves to cause trouble. If others go along with her, it's fine. But if they don't, she will turn the world upside down and won't stop until she reaches her goal. In my opinion, you don't have to be in a hurry to fall out with her. Tomorrow, I will talk to her face and tell her not to have any ideas about you. "
When Yu Shu heard him analyze Jiang Miya's temperament in detail as if he knew her very well, she was a bit displeased but didn't take it to heart. She only asked him,
"How are you going to talk to her? What if she doesn't listen?"
Xue Rui's eyes narrowed slightly. His handsome face glowed softly under the dim yellow streetlight. He squeezed her soft shoulders and said, "If she doesn't listen, I will think of a way to send her back to Ningdong City so that she can't stay in the capital anymore. Ah Shu, you don't believe me? "
Under his affectionate gaze, Yu Shu couldn't muster up the slightest bit of rebuttal. She mumbled and said,
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