Chapter 61: Junmu VS Long Han Yuan

  Thank you for the reward from Yu Hou Tingyuan, thank you liqiyue007 and Amei sister for the safe symbol of reward, thank you Shangshang Huazhu for the pink votes, also thank you for your support to Qianqian!

  "The mountain has trees and the trees have branches, I'm delighted in you but you don't know?" Junmu's eyes lit up upon hearing this poem and said: "My cousin is truly talented!"

  Qing Jin heard her cousin Jun Mu Xi's words of praise, snapped back to reality, and realized the inappropriateness of her previous sentence. She had been feeling a bit embarrassed, but seeing Jun Mu Xi's genuinely admiring expression, she couldn't help but feel a warmth in her heart. It seemed that this cousin was indeed quite decent. Only then did she lift her head to look at Jun Mu Xi, who wore a simple white long shirt with only the hem embroidered with green bamboo. "Jun should be like bamboo," she thought, and with such elegance and refinement, perhaps there was something to look forward to in the days ahead. Just as she was about to tell Jun Mu Xi that the poem he had just praised wasn't actually hers, but rather something she had heard elsewhere...

  Only heard a deliberate cough behind him...

  Qing Jin turned around and saw Gu Huai Li standing with someone not far behind Qing Jin and Jun Mu Xuan. As soon as Qing Jin saw Gu Huai Li, she bowed: "Father."

  The gentleman beside him heard the deliberate "cough" and also looked over, seeing that it was Gu Huai Li who politely asked: "Uncle is well."

  "So it's Jin'er and Mu Xun, what are you doing here?" Gu Huai Li looked relieved when he saw Qing Jin and Jun Mu Xun, but this unusual behavior immediately caught Qing Jin's attention.

  Her gaze fell on a person not far from her father, and met a pair of icy eyes. The man was wearing a luxurious black robe, his face still expressionless as always, but Qingjin's heart trembled inexplicably. How could it be Long Han Yuan?

  If she didn't remember wrongly, the first time Long Hanshan appeared in Anji Houfu was with Sixth Prince Long Shuyan, right? Why is Long Hanshan now together with her father Gu Huaili?

  She couldn't help but feel a little self-mockery. She had been shutting herself indoors for so many days just to avoid running into...

  Fate really likes to play tricks on people. The person you try your best to avoid will suddenly appear in front of you. This thought flashed through Qingjin's mind, and she subconsciously wanted to salute Long Han Yuan according to etiquette. However, thinking that she shouldn't know yet that Long Han Yuan is the Third Prince, after a glance at him, she shifted her gaze to her father, Gu Huai Li, and responded to his previous words: "I haven't left the courtyard for many days, but today I heard from the maid that there are fewer guests in the mansion. Mother hasn't gone out either. So I thought of going to see Mother to ask for blessings and pay respects, and also take a look at my younger brother. Who would have thought that I'd run into you here? It just so happens that I met Brother-in-law, and this is my first time seeing him, so I couldn't help but chat with him for a bit. And then I bumped into Father."

  The last sentence was finished, and some joyful eyes looked at Gu Huai Li, while a puzzled gaze swept in the direction of Long Han Yuan, but did not look at Long Han Yuan.

  Suddenly, I thought that with Long Han's identity being so noble, they couldn't afford to be slow in welcoming him at the An Ji Hou Fu. The icy aura on Long Han's body was indeed unbearable for ordinary people, and just by looking at Father's expression when he saw her and her cousin, I knew it. However, Long Han was someone they couldn't afford to offend, so Qing Jin could only discreetly remind Gu Huai Li to quickly introduce Long Han's identity. After she paid her respects, she quickly left, and Father also quickly sent Long Han off to where he needed to go.

  It's just that I don't know if Father can understand her meaning.

  "This dignified young man beside my uncle is...?" Alright, she didn't know if her father understood or not, but her cousin did, and that was good enough. With her cousin saying so, even if her father hadn't understood before, he would now.

  It's not good for her to say it directly, but since this brother asked, it's different. It just solved the father's siege and also fulfilled her wish. Thinking of this, Qingjin smiled gratefully at Junmu Xiang.

  "Fortunately, my nephew reminded me, or I would have almost forgotten. Jin'er, Mu Xue, this is the Third Prince..." Upon hearing Jun Mu Xue's words, Gu Huai Li indeed understood and immediately introduced Long Han Yuan's identity, while secretly wiping the sweat from his forehead. This Third Prince was really putting too much pressure on people. Just now, he had wiped away countless cold sweats along the way, hoping to see his third brother and hand this Third Prince over to him. However, no matter how hard he looked, he couldn't find his third brother anywhere. Just when he felt like his legs were going soft, he saw his daughter standing there and secretly let out a sigh of relief. He exchanged a couple of words with his daughter, but unexpectedly almost forgot about this gentleman. Upon hearing his nephew's words, he immediately opened his mouth to introduce Long Han Yuan's identity.

  Jun Mu heard Gu Huai Li mention Long Han Yuan's identity, and he didn't show any surprise or astonishment. He was calm and composed, bowing to Long Han Yuan with a slight smile, saying: "So you are the Third Prince, commoner Jun Mu pays his respects to the Third Prince!"

  Long Han-Yuan saw Jun Mu-Xi's courtesy, but didn't say a word. He nodded expressionlessly at Jun Mu-Xi. Jun Mu-Xi also didn't pay much attention to this, as he had long heard that the Third Imperial Prince was cold in nature. However, the glance the Third Imperial Prince gave him just now was extremely piercing and cold, could it be his misconception?

  When he waited for Long Han Yuan to look up and clear his expression, he saw that Long Han Yuan was looking at his cousin Qing Jin instead. Qing Jin had her head down and seemed to be thinking about something. Jun Mu Xi immediately reminded him softly, calling out: "Cousin..."

  Qing Jin came back to her senses under Jun Mu's reminder, not even looking in Long Han Yuan's direction, but roughly estimating the direction where Long Han Yuan had just stood. She slightly bowed towards that direction: "Your subject greets the Third Imperial Prince!"

  Seeing Qing Jin's square movements, Gu Huai Li smiled with satisfaction and was about to say something to Qing Jin and Jun Mu Xuan when Long Han Yuan, who had been silent beside him, suddenly spoke up: "The family education of the Gu Hou Ye Fu... is it taught to children when they are learning etiquette... hmm?"

  When he heard Long Han's cold and distant voice, Gu Huai Li's body trembled, not understanding the meaning of the Third Prince's sudden words. Was there something wrong with Qing Jin? He looked over and saw Qing Jin's proper bowing figure, wanting to ask Long Han what he meant, but when he glanced sideways, he found that the position where Long Han had just stood was already empty. Gu Huai Li immediately turned his gaze around, only to discover that Long Han had somehow appeared on his other side, while Qing Jin's bowing direction still faced the original position of Long Han.

  What's worse, Long Hanshan was now very close to him. Gu Haili, who had been walking with Long Hanshan and already felt a little weak in the knees, saw how close Long Hanshan was to himself and, enveloped by Long Hanshan's cold aura, trembled even more, saying: "Third Prince, please forgive me, it's not my fault that I taught my daughter... I..."

  "The third prince's majesty is so great that my daughter doesn't dare to look him straight in the eye, and it has nothing to do with my daughter's father. If the third prince is not satisfied, my daughter can pay her respects to the third prince again." Before Gu Huai could finish speaking, Qing Jin interrupted him, seeing her father being put on the spot by Long Han Yuan, she raised her head and looked straight at Long Han Yuan as she spoke.

  Upon hearing his daughter's bold words, Gu Huai Li felt a surge of worry and anger, and he sternly spoke to Qing Jin: "How dare you, Jin Er, the Third Prince is not someone..."

  But he saw the third prince's cold gaze staring at his daughter, and his own daughter didn't back down or avoid it, instead meeting the third prince's gaze head-on. Gu Haili was somewhat astonished, never knowing that his daughter had such courage - that was the third prince, after all! Even he himself didn't dare to look him straight in the eye, yet his daughter dared to meet the third prince's gaze directly. Thinking this way, he didn't know whether to worry or feel proud.

  Just as Gu Huai thought the Third Prince would be furious, he didn't expect the Third Prince to withdraw his gaze and look at his daughter again. He bowed his head obediently, wanting to say a few words, but found that although his daughter and the Third Prince were facing each other, there was an inexplicable feeling of being unable to intervene from the side. Could it be that his daughter knew the Third Prince?

  He couldn't help but flash this thought in his mind, and after a moment, he shook his head. It shouldn't be, he thought to himself. What status does the Anji Marquis have? And what status does the Third Prince have? He's a prince, after all! He looked up at his daughter again, then glanced at her fiancé, Junmu Xi, who was standing beside her. His daughter and Junmu Xi were already engaged, and as he gazed at them standing there together, they truly made a perfect couple!

  "You've also sensed the abnormality between this young Qingjin, my cousin, and the Third Prince. He stepped forward on his own initiative, interrupting their confrontation. With a faint smile, elegant and refined, he said to Long Han, 'Third Prince, please forgive her. My young cousin is inexperienced and has lost her manners. I beg of you, sir, to be magnanimous. In the future, I will instruct my aunt to teach and guide my cousin well.'"

  Long Han heard Jun Mu's words, but didn't look at Jun Mu, instead he faced Qing Jin's direction and said faintly: "No need."

  Upon hearing Long Han's words, Qing Jin lowered her head and stopped looking directly at him. Jun Mu Xie beside her didn't feel awkward about Long Han's disregard for him either. Instead, he turned to face Long Han again and spoke: "As for the Third Imperial Prince, Uncle, I'll take Cousin Qing Jin down first?" The last sentence was clearly directed at Gu Huailei.

  Gu Huai Li also felt the strange atmosphere between everyone, and upon hearing Jun Mu Xi's words, he immediately wanted to speak up and say, "Alright, hurry up and take Jin Er down!" But before he could even open his mouth, the Third Prince beside him spoke up again in a shocking tone: "Is it really the rule of the An Ji Hou Fu that unmarried daughters are allowed to casually interact with men?" This time, his words were directed at Gu Huai Li.

  Gu Huai Li received Long Han's cold and distant gaze, his heart still racing, momentarily unable to think clearly. What did the Third Prince mean? Was he dissatisfied with what happened to Jin Er just now? But hadn't the Third Prince just told his daughter not to make another bow? Why did it seem like he was holding a grudge about this matter again?

  Upon hearing Long Han's abrupt question, Qing Jin's gaze turned to him once more, wanting to open her mouth to refute it. What does this have to do with the Third Prince? But fearing that doing so would offend the Third Prince and affect Father in the future, she looked at Long Han for a moment before lowering her head again.

  On the side, Junmu heard Long Han's words and still maintained a smile as clear as bamboo: "The rules of Anji Houfu will not allow unmarried girls to contact strange men. If the third prince is referring to the common people, the common people can explain one or two things to the prince on behalf of his uncle. Firstly, the common people and Qingjin are relatives, secondly...the common people have already made a marriage contract with Qingjin. My father attaches great importance to the distinction between men and women, but that is aimed at unmarried men and women. For couples who already have a marriage contract, it's..." Junmu just smiled and didn't speak.