Chapter 77: The Princess's Invitation

  Thank you for the response that no one can respond to, double fish rabbit, shadow child's pink ticket, thank you silly rabbit gray gray for the reward of peace symbol ~~ tiger touch ~~

  In this world, there is always someone who will collect you carefully, place you safely, and preserve you with care, sparing you from shock, suffering, wandering, and having no branch to rely on. Looking at the elegant and smiling Junmu, Qingjin thought to herself, if it were Junmu, shouldn't she be able to expect again?

  Thinking so in her mind, Qing Jin wanted to nod heavily at Jun Mu, if it was him, she would be willing to try again. Just as she was about to open her mouth to speak to Jun Mu.

  Suddenly, a familiar black figure walked out from the side and saluted Junmu with respect: "Young Master Jun, my master asked me to bring you a message."

  Qing Jin's body immediately became alert when she saw the black shadow appear, and when she heard that person say such words to Jun Mu Xuan, she perked up her ears and listened seriously.

  "Who are you, sir? And who is the master of your household? If I'm not mistaken, I don't know you, and neither do I seem to be familiar with the master you mentioned. As for what you said about someone I don't know, I'm not interested. Please leave!"

  The man in black heard Junmu's refusal and didn't show any special emotions, but quietly took out a delicate lotus-shaped lantern from his sleeve and opened it slightly towards Junmu: "Since the young master doesn't want to listen, then I won't disturb him. However, this...I think the young master's fiancée will like..." He handed over the lotus-shaped lantern in his hand.

  Qing Jin immediately shifted her gaze to the lotus flower lantern, but she didn't notice anything special about it. She turned her eyes towards Jun Mu Xi's direction.

  When Jun Mu saw the lotus lantern, a hint of vigilance flashed in his eyes. Then he returned to his usual calm and elegant demeanor, smiling lightly as he glanced at the black-clad man's lotus lantern. He spoke to the black-clad man with an air of composure: "Thank you for your kind intentions, but since there are so many lanterns on the street, if my fiancée likes any, I will buy them for her myself.

  The man in black nodded in agreement, seeming to have found a point of consensus with Junmu's words. "It seems that my actions were indeed rash," he said. "In that case, I won't bother you anymore." As soon as he finished speaking, the delicate lotus flower in his hand instantly turned into flying ash, and he patted the ash from his hands. He faced Junmu and said, "Then I won't disturb you anymore, farewell!" After saying this, he swiftly turned around, and his figure vanished into the crowd in an instant.

  Jun Mu looked at the figure leaving with a faintly visible furrowed brow.

  "Brother..." Seeing the man in black leave, Qing Jin called out to Jun Mu Xuan.

  "Cousin, let's go over there and guess lantern riddles!" Hearing Qing Jin's voice, Jun Mu Xie lifted her head and smiled shallowly at Qing Jin as usual.

  Seeing Junmu's obvious reluctance to talk to her, Qingjin swallowed all the questions she had wanted to ask and cooperated with Junmu's opening: "Okay. Let's go guess lantern riddles over there!" After finishing speaking, she took the lead in walking towards the direction of the lantern riddles.

  Seeing Qing Jin leave, the smile on Jun Mu's face faded away. He turned his head to take a deep look at the direction where the man in black disappeared. Then he turned around and followed Qing Jin as usual.

  The two people's interaction remained as intimate and harmonious as before, but Qingjin still keenly sensed that Junmu Xue was occasionally absent-minded. She wanted to ask Junmu Xue what special meaning the lotus flower lamp had. Thinking of Junmu Xue's obvious avoidance earlier, and thinking that everyone has secrets they don't want to share with others, including herself, didn't she have a secret that could or couldn't be told?

  Thinking of this, I also understand the attitude of Junmu who just avoided talking about it. Casting a sideways glance at Junmu who was clearly not in good condition, Qingjin took the initiative to speak up: "Eldest brother, I think it's getting late, let's head back to the manor!"

  Upon hearing Qingjin's words, Junmu returned to his senses and smiled faintly at her, also understanding that she had noticed his distraction. He apologized and said, "Thank you, cousin, for understanding. This time it was my fault, but next time I'll definitely accompany you on a good stroll."

  "I can understand if Brother wants to talk about it sometime, and he's welcome to come find Qingjin." Qingjin said to Junmu Xiang.

  Junmu sent Qingjin to the gate of Anji Hou's mansion and then left.

  "Miss, why did you come back so early? Why didn't you stroll around with Young Master for a while longer?" As she spoke, she kept glancing behind Qingjin.

  "Don't look anymore, Brother Biao didn't enter the mansion. Originally, we were going to stroll around for a while longer, but Brother Biao had something urgent come up on his side, so we came back ahead of schedule." Qing Jin said calmly to Yuanyang.

  "What's the matter? What could be more important than my daughter?" As she said this, Yuanyang pouted her mouth. Half a moment later, not hearing Qingjin's words, Yuanyang shifted her gaze to her own daughter and found that Qingjin was actually distracted.

  The mandarin duck hurriedly walked to Qingjin's side and asked anxiously: "Miss, is something wrong?"

  Upon hearing Yuanyang's uneasy inquiry, Qingjin snapped back to reality and smiled at Yuanyang, "What could be the matter? You're just a silly girl who loves to think wildly. Is there hot water available? I'm feeling rather fatigued after strolling around all night." Qingjin changed the subject.

  "Some are already prepared, miss, are you going to take a bath?"

  "Uh, I'm a bit tired, go get me some hot water!"

  "Yes, miss!" The mandarin duck heard Qingjin's words and turned around to prepare a bath for Qingjin.

  Qing Jin sat in the chair in the room after Yuanyang left, her hands unconsciously tapping on the table, thinking about every word of Junmu Xue and that black-clothed man's conversation, she didn't know why, but that uneasy feeling emerged again.

  She recalled the scene at that time, after the man in black took out the lotus flower lamp, although her cousin Junmu Xue was still elegant as usual, Qingjin could feel the fluctuation of Junmu Xue's emotions in that instant, especially since the man in black was still a subordinate of Long Han Yuan, whom Qingjin had bumped into...

  She couldn't help but think of Long HanYuan, whom she had met tonight. Originally, she thought that Long HanYuan was going to make things difficult for her. When he told her to follow him, she thought the two of them would inevitably... But unexpectedly, Long HanYuan let her off lightly!

  But what did those words mean that were later told to Brother Junmu?

  Qing Jin somewhat regretted the considerate words she had said to her cousin Jun Mu Xie, otherwise she could have continued to probe him. But since she had already spoken those words, it would be awkward to ask again... Never mind, what was meant to come would come anyway. If she wasn't mistaken, the Emperor should soon arrange a marriage for her fourth sister, Gu Qing Yao.

  Moreover, she found herself being overly sensitive. If it weren't for Long Han's people looking for her brother Junmu Xue today, although she would have been curious, she wouldn't have paid so much attention to it.

  Thinking this way, I feel like I'm getting a bit paranoid, maybe the other person came to find my brother for something else. Thinking about it this way, my heart feels much lighter and I don't think about that thing anymore.

  After the Lantern Festival, the New Year's festivities also came to an end. The ladies of the prominent families in the capital city began to hold various banquets and gatherings again. Qingjin attended several dull banquets in a row, and then refused to go out and attend those boring banquets and gatherings that were actually held under the guise of banquets but were actually for comparison and competition.

  After attending another banquet, Qingjin pretended to be ill and stayed in her own courtyard, living a leisurely life. Compared to attending banquets and gatherings, Qingjin preferred to stay in her room reading travel notes and storybooks.

  Like this, Qingjin used the excuse of being ill to hide in her own room in the Anji Hou Mansion, living a leisurely life, every day reading travel notes and listening to Yuanyang talk about the gossip inside and outside the mansion.

  Unconsciously, a month's time has passed in an instant.

  Spring's footsteps arrived, spring returned to the earth, all things revived, and Qing Jin was living a leisurely life in her own small courtyard.

  On this day, Gu Qingyao, who was busy with the banquet, suddenly arrived at Qingjin's small courtyard.

  "Fourth sister, how did you end up at second sister's place?" Qing Jin asked, looking at Gu Qingyao with a face that couldn't hide her delight. If she wasn't mistaken, Gu Qingyao should be attending a banquet outside the manor at this time, so why was she here?

  Upon hearing Qing Jin's question, Qing Yao immediately spoke up: "Yao'er has come to see Second Sister. Has Second Sister's body recovered?"

  Looking at Gu Qingyao with concern, Qing Jin smiled and said, "Fourth sister, take a look, does second sister look like she's sick?" The fact that she was ill was unknown to outsiders, but didn't Gu Qingyao know?

  Upon hearing Qing Jin's question, Qing Yao felt a bit embarrassed. "Of course, Qing Yao knew that Second Sister wasn't really ill; she was just too excited. Ah yes, Qing Yao had something to tell Second Sister - the princess has invited Second Sister and little sister to go on a spring outing together!"

  "Ah, so Fourth Sister came here to tell Eldest Sister about this matter? I thought Fourth Sister had come specifically to see Eldest Sister! If it's just this matter, sending a maid over would have been enough. Since you've come all the way here, there must be something else, right?"

  "Fourth sister...... I......" Upon hearing Qing Jin say this, Qing Yao's beautiful eyes looked at Qing Jin, somewhat at a loss.

  "Alright, Second Sister, I was just joking with Fourth Sister. There must be something else on her mind!" Qing Jin immediately asked.

  "It's nothing else, just Princess inviting all the ladies to go horseback riding for spring outing." Qing Yao said this, her eyes shining brightly as she looked at Qing Jin.

  "Horseback riding in the spring, this is quite refreshing, I know, Fourth Sister can't ride a horse?" She still didn't understand Gu Qingyao's purpose for coming here.