Chapter Eighty-One: The Drunken Old Man's Intention

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  "You're quite eloquent! Since you've said so much, if I'm still making things difficult for you, then it's my fault. Alright, let's hurry to Xishan!"

  "Yang sister, Yao'er also truly likes Yang sister." Seeing Yang Wenhua's intimate behavior towards Qingjin, Qingyao spoke to Yang Wenhua with an admiring gaze.

  "Gu Si's sister is lovely." Yang Wen Hua said with a smile to Qing Yao, then whipped his horse and took the lead.

  Qingjin and Qingyao slowly followed up, three people riding horses side by side towards the direction of Xishan.

  Three people arrived at Xishan, showed the invitation to the guards on the outer perimeter, and then rode into the inner perimeter of Xishan, slowing down their horses as they moved forward. From a distance, they saw a purple-clothed girl surrounded by several girls in the middle, saying something.

  Yang Wen Hua spoke up and asked Qing Jin and Qing Yao: "The two sisters have never seen the princess before, right?"

  Qing Jin looked at Yang Wen Hua and said, "Sister Yang is right, I and Fourth Sister have never met the Princess before, but that person in the middle should be the Princess, shouldn't she?"

  "Your eyes are good, that purple-clothed one is the current Fourth Princess, she's the Emperor's most beloved princess."

  Qing Yao heard Yang Wen Hua's words and her gaze turned to the past, seeing that familiar purple shadow. "Is that Xian Ling princess? Second sister, isn't that Xian Ling princess the one we met last time at...?" Qing Yao turned around and asked Qing Jin.

  Upon hearing Qing Yao's words, Qing Jin looked over with her eyes and took a closer look after being reminded by Gu Yu Yao. It turned out to be someone she had met before.

  Yang Wenhua heard Qingjin and Qingyao's conversation, "Listening to Gu Ermei and Gu Simei's words. It seems that I have seen the fourth princess somewhere before?"

  Qing Jin was about to respond when Qing Yao hastily spoke up to Yang Wen Hua, "Yes, Sister Yang, I and Second Sister had met the Fourth Princess before, but at that time we didn't know her identity."

  Upon hearing Qingyao's words, Yang Wenhua seemed to be deep in thought. After a moment, he came back to himself and said, "Then let's hurry over to pay our respects to the princess."

  "Yes, I just saw the princess glance over at us, she must have seen us already. Yang sister, second sister let's hurry over!"

  Qing Jin nodded at the words spoken by the two people and the three of them rode their horses in the direction where the Fourth Princess was.

  When they arrived near the Fourth Princess's place. The three of them got off their horses, and the Fourth Princess happened to have discovered their arrival as well.

  "Your humble servants Yang Wen Hua, Gu Qing Jin and Gu Qing Yao pay their respects to the Fourth Princess. May the Fourth Princess be safe and sound." Yang Wen Hua, Gu Qing Jin and Gu Qing Yao bowed in unison to the Fourth Princess.

  Hearing the sound of several people bowing, the few people surrounding the Fourth Princess parted ways. The Fourth Princess saw Yang Wen Hua outside the crowd and a hint of delight flashed in her eyes as she walked over to face Yang Wen Hua and said: "Sister Hua, you've come!"

  Hearing the Fourth Princess's words, Yang Wenhua raised his head and smiled at her.

  "Alright, no need for formalities. We're out to have fun today, so let's not talk about rules and etiquette." The Fourth Princess said to Yang Wen Hua.

  "Very well, Your Highness." Yang Wen Hua replied.

  "Big Sister Hua..." The Fourth Princess heard Yang Wen Hua's words and was visibly dissatisfied.

  However, his gaze was soon drawn to Qing Jin and Qing Yao beside Yang Wen Hua. These two people seemed somewhat familiar, yet he couldn't recall where he had seen them before. He asked the Qing Jin and Qing Yao in front of him: "Are you the two young ladies from the An Ji Marquis's estate?"

  "I report back to Your Highness, I am Gu Qingjin, the eldest daughter of Anji Marquis."

  "I am Anji Hou Fu's daughter-in-law, Gu Qingyao." She finished speaking and lifted her head to give the Fourth Princess a gentle and friendly smile.

  Seeing Qing Yao's smile, the Fourth Princess also recognized her at first glance. The person in front of her, Qing Jin, and Qing Yao, she had seen before. With a friendly smile towards Qing Yao, she immediately spoke up: "Oh, it's you!"

  "It was I, your servant girl. Previously on the street, I didn't know Your Highness's identity and may have offended you in some way. I hope Your Highness can forgive me for my mistake and thank you for taking care of Qingyao." Qingyao continued after the fourth princess spoke up.

  Upon hearing Qing Yao's words, the Fourth Princess nodded and then shifted her gaze to Qing Jin's body, frowning slightly as she asked Qing Yao: "Is she your sister?"

  Qing Jin lowered her head, feeling that the Fourth Princess was talking about herself, but she didn't speak up. Qing Yao, who was standing beside her, immediately spoke up on behalf of Qing Jin: "In response to Your Highness's words, this is my second elder sister." Then, thinking of something, she continued: "That day on the main street, my sister was also worried about Seventh Young Master, so she was a bit... Please don't blame my second elder sister, Your Highness."

  The fourth princess was about to say something when a loud noise suddenly came from afar.

  "Third Brother, Sixth Brother, Seventh Brother, how did you get here?" The Fourth Princess asked in surprise to Long Han Yuan, Long Shu Yuan and Long Yi Yuan who were riding their horses towards her.

  "It was actually you, Feng Ling, who was hosting this banquet. My third brother and I were originally at his estate nearby, when we heard someone say that there was a gathering on the west mountain side, so we came over to take a look. We didn't expect to run into Sixth Brother, who happened to be in the vicinity, so we ended up coming together." The speaker was Seventh Prince Long Yi Yuan.

  Upon hearing the Seventh Prince finish speaking, the noble ladies hastily stood up and wanted to pay their respects to the three princes.

  "Ladies, please don't be too formal. My third brother and seventh younger brother are just passing by, and since all of you were invited by our fourth sister, I hope you can enjoy yourselves without worrying about etiquette. What do you think, Third Brother?" The sixth prince stepped forward and said with a warm smile to the people who were about to bow.

  Long Han Yuan nodded expressionlessly in response to Long Shu Yuan's question.

  Seeing Long Han Yuan nodding, Long Shu Yuan immediately smiled and said: "Third Brother, Seventh Younger Brother, then let's go to the woods over there to compete in hunting!"

  "Alright, Sixth Brother, I was just thinking of competing with you!" Long Yifeng immediately responded.

  "Then Sixth Brother will accompany Seventh Younger Brother to compare," he said. After finishing, he turned his body and faced Fourth Princess, saying: "Fourth Sister, I'll go with Third Brother and Seventh Younger Brother to the woods over there, you all play well here." After finishing, his gaze swept across the faces of the noble ladies present, and each of them felt as if Sixth Prince was speaking to her alone.

  Several noble ladies saw Long Shu's warm and gentle smile, and couldn't help but blush.

  After several princes rode away on horseback and went to a distant small forest, someone proposed that we also have a hunting competition. The implication of the words was obvious, it's not about the wine or the scenery between the mountains and rivers either.

  Although this is an era that emphasizes the distinction between men and women, among royalty and nobility it's relatively more relaxed; otherwise, there wouldn't be things like raising concubines. Moreover, all the noblewomen present were invited by the princess, so running into the three princes was just a coincidence, and naturally there weren't as many restrictions.

  In addition to the three princes encountered, except for the third prince Long Han Yuan who already has a wife, the remaining sixth and seventh princes do not have a formal consort. The sixth prince is also such a gentle and elegant prince, several noble ladies present are already distracted, this rare opportunity must be seized firmly.

  So the proposal of hunting was put forward and immediately won everyone's consent, after the princess's permission, they dispersed towards the forest.

  Everyone's thoughts were probably understood by Qing Jin, but she wasn't interested in this, so after the noble ladies rushed to the small woods, Qing Jin led her horse and stood still without moving. Feeling that Qing Yao beside her was also motionless, she turned her gaze to Qing Yao beside her and saw that Qing Yao was staring in one direction, lost in thought: "Fourth sister, what are you looking at?" Qing Jin asked Qing Yao.

  Upon hearing Qing Jin's question, Qing Yao snapped out of her daze and hastily replied: "What are you talking about, Second Sister? I don't have anything."

  Seeing Qing Yao's reaction, Qing Jin was somewhat puzzled. She had only asked casually, but Qing Yao looked like she had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar, making it seem as if she had intentionally tried to pry into her secrets.

  "Gu Si's sister didn't see anything, Gu Si's sister was just looking at someone's shadow." Yang Wenhua, who was standing beside Qingjin and Qingyao without leaving, spoke up.

  Upon hearing Yang Wen Hua's voice, Qing Jin turned around and saw that Yang Wen Hua was also there, and couldn't help but feel a little stunned.

  "Yang sister, what are you talking about?" Qingyao's face turned slightly red as she softly protested upon hearing Yang Wenhua's words.

  "Look at this, isn't it self-inflicted?!" Seeing Gu Qingyao's reaction, Yang Wenhua's eyes flashed with a hint of darkness as he continued to speak.

  "Yang sister, second sister, you two bully people, I won't play with you anymore." Saying that, he rode his horse away.

  Yang Wenhua looked at Qingyao, who was driving the horse away, with a profound gaze. Turning to Gu Qingjin beside him, he said: "I say, Cousin Gu, aren't you going to participate in the hunt?"

  "Why doesn't Elder Sister Yang go?" Qing Jin didn't respond to Yang Wen Hua's question but instead asked back.

  "I'm talking to Gu Er's sister, aren't I?" Yang Wen Hua replied with a hint of a smile to Qing Jin.

  "Oh, so Sister Yang also wanted to go, but I was holding her back." With that, she agilely flipped onto the horse, whipped it with a lash, and the horse shot out swiftly, galloping away in a direction completely opposite to where the other noble ladies were headed.

  Yang Wenhua watched Qingjin's series of swift and decisive movements, with a momentary surprise, and immediately flipped over to chase after her. When they were shoulder to shoulder, he said: "Gu Ermei, why did you suddenly gallop away without saying a word?"

  Qing Jin gave her a sideways glance, slowing down her pace, and replied, "Didn't Yang sister just say that I was holding her back? I hurriedly left to let Yang sister participate in the hunt, so why did Yang sister catch up again?" She spoke as if it were only natural.

  Yang Wenhua heard Qingjin's question and didn't respond. The two of them quietly rode on horseback for a while, before Yang Wenhua casually opened his mouth to ask: "I heard that Gu Ermei is engaged?"

  "Ah, that person is my cousin Junmu Xue, Sister Yang has also met him, it was the day he spoke up for me at Sister Yang's gathering." Qingjin said to Yang Wenhua.