Ji Yingying weaved through the crowd, slippery as an eel. She glimpsed her two maids searching for her in panic, carrying lotus lanterns and sour plum soup. A single person made a smaller target, and calling out to Xiang’er and Ling’er would only make it easier to get caught. Ji Yingying kept quiet and didn’t call out to them.
“She’s over there! Running toward the bridge!”
“Block her at that end!”
The group of young masters got excited, rushing with their servants to block the bridge.
Ji Yingying was only pretending – she turned and squeezed through the crowd to get off the bridge, crouching as she ran toward the bustling areas. “Try to catch me? Not a chance!”
She finally stopped to catch her breath near a lantern stall, feeling quite pleased with herself, when suddenly a laughing voice came from beside her: “I knew you wouldn’t be foolish enough to let yourself get trapped on the bridge.”
Ji Yingying looked up to see Yang Jingyuan’s mischievous grin. Without thinking, she swung the willow branch at him.
“Hey hey, Second Miss Ji, it’s me!” Yang Jingyuan dodged the branch, caught her wrist, and smiled broadly. “Good thing I reacted quickly, or you would’ve hit me!”
Ji Yingying struggled but couldn’t free her hand, so she tried to kick him.
“Missed again!” Yang Jingyuan cheerfully spun her around. Before she could explode in anger, he leaned close to her ear and said, “Look, they’re over there. Want me to call them over?”
Ji Yingying faced the bridgehead and saw the group of young masters shouting and searching. Even she wasn’t foolish enough to deliver herself to them. Hearing Yang Jingyuan’s tone suggesting he wanted to help her, she turned her head and said, “Aren’t you one of them?”
Her face brushed past Yang Jingyuan’s lips, and he instinctively pursed his lips, accidentally kissing her.
Ji Yingying’s eyes suddenly went wide.
Yang Jingyuan reflexively stepped back. He felt it wasn’t intentional, and he was a bit dazed. But the soft sensation still lingered on his lips, and he unconsciously licked them.
Ji Yingying was stunned too.
Even though she had grown up as a childhood sweetheart with Zhao Xiuyuan, holding hands and embracing, he had never kissed her. At most, they would touch foreheads, sharing tender moments.
Seeing Yang Jingyuan licking his lips with an expression suggesting he’d enjoyed teasing a young lady, murderous intent gradually rose in Ji Yingying’s eyes. She wasn’t the type to lose her head. If bitten by a dog, she certainly wouldn’t bite back, but she would chop up that dog and make soup out of it.
Heaven as his witness! Yang Jingyuan saw Ji Yingying’s expression and felt wronged. When he saw Zhou Seventh get kicked into the river by Ji Yingying, he felt utterly delighted, almost wishing he had been the one to kick him. Because she had taught Zhou Seventh a lesson, he had sincerely wanted to help her escape. But why had he so naturally pursed his lips just now? It was because your face was like a tender peach. No, wrong, who knew you would turn your head at that exact moment?
Yang Jingyuan was lost in thought when he suddenly heard his voice. He blinked, wondering how he had said that out loud.
“Third Young Master Yang!” Ji Yingying’s head burned with anger, and she grabbed a lit display lantern from the nearby stall and threw it at him.
“Aiyou, Miss, you can’t throw those!” The stall owner cried out in alarm.
Ji Yingying couldn’t hear anything, just kept grabbing lanterns and throwing them at Yang Jingyuan.
The stall owner watched helplessly, not daring to step forward, while passersby scattered, afraid of getting caught in the crossfire.
“If I don’t tell and you don’t tell, can we pretend nothing happened? If you’re concerned, I can propose marriage! The Yang family of Prince Jin has plenty of silver.” Yang Jingyuan dodged behind Ji Yingying, grinning as he spoke. He remembered how at Zhulin Temple, Ji Yingying had talked about wanting to earn lots of silver.
“Slap!” A crisp blow landed on Yang Jingyuan’s cheek. He saw Ji Yingying shake her hand disdainfully and even wipe it on her clothes. She thought her hand was dirtied.
She looked at him with contempt, her thin lips uttering two words: “Scum!”
Just because his lips accidentally touched her face, he thought he could force her to marry him. By his logic, no woman in the world could live peacefully. And no unmarried man would need to worry about finding a wife.
The crisp sound still echoed in his ears, like a string in his heart being gently plucked. Yang Jingyuan touched his face, feeling strangely moved. So this was what it felt like to be slapped. Completely different from taking a punch in a fight.
“Over there! Yang Third has her cornered!”
The lantern stall area had cleared out, and the young men on the bridge saw them from afar, rushing over excitedly.
Ji Yingying couldn’t escape and didn’t bother trying. She grabbed a bamboo pole used for hanging lanterns and swung it at the dazed Yang Jingyuan, saying fiercely, “If you want a beating, I’ll give you one!”
The young men who had gathered around laughed again: “Yang Third, even you get beaten by young ladies!”
“Second Miss Ji, don’t be unreasonable, I don’t want to hit women!” Yang Jingyuan snapped out of it after taking a hit. Hearing his companions’ mockery, he couldn’t save face anymore.
“Third Brother, you’re truly righteous!” Zhou Seventh hadn’t had time to change clothes and was still wearing his wet garments when he eagerly squeezed into the circle. He laughed at Ji Yingying and rolled up his sleeves, “Watch how young master deals with this little spitfire!”
Yang Jingyuan coldly snorted and stood by with folded arms, watching coldly. Do you want to act fierce? With so many people here, you’ll soon be crying.
Suddenly, someone appeared behind Zhou Seventh and kicked him squarely in the bottom. He stumbled forward several steps, and if Yang Jingyuan hadn’t reached out to steady him, he would have fallen face-first again. Zhou Seventh turned around in fury: “Who dared kick young master?”
A group of people pushed through the circle and stood firm. Zhao Xiuyuan glanced at Zhou Seventh, quickly walked to Ji Yingying’s side, and looked her up and down. Seeing only sweat on her forehead that had dampened her bangs, his heart settled: “You’re alright.”
“Brother Xiuyuan!” Ji Yingying’s eyes brightened as she was wracking her brain for an escape route, then immediately pouted, “Why are you so late?”
“It’s my fault,” Zhao Xiuyuan apologetically said.
Am I invisible? Zhou Seventh jumped up and down cursing: “Who are you?”
Zhao Xiuyuan still ignored him, continuing to ask Ji Yingying with concern: “What happened?”
One had water dripping from his clothes, jumping and cursing. The other stood tall as a pine, seemingly oblivious. They differed by a head in height. Tsk tsk, Yang Jingyuan couldn’t help shaking his head, finding it a bit hard to watch.
The young masters who had come together felt Zhou Seventh’s embarrassment was their own, and shouted: “Where did this boy come from, daring to meddle in our affairs?”
With backup arrived, Ji Yingying became bolder and pointed at them hatefully, saying, “These thugs from Yizhou City tried to harass me. I kicked one into the river, and they came to catch me.”
Zhao Xiuyuan’s face turned ashen at the word “harass” and shouted: “Dare to come to Sandaoyan and cause trouble? Beat them!”
Before the young men could react, clubs were flying, and they immediately shouted back: “Fight!”
In an instant, tourists scattered in alarm, and stall owners fled with their heads covered. Clubs and fists flew as screams and cries filled the air.
When Zhao Xiuyuan came for their appointment, he met Xiang’er and Ling’er anxiously searching for Ji Yingying. Afraid she had been kidnapped, he immediately posted men at all exits and brought many household servants to search.
Even a strong dragon can’t suppress local snakes. The young men from Yizhou City had come for entertainment, each bringing only one or two servants. Not only were they outnumbered, but most of the vendors and lantern-releasers were locals from Sandaoyan. When they heard Zhao Xiuyuan shout that brats from Yizhou City had come to Sandaoyan to harass local women, their blood was roused. As soon as Zhao’s servants started fighting, they joined in to help, making things even worse for the young masters.
Yang Jingyuan was skilled in martial arts and, seeing the situation turn bad, led his servants to break through the circle of clubs first. When he looked back from afar, he saw his companions being beaten until they cried for their parents, fleeing in disarray under their servants’ valiant protection. He had only one thought: How utterly humiliating!
In the night’s dimness, under the hazy lantern light, Zhao Xiuyuan ignored his servants teaching the young masters a lesson with clubs, speaking softly to Ji Yingying. She looked up at him, her yellow dress floating in the evening breeze, her figure graceful. Despite the chaos at the bridgehead, the two of them standing together created a scene of serene beauty.
That day at Zhulin Temple, the person she met in secret was him, right? Yang Jingyuan turned his head and lazily called his servant Xiangyou: “Back to the city.”
Xiangyou, panting, craned his neck to look back: “Young Master, I don’t see Seventh Young Master Zhou.”
Yang Jingyuan slapped him on the head: “Why care about him? Let’s go!”
Xiangyou agreed but kept looking back as he followed Yang Jingyuan: “Young Master, are we not waiting for Seventh Young Master Zhou? He came with us, and he’s the only one who got beaten. His eldest aunt will surely come crying to complain later.”
“She’ll leave crying too. Since you’re so concerned about Zhou Seventh, I might as well send you to be his servant.” Reaching the horses at the road crossing, Yang Jingyuan mounted his horse, ignoring Xiangyou as he spurred it forward.
“Ah, Young Master, wait for me!” He didn’t want to be that coward Zhou Seventh’s servant! Xiangyou panicked, untied his horse, and chased after him like a streak of smoke.