A-Le was startled and almost simultaneously grabbed Chu Zhao’s legs.

The shop assistant bringing wine was so frightened he nearly fell to his knees.

“Young lady, please don’t do anything rash! It’s just a matter of some food and wine money!”

He had thought it inappropriate all along—that Master Deng was an official and so much older, yet he had a young girl pay for him.

Chu Zhao waved them off: “I’m fine. I’m just looking at that person, Young Master Xie.”

Hearing these three words, A-Le still didn’t quite understand, but the shop assistant breathed a sigh of relief and stood upright.

Looking at Young Master Xie? Which young lady in the capital didn’t want to look at Young Master Xie?

More than half of today’s visitors to Yaquji had come for Young Master Xie.

“Miss Chu, you’re looking too late,” the shop assistant put down the wine pot and looked at the girl leaning on the railing. “Young Master Xie has already left.”

“Not too late, not too late,” Chu Zhao murmured, staring at the young gentleman surrounded by people in the hall below. “This is Xie from Dongyang, the Crown Princess’s brother, Third Young Master Xie, right?”

The shop assistant smiled and confirmed: “That’s him. He just arrived from Dongyang. Besides the Crown Prince and Crown Princess’s wedding day, this is only his second time in the capital. Do you know, Miss Chu, Young Master Xie has good looks, good scholarship, good character—he’s excellent in every way—”

The shop assistant rambled on, clearly also fond of Young Master Xie. Who wouldn’t like such a refined and noble young gentleman after just one glance?

Chu Zhao gripped the railing tightly. Good? Of course, he was good. Besides what everyone knew now, Young Master Xie had even more “good” qualities.

He was good at warfare, good at military strategy, good at being ruthless, good at being merciless—good at being a rebel leader who split the Great Xia into two and caused people to become refugees.

But in that lifetime, she had never personally seen this rebel leader.

The rebel leader, Third Young Master Xie, the Crown Princess’s cousin, had been famous since childhood, which was why he could rally support instantly and stand as an equal against Xiao Xun.

Of course, it wasn’t instant. Xiao Xun had angrily cursed: “Damn that Xie rebel! They’ve long harbored treacherous intentions. Everyone talks about how the Yang and Zhao families are arrogant imperial in-laws, but the Xie family is the most arrogant. The Crown Princess isn’t even Empress yet, but they’ve already been secretly networking everywhere, forming factions and pursuing private interests.”

Cursing didn’t help. The Xie family was wealthy, had many sons, and extensive social connections—or rather, factions. They had a reputation, wealth, and followers, and also a banner.

The Xie family raised the banner of punishing evil and eliminating villainy.

And the evil they sought to eliminate was her.

Chu Zhao’s hand gripping the railing tightened as she said word by word: “Yan, Wolf.”

The shop assistant had already left. A-Le heard and scratched her head. Earlier, while walking around, she had heard people mention that Young Master Xie, the third of his generation, had a name that seemed to be Yan something.

“Is Third Young Master Xie called Yan Lang?” she asked curiously. Or was this a term of endearment?

Chu Zhao smiled. Third Young Master Xie’s name contained the character “yan,” and perhaps initially everyone affectionately called him Yan Lang, but because this person was extremely fierce and ruthless, later his name became Yan Wolf.

A ferocious beast, the Yan Wolf of the Xie family.

Looking down from above, Chu Zhao saw the main hall like a lake surface, with that noble gentleman like a blooming lotus flower, surrounded by lotus leaves and fish.

Several young men swam through the crowd toward Third Young Master Xie like nimble fish. One fish at the back seemed reluctant, swaying from side to side, looking in all directions. Upon looking up, he jumped backward the next moment like a startled fish, creating ripples.

“Yan Lai, what are you doing?” The young men noticed someone missing behind them and quickly asked, “Why aren’t you coming along?”

When they looked back, they were even more startled.

“What are you doing?”

It turned out that the phoenix-eyed youth who had jumped backward had grabbed a tablecloth to cover his head and face.

A muffled voice came from behind: “Because as soon as I see Third Young Master Xie, I feel so inferior I can’t show my face.”

…

…

Third Young Master Xie looked in this direction.

The person beside him also looked over and frowned, saying softly: “This scoundrel is out drinking again. He hasn’t returned home for days.”

Another young man also sneered: “Everyone in the restaurant knows Third Brother is here. He’s neither blind nor deaf, yet he doesn’t come to pay his respects. I’ll drag him over.”

As he was about to step forward, Third Young Master Xie stopped him: “Brothers can meet at home. Let him enjoy himself.”

With that, he turned away and thanked the few people behind him: “Thank you for your hospitality.”

Those few smiled and returned the courtesy: “It is our honor.”

Both parties walked toward the exit together. The girls who had followed down wore disappointed expressions—he was leaving already? They hadn’t had enough of looking at him.

Qi Leyun was especially disappointed. She hadn’t even seen him clearly, having spent all that time looking at a corridor pillar. She couldn’t help but call out: “Third Young Master Xie.”

Third Young Master Xie didn’t ignore her and turned to look.

He looked over! Qi Leyun was nervous and delighted, gripping the stair railing and stammering: “W-will you be attending the Spring Garden literary gathering?”

Third Young Master Xie smiled at her but didn’t speak before turning and leaving.

The other girls were somewhat annoyed.

“Qi Leyun, what kind of question was that!”

“If you don’t know how to speak, then say less!”

“Don’t you know who Third Young Master Xie is?”

Qi Leyun regretted her words as soon as she spoke them. Of course, she knew who Third Young Master Xie was—from the Xie family of Dongyang, the Crown Prince’s brother-in-law. The Crown Prince and the Third Prince were extremely at odds.

Not to mention whether the Third Prince would invite him, and if invited, whether Third Young Master Xie would go—this was a difficult question for both the Third Prince and Third Young Master Xie.

And you, Qi Leyun, publicly pressed him on this.

“I didn’t—I wasn’t trying to pressure him,” Qi Leyun said with a worried expression. “I just thought that with Third Young Master Xie’s outstanding scholarship, the Spring Garden literary gathering would be a shame without him.”

“What’s there to be ashamed about?” another girl pouted. “Even if Third Young Master Xie attended, we wouldn’t be able to enter and see his grace.”

“What?” Qi Leyun was surprised and quickly asked, “Wasn’t it said that the grand gathering was open to everyone?”

The other girls were also surprised. Although they didn’t believe the Spring Garden literary gathering was truly open to everyone, they certainly thought that, as members of powerful and wealthy families, they could attend.

Wasn’t a literary gathering supposed to be lively? More people meant more fame.

Everyone looked at the girl who had spoken.

“It’s not like that at all,” the girl shook her head. “Everyone can participate, but ‘everyone’ doesn’t include women. I originally wanted my brother to take me, but my brother said the Third Prince doesn’t allow women to attend, so I shouldn’t even think about it.”

The girls immediately erupted in a commotion. “That’s fake, right?” “Impossible!” “Maybe your brother just finds you annoying.”

Everyone discussed it from all angles but couldn’t reach any conclusion.

“Stop arguing. I’ll go see the two princesses and ask if they’re going,” one girl said. Her family had relations with the imperial family and could speak with the princesses. “If the princesses go, naturally we would accompany them.”

She then made a hushing gesture to everyone.

“In public, it’s better not to discuss the Third Prince’s affairs.”

The girls naturally knew who they could provoke and who they couldn’t, so they obediently changed the subject.

“Speaking of Third Young Master Xie, have you heard?” one girl said in a low voice. “Liang Qin—the marriage proposal is for him—”

This was even more shocking to the girls than the Third Prince’s literary gathering. Another commotion erupted, and the girl’s unfinished words were drowned out.

“Impossible!” Qi Leyun’s voice was the loudest. “How is Liang Qin worthy of Third Young Master Xie?”

This uproar drew glances from people all around. Chu Zhao, still gripping the railing and looking down, also heard the name “Liang.” Liang Qiang, sitting near Chu Ke, raised his head even more alertly.