On the day of the banquet, at Guangbin Tower.

Behind the building was a large open space used for parking carriages. Qin Shuying alighted from her carriage at the front entrance, and the coachman drove the carriage to the rear courtyard. Qin Shuying presented her invitation at the entrance and was ushered inside.

As soon as she entered, she saw Luo Jinniang walking over, holding a round fan in her hand. She looked Qin Shuying up and down provocatively, her expression indescribably challenging and unwilling. She snorted once before drifting past in a whirl of fragrant wind.

Qin Shuying pretended not to see her and, following the directions written on the invitation, arrived at a particularly large hall.

This was a hall, yet it was different from ordinary halls, because it was naturally formed by being surrounded by four three-story buildings, with no roof above, making it like an extremely large courtyard. However, due to its appropriate location, some tall trees had been planted within the hall, so there wouldn’t be large areas exposed to harsh sunlight. Instead, small bridges and flowing water had been arranged in the hall, with tables and chairs placed just right, creating a well-ventilated and well-lit great hall that could easily accommodate banquets for two to three hundred people without any pressure.

It appeared that Princess Fu’an had invited at least over a hundred people today, and including the matrons and maids from various households who had separate dining arrangements, there were fully three to four hundred people in total.

Qin Shuying was looking for seats with Qin Yue when she saw Lin Zilan walking over, her face full of joy. “Shuying! Sister Yue!”

“Sister Lin!”

“Miss Lin!”

Qin Shuying and Qin Yue greeted her with smiles, and Lin Zilan laughed heartily.

“You’ve finally arrived! I’ve been waiting so anxiously!” Qin Shuying was pulled by her to sit in a chair, and Lin Zilan asked impatiently, “Did you bring the ‘Ingenious Brush Chronicles’?”

Qin Shuying smiled, “My dear sister, look how anxious you are! What I promised to do, I naturally must accomplish. Look, isn’t this it?”

As she spoke, Qin Shuying took out a book with the four large characters “Ingenious Brush Chronicles” written on it.

Lin Zilan hurriedly took it, opened the book, and read through it rapidly, then quickly flipped through the pages. As she read, she made “tsk tsk” sounds, and the smile on her face gradually faded, her expression becoming serious and solemn.

Before long, Lin Zilan seemed to forget that Qin Shuying and the other were still beside her, focusing entirely on reading the book.

Qin Yue tugged at Qin Shuying’s sleeve and whispered, “Seventh Aunt, Miss Lin is truly interesting.”

Qin Shuying understood her meaning. What ordinary young lady from a noble family didn’t love music, chess, calligraphy, and painting? This Lin Zilan was different from others, actually enjoying reading this type of mechanical book.

However, there was no contempt in Qin Yue’s tone.

During this period, Lin Zilan had actively written letters to Qin Shuying. Her letters were interesting to read, and seeing that Lin Zilan had an open and generous heart, Qin Shuying had replied to her letters.

What they discussed was nothing more than various anecdotes from the south and Yunzhou. Lin Zilan also mentioned some folk customs of Yunzhou, and then chatting along, they eventually talked about mechanical devices, which was when Qin Shuying learned that Lin Zilan was actually a mechanical enthusiast.

Qin Shuying remembered that among the books left by Qin Yongzhou, there were indeed some in this area. She herself wasn’t particularly interested in these and couldn’t understand them very well, so she had mentioned them to Lin Zilan in a letter.

Lin Zilan was overjoyed and pestered her to borrow them. Qin Shuying agreed, promising to bring them to her today.

Qin Shuying smiled as she sipped her tea.

For a woman to be able to abandon her status in public and become obsessed with such books showed she was someone who didn’t follow conventional patterns, someone who had her own pursuits.

In this world, for women to have any pursuits, especially pursuits that differed greatly from ordinary people, was truly more difficult than ascending to heaven!

“Sister Lin, you called me here just to let me sit here doing nothing?”

Seeing that Lin Zilan was truly obsessed, her eyes almost pressed against the book, and noticing other people looking in their direction, Qin Shuying tugged at her sleeve as a reminder.

If other women saw this, it really wouldn’t be a good thing.

Lin Zilan made “ah” sounds with her mouth, but her eyes were glued to the book and couldn’t move away. Qin Shuying was truly helpless and whispered, “Sister Lin, what if someone else sees this book and snatches it away?”

Only then did Lin Zilan take it seriously. She looked at the book longingly, closed the pages, and prepared to stuff the book into her sleeve.

Just at this moment, someone with quick eyes and hands bent down and grabbed the book, taking it into their hands.

This person was none other than Yun Jingshu. She held the book and quickly stepped back several paces, moving out of the range that Qin Shuying and the other could reach, laughing loudly, “Sister Shuying, what good book are you two looking at? Let your sister see it too! In-gen-ious—Brush—Chron-icles! What kind of book is this? Oh my, what’s drawn in here? What are these things? There’s a water channel, and so many people lying on top of it, truly polluting to the ears and eyes! Why are all these people bare-legged and not wearing clothes?”

Her words were very loud and spoken very quickly, immediately attracting the gazes of the noble ladies who had already taken their seats in small groups throughout the hall, including many men at the nearby male seats, who also turned their attention to Qin Shuying and the other.

Mu Tianxiang asked curiously, “Miss Yun, are you telling the truth?”

Yun Jingshu nodded while flipping through the book, “It couldn’t be more true! It’s truly harmful to moral conduct. Sister Shuying, how can you read this kind of book? Ah, it’s truly heartbreaking!”

Qin Shuying saw that Liu Junqing was seated not far away directly across from her, and beside him stood a young lady about her own age who bore some resemblance to Liu Junqing. This must be his legitimate younger sister, Liu Sujiang.

Liu Sujiang and Qin Shuying had originally known each other and had been friends since childhood. However, at this moment, her gaze contained a smile, but the mockery within that smile was unmistakably clear.

Liu Sujiang had come from Huzhou to the capital?

Madam Liu must no longer be able to restrain herself!

Just as Qin Shuying was about to withdraw her gaze, she saw a group of people slowly entering. Leading them was Princess Fu’an in elaborate dress, her face the same as usual, covered with thick rouge and powder, making it difficult to tell whether there were any scars.

Behind her was Princess Fuping, followed by several young men, each wearing regular clothes with women dressed as palace maids and men dressed as eunuchs by their sides.

In total, there was one middle-aged man and four young men, all of whom were exceptionally handsome with refined features, and vague similarities could be found in their faces. Put together, one could tell at a glance they were brothers.

Walking fourth was Zhou Qin.

An elderly eunuch called out in a shrill voice, “His Highness the Crown Prince arrives! His Highness the Fourth Prince arrives! His Highness the Fifth Prince arrives! His Highness the Sixth Prince arrives! His Highness the Seventh Prince arrives! Her Highness Princess Fuping arrives! Her Highness Princess Fu’an arrives! Pay—respects!”

Everyone was shocked. To be able to see so many princes at once was truly impossible not to be surprised by. Especially, His Highness the Crown Prince had actually come too?

Everyone hurriedly bowed to pay their respects, and the sounds of greetings with different tones and inflections filled the hall one after another.

The Crown Prince walked while smiling and said, “Everyone please rise! Today is Fu’an’s birthday, and we’ve invited everyone to come for the festivities. Everyone need not be overly formal!”