“Shoucheng, tell me—with you and Han Liao so obviously competing for the championship, Fourth Miss specifically wagered on me winning. Does she perhaps have some feelings for me?”

On the way to Penglai Pavilion, Qi Zhongkai deliberately pulled Lu Zhuo to walk at the back, taking a piece of cherry cake from Lu Zhuo’s plate. While wolfing it down, his tiger eyes gleamed brightly.

Lu Zhuo said indifferently: “I remember she quite disliked your loud voice.”

Qi Zhongkai nearly choked, remembering how he had frightened Fourth Miss at the city gate.

Touching his throat, Qi Zhongkai’s heated heart quickly cooled down. Such a delicate beauty, a fairy-like maiden—if she were to like someone, it should be someone like Lu Zhuo. How could she possibly fancy him?

“Then why did she wager on me?” Qi Zhongkai couldn’t understand.

Lu Zhuo glanced at Wei Rao’s figure, faintly visible below, and said: “Among the six, she’s only slightly acquainted with you.”

Qi Zhongkai slapped his forehead: “Of course! Since the stakes go to the champion team anyway and she couldn’t benefit herself, I’d also wager on someone familiar.”

Lu Zhuo smiled.

He guessed that Wei Rao simply didn’t want him or Han Liao to win.

Last time at Yunwu Mountain, though he had kindly saved someone, he had mocked her thoroughly. Since Wei Rao could protect herself and didn’t need his help, she naturally only remembered his lecture, harboring resentment and unwilling to see him and the Shenwu Army steal the spotlight. As for Han Liao, Lu Zhuo had learned from elders’ casual conversations that Han Liao had once proposed to Shou’an Jun’s eldest granddaughter but was rejected by Shou’an Jun. From this perspective, Wei Rao would never wager on Han Liao, as that would undermine Shou’an Jun.

“By the way, among those stakes just now, do you know whose that golden walnut was?” Qi Zhongkai asked rather enviously.

Lu Zhuo: “His Majesty’s.”

Qi Zhongkai’s tiger eyes widened: “How do you know?”

Lu Zhuo: “I didn’t originally, but once you asked, I guessed.”

Among the nobles in Zhaixing Tower, Qi Zhongkai had the most contact with Emperor Yuanjia and would only be familiar with items Emperor Yuanjia commonly used.

Qi Zhongkai was impressed: “His Majesty’s right hand developed some problems from long-term reviewing memorials, so he rotates a pair of golden walnuts to relieve the discomfort. You’ve only just returned to the capital and already received an imperial gift—much better than me.”

Lu Zhuo: “There’s still one left. You could try.”

Qi Zhongkai scoffed: “If I took that one, wouldn’t I be matching pairs with you? Better let Old Grand Tutor Xie write a few more poems to flatter the dragon, and have him flatter back the other one to give to Sixth Miss—then you two can make a matching pair.”

Lu Zhuo smiled and asked him, “You’re a year older than I. Has your family not arranged a marriage for you yet?”

Qi Zhongkai scratched his nose bridge: “They’ve been urging me since I returned to the capital. Grandmother, Mother, and my sister-in-law have all introduced prospects. I’ve met four or five times, but didn’t like any of them. Some maiden’s family must resent me and deliberately spread bad rumors about me, causing other maidens to be afraid to meet me. Mother and the others can only worry in vain.”

Lu Zhuo had been back in the capital for only a short time and hadn’t heard the relevant rumors: “What do they say about you?”

Qi Zhongkai said angrily: “That I have eyes higher than the sky and won’t accept anything less than celestial beauty, that I nitpick even ordinary beauties for their eyebrows and eyes. With such talk spreading, which family’s daughter would dare to meet me for marriage talks?”

Lu Zhuo: “Why didn’t you like the previous four or five meetings?”

Qi Zhongkai: “None were beautiful enough. Either their eyes were too small, or their lips too thick, or their faces not white enough, or they were too short, or too thin. Always lacking something.”

Lu Zhuo glanced at him: “Grandmother and Mother wouldn’t introduce ugly women to you. Perhaps you’re indeed too particular.”

Qi Zhongkai glared at him: “Easy for you to say! You’re engaged to Sixth Miss Xie, whose beauty is no less than Fourth Miss Wei’s. If they found you an ordinary beauty, you’d be just as picky.”

Lu Zhuo: “Even the most beautiful person will age someday. I value my wife’s character more.”

Qi Zhongkai sneered: “Taking advantage while acting virtuous—hypocritical.”

Arriving at Penglai Pavilion, Wei Rao returned to Old Madam Wei’s side.

Old Madam Wei inquired with her eyes.

Wei Rao smiled to indicate all was well.

The banquet seated male and female guests separately. Since Wei Rao had taken a fancy to Qi Zhongkai, she deliberately observed the female guests from Marquis Pingxi Mansion.

The women from Marquis Pingxi Mansion attending today were Qi Zhongkai’s grandmother, Old Madam Qi, mother Madam Marquis Pingxi, sister-in-law Madam Deng, and a four or five-year-old girl who should be Qi Zhongkai’s niece. She looked exactly like the Qi family members with prominent eyebrows and large eyes. Even sitting properly beside her mother, she didn’t seem like a quiet, demure girl but rather like someone forced by family elders to present this appearance.

The Qi family was simple in numbers. Qi Zhongkai’s father was an only son, and Qi Zhongkai had an elder brother above him and a married sister below.

This also satisfied Wei Rao greatly.

Withdrawing her gaze, Wei Rao focused on accompanying her grandmother in conversation. When other female guests approached them for a talk, Wei Rao would respond with a smile.

The banquet began, and palace maids served dishes in succession.

Due to the abundant flowers and plants around them, occasional small bees would fly over. Waving them away would appear undignified, so at worst, they simply wouldn’t touch dishes the insects had contacted.

Suddenly, a yellow butterfly flew above the table next to the Wei family, circled for a while, then came to the Wei family’s side.

Butterflies were much more likable than bees. Just as Wei Rao patiently waited for the butterfly to fly away, it flew toward her, passing upward from in front of her. Wei Rao couldn’t see it anymore, but from the gazes and comments of the surrounding female guests, she judged that the yellow butterfly had landed on the begonia silk flower she wore.

“With so many young ladies here, why did it land specifically on her head?”

“She must have done something to the silk flower. Today’s dragon boat race features the elite of all six armies—she’s deliberately using such seductive tricks to attract attention.”

“Truly a human peony flower.”

“Just like her mother—shameless.”

Wei Rao lowered her eyes to eat, pretending not to hear anything. Wei Chan, however, blushed with anger, unsure whether she was more upset by the gossip or by Wei Rao causing them all to lose face.

The butterfly soon flew away, and the surrounding chatter gradually disappeared.

“Raorao, try this. This small yellow fish is fried quite well.” Old Madam Wei smiled as she served her granddaughter a piece of dry-fried small yellow fish.

Wei Rao gave her grandmother an apologetic look. Had she known this would happen, she wouldn’t have worn the silk flower to avoid unnecessary trouble.

Old Madam Wei didn’t blame her. No one could predict such things. Those foolish women were simply jealous of her granddaughter’s beauty. They should think—if her granddaughter truly wanted to compete in beauty, why would she need to rely on such external objects?

“Miaomiao, what’s wrong!”

A sharp, trembling voice suddenly came from ahead. Wei Rao and others looked up to see Qi Zhongkai’s sister-in-law, Madam Deng, supporting her daughter Qi Miaomiao’s shoulders, asking anxiously. Qi Miaomiao’s pale little face was flushed red, her small hands clutching her throat, unable to speak.

“Is she choking? Quick, give her water to wash it down!”

“Water won’t work—turn her head down, grab her feet and pat!”

“What do you know? Quick, call the imperial physician!”

The women chattered with various suggestions. Madam Deng was already frightened out of her wits, first lifting a bowl of tea to pour into her daughter’s mouth. When that didn’t work, she tried to hold her daughter upside down. Poor Qi Miaomiao was suffocating in distress, her appearance pitiful enough to move even strangers.

Wei Rao suddenly remembered when she was practicing martial arts with her master in the mountains, they encountered an old farmer taking his seven or eight-year-old grandson to collect firewood in the mountains. There were wild dates in the small mountain, and the little boy picked a handful to carry in his embrace, eating while walking. He accidentally tripped, and a wild date got stuck in his throat. Master immediately rushed over…

Thinking of this, Wei Rao quickly left her seat and ran to Madam Deng’s side at the fastest speed. Ignoring the shock of Madam Deng and others, Wei Rao took over the already inverted Qi Miaomiao, had her stand with her back facing Wei Rao, then embraced Qi Miaomiao from behind. She placed one fist above Qi Miaomiao’s navel and below her rib cage, gripped it with her other hand, and quickly pressed upward with force.

This was the method Master had taught Wei Rao. She had never had the opportunity to use it, so she hadn’t reacted immediately just now.

Many people gathered around, some trying to pull Wei Rao away. Wei Rao couldn’t hear their voices and wouldn’t give them the chance to succeed, continuing to hold Qi Miaomiao and repeat the technique Master had taught her. At this moment, Wei Rao didn’t know if she could save Qi Miaomiao—she only trusted her master and believed in what she had witnessed.

After an unknown amount of time—perhaps quickly, though it felt very long to Wei Rao—with another application of force, Qi Miaomiao, who hadn’t made a sound for a long while, suddenly expelled something and immediately began crying loudly.

Wei Rao’s back was covered in sweat, and even the hair at her temples was dampened by perspiration. As Qi Miaomiao cried, Wei Rao’s strength relaxed, and the little girl in her arms was immediately snatched away by Madam Deng.

Old Madam Wei quickly pulled Wei Rao to her side.

“The Empress has arrived!”

Old Madam Wei looked up to see the Empress, Princess Duan, and others who had hurried over upon hearing the news, followed by the three Marquis Pingxi men—father and sons—all with grave expressions. If not for considerations of hierarchy, the three might have rushed over earlier.

“Papa!” Qi Miaomiao, sobbing against Madam Deng’s shoulder, cried even louder upon seeing her father.

“What happened?” Qi Zhongkai’s elder brother Qi Bowei could no longer restrain himself and strode over.

Madam Deng sobbed continuously. Madam Marquis Pingxi remained relatively composed and explained what had occurred.

A palace maid picked up what Qi Miaomiao had expelled—it was a large cherry, half-bitten, with the remaining half still thumb-sized.

“How do you watch the child?” Qi Bowei, loving his daughter dearly, glared and scolded Madam Deng.

Madam Deng, weak-kneed from fear, lowered her head and cried silently without defending herself. Their daughter was already five years old and had eaten cherries by herself at home before without incident. Who knew today would be like this? Just now, she had been quietly discussing Wei Rao’s appearance with her mother-in-law, and in a moment of inattention, an accident occurred.

“It’s good that she expelled it. Be more careful next time.” The Empress, equally shaken, pressed her hand to her chest. The palace held dragon boat races only once every three years. If a child from a noble family had an accident on such a fine day, it would be like pouring cold water over Emperor Yuanjia’s head.

Everyone was concerned with comforting the three generations of Madam Deng’s family. The Empress and others who arrived later hadn’t seen what happened. For some reason, none of the women and maidens who had personally witnessed Wei Rao’s rescue mentioned the matter. It wasn’t until the Empress and Marquis Pingxi’s party had left that Madam Marquis Pingxi expressed her gratitude to Wei Rao and removed a bracelet from her wrist, wanting to give it to Wei Rao as a thank-you gift.

Though expressing gratitude, Madam Marquis Pingxi’s attitude was very distant, clearly meaning that after giving the thank-you gift, the two families would have no further connection—she had no intention of continuing friendly relations.

The young maidens might not notice, but the wives and madams present all understood—Madam Marquis Pingxi looked down upon Wei Rao.

Old Madam Wei smiled as she stood before her granddaughter, saying kindly to Madam Marquis Pingxi: “We appreciate Madam’s thoughtfulness, but the Wei family’s tradition is to help others without expecting reward. We absolutely cannot accept this gift. Moreover, Raorao is kind-hearted—she would extend help even if she saw common people’s children on the street experiencing such a situation. Madam truly needn’t be so polite.”

Having said this, Old Madam Wei took Wei Rao’s arm, and the grandmother and granddaughter withdrew gracefully to their seats.

Madam Marquis Pingxi looked at the bracelet in her hand, pressed her lips together, and put it back on her wrist.

As the banquet ended and guests were about to disperse, a young maid wove through the chatting women and came before Wei Rao, holding a begonia silk flower with both hands: “Fourth Miss, when you went to help just now, your silk flower fell to the ground. My old madam instructed me to bring it to you.”

Wei Rao was stunned—she hadn’t even noticed the silk flower was no longer on her head.

Taking the silk flower, Wei Rao asked the young maid to convey her thanks to that kind old madam.

The young maid smiled and turned to leave.

Wei Rao curiously watched her go, seeing the young maid move lightly through the crowd and finally stop before an old madam with white hair and a youthful face.

Wei Rao was greatly surprised—this kind old madam was Duchess Ying, Lu Zhuo’s grandmother.

As if sensing Wei Rao’s gaze, Duchess Ying turned her face and smiled slightly at her.

Wei Rao’s heart suddenly warmed.

Among this group of so-called noble wives and madams in the capital, some looked down on people, but not all were like this.

Wei Rao didn’t expect everyone to praise her or change their opinion of her because of today’s events, but as long as someone was willing to believe in her goodness and believe that she helped others without ulterior motives, Wei Rao felt that human relationships weren’t so cold after all.