This originally seemed like a match made in heaven, but unfortunately, Shen Qian had set her sights on Chu Zhen at first glance. After careful consideration, Ji Cheng didn’t dare to act rashly and needed to test Shen Che’s attitude first.
So Ji Cheng shyly turned her head away, lowering her eyes to cut off Chu Zhen’s words, “Young Master, I should return to the banquet.”
Before Chu Zhen could respond, Ji Cheng hurriedly left with Yuchan’er, leaving Chu Zhen standing there bewildered. Afterward, Chu Zhen privately asked the servant boy beside him what had happened.
The servant boy couldn’t very well say that the young lady wasn’t interested in him, so he coaxed, “Did Young Master perhaps frighten Miss Ji? Young Master should smile more.”
Chu Zhen thought this might indeed be the case and made up his mind that the next time he saw Ji Cheng, he would smile at her more and try to be as amicable as possible.
What frightened Ji Cheng wasn’t Chu Zhen, but Shen Qian, who was peeking around not far ahead. Ji Cheng felt that if she couldn’t eat the meat, she’d better not get herself into trouble, so without thinking, she turned and walked towards a dim path, looking back to keep an eye on the situation between Shen Qian and Chu Zhen.
But one can’t walk while distracted. After just a few steps, Ji Cheng collided head-on with Shen Yu, who was coming around the corner. Shen Yu smelled of alcohol and wasn’t as alert as usual. Moreover, Ji Cheng’s dark-colored clothes were barely visible in the night, leading to their collision.
Ji Cheng let out an “Ouch,” initially thinking she had hit a wall. She staggered back a step, but Shen Yu quickly grabbed her, preventing her from falling to the ground.
“Cousin Yu,” Ji Cheng steadied herself and recognized him in the dim light.
Shen Yu withdrew his hand, rubbing his thumb and index finger under his sleeve. The sensation of smooth, jade-like skin seemed to linger on his fingertips. If he could bring them to his nose, he was sure they would carry the unique fragrance of a young lady.
The brief moment of closeness was fleeting, but Shen Yu’s nose had already caught Ji Cheng’s scent. It wasn’t the usual fragrance of incense or floral water that young ladies typically used, which would waft into one’s nose with the wind. Instead, it was a warm scent hidden beneath her skin, a fragrance that remained even after washing away all makeup.
Faint and warm, Ji Cheng’s scent was an indescribable sweetness, like the sweetness of a fruit. But was there any fruit in the world that could match the sweetness in that fragrance?
Shen Yu let out a faint “Mm” and left Ji Cheng’s side without looking back, his servant in tow.
Ji Cheng wasn’t surprised at all; Shen Yu was naturally cold and particularly indifferent towards women.
While Ji Cheng wasn’t surprised, Shen Yu’s attendant, Song Lan, found it rather strange. The Young Master had originally intended to bid farewell to the hosts, but suddenly he wasn’t heading towards the brightly lit Jiashantang. Instead, he had turned back to the original path.
Song Lan thought Shen Yu had changed his mind and wanted to return to Lurunxuan. After all, what man didn’t enjoy such things? Even if one couldn’t participate, watching could be entertaining. But Song Lan also knew that his master had always despised the behavior of those libertines and had only reluctantly socialized earlier. When that female musician from Leyun Tower tried to get close to Shen Yu earlier, he gripped her wrist with two fingers, causing her to tear up in pain. Song Lan only hoped his master would be a bit more gentle with the ladies and wouldn’t crush the delicate girl’s bones. What a charming little thing she was.
Song Lan followed behind Shen Yu, thinking he was heading back to Lurunxuan. However, halfway there, Shen Yu stopped, leaning one hand against a nearby tree trunk. It wasn’t clear what he was pondering or enduring. After a good while, Shen Yu finally said, “Let’s go.”
He turned again towards Jiashantang. Song Lan thought to himself, is he playing games with people?
The lavish Chrysanthemum Night Banquet at the Southern Prince’s Manor seemed to present all the hidden filth of the capital’s nobility before Ji Cheng’s eyes. Of course, all sorts of demons and monsters would emerge at such a night banquet.
After her clumsy collision with Shen Yu, Ji Cheng finally regained her composure and planned to return to Yidexiang. However, after just a few steps, she saw Shen Che emerge from behind some flowers.
Ji Cheng now both hated and feared Shen Che. Upon seeing him, she lowered her eyes submissively and called out, “Cousin Che.”
Shen Che came from the shadows, and as the candlelight fell on his left cheek, a faint pink lip print became visible on his jaw.
Ji Cheng and Shen Che originally had nothing to say to each other. After exchanging greetings, she was about to leave when her peripheral vision caught the lip print on Shen Che’s jaw. After just a moment’s hesitation, Ji Cheng turned back and called out to Shen Che.
Ji Cheng didn’t want to directly tell Shen Che about the lip print on his face, fearing it might embarrass him. So instead, she presented her small mirror to Shen Che.
Ji Cheng’s portable mirror was quite convenient. While most people used hand mirrors, hers was about the size of three copper coins and hung from a silk cord. The mirror frame was made of intricately woven ivory threads in the shape of an openwork begonia flower, with the small mirror set inside. Below hung pink and purple flower knots, both unique and novel.
Shen Che silently glanced at Ji Cheng, who pointed her index finger at her left jaw. Shen Che seemed to understand and said, “Give me your handkerchief.”
Ji Cheng handed her handkerchief to Shen Che. He wiped the lipstick mark off his jaw and then turned his head to ask Ji Cheng, “Is it clean now?”
Ji Cheng nodded.
Shen Che then stuffed the handkerchief, now stained with lipstick, back into Ji Cheng’s hand and walked away.
Ji Cheng felt as if the handkerchief was burning her hand and promptly threw it into a nearby water channel. Her handkerchief was quite ordinary, and having heard too many stories of “handkerchief engagements,” she had chosen a plain white silk one made of common fabric, neither embroidered nor inscribed. Anyone who picked it up wouldn’t be able to prove it was Ji Cheng’s handkerchief.
“Sister Cheng,” Su Yun suddenly appeared from somewhere and called out to Ji Cheng.
“Sister Yun,” Ji Cheng stopped and looked at the radiant Su Yun.
“Sister Cheng, what were you talking about with Cousin Che just now? It seemed like Cousin Che gave you something,” Su Yun said jokingly, covering her mouth.
Ji Cheng felt some anger towards Shen Che. Not only was he ungrateful for her sparing him embarrassment, but he was practically treating her like a servant at his beck and call.
Ji Cheng also resented her own “lapdog” behavior, but she had no choice but to lower her head given her circumstances. She still hoped that Shen Che might enslave her less in the future, or perhaps, seeing how loyal and obedient she was, he might protect the Ji family or let them off the hook at a crucial moment.
Ji Cheng was an optimistic person. Having come this far, she couldn’t resist anyway, so she could only hope that the situation might turn around in the future. After all, fortunes can change, and she hoped that if Shen Che made too many missteps, she might one day have some leverage over him. Then they could renegotiate, and she could make amends.
Now that Su Yun was asking, Ji Cheng looked at the innocent and charming Su Yun, unwilling to take the blame for Shen Che. She smiled mysteriously and leaned close to Su Yun’s ear, saying, “Just now, when Cousin Che came from over there, I noticed a lipstick mark on his jaw and pointed it out to him. He asked me for a handkerchief to wipe it off. Look, I just threw that handkerchief in the water.”
In the lamplight, Su Yun immediately spotted the handkerchief in the water channel. Seeing Ji Cheng’s disgusted expression, she couldn’t help but defend her love interest, “Those female musicians are all so flirtatious and shameless, throwing themselves at any man they see.”
Ji Cheng smiled insincerely, thinking to herself that the live spring scene she had heard from behind the flowers earlier was probably caused by Shen Che. She didn’t argue with Su Yun, just nodding in agreement.
As they were talking, Shen Yuan approached from not far away, “I’ve finally found you two. I heard it’s quite lively over at Guyue Tower. Shall we go take a look?”
Shen Yuan came up and took Ji Cheng and Su Yun’s hands. Her breath reeked of alcohol, clearly having drunk too much. There weren’t many people who hadn’t overindulged tonight. Ji Cheng quickly moved to support Shen Yuan, who was insisting on going to Guyue Tower. Ji Cheng and Su Yun had no choice but to follow along.
It was truly unexpected to see the usually proper and well-mannered Third Miss Shen being so willful.
When they arrived at Guyue Tower, it was indeed as lively as Shen Yuan had said. Almost all of Ji Cheng’s generation, both male and female, were in the tower, except those at Lurunxuan.
Everyone was on the second floor of Guyue Tower. Ji Cheng saw people gathered around the railings, watching something. She helped Shen Yuan over and saw that on the platform below Guyue Tower, there was a huge round table set up. The table was laden with cups, plates, and fruit dishes, filled with delicacies. This giant table was being slowly rotated by children below, and besides the tableware, there were many bamboo rings on it.
Ji Cheng immediately understood that they were playing a ring toss game. Looking around, she indeed saw no drinks being served on the second floor. If anyone wanted to eat or drink anything, they had to throw bamboo rings from upstairs to catch items below. If they missed, they got nothing.
For these young masters and misses from noble families, when had they ever lacked food or drink? They might not even bother to glance at things placed right beside them. But now, having to rely on their aim to catch things, everyone was interested.
As Ji Cheng was watching, Shen Yu was helping Lu Yuan next to him to catch a cup of clear tea from below. With just a casual toss, the bamboo ring steadily encircled the cup of tea, earning praise from everyone around.
The children below carefully removed the cup of tea and placed it in a bamboo basket lowered from above. The maid upstairs slowly pulled up the rope, bringing the basket up, then took out the tea and respectfully presented it to Lu Yuan.
Lu Yuan sipped the tea with delight, her beautiful eyes fixed on Shen Yu without blinking. Shen Yu looked weary, pinching the bridge of his nose. Lu Yuan immediately asked a couple of concerned questions. Because of the noise, Ji Cheng couldn’t hear clearly, but observing Shen Yu’s responses, he didn’t seem as cold as usual.
Ji Cheng wondered if Lu Yuan had made some progress with him.
The crowd was boisterous. After Shen Yu, several others threw bamboo rings. Some hit their targets, some missed, with cheers and jeers constantly rising.
A moment later, Fourth Miss Wang suddenly appeared in Ji Cheng’s line of sight, startling her. She quietly asked Shen Yuan, “How did Fourth Miss Wang come here?”
Although something had happened to Wang Yueniang, not many people knew about it. Or rather, those who should know did know, but everyone tacitly agreed not to mention it, as Wang Yueniang had now entered the palace to serve.
With both Consort Wang Shu and Wang Yueniang in the palace, the Wang family’s status had risen even higher. Even the Southern Prince’s Manor couldn’t ignore the Wang family, and they must have been a priority when sending out invitations.