Looking at the eager eyes of his old wife, the Duke of Ding nodded.
The Duchess of Tingguo reached out fiercely and grasped his hand tightly, her lips wriggling eagerly.
The Duke of Determination patted her hand and the Lady of Determination’s eyes instantly turned red.
“Everything is up to grandfather.”
Xiao Yao replied.
“You go down first.”
Xiao Yao answered and retreated.
Just as the door closed, the Lady of the Ding State had already stood up eagerly, “Your Lordship ……”
“Xiao’er has already left.”
“Is he, is he well?”
The Duke of Ding got up and helped the Lady of Ding to sit down, “He’s fine, a half-dozen times like Wan’er. But he has made a disguise, so even people who know him well can’t tell.”
The Lady of the Ding State was in tears, her eldest daughter Xiao Wan was a pain in her heart and she could not hear anyone mention it.
She choked on a sob, “You should have let me meet him, it’s been twelve years and I haven’t seen a glimpse of that child.”
“He’s going to be in the capital for a while, he’ll meet.”
……
Xiao Yao went to her parents’ courtyard. Xiao Zheng, son of the Duke of Ding, Xiao Yao’s father, was not in the house, only Qin was.
“Mother.”
Qin was embroidering flowers, and when she heard the door thought she put down the embroidery work in her hand, “Yao’er, come and sit down.”
Xiao Yao went over and sat down next to Qin, leaning her head on her shoulder.
It was rare for her to be so dependent, and Qin sensed that she was preoccupied and asked worriedly, “What’s wrong?”
“Grandfather just shouted me over and looked after a marriage for me.”
Qin immediately held her up, and Xiao Yao pursed her lips, “It’s a scholar from Qingping County, called Song Si.”
“Where is the person, the person?”
Qin’s voice trembled.
Xiao Yao knew she was asking about the cousin she had never seen before and shook her head, “I haven’t seen him.”
“Yao’er ……”
Qin’s hand holding her tightened and wanted to say something, but was interrupted by Xiao Yao in a soft voice, “Mother doesn’t need to worry about me, I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time, now that the marriage has been settled, my heart is also solid.”
Qin wrapped her in her arms apologetically and gently stroked her head.
There was silence in the room.
The door of the house was pushed open and Xiao Zheng walked in, seeing the scene inside the house his feet paused for a moment and he asked with a smile, “What’s wrong with you two mothers?”
“Yao’er’s marriage has been decided.”
The smile on Xiao Zheng’s face receded and Qin nodded as Xiao Zheng turned his head towards the outside, his footsteps eager, even to the point of running out of the courtyard.
He ran to the main courtyard, didn’t even knock on the door, and barged straight in, “Father, Mother ……”
“You’re back, sit down.”
Xiao Zheng held back his excitement and sat down, looking at his father with unblinking eyes.
“That boy is very good, following your sister.”
Xiao Zheng’s hand resting on his lap clenched.
“He’s staying in the capital for a while and will get a chance to meet, but there’s one thing you need to do now.”
“Father, please speak.”
“There is a man called Zhang Huai who is staying at the Duke of Qi’s residence, so find a way to get rid of him.”
……
Gu Yi and Xiao Si went to the inn where Song Wan Yue was staying, and before they reached the entrance and dismounted, the Gu family’s boy greeted them, holding the horse well while waiting for Gu Yi to get down, while reporting, “Young master, Duke Song and Miss Song have gone to see the examination hall and haven’t returned yet.”
“Book a room first.”
Xiao Si responded, threw the horse’s reins to the boy and walked in.
The inn had long been full, where there was still room.
The innkeeper said he was sorry, and Xiao Si looked at the boy with the horse with displeasure, “I’m sorry they came so early, they didn’t know to book a room for the young master.
The boy said, “Mr. Song said to let the young master stay in the same room with him.”
“Lead the way.”
Another boy took them up, the door to the room was unlocked, Gu Yi pushed it straight in, the room was neatly tidied up, one of the beds had Song Si’s things on it.
Gu Yi sat down at the table, “How long have they been there?”
“More than half an hour, if young master is in a hurry, I’ll look for them and come back.”
“Forget it, I’m tired from the journey, I’d better rest for a while, you guys go wait downstairs and report to me as soon as you see them coming back.”
The boy answered and stomped downstairs.
Gu Yi did not even take off his outer robe, and lay down on the other bed, casually pulling the quilt over his body, and fell asleep in just a moment.
Xiao Si stood at the door yawning, after Gu Hui’s funeral, he and the young master had rushed here non-stop, barely stopping on the way.
……
Song Wan Yue did not know that Gu Yi had already arrived, she sat bored inside the carriage, looking out through the lifted curtain, all the students who had come to see the examination hall, talking in twos and threes as they walked.
She was about to move her gaze and look away when a figure caught her eye.
After narrowing her eyes, Song Wangyue jumped down from the carriage and walked towards that side.
“Song ……”
The boy following the carriage was just about to ask, when he saw Song Wangyue waving her hand, again signalling him to follow.
The two peddlers immediately followed.
In front of them, two men dressed as servants followed Zhang Huai, with a very respectful attitude, “Young Master Zheng, the examination hall is ahead, there are more people, so you should be careful.”
Zhang Huai responded absentmindedly, his eyes looking around.
He had now changed his identity and was Zheng Qian, a student from Yizhou County, the eighth place winner of last year’s Yizhou County Prefectural Examination. Although his face had also changed, he couldn’t help but feel vain, afraid of running into Song Si and being recognised by him.
Song Wan Yue followed far behind, she could be sure that the person in front of her was Zhang Huai, and even if she had changed her appearance, she would not be mistaken.
Suddenly, Zhang Huai stopped in his tracks.
Song Wangyue followed suit and saw Song Si and Sun Jin coming from the front.
Zhang Huai instantly turned his back.
Song Wangyue, calculating, walked quickly towards Song Si and Sun Jin, “Big brother, you’ve finally finished watching, I’ve been waiting impatiently.”
As she said that, she had already walked up to Zhang Huai, her foot seemed to trip on something, and her body lurched and slammed into Zhang Huai.
The two boys who were following behind her subconsciously reached out to help, but when they saw her wink, they withdrew their hands.
But they were a step too late, and Song Wangyue crashed into Zhang Huai, causing him to lose his momentum and lunge forward.
“Little sister!”
Song Si ran this way.
Zhang Huai panicked in his heart and crashed straight into the tree in front of him, painfully covering his nose as tears instantly flew out of his eyes.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry ……”
Song Wangyue, however, had already stood firm on her feet and apologized one after another.
“Little sister, how are you?”
Song Si had run up to her, eagerly sizing her up.
“I’m fine, I just ran into this big brother, big brother, check if he’s alright.”
“I’m fine, it’s fine.”
Zhang Huai covered his nose, not daring to turn around, and kept waving his hand.
He didn’t look like he was fine. Song Si walked up to him and watched his eyes tear up, knowing that he had hit the ground pretty hard, he was very sorry and took out a handkerchief and handed it over, “This brother, I’m sorry.”
Zhang Huai didn’t take it, “I’m really fine, you guys can go.”
“No, I think you have just hit yourself quite badly, let us have a look, if you are fine, then we can leave with confidence.”