Chapter Twenty: Not A Single Drop

  Everyone did not expect that this little fellow could say such a thing, and after being shocked, they couldn't help but glance at each other with a smile.

  One, she sensed the unusual atmosphere of the crowd, and two, she also felt that she had said too much today. Wen An pursed her thin lips tightly and stopped speaking. Fortunately, the crowd had walked for a while and now they were already in front of the grand hall of Wensheng Pavilion.

  Wen An led the crowd into the house, and as soon as they entered the main hall, a shop assistant came to greet them, smiling at him and saying: "Wen An, are these few people behind you the guests who hastily checked in at Cui Zhu Garden last night?" Wen An heard this and quickly nodded in agreement. The man then bowed to the crowd and said: "Ladies and gentlemen, please follow me!" After he finished speaking, Wen An hurriedly excused himself and left.

  Originally, inside the Wen Xuan Pavilion, apart from the four guest rooms of Tian Di Xuan Huang, there were also four separate small courtyards named after plum blossoms, orchids, bamboos and chrysanthemums. The Cuizhu Garden where everyone stayed yesterday was one of these four independent small courtyards.

  Xiao Chengye and Ling Yuqing both grew up in Pingjing since childhood, and their travels abroad can be considered extensive. Therefore, they had been to the Wenxuan Hall before. However, this was their first time entering the grand hall of the Wenxuan Hall, so looking around, they felt a bit fresh.

  The reason is actually quite simple. It's just that there are no private rooms in this Wen Xuan Hall. Without private rooms, it's not suitable for old friends to reunite and joke around, but for many students to discuss their studies after dinner, it's actually very beneficial. At this moment, the timing is already late, many scholars inside have finished their meals, and are now gathered together in groups of three or five, either discussing national affairs or studying, it's extremely lively.

  When the crowd walked in, there were only a few people inside who raised their eyes to look at them. When their gaze fell on Ling Yuexian, they couldn't help but pause for a moment, seemingly surprised by Ling Yuexian's young age, but soon turned away.

  The fellow led the crowd inside. As they walked, he smiled and asked: "There are many empty tables here, I wonder which one of you gentlemen would like?"

  Xiao Chengye's eyes moved, and he pointed to a table by the west window. He said: "That side is fine!" Everyone went over and sat down, and Xiao Chengye instructed again: "No need to order, just pick what you're good at and bring it up!"

  The fellow heard the voice and could not help but respond, then retreated. However, in a short while, he had already sent over a pot of Liu'an melon seeds. Xiao Chengyan poured the pot for everyone to drink, and laughed: "It turns out that this Wenxuan Hall is not simple, even the young servants have some ambition!"

  Just now, the one who spoke most with Wen An was Ling Yuexuan. At this moment, after hearing these words, she hurriedly smiled and said: "I also think that Wen An is quite interesting!" As she spoke, she seemed to suddenly remember something and turned to Ling Yuanqing: "Sixth brother, do you think if we invest in helping Wen An study for the imperial examination, will he really become a top scorer and return ten years later?"

  Ling Yuancheng couldn't help but laugh at her naivety, saying: "There are so many scholars in this world, and among them, who doesn't want to become a zhuangyuan? But no matter how much they wish for it, the Great Zhou Dynasty can only produce one zhuangyuan every three years. And becoming a zhuangyuan is not that easy!"

  Everyone was talking here. On the other side, Yuande suddenly smiled and said: "I think that Wen An is quite interesting!"

  Because of those few words, Xiao Chengyan had a good impression of Wen An. Hearing this, he couldn't help but smile and say: "If you really feel that way, it's better to let Yuan Zhen take care of him for a while. This can also be considered as one of his opportunities!"

  Yan Dai smiled and nodded, "This idea is good! When I get back, I'll have Wen Ping send a letter to Yuan Zhen!"

  Because everyone else was dressed as men, while Yuan Zhen still wore women's clothes, if she were to come with the crowd to the grand hall of the Wenxuan Pavilion for a meal, it would be too showy. Therefore, when everyone came out, she excused herself from the crowd and returned to her shop.

  Everyone nodded in agreement, and it was naturally not worth discussing much about Wen An's kind of small servant. When the shopkeeper brought over the breakfast, everyone stopped talking and just lowered their heads to eat. In the main hall, several successful candidates had already finished their meal and left, but more candidates remained seated inside, drinking clear tea, discussing current events and literature, and occasionally engaging in debates that referenced classics.

  A group of people had just finished drinking a cup of tea when someone else walked in from the main entrance. Ling Yuexuan was sitting directly opposite the door, and as she saw someone coming in, she naturally took a glance. As soon as her gaze fell on that person's face, her expression stiffened, and her slender hand trembled, causing a few drops of clear tea to spill out of the cup and land on her pale wrist.

  The tea had been brought over for some time, and it was no longer scalding hot. However, Ling Yuexuan's unusual behavior still attracted the attention of Yuan Dai and Xiao Chengyan sitting beside her. Almost simultaneously, the two looked up at the door.

  The young man who came in at the door was quite young, with a fair and delicate complexion, wearing a blue Confucian robe, of medium build, though not particularly handsome or striking, yet gentle and calm, with an extraordinary air about him. Yan Dai took a closer look and recognized that this person was none other than Lu Weijie.

  She was about to hint at Xiao Chengyan's identity when someone who recognized Lu Weijie stood up and smiled, saying: "Brother Weijie, come sit here!"

  Lu Weijie looked over at the sound, and when his eyes fell on that person, he was momentarily stunned. A hint of discomfort appeared on his clear face, but soon he smiled and said: "I wondered who it was, turns out it's Brother Duan!" As he spoke, he had already walked past him.

  That brother looked slightly older than Lu Weijie, and was also quite dignified in appearance, except that his eyes were a bit too narrow and long, and his gaze was somewhat shifty. At first glance, it made people feel rather uncomfortable.

  Subconsciously furrowing his brow, Xiao Cheng leaned slightly towards Xiao Cheng Ye, just about to lower his voice and ask him who that man with the surname Duan was. At this time, on the other side, Lu Wei Jie had already sat down at the same table as the man with the surname Duan, after being repeatedly asked by him. After exchanging pleasantries for a moment, the man with the surname Duan smiled and asked: "Speaking of which, it's been several days since I've seen Wei Ying, I wonder where he's gone to find flowers again?"

  As soon as he said this, several people at the same table as that surname man burst out laughing.

  Obviously unwilling to mention this matter, Lu Weijie's face stiffened slightly before he replied calmly: "Now is the winter season, and it's the time when the plum blossoms are in full bloom on Lüyu Ridge. So Weiyang went to Lüyu Ridge with my cousin Far Ching to admire the flowers!"

  A man with the surname Duan smiled slyly and said, "I do believe in appreciating flowers, but I absolutely don't believe in appreciating plum blossoms!" As he spoke, his smile became even more lewd: "I've heard that he went to the Xiao family's separate courtyard. Heh heh, the famous flower of the Xiao family is still unmarried! Ah, right, I've also heard that besides Miss Xiao, there are two young ladies from the Ling family in that courtyard!"

  His voice was not too loud, but he didn't intentionally lower it either. The position where Xiao Chengye and others were sitting was not too far from him, and since everyone's attention was drawn to Lu Weijie when they saw him, this conversation was heard clearly.

  A flash of anger suddenly appeared in his eyes, and Xiao Cheng Ye unconsciously glanced at Xiao Cheng Yan and others. Xiao Cheng Yan's face did not show any anger, Far Di was even more expressionless, only Ling Yuan Xuan pursed her small mouth, speechless and sitting there with a stiff face.

  Lu Weijie did not expect that the man with the surname Duan would say such a thing, his face turned cold and he said: "This matter involves the reputation of the inner quarters, please be careful with your words, Brother Duan! You should know that if this kind of frivolous talk spreads to the Xiao and Ling estates, they may not let it go easily!"

  The reason why the man with the surname was so bold to say such things was largely due to Lu Weijie's gentle nature, rarely having conflicts with others. Therefore, when talking to him, it seemed like there were no taboos. However, unexpectedly, as soon as he mentioned those ridiculous words, Lu Weijie changed his expression and scolded him. With a somewhat awkward smile, he didn't dare mention it again and asked instead: "When will Weiying return?"

  Lu Weijie replied calmly, "When it's time to come back, I'll naturally be back!" At this point, he had completely abandoned the idea of pretending to be friendly with his opponent. Without even finishing his cup of tea, he stood up and said flatly, "I suddenly remembered that my composition is only half done. Please excuse me, I'll take my leave first!" After saying this, he turned around and walked away.

  The man surnamed Na saw this and his face turned somewhat black, wanting to open his mouth to mock a few words, but was restrained by the power of the Xiao, Ling, and Lu families and did not dare speak. He could only close his mouth and sit there in frustration. Lu Weijie stood up, but before leaving, he walked to the cashier's desk, handed over a silver ingot, instructed him to settle the bill for that table's breakfast, and then left with a flourish.

  Seeing him behave like this, Ling Yuexuan couldn't help but hum a light sound, extremely dissatisfied in her heart.

  Yan Dai saw her like this, and couldn't help but slightly raise the corner of his mouth. He turned to Xiao Chengyan and said, "I didn't expect that this person would have some old-fashioned charm!"

  Xiao Chengxian smiled as soon as she heard this, knowing that she had intentionally said it for Ling Yuexuan to hear. She said with a smile: "Isn't there some wind of breaking off relations?" As she spoke, she glanced back at Xiao Chengyan and asked: "What does big brother think?"

  Xiao Chengye also smiled and nodded, looking at Lu Weijie's expression with a few more appreciative glances.

  Guan Ning and Hua Xin were weeding in the garden together. They saw a piece of gold on the ground, Guan treated it as ordinary soil and weeds, while Hua picked it up and threw it away. Another time, they were reading books together when someone wearing official robes passed by the door. Guan continued to read as usual, but Hua put down his book and went out to look. Guan cut off their mat and sat separately, saying: "You are not my friend."

  In the past, Guan Ning cut off his mat to show his intention to break off relations with Hua Xin. Today, Lu Weijie drank a cup of clear tea from Mr. Duan and deliberately settled the bill for the whole table of breakfast, not wanting to owe him anything, and the meaning of never coming into contact again was also clearly revealed.

  This allusion was also known to Ling Yuexuan, who pursed her lips and remained silent.

  They saw Lu Weijie's obvious intention to break off relations, and the Duan family also had a plan in mind. The Duan man snorted coldly, feeling embarrassed, and got up with anger, leaving with his sleeves fluttering behind him.

  Yan Dai watched from the side, but suddenly smiled and said: "Actually, this Mr. Lu is still a bit too thick! If I were him, it would be better to just settle for that one cup of tea!" (This station... Your support is my greatest motivation.)