Chapter 0219: Playful Xie Chengze, Melancholy Sheng Yiren
“Whatever it is, since they came sneaking around, there must be something fishy going on.”
Xie Chengze lightly tapped the rim of his teacup and instructed, “Send someone to investigate, but be careful not to alert them.”
Sheng Yiren nodded, “Alright.”
After speaking, she realized their conversation might seem strange to Cheng Wuxue. After all, she was the daughter of a Minister, while “Shen Yuanyuan” was just an ordinary commoner. Yet at this moment, the commoner was “ordering” the minister’s daughter around.
So she quickly explained, “What she means is that I can have my father’s people look into it.”
Cheng Wuxue smiled, “No need to explain, I understand.”
She gave Xie Chengze a deep look. This Shen Yuanyuan was clearly no ordinary commoner, and probably not even a woman at all.
If she couldn’t figure out that this person was the current Prince Regent after hearing such confident talk about the Imperial Academy affairs, then she might as well admit she had wasted all her studies and forget about becoming Minister of the Court of Judicial Review.
Xie Chengze and Sheng Yiren both coughed lightly at the same time – one looked up and started commenting on how nice the weather was today, while the other looked down and began praising the tea. Cheng Wuxue couldn’t help but press her lips together in a smile and shake her head helplessly.
She had originally thought the Second Prince was an arrogant and incompetent person, but after meeting him today, she realized how wrong she had been. How could someone who said “women can hold up half the sky” be lacking in any way?
She just didn’t know when Sheng Yiren and the Second Prince had connected.
She hadn’t heard anything about that?
Cheng Wuxue couldn’t help feeling that Sheng Yiren was hiding something from her.
While all three were lost in their own thoughts, the matching list finally came out. Xie Chengze’s group of three were paired together and soon met the owner of the third poem.
“It’s actually you?”
Upon seeing the newcomer, Sheng Yiren blurted out without thinking.
“You know me, miss?” Jiang Yuan looked confused as he examined the surprised Sheng Yiren, feeling there was something familiar about her figure though her face was unfamiliar.
Realizing she had overreacted, Sheng Yiren immediately fell silent, “Oh, no, I don’t.”
Xie Chengze looked at Young Master Jiang appearing here and felt that fate truly worked in mysterious ways. Jiang Yuan’s gaze also fell upon Xie Chengze, feeling this person looked even more familiar, “You…”
“Oh, let me introduce myself.” Xie Chengze raised a hand to cover part of his face, pretending to be reserved as he said, “My name is Cheng Wuxue, daughter of the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review.”
Cheng Wuxue standing nearby: ?
Sheng Yiren: Pfft~
Jiang Yuan looked at Xie Chengze somewhat confused, not understanding why he was introducing his family background. This was his first time attending the Peach Blossom Banquet in Jingcheng, and he wasn’t very familiar with the customs, so he could only follow suit, “I am Jiang Yuan, nephew of the current Rou Fei.”
Then he looked at Cheng Wuxue.
Cheng Wuxue had no choice but to say, “My name is Shen Yuanyuan, well… from an ordinary family.”
Jiang Yuan looked at her luxurious clothing and wondered if he looked particularly easy to fool – how could someone from an ordinary family afford such fine clothes?
Perhaps the young lady was just being modest.
But what confused him most was that he considered himself quite ordinary in talent, having written poetry just to make up the numbers. How had he attracted the attention of these three young women who clearly came from prominent backgrounds?
Could it be… that when he entered the capital, they had already received news about him, specifically recognized his handwriting, and were after his money?
After all, he was so poor that all he had left was money. Jiang Yuan truly couldn’t figure out what else about him might attract an Esteemed Daughter.
His father had also said that as a mere merchant, if he could ever marry an esteemed daughter, it would be thanks to his ancestors burning incense in the afterlife…
Just as Jiang Yuan was lost in his thoughts, a somewhat familiar voice suddenly sounded behind him.
“Jiang Yuan?”
Jiang Yuan turned and looked at the white-robed man approaching, unable to hide his surprise. “Lord Shen? You’re here too?”
Shen Yuan stopped before the four of them, his gaze casually sweeping over Xie Chengze who was covering his face before withdrawing. “Yes, I came with someone.”
Jiang Yuan nodded. He had indeed heard those young masters from Jingcheng say that Shen Yuan might come, and that he would be accompanying the number one beauty of the capital. Then…
He couldn’t help but turn his gaze to the three people beside him.
Was that young lady named Sheng Yiren one of these three?
One was called Cheng Wuxue, another Shen Yuanyuan, so the remaining one—Jiang Yuan fixed his eyes on Sheng Yiren. “Could this be the daughter of the Minister of Rites, Miss Sheng?”
Her appearance was indeed stunning, worthy of being called the number one beauty of the capital. However, after meeting the Second Prince in Liaozhou, his standards had clearly been raised considerably. He wouldn’t be so rude as to stare directly at her.
Sheng Yiren snorted lightly but didn’t speak.
Noticing that Sheng Yiren seemed unfriendly toward him, Jiang Yuan felt somewhat puzzled. Just as he was about to ask where he had offended her, he saw Shen Yuan nod slightly toward Cheng Wuxue in greeting. “Miss Cheng.”
Cheng Wuxue also nodded slightly in return. “Lord Shen.”
Jiang Yuan’s mouth fell open. “Miss Cheng? Aren’t you Miss Shen?”
Shen Yuan raised an eyebrow. “Miss Shen?”
“Yes!” Jiang Yuan quickly nodded. “Isn’t it Shen Yuanyuan?”
Shen Yuan glanced at Xie Chengze, who guiltily lowered his head and began fiddling with his sleeve.
Shaking his head helplessly, Shen Yuan grabbed Xie Chengze by the back of his collar. “You all chat. I’m borrowing this person for a moment.”
Watching Xie Chengze being dragged away mercilessly, Jiang Yuan scratched the back of his head, completely confused.
Was the one who just got dragged away actually Sheng Yiren?
Cheng Wuxue cleared her throat lightly. “Let me reintroduce myself. I am Cheng Wuxue. The one who just left was just playing a little joke.”
“Oh, oh, oh.” Jiang Yuan understood now, then looked at Sheng Yiren and had a sudden realization. “So this must be Miss Shen then?”
Sheng Yiren:…
Sheng Yiren gritted her teeth. “That’s right, I am Miss Shen!”
What was wrong with his brain! No wonder he needed to hire a kind steward. If the Jiang family’s vast wealth really fell into his hands, it would probably be swindled away in no time!
Sheng Yiren couldn’t help but wonder if the Jiang family had another illegitimate child. Jiang Yuan didn’t seem at all like the business genius the Prince had described. During their time in Liaozhou, she hadn’t seen any inclination from Jiang Yuan to compete for the Ice Sculpture Festival hosting rights.
Haha, surely she hadn’t been fooled by the Prince, had she?
No, no, that couldn’t be.
How could the Prince fool her?
Wah, could the Prince really have been fooling her?
Seeing Sheng Yiren beginning to radiate despondency, Jiang Yuan grew somewhat panicked, wondering to himself if he had guessed wrong again.
Because he had loved studying stones since childhood, always either staying in shops or running around everywhere, he hadn’t had much contact with women. The only methods he knew for pleasing girls were what he had learned from his father.
Jiang Yuan quickly took out a valuable piece of jade from his purse and handed it to Sheng Yiren. “Please don’t be angry,” he said. “I’ve just arrived in Jingcheng and am not familiar with the people here. If I’ve offended you in any way, I beg your forgiveness.”
If not for searching for that young male vendor who was exceptionally skilled with the abacus, he wouldn’t have planned to come to Jingcheng at all.