30

  The sky slowly darkened, and the streets became increasingly crowded. As I looked around, the lights on both sides of the street seemed to stretch on endlessly, like a sea of stars. The scent of perfume and the shadows of hair wafted through the air, accompanied by the sound of laughter that never ceased. I couldn't help but take in the sights, even sneaking glances at the girls walking by my side. All three of them burst out laughing, with Qingyun teasingly saying, "You look like you've never strolled down the street before!" I let out a sigh and shook my head, saying, "Isn't that the truth? It's like I've been cooped up in prison all day." She looked taken aback for a moment, then smiled again.

  I'm no good at guessing riddles, so I just looked at the lanterns. The Thirteen and Green Wild seemed to be unimpressed as well, not very interested, so the four of us just took a casual look along the way.

  Thirteen led us to a wine tower, and the waiter, who had apparently seen Thirteen before, quickly arranged for us to sit in a window seat. "Later, when they perform the lion dance and dragon dance, you can watch from here, it's both clear and not crowded!"

  Four of us were watching the people coming and going below, chatting and laughing, when suddenly we heard a voice say: "Is Thirteen also here?" We turned our heads to see that it was Fourteen and several young men standing behind us. The young men hurriedly greeted Thirteen, while I and Qiao Hui busied ourselves greeting Fourteen, the scene was very lively for a moment! However, both Thirteen and Fourteen didn't wait for us to speak, they waved their hands and said: "You're all wearing casual clothes, no need for so much etiquette!"

  The atmosphere was a bit quiet, with Green standing beside me, looking out the window with her head tilted. Cui Hui stood with her head down, I looked at Thirteen and then at Fourteen. Both of them had smiles on their faces, but the meaning behind those smiles were vastly different. Thirteen had an air of nonchalance about him, while Fourteen's smile was elegant, yet his mouth corners held a hint of coldness. Fourteen caught me looking at him and gave me a chilly stare. I nodded slightly and lowered my head.

  A thin, pale boy standing with fourteen called out: "Isn't that Green Wildflower?" Only then did Green Wildflower turn her head back around, glance at the speaker, and lower her head without a word. Fourteen only then noticed that Green Wildflower was a girl and couldn't help but take another look. Green Wildflower kept her head down, expression indifferent, I reached out under the table to gently grasp her hand, she turned her head to look at me, I smiled slightly and let go of her hand.

  At this time, a short and fat young man, with a mocking expression on his face, said: "It's really 'a young man is not romantic in vain', the thirteenth master is embracing left and right, enjoying a life of luxury." Before he finished speaking, the thirteenth master's face had already turned cold, and before he could get angry. Just then, fourteen let out a cold snort and said: "Zhazi Lin, what nonsense are you talking about?" Zhazi Lin obviously didn't understand why this flattery had provoked the fourteenth master. Some people were confused, standing there stupidly. There were people next to me who knew me and wanted to remind me, but it was already too late.

  I lowered my head and smiled slightly, then looked up and asked: "Are you here to admire the lanterns or the people?" Only then did everyone take their seats.

  The lion's performance was not bad, and the dragon dance was also very good. However, among those present, probably only I and Qiao Hui really appreciated it. Others were either lost in thought or secretly glancing at me, while a few couldn't stop staring at Lu Wei.

  The reward has been rewarded, the play has been played, and the night is already deep. So I prepared to return to the mansion. Fourteen suddenly said: "I'll send Ruo Xi back." After listening, I took advantage of fourteen's inattention and shrugged my shoulders at thirteen, and thirteen smiled. In the end, thirteen sent Green Ru, fourteen sent me and Qiao Hui, and the others dispersed on their own.

  The weather was quite cold, Qiao Hui put the cape she had prepared in advance on me. I walked shoulder to shoulder with Shi Si, Qiao Hui followed behind us, all the way to the gate of the mansion, without a word.

  The little servant opened the door, saw it was me and Fourteen, and hastily greeted us with a smile, saying: "Miss is back, Master Lan has sent someone to ask after you several times." After Fourteen let him get up, he asked: "Is Eighth Brother around?" The little servant hastily replied: "He's at the main wife's place. Should I go report it?" Fourteen walked forward while saying: "Tell Eighth Brother that I'm waiting for him in the study."

  I was thinking of going back to my sister's place, but I was stopped by the Fourteenth, who had a stern face and said: "Follow me to the study." I thought for a moment, feeling that it didn't matter if I went with him. So I nodded. Letting Cuihui go back first to tell my sister, I followed the Fourteenth to the study together.

  The two of them sat silently in the study for a short while, before Li Fu lifted the curtain and Eighth Brother walked in with a smile on his face. Seeing me there too, a hint of surprise flashed across his face.

  Fourteen An stood up without being invited, opened his mouth and said: "Eighth brother guess, who did I see with Ruoxi today?" Eighth brother was still smiling, glanced at Li Fu, Li Fu hastily retreated and closed the door behind him.

  Ba Er Ge sat down, smiling and asked: "With whom?" Shi Si looked at me and said: "I don't know when she became so close to Lao Thirteen? She's with Lao Thirteen." He snorted and continued: "This is nothing, she's actually mixed up with a courtesan named Si." I listened, getting angry too - who was he to interfere in my affairs? I retorted: "What about being with Thirteen Gege? What about being with the courtesan?"

  He glared at me, saying: "How? Have you ever seen a noble lady from the Forbidden City and a courtesan together?" I grew angrier, standing up to look at him, coldly smiling as I said: "I only know that Green Pearl, who died for love by jumping off a building, was a prostitute; Liang Hongyu, who beat drums to resist the Jin invaders, was a prostitute; Li Shishi, who refused to serve the Jin people and died by swallowing gold, was a prostitute; Lin Si Niang, the general's wife who fought to save King Heng, was a prostitute; Yuan Bao'er, who sang with abandon until her death, was a prostitute..." Suddenly realizing that Yuan Bao'er lived during the late Ming dynasty and resisted the Qing army, I hastily shut my mouth, still glaring at Fourteen with an angry expression.

  Obviously, he didn't expect his two sentences to provoke me into saying such a long speech, with both anger and momentum, and for a moment, he couldn't think of how to refute me, so he just nodded while gritting his teeth and glared at me angrily.