At the entrance, people were coming and going in an endless stream. Carriages kept arriving, and well - dressed nobles stepped out of them one after another.
They were all resplendent and surrounded by servants, looking extremely magnificent. Among them, there was a figure with its back to Wen Heyu that stood out conspicuously.
The person was wearing a gaudy yellow dress. From the back, it made her whole figure look extremely stout. On her head was a crooked hair bun with six or seven golden hairpins stuck in it haphazardly, and a huge peony velvet flower was also dotted at the back.
Wen Heyu recognized at a glance that all those clothes were the ones he had given to Shen Linyi.
However, Wen Heyu never expected that these clothes would look so vulgar and ugly on Shen Linyi. It made him feel dizzy for a moment, and he had the feeling that he couldn't even take Shen Linyi out in public.
But what really sent a chill down Wen Heyu's spine was that Shen Linyi, with her back to him, was chatting with someone. And that someone was none other than Liu Jingxian!
No wonder Butler Lao was so anxious. If Shen Linyi blurted out his thoughts carelessly, wanting to take a concubine before his legal wife even entered the door, Liu Jingxian would surely throw a tantrum. Then he would have to spend time coaxing this delicate young lady.
If Liu Jingxian had a bigger temper, she might even abandon him directly. By then, where could he find such an easy - to - coax noble girl?
"What's going on here? Since the people have arrived, why weren't they brought in? Instead, they let these two meet. Why is Miss Liu here today? There's no one from her family taking the imperial examination this year. What's she doing at this Forest of Gathered Elegance Banquet?!"
Wen Heyu was both anxious and angry as he continuously questioned Butler Lao beside him.
He had dared to bring Shen Linyi out so openly because he thought Liu Jingxian would surely not come to the Forest of Gathered Elegance Banquet. But now, things didn't go as he had planned.
Butler Lao was on the verge of tears and quickly explained, "Originally, I wanted to take Miss Shen in directly as the young master had instructed. But Miss Liu's carriage had a collision here, which was why these two met."
"Miss Liu recognized me and asked me to call the young master out."
Butler Lao never expected things to turn out like this!
As soon as Liu Jingxian got out of the carriage, she saw Shen Linyi sitting inside. But she didn't ask who Shen Linyi was. Butler Lao had a whole lot of explanations ready, but Liu Jingxian just waved her hand and told him to call Wen Heyu out. Butler Lao had no choice but to anxiously go find Wen Heyu.
Wen Heyu glared at Butler Lao and scolded, "Useless fool!"
Afraid that Shen Linyi might blurt something out, he didn't care about anything else and hurriedly ran forward.
"Miss Liu," before Wen Heyu even stood still, a gentle smile appeared on his face, and his eyes sparkled as if he was really surprised and delighted by Liu Jingxian's arrival.
Seeing this, Liu Jingxian sighed silently to herself. No wonder she had been deceived. Wen Heyu's acting skills were so good that anyone would be deceived.
"I didn't expect to see you here at today's Forest of Gathered Elegance Banquet, Miss Liu. Are you passing by here on your way to the shops on East Street to buy rouge? Why don't you wait until tomorrow? I'll accompany you there."
Wen Heyu had a smiling face, but his tone was full of probing.
Liu Jingxian deliberately pulled a long face and said nothing, but her eyes kept wandering between 'Shen Linyi' and Wen Heyu.
Wen Heyu clenched his fists tightly under his wide sleeves and started to complain that Shen Linyi had come neither too early nor too late, but just at this moment.
But he didn't even glance at the person beside him. Instead, he piled on a smile and explained to Liu Jingxian, "This is the daughter of a servant in my family. Since her family has done a great favor to mine, I've recognized her as my adopted sister. I didn't expect the two of you to meet here."
Wen Heyu felt that the 'Shen Linyi' beside him seemed to want to say something, so he quickly added, "I wonder how Lord Liu's health is. It's been a long time since I last saw him. I'll pay a visit to your family another day."
" Butler Lao! Come quickly and take Sister Shen into the Forest of Gathered Elegance Banquet. Find a seat for her and settle her down first. I'll come over later."
Hearing this, Butler Lao hurriedly came over.
Out of the corner of his eye, Wen Heyu saw 'Shen Linyi' reluctantly following Butler Lao away, and only then did he feel relieved.
Judging from Liu Jingxian's reaction just now, Wen Heyu could roughly guess that Shen Linyi should not have said anything out of turn. Otherwise, Liu Jingxian would have already lost her temper.
Liu Jingxian knew very well that the Shen Linyi just now was fake. All of this was just to make Wen Heyu feel guilty and scared.
After Shen Linyi left, Liu Jingxian rolled her eyes and got closer to Wen Heyu affectionately, saying, "The Forest of Gathered Elegance Banquet allows guests to bring their family members. Brother Heyu... why didn't you invite me?"
The implication of this sentence was very strong, and it made Wen Heyu overjoyed.
But he was also afraid that Shen Linyi would throw a tantrum if she saw him being intimate with Liu Jingxian, so he hesitated a bit.
In his mind, he had already imagined the scene of the two women fighting and being jealous of each other for him.
"I was afraid... I might offend Miss Liu, so..."
Wen Heyu slightly lowered his head and didn't dare to look directly into Liu Jingxian's eyes, fully portraying the image of a gentle and talented scholar experiencing his first crush.
Liu Jingxian rolled her eyes secretly and almost lost her patience. "It's okay. Take me in."
Actually, Liu Jingxian could have entered on her own. But for the sake of the smooth progress of her subsequent plan, Liu Jingxian decided to sacrifice her charm.
"Okay, okay, okay!"
Wen Heyu completely forgot about Shen Linyi. Thinking that Shen Linyi was accompanied by Butler Lao and if he avoided her a bit, nothing bad would happen.
Wen Heyu stood there with a smug smile on his face, not knowing what he was imagining. Liu Jingxian gave him a disdainful look and took the lead to walk in.
Seeing this, Wen Heyu quickly followed behind Liu Jingxian and walked into the Qin'an Tower.
Not long after the two of them went in, Shen Linyi also arrived at the entrance of the Qin'an Tower.
Liuyun carefully helped Shen Linyi get out of the carriage. As soon as she appeared, Shen Linyi attracted the curious looks of most of the people present.
Although the clothes on Shen Linyi were not extremely luxurious and she was wearing a veil so her true appearance couldn't be seen clearly, her noble aura was undeniable. Instead, the mystery of not knowing her appearance added to her charm.
Shen Linyi had grown up in the Prime Minister's Mansion and was very familiar with etiquette. Naturally, she knew all about these banquets and gatherings. She folded her hands naturally in front of her body, straightened her back, and looked straight ahead. Standing among a group of noble girls, she didn't look out of place at all.
At a glance, she looked like a well - bred and polite daughter from a good family.
With the token given to her by Liu Jingxian, Shen Linyi smoothly entered the Qin'an Tower.
The Qin'an Tower was the largest restaurant in the capital city. It had six floors, and each floor was as large as three floors of an ordinary restaurant.
Each floor was designed in a staggered pattern, with stairs winding through them.
After entering, there was a very large viewing garden in the center of the first floor. There was a pool in the garden, from which clear water would sometimes spurt out like a small fountain.
There were several red fish swimming happily in the water. Their tails were like transparent veils. They were actually the rare red pearl fish from overseas that were priceless.
Singing girls and dancing girls were scattered around the stages in the garden, performing their talents hard for the guests. Neatly - dressed maids and wine boys were walking busily and orderly among the guests.
Because of the Forest of Gathered Elegance Banquet, the Qin'an Tower had specially emptied the lower three floors for the banquet. By now, it was already crowded with guests.