"Miss Lu, do these dishes suit your taste?"
The County Mistress's voice jolted Lu Chun out of her chaotic thoughts. She raised her eyes and met the County Mistress's smiling ones. The anticipation in those eyes was almost overwhelming!
What really made Lu Chun's heart skip a beat was that the County Mistress actually leaned forward slightly and personally pushed the plate of stir - fried green leafy vegetables in front of her!
"This..." Lu Chun tightened her fingertips around the chopsticks. For a moment, she didn't know how to respond.
On the way to the Prince's Mansion, she had imagined countless possible scenarios in her mind - perhaps a high - handed admonition, or a veiled humiliation, or even being directly ordered by the County Mistress to leave Wang Jingxuan... She was prepared to handle all kinds of difficulties, but she never expected such a situation!
This left Lu Chun a bit confused, unable to tell whether it was kindness or malice!
So Lu Chun chose to remain calm. After thanking the County Mistress, she picked up her chopsticks and quietly started eating.
The County Mistress, who had been waiting for Lu Chun's reaction, slumped her shoulders and let out a soft sigh. Her fingers unconsciously tapped on the table, looking as if she was anxious about something!
Shen Cuiyu's gaze had always been on the County Mistress. In fact, from the moment she stepped into the pavilion, she noticed that the County Mistress's look at Lu Chun was a bit strange... If she had to describe it, it was a look of admiration, but also a bit of annoyance and... sulkiness?
At this moment, Shen Cuiyu's communication talisman was connected to Zhong Shengwan and Dongfang Xiao outside the mansion.
After hearing what Shen Cuiyu was thinking, Dongfang Xiao looked extremely surprised. He frowned and thought for a long time, then suddenly exclaimed in realization:
"I know!"
Everyone held their breath and listened attentively.
"Could it be that the County Mistress... likes Lu Chun?!"
Zhong Shengwan couldn't bear it any longer. His communication talisman suddenly went silent. The next moment, there came a few shrill screams from Dongfang Xiao's side.
Shen Cuiyu:......
At the same time, the County Mistress suddenly slapped the table and said seriously:
"Stop eating! How about I tell you two a story?"
Lu Chun and Shen Cuiyu exchanged a look and both gracefully put down their chopsticks, looking like they were all ears.
The County Mistress's gaze swept over the black jade bracelet on Lu Chun's wrist. After a moment of silence, she slowly began:
"Once upon a time, there was a scholar. When his family was poor, his wife sold their family - heirloom black jade bracelet to support his studies. He swore that once he achieved success, he would surely find the bracelet for his wife."
She calmly looked at the fallen leaves outside the pavilion:
"Later, he indeed passed the imperial examination with flying colors. But at a poetry gathering, he saw a jadeite bracelet on the wrist of the daughter of a high - ranking official. It was of excellent quality and extremely valuable. When he returned home and saw his wife's empty wrist, he suddenly thought... even if he found the black jade bracelet, it would be dull and not presentable."
The County Mistress's tone grew heavier:
"What's even more ridiculous is that instead of thinking about how to gain recognition in an upright way, he guarded the path that the daughter of the high - ranking official passed by every day, reciting poems and showing off his talent. And even..." She paused meaningfully, "even secretly spreading rumors that his wife was jealous and vulgar and unworthy of being a wife of an official. He didn't know that although the jadeite bracelet was precious, it didn't belong to him at all. Wearing it for too long would only bring disaster."
The County Mistress turned her gaze back and looked directly at Lu Chun:
"Do you think such an ungrateful and despicable person deserves any good bracelet?"
Lu Chun stared steadily at the County Mistress. She finally realized that what the County Mistress was talking about wasn't about the bracelet at all!
It was clearly about people!
With the words said to this extent, it would be unreasonable if she still didn't understand.
Lu Chun raised her eyes and for the first time, without any hesitation, met the County Mistress's gaze. Her almond - shaped eyes, which were always lowered, were now filled with tears but extremely determined:
"The meaning of the County Mistress, this commoner girl understands." Her voice was clear and every word was distinct. "That scholar is a faith - breaker, but his wife is not a coward. She will surely clean up the family and will never be infatuated and entangled! I took the liberty to come here today just to expose all of Wang Jingxuan's schemes -"
She took a deep breath, as if trying to expel all the stale air that had been pent up in her heart:
"I don't know how the County Mistress views him now, but a person who can abandon his wife for glory today will surely betray the County Mistress without hesitation if he encounters a greater temptation in the future. With such a character, he is by no means a good match!"
After she finished speaking, Lu Chun only then realized that her cheeks were burning. She was always cautious in her words and deeds. When had she ever expressed her feelings so directly? But the exhilaration of going all out overshadowed the shyness and made her straighten her back unconsciously.
The pavilion fell silent for a moment. Only the rustling sound of the wind blowing the fallen leaves could be heard.
The County Mistress didn't respond immediately. She just stared at Lu Chun quietly. Her gaze was so complicated that it made Lu Chun's heart tighten. She suspected that she might have misunderstood.
The next moment, the County Mistress let out a long breath, stroked her chest and laughed: "You finally understood! I was really afraid just now that I was wasting my efforts like throwing a flirtatious look at a blind man."
She picked up the teapot herself and refilled half a cup of warm tea for Lu Chun. Her tone was much more relaxed:
"A gentleman doesn't take what others like. Since he is a married man, he should have taken the initiative to avoid suspicion. But he is like someone who doesn't understand. Every time he takes advantage of my father's appreciation, he always has 'chance encounters' on my way home from school, saying some so - called elegant small talk and sending some inappropriate poems..."
The County Mistress shook her head helplessly:
"Such self - infatuation is really annoying."
Actually, the County Mistress wasn't someone who cared about social status. Moreover, Wang Jingxuan had once saved her and her father and was kind to them. So when Wang Jingxuan first expressed his affection for the County Mistress, she didn't reject him.
It wasn't until Wang Jingxuan was recruited into the mansion by her father as a staff member. After the mansion checked his background as usual, the County Mistress was shocked to learn that he was already married!
This incident was like a thin thorn, instantly stuck in the County Mistress's heart!
From then on, all of Wang Jingxuan's attentions tasted different in her eyes. The gratitude she had towards him gradually faded away because of his repeated boundary - crossing entanglements.
Out of courtesy, she was inconvenient to scold him directly and could only decline him tactfully again and again.
Who would have thought that Wang Jingxuan didn't know when to stop at all!
Until yesterday, the County Mistress heard that Wang Jingxuan's wife had arrived in the city. Her worry grew even stronger - she was afraid that Lu Chun was a pedantic and submissive woman who was willing to "maintain the overall situation" and voluntarily leave her husband; and she was even more afraid that Lu Chun was still kept in the dark and knew nothing about her husband's actions.
After much thought, the County Mistress finally decided to take a gamble and personally invited Lu Chun to meet.
After listening to the County Mistress's frank confession, the last trace of haze in Lu Chun's eyes finally dissipated. A knowing but slightly bitter smile appeared on her lips.
She stood up and solemnly bowed:
"The kindness of the County Mistress's frank confession today, this commoner girl will always remember in her heart."