Meng Ruyi felt as if her heart had been hoisted up. She was ruminating on all possibilities, worried that this Gu Ling might target her family.
Song Huaizhi saw what was on her mind and couldn't help but chuckle. "Don't worry. For now, there's no problem. Instead of fretting about this, Ruyi, you'd better think about what you learned yesterday and earn back the money for the gift as soon as possible."
Meng Ruyi felt as if she'd been stabbed. Her heart ached faintly, and her breath caught for a moment.
During the subsequent banquet, Meng Ruyi listened as Song Huaizhi introduced the people at the banquet to her from time to time.
After listening for a while, Meng Ruyi suddenly realized something was off. A chill ran down her spine.
Oh my god! Song Huaizhi had fled from the capital. How could he know so much? He even knew that the official sitting opposite Meng Ruyi had a private connection with a local casino!
Meng Ruyi felt she might have known too much. It was as if Song Huaizhi had pulled her onto a sinking ship.
Song Huaizhi saw Meng Ruyi suddenly pause. She subconsciously bit her lip nervously and then glanced at him uneasily.
"Does Ruyi not want to listen?" Song Huaizhi pretended to be regretful. After taking a sip of tea to moisten his throat, he looked into Meng Ruyi's eyes with a smile.
[It feels like I'm in the middle of gossiping and then the whole thing is taken away. Is Song Huaizhi deliberately whetting Yu Yu's appetite?]
[Damn! Song Huaizhi is so scheming! He knows Yu Yu is a curious and silly - acting girl, so he only tells half of the story, deliberately making Yu Yu take the bait!]
[Such scheming... I'm so worried about Yu Yu. The protagonist almost got wiped out by him. He really deserved it.]
Meng Ruyi gritted her teeth. She knew that if she nodded, Song Huaizhi might drag her into many things in the future. Sure enough, Song Huaizhi was not the kind of person who would let himself suffer. He had been teaching her whole - heartedly, but actually, he had already planned to pull her onto his side.
Meng Ruyi only realized later that she had been tricked again.
So, should she continue listening?
Meng Ruyi didn't hesitate for long.
She looked at the barrage in front of her and was silent for a moment. In fact, she was a puppet pushed around in others' eyes. She didn't even know what role she played in that astonishing book. The only thing she was sure of was that she had just escaped a disaster, and the person in front of her was the big villain in the book.
She couldn't let these strange things control her life.
Meng Ruyi nodded. She saw the smile in Song Huaizhi's eyes. His long, peach - blossom - like eyes were filled with a gentle glow, making him look even more handsome.
It was the first time she saw Song Huaizhi smile so happily. The smile in his eyes was completely unrestrained, and the usual gloom in his eyes was gone. Meng Ruyi was stunned for a moment. Then she came to her senses, picked up the water on the table and took a sip to hide her embarrassment.
"Is this banquet also part of your plan, Brother Song?"
Meng Ruyi sighed. Seeing Song Huaizhi looking like he didn't want to pretend anymore, she sighed deeply.
"Sort of." Song Huaizhi nodded slightly and then said softly, "Why do you look so solemn? I'm just telling you some interesting things."
[I'm dying of laughter. Whose interesting things involve exposing everyone's dirty secrets?]
[Song Huaizhi is like a spy from a rival company at the company's annual meeting. He follows the company's key employees and spills all the dirt on everyone, then asks if they want to jump ship.]
[Hahaha, the sister above's analogy is so vivid. Song Huaizhi really wants to stir up trouble!]
Meng Ruyi couldn't help but roll her eyes at him. Then she came back to her senses and sighed again.
She whispered, "Let's talk about it when we get back. If you keep talking, I'm worried someone will overhear. We might get our throats cut as soon as we leave."
Song Huaizhi laughed. Looking into Meng Ruyi's eyes, he suddenly let out a soft chuckle and said, "Ruyi, have a little faith in me."
Meng Ruyi rolled her eyes at him again and was too lazy to talk.
Who would have faith in someone who tried to drag them into trouble at a banquet! Meng Ruyi wailed in her heart. Looking at the laughing barrage, she took a deep breath and began to worry that she might be angered to death.
Seeing Meng Ruyi's expression, Song Huaizhi couldn't help but smile again. Then he felt a gaze on him.
He looked up and saw Mrs. Gu sitting at the head of the table looking at him with a veiled look in her eyes. He pretended to smile at her casually, then continued to look at Meng Ruyi beside him.
The General of Dingguo had been sent here without hiding his or his family's whereabouts. Although he might still be in the military camp now, Song Huaizhi could sense the undercurrents.
It seemed that the capital had been quite lively recently?
Song Huaizhi didn't know what he was thinking. A hint of inescapable gloom appeared in his eyes. His fingers subconsciously touched his waist, but he realized that there was only the brocade pouch he had taken from Meng Ruyi, which still contained candy.
...
When they got home, Meng Ruyi said goodbye to her parents. She walked slowly towards the courtyard with Song Huaizhi. She could hardly keep her eyes open, but she still tried to stay awake to talk to him clearly.
When they were almost at the courtyard, Song Huaizhi saw that she was sleepy and her eyelids were drooping. So he gave a look to Lianqiao, signaling her to take Meng Ruyi back to her room.
As soon as Lianqiao's hand touched Meng Ruyi, she was startled and immediately woke up. "Lianqiao, you all go first. I'll talk to Brother Song here for a while. You go back and wait. Brother Song will send me back later."
After seeing Lianqiao and the maids leave, Meng Ruyi waited until they were out of sight. Then she turned to Song Huaizhi and carefully probed, "What are you going to do, Brother Song?"
Song Huaizhi let out a soft laugh and lowered his head slightly. His long eyelashes cast a faint shadow under his eyelids. In this dim path, his expression was hard to read.
First, he inexplicably looked up at the moon, then said, "It's not a big deal. It's just some personal grudges."
If it weren't for the barrage, Meng Ruyi would never have guessed that the so - called personal grudges in Song Huaizhi's mouth were actually a feud of exterminating the family.
The Song family was a well - known aristocratic family in the capital. Song Huaizhi's grandfather was a famous Confucian scholar with many students. But the younger generations of the Song family were of average talent, so the family was just so - so. However, in Song Huaizhi's generation, there was such a brilliant child. His grandfather was worried that he might be too intelligent for his own good, so he taught him personally and told others that the child was in poor health and hardly showed up.
It seemed that the next generation of the Song family had a promising future. Unfortunately, before Song Huaizhi became famous, the Song family was involved in the struggles of other families. In the blink of an eye, only he was left.
So Meng Ruyi couldn't understand why Song Huaizhi had taken a fancy to her and why he wanted to drag her into this. Compared with him, she was like heaven and earth. She was no match for him, and the Meng family was just an ordinary family.
If Meng Ruyi agreed to him, the road ahead would be extremely difficult.
This was an extremely unreasonable deal! She just needed to get out of this strange story in the book. She didn't need to confront those aristocratic families!
Meng Ruyi was about to refuse, saying that she was willing to offer help but would never leave with him. The next second, the barrage exploded.
[Damn!!!!!!!! I've flipped through the original book countless times today. I've been staying up late until I'm about to die! Finally, I found Meng Ruyi's character!]
[Tell us quickly! The kind person above will have a safe life, get discounts when buying groceries, and win the lottery!]
[Near the end of the story, didn't the female protagonist get poisoned? The poison Meng Ruyi took was from a famous doctor in the capital. That person was actually an imperial doctor who had committed a crime in the capital. Meng Ruyi had a special constitution in the original book. She took three doses of the medicine but didn't die. The doctor found out! Finally, that person joined one of the male protagonists. When the female protagonist was poisoned, he remembered Meng Ruyi with the special constitution and transferred the poison to her!]
[I'm speechless. It's so clichéd. Why do these old - fashioned novels all have the poisoning plot?]
[Damn! I've also found it. At the end, it only said that Meng Ruyi died very miserably, but she had no family. The female protagonist buried her with honors. When the male protagonists saw her miserable state, they were very scared and loved the female protagonist even more!]
[Come out, you dog author! How could you turn such a cute girl into a side character? I can't stand it!]
The barrage was in an uproar.