"Wang Lin." Meng Ruyi didn't speak until they had walked some distance away. She looked at Song Huaizhi curiously and asked, "He's Gu Ling's cousin. I wonder why you picked on him, Brother Song?"
"The Wang family holds high positions and wields great power. Moreover, Wang Lin was instigated, so no one will hold him accountable." Song Huaizhi continued, "Although he's stupid, his character is decent."
Meng Ruyi: "······ Cough, cough, cough."
If Wang Lin heard this, he'd probably burst into tears.
"However, I haven't asked you yet, Yu Yu." Song Huaizhi stopped walking, fixed his deep eyes on Meng Ruyi, and said in a slightly solemn tone, "How did you know he was Wang Lin?"
Although his face still wore the usual gentle smile, when Song Huaizhi looked at her, Meng Ruyi subconsciously felt a trace of condescending scrutiny. He was a head taller than her, but usually he never made her feel oppressed.
Meng Ruyi was slightly startled. Sensing the mood of the person in front of her, she inexplicably felt a sense of crisis. She tentatively said, "He greeted Shangguan Xue, and then Shangguan Xue exchanged a few words with him. That's how I knew he was Wang Lin."
"Um." Song Huaizhi said indifferently, "He's too stupid. Don't get too close to him."
"Okay." Meng Ruyi replied guiltily and readily agreed. Then she walked forward side by side with Song Huaizhi.
It was indeed when the two greeted each other that she learned his name. However, Meng Ruyi subconsciously concealed Wang Lin's initiative. Although she didn't even realize her own concealment, she still managed to dodge a bullet cleverly.
But why did Brother Song's last words just now sound so familiar?
[I can't take it anymore, haha. It has to be Song Huaizhi! He's so sarcastic. I like it!]
[It turns out Song Huaizhi said the same thing about Gu Ling. After all these years, he still uses the same old trick of secretly scolding people.]
[Where is he being secretive? He scolds directly (winking playfully)]
Cough, cough, cough. No wonder!
Meng Ruyi always felt that Gu Ling and Wang Lin were worthy of being cousins. They were similar when they first met, their names were a bit alike, and even when they fell into Song Huaizhi's hands, they received the same evaluation.
The academy was relatively quiet.
Their living quarters were both located in the center of the academy. So the deeper they walked, the livelier it became. From time to time, they passed by some students in a hurry, carrying books, and there were also many attendants following them, looking cautious.
Tall and graceful trees could be seen by the roadside. They happened to block the scorching sun, bringing a rare bit of comfort in the summer.
"Mr. Lin has assigned an attendant named Liufeng to me." Song Huaizhi brought up the topic, "If you can't find me on weekdays, just look for him."
"Ah." Meng Ruyi let out a small exclamation and said in surprise, "My attendant is named Chuixue. Could it be that the two of them are······"
"Yes, Miss Meng. Liu Feng and I are siblings."
Chuixue, who was following behind, said to her with a smile, "If you have anything to do, both you and Young Master Song can just order us around."
"No wonder."
Meng Ruyi let out a small sigh and said to Song Huaizhi, "Are you getting used to it, Brother Song?"
"Not bad." Song Huaizhi paused for a moment. In his mind flashed the group of people with slightly red ears when they were looking at Meng Ruyi just now. He felt a bit unhappy. "When I have time, I'll take you to the capital for fun."
"By the way, if you want to eat anything, just ask Chuixue." Song Huaizhi continued, "I was worried that you wouldn't get used to the food, so I asked Mr. Lin for a small kitchen. When the time comes, just tell Chuixue what you want to eat."
"Thank you, Brother Song!"
Meng Ruyi smiled, looking like a brilliant spring flower, dazzling everyone present.
Song Huaizhi nodded, but in his heart, he couldn't help but start thinking about an extremely important question.
How could he keep those blind people away from Meng Ruyi?
······
Shangguan Xue watched Meng Ruyi and Song Huaizhi leave.
Then she walked out of the crowd, looking gentle and calm all the way.
After leaving the crowd and reaching a quiet place, a maid who had been waiting there for some time walked towards her quickly when she saw her.
"Miss."
Seeing that Shangguan Xue's face looked a bit solemn, the maid stood aside after speaking and quietly waited for her to come back to her senses from her contemplation.
"How's it going?" Shangguan Xue lowered her eyes. Her long eyelashes covered the obscure emotions in her eyes. The light filtering through the gaps in the leaves above fell on her head, adding a bit of indescribable coquettishness.
"Reporting to Miss." The maid said respectfully, "The two disciples of Mr. Lin are extremely favored. Mr. Lin has arranged their living quarters near his own. So it's airtight there now, and it's very difficult for me to find out new information."
They're really not simple.
Shangguan Xue recalled that just now when the three of them passed by each other and left, Song Huaizhi looked cold and extremely arrogant to everyone. Meng Ruyi seemed gentle, but in fact, she was extremely hard to approach. She spoke without revealing any loopholes and was quite difficult to deal with.
When she entered the new environment, Meng Ruyi didn't seem worried at all. When she took the initiative to show friendliness, it was just a false show of flattery. If it were someone else, as the eldest daughter of the Shangguan family, when they saw her taking the initiative to show friendliness, they would have flocked to her long ago.
"Okay." Shangguan Xue curled the corner of her mouth. Although she was smiling, there was only coldness in her expression. "What did the family say?"
"Master and Madam told Miss to wait a little longer. It's still very difficult for the Shangguan family to get out of that person's control for now. They asked Miss to bear with it."
Tsk, it's really a headache.
Shangguan Xue thought of Zheng Yuanjia's domineering and paranoid nature. She felt a dull pain starting to throb in her head again. She was really annoyed.
That person clearly didn't like her, but he used it as an excuse to covet the power of the Shangguan family. He wrapped himself up in a solemn and false appearance, which made Shangguan Xue feel irritated just looking at him.
Zheng Yuanjia was a typical politician and a natural prince. There was no one colder - hearted in the world than him. He only cared about power.
So Shangguan Xue always avoided him. She never thought that the power of the Shangguan family would still catch his attention. Her father had already agreed to cooperate with him, but Zheng Yuanjia suddenly became aggressive and even wanted to propose marriage.
The Shangguan family couldn't see through him, and neither could Shangguan Xue.
The invitation to the summer banquet had already been delivered to the mansion. She had to make a decision soon, whether to go or not.
Thinking of the upcoming troubles, Shangguan Xue pursed her lips, and a bit of coldness showed in her expression.
······
In the small courtyard.
When Tang Xiyi came, his attendant knocked on the door of the small courtyard first. Then he motioned for Tang Xiyi to go in by himself.
"Thank you." He thanked in a low voice. Then he didn't hesitate to step forward. Seeing the well - arranged small courtyard, he just pursed his lips and walked up to Mr. Lin, who was already standing in the courtyard.
"Mr. Lin." He saluted after speaking. Seeing that Mr. Lin didn't say a word, he continued to stand by his side and silently waited.
"Mr. Tang."
Mr. Lin didn't keep him waiting long. He turned to look at him and said, "I already know your intention, Mr. Tang. But this matter is very difficult. I'm afraid you overestimate me, Mr. Lin."
"I'm just a teacher in this academy. How could I have the ability to wrangle with the imperial power?"
Was it because his sincerity was not enough?
Tang Xiyi took out a piece of paper he had prepared long ago and handed it to the person in front of him.