After Xiao Fubao's life was stolen, he became the favorite of everyone in the capital

Chapter 297 Strange eyes
The banquet held at Duke Xian's Mansion was originally to celebrate Qin Jing's winning of the third place in the imperial examination.

The arrival of Gu Mingda, the top scholar, inevitably seemed to be stealing the show. Lady Xian Guogong originally did not want to invite Gu Mingda, but she could not resist Qin Jing's strong invitation.

Qin Jing's actions also showed his sincere desire to be friends with him.

When Gu Mingda arrived at Duke Xianguo's Mansion with his wife and daughter, most of the guests had already arrived.

Shortly after entering the door, Gu Mingda separated from his wife and daughter.

Zhang Yunniang took Niu Niu to the flower hall which was specially used to receive female guests. Upon closer inspection, the Gu family had received generous gifts from the Xianguogong Mansion because of an incident at the city gate, but this was Niu Niu's first time at the Xianguogong Mansion.

According to the rules in Beijing, Lady Xian Guogong should give Niu Niu a gift when she met her.

Niu Niu bowed obediently according to the rules. Although Lady Xian Guogong did not like this playmate who led her daughter astray, she still waved her hand and asked someone to deliver a routine gift in front of so many people.

The matter should have ended like this, but unexpectedly, Madam Liu, the elder sister of the wife of Duke Xian, suddenly said, "Good boy, come here and let me see."

Niu Niu walked over obediently.

Mrs. Liu's face was full of kindness and love. She reached out and patted Niuniu's shoulder and said, "This child really looks kind, but I can't remember who he looks like for the moment."

When Lady Xian Guogong heard this, she said casually, "Maybe it's like the friend you had in Lingnan."

Madam Liu's father-in-law was once demoted to Lingnan, and the whole family went through an extremely difficult time. Now that Lady Xian Guogong's wife said this, it was really unrelated.

Madam Liu did not argue with her sister. Instead, she looked Niu Niu up and down carefully before looking at the wife of Duke Xianguo with a strange look.

The wife of Duke Xian was puzzled and said, "Sister, this child has a common face, so don't worry about it anymore."

What Lady Xian Guogong said was actually quite biased. Niu Niu was very cute, with a blessed face like the little dolls in New Year pictures. She was not an ordinary face at all.

Mrs. Liu looked around at the many guests and her younger sister's outspokenness. She could only shake her head helplessly. In the end, she did not let her younger sister down. Instead, she said, "Such a cute child, I am happy to see it, but I am afraid you children will feel constrained staying here. Go play with other children."

As Mrs. Liu spoke, she casually picked up a gold lock and hung it around Niuniu's neck: "It's not worth much, just wear it for fun."

Niu Niu hesitated and looked at her mother beside her.

Zhang Yuniang nodded slightly, and Niuniu then lifted her skirt and bowed to Madam Liu.

Qin Jingshu stood beside the wife of Duke Xianguo, waiting anxiously for Niu Niu for a long time, and now she couldn't wait to take Niu Niu out to play.

"Mother, I will take Miss Gu to the waterside corridor to meet the sisters." Qin Jingshu said in front of everyone.

Lady Xian Guogong forced a smile and said, "Go ahead, don't neglect the guests."

When she said this, she almost gritted her teeth.

Lady Xian Guogong had been in high spirits these days. Her eldest son passed the imperial examination and was ranked third in the imperial examination, and her second son was engaged to Princess Rongjia. Only Qin Jingshu was disobedient and was forcibly sent by her son to the old lady's courtyard to be educated.

Because of this only thing that made her dissatisfied, Lady Xian looked at her daughter with even more displeasure.

"The eldest princess has arrived!"

As her name was called out outside the door, Lady Xian of Duke Xianguo suppressed her anger, put on a smiling face and stood up to greet the eldest princess.

Niuniu and Qin Jingshu also heard the voice, so they waited for a while before Shen Ling came. "You two are really good friends." Shen Ling said with a smile.

Niuniu raised her little face, took Shen Ling's hand and said, "It's okay for me and Sister Ling too."

Niu Niu couldn't help but recall the painful past in Qingshui Village, when she was pulled between Gu Daya and Gu Xiaoya and forced to answer who she had the best relationship with. Niu Niu really didn't want this tragedy to happen again.

Shen Ling didn't know what Niuniu was thinking about, and said, "You little brat, you're the best at coaxing people with your mouth!"

Qin Jingshu looked at Niu Niu with envy. She felt that Niu Niu seemed to have a kind of magic that always made people want to get close to her. Everyone liked Niu Niu very much, and when Niu Niu acted coquettishly, no one seemed to be able to resist her.

"The day after tomorrow is the ceremony of announcing the succession of the imperial examinations. After the ceremony, there will be a banquet and a parade of the newly-appointed scholars. You will definitely not be free, so my brother has scheduled a date for the day after tomorrow to go to the Zoo. I will pick you up then."

Shen Ling had not originally planned to bring Qin Jingshu along, but seeing the two little girls holding hands, he simply said it together. After all, it was just taking one more person along.

When Niuniu heard this, her eyes lit up immediately and she said excitedly, "A snow-white little deer! And a black and white big bear! When Brother Changfeng was on the boat, he promised to take me to see them! He still remembers!"

Shen Ling thought it was just a simple outing, but she didn't expect there were actually causes and consequences. She smiled and said, "Don't worry, Niuniu. I will forget other things, but I will always remember your things."

Niuniu nodded vigorously: "Brother Changfeng is the best!"

Shen Ling joked: "There is no bad person in your mouth."

Niuniu smiled sweetly.

But as the three of them turned the corner along the road, they saw some "bad" people, and Niu Niu's brows, which had been relaxed, couldn't help but frown.

Qin Er was standing not far away, saying something to a young maid, his hand almost touching her face.

The maid tried to dodge, but Qin Er kept pressing on.

Qin Jingshu was so ashamed that she wished she could dig a hole in the ground and crawl into it. She asked Niu Niu and Shen Ling to stay where they were and she trotted over.

"Second brother!"

When Qin Er saw his sister, he restrained his movements a little. He followed the direction his sister came from and saw Shen Ling and Niu Niu.

He automatically ignored Niu Niu and his eyes fell stickyly on the beautiful Shen Ling.

"Whose family is that lady from? She looks familiar, I seem to have seen her before." Qin Er asked.

Although Qin Jingshu was young, she instinctively felt that the tone of the voice was wrong, and hurriedly said, "That's Miss Shen, the daughter of the eldest princess."

Qin Er then reluctantly withdrew his gaze and said, "No wonder she looks familiar to me. If she wasn't the daughter of a wealthy family, I wouldn't be able to remember her."

Qin Jingshu looked at his carefree appearance and felt annoyed, but still said, "Brother, this road is too close to the waterside corridor. There are many guests coming and going today. If someone sees us, it will be bad."

Qin Er was immediately unhappy when he heard this and said, "What do you mean? Do you think I am embarrassing?"

Qin Jingshu was about to shake her head, but suddenly she looked at Qin Er with surprise, and then pointed at Qin Er's face with her finger.

Qin Er was puzzled: "Why are you making such a weird expression? What's wrong with my face?"