The young lady is delicate and soft, yet she criticizes the powerful minister for bowing and scrapin

"Ah Li! You're here too!" Qin Xue said happily as soon as she stepped out of the front hall.

The Third Madam brought over a lot of fruit, and together with her nanny and servants, came over from the other side to entertain Qin Xue.

"Madam, it's alright, thank you for your hospitality. My sisters and I are just strolling around the manor. We've never seen such beautiful scenery in the Marquis of Dingyuan's manor before." Qin Xue naturally took Qi Yunli's arm.

Qi Yunli's face was paler than when I first met her, and her lips were almost bloodless. However, her eyes were very bright and black, like obsidian immersed in water.

When you look at someone, you can see their brilliance at a glance. Her eyebrows are delicate and soft, and her nose is straight and elegant. Even though she is ill, her eyes and brows still exude a refined and graceful charm.

Qin Xue sighed inwardly, slightly taken aback. When she first met her, she thought this cousin was quite pretty, but since she was a cousin of the family, she didn't give her much more attention.

But looking at her today, although she was pale, she had a delicate, graceful charm that inexplicably softened my heart and gave rise to a desire to protect her.

Do you think the same way, Brother Jun?

Qin Xue pursed her lips, but still reminded herself not to overthink it. She really liked Brother Jun; when they were little, he was both a competitor and an admirer in the eyes of other men.

To marry someone like that would make her stand out among all the noble ladies in the capital. Besides, the fact that the Marquis of Dingyuan's family didn't choose the daughters of the other two Prince Rong and Prince Sheng indirectly proves that she is the most knowledgeable and reasonable woman.

Before she actually marries Brother Jun, all other women from other families should be wary.

"Ah Li, the three of us are holding hands and blocking the way, you just follow behind us." After saying that, Qin Xue took Ruochun's hand and walked ahead.

Wei Ruochun walked slowly, telling Qin Xue about the scenery of the artificial hill on the lake along the way. Both ladies of the mansion had cherry blossom trees in their courtyards, and there were also cherry blossom trees planted in other waterside pavilions. Although the trees were not large, it was a very beautiful thing for the cherry blossom petals to fall when the wind blew or it rained.

"Cherry blossom petals scattered on the ground can even form a path!" Wei Ruochun said with unique pride. Last time she went to the Rong Prince's Mansion, she didn't see any cherry blossom trees.

Thinking of this, Wei Ruochun said smugly, "Sister Xue will be happy to marry into the Marquis's mansion, because the Marquis's mansion is much larger than the Rong Prince's mansion."

Upon hearing this, Wei Ruowei's expression changed, and she stepped on Wei Ruochun's shoe from behind.

Unfortunately, I didn't step on it; I just brushed against her heel.

Qin Xue was distracted, preoccupied with other matters. She nodded in agreement, but her mind was elsewhere as she moved on to another issue:

"Yes, these views are beautiful. Does Brother Jun like cherry blossoms?"

Wei Ruochun's hairpin tilted to one side as she pondered for a moment: "I've never heard my elder brother say he likes anything. He's always kept his emotions hidden and isn't very lively. But if you find him boring after you marry into the family, you can come and play with me."

Qin Xue smiled, holding her handkerchief: "Of course I want to play with you. But of course I need to know my future husband's preferences. After you and Ruowei get married, I'll still be the one to take care of him in this household."

"My elder brother doesn't like flowers; his yard is completely bare. You'll see when you go in later. Besides, he's not interested in women, and Ru Feng is the only one by his side."

Qin Xue nodded: "Your older brother has never had any close female friends?"

"Never. But I was close to the young lady of the Rong Prince's Mansion when I was a child, but that was when I was a child. Now that I'm grown up, we don't see each other much. My elder brother is busy with official duties and hasn't been at the manor for the past three months." Wei Ruochun chattered on, answering Qin Xue's questions without any ambiguity.

Wei Ruowei listened from behind, her temples throbbing, and complained in a low voice, "Why is her mouth like a sieve, everything just spills out?"

Qin Xue was even more concerned when she heard this. She had been holding back her anger the whole way, and she could only force a smile at the scenery of the mansion, pretending to be happy, and she didn't say much.

After walking for a while, we finally arrived at Jingchen Courtyard. Jingchen Courtyard was remote, and we hardly encountered any maids along the way.

Ru Feng stopped them from the outside.

"How dare you! This is Sister Xue, the future mistress of the Marquis's mansion! How dare you, a mere servant, stop us!"

"It's nothing, he was just following orders," Qin Xue said understandingly. "Go and inform the young master that Qin Xue has arrived."

Ru Feng glanced at her attire and said, "I apologize for my abruptness, Miss Qin, please come in."

Wei Ruowei whispered in Qi Yunli's ear, "Big brother is so biased. When a few of us sisters wanted to come to Jingchen Courtyard to play with him, he just had Rufeng kick us out. Humph, but when Sister Xue came, she was let in without even having her identity checked after she gave her name."

Qi Yunli smiled outwardly, but inwardly scoffed.

Qin Xue is indeed extraordinary.

Upon entering, Wei Jun was writing in the waterside pavilion, which had no walls on any side, right under the eaves.

After court, he had changed into his everyday clothes, his belt loosely tied with a cloth strip. His figure looked tall and slender from behind. A table was placed in the center of the waterside pavilion, piled with thick volumes of documents and ledgers, as well as an inkstone.

From behind, he was writing quickly on the paper, stroke by stroke, his brow furrowed in deep concentration.

A gentle breeze ruffled the hair behind his head, the black strands hanging loosely and swaying in the wind. There were no other servants attending to him; the only sounds were the wind, the water, and the soft scratching of his pen as he wrote.

"Brother Jun," Qin Xue called out sweetly.

"You've arrived. I was just about to look for you. Grandmother said you were visiting, and I was going to find you after finishing my official business." Wei Jun was more talkative than usual.

Qin Xue lowered her head and said, "Why don't you show me around your yard?"

Wei Ruochun quietly stepped back and, standing between Wei Ruowei and Qi Yunli, said to them, "They're such a perfect match!"

Wei Ruowei glared at her but didn't argue. "Sister Xue has finally come to the Marquis's residence, so it's only right that my elder brother shows her around. The three of us can only chat with her about girls' feelings; we can't help you two get along. Let's walk around your courtyard. Your courtyard is quite large, but we haven't been here in a long time."

"I'm keeping you two with me, in case you cause trouble," Wei Jun said.

Qin Xue was overjoyed. Wei Jun was filial to his grandmother, kind to his younger sister, and even doted on his cousins.

Jingchen Courtyard was indeed nothing to see; there were no flowers, no grass, and the two trees planted at the entrance were tall and thin.

The largest room in the entire courtyard was actually the spacious outer hall.

Wei Ruowei remained motionless in one place, following Qin Xue's perspective.

Qin Xue sensed something was wrong and asked, "What's wrong?"

Peeking over, one could see a painting of a man and woman drinking together hanging on the wall.

Before entering the Marquis's residence, Qin Xue had already heard that Wei Jun had a crush on a woman and had even painted a portrait of her. Now, it seemed half true and half false; there's no smoke without fire.

The two are currently engaged but not yet married. As the daughter of the Duke of Qi, she considers herself of high status and asked directly:

"Brother Jun, who is the woman in that painting?"

"He's just a figment of my imagination; he doesn't exist," Wei Jun said calmly.

The person I imagined?

Qin Xue was not satisfied with this answer. In her imagination, there must be a prototype. Who was the prototype of that woman?

Jealousy struck in an instant; the woman in the painting had no bangs, no stray hairs. But Qin Xue had always had adorable wispy bangs since she was little.

If it's not me, then who could it be?

"Big brother, why have you started learning the piano?" Wei Ruowei quickly changed the subject.