Chapter 132: How Could You Simply Ignore Him?

Chapter 132: How Could They Just Ignore Him

After the top scholar's parade, there was also the Qionglin Banquet, the imperial feast for new scholars.

The main figures all went off to the banquet, leaving the crowd of onlookers behind, still savoring the moment and reluctant to disperse. They chatted about the parade just past while finding a nearby shop to grab something to eat.

The eateries and tea stalls nearby welcomed their once-every-three-years peak crowd, with shop assistants run off their feet and shopkeepers unable to stop grinning.

Gu Wen, Chen Youyan, and Gu Muan had only recently arrived in the capital and didn't know which places were worth eating at, so they planned to just pick one at random on another street.

Gu Wen had initially thought to just pick one nearby—whichever had the most customers—but that met with strong objections from Gu Muan and Chen Youyan.

"Dad, honestly! Have you forgotten how awful the place we grabbed food at after the Flower God parade was four years ago when we first moved to the prefectural city?"

"Yeah, and the year before that, when the prefectural city held its Lantern Festival, with so many food stalls around, you still managed to pick one that was both gross and stale. That day, all four of us were making runs to the outhouse, and you ran so hard your shoe..."

Seeing his husband bring up that mortifying moment in public, Gu Wen's face flushed with awkwardness, and he immediately raised his hand to cover his mouth.

Chen Youyan laughed and dodged, then continued, "Your shoe went flying, hahaha..."

Gu Muan then burst out laughing as well.

Gu Wen was totally embarrassed. "Oh, come on, Yan Geer, the child is right here! Give me some face, won't you!"

Hearing him say that, Chen Youyan couldn't help but laugh even harder.

Talking about saving face in front of the kids—he'd conveniently forgotten the time he was fighting the kids for the outhouse and had told them they were just kids, that they could just find a hole in the backyard to do their business and nobody would care.

Gu Wen clearly remembered that incident too. He glanced awkwardly at Chen Youyan and the laughing Gu Muan, silently thankful that of the three children, at least Xue Geer didn't know about this embarrassing moment...

"Dad! A-die! An Geer!" A familiar voice suddenly came from behind them. The three froze, then turned around together almost eagerly.

Once they saw who it was, Gu Muan let out a little squeal and launched himself at the person.

"Xue-ge!"

Thirteen-year-old Gu Muan, just like when he was nine, crashed into seventeen-year-old Yin Hongxue, making him stagger back a few steps—just as Yin Hongxue had been at thirteen.

Even as Yin Hongxue was being knocked backward, he still reached out to steady Gu Muan on both sides, as if afraid this little puppy of a boy might topple over.

Gu Wen and Chen Youyan then spoke up: "Xue Geer!"

Guan Qi stood slightly behind Yin Hongxue and bowed to Gu Wen and Chen Youyan.

Yin Hongxue's eyes were slightly red, like two dots of rouge dabbed on his fair skin and gently smudged.

Chen Youyan couldn't hold back either. He stepped forward and reached out to touch Yin Hongxue's cheek and wrist.

"How did you get so thin?"

He remembered that before Xue Geer left, his face had been round—not as plump as Gu Muan's, but he hadn't been skinny either.

Yin Hongxue was something of a celebrity in the capital's official family circles.

After all, he had arrived in the capital four years ago, suddenly accompanying the Marquis Anding, who had come on a disaster relief mission. The following spring, the marquis had directly petitioned the throne to have him named heir apparent, and though the Emperor had rejected the request on grounds of impropriety, he had later compensated by granting Yin Hongxue the title of Prince Baoqing.

Prince Baoqing—just hearing the title, you could tell how much the Emperor valued him.

Or rather, how much he valued the Marquis Anding who stood behind him.

So even though Yin Hongxue had only been there a short time, many curious glances were already being cast his way from all around.

Chen Youyan had barely finished speaking when, before Yin Hongxue could reply, a man in an indigo straight-collar robe with a snow-white jade belt carved with auspicious cloud patterns came up beside him.

"Prince Baoqing, are you here to watch the parade too? If I'd known you were coming, we could have come together. What a coincidence today—though we didn't get to hang out together, we still ran into each other. We've booked a private room at Qinghe Tower. If Your Highness is free, why not join us to try some of Qinghe Tower's new dishes?"

Behind him followed another man in a dark, narrow-sleeved short robe, who bowed with easy grace as Yin Hongxue looked over. The golden embroidery at his cuffs glinted brightly as he moved.

Yin Hongxue smiled. "Thank you for the invitation, Young Masters Wu and Zhang, but I already have plans. I'll definitely join another time."

"Then we won't keep Your Highness."

Wu Duan and Zhang Shi clasped their hands in farewell and left together.

Yin Hongxue let his distant smile fade and turned back to Gu Wen, Chen Youyan, and Gu Muan. "A-die, Dad, let's head to the private room I booked. It's not really convenient to talk out here."

Having just witnessed that exchange, Gu Wen and Chen Youyan nodded hurriedly, and the group returned to the restaurant where Yin Hongxue had watched the parade.

Once inside the private room, everyone finally let their guard down.

Gu Muan looked at Yin Hongxue curiously. "Xue-ge, you're a prince now?"

There were two unfamiliar attendants in the room, who hurriedly bowed when they saw Gu Wen, Chen Youyan, and Gu Muan come in.

Guan Qi brought over pastries, and Yin Hongxue picked one up and held it to Gu Muan's lips. "Yes, now our An Geer can go out and say his older brother is a prince, and he's the prince's little brother."

Gu Muan took a bite of the sweet pastry and giggled happily at what Yin Hongxue had said.

Chen Youyan and Gu Wen smiled too. Then Chen Youyan asked Yin Hongxue about the past four years.

Though the two sides had kept in regular correspondence after Yin Hongxue left, words on paper could never compare to talking face to face.

Yin Hongxue knew his A-die and dad would ask, so using the words he had prepared long ago, he briefly recounted his four years in the capital.

"At first, it was just Grandfather and me in the marquis's residence. I had free rein over everything on a daily basis, but Grandfather worried that outsiders might look down on me, so after the new year, he petitioned the Emperor to grant me the title of Prince Baoqing."

"Later, because there was no lady of the house, and Grandfather worried he wouldn't be able to look after me properly at banquets and outings, so he married my grandmother's younger sister."

In other words, his great-aunt.

His great-aunt Bai Jing had been living in a Buddhist shrine praying for her family ever since she was widowed and returned home seven years ago. Her days had been truly hard.

Stuck in one place doing the same things, she had grown thinner and more listless year after year. After seeing him later, she was reminded of her sister Bai Ning and Song Liyin, burst into tears, and fell ill for quite a while.

Coincidentally, with Yin Hongxue now in the marquis's residence and the inner quarters lacking someone to manage things—and because Yin Hongxue had grown up in the countryside, there were always those at banquets who looked down on him because of it—

The two families talked it over and simply brought Bai Jing to the marquis's residence. Once she was kept busy, she indeed stopped sinking into depression.

However, because of the status issue, rumors ran rampant in the capital. The marquis and Bai Jing discussed it behind closed doors, and the very next day, he went to the Bai family to formally propose and took Bai Jing as his second wife.

Yin Hongxue continued: "After Great-Aunt came, she taught me to manage the accounts. I studied for a year, and at fifteen, I first tested the waters by taking over part of the marquis's estate."

"Now I've taken over almost all of it."

Gu Wen and Chen Youyan had no real idea of what "all of the marquis's estate" meant, nor did they know that the entire street where they planned to rent a shop belonged to the marquis's household.

The restaurant they were sitting in belonged to the marquis's household. The hot spring estate they'd passed on the way to the capital that Gu Muan had praised endlessly belonged to the marquis's household. The neat, beautiful wheat fields Gu Wen had admired belonged to the marquis's household. And the largest fabric shop in the capital that Chen Youyan had mentioned wanting to visit—that also belonged to the marquis's household.

So much so that later, when Yin Hongxue and Gu Chaoning married, the whole capital joked that the top scholar had risen to heaven in one step and struck it rich overnight.

Chen Youyan, upon hearing that Yin Hongxue had taken over the family business, quickly praised him: "You managed to take over in just one year? Our Xue Geer is seriously amazing. When I was learning to manage the family shop's accounts back then, I had headaches every single night."

Yin Hongxue also recalled the days in Dukou Town when they opened their first eatery, and Chen Youyan had vowed to manage the accounts but ended up groaning in pain. He let out a chuckle at the memory.

Gu Muan wasn't very interested in their discussion. After finishing the pastry in his hand and mentally noting the ingredients and preparation, he clapped his hands and looked at Yin Hongxue: "Actually, I've been wanting to say something since just now."

The young man leaned closer to his Xue Age, sniffing, "Xue Age, what's that scent you've got on? It smells amazing!"

Yin Hongxue smiled. "It's a fragrance recipe I came across in a book for fun. It turned out well, so I've been using it. I'll send you some another day."

Gu Muan was delighted and nodded eagerly.

Just then, a few waiters came in balancing trays of dishes. Yin Hongxue knew everyone's favorites, and with the big crowd today, he'd already ordered ahead. When the food arrived, he remembered to explain himself and added, "Dad, Papa, and An Geer, see if there's anything else you want to order."

The dishes Yin Hongxue ordered were spot-on, covering everyone's favorites plus some Beijing classics and the restaurant's signature plates. The three of them looked over the menu and shook their heads.

The meal left everyone full and happy. Since Chen Youyan thought Yin Hongxue looked too skinny, he kept heaping food onto his plate until Yin Hongxue was stuffed.

After the meal, they strolled around to settle their stomachs, and it was only after dinner that they reluctantly walked Yin Hongxue back to the little courtyard the Gus were renting.

Poor Gu Chaoning, the brand-new, red-hot Zhuangyuan, came back from the Qionglin Banquet only to find his family had vanished. When he stepped out, he saw the four of them strolling back together, all smiles and chatter.

Seeing Yin Hongxue again today, Gu Chaoning felt like he could smell that magnolia scent again, mixed with a faint, teasing cool fragrance that unsettled him.

Yin Hongxue was way more lively in the evening than he'd been that morning. The young man beamed, and upon seeing Gu Chaoning, he called out as if they had never been apart for four years: "Chaoning Ge!"

Gu Chaoning gave a start, feeling as though his fingertips were tingling—perhaps from too much wine.

"Xue Geer."

Yin Hongxue hurried over and eagerly spoke about the parade: "I haven't yet congratulated you on winning the Zhuangyuan, Chaoning Ge. You looked so impressive and majestic during the parade this morning."

Gu Chaoning couldn't help but smile.

Gu Wen and Chen Youyan, lagging behind, exchanged glances and then looked at each other, winking and raising their eyebrows as if recalling something from the past.

Xue Geer had come to their Gu family because Gu Chaoning himself had gone to his father and dad, saying he wanted Xue Geer as his child bridegroom!

Gu Muan scratched his head, looking at his brother and Xue Age.

Wait, so his brother hadn't seen Xue Age in four years, but before that, he hadn't seen him in two months either!

How could he just completely ignore him!