At this moment, a servant rushed up and whispered to Prime Minister Wei that the emperor had urgently summoned him and he was to enter the palace immediately.
Upon hearing this, Prime Minister Wei immediately said to his daughter beside him, "I have urgent matters to attend to and will leave first. After the banquet, you return to the mansion on your own. Do not wander around! Do you hear me?"
"Yes, Father," replied Wei Qingshan.
Prime Minister Wei picked up his wine cup, stood up, and said to the imperial concubine, "Imperial Concubine, the emperor has urgently summoned me. I must go to the palace at once. I'll drink this cup first as a show of respect!"
He raised his cup towards the imperial concubine and then saluted in the direction of the Prince of Pingnan. Then he downed the wine in one gulp.
"Very well, very well. Hurry up and go!" said the imperial concubine understandingly.
"I'll take my leave first," said Prime Minister Wei as he put down his cup. He glanced at his daughter and then quickly left.
The banquet was almost over. The imperial concubine was feeling a bit tired. She said, "Everyone, I'm feeling rather fatigued. I won't accompany you any longer. I'll go and rest first. You all enjoy yourselves!"
"We bid farewell to the imperial concubine!"
The banquet ended. Princess Anyao had already returned to the palace.
Si Hongxi accompanied Wan Ruo to the entrance, with Qin Manman following closely behind.
As soon as they reached the entrance, they saw Bai Chen and Wei Qingshan waiting for their carriage at the door. The two of them locked eyes and felt rather awkward.
"Is this young lady the daughter of the prime minister, Miss Qingshan?" Si Hongxi stepped forward and greeted Wei Qingshan.
Wei Qingshan gracefully curtsied to the Prince of Pingnan, Si Hongxi, and replied, "Yes, Your Highness."
"Thank you for coming to the banquet today. If there's been any negligence in our hospitality, please forgive us," Si Hongxi said politely.
"Thank you for the generous hospitality of the prince's mansion. I'm deeply honored," Wei Qingshan said gently. "Who is this young lady beside the prince?"
Si Hongxi quickly introduced Wan Ruo to Wei Qingshan and said, "Oh, this is Miss Wan Ruo. She's a friend of mine!"
Wan Ruo politely nodded and smiled at Wei Qingshan.
Wei Qingshan looked at Wan Ruo and said, "Oh, so this is Miss Wan Ruo!" Then she looked at Bai Chen beside her.
Wan Ruo also followed her gaze and looked at Bai Chen, who was also looking at her.
The way she said it made it seem as if Bai Chen had often mentioned her! Those who didn't know would think they were very familiar with each other.
Si Hongxi then looked at Bai Chen and mocked, "Shopkeeper Bai is here too? Didn't you say you had something to do and couldn't come?"
Bai Chen gave a cold snort and said, "Humph! I really did have something to do, but since the prince was kind enough to invite me, if I didn't come, wouldn't that be disrespectful to you, Your Highness?"
As soon as he said this, Si Hongxi's face instantly darkened.
At this moment, Wan Ruo reached out her hand and gave the jade hairpin in her hand to Bai Chen. She said, "By the way, here's this. Return it to you!"
Si Hongxi beside her was stunned. So this jade hairpin belonged to this guy? I've been carefully keeping it. If I'd known earlier, I would have...
Bai Chen glanced at the jade hairpin in Wan Ruo's hand and deliberately said, "It's just a jade hairpin. I, as a young master, have no habit of taking back what I've given away. If you don't want it, you can do whatever you like with it!"
When Wan Ruo heard Bai Chen say this, she tightly clenched the jade hairpin, almost crushing it. She took it back and said faintly, "Oh, okay!"
Clearly, it was you who asked me to find it back then, but now you don't want it! It's true that once you have someone else in your heart, everything I do is wrong!
Seeing Wan Ruo's low mood, Bai Chen also felt a bit heart - broken, but he couldn't show it.
Si Hongxi beside them couldn't bear to see Wan Ruo sad. He put his arm around Wan Ruo's shoulder and said gently, "Miss Ruo Ruo, I'll take you back!"
As soon as Si Hongxi said he would take Wan Ruo back, Wan Ruo looked at Bai Chen, but Bai Chen was looking at Wei Qingshan. He deliberately said gently, "Miss Qingshan, it might be unsafe for you to return to the mansion alone. How about I take you?"
When Wei Qingshan heard that Bai Chen would take her back, she was naturally overjoyed. She looked at Wan Ruo and then nodded in agreement. "Then I'll trouble you, Young Master Bai!"
Hearing that Bai Chen would take Miss Qingshan back, Wan Ruo was in a low mood. She said to Si Hongxi, "No need, Your Highness. Thank you, but I'd like to take a walk alone."
At this moment, when Qin Manman heard this, she quickly stepped forward, grabbed Si Hongxi's arm, and said coquettishly, "Brother Prince, my home is a bit far away. Will you take me back?"
Wan Ruo tightly held the jade hairpin in her hand. She said to Wei Qingshan, "Miss Qingshan, I'll leave first!"
After saying that, Wan Ruo walked past Bai Chen without even raising her head and left on her own.
Si Hongxi looked at Wan Ruo's back. He wanted to chase after her but didn't dare. Being held by Qin Manman, he could only helplessly say to Bai Chen, "Then I'll leave Miss Qingshan to you!"
"Someone, take Miss Manman back. I have urgent matters to attend to and won't accompany you anymore," Si Hongxi said. Then he shook off Qin Manman and turned back into the mansion.
Qin Manman, who was treated differently, stood alone at the door, stomping her feet in anger.
"Let's go too," Bai Chen said coldly.
Bai Chen and Wei Qingshan got into the carriage and left.
Qin Manman had no choice. Although she was angry that Si Hongxi didn't take her home, she didn't want to walk back by herself even more. So she obediently got into the carriage prepared for her and went home.
Bai Chen and Wei Qingshan were sitting in the carriage. Wei Qingshan was looking at Bai Chen, while Bai Chen was looking out of the window boredly.
Outside, the streets were bustling with activity, but at this moment, Bai Chen's mind was elsewhere.
"Why did you suddenly offer to take me back, Young Master Bai?" Wei Qingshan looked at the absent - minded Bai Chen and couldn't help but ask.
Seeing that he didn't seem to want to speak, she continued, "I guess it's because of Miss Wan Ruo, right?"
At this moment, huge raindrops suddenly started to fall from the once - clear sky.
People in the market began to pack up their stalls in a hurry, and for a moment, it was in a complete mess.
Wei Qingshan was also attracted. She lifted the curtain and curiously looked out of the window, muttering, "What kind of weather is this? It's raining so heavily on a sunny day!"
Bai Chen looked at the sky and said dejectedly, "She's crying!"
What? Who's crying? Wei Qingshan didn't understand what he was talking about.
Then she heard him say coldly, "I still have something to do, so I won't take you back." Then he quickly jumped out of the carriage.
Wei Qingshan quickly pulled open the curtain to look for his figure, but he had already disappeared.
On the bustling and chaotic street, Bai Chen immediately saw Wan Ruo, who was crouching in a corner, crying her heart out.
She was still tightly holding the jade hairpin in her hand. Her whole body was soaked. She was curled up in a small ball in the corner. Her cries were completely drowned out by the sound of the rain.
She had never felt so lonely before. It was as if the whole world had abandoned her.
Bai Chen slowly walked towards her.
He stretched out his hand, and an oil - paper umbrella instantly appeared in his hand, shielding her from the rain.
At this moment, she felt someone was holding an umbrella for her. She slowly raised her head and saw that the person in front of her was Bai Chen!
And this scene was clearly seen by the people in the carriage parked in the distance.