Everyone looked puzzled.
Ye Xi had heard of Ling Yan, the second miss of the Yun family. Although Jiang Ning wasn't very clear about her, Ye Xi was definitely not the second miss of the Yun family.
Although they didn't know where the siblings got their conclusion, they definitely couldn't pretend to be someone else.
So without a second thought, Ling Yan coldly said, "No."
The siblings of the Cao family were both taken aback.
They exchanged a suspicious look. They both thought it was Ye Xi's excuse. After all, there weren't many people in the suburbs of the capital. As a man, he had just come up to strike up a conversation out of the blue. Any person would be highly on guard.
Moreover, for a young lady as beautiful and well - born as her, she definitely wouldn't answer whatever others asked.
Cao Sheng secretly thought that he had been too hasty. He should have introduced himself first before asking questions.
Thinking of this, Cao Sheng became even more gentle and humble. He bowed and said, "It was rude of me, miss. Please don't be afraid. We are from the Cao family of the State Uncle's Mansion in the capital. This is my younger sister, Cao Wei. My grandfather is Grand Tutor Cao, the teacher of two emperors.
"As the autumn imperial examination is approaching, my mother is the kindest and most benevolent person. In order to pray to the Buddha for a good future for the brothers in the family, she voluntarily went to a famous temple thousands of miles away for penance to show her sincerity. My sister and I were just on our way back after seeing off our mother. We saw that the scenery in the suburbs of the capital was extremely beautiful, so we decided to take a walk. It's really a great fortune for me to meet a beautiful lady like you here."
"Yes," Cao Wei quickly chimed in, "We're all going back to the capital anyway. Miss, why don't you come with us siblings? We grew up in the capital and are very familiar with it. We can introduce some places to you."
Everyone was speechless for a moment.
No wonder they met the two here. So that was the reason.
Although they didn't know why Zhao E had left, almost everyone in the capital knew that Cao Sheng was banned from taking the imperial examination this year. They didn't believe a single word of his lie. And from the way they spoke, they seemed to be trying to form a marriage alliance with the Yun family.
It seemed that the siblings of the Cao family were not willing to listen to others at all. They only believed what they thought and were convinced that Ye Xi was the second miss of the Yun family.
For such a brazen and stubborn person, simply denying was useless. They had to find an identity that would make them look down on them so as to get rid of their dirty thoughts.
Ye Xi coughed twice and motioned for Ling Yan to come over.
Then she whispered in Ling Yan's ear, "These siblings are crazy. Simply denying will only make them think that we don't want to reveal our identities. Tell them that we're not from the capital but from a merchant family in another place. Since my husband is still busy with his business, we're just taking a break here and enjoying the scenery in the suburbs of the capital. When my husband is done with his business and comes over, we'll go back. Tell them to leave quickly lest there be any misunderstandings later."
Ling Yan nodded to show that she understood.
She turned around and said, "My mistress said, 'Get lost.'"
After a pause, she felt that it might not be enough to dispel Cao Sheng's disgusting thoughts, so she added, "Our master will come over after he's done with his business. If he sees you two, he'll definitely take action."
Ye Xi and Jiang Ning: …
The way she relayed the message was kind of related and kind of not, and it really seemed like something Yi Yuan would do.
Cao Sheng and Cao Wei: The young lady took much longer to speak just now.
Cao Wei was displeased.
The girl was dressed like an unmarried young lady, but she insisted that she was already married. This clearly showed that she was on guard against her and her brother. Moreover, that maid was really fierce and unpleasant.
Cao Sheng also noticed that Ye Xi's attire was inappropriate, but he only thought it was the proper sense of caution of an unmarried girl, which was a good thing. Since the other party didn't want to reveal her identity, constantly asking questions would only make her annoyed.
He didn't want to be disliked by such a beautiful woman. Anyway, there would be plenty of opportunities to contact her in the future.
So Cao Sheng remained calm and still smiled, "In that case, I won't bother you anymore."
He introduced his family background again, thinking that he was very proper and polite, "If the miss has any trouble in the future, just come to me. I'll definitely do my best to help."
Then he pulled the disgruntled Cao Wei away.
When they saw the two walking away, Yan Gui and Sai Xing came down. The pavilion roof had been dirty for years, and the two of them were all black and white all over, even their faces were not spared. They looked really funny.
Thinking of how the siblings of the Cao family had despised Ye Xi's appearance before, but were stunned by her beauty just now, everyone couldn't help laughing.
However, they couldn't continue practicing horseback riding here. Who knew if Cao Sheng would come here to "accidentally meet" them one day? That would be so annoying.
After some fun, Ye Xi quickly got on the horse and rode a few laps. Maybe she was really disgusted by the brazenness of the siblings of the Cao family. Ye Xi really wanted to ride the horse and run into them. Because of this anger, Ye Xi managed to get over the obstacles that she used to be afraid of very smoothly this time.
Finding a way to overcome her fear, Ye Xi was extremely happy. She rode a few more laps. Seeing that it was almost lunchtime, she happily took everyone to buy delicious food.
On Eque Street, people were coming and going. The fragrance of all kinds of delicious food wafted over. Even through the veil, the smell wafted into Ye Xi's and Sai Xing's noses. There were ice - cold yuanzi, plum juice, ice - water lychee paste and other specialties of summer, which made everyone dazzled.
They bought some snacks and then went to Qunying Tower. They ordered dishes in a private room and each had a bowl of crispy mountain, and then they ate happily.
Just as they were happy, suddenly they heard a deliberately lowered voice of a little boy outside, shouting viciously, "Give it to me quickly! This crispy mountain is so expensive. How can a mute like you be worthy of eating it!"
"If you don't give it to me, I'll tell grandmother that you snatched my crispy mountain! Anyway, you can't speak. Let's see how you can defend yourself."
At the end, there was an uncontrollable sense of pride in his voice.
Everyone frowned involuntarily.
Judging from the boy's voice, he was only about six or seven years old, but he was already bullying his own siblings like this. And from what he said, it was obvious that this wasn't the first time.
There was no voice of an adult outside, which showed that their family members were not around. They were hesitating whether to interfere in other people's children's affairs when the boy's voice suddenly got angry and shouted even more fiercely, "You dare to snatch it back! Bah, stupid mute, get out of the way!"
Then there was a "thud". It seemed that the boy had pushed the other child heavily to the ground.
This made everyone completely unable to sit still.
Yan Gui was the closest to the door. As soon as the "thud" sounded, Yan Gui "swished" open the door.
Everyone came over together and saw a chubby, white - faced little boy outside, glaring fiercely at a thin little girl on the ground who was crying with tears in her eyes.
The little boy didn't expect there to be people in the room. He was so scared that he took several steps back.
When he came with his mother just now, he clearly saw that there were no guests in this room. If there were people in this room, wouldn't they know what he had done to bully this little mute?
According to past experience, the little boy started to howl as soon as he opened his mouth.