Wei Xing, Wu Ya, and Lin Yuan were not biological brothers, but they had sworn brotherhood since childhood. The eldest was Wei Xing's older biological brother, Wei Ming. The second was Wu Ya, the third was Lin Yuan, and the youngest was, of course, Wei Xing.
The four of them were not related by blood, but their bond was even stronger than that of biological siblings in a great family. Now, Wei Ming had gone to serve as the prefect in a local county, so they rarely saw each other.
"Hey, Third Brother, who did you write on the wish list? The princess or the young mistress?" Wei Xing was extremely excited as he couldn't contain himself and came to find Lin Yuan. "Look at your romantic affairs. One after another, either a princess or a young mistress. You're amazing!"
Lin Yuan gave him a sidelong glance but said nothing.
Wu Ya fanned his folding fan and smiled faintly. "Yuansi, every time you speak, it sounds like nonsense."
Wei Xing was quite dissatisfied. "Where did I talk nonsense?"
Wu Ya said, "Asking Zhongjin who he wrote on the wish list is nonsense in itself."
Wei Xing said, "You're right. He came all the way during the chrysanthemum - viewing banquet. At that time, there was no news about the princess yet."
Seeing that Lin Yuan didn't say a word, Wei Xing looked at him curiously. He noticed that Lin Yuan's eyes were strange. Lin Yuan was looking coldly at those young masters, and the young masters being stared at by Lin Yuan's cold gaze were trying hard to peek at Yi Zhici.
Wu Ya understood and said teasingly with a smile, "Today, the young mistress of Yuyang is really dressed beautifully. Her figure is well - shown. I wonder who will be so lucky in the future."
Lin Yuan glared at Wu Ya, then withdrew his gaze. His eyes were calm.
"Anyway, it has nothing to do with them," he said, and then added, "It won't be related to them in the future either."
Wei Xing and Wu Ya burst into laughter.
On the stage, Gu Jing was still being mysterious. "Are you all very nervous? Hehe..."
Wei Zhu reached out and poked him. "Stop being so secretive."
Gu Jing straightened his expression, picked up a scroll in a proper manner, and began to announce. "The young master of the Northwest and Princess Qingping, the young mistress of the Northwest and Li Ye, the youngest son of the left prime minister, Hou Chen, the eldest son of the Duke of Zhenguo, and Yan Sijin, the eldest daughter of General Yan, Wei Xing, the youngest son of the right prime minister, and Ye Cong'an, the daughter of the minister of war..."
As these names were read out one by one, Yi Zhici didn't hear her own name but heard Yan Sijin's. So she planned to tease her. "Sister Yan, did you get what you wished for? This young master Hou is a very nice person. Your taste is really good."
Yan Sijin was silent, lost in thought.
Yi Zhici sighed but didn't dare to ask further. She could only let her mind wander. Just as she was daydreaming, Gu Jing's voice pulled her back.
"Lin Yuan, the son of General Lin Qiong, and Yi Zhici, the young mistress of Yuyang..."
Ah—
Yi Zhici didn't let out a scream. She covered her mouth with her hand.
Fortunately, she hadn't completely lost her senses. At least she remembered to cover her mouth to prevent herself from shouting out.
But... So what if they were paired together? It didn't necessarily mean that he had chosen her.
Yi Zhici calmed down a little.
She quickly looked at Lin Yuan. Unexpectedly, Lin Yuan showed no reaction at all. He just stood there calmly, not even looking at Gu Jing. He was looking outside the palace wall, standing with his hands behind his back, straight and aloof.
Yi Zhici was puzzled again. Could it be that the one in his heart was outside the palace and not a noble young master?
Wei Xing walked over to her boldly. "Young mistress, why are you unhappy?"
Yi Zhici pushed Wei Xing aside. "Brother Wei, you should go find Miss Ye now. You two are a pair."
"It's useless for me to find her. Miss Ye has someone she fancies. His Highness, the Prince of Song, told me. She fancies Young Master Hou."
Yi Zhici: "???" "Fancies Young Master Hou? Is it true?"
Wei Xing sighed. "Do you know who I wrote on my list? I wrote the young mistress of the Northwest. I thought she was quite interesting though she has a bad temper. Who would have thought it would end up like this?"
Yi Zhici: "Your taste is quite unique."
Wei Xing: "..." "I think you're quite hostile towards me."
Yi Zhici comforted him. "I'm just a bit excited. How could I be hostile towards you? But I really can't figure out why you fancy the young mistress of the Northwest."
Wei Xing: "..."
Yan Sijin still remained silent. Her eyelashes fluttered, and her obsidian - like eyes were always fixed on the ground.
For today's hunting, Yi Zhici had specially asked Zhongqing to tie up her hair neatly. She was wearing a colorful silk - embroidered shirt with cuffed sleeves and only a hairpin as her headdress for the convenience of riding a horse.
Of course, the most important thing was that it would be convenient for her to secretly look at Lin Yuan while riding.
This outfit made her look valiant and heroic, and even her chubby face seemed to have a touch of heroism.
But she didn't expect that Lin Yuan would take a carriage.
Yi Zhici, who was about to ask someone to lead a horse over: "..."
Wei Xing was puzzled again. "Third Brother, aren't you a military general? Why don't you ride a horse?"
Lin Yuan said justifiably, "I sprained my foot."
Yi Zhici thought: Then of course he should take a carriage instead of riding a horse...
Yi Zhici nervously walked up to Lin Yuan. Her heart was pounding, but her face remained calm. "General Lin... Young General Lin, is your foot okay?"
After all, she was Lin Yuan's teammate, so it was natural for her to show a little concern. Yi Zhici found a very reasonable excuse for herself in her heart and immediately felt justifiable.
Lin Yuan nodded. "It's okay. Thank you for your concern, young mistress."
"Then let's get on the carriage," she said and was about to climb onto the carriage.
Lin Yuan raised his eyebrows, with a faint smile in his eyes. "Young mistress, do you want to share the carriage with this subordinate? There's only this subordinate in this carriage."
Yi Zhici stumbled and almost fell.
"Ah, this young mistress got on the wrong carriage. I, I, I'll go find Sister Yan."
"General Yan is riding a horse."
Yi Zhici was irritated. "Can't this young mistress go find Ye Cong'an! Stop talking!"
But Lin Yuan's smile deepened. "Yes, this subordinate obeys."
Yi Zhici stuck out her neck and maintained an extremely elegant posture as she quickly ran towards Ye Cong'an's carriage and disappeared from Lin Yuan's sight in a blink of an eye.
Lin Yuan still seemed to be lost in thought. He was looking in the direction where Yi Zhici had disappeared, with a gentle smile still lingering in his eyes.
Wei Xing was attracted by his intense gaze. He leaned over with a gossipy look on his face. "Third Brother, who are you looking at?"
Lin Yuan withdrew his gaze and regained his calm appearance. "I'm not looking at anyone." To avoid further questions from Wu Ya and Wei Xing, Lin Yuan quickly got into the carriage.
Wu Ya shook his head. "I've really never seen Zhongjin like this."
Wei Xing nodded in full agreement.
"This subordinate has never seen the young general like this either. Maybe he's sick," said Mu Feng, Lin Yuan's personal secret guard.
Mu Feng was really confused. Since coming to the capital, the young general who had avoided women like the plague in the Southern Border could now smile stupidly at those two small silver butterflies all day long in just a few days.
Stupidly smiling was one thing, but then he would blush shyly and move to one side. Every time, Mu Feng was puzzled and was afraid that his young general was sick, so he would step forward to inquire.
But every time, the result was that he was thrown out of the door...
What on earth is love? Mu Feng really couldn't figure it out.
Wei Xing became interested. He stuck his head into the carriage. "Third Brother, when did you start fancying the young mistress?" Even the personal secret guard was gossiping, so Lin Yuan's feelings must not be as simple as they seemed!
Lin Yuan kicked him out of the carriage.
Although the kick wasn't heavy, Wei Xing still felt aggrieved. Why were both this man and this woman treating him like this? He had it so hard...
Since they had to wait for the emperor to arrive before the official start of the hunting, setting off earlier was just for more fun. So they didn't travel very fast on the road. They walked and stopped, enjoying the scenery like they were on a sightseeing trip.
Inside a carriage, Wu Ya said to the servant beside him, "Have you made all the arrangements?"
The servant knelt beside him. "Yes, master. We can act at any time."
Wu Ya smiled. His usually gentle and jade - like face showed a hint of malice.