Yuan Qianlei 4

For a moment, Yuan Qianlei looked annoyed with her husband-to-be. But the mention of introducing her to his Patriarch was enough to make her look away with a bright red flush on her chubby cheeks. She swatted him weakly on the shoulder, like every abashed young girl then.

Which was enough to draw the laughter of everyone else. And cause her to lay her head on Du Yan's shoulder, with a happy smile on her face. And a quiet promise to pass one of her books to Qin Feng later.

Then she made her escape, dragging her intended with her, as she headed to another part of the tavern. Doubtless so that she could be alone with him.

The remaining trio chuckled as they saw the pair leave, and Qin Feng breathed a sigh of relief. For a moment, he thought that he would be teased continuously for a good while. But luckily, Du Yan had managed to distract her, and the rest of the band, with his declaration.

Lin Liushui smiled as he pointed out the changes in Du Yan too, as he waved his fan again, once they were out of sight. "I believe I know what he intends to do. This little episode has roused the tiger in our Brother Yan, I fear. Although I am afraid for his enemies, and those who do not know which side to back. He is going to be raising a huge fuss, when he gets back to Chuanshui Town. And I think that there is good number of idiots within the Du Family who are going to be culled."

The Second Ducal Prince seemed somewhat surprised to hear that. "You think that he would go that far? Brother Yan has always been the easy-going sort, hasn't he? Don't you think that doing that would hurt him? And I am not talking about just his reputation."

"Think about it. If someone tries to steal your intended bride, and sets people up to injure or kill you, aren't you going to be upset? Aren't you going to want to dig that person out and give him a swift kick in the pants?"

Lin Liushui said that in such a coarse manner that Qin Feng also spat his wine out of his mouth. Was this the sort of thing that the Jade Faced Gentleman should be talking about? Or was Lin Liushui already in his cups?

But the handsome fellow seemed to be purposely using those rough words, to match the new image that Li Changhai had set up for himself. The rest of his guard were actually pleased to see him behave that way, since it made their role a lot easier. It was a good deal easier to keep someone safe, if he was willing to put on armor and walk around with a big weapon, wasn't it?

Li Changhai, on the other hand, did not notice all of that. Or if he did, he didn't pay it any mind. Instead, his brain was filled with what Du Yan was going to do, once he gets back to Chuanshui Town.

Lin Liushui, however, was not quite finished with the subject.

"Besides, he doesn't have to deal with the matter of those 'traitors' to the Du Family himself. He can just toss it to his father to handle. I am certain that someone as smooth and as knowledgeable as Uncle Du Chenyong would be able to clean house easily, without our needing to stick our fingers in.

"We are likely to be used as escorts, to guide Miss Yuan Qianlei around the place. And to show her all the places that Du Yan likes to eat at, and shop at. So I think that should be an easy task, hmmm?"

The Second Ducal Prince, however, shuddered. "If you think that, you clearly do not have much experience accompanying women when they shop, and window shop. The last time I went out with my mother on one of those walks in Yanyun City, we were on our feet for almost all of the afternoon! And we started after an early lunch at that!

"Worse of all, she had returned to the Ducal Palace with empty hands, after spending the whole time poking around all sorts of things, and bargaining with the shopkeepers! I certainly could not make any sense of it!"

Then Li Changhai jerked his chin towards the huge fellow who was walking away into the distance with the young woman jumping and prancing about him. "I have a feeling that we should leave those two to themselves, when she suggests shopping or something similar, once we get to Chuanshui Town."

That suggestion received the silent agreement of the other two immediately, who nodded gravely at the Second Ducal Prince's warning.

*

In the end, the journey from Ningfei to Chuanshui took them only two days. Although it was a lot harder on Li Changhai than the rest of the group. With two carriages, which carried her maids as well as her old nanny, Yuan Qianlei had managed to squeeze both Du Yan and Lin Liushui into one of them, leaving only Qin Feng to ride with the Second Ducal Prince.

Who was complaining about how his Brothers were valuing women over their friends, and abandoning the two of them, who had to ride in the hot sun. It was worse for Li Changhai, of course, since he had to wear armor as well.

Qin Feng merely found it amusing, and spent a good bit of his time near Lin Liushui's carriage, to listen to how he flattered and cajoled Yuan Qianlei's maids. It was a very educational experience. And he had to admit that he learned a lot, especially with Lin Liushui breaking things down for him over mealtimes.

Then he stopped himself. Why was he bothering to learn how to do something like this? Was it all so that he could play tricks on Xu Yanzhi later on, when he met her again? He had to admit that it was his original plan, but wasn't he having too much fun like this? Where was he to draw the line?

It was certainly something that he would have to consider very, very carefully.

* * *