Chapter 308: Chapter 289, Run on the Bank (Part 1)
“Jiguang’s Feng Family?”
Xiao Yeyang raised an eyebrow and took a measure of the young man before him, “So you are the…”
Feng Hao respectfully replied, “Back to Little Prince, he is my great-uncle.”
Xiao Yeyang nodded. Last time, during the floods in Jiguang, the Feng Family went to great lengths to assist his uncle. Encountering a direct member of Feng Family here, he had to show some respect; he could not avoid exchanging a few words.
“What are you doing here?”
“A junior member of my clan is getting engaged, so I came to offer congratulations,” Feng Hao said, pointing to Feng Liangji, “This is my nephew.” Then he said to Feng Liangji, “Don’t delay, come and pay your respects to Little Prince.”
Facing Xiao Yeyang with some nervousness, Feng Liangji stepped forward, “Commoner Feng Liangji pays respect to Little Prince.”
Xiao Yeyang slightly lifted his hand in a casual, nonchalant greeting, gave Feng Liangji a brief glance, and then shifted his gaze away without saying a word.
As for Sun Yongyi and the others who came with Feng Hao and Feng Liangji, he didn’t give them a single glance.
Offspring of officials faced with the offspring of merchants; it’s not that they looked down upon them, but they certainly wouldn’t take the initiative to get friendly.
It couldn’t be helped; they just weren’t people from the same circle.
Dong Yuanxuan, Su Hongxin, Zhou Chengye and the others merely exchanged courtesies with Feng Hao, stating their names. Out of respect for the Yan Family, they nodded at Feng Liangji, which counted as making an introduction.
At that moment, Yan Wenkai approached with a smile, “Isn’t this my cousin-in-law…”
“Big brother, what nonsense are you spouting?”
Daohua interrupted Yan Wenkai.
Yan Wenkai turned with surprise, “Didn’t he just get engaged to cousin Zi Xuan? I’m not wrong to call him cousin-in-law, am I?”
Daohua glanced at Feng Liangji and said indifferently, “It’s just an engagement, not a marriage.”
Yan Wenkai laughed, “What’s the difference?”
Daohua, “Of course there is a difference. An engagement is an engagement, and a marriage is a marriage. You’re calling it too early.”
Yan Wenkai then sensed something was amiss. He looked at his sister and then at Feng Liangji’s embarrassed face. Did this guy offend her?
Xiao Yeyang, seeing Daohua looking quite indignant, thought for a moment and then suggested with a smile, “I noticed you were watching that pavilion over there earlier. Shall we go and sit down?”
Daohua immediately nodded, “Yes, I saw Feng Young Master enjoying the snacks; I’d like to try some too.”
“And me,” Dong Yuanyao chimed in, “I want to taste it too, to see what kind of extraordinary pastry it is that you can’t just take yourself but have to be fed by another.”
Listening to the two of them, both Xiao Yeyang and Dong Yuanxuan shifted subtly, while Feng Liangji was flushed with embarrassment and regret.
Feng Hao frowned slightly, showing displeasure as he glanced at Feng Liangji and then at Sun Yongyi beside him.
“You two don’t hold back at all, do you!”
Seeing Daohua and Dong Yuanyao heading towards the pavilion first, Dong Yuanxuan smiled at Feng Hao and the others, “My sister lacks manners; please forgive her.”
Feng Hao quickly responded with a smile, “Master Dong, you’re too polite.”
Straightaway, the group made their way to the pavilion.
Feng Hao and the others were left behind.
Watching Daohua and Dong Yuanyao, who were walking side by side with Little Prince at the front, Feng Hao’s eyes flickered, “So it’s the two of them!”
Although he had suspected their identities back at Baixi Building, he didn’t know which one was which.
Today it was clear.
The one draped in a blue cape was the daughter of the newly appointed Magistrate of Ningmen Prefecture, Mr. Yan; and the one in the red cape was the daughter of the Provincial Governor.
Hearing Feng Hao’s murmured comment, Feng Liangji asked, “Uncle, do you know them?”
Feng Hao didn’t answer, instead giving Feng Liangji a look, “If Miss Yan decides to trouble you later, you’d better weigh your options carefully. You understood her implication just now, didn’t you?”
Feng Liangji was stunned for a moment, seemingly a bit confused.
Seeing him like this, Feng Hao shook his head. “It’s not unheard of for engagements to be made and then broken,” he said, then quickly followed after them.
Feng Liangji’s complexion changed drastically, followed by a look of annoyance.
He hadn’t expected that Yan Wenkai’s sister would catch Sun Jiayue feeding him.
Sun Yongyi, with an apologetic expression, patted his shoulder. “Jiayue has caused you trouble.”
He knew his sister liked his friend and that the elders in the family did not object to a marriage between the two families. However, the Feng Family did not favor his sister.
He had only invited himself today, but he had brought his sister along at her insistent pleading.
….
In the pavilion, Sun Jiayue and Feng Yiyun, along with a few other girls, stood up and looked shyly at Xiao Yeyang and his companions as they approached.
As Daohua entered the pavilion, she smiled at Sun Jiayue. “Who might this young lady be?”
Sun Jiayue first paid her respects to Xiao Yeyang and the others, then smiled as she introduced herself. “I am the daughter of the chairman of the Zhongzhou Chamber of Commerce, Sun Jiayue.”
The other girls also introduced themselves eagerly.
Though they spoke to Daohua and Dong Yuanyao, their gazes lingered on Xiao Yeyang and his companions.
Feeling annoyed at being used as stepping stones, Daohua and Dong Yuanyao responded perfunctorily before moving on to sit where the pastries were.
“Some merchant families truly lack proper decorum, allowing their daughters to introduce themselves by their given names to men they have just met for the first time.”
Dong Yuanyao’s eyes held a tinge of contempt.
Daohua’s expression remained unchanged; to her, swapping names was trivial. However, the idea of someone who was engaged accepting food from another woman was something she found unacceptable.
While Daohua picked up a piece of pastry, Yan Wenkai came over with a smile. “What kind of dessert is this? Is it tasty?”
Just then, Feng Liangji and his group entered the pavilion. Daohua glanced at him and smiled, “This is sticky rice cake. As for whether it’s tasty, you should ask Master Feng, shouldn’t you?”
Feng Liangji hesitated for a moment, then laughed awkwardly.
Dong Yuanyao also despised indecisive men and immediately scoffed. “Master Feng, don’t just laugh without saying a word. If it’s tasty, I’ll have my family’s cook make some to try.”
Feng Liangji replied, “…It’s okay, I suppose.”
Hearing this, Daohua sneered and carelessly tossed the sticky rice cake back onto the plate. “Is Master Feng tired of the sweets at home and looking to try something new? Even though it’s just okay, you still can’t bear to throw it away?”
Yan Wenkai thought his sister seemed rather irritable, but considering Feng Liangji was to be his future uncle by marriage, he didn’t want to sour relations too much, so he smiled and walked over to Feng Liangji.
“Cousin-in-law… oh, no, Brother Feng, I think when it comes to food, we should be a bit more discerning. We’d better not eat things from outside if we can help it. It might save us from a stomachache, right?”
Daohua added, “A bad stomach is the least of it. I’m worried some pastries might be too sticky, impossible to get rid of.”
Dong Yuanyao shook her head, “A bad stomach is no small matter. If the sticky rice reacts badly with other food in the stomach, it might cost half a life.”
Yan Wenkai exclaimed in surprise, “Cost a life? Surely it’s not that bad!”
Daohua retorted, “Even if it doesn’t cost a life, it can still cause days of illness. Fourth brother, have you forgotten how you were weakened by illness back in Xingyun Prefecture?”
Yan Wenkai shuddered at the memory and quickly agreed with his sister. “Right, right. This sticky rice cake is gluey and hard to digest. Not a particularly tasty treat, Brother Feng. You should avoid it in the future.”
Although Yan Wenkai’s line of thought wasn’t quite in sync with Daohua and Dong Yuanyao’s, what he said matched their sentiments perfectly.
Inside the pavilion, Xiao Yeyang and others watched with interest as Daohua and her companions playfully taunted Feng Liangji. Even though they didn’t understand how Feng Liangji had angered these formidable young ladies, they found the spectacle amusing.
Feng Hao glanced back and forth between Daohua and Dong Yuanyao, seeing his nephew at a loss for words, he sighed and shook his head.
He marveled at his bad luck for encountering two young ladies unafraid of even the plague.
Meanwhile, Sun Yongyi and Sun Jiayue’s complexions grew unpleasant.