Upon hearing this, Zeng Kui glanced at the young man with a playful smile and said in a teasing tone, "Brother Su, surely you're not put off by my appearance?"
Su Yunchen hurriedly replied, "Brother Zeng, what are you saying? True friendship lies in connecting hearts; how could one judge others by their looks?"
Hearing this, Zeng Kui's smile widened. He slowly leaned his face closer to Su Yunchen and said cheerfully, "In that case, why would I need a mask? I only wish to befriend someone like Brother Su, who doesn’t judge by appearances. As for others..." He glanced meaningfully at the people who had come out with them but deliberately stood at a distance, giving an ambiguous smile.
Su Yunchen, the second son of the Su family, looked at Zeng Kui’s face so close to his own and paled slightly. Especially when Zeng Kui’s dead-fish-like eye stared straight at him, he couldn’t help but feel a chill run down his spine. Swallowing hard, Su Yunchen suppressed the churning feeling in his stomach and stiffly shifted to the side.
Zeng Kui noticed but didn’t mind. Instead, he kindly moved his face away and pointed to Ren Yaohua’s carriage, asking Su Yunchen, "I wonder which young lady just boarded that carriage?"
Not far from the entrance of Fumanlou, several carriages were parked. Two young ladies, looking fearful as they glanced toward them, were helped into a carriage by their maids. However, Zeng Kui was not pointing at that carriage but the one in front.
Su Yunchen hesitated and said, "I didn’t get a good look at the young lady in the carriage in front, and I can’t tell which family it belongs to. But the carriage behind seems to belong to the Zhou family. I saw Zhou Wen earlier, and one of the two young ladies boarding the carriage should be his sister. Oh, Zhou Wen is my classmate at Yunyang Academy. He’s quite scholarly. I’ll introduce you to him when I have the chance."
Just then, Zhou Wen strode out of Fumanlou and walked over to the carriage where Ren Yaoying and Zhou Rong were. He spoke softly to them, as if asking if anyone in the carriage wanted any pastries.
Zeng Kui smiled, grabbed Su Yunchen’s hand, and dragged him across the street, saying, "No need to wait for another day. There’s no time like the present."
Su Yunchen was dragged several steps before he realized what was happening. He couldn’t help but feel annoyed that this cousin of his sister-in-law was so self-centered and prone to physical contact. No wonder his elder brother hadn’t wanted to accompany this brother-in-law himself. He still wasn’t used to looking at Zeng Kui’s face, but his father had tasked him with entertaining the guest, so he couldn’t refuse.
Zeng Kui quickly dragged Su Yunchen to where Zhou Wen was speaking. When Zhou Wen turned and saw Zeng Kui, he was also startled. However, being a man, he managed to avoid making a scene in public. He averted his gaze from Zeng Kui and looked at Su Yunchen, puzzled. "Brother Su, what is this?"
Su Yunchen smiled awkwardly, pulled his hand back from Zeng Kui, straightened his collar, and bowed to Zhou Wen. "Brother Zhou." Then, glancing at Zeng Kui, he cleared his throat and said to Zhou Wen, "Brother Zhou, this is Zeng Kui, the son of the newly appointed Ningxia Regional Commander, Zeng. He’s also a cousin of my sister-in-law. He heard me mention you earlier and wanted to come over to meet you. Brother Zeng, this is Zhou Wen."Among his peers, Zhou Wen was considered a person of considerable social grace. Otherwise, with his relatively ordinary family background, he would not have been able to fraternize so closely with the young masters of prominent families like the Yun and Su families, forming deep friendships.
After Su Yunchen introduced the two, Zhou Wen immediately smiled and said, "Ah, so it's Brother Zeng. My apologies for the lack of courtesy."
Zeng Kui nodded at him, then glanced at the two carriages and asked with a smile, "Brother Zhou, are you accompanying your wife and sister out?"
Zhou Wen's face flushed slightly, and Su Yunchen quickly whispered a reminder to Zeng Kui, "Brother Zhou is not yet married."
Zhou Wen cleared his throat and said, "In the carriage are my sister and two young ladies from the Ren family. My sister and I originally came out with our mother, but she had to leave on urgent business. We happened to meet the Third Miss and Ninth Miss of the Ren family at the entrance of Fumanlou. Since my sister is good friends with Ren Ninth Miss, we decided to chat for a while."
Zeng Kui's gaze lingered on the carriage a little further away, and he asked with a smile, "Is that carriage occupied by... the Third Miss of the Ren family?" He remembered Su Yunchen mentioning earlier that one of the occupants of the closer carriage was Zhou Wen's sister.
Zhou Wen found it a bit strange that Zeng Kui would ask this, but he nodded nonetheless. "Indeed."
Zeng Kui then asked, "Which Ren family is this? Also from Yunyang City?"
Su Yunchen sensed something amiss and interjected, "Brother Zeng, it's not very convenient to talk here, and Brother Zhou has matters to attend to. Why don't we arrange another time to meet?"
Zhou Wen also felt it inappropriate to discuss young ladies in public, so he readily agreed with a smile. "Very well. Brother Su can just send me an invitation when the time comes. I will definitely attend, as a welcome for Brother Zeng."
Zeng Kui glanced at Su Yunchen and Zhou Wen, chuckled softly, and stopped asking further. However, his gaze remained fixed on Ren Yaohua's carriage.
Zhou Wen and Su Yunchen exchanged a look, both understanding the meaning behind Zeng Kui's gaze. As peers and teenagers of fifteen or sixteen, they could easily recognize that Zeng Kui seemed to have taken an interest in that Third Miss Ren.
Zhou Wen recalled Ren Yaohua's striking beauty and then glanced at the unsightly scars on Zeng Kui's face. He shook his head inwardly, thinking, How could a flower ever be planted on a pile of cow dung? This Young Master Zeng truly lacks self-awareness.
At that moment, Wujing descended from Ren Yaohua's carriage, walked over, and curtsied. She then addressed the carriage carrying Ren Yaoying and Zhou Rong, saying, "Ninth Miss, Third Miss says that the eldest daughter of the Lei Family is still waiting at the villa. It wouldn't be appropriate for us to linger outside for too long. Will you be returning with us?"
Ren Yaoying hesitated for a moment before replying softly, "I... I will also return."
However, she did not emerge from the carriage.
Zhou Wen glanced at Zeng Kui standing nearby and understood that Ren Yaoying might be too frightened to step out. He tactfully suggested, "My sister and I will escort you back. Ninth Miss Ren can ride with Rong'er for now, so you can chat along the way."
Ren Yaoying gently expressed her thanks.
Zhou Wen cupped his hands toward Zeng Kui and Su Yunchen and said, "We'll take our leave first."
Su Yunchen nodded and returned the gesture. Zeng Kui withdrew his gaze from Ren Yaohua's carriage and smiled at Zhou Wen.At this moment, a waiter from Fumanlou brought out two boxes of pastries. Zhou Wen had his servant take them, then mounted his horse himself and rode alongside the carriage carrying Ren Yaoying and Zhou Rong.
Zeng Kui narrowed his eyes slightly, watching their group disappear down Zhengyang Street before smiling and turning to leave at Su Yunchen's invitation.
Inside the carriage, both Zhou Rong and Ren Yaoying were still somewhat shaken.
Zhou Rong patted her chest. "That scared me to death. That man was so ugly—just one look at him would give me nightmares."
Zhou Rong's words reminded Ren Yaoying of her own concubine-mother. When she first saw Concubine Fang's face after the veil was lifted, she nearly fainted from fright. Since then, Concubine Fang had never shown her true face in front of her again. However, the scars on Concubine Fang's face had left a shadow in Ren Yaoying's heart.
Seeing Ren Yaoying silent, Zhou Rong thought for a moment, then leaned close to Ren Yaoying's ear and whispered, "Hey, why do you think that ugly creature kept asking about your Third Sister? Could it be that he..."
Earlier, the spot where Zeng Kui, Su Yunchen, and Zhou Wen had been standing was extremely close to their carriage, so the three of them had clearly overheard their conversation inside.
Ren Yaoying had been too frightened by Zeng Kui's ghostly ugly appearance to think much about it at the time. But hearing Zhou Rong mention it now and carefully recalling the conversation she had overheard, she also felt something was off and couldn't help but fall into thought.
Zhou Rong thought for a moment, nudged Ren Yaoying with her elbow, covered her mouth, and laughed. "Hey, your Third Sister is ruthless and vicious, and that Master Zeng is as ugly as a ghost. Honestly, they'd actually make a perfect match."
Zhou Rong had only meant it as a joke, but Ren Yaoying's heart stirred upon hearing it. Still, she chided verbally, "Sister Zhou, don't talk nonsense. My Third Sister is so beautiful—how could she possibly be a match for someone like that?"
Zhou Rong sighed. "Yaoying, you have such a good temper. Even though she bullies you so much, you still speak up for her."
Ren Yaoying lowered her eyes with a faint smile. "She is my sister, after all. Naturally, I hope for the best for her."
Instead, Zhou Rong became somewhat interested in Zeng Kui. She gently lifted the carriage curtain and called out, "Brother."
Zhou Wen had been racking his brains trying to think of a way to strike up a conversation with Ren Yaoying. Seeing Zhou Rong call him, his eyes lit up, and he immediately urged his horse closer to the carriage, peering inside as he asked, "Rong'er, what is it?"
Zhou Rong glanced at her brother's expression, then at Ren Yaoying, who seemed somewhat shy, and covered her mouth to stifle a giggle. Instead, she asked, "That Master Zeng is the son of the Ningxia Regional Commander? How old is he? Is he betrothed?"
Hearing this, Zhou Wen sighed helplessly and lightly scolded, "Rong'er, these aren't questions you should be asking."
Zhou Rong glared at Zhou Wen. "There are no outsiders here! Just answer if I ask!"
Zhou Wen said, "This is my first time meeting Master Zeng too—how would I know so much? But he probably isn't betrothed."
Zhou Rong covered her mouth and giggled, then whispered, "Hey, Brother, do you think that Master Zeng from earlier was..." Zhou Rong winked and pointed toward the carriage ahead.
Zhou Wen coughed lightly and said sternly, "Don't talk nonsense!"
Zhou Rong pouted and abruptly dropped the carriage curtain. "Fine, don't tell me then!"
Zhou Wen looked at the lowered curtain and couldn't help but shake his head with a bitter smile.
Ren Yaoying had been sitting there all along without speaking, lost in her own thoughts.Tickets, oh tickets~ (^o^).
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