Chapter 89 Fragrant Scent
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“Sixth Brother, look at my falcon…” Yuwen You turned excitedly to Yuwen Chu and suddenly noticed his expression. He couldn’t help but pause, then followed his gaze and saw the vermilion lacquered carriage beside the palace road. Through the silver-blue veil on the carriage, he could vaguely see a graceful figure, a figure so familiar that it could only be Fu Mingzhu, no one else.
Yuwen You felt like he was hit by a heavy hammer, his heart pounding and then dropping heavily, filled with sourness, regret, confusion, and resentment, all mixed together, making it hard to express.
Looking at Yuwen Chu’s expression and remembering his kneeling punishment by the Great Empress Dowager and Changxing Marquis falling ill a few days ago, a possible thought suddenly occurred to him. His heart instantly twisted into a tight knot, his eyes widening as he stared at Yuwen Chu, “Sixth Brother.”
Yuwen Chu turned back, calmly meeting his eyes and said, “Hmm?” There was not a hint of guilt, just a very calm demeanor.
Could it be that I’m overthinking? While muttering to himself, Yuwen You asked knowingly, “Who is that?”
Yuwen Chu replied succinctly, “I don’t know.”
There must be something fishy! If he doesn’t know, then why is he exchanging glances with her? Look at his flirtatious smile and touching his lips, he’s practically undressing himself.
Yuwen You, inherently rough, hated Yuwen Chu in his heart and couldn’t help but describe him in the crudest terms.
Thinking back, why did Yuwen Chu go to the Jade Emperor Temple right after Mingzhu went? Two unmarried people alone in the temple, who knows what they did. Moreover, wasn’t Yuwen Chu always urging him to step back and agree to break off the engagement? He had thought Yuwen Chu was a good person! The unfaithful Fu Mingzhu and shameless Yuwen Chu, they were just a pair of treacherous scoundrels! The more Yuwen You thought about it, the more aggrieved and angry he felt, unable to contain some of it on his face.
Yuwen Chu, however, remained indifferent, “What does Ninth Brother want by staring at me like this?”
Yuwen You grinned, “Sixth Brother, don’t you know?” He wanted to taunt his elder brother for seducing his future sister-in-law, surely he should feel some guilt?
Yuwen Chu smiled casually, “Could it be that I have something on my face?”
Trying to act innocent! Trying to act innocent! Yuwen You wished he could whistle and have the falcon on his arm fly up to scratch that handsome face in front of him. But he barely managed to restrain himself, gritting his teeth and sneering, “Sixth Brother, you’re quite something.”
Yuwen Chu ignored him and turned his head to speak with Kundu Wang.
Yuwen You punched the cotton stuffing, unable to vent his frustration, feeling uncomfortable. He was hot-headed and never knew how to back down. It was difficult to swallow this anger, and as he wandered around looking for a way to vent, he saw another carriage in the distance. The carriage bore the emblem of Changxing Marquis.
Guessing that Jiang Shanshan must be inside, he quietly called over a servant and instructed, “Tell Second Miss Jiang that Ying Wang intends to break off the engagement because of Fu Mingzhu.”
The servant nodded and went to arrange it.
A moment later, the group left one by one, and the two carriages waiting on the side of the road headed towards the palace gate. When the carriages stopped outside the second palace gate, Mingzhu already knew that Jiang Shanshan was following behind her. She didn’t want to pretend with Jiang Shanshan, so she decided to act as if she hadn’t noticed anything and just kept walking forward. But she heard Jiang Shanshan quickly approaching, crisply and sweetly calling out, “Little Sister Mingzhu.”
Mingzhu, helpless, had to stop and put on a smile to greet Jiang Shanshan. She worried whether Jiang Shanshan already knew about the matter and feared that she might actually be there to cause trouble. After all, she had lived two lifetimes and had never “stolen” someone else’s fiancé.
But Jiang Shanshan smiled sweetly, holding her hand affectionately and asking, “Are you still upset about last time?”
Last time? Mingzhu thought for a moment before remembering the argument with Princess Funing over the jewel peony. She said, “No, I’ve already forgotten.” To be honest, she couldn’t tell whether Jiang Shanshan was genuinely praising her to flatter her or trying to attract everyone’s attention to the jewel peony. But she really didn’t care much about it.
Jiang Shanshan’s eyes flashed, and she smiled, “I was being petty as an older sister.” She held Mingzhu’s hand affectionately and walked with her, “The fragrance you’re wearing today is really nice.”
“It’s just ordinary Suhe fragrance.” Mingzhu wasn’t very concerned about fragrances, leaving it all to Su Lan to handle. She lifted her sleeve to smell it after hearing Jiang Shanshan’s praise. Remembering the etiquette, since Jiang Shanshan praised her, she should praise Jiang Shanshan too. What should she praise her for? The best topic was to talk about the fragrance with Jiang Shanshan… Mingzhu leaned slightly to smell the fragrance on Jiang Shanshan’s clothes and couldn’t help but be stunned.
A faint scent of agarwood, faintly cool and sweet—exactly the scent Yuwen Chu always had. Each household had its own secret fragrance formula, and it was even rarer for a prince to use fragrances. Unless Yuwen Chu had given Jiang Shanshan the formula or sent her a prepared fragrance, Jiang Shanshan couldn’t have this fragrance. So, if Yuwen Chu was unwilling to marry Jiang Shanshan, the several attempts to break off the engagement may not have been entirely sincere.
That person turned out to be like this. For a moment, Mingzhu felt a strange sensation in her heart. It wasn’t so much disappointment that the person wasn’t genuinely admiring her, but rather a feeling that in this world, why couldn’t she find someone with a slightly cleaner mind? Or perhaps, why couldn’t she meet or attain someone with a slightly cleaner mind?
Jiang Shanshan looked into her eyes and smiled, “What do you think? Not too bad, right?”
“No…” Mingzhu snapped out of her thoughts, giving her an exaggerated look of delight, “Very elegant, just like you, Second Miss Jiang. Only this fragrance suits you best.”
Jiang Shanshan giggled and gently tapped her, “Naughty! Everyone says you’re naughty, but I like your personality. It’s just a pity you never want to get close to me.”
Get close? Mingzhu couldn’t even avoid her, so how could she dare to be close to her? If they were always together, everyone would praise Jiang Shanshan and belittle her, like mud on the ground. Mingzhu wasn’t sick in the head. Of course, she didn’t like being with Jiang Shanshan. Even now, she was unwilling to be with Jiang Shanshan, but Jiang Shanshan was so close to her that she couldn’t push her away too much. So, she smirked and said, “Second Miss Jiang is so polite. Am I just mischievous? I’m like a flood beast! Are you not afraid of being influenced by me when you’re with me?”
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