Chapter 455: First Meeting with the Prince Consort (2)
Yu Wan turned her face away guiltily. Ahem, he can’t blame her. Isn’t this… a habit?
In the next few days, the manor was calm. Qing Yan went to the River Gazing Inn and received news from Jiang Hai—it seemed that other than Jiang Hai, there were also others keeping an eye on Paramount.
“The Helian family?” Yu Wan looked at Qing Yan. “Is Jiang Hai right?”
Qing Yan shook his head. “No, they have the Helian family’s waist tag.”
“It’s unlikely to be from the East Manor.” Other than them, there were only the two masters, Old Madam and Helian Beiming, in the East Manor. Old Madam would not do this, let alone Helian Beiming. Why would he eye on the brothel?
Qing Yan nodded. “I guess it’s from the West Manor too.”
However, why would the people from the West Manor keep an eye on Paramount? Did the people from the West Manor discover their whereabouts, or did the West Manor have ulterior motives towards Paramount?
Yu Wan said, “As long as it’s not for Dong Xian’er’s lingzhi, we don’t have to care.”
Even so, she had a feeling that the other party might really be after the lingzhi. As for whether they wanted to find a better lingzhi because they had lost the Wushan Lingzhi or if they sensed that they wanted that lingzhi, so they deliberately snatched the lingzhi from them, no one knew.
In the blink of an eye, it was the fifteenth.
A few days ago, Jiang Hai went to Paramount to reserve a room. But the rooms were already full at that time. He could only book a seat in the hall. This seat was separated by a green gauze cabinet, so it was quite quiet.
Dong Xian’er only met guests at night. Yu Wan and Yan Jiuchao had dinner with the Old Madam in the manor before leaving with the excuse of admiring the night view of the Capital.
The Old Madam couldn’t bear to part with her grandson, but she felt that she couldn’t keep her grandson locked in the manor forever. She endured the pain and let him go.
“You have to come back,” Old Madam said as she grabbed Yan Jiuchao’s hand.
Yu smiled and said, “We’ll be back. Don’t worry, Grandma!”
The Old Madam stuffed a money bag into Yu Wan’s hand. Yu Wan only opened it after getting into the carriage and found a golden invitation inside.
“What is this?” Yu Wan flipped it around for a long time, but she could not see what invitation this was.
It was Qing Yan who resolved Yu Wan’s doubts. “This is a golden invitation from the Helian family. It’s better than banknotes. The Helian family only has one golden invitation. I didn’t expect Old Madam to give this to you.”
Yu Wan understood. This was a banknote, but the exact amount was not written. It was probably how much the Helian family had saved in the bank and how much money they could get with it. “Uh… aren’t Old Madam afraid that we’ll take away all the Helian family’s assets?”
Yan Jiuchao gave Yu Wan a cold look, as if to say, “Where’s your shame?”
Yu Wan happily accepted it. Although she was not short of money, who could complain about money? Naturally, the more, the better.
Paramount was located on the most prosperous street in the Capital. In the past, there would be a lot of traffic. Tonight, because Dong Xian’er was meeting guests, the guests who came because of her reputation were even more crowded.
A mile away, the carriage could no longer move. The few of them waited for fifteen minutes but showed no signs of moving forward.
“Let’s walk there,” Yu Wan said. It seemed that no matter in her previous life, she could not avoid the fate of being stuck in a traffic jam.
Qing Yan nodded. “Alright, I’ll find a carriage garage to put the carriage there. You guys go over first.”
Yu Wan and Yan Jiuchao alighted from the carriage. She was still dressed as a handsome young master. When she walked with a handsome man like Yan Jiuchao, she was as handsome as jade and as glorious as the moon.
The passers-by kept looking at the two of them in amazement. Even if there were beauties in the Imperial Capital, they had never seen anyone so beautiful. The two of them were both men, but for some reason, they had an indescribable temperament of a match made in heaven. They actually seemed to be a perfect match.
The originally congested street became even more congested because of the commotion caused by the two of them.
By the time the two of them passed through the crowd and arrived at Paramount, it was already fifteen minutes later. At this moment, it was not far from Dong Xian’er’s appearance. The hall was filled with seats. The two of them found the spot that Jiang Hai had booked. It was actually in an inconspicuous corner.
Jiang Hai sweated. “The seats here were all booked a month ago. They’re all here to see Dong Xian’er.”
Jiang Hai was lucky to have gotten this seat. An old master could not come at the last minute and refunded this seat.
Yan Jiuchao did not despise it. Yu Wan thought of the way this fellow entered prison and did not find it strange. He would find those places he did not go before a novel experience. Jiang Hai also knew that Yan Jiuchao did not like to be disturbed, so he had ordered the drinks and snacks in advance. No waiter would come over for a while.
“I’m going to the private room.” Yu Wan felt that her corset was loose. She had to find a place to wrap it.
There were many people tonight, and even the private room was full. Yu Wan could only ask for directions and go to the back door. She found an empty woodshed and closed the door. As she wrapped the cloth around her chest, she heard a commotion outside the wall. She swore that she didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but who asked this woodshed to be connected to the wall in the backyard?
“Father, just let me go! I promise I’ll be back by midnight!” It was a girl’s sweet voice. Her father did not say anything. She continued, “Father, Father, Father! Say yes! Look, I’ve already changed into men’s clothes. I won’t be recognized! At most… I won’t use the front door! I’ll use the back door!”
This coquettish voice was so noisy that Yu Wan’s head hurt.
Yu Wan wanted to wrap it up and leave as soon as possible. At this moment, the father said, “Your mother will punish you if she finds out.”
This man’s voice was unbelievably pleasant. It was low and magnetic, like… like the voice that made her feel unfamiliar and affectionate when Yan Jiuchao whispered into her ear during countless dark nights. Now, it sounded familiar to her.
Yu Wan suddenly could not move.
