Chapter 80: Seeking Gu Yun

Resting her chin on her hand as she looked at the refreshed Lou Xiyan before her, Zhuo Qing was puzzled: "It would have been fine to let Jing Sa decide these things. The celebration is coming up soon, aren't you very busy?"

Hot tea had already been thoughtfully brewed on the table. Lou Xiyan picked up a porcelain cup, poured one for her, and handed it to her hand, then lowered his head to pour one for himself, saying nonchalantly, "I'm not actually that busy. Last time you said you wanted to decide the style of the ceremonial dress yourself, I thought you would hope that all the items used for the wedding would be chosen by yourself. It was my oversight."

"Xiyan..." Through the porcelain cup, the warm temperature traveled from her palm straight into her heart.

"By the way, among your relatives in Haoyue, are there any you are particularly close to? I'll send someone to pick them up to attend the wedding." Lou Xiyan's sudden words made Zhuo Qing fall from being moved into distress. Embarrassed, she replied, "I... don't really remember which relatives I'm close to. Anyway, my parents are no longer here, so I think there's no need to invite them." How could she possibly know what relatives the Qing family still had?

Lou Xiyan gently put down the teacup, looked at Zhuo Qing, and replied seriously, "I want your family to witness you becoming my, Lou Xiyan's, properly wedded wife."

Zhuo Qing's hand trembled slightly. Was he trying to help her shed the reputation of being a "gift," give her a decent wedding, and let her hold her head high in front of her "family"? She wasn't Qing Ling, so naturally, she didn't care about these things, but he had thought of it for Qing Ling. Nodding, Zhuo Qing finally stopped pushing back and smiled: "Alright, I'll ask Qingfeng."

Among the three Qing sisters now, only Qingfeng would know the specific situation of the Qing family, right? She and Gu Yun were about the same...

"Prime Minister Lou, the dishes are ready. Shall we serve them?" Outside the door came a man's slightly raised voice. Lou Xiyan looked at Zhuo Qing, and after Zhuo Qing nodded, he said in a low voice, "Serve them."

The door opened again, and Zhuo Qing only saw a continuous stream of people. Before long, the large round table was piled high with dishes, along with seven or eight pots of wine.

The man walked to the round table and introduced enthusiastically, "Prime Minister Lou, these are all the best dishes from our Lengyue Restaurant, and these jars of wine are also vintage brews. Please enjoy them slowly, you and Madam."

Lou Xiyan replied elegantly, "Good, you may withdraw first."

"Yes, yes." The man quickly retreated.

That round table, which was large enough to seat twenty people, was now completely piled—yes, piled—with dishes. Zhuo Qing couldn't help but laugh: "Is there any need to be so exaggerated? With so many dishes, if I take one bite of each, I'll be stuffed to death!" No wonder they didn't serve the dishes one by one; at that rate, they wouldn't be finished by nightfall!

Lou Xiyan glanced at the table full of dishes, and a helpless bitter smile crossed his face. It seemed this situation wasn't within his expectations either. Taking a few bamboo skewers from the table and handing them to Zhuo Qing, Lou Xiyan smiled: "Then you just choose the ones you like to taste. If you think they're delicious, just put a bamboo skewer next to them."

"Alright." That was the only way.

Zhuo Qing walked around the round table once. There were really too many dishes, some of which she couldn't even recognize! She decided to stick to the principle of proximity and just eat a little of whatever was nearby. While she was chewing, Lou Xiyan picked up a wine pot, poured a small cup of wine, and handed it to her lips. Zhuo Qing shook her head and replied, "I won't choose the wine. I'm not really a drinker, you choose."

She wasn't fond of alcohol to begin with, and after becoming a forensic doctor, she didn't touch a drop. If she were asked to taste wine, she wouldn't be able to tell one from another anyway! Better to just let it be.

"Good." Lou Xiyan didn't make her continue drinking, but instead sipped the fine wine himself, accompanying Zhuo Qing by her side.

After eating around the outermost group of the round table, Zhuo Qing hadn't placed a single bamboo skewer. Staring at the delicious food on the table, Zhuo Qing frowned. Lou Xiyan gently hugged her shoulders and asked, "What's wrong? Is it not tasty? How about we try another place to taste the food?"

Shaking her head, Zhuo Qing replied embarrassedly, "No, I've eaten over thirty dishes and I think they're all good. It's too hard to choose." She was almost full and hadn't even chosen one dish. She couldn't just take them all, right? Looking at Lou Xiyan for help, Zhuo Qing smiled ingratiatingly: "Or, you do it."

Lou Xiyan put down his wine cup and smiled as he took the chopsticks and bamboo skewers from her hand. Zhuo Qing felt relieved, but then she saw him pick up a piece of meat and bring it to her lips. Although she was puzzled, since he had fed it to her mouth, she might as well eat it!

Opening her mouth to bite it off and chewing a few times, Lou Xiyan asked, "How is it?"

Zhuo Qing nodded: "Delicious."

Another piece of lotus root was brought to her lips.

Her brows furrowed slightly. Facing Lou Xiyan's affectionate feeding, she still... swallowed it in one bite.

"How about this one?"

Crisp and refreshing, Zhuo Qing nodded repeatedly: "Mm-hmm!"

"This one?" Just as she finished chewing the food in her mouth, a piece of crispy chicken wing was immediately offered.

"Not bad."

"This one?" The chrysanthemum fish roll was fragrant, tender, and delicious.

"Also good."

"This one?" The osmanthus cake was fragrant, sweet, and smooth.

"It's okay."

When a spoonful of lotus seed soup was brought to her lips, she really couldn't eat anymore. Turning her head away, Zhuo Qing asked plaintively, "Didn't you say you would choose? Why am I still the one eating?"

Spreading his hands, it turned out that most of the bamboo skewers in his hand had already been used. Lou Xiyan replied innocently, "I am choosing."

Looking at the plates on the round table, there were indeed over a dozen dishes with bamboo skewers inserted. So his so-called "choosing" was choosing based on her expression after eating the food?! He was too cunning!

Shaking her head firmly, Zhuo Qing refused to do it again: "I really can't eat anymore." This food-tasting job wasn't an easy task.

"Then we won't eat anymore. We'll take these ones you like as the main dishes, and let the manager choose some others to send over." Lou Xiyan didn't force her anymore. Putting down his chopsticks, he helped her to the bench by the window to sit down, and Zhuo Qing finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Someone."

The waiter outside the door replied quickly, "Yes. What are your orders, Prime Minister Lou?"

"Serve tea." The tea on the table had long since gone cold.

"Yes." Before long, a pot of steaming fragrant tea was brought up. Lou Xiyan poured her another cup, and while handing it to her hand, he said in a low voice, "Drink some tea and rest for a while. We'll choose the jade ornaments later."

Zhuo Qing's hand holding the cup trembled slightly. No way! Still have to choose jade ornaments?! Wouldn't she have to choose other messy things later? No, she would collapse! If she kept picking like this, she might develop a choice phobia! Coughing lightly, Zhuo Qing said seriously, "Xiyan, you're so busy, I think we don't need to do everything for the wedding ourselves. I have no objection to leaving it to Jing Sa to handle on my behalf."

"Tired?"

Sighing, Zhuo Qing decided to be honest: "Not really, it's just that there are too many things to look at. Last time, I insisted on choosing the ceremonial dress myself because I was afraid it would be too flashy and grand, and I was exhausted wearing it that day. For other things, I'm really not picky, anything is fine."

Lou Xiyan's brows furrowed at the "anything is fine." Zhuo Qing quickly added, "I mean, I like whatever you pick!"

Just then, the waiter's voice came from outside the door: "Prime Minister Lou, the owner of Ningcui Pavilion has arrived."

So he had already arranged it. Alright, then she would choose. Lou Xiyan didn't know what he was thinking and didn't speak. Zhuo Qing simply called out in a clear voice, "Come in."

"Greetings, Prime Minister Lou, Madam." A tall, thin middle-aged man walked in cautiously, followed by two young men carrying two large wooden boxes. Opening them on the low table in front of the bench, they were filled with pearls and beautiful jade. Just by looking at the luster, one knew they were rare treasures.

Lou Xiyan waved his hand gently, and the middle-aged man smiled knowingly, "These are all treasures from our Ningcui Pavilion. Please take your time choosing, Madam."

The three of them retreated. Zhuo Qing picked up a piece of ink-colored green jade to play with, then put it down casually. She had never liked wearing accessories, especially hand ornaments, because they were inconvenient for performing autopsies.

Just as she was about to pick one or two things at random to finish the task, she inadvertently saw a pair of white jade gourds, one large and one small, lying in the corner of the box. Zhuo Qing picked them up to play with. The jade quality of the gourds was crystal clear, smooth and moist to the touch. The smaller one was slightly smaller than an ordinary peanut, and the larger one was slightly larger than a thumb. The round, jade-like, and petite shape was very pleasing to Zhuo Qing.

"You like this one?" Lou Xiyan had been observing her expression. Most women liked beautiful accessories, but she had been indifferent until she saw these two little things.

Zhuo Qing nodded happily: "Mm, very cute."

The jade quality of this pair of small gourds was above average, and the carving was simple. Their only advantage was probably just that they looked cute. As long as she liked them, it was fine. Beside the wooden box, he pulled out a thin ink-blue cord. Lou Xiyan tied a knot in the middle of the gourds and gently put it on her. The cool jade pressed against her chest, which was very comfortable. Zhuo Qing picked up the other small gourd and played with it in her palm. Lou Xiyan raised his eyebrows slightly and smiled: "Isn't that one for me?"

Zhuo Qing's hand paused. Looking at Lou Xiyan, who had a look of grievance, she laughed and said, "I thought Prime Minister Lou wouldn't deign to wear accessories."

He held out his palm to her. Zhuo Qing could only hand the other one to him. She pulled out a thin cord and tied it to the gourd. Lou Xiyan nimbly tied the cord around his neck, sighing helplessly in a low voice, "No choice, who made them a pair."

To be honest, this small gourd on his body really didn't match his elegant and refined temperament. Zhuo Qing laughed and fell into his arms without giving him any face. Lou Xiyan could only helplessly hold the woman in his arms who was laughing until she was almost out of breath. Was it really that funny!?

After laughing enough, Zhuo Qing tucked the small gourd into his lapel. For the sake of his image, it was better not to hang it out. It was best if only she could see this thing!

The two sat by the window joking. Zhuo Qing looked out the window inadvertently and unexpectedly saw a cold and indifferent white shadow.

"Su Mufeng?"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 81 =====