Chapter 469

Gu Xixi looked at Mu Nan Zhao's completely indifferent expression and couldn't help but get a headache.

"So… you weren't originally on the invite list, and your status is… so… important."

"Just suddenly following us to someone else's house as a guest—isn't that a bit inappropriate?"

After being apart for less than half a year, Mu Nan Zhao suddenly returned this morning.

He appeared at the Cha Yuan, and then naturally got onto Gu Xixi's carriage.

Mu Nan Zhao's eyes snapped open, "You're going to Jiang Mingyuan's house—do you really not want me there?"

Gu Xixi broke into a cold sweat.

She was merely invited by a close friend and relative to spend the holiday at their home, and incidentally celebrate the Cha Yuan harvest.

The way it came from Mu Nan Zhao's mouth made it sound as if her trip were something shameful!

On such a fine day, after ending their long-distance correspondence with Mu Nan Zhao, they were reunited after a long separation.

Gu Xixi felt a bit more patience and tenderness toward him, and she explained in a coquettish voice:

"What do you mean 'I should go'? Didn't I tell you? Zi Chu Brother invited me and Lv Jing."

"I don't want you to come along; I just think there are elders at their house."

"You, the Regent Prince, are the highest superior of the Jiang County Magistrate; showing up at his house unannounced during a major festival only adds pressure to the whole family."

Appeal to emotion, explain with reason.

The tension in Mu Nan Zhao's brow finally eased a little.

Just as Gu Xixi thought he would agree not to go to Jiang Mingyuan's house,

Mu Nan Zhao said, "With elders present, we ought to visit all the more."

He turned his head to look at Gu Xixi's slightly stiff expression, smiled faintly, and said, "Your relatives are my relatives."

"Your elders are also my elders."

"To pass by the door and not enter would be truly rude."

Gu Xixi: "……"

Lv Jing was driving the carriage up front, one hand gripping the reins, the other hand clamped tightly over her mouth.

The Regent Prince was still in the carriage; she couldn't dare to eavesdrop and then laugh out loud!

Jiang Mingyuan's house is near the East Main Street of the County.

It is an ordinary dwelling located in a quiet little lane.

Today the spring sunshine is gentle, and a dining table has been set up in the courtyard.

Jiang's father and mother gazed at the composed Mu Nan Zhao, exchanging glances silently.

Could this be the fiancé that their son once mentioned, whom Gu Xixi bought for a single cash coin?

If so, that single cash coin was certainly well spent!

The two elders did not know that Mu Nan Zhao was the Regent Prince.

Because when the guest first entered, Jiang Mingyuan was briefly startled, and though he intended to introduce him properly, Mu Nan Zhao interrupted.

He said that in front of their own relatives, there was no need to mention those troublesome outside matters, lest it affect everyone's closeness.

After a round of pleasantries, Mu Nan Zhao's behavior turned out to be surprisingly affable—he could talk and laugh, winning the elders' favor, as if He Jinghui had possessed him.

When the dishes were served, Jiang's mother felt a bit apologetic: "Today's dishes are all from the northwest."

"If we had known you were coming, we should have prepared some southern dishes."

Mu Nan Zhao smiled and said, "No problem, I love to eat them."

"I've stayed in the northwest for a long time, and after becoming a son‑in‑law there, my palate has changed without my realizing it."

Gu Xixi glanced sideways, couldn't help but mutter to herself, never expecting that when this person puts on a show, he also has this side.

Is he trying to compete with Jiang Mingyuan?

Just as she was thinking that, she suddenly heard Jiang's father laugh and ask, "Looks like a happy event is approaching."

"If you two kids set a wedding date, you ought to tell us."

Jiang's mother echoed, "Exactly, exactly, exactly—our whole family will definitely have a cup of wedding wine!"

Only Jiang Mingyuan's smile showed a subtle stiffness; he lifted his wine cup and lowered his head to sip.

Having come this far in the conversation, Gu Xixi could not outright deny it, even for Mu Nan Zhao's sake.

So she laughed it off, "Well, soon."

"When it's truly decided, I'll definitely tell Uncle and Aunt first."

Having said that, she raised her chopsticks to pick up a dish, glanced furtively at Mu Nan Zhao to see he wasn't displeased, and then quietly let out a breath of relief.

When the topic turned to the children's marriages, the two elders of the Jiang family became interested.

Jiang's father said, "Actually, don't listen to Zi Chu shouting about establishing a career before marriage."

"In fact, he already had his marriage arranged when he was one year old!"

Everyone laughed curiously.

Lv Jing said, "There's still this matter?"

"How come I've never heard the County Magistrate mention it."

Jiang Mingyuan glanced at Gu Xixi, muttered uneasily, "My dad made that agreement on a whim while drunk—it can't count."

Jiang's father, fearing no one would believe him, got up and said he would go inside to fetch the token.

Only then did Jiang's mother laugh and explain.

It turned out that Jiang's father, when he was young and out buying livestock, met a man who also came from Qing Tian County.

The two hit it off immediately; that night they camped outdoors, drank baijiu, and chatting discovered that the Jiang family had a one‑year‑old son while the other man had just gotten a beloved daughter still in swaddling clothes.

The two men immediately agreed, exchanged tokens on the spot, and settled the marriage between their children.

Jiang Mother laughed and sighed, somewhat regretfully saying, "What a pity, our useless one only remembers the other's surname is Gu, but doesn't know which Gu, where they live, or what their name is."

Lv Jing listened with great interest, and offhandedly laughed, "What a coincidence, Gu Xixi surnamed Gu, and the Jiang county magistrate just happens to be a year older than Gu Xixi. Everyone is also from Qing Tian County."

The small courtyard suddenly became extremely quiet.

Lv Jing realized she might have misspoken, and dared not look at anyone's expression, especially Mu Nan Zhao's.

She lowered her head and picked at her rice to conceal herself.

In the silence, Jiang Father walked over with a hearty laugh, holding up a silver lock.

"Back then I made two identical silver locks."

"One was just right to give to the future daughter-in-law, and the other I kept for Zi Chu."

The silver lock was placed on the table.

Lv Jing's excitement at the spectacle surged again; she leaned in to look, examining the size, pattern, and the characters engraved on both sides.

However she looked at it, it seemed familiar.

This time she didn't blurt out rashly, but instead stole a glance at Gu Xixi.

Gu Xixi also recalled seeing that silver lock at Zhang Shen's when she first entered the book.

Her father Gu Papi got even more drunk than the in-laws on the night of the engagement, to the point that he couldn't recall at all the groom's surname, name, or where he lived.

Gu Papi only produced a single silver lock, saying it was a token, and told his daughter to wait for the groom to come and marry her after she came of age.

Gu Xixi herself certainly has no memory of those events.

Only later did she often hear Zhang Shen muttering about how unreliable Gu Papi was, and how he had been scolded bloody by the matriarch back then.

Since the betrothed was someone whose whereabouts had long been unknown, Zhang Shen never gave it a thought.

Especially after Gu Xixi passed the marriageable age set by the Imperial Court and brought home a purchased fiancé.

Zhang Shen then completely treated this engagement as a joke.

Thus He Jinglan, Lv Jing, An Qinghe, and others had all seen that silver lock in the household.

Of course, Mu Nan Zhao, as a directly involved party, would be no exception.

At this moment Gu Xixi stared at the silver lock on the table, feeling bitter, thinking, "How damned coincidental!"

Otherwise just pretend not to know, as she had done for over ten years, and muddle through.

While Gu Xixi was thinking that, she heard Jiang Father say, "In recent years Zi Chu has been focusing on his studies, so I said we'd just wait."

"But now he's no longer young, and I have relatively free time."

"I've decided to first draw the silver lock and post it on a missing-person notice, in case we still can't find him."

"In our Qing Tian County jurisdiction there are only those villages; at worst I'll take the lock and go village to village, asking around."

"Maybe that child's fate with Zi Chu still exists!"

Gu Xixi felt like burying her head in the table.

Jiang Mingyuan glanced at Lv Jing, then looked at Gu Xixi.

He had long noticed that the two's reactions were very off.

It seemed to start from when his father produced the silver lock.

Jiang Mingyuan asked concernedly, "Gu Xixi, what's wrong?"

Jiang Father and Mother also looked over, saying, "Eat your vegetables, pick up your chopsticks."

Gu Xixi dared not look at Mu Nan Zhao's expression, while inside her heart a heavenly being and a human waged war.

She didn't hold the ancient belief that once engaged, one must fulfill it.

She merely felt embarrassed.

First, Jiang Mingyuan's parents are such good people; if they knew the truth, and knew that Jiang Father, at his age, still had to carry the silver lock and search village by village, yet they deliberately kept it from them.

Gu Xixi couldn't get past this hurdle in her heart.

Second, rather than let the two elders make a fuss with gongs and drums, letting everyone know, and finally be discovered by them.

It would seem better to admit it face to face.

But if she admitted it now, where would that leave Mu Nan Zhao?