The silence in the room persisted for a few breaths, until the rough man finally broke the ice with a forced laugh.
“Hahaha, I and Qin’er haven’t returned to the capital in three years, so it’s normal that Changtian didn’t recognize us at first.”
“Hahaha! That’s true, after all, a girl changes a lot by the time she’s eighteen!”
Wei Xianzhi chuckled along, frantically making eye contact with Wei Changtian.
Wei Changtian didn’t miss a beat, immediately putting on a shocked expression and asking the woman, “You’re Qin’er?!”
The woman slightly turned her head, her large, peach-blossom eyes glancing at Wei Changtian. “Did you just remember, Brother Changtian?”
“Not true, Qin Er! This time I really can’t be blamed for not recognizing you!”
Wei Changtian loudly protested, “You look so good now! Compared to when you left a few years ago, it’s like you’ve changed into a different person!”
“Does that mean I wasn’t good-looking before?”
The woman still had a slanted gaze, but it seemed she was no longer angry.
Indeed, complimenting a woman on her beauty is always a safe bet!
Wei Changtian hurriedly waved his hand: “Of course, you were beautiful before, but now you’re even more stunning!”
“Hmph!”
Qin Er snorted, looking at Wei Changtian with some emotion: “Brother Changtian, you’re not the same as before either.”
“What do you mean? Where am I different?”
“You used to not be so smooth-tongued.”
“Hahaha, I’m not being smooth-tongued, I’m just speaking from the heart!”
Wei Changtian laughed awkwardly, while Qin Er remained silent, staring at him with big, round eyes.
The two locked eyes for a long time, until Wei Changtian felt a shiver down his spine, wondering if he had inadvertently revealed something. Qin Er finally looked away, muttering under her breath:
“Pfft! I don’t believe it…”
…
After a long time apart, there was naturally much to catch up on.
For a while, Wei Xianzhi and the other two reminisced about the past, with Wei Changtian only able to sit and listen, occasionally chiming in with phrases like “Yes!” or “I really miss it!” or “Of course, I remember!”
However, after listening for a while, he gradually understood the identities of the two.
The man was called Liang Zhen, and the woman was Liang Qin.
The Liang family was of military background and had been acquainted with the Wei family for generations, with their families having interacted since ancient times.
Due to their familiarity, and since the previous lord and Liang Qin were around the same age, the two had gradually become close.
Not close in a bad way, but close in a social sense.
The two, apart from not being able to visit brothels together, had done all sorts of bad things, and were known in the capital as the “male and female duo of evil”.
Unfortunately, three years ago Liang Zhen had taken up the position of Governor of Shu Province, bringing Liang Qin along, and the male and female duo of evil had disbanded.
Border generals were required to return to the capital to report once every three years, and this time the two had returned for that reason.
“Brother Liang, when do you plan to meet with the Emperor?”
Wei Xianzhi poured Liang Zhen a cup of tea, smiling as he said: “If not, you can just tell the Emperor, and maybe get reassigned to the capital. This year, there’s no war to fight, and in Shu Province, you’d just be suppressing bandits and killing monsters. What’s the point?”
“Ah, I do want to come back.”
Liang Zhen sighed: “But there are no vacancies in the capital right now, and it’s not like being a mountain king in Shu Province is bad either.”
“Hahaha, if you want to be a mountain king, then be one. I won’t persuade you.”
Wei Xianzhi laughed twice, glancing at Liang Qin before continuing: “However, I can’t let you delay Qin Er’s big plans.”
“Shu Province may be wealthy, but it’s mostly just local landlords and rich merchants, with few noble families. If not, this time you can leave Qin Er in the capital, and I’ll find her a suitable husband from a good family!”
“Ah, if only she were willing to stay. This girl is really fond of Shu Province now.”
Liang Zhen continued to sigh, his gaze subtly shifting towards Wei Changtian: “As for marriage… there’s no rush. We still have a month before we return to Shu Province, and who knows, maybe something will be settled by then.”
“Hahaha, that’s true!”
Wei Xianzhi smiled, his meaning implicit.
The four chatted for a while longer, agreeing to have dinner together that evening, before Liang Zhen and his daughter took their leave.
Wei Changtian finally let out a sigh of relief, able to discuss serious matters with Wei Xianzhi.
“Father, Xiao Feng has gotten together with the Liu family.”
“What? Tell me more…”
“……”
To gain Wei Xianzhi’s sufficient attention, Wei Changtian basically laid out all his cards this time.
However, he didn’t mention that Yang Liushi was a fox spirit.
As for how he conquered Yang Liushi and made her his own… that was naturally due to his handsome appearance and extraordinary poetic talent.
After a conversation, Wei Xianzhi indeed took the matter seriously and immediately agreed to send people from the Suspended Mirror Department, even offering to personally help Wei Changtian complete his plan to counterattack Xiao Feng.
As for the Yang family’s side, since they didn’t know the other party’s specific actions, they could only increase their vigilance and prepare for a counterattack for the time being.
……
The dinner gathering between the Wei and Liang families was held at the Wei residence.
Wei Changtian, who had specially sought out Wang Er’s “relevant knowledge” in the afternoon, was able to say a few words at the table and didn’t appear as clueless as he did during the day.
The atmosphere was pleasant, the food was delicious, and Liang Zhen’s wife was very impressive… This was his entire impression of the dinner.
Apart from that, it was just the elders of the two families exchanging pleasantries and hinting at matchmaking.
Wei Changtian honestly wasn’t very interested in this.
Liang Qin, who was considered extremely beautiful among ordinary women, couldn’t compare to his current women… Not to mention Yang Liushi, but even Lu Jingyao and Xu Qingwan surpassed her.
Moreover, she hadn’t even appeared in the novel.
After dinner, the group moved to the hall to drink tea and chat, discussing nothing but the “wonderful memories” of the two families’ mutual assistance.
Wei Changtian listened for a while before feeling sleepy and constantly pouring tea into his mouth.
Sitting beside him, Liang Qin hesitated for a moment before softly asking, “Big Brother Changtian, would you like to take a walk with me?”
“Oh, sure.”
As “childhood sweethearts,” Wei Changtian didn’t refuse.
The two of them bid farewell and walked out of the room, strolling side by side in the Wei residence.
The night sky wasn’t very dark, and the moonlight and starlight filtering through the tree leaves cast a white glow, reminding Wei Changtian of a poem – “The moon is bright where the wutong tree is broken.”
He, of course, wouldn’t be so foolish as to recite the poem to show off, but instead walked slowly and leisurely.
Liang Qin, on the other hand, walked silently beside him, her mind wandering who-knew-where.
The two of them walked for a while before stopping at a small lake.
“Let’s sit for a bit.”
Liang Qin asked, and after seeing Wei Changtian nod, she used her long sleeve to wipe away the dew on a bluestone and sat down.
Wei Changtian first sat down beside her, but felt uncomfortable, so he eventually lay down on the stone surface.
Behind him, the lake water rippled slightly, and Liang Qin gazed at the man lying beside her, but at a distance, and suddenly spoke up:
“Big Brother Changtian, my parents seem to want to arrange a marriage between us.”
“Ah, I figured as much.” Wei Changtian responded indifferently.
“Then… do you want to marry me?”
Normally, if a woman asked a man this question, the underlying implication would be “Marry me quickly!”
However, Wei Changtian sensed a different meaning behind Liang Qin’s words.
He was taken aback for a moment before directly asking, “Do you want to marry me?”
“……”
Liang Qin didn’t respond, nor did she hesitate.
She simply looked at Wei Changtian under the moonlight, then gently shook her head.