Ying Yan Long silently followed her. Although his martial arts was not comparable to his younger brother, Xue Wen, he had also practiced martial arts for several years and following her without being noticed did not pose any difficulty for him.
After he heard the servant in Purple Bamboo Garden greeting her, he hid in the bamboo forest and chose a place where he could hear the voices in the courtyard.
He did not follow her into the Purple Bamboo Garden because he knew Mei Yi Wen did not want to see him. Since he came, he could not refrain from finding out about Mei Yi Wen"s condition. Because he knew who is the actual Master of Qingcheng Mountain Villa and so naturally he knew about Mei Yi Wen"s background. He only hoped that Mei Yi Wen does not have feelings for her otherwise it would be a disaster for everyone.
"Brother Mei, the wind outside is cold. Why didn"t you put on a coat before you come out?" Her crisp clear voice floated over from the courtyard.
Ying Yan Long listened to her jade-like crisp voice and felt that although it did not have the softness and gentleness of other women, it still gave him the sense of a clear spring bath.
"I was afraid that you will ignore me after that matter. When I heard you came, I was anxious and sent Steward Lin to look for you." Mei Yi Wen"s soft voice drifted over.
"Aren"t I here now? I will push you into the house." Hua Ming Zi sighed.
It looks like Mei Yi Wen"s health is not very good recently and now he needs to sit in a wheelchair. Ying Yan Long frowned and decided to send someone to come and give Mei Yi Wen a consultation later......that is if Mei Yi Wen is willing to accept. For more than a month, Mei Yi Wen had refused to let the doctors take his pulse and only depended on the medicinal pills delivered by the Ying Family to maintain his health.
"I don"t want to go in. There is a smell of medicine in the house. Let me take in some fresh air here first......" Mei Yi Wen"s voice was getting smaller and smaller.
"Alright, just for a little while......"
Ying Yan Long curved his lips into a smile and imagined her looking at Mei Yi Wen at this time with a face full of disapproval. This woman is just like him who refuses to look at the expression of others and is only accustomed to others looking at his.........
"It is not that I want to be fierce with you. You really don"t look good and you are only allowed to stay outside for a short while. You should have first sent someone to bring you a warm coat and a brazier." She sighed and there was a trace of helplessness in her voice.
"Alright." Mei Yi Wen smiled and sent someone to do as she ordered.
After a series of chaotic sounds then Mei Yi Wen continued to say. "I was really afraid we will never be friends again."
"No such thing."
"I.......am not a rash person. It"s only just that these days my health has been deteriorating and I"m afraid I will leave without telling you. I will feel regretful........."
When Ying Yan Long heard the words, his face instantly sank.
Does Mei Yi Wen really like her? If this matter is not handled properly, she and Mei Yi Wen may not be able to keep their lives!
"Brother Mei......"
When Ying Yan Long heard her serious tone, his intuitions told him that she did not have any feelings for Mei Yi Wen. He let out a sigh of relief and continued to eavesdrop.
"If we are to continue as friends, then I have something to say. I take you as a good friend, I admire your talent, my heart aches for your health but I have no feelings of love for you. In fact, even for my future husband, I don"t expect there will be feelings of love between us. I just want to be able to take care of the matters around me and live well. That is all I want."
So, she has decided she will not have any feelings of love even for the husband she is looking for in the future? If that is so, then he will have to make her disappointed because with her appearance it had made him realize that he is totally not interested in women who are gentle and kind.
His refined appearance had always hidden a wolfish personality. To pursue what he really likes and what he really wants, he would disregard everything to obtain it. It is the case with his business and his marriage is no exception.
"Will you stay away from me because of this?" Mei Yi Wen asked.
"Brother Mei, I always have the impression you don"t harbor the feelings of love between a man and a woman for me. It is more like you envy my life........"
Separated by a wall of bamboo trees, Ying Yan Long was caught by surprise and widened his eyes when he heard her words. And he had always thought that there is nothing that can surprise him.
She must not know of Mei Yi Wen"s true ident.i.ty otherwise, she would not be so unrestrained when talking about this. If she does not know of Mei Yi Wen"s true ident.i.ty and is able to see through him to determine that Mei Yi Wen envies her, then her observation is truly meticulous.
She is really worthy of being the woman he likes. Ying Yan Long lifted the corner of his lips and added a few more favorable points for her.
Mei Yi Wen"s sigh drifted over from the other side of the bamboo wall. "You are very clever. I really wanted to be you.........."
"There is no way a person can become another person. Let"s live our own lives well and then I will take you as my Senior Brother and you can take me as your greedy Younger Sister, isn"t that great?"
"If I am half as firm as you........today I will not be in this situation."
"If Senior Brother does not mind, this Younger Sister is willing to listen."
Ying Yan Long"s eyebrows knotted and only hoped that Mei Yi Wen would not divulge anything. Some matters are best left unsaid and if it is said, it may not be considered as something good.
"I......I have someone I love. Although we are not too far apart, I feel the distance is over the horizon. We can"t see each other......"
Ying Yan Long"s whole body stiffened and only hoped Mei Yi Wen would stop talking immediately.
"Just let it pa.s.s......let"s not talk about this........*Ke,ke*......" Mei Yi Wen let out a series of coughs.
"Brother Mei, let"s go into the house to talk." She said casually. "If this Younger Sister of yours still can"t find anything to eat, then she will feel weak and faint at your feet. Just now, on the way here, there was a problem."
"Servants come! Hurry and bring in the Eight Treasure Biscuits, Stone Mill Tofu, and the Chrysanthemum Cakes." Mei Yi Wen ordered.
(Eight Treasure Biscuits)
(Chrysanthemum Cakes)
"I know I didn"t come in vain. Brother Mei"s chrysanthemum cakes are the best. The last time when I returned home after eating it, I even dreamt of it. Let"s hurry and go into the house."
"Don"t you need to be at the Flower Appreciation Banquet?" He asked.
"I accompanied a sister here. You already know I and Ying Yan Long don"t have any fate. Today, I came just to join in the fun........"
"Since you regard me as your Senior Brother, then I have something to give you but you are not allowed to refuse......"
Ying Yan Long leaned against the bamboo wall and listened as her voice became smaller and smaller until finally, he could hear no more.
How did she know that she has no fate with him? He does not think so........
Ying Yan Long silently and quickly turned around to walk back on the path. In his mind, he had already decided to find someone to investigate the ident.i.ty of the woman who is related to Qian Ying Ying..........and who is acquainted with Mei Yi Wen.
He is very sure.......she is definitely the choice that he is interested to take as his wife.
When Hua Ming Zi left the residence of Mei Yi Wen and returned to the Banquet Hall, the feast was over. There were only a few ladies gathered in groups of three or five talking among themselves. .
"How was the Banquet?" Hua Ming Zi asked when she went up to Qian Ying Ying.
"Hua.......Sister, why did you take so long? The Banquet has ended and I feel so anxious for you......" Qian Ying Ying grabbed Hua Ming Zi"s arm and looked at her with sparkling eyes.
"What happened? Did the driver"s injury worsen?" Hua Ming Zi sucked in a breath.
Qian Ying Ying pulled Hua Ming Zi to a corner and lowered her voice but she could not hide her excitement. "No, it"s you!"
"What"s wrong with me?"
"The one who helped us on the road was Ying Yan Long!"
Oh G.o.d! Hua Ming Zi suddenly stiffened and she did not dare to even roll her eyes. "Is he still here?"
"He has already left. He left after he had talked to each and every lady here." Qian Ying Ying replied.
Hua Ming Zi sighed and she was frowning. It turned out that he is Ying Yan Long! This is indeed a big problem.
It could be Ying Yan Long had already guessed that she is Hua Ming Zi so he purposely approached her to talk to her in order to test if she is suitable for his younger brother. Although she thinks she can seriously consider the marriage between her and his younger brother, however, she was approached twice to be secretly tested and she felt ill at ease.
Moreover, this Ying Yan Long had rejected her proposal and then later, he had proposed on behalf of his brother which showed that he thinks she is not worthy of him and is more suitable for his brother. It had made her feel unhappy because all she wanted was only a husband who could carry on her family name. Since it was completely a matter of urgency, so she did not want to argue with him.
"Sister, why are you suddenly in a daze?" Qian Ying Ying nudged her.
"Did Ying Yan Long also speak to you? What did you talk about?"
Did he ask anything about her?
"Talking about this, the first thing he did was to come to me. The eyes of the envious Young Miss of Lin Family nearly popped out......" Qian Ying Ying stared at her and excitedly grabbed her arm. "Do you know what he said?"
"What did he say?" Hua Ming Zi"s heartbeat speeded up and she had a bad premonition.
"Other than a few words of greeting asking about my Father"s welfare and some random talk, he also asked about the mishap on the road. In addition, he asked how long I have known you, whether we travel often and other matters.
"Perhaps he doesn"t know what else to talk to you about."
However, doesn"t this show that Ying Yan Long was still unaware of her ident.i.ty?
"If he is really not interested, he could have turned around and walked away. Why should he ask such a lot of questions? For example, that Young Miss of Tu Family......when he asked a question, she answered with a word. He wrinkled his eyebrows and he only asked her a total of three questions. After that he left and that Miss Tu"s eye rims turned red."
Qian Ying Ying giggled and gave her a nudge. "He is interested in you, Sister......."
"I"m afraid he is making discreet inquiries about me." Hua Ming Zi told Qian Ying Ying about the matter regarding her intention to recruit Ying Xue Wen as her husband. When Qian Ying Ying heard, she was totally caught by surprise and her heart was full of worship for her friend.
"I also want to recruit a husband, ah...... I want to recruit a young and beautiful one......" Qian Ying Ying said.
Hua Ming Zi knocked on the head of Qian Ying Ying. "You......you will only think about this."
"I didn"t only think about this. I also know that Ying Yan Long definitely doesn"t know you are Hua Ming Zi because the interest he exhibited was not like he was a.s.sessing the good and bad points of his younger brother"s wife."
Hua Ming Zi bit her lower lip and said again. "If I were to recruit his younger brother as a husband, it should only be my right to evaluate his brother. Why should it be him who is doing the evaluation? It doesn"t matter since I don"t appreciate him. This person is very arrogant. All these ladies are here because they wanted to marry him, so they attended this Flower Appreciation Banquet. Why should he have the att.i.tude like he is waiting for a good price?"
Fortunately, even if she had recruited Ying Xue Wen as her husband, she need not see Ying Yan Long very often. No, it should be said, now she is seriously thinking of ruling out the possibility of recruiting Ying Xue Wen.
Hateful! She has to start all over again with the recruitment. Does her father have so much time?
"But......this Ying Yan Long who does not seem to like anyone.......looks like he is really interested in "you" this person and not that "Hua Ming Zi"." Regarding this exciting matter, Qian Ying Ying was unwilling to let go.
"That"s even worse. He is interested in me, maybe because of my appearance. But he had refused me because of my talents. How can I turn myself into a woman possessing only appearance?" Hua Ming frowned and said.
"What is going to happen to the marriage between you and Ying Xue Wen? If Ying Yan Long is interested in you and then later he finds out that you are Hua Ming Zi......"
"That"s right. I"m also thinking about this."
Base on Ying Yan Long"s personality, if he is to find out that "she" is Hua Ming Zi, he will definitely refuse again and she does not want to be rejected a second time by the Ying Family.
Hua Ming Zi rubbed her temples that were starting to hurt. She knew that the marriage between her and Ying Yan Long"s younger was bound to be rejected.
Why must a female marry when she comes of age? Why can"t she remain unmarried and just adopt a child to continue the future generation?
No.......that way, her Father will die with regrets.
Hua Ming Zi sighed in her heart. She decided that the moment she returns to Hua Mansion, she would summon Matchmaker Liu to rea.s.sess the list of recruits and their backgrounds to do a reselection.
Ai.......being the Female Head of a family is really troublesome......