Chapter 649: Chapter 585, Mountain Song Duet_1 Chapter 649: Chapter 585, Mountain Song Duet_1 “`
After Daohua and Zhu Qiyun descended the stairs, they didn’t walk far before finding a seat in the nearby Jiao Pavilion.

Seeing that Zhu Qiyun seemed somewhat distracted, Daohua thought for a moment and then asked, “That… your engagement with the young man from the Zhuang Family…”

Zhu Qiyun was quite open about it, “When my family heard about the Zhuang son’s tragic love, and since he and I had not yet gone through the formal wedding ceremony, my family brought me back home, and naturally, the engagement was canceled.”

Daohua smiled, “Your family is very good.”

Zhu Qiyun smiled and nodded, “Yes, for the sake of my happiness, my mother and brother went against the clan’s objections and brought me back home.”

Daohua, “Then your visit here today is…?”

Zhu Qiyun showed a bitter smile, “Having canceled the engagement isn’t good for the reputation of the sisters in our clan. The elders are eager to see me married off quickly. Today, my third aunt brought me here to look at prospective suitors.”

Daohua, “Looking at whom? The Prefectural Governor’s wife over there?”

Zhu Qiyun nodded with a bitter smile.

Daohua was silent for a moment and finally uttered, “That Madam doesn’t seem very easy to get along with.”

Zhu Qiyun gazed into the distance, a daze in her eyes, “The difficulty in getting along with her is secondary, the main issue is, their son is a fool.” She looked at Daohua with a lost expression, “Miss Yan, do you think if I had tolerated the Zhuang son’s tragic love back then, my life might be easier now?”

Daohua looked at Zhu Qiyun, at a loss for what to say.

Regaining her composure, Zhu Qiyun offered an apologetic smile, “Miss Yan, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have talked about these depressing matters.”

Daohua shook her head, and couldn’t help but comfort her, “If your family is willing to let you break off the engagement, they surely won’t force you to marry someone you don’t like. Don’t overthink it.”

Zhu Qiyun gave a wry smile, “My mother and brother certainly wouldn’t, but the people in the clan will not agree. I can’t just think about myself; I have to consider my brother as well.”

Their father had passed away, and their household had only one male heir, her brother. They would certainly need the support of the clan in the future, so she couldn’t afford to offend them too much.

Not being familiar with the affairs of the Zhu Family, Daohua didn’t know what more to say.

The pavilion had grown quiet, and just then, loud laughter could be heard from a distance. Daohua looked towards the sound and saw a crowd gathering. She couldn’t help saying, “Shall we go have a look too?”

Zhu Qiyun glanced at Daohua’s foot, “I’m fine, but Miss Yan, your foot… can you manage?”

Daohua, “If we go slowly, it’s fine.”

Soon, the two joined the crowd and discovered that on both sides of the River Valley, people were engaging in mountain song duets.

Seeing Daohua’s curious expression, Zhu Qiyun explained with a smile, “This is a custom among some mountain dwellers. What might seem bold to us is actually a refined and interesting event for them. Many destined young men and women even find their life partners this way.”

Daohua said with a smile, “I think it’s quite good. Singing is a talent, and this is like finding a soulmate through real skill.”

Zhu Qiyun couldn’t help but laugh softly at the remark.

“Big sister, why are you here alone? Aren’t Yi Huan and the others with you?”

Yan Wenjie emerged from the crowd.

Seeing Yan Wenjie, Daohua was somewhat surprised and said with a smile, “I’m not convenient with my foot, so I didn’t keep up with them. But what about you, second brother? Why aren’t you with eldest brother and the others?”

Yan Wenjie, “The Little Prince and the others are going to paddle dragon boats. I’m not interested, so I came out.” He then looked at Daohua, “There’s a crowd here. Are you okay being on your own?”

Zhu Qiyun heard Yan Wenjie talking about “Miss Yan being alone” and completely ignoring her, causing her to smile and say, “May I ask, young master, am I not a person?”

“Uh…”

Yan Wenjie paused before turning to Zhu Qiyun, looking embarrassed, “That’s not what I meant, please don’t be offended, miss.” He then turned to Daohua, “Do you want me to take you back?”

Daohua shook her head, “I’d like to stay a bit longer.”

“`
Yan Wenjie fell silent for a moment, “Then I will leave a servant here, if you need anything, just let him know.”

Daohua glanced at Wang Manman and Bi Shi who had followed her, then looked ahead at the crowd that had gathered, concerned about any potential accidents, and nodded in agreement to leave the servant behind.

“I’ll be off then, be careful and try not to go where it’s crowded. My older brothers are just ahead, if you want to find them, let the servant take you there.”

After giving a few instructions, Yan Wenjie turned and left.

Watching Yan Wenjie leave alone, Daohua’s eyes drooped slightly. As her elder brothers grew up, the gap between them seemed to widen more and more; her oldest brother, third brother, and fourth brother were accustomed to playing with the likes of Xiao Yeyang and Brother Dong, now with either academic honors or official titles in their possession, they did not feel inferior in front of nobility. But it was different for her second brother.

Because her aunt and uncle had been busy arranging a match for her second brother recently, she had paid closer attention to him and realized that the once lively and talkative second brother had become quiet.

“Miss Yan!”

Seeing Daohua in a daze, Zhu Qiyun couldn’t help but call out several times.

Daohua snapped back to reality and smiled, “Let’s go a bit further ahead.”

It wasn’t long before the two reached a bridge.

Many girls were standing on the bridge, including Guo Xueming and Jiang Wanying among others. At this moment, the girls were all giggling and watching the several dragon boats in the river.

Looking down, Daohua saw that the dragon boats were filled with young men from the mountains, and on one of them stood Xiao Yeyang, Yan Wenkai, and others.

At this moment, some of the young men from the mountains were loudly asking the girls on the bridge for their embroidered pouches.

The girls on the bridge blushed, and a bold few even went as far as to throw their pouches directly onto the dragon boats.

Naturally, the boat where Xiao Yeyang and the others were got the most pouches thrown at it.

Daohua watched this scene with a beaming smile.

On the dragon boat, Xiao Yeyang, who had been planning to get some exercise, looked at his friends who were enthusiastically looking up at the girls on the bridge and felt helplessly amused. Suddenly, with a glance, he caught sight of Daohua on the bridge, and his eyes lit up. He grabbed the bamboo pole from Sun Changze’s hand, stuck it in the water, and using its force, he jumped directly onto the head of the bridge.

Watching Xiao Yeyang’s handsome figure, admiration surfaced on all the young ladies’ faces.

Jiang Wanying initially wanted to step forward and strike up a conversation, but Xiao Yeyang, without a sideward glance, walked straight past the girls and kept going forward.

Guo Xueming also silently withdrew the step she had taken.

Watching Xiao Yeyang walk towards her, Daohua’s heart suddenly lifted, filled with anticipation, nervousness, and even a bit of panic and concern.

Seeing Daohua’s tense expression, Xiao Yeyang gave a silent smile, signaled with his eyes for her to ‘wait a moment,’ and then continued to walk past her without stopping.

As Xiao Yeyang disappeared from view, Daohua let out a sigh of relief.

What she didn’t notice was that among the crowd of young ladies, both Guo Xueming and Jiang Wanying also secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Just now, they had the mistaken impression that Brother Yeyang was heading towards the eldest Miss Yan.

“Tsk tsk, I’ve just realized that among us, the one who is most adept at attracting the attention of the girls is none other than Yeyang,”
Yan Wenkai tsked while watching how Xiao Yeyang drew the girls’ glances away. At that moment, he also lost interest in rowing the dragon boat and instead, emulated Xiao Yeyang by using the bamboo pole to jump onto the bridge.

Dong Yuanxuan and the others rowed their boat to the shore and got off as well.

At the bridgehead, Wang Manman tugged at Daohua and cast a sidelong glance to the side. Daohua fell silent for a moment, then turned to Zhu Qiyun, “Miss Zhu, I have something that came up suddenly. It’s quite lively here, may I have the servant take you to find my three younger sisters?”

Zhu Qiyun, who had just seen someone call Wang Manman away, immediately smiled and said, “That’ll be a trouble for Miss Yan.”

Daohua shook her head and motioned to Yan Wenjie’s servant, “Take Miss Zhu to where my second sister and the others are.”

After Zhu Qiyun left, Daohua then took Wang Manman and Bi Shi and departed.