So she asked Dian Mo to summon the secret guard who had just returned from delivering love letters to Xie Zichen and said solemnly, “Well, there’s a change of plans.”

“What are you planning to do now?” Dian Mo perked up her ears, always feeling that her miss was up to no good.

“I’m going to,” Wei Lan thought about it, “boil the frog in warm water. To get close to him, I’ll approach him like a brother and then remove all the women from around him. And that’s it….”

“It seems,” Wei considered back carefully, “that he might be afraid if I’m too attentive in my current capacity?”

Dian Mo: “……”

You just realized that huh…… Dian Mo felt her lungs hurt.

With this in mind, Wei Lan raised her chin and peered out across the courtyard. Her heart felt much more at ease, feeling that he had finally found the crux of the problem.

So Wei Lan stopped sending gifts and no longer harassed Xie Zichen, and turning a big corner, she took a post from the Wang family to attend a banquet held by the Wang family among the sons of the noble families.

It was purely accidental that the Wang family sent her a post. The noble family rarely dealt with their marquis households. Families like Wei Lan’s were mostly formed following dynastic changes, while the children of the aristocratic family passed through one dynasty after another. Without at least a century of history, dare they call themselves noble families? The Wang family sent a message to Wei Lan just because they heard that she was beautiful.

Everyone admired beauty, especially in the Chu Kingdom, where being an official was all about the face.

When she received the Wang family’s invitation, Wei Lan decided that since she had been back in the capital for a short while, she should expand her circle of contacts. Second, as a woman who appreciates beauty, she felt she couldn’t miss such an occasion where the sons of the noble family gathered. Third, she felt she should be able to meet Xie Zichen on such an occasion, so she gladly accepted the Wang family’s invitation.

On the day of her attendance, to give a good impression to the children of many aristocratic families, Wei Lan changed out of her usual jade-colored robes and changed into a large red gold thread curling cloud patterned robe that was topped with a black jade crown, giving off the impression that she was fair-skinned, lean and flamboyant.

When she stepped down from the carriage in her red robe, there were low sounds of gasping around her. Wei Lan was secretly thrilled but she concealed her joy behind a composed and unflinching grin as she entered the courtyard with dignity.

The children of the aristocratic family were standing in twos and threes in the courtyard, and Wei Lan was led by a servant to meet the banquet’s host, Wang Xi, the Di son of the Wang family.

Wang Xi is also a beauty; unlike Xie Zichen’s delicate and aloof appearance, Wang Xi’s temperament is more similar to Wei Lan’s, elegant and spontaneous, with the nobility of a family’s son but without being ostentatious.

He was dressed in a jade-colored robe, holding a small fan in his hand, and listening to the servants announce, “Eldest Young Master, Wei Shizi is here.” He turned around with a smile on his face, and a stunning face suddenly appeared.

Wang Xi sucked in a cold breath as the man across from him arched his hand and said, “Young Master Wang, I’m Wei Lan from the Marquis of Changxin.”

Wang Xi didn’t say anything and stared at Wei Lan in a daze the person next to him bumped him, at which point he sighed, “Wei Shi Zi’s divine posture has dumbfounded Xi, Xi punished himself with three cups, please forgive me, please forgive me!”

With that, Wang Xi took the wine cup from the subordinate’s grasp and drank three cups quickly. Wei Lan laughed and said, “Duke Wang praised me so much that he had to punish himself with three cups; wouldn’t it be rude if Wei Lan didn’t accompany you in drinking?”

After saying that, she took the wine cup from Dian Mo, who was holding the wine with an expressionless face, and drank three cups in a row.

Cheers erupted from the side, and Wang Xi’s eyes sparkled with delight. “I never thought Wei Shi Zi was a man of character,” he said, pulling Wei Lan with a smile, “come, come, come, the garden is full of my friends, Wei Shi Zi, feel free to have fun today, if you collapse after drinking, I will personally carry you back!”

Wei Lan laughed loudly as he was dragged into the garden by Wang Xi.

This is the Wang family’s suburban garden, and the peach blossoms are in bloom right now. The aristocratic family’s children wore spring shirts and gathered in twos and threes, a scene from a spring day.