“First Miss…” Qiu Yu coughed again in a low voice, fixed his eyes on Shao Yanru with deep affection, and said, “You are both talented and beautiful, kind and gentle. I’m wondering if… I could…”

“Your Excellency, since I’ve told you everything I know, I’ll leave with Shuqi now!” Shao Yanru interrupted Qiu Yu, suddenly took Shuqi’s hand, turned around, and was about to leave.

“First Miss, please wait for a moment!” Qiu Yu said. How could he let go of such a good opportunity? He took two steps in a hurry and stopped in front of Shao Yanru. For fear that he couldn’t finish his words, he said immediately without hesitation, “First Miss, if I go to your mansion to ask to marry you…”

“Your Excellency, please mind your words!” Shao Yanru interrupted him, “As a childe from an aristocratic family, you should know what you should and shouldn’t say. If you say something you shouldn’t say, you may even tarnish a Miss’s reputation!”

“First Miss, please forgive me. I have to say it. I’m going back in a few days. If I don’t figure out how you feel for me, how dare I go to your mansion to ask to marry you? First Miss, please tell me clearly. If you like Commandery Prince Qing, I have nothing to say and will no longer disturb you. No one else will know what you tell me today!”

Qiu Yu said anxiously. Despite his red face, he blurted it out.

He finished his words at once, Shao Yanru couldn’t interrupt him even if she wanted to.

“Your Excellency, I feel nothing for both Commandery Prince Qing and you. Please behave yourself!” Shao Yanru took a step back, lowered her head, and said with dignity.

Since Qiu Yu had said that, she had no choice but to answer. At this moment, she couldn’t leave without giving a definite answer.

She obviously refused him by saying that. Although Qiu Yu had thought about being refused before, when hearing her words actually, he was heart-broken, took a step back, staggered, stared at Shao Yanru with bitterness, and said, “I know I can’t compare with Commandery Prince Qing. I’m not a member of the royal family, and even not the legitimate eldest son of my father, which makes it impossible for me to inherit the title of nobility. But I will strive for a brighter future. If you… I will definitely give you the best life I can offer!”

These words had been buried deep in his heart, and he had to speak them out at the moment, otherwise, he would feel uncomfortable!

“Your Excellency…” Shao Yanru blushed and said angrily.

“First Miss, I don’t blame you for choosing Commandery Prince Qing. After all, he is a descendant of the late emperor as well as a member of the royal family. He’s so lucky to have you. When we were in the maple forest, I could see the affection between you two. If I hadn’t appeared at that time, you two would have been able to have a walk together. My… showing up there was just an accident!”

Qiu Yu lowered his head and said in a low voice without looking at Shao Yanru.

At this moment, he was completely immersed in the pain of being rejected by Shao Yanru, so some trivial things, that were not enough to show anything, were magnified infinitely. He felt that he was so stupid at that time. He could clearly tell the affection between them, but he joined them in the visit to enjoy the scenery. Moreover, thinking of Shao Yanru’s reluctance when she met him, he understood everything at the moment.

He turned around and walked out of the room slowly with unsteady steps. It turned out to be an illusion!

“Your Excellency!” There came Shao Yanru’s angry voice from behind, but he turned a deaf ear and continued walking forward. He only felt frustrated. The First Miss of Duke Xing’s Mansion, the first beauty in the capital city, was indeed a dream out of his reach.

“Your Excellency, I feel nothing for Commandery Prince Qing!” Shao Yanru followed Qiu Yu a few steps and said to him angrily.

Qiu Yu stopped and slowly turned around. With the sad look on his face replaced by a surprised look, he turned around suddenly, grabbed Shao Yanru’s hand, and said excitedly, “First Miss, you say that you don’t like Commandery Prince Qing. So you like…”

He couldn’t even finish his words at the moment because of excitement.

Seeing that things didn’t go well, Shuqi hurried over and pulled Shao Yanru out, while saying angrily, “Your Excellency, if you are a decent childe, don’t say anything like that. My master can’t decide her fate. You will ruin her reputation if you meet her in private again. Do you really want to force her to commit suicide?”

As Shuqi said, she had taken Shao Yanru out of the hall.

Qiu Yu followed them and intended to chase after them, but he finally stopped when hearing Shuqi’s words, stretched out his hand, and then put it down.

Shao Yanru and Shuqi walked to the door and then disappeared. He could tell that they had left based on their footsteps.

Qiu Yu stood there quietly and then breathed a sigh of relief. Anyway, First Miss Shao did not say that she liked Chu Qing and blamed him because of his improper words. Could it be that the First Miss Shao had feelings for him but couldn’t say it under the stress of ethics? In this case, he still had a chance.

Since Shao Yanru’s maid asked him for a favor, he would naturally release the two old maids. Besides, the Ministry of Justice was still investigating the case of the Baiyun Taoist Temple. Although he was not assigned to investigate the case, he could volunteer to help, and Wen Xichi would definitely agree. Joining the investigation into such a case related to Duke Xing’s Mansion, he still had the chance to meet the First Miss Shao.

Perhaps she would fall in love with him after meeting him a few more times.

Thinking of this, Qiu Yu felt relieved as if the stone in his heart had fallen. He, who looked much better, turned around, walked to the altar, blew out the lamp, and then turned around and strode away.

Hearing him go away, Shao Wanru and Yujie, who had hidden at the corner for a long time, respectively let out a sigh of relief.

“Miss, does the First Miss like him or not?” Yujie said in a low voice, but her words could still be heard clearly in the dark main hall.

“I don’t know either. I can’t tell!” Shao Wanru said hesitantly.

“I think the First Miss likes both of them!” Yujie said in an unrestrained voice, which made her sound like a mannerless maid while reaching out to help Shao Wanru get up.

“Don’t talk nonsense!” Shao Wanru scolded her.

“I’m not talking nonsense. It’s true. When we were in the maple forest, the First Miss went to enjoy the scenery with Commandery Prince Qing and Lord Qiu cheerfully and left you in the pavilion alone for a rest. Doesn’t she like both of them?”

Yujie said, unconvinced.

“Even so, you can’t say that. How can a girl like two men at the same time!” Shao Wanru said, reaching out to pat Yujie’s hand, “If you talk nonsense again, I will send you back to the mansion!”

“Okay, okay, Miss, I don’t dare to say it again. I just made a guess! First Miss is so beautiful and has exceeded the age of getting engaged. Naturally, she has a lot of admirers. But why hasn’t she got engaged? Could it be that she hasn’t picked a perfect match during all this time?” Yujie had helped Shao Wanru walk to the door, but she kept guessing wildly while begging for forgiveness. It could be seen that she was a favored little maid.

Shao Wanru and Yujie also slowly disappeared behind the door of the hall.

The first man in black moved flashed out of the main hall and chased after them.

After he left, the second man in black also flashed away, but headed towards another direction and went straight to the outside of the Yuhui Nunnery instead of following the first man in black. His task was to protect the Fifth Miss Shao in the hall. Since nothing had happened in the hall, he had accomplished his task!

After returning to her courtyard, Shao Wanru saw Shao Yanru and Shuqi in the corridor.

“Where did you go, Fifth Sister?” Shao Yanru and Shuqi acted as if they had been standing in the corridor and chatting. Seeing Shao Wanru enter the courtyard, Shao Yanru walked up to Shao Wanru and asked with a smile when she got close.

As she asked, she looked at Shao Wanru’s injured foot. Even with most of her body leaning against Yujie, Shao Wanru still walked with difficulty.

“I just went out for a walk after dinner!” Shao Wanru said with a faint smile while intending to get in with Yujie’s help. She seemed to be unwilling to talk to Shao Yanru.

“Fifth Sister, since you’ve sprained your ankle, how can you walk around? I instructed Shuqi to ask an imperial physician to come here when she went down the mountain. He should be able to come up the mountain tomorrow and have a look at your foot. If you really get hurt, it will be terrible!” Shao Yanru said with a smile, looking concerned and thoughtful.

“Big Sister, I don’t need it!” Shao Wanru said with a cold face, “I’ve almost recovered!”

“How can you almost recover in just a day? Sister, you can go to sleep now. It’s not easy to ask an imperial physician to come here. Since today Shuqi went to ask him to come, he will probably come tomorrow with a female physician. It will be more convenient for him to treat your injury!” Shao Yanru looked at Shao Wanru’s injured foot and said with an increasingly amiable smile.

She looked as if she really cared about Shao Wanru.

After that, she turned around and returned to her main room with Shuqi, leaving Shao Wanru standing at the door of the silence room with an unhappy look.

“Miss, let’s go inside and go to sleep!” Yujie supported Shao Wanru and said.

Shao Wanru nodded, took a deep breath in anger, and then walked into the silence room with Yujie’s help.

In the yard, Qing’er looked out at the door and said to herself, “It has been so late now. Where did the two Misses go? They have probably gone to sleep now. I’m so sleepy!”

After that, she yawned, closed the door, put down the broom on one side, and turned into a wing room in the corner.

The lights in the courtyard went out one by one. It seemed that all of them had gone to sleep.

Seeing the dark courtyard, the man in black hiding outside knew that he could get no other information, so he disappeared from the roof in a flash. He should leave the Yuhui Nunnery and go down the mountain to report what he saw tonight to his master.

He didn’t consider these serious. Nevertheless, his master had always analyzed a lot of things. If he did not report in detail and something went wrong later, he would get into trouble. Besides, wasn’t it said that the Fifth Miss would have a private meeting with a man today? Why did the First Miss seem to be the one having a private meeting?

But if it was the First Miss who met a man in private? The secret guard was horrified and felt that he should stop thinking about it. He should not think about this kind of thing as a secret guard.

He came out of the Yuhui Nunnery, found the horse tied in the dark, climbed on the horse, and then went down the mountain in a hurry to another yard of his master’s. His master was not in the capital city today. His master could not return to the capital at this time, because the city gate was closed now.

In Chu Liuyue’s courtyard, after hearing the secret guard’s detailed narration, Chu Liuyue became sullen with coldness in his eyes!

Could it be possible that Shao Yanru really had other thoughts?