"Really? They’re blood brothers, traveling all this way to visit family, how could they end up arguing?"
"You never know," Xie Yu spread his hands, "the two of them haven’t entered the capital yet, and eight or nine times out of ten, they’re here to persuade father to remarry. After all, our Xie family only my father has no male heir to continue the family line."
Fu Zhen stopped under the willow shade with a smile: "It’s all family; there’s no harm in caring. Uncle Xie has also achieved fame and fortune, so his lifelong matters are indeed worth considering. What do you think?"
Xie Yu’s eyes darted around brilliantly: "Of course, I hope father remarries, but unfortunately, father doesn’t settle for less. Only a gentle, virtuous, considerate, and skilled woman can move his heart."
Fu Zhen smiled again, moving forward: "Isn’t that just your assumption?"
"How could it be an assumption?" Xie Yu quickly followed her, "No one knows a father better than his daughter; how could I not know what my father wants? But you, sister—
"Speaking of it, our two families’ situations are quite similar. Look at your master, she’s still so young and beautiful. Life is so long, it’s not right to be without a reliable person by her side, right?
"Do you support or oppose your master remarrying?"
Fu Zhen looked at her blinking eyes, clasped her hands, and said: "I also have to see the person. You know your master is both beautiful and capable, how can she settle for just anyone?
"But if there were such a steady, reliable, kind, upright, well-educated, and considerate bachelor, I’d raise both hands in support."
Hearing this, Xie Yu’s eyes lit up like stars!
"Sister, are you serious?"
"I speak no untruths."
Xie Yu was so excited that she didn’t know where to put her hands and feet, muttering to herself, "Heaven knows how worried I was that sister wouldn’t approve... this is just wonderful, wonderful!"
Saying this, she grabbed Fu Zhen’s arm: "Don’t leave today, stay for lunch! I’ve learned to cook, and I’ll personally cook for you!"
"Oh, you lazy thing, you actually know how to cook personally?"
Just then, a slow voice of a young man came from beyond the rockery.
Upon hearing this voice, Fu Zhen instantly turned, looking unexpectedly at Liang Zhi in front of her: "Why are you here? How did you come here?"
Before Liang Zhi could reply, Xie Yu was already blushing. She stomped her foot: "Why didn’t you inform the gatekeeper? I’m going to dock his month’s pay later!"
Fu Zhen immediately caught the key point: "’Again’?! So this isn’t your first time here?"
Xie Yu’s cheeks were already flushed, and this time she didn’t even have the courage to stomp her feet.
Liang Zhi cleared his throat twice, then took two large gift bags from Xiao Si behind him, handing them to Xie Yu with an arrogant tilt of his chin: "I’m just an errand boy; my sister-in-law asked me to bring these to you, so here you go!"
The heavy gift bags weighed down Xie Yu’s arms, but she didn’t make a peep.
Fu Zhen looked at them, then took a deep breath and rolled her eyes, glancing at Liang Zhi: "Where have you ever seen someone deliver gifts with this kind of attitude? No situational awareness, and not having them sent to the housekeeper? Can’t you see her arms are about to break?"
Liang Zhi cleared his throat again, then took the bags from Xie Yu and had Xiao Si take them away.
A strange current surrounded these two, making a usually coarse juvenile general and a frank and lovely young lady look as ambiguous as sugar-coated pastries.
Fu Zhen couldn’t be bothered to expose them, brushing aside the willow shade overhead, and said: "How is Lian Rong’s review going? How’s the search in Camp Town? Why haven’t you come to report back?"
With one sentence, Liang Zhi transformed from a sugar-coated pastry back into a yam egg. He straightened his back, hands on his hips, and said in a gruff voice: "Old Seven is keeping watch at the Dali Temple. After I took the painting you drew yesterday, I went to Camp Town. Zhe Yu and Tie Ying are all over there with Brother Qian."
As he spoke, he suddenly slapped his forehead and remembered: "Almost forgot, Tie Ying went to Pei Mansion, he said he needed to find you."
Fu Zhen was puzzled: "Why is he suddenly looking for me?"
"After seeing the portrait you drew this morning, he suddenly acted like he saw a ghost, pulling to look it over repeatedly, asking several times if you had actually seen the person in the painting? Then he hurriedly returned to the city!"
"..."