Chapter 978: Banquet (3)

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Song Jingchen was speechless.

Lu Ming Academy was on the outskirts of the city. Although it could not compare to the four main academies in the city, there were many poor disciples.

rlWvo years ago, Fan Mingyuan was found and brought into the residence by the old master’s people. He was personally taken in as a disciple by Duke Song. At that time, he was already ten years old. Compared to the four academies with countless disciples, Lu Ming Academy was the most suitable for him.

Firstly, it would not make him feel uncomfortable. Secondly, the children of wealthy families had begun to be educated early on. Not only would he fall behind, but he would also lose his confidence as time passed.

Autumn Deer Academy was also a good choice. However, Duke Song and the dean of Lu Ming Academy were old friends and the dean could help take care of Fan Mingyuan. Therefore, they finally chose Lu Ming Academy.

Fan Mingyuan usually stayed in the academy and only returned to the Duke’s residence during a vacation.

The carriage stopped at the foot of Lu Ming Academy. Song Jingchen had just lifted the curtain when he saw a young man in green walking down the stairs with a servant. The other party also saw him and looked surprised.

“Ah Chen, why are you here?” Fan Mingyuan quickly took a few steps. It was really cold outside. Without waiting for Song Jingchen to speak, he stepped on the coach stairs and got into the carriage.

There was a container filled with hot water in the carriage, and a charcoal stove was lit. The curtain of the carriage was put down to block out the cold outside. After drinking a cup of hot tea, he felt better.

“Mother is holding a banquet at the residence today. She was afraid that I would bump into the attendees, so she chased me out. I had nothing to do, so I sent the carriage that was coming to pick you up.” Song Jingchen smiled. “I guess you don’t want to go back either. We can accompany each other.”

The academy had a break every ten days. Fan Mingyuan hadn’t returned for so long, so he naturally didn’t know that Madam Li was trying to find a match for Song Jingchen. Seeing that he was being serious, he couldn’t help but laugh. “Madam isn’t afraid that you’ll offend a girl. She’s worried that a girl will offend you.”

After being in the Duke’s residence for two years, Fan Mingyuan was no longer as careful as he was in the beginning, especially when facing Song Jingchen, who was two years younger than him but always acted like an elder brother and often cared about him.

There were only the two of them in the residence. Every time they took a break, the two of them would gather together, either reading or playing chess. Sometimes, Shi An would chat with them, so Fan Mingyuan couldn’t help but hear a lot about Song Jingchen’s past.

For example, at this banquet, every time the residence held a banquet, there would always be one or two girls who got lost and ran to the front courtyard. Some said that a girl sprained her ankle as soon as the heir appeared. Coupled with Shi An’s amazed tone, it was quite funny.

Song Jingchen rubbed his nose and didn’t explain.

Shi An felt uncomfortable. As soon as he saw Fan Mingyuan, he wanted to pour out his grievances. However, as soon as he opened his mouth, his little heir glanced at him and he could only shut his mouth again in embarrassment.

Fan Mingyuan still found it strange. “Why is Shi An so quiet today? Shi Quan is usually too quiet, so I asked him to learn more from Shi An.”

Shi Quan was a servant beside him. He was the exact opposite of Shi An, who would die if he did not speak. He tried not to speak if he didn’t have to. Even though his Young Master had called him out, he only smiled dryly.

Song Jingchen glanced at the restless Shi An. “He made a mistake. I’m punishing him by not allowing him to speak today.”

Shi An was speechless. When did this happen? Why didn’t he know?!

Song Jingchen ignored him and picked up his teacup to take a sip. “The banquet won’t end until late in the afternoon. We have to eat outside for lunch.”

Shi An thought to himself, “Let’s go to a restaurant. The Yuelai Restaurant is not bad. The fragrant crispy chicken and phoenix tail shark fin inside are all top-notch delicacies. The Delicacy Pavilion is fine too. I can eat two bowls of rice with a serving of Eight Treasures Rabbit Ding. There’s also the Jade Belt Shrimp, Eight Treasures Duck, and Mandarin Fish…”

Fan Mingyuan felt that Song Jingchen was here to hide from the girls attending the banquet. He smiled and said, “Let’s go to the Heavenly Fragrance Restaurant. My treat, but it’s still early. We can find a teahouse to listen to some stories first.’

Shi An was speechless.

While the two of them were discussing how to spend the next half a day, Madam Li’s eyelids did not stop twitching when she saw Little Jiajia following closely beside her.

Why did she feel that this banquet would not go smoothly?