"Your praise is too kind, Young Master." Madam Ruan smiled demurely, then casually asked, "By the way, where did you hear the two poems you recited at the dock?"
Song Qingshu and Ren Yingying exchanged a glance. Here it comes. He explained, "In reply to Madam, I happened to learn them from two friends."
"Friends?" Madam Ruan's delicate brows drew together. "May I ask whether these two friends of yours are men or women, and what their names are?"
"One is called A Zhu, and the other A'zi. They are two lovely young girls." As Song Qingshu answered, he kept his eyes fixed on her, trying to spot some flaw in her expression.
Unfortunately, Madam Ruan's expression did not change in the slightest. Instead, she teased, "Young Master, praising other girls so openly before your wife—aren't you afraid your lady wife will grow jealous?"
Song Qingshu's breath caught. He had not expected her to turn the tables on him. Ren Yingying, however, smiled and came to his rescue. "Please forgive the laughter, Madam. Everything about him is good, except that he is a little too popular with women."
Madam Ruan looked at her in surprise. With her experience, how could she fail to see that Ren Yingying was not the least bit annoyed? That was strange. In others' eyes, the woman before her was practically a celestial beauty. Yet such a woman tacitly accepted her husband's behavior. Was she simply magnanimous, or was the man beside her simply too exceptional?
Madam Ruan unconsciously glanced at Song Qingshu. With sword-like brows, bright eyes, and an aura as mysterious as a riddle, he seemed like a Banished Immortal. She could not help smiling faintly. If I had met a man like this ten years earlier, I might have been captivated as well.