Wen Tinglan sat down as well, her posture graceful and composed. Only then did she ask, "Oh? What kind of tea do I like?"
"How could I not know?" Yan Fu beamed. "Don't worry. We have it prepared at the mansion!"
Yan Fu clearly didn't remember what kind of tea Wen Tinglan liked, but for the steward of Yan Mansion, that was certainly no difficult matter.
Jiang Wang smiled without making any unnecessary movements, showing that he hadn't understood a word of the undercurrents between the two of them.
Wen Tinglan clearly knew the answer, but didn't press him. She merely gave him a gentle reminder before letting it go, then changed the subject. "We're all sitting down. Why are you the only one still standing?"
"Haha, quite right." Yan Fu had laughed more times today than usual.
Whether he was genuinely happy... didn't matter.
At that moment, he was standing alone.
Jiang Wang and Wen Tinglan sat facing each other, with a space between them.
Yan Fu looked at the empty seat beside Jiang Wang, then at the empty seat beside Wen Tinglan. In the end, he chose neither and went to sit at the head of the room.
Looking at them from the middle, he laughed again. "Today, I really am... happy."
Yan Fu had a naturally distinguished air when he smiled, but now his presence seemed somewhat subdued, and his smile was badly strained.
Jiang Wang had no idea what Yan Fu had been cornered over, nor did he want to know.
It didn't concern him, so he kept well out of it.
He sipped his tea, one mouthful at a time.
But... the tree wanted stillness, yet the wind kept blowing.
Yan Fu laughed for a while. When nobody responded, he glanced at Jiang Wang and