Princess and the General

Love Rivals Meet (Part One)

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“Second young sir!”

Gu JiuGe arrived outside a private room on the third floor, and a joyous voice came from inside.

They had arranged to meet an hour before noon, and he himself was not late, so why had Yin JiYao come early?

Normally, for the sake of considering feminine restraint, she would come later than Gu JiuGe.

Yin JiYao came out to receive Gu JiuGe, a rarely seen look of joy shining through the reserved feminine bearing.
Upon seeing the girl next to Gu JiuGe, that smile immediately froze.

“P-Princess.”

She bowed in salute, and she immediately became stiff.

Yu Fu did not know about the relationship between her and Gu JiuGe and said with a smile: “Second brother’s friend is my friend.
Young miss Yin, there’s no need to be so courteous.
It’s fine to address me in the same way as before.”

There was nothing wrong with what she had said.
Yu Fu had also said the same thing to Yu Guan.

To Yin JiYao, however, this sounded a little unpleasant.

His friends are your friends?

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You clearly rejected him, so why have you come with him to see me?

Gu JiuGe said: “This restaurant can be considered one of Yu Fu’s businesses, and she wanted to come and take a look, so I decided to bring her along.
Yu Fu heard that young miss Yin and I had an arrangement, so she just came to greet you.
She will be going to see Yu Guan and check up on some things.
I fear that she will not have any time for us.”

So she just happened to be tagging along.

Yin JiYao could not help but feel ashamed of her earlier thoughts, “Many thanks, young miss Yu Fu.
Since that’s the case, I will not get in the way of your main matters.”

“Young miss Yin, please take your time and try various dishes.
Fourth brother said that Yu Guan put a great deal of effort into them.
I will be leaving first.
Second brother must take good care of young miss Yin.”

“Don’t worry.”

Yao Lan helped Yu Fu down the stairs, and Yin JiYao watched her parting figure in a daze.
She then looked over at Gu JiuGe.

He did not appear to be heartbroken.
He did not look like someone who had confessed and been rejected.
What was going on?

Was it that he did not like Yu Fu that much, to begin with, or was he being considerate of Gu HuaiJiang and Gu ShuBai’s feelings and started thinking of Yu Fu as a little sister again?

For a while, she could not figure it out.

Gu JiuGe raised his hand, “Young miss Yin, let’s go inside.”

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Yu Fu descended the stairs and saw Yu Guan leading a woman holding a pipa inside.
She looked extremely familiar.

“Prin… Young miss, you came?”

Yu Guan stepped forward first and cupped his hands, “I have been looking forward to young miss’ arrival.
Previously, it had not been tidied up, so I did not dare to invite young miss.
Now that things have gotten better, I have been looking forward to young miss’ arrival!”

He had become a bit thinner but was in much better spirits.
He was smiling more and had the bearing of a shopkeeper.

While speaking, he turned to introduce Yu Fu, “This is Miss Yao Yue, whom I have invited to come and perform.
I heard that she was familiar with people from the manor and was skilled with the pipa.
Miss Yao Yue, this is…”

Before he could finish speaking, Yao Yue stepped forward with her pipa and bowed, “Greetings, princess.”

Yu Guan was shocked and said: “So Miss Yao Yue has met the young miss before?”

“I previously met Miss Yao Yue with second brother.
I also heard her play a song while riding a boat.
It was quite pleasant.
After that, I heard her play at West Lake, but I did not see her then.”

Yu Fu explained to Yu Guan and carefully observed Yao Yue.
Her face was pale and looked sickly, but it was covered up with makeup.

“Miss, there’s no need to be so distant.
It’s fine to just address me as you did before.”

Yao Yue nodded slightly.
Compared to her previous tender demeanor, there was now much more anxiety.

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In the end, Yu Guan was a man and was not sufficiently thorough.
If he could see Yao Yue’s poor condition, he definitely would not invite her to perform.

But Yao Yue dragging her sick self here to perform, what was it for?

Yu Fu subconsciously glanced up toward the third floor.
The window to the private room was opened just a crack, and the situation inside could not be seen.

Who knew if Gu JiuGe knew if Yao Yue had come?

Yao Yue followed her gaze and looked up.
Yu Shan Building was a ring-shaped construct.
Standing in at the middle of the first floor, one could see the upper floors, and the people on the upper floors could see the performances taking place below.

The direction that Yu Fu was looking was definitely where Gu JiuGe was, right?

Yu Guan joyously said: “Since young miss also likes Miss Yao Yue’s performance, this could not be any better.
When I first went to invite Miss Yao Yue, I was worried that Miss Yao Yue would refuse to come out because of her illness.
Fortunately, she has already recovered and wants to come to Yu Shan Building to perform.
Right, young miss, did the second young sir come?”

Yu Fu glanced at Yao Yue and quietly nodded.

Yu Guan must have told Yao Yue that Gu JiuGe would be coming today.
That must be why she would force herself to come despite being sick, right?

“That’s good.
Let’s not stand here to speak.
Young miss, please come to the backyard.”

Yao Yue performed a slight bow and weakly said: “I will be going to prepare.”

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Yu Guan brought out Yu Shan Building’s goods and financial records, carefully explaining all of them to Yu Fu.

Yu Fu smiled but did not say anything.
Listening to him talk, it was as if he was a completely different person from before.

“Where have you hidden Yu Guan? The Yu Guan that I know was not like this.
Are you wearing a lifelike mask?”

Yu Guan was stunned before realizing that Yu Fu was joking.
He was a little embarrassed.

He said: “Young miss, don’t make fun of me.
If not for young miss coming up with the idea, and providing money and people to help me, how could Yu Shan Building do this well? This is young miss’ business.
I am just helping young miss manage it and do not dare to claim credit.”

“Not at all.”

Yu Fu said: “This is your business.
I only lent you all of those things.
The money and people were provided by eldest brother.
My name was also lent to you for the sake of business.
As long as you promise me that you will not charge me when I come for a meal.”

While she joked, she cleanly separated herself from Yu Shan Building, allowing Yu Guan to truly become the owner.

Yu Guan anxiously said: “Of course, this isn’t just for young miss.
If people from Marquis Gu’s Manor come, this would also be true! Right, I plan on changing my name.
This name is an offense to young miss and is not suited to being used.”

“There’s no need.
I have never worried about such things.”

Yu Fu spoke freely and heard the sound of the pipa come from the front, saying: “Come, let’s go and watch Yao Yue’s performance.”