"Speaking of which, I've also heard rumors about the senior in school." Wang Wanrou said suddenly as she picked up some nuts with her chopsticks. "I heard that the senior isn't in good health..."
"Oh really?" Wang Xinzhi expressed concern.
"More or less," Cheng Jinyang said ambiguously, "I had a serious illness before due to family changes, but I've improved a lot now."
"Speaking of which, I know a few imperial physicians from Gulou Hospital who serve the prime ministers in the capital." Wang Xinzhi took out his phone and showed a QR code business card. "If Jinyang trusts me, you can go consult them."
Faced with this kindness, Cheng Jinyang naturally accepted with a polite smile.
"My Jinyang just doesn't like exercising." Xing Yuanzhi next to them showed a helpless expression. "He just stays at home all day."
"Haha, playing games at home?" Wang Xinzhi showed an interested look.
Cheng Jinyang responded while thinking that Xing Yuanzhi was setting the stage. With his special condition, he should indeed try to stay indoors and avoid unnecessary risks.
The four continued chatting for a moment, and Wang Xinzhi brought up another topic:
"By the way, have you heard? Princess Nankang seems to have disappeared."
"Princess Nankang?" Xing Yuanzhi frowned slightly. "The emperor's daughter?"
"Yes, it's said that she mysteriously disappeared from the High-Energy Particle Research Institute last night." Wang Xinzhi lightly tapped the beef in the bowl with his chopsticks and said softly, "She's a workaholic by nature, spending three days and three nights in the lab without going out is common."
"But early this morning, when the research assistant entered the lab, she was already gone."
"What's strange is that the lab's server was still on." Wang Wanrou beside him took over the topic and chuckled, "According to the lab rules, the server must be turned off when no one is present."
"So he tried to contact His Highness, but couldn't reach him, so he realized something was wrong and promptly called the police. The catchers from the Six Ministries checked the surveillance and found only the footage of Princess Nankang entering the research institute, with no footage of her leaving."
"But even after searching the entire institute, they couldn't find any trace of His Highness," Wang Xinzhi shook his head, "Now the Imperial Guards have taken over, and the first thing they plan to investigate is your Cheng family and the Xing family from Hejian."
"Huh?" Cheng Jinyang was puzzled.
"The high-energy particle research institute is located in the southern part of Xiangshan Lake Park," Wang Wanrou explained, "And your Cheng and Xing residences are located near Xiangshan Road and Baima Road, only five or six hundred meters away from Xiangshan Lake Park. So, of course, the Imperial Guards will start with you."
"This matter has nothing to do with our family; it must be the work of the vagrant gangs," Xing Yuanzhi heard the implication from the Wang siblings' words and immediately declared.
In fact, whether Princess Nankang was missing or intentionally hiding, and who the mastermind and accomplices were, the noble families didn't care at all... What they cared about was whether the emperor would take this opportunity to suppress, divide, and recruit the noble families.
Xing Yuanzhi's statement undoubtedly told the Wang siblings, "'Our family will never admit guilt or compromise.'"
So Wang Xinzhi smiled and said, "Don't worry, Father has already discussed with the other four families. It's certain that this matter has nothing to do with the Cheng and Xing families, and they will do everything to prevent the incident from escalating."
This implied that the Five Great Families would protect them, so Xing Yuanzhi relaxed slightly and pretended to look out the window, saying, "It seems the sky is getting late..."
Wang Xinzhi knew she was going to report back to the Xing family, so he politely said, "Then let Wanrou take you back."
"Alright." Xing Yuanzhi nodded slightly.
The three of them got in the elevator and went downstairs, and the driver was already waiting by the roadside.
"Wang Shu, to the Xing residence on Xiangshan Road," Wang Wanrou opened the car door and instructed.
The driver nodded and drove forward, with Cheng Jinyang and Xing Yuanzhi sitting in the back, each silently gazing out the window.
Wang Wanrou looked at the two people in the rearview mirror and suddenly asked, "Sister Yuanzhi, are you two living together now?"
"Yes," Xing Yuanzhi replied, "Jinyang stays outside from the family, so I accompany him most of the time. But it's okay, you can just drop us off at the Xing residence today."
"Is that so? That's good," Wang Wanrou smiled.
Soon, the car passed through the bridge over the river and stopped in front of the Xing residence in Pukou District, on Baima Road.
After bidding farewell to Wang Wanrou, Xing Yuanzhi turned around and said coolly, "Jinyang, I'll go back to the clan territory to handle some things. I'll probably be out in half an hour. Will you wait nearby, or come in with me?"
"I'll wait outside," Cheng Jinyang thought, 'I'm not familiar with your family members, going in would be awkward as you'd have to introduce me.'
"Alright, I'm leaving," Xing Yuanzhi nodded and headed towards the direction of the clan territory.
Cheng Jinyang found a tea house nearby, ordered a bowl of tea, and stared blankly at the Xing clan territory across the street.
It looked like an ordinary residential building complex.
I wonder what the clan territory of the Cheng family in Shendu, looks like... Although it should be nearby, Cheng Jinyang didn't have the intention to go and see.
The things Wang Xinzhi revealed somehow gave him a premonition of impending trouble.
Well, I'll have to ask A'zhi carefully later.
.....
Wang Wanrou returned to the Star-Picking Tower and walked into the restaurant private room, where she saw Wang Xinzhi still drinking melancholically with several empty bottles beside him.
"You've had too much to drink," Wang Wanrou sat down beside him and advised, "Even if Xing Yuanzhi doesn't have a fiancé, it's impossible for her to be with you. The gap between the Xing family and ours is too big."
"I know," Wang Xinzhi sighed, pouring himself another glass and downing it in one gulp. "I just... I just hope she'll be happy in the future," he said gloomily.
Wang Wanrou just smiled without saying a word.
"What's the background of this Cheng Jinyang?" Wang Xinzhi stared out the window, asking his sister, "Why did you deliberately approach him?"
"Don't you find it strange?" Wang Wanrou smiled, holding her ponytail with one hand, "The Xing family's Qingfeng is so proud, who in our circle doesn't know? And now she's affectionately calling him 'my Jinyang,' it's simply unimaginable."
"Perhaps they have mutual feelings," Wang Xinzhi sighed.
"Impossible," Wang Wanrou continued to smile, "I can tell she's not moved at all, not even a bit, toward him. But she does show clear protection towards Cheng Jinyang."
"You mean..." Wang Xinzhi was somewhat confused.
"The engagement is definitely real, brother, so don't harbor any illusions," Wang Wanrou lightly chuckled, "She does indeed treat Cheng Jinyang as her fiancé. The problem lies here: I can't see anything remarkable about Cheng Jinyang that would make Qingfeng from the Xing family approve of him."
"What's his bloodline intensity?" Wang Xinzhi pondered.
"From my spiritual perception, it's about the level of a ninth-grade lower rank, just average," Wang Wanrou replied, "He's somewhat introverted, not very talkative, and looks a bit simple-minded."
"Not bad," Wang Xinzhi didn't like her overly disparaging Cheng Jinyang, "Mediocre, but it fits the description."
"So Qingfeng from the Xing family must have seen something in him," Wang Wanrou concluded, smiling, "Otherwise, even if pressured by the clan, she wouldn't easily accept an ordinary commoner as her husband... I'm very curious about this matter, brother."
"Then you should investigate," Wang Xinzhi pondered, "Since Yuanzhi chose him, there must be a reason."
Although he firmly believed Xing Yuanzhi couldn't make a bad choice in partners, his younger sister... if she said there were doubts, then there must be some truth to it.
"By the way," Wang Xinzhi remembered something else and cautioned, "Just ask Yuanzhi more, and avoid contact with Cheng Jinyang. You are a noblewoman of the Wang family, you must not associate too much with the Cheng family, lest it tarnish your reputation for no reason."
"Of course," Wang Wanrou replied, hiding her smile.
Thinking of the gaze staring at her chest, she felt a sense of offense and disgust.
Probe as they might, she wouldn't involve herself with them in any way.