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Long Yang withdrew his gaze and brushed her cheek with his fingers, a smile appearing on his lips. "Not as beautiful as you."

Despite the warmth in Lu Liangwei\'s heart, she replied with feigned displeasure, "But you were clearly so mesmerized that you started spacing out."

"Nonsense!" Long Yang furrowed his brow. "I just thought her circus tricks were pretty impressive."

Sprrrrrt!

At his words, Long Xuan spat out the tea in his mouth.

Opposite him, Lin Qingyuan was completely captivated by the woman on stage.

Just then, the wetness on her face captured her attention. Touching her face and finding her palm smeared in tea, she immediately flared up and slammed her hand on the table. "Long Xuan, you\'ve really gone too far! How dare you spit tea at me!"

"I didn\'t mean to." Long Xuan was stunned as well, but he quickly collected himself and apologized with a frown.

"Weiwei, you\'ve got to stick up for me. He definitely did it on purpose," Lin Qingyuan fumed. His airy apology was hardly enough to pacify her, and she turned to Lu Liangwei for help, hoping that she could chastise Long Xuan.

Feeling sorry for her bad luck, Lu Liangwei handed her a handkerchief. "Why don\'t you wipe your face first?"

Lin Qingyuan took it and wiped her face carelessly.

Just when she was about to whirl on Long Xuan, a young woman dressed like a maidservant ran up to them.

Lin Qingyuan found her rather familiar, and after scrutinizing her for a moment, remembered that she was the maidservant at Yan Ruyu\'s side that day on the pleasure boat.

When the maidservant caught sight of Long Xuan, she instantly burst into tears as if she had found her savior. "Young Master Long, my mistress has been abducted by Young Master Wu Dewei. Please save her…"

Shock colored Long Xuan\'s face. "I thought Ruyu had officially left Peony Pavilion. How did she get abducted?"

The maidservant shook her head, her expression tense. "Young Master Wu somehow managed to find out that she was leaving, and before she could confront Madam Wang, he suddenly burst in and took her away."

Lin Qingyuan\'s anger at Long Xuan immediately receded, and she urged him, "You have to save her! I heard Wu Dewei\'s a thug who loves taking advantage of his status. Heaven knows how many women he has defiled! We can only hope that nothing happens to Miss Yan now that she has fallen into his hands…"

Hearing this, the maidservant grew even more agitated. "Please, Young Master Long…"

Having regained his composure, Long Xuan turned to Long Yang and Lu Liangwei. "Uncle, Aunt, I\'ll have to excuse myself for now. I\'ll be back soon."

"We\'ll be fine on our own. Go ahead and do what you have to." Aware of the urgency of the situation, Lu Liangwei spoke before Long Yang.

Without wasting another second, Long Xuan left with the maidservant.

After the interruption, the remaining few directed their attention back to the stage, only to discover that the leading courtesan for the night had been decided. It was none other than the woman in red.

The scene had grown even more boisterous, filled with a clamor of enthusiastic cheering for the woman.

Seeing this, Lin Qingyuan sighed. "Since the leading courtesan has been decided, things aren\'t going to end well for Xia Luo, the loser."

"What do you mean?" Lu Liangwei asked, perplexed. "Are you saying she\'ll be mistreated by the people in Peony Pavilion if she doesn\'t get chosen as the leading courtesan?"

Lin Qingyuan was too embarrassed to say the answer out loud in front of the Emperor, so she leaned close to Lu Liangwei and whispered in her ear, "The one who loses will be auctioned off tonight, and whoever offers the highest price becomes her first man."

Lu Liangwei was at a loss for words.

Her eyes went to Xia Luo. The latter was also standing on stage, yet she looked like a wilted leaf about to fall any second, and Lu Liangwei felt an ounce of sympathy for her.

However, that was all, for she had no intention of meddling in someone else\'s affairs.

Having enjoyed themselves as onlookers, Lu Liangwei and Long Yang were about to leave when Xia Luo suddenly descended the stage and dashed over to them.