Zizhen's gaze is just as adoring, and he practically floats back to his seat once he has reluctantly parted from Jingyi. He thanks Liling for coming to get them - even though a tiny part of him wishes she hadn't, he doesn't want to give his parents any reason to be unhappy with his propose courtship, and he does want to be here for Jin Ling.
Yuan listens to Jingyi's tale with a soft smile, carefully burying his own hurt beneath pure happiness for his brother - they really are very sweet for each other, and he's glad that Zizhen's absence doesn't seem to have been caused by any regret or waning of his feelings - quite the opposite, it seems.
"That's wonderful." he says genuinely, encouragingly.
He knew the question was coming, so it's easy enough for him to nod and smile.
"I'm fine." He says calmly - it's not strictly true, but he doesn't want to ruin his brother's happiness and he doesn't want to make things harder on himself right now. He'll tell Jingyi everything later - preferably when Jiang Cheng is nowhere nearby, nor anybody else for that matter - but for now he wants to let the other boy have his moment.
~~~
Huaisang frowns thoughtfully - it's rare for there to be obvious gossip that he doesn't already know about, so the Ouyang clan must be keeping whatever this is about tightly under wraps.
"I wonder what it could be, coming from Lady Ouyang of all people..." strange enough that she was here at all, she didn't often attend this sort of thing. Perhaps this mysterious talk was why... "Would you like me to see what I can find out?"
He suspects Zizhen would have given them a warning if he already knew, but Huaisang is on good enough terms with the boy to ask - he's getting quite good at obtaining information, he's even starting building his own burgeoning little spy network, a fact that Huaisang was delighted to learn. In a few more years, when he takes over from his father, he's going to be one to watch - Ouyang's association with the Jin clan may have, like the Yao's, started to wane a little since Jin ling took power, but it seems inclined to come back even stronger than before. Between that and their connection with the Lans, he wonders if the assorted clan elders have noticed the formidable power block on the horizon.
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Zizhen's gaze is just as adoring, and he practically floats back to his seat once he has reluctantly parted from Jingyi. He thanks Liling for coming to get them - even though a tiny part of him wishes she hadn't, he doesn't want to give his parents any reason to be unhappy with his propose courtship, and he does want to be here for Jin Ling.
Yuan listens to Jingyi's tale with a soft smile, carefully burying his own hurt beneath pure happiness for his brother - they really are very sweet for each other, and he's glad that Zizhen's absence doesn't seem to have been caused by any regret or waning of his feelings - quite the opposite, it seems.
"That's wonderful." he says genuinely, encouragingly.
He knew the question was coming, so it's easy enough for him to nod and smile.
"I'm fine." He says calmly - it's not strictly true, but he doesn't want to ruin his brother's happiness and he doesn't want to make things harder on himself right now. He'll tell Jingyi everything later - preferably when Jiang Cheng is nowhere nearby, nor anybody else for that matter - but for now he wants to let the other boy have his moment.
~~~
Huaisang frowns thoughtfully - it's rare for there to be obvious gossip that he doesn't already know about, so the Ouyang clan must be keeping whatever this is about tightly under wraps.
"I wonder what it could be, coming from Lady Ouyang of all people..." strange enough that she was here at all, she didn't often attend this sort of thing. Perhaps this mysterious talk was why... "Would you like me to see what I can find out?"
He suspects Zizhen would have given them a warning if he already knew, but Huaisang is on good enough terms with the boy to ask - he's getting quite good at obtaining information, he's even starting building his own burgeoning little spy network, a fact that Huaisang was delighted to learn. In a few more years, when he takes over from his father, he's going to be one to watch - Ouyang's association with the Jin clan may have, like the Yao's, started to wane a little since Jin ling took power, but it seems inclined to come back even stronger than before. Between that and their connection with the Lans, he wonders if the assorted clan elders have noticed the formidable power block on the horizon.