The Golden Cane and the Wild Rose - Chapter 13

Chapter 13

The girl who caused the trouble didn’t apologize to Yun Ran immediately, but instead hid behind Cecilia.

Cecilia shielded the girl and said to Yun Ran, “I’m sorry, Miss Yun, my sister didn’t do it on purpose.”

“Do you have a handkerchief?” Yun Ran asked.

A girl nearby handed her a silk scarf. Yun Ran took it, thanked her, and bent her head to wipe the wine stain from her dress.

Luckily, the wine was a light color, and the stain it left on her white dress was not very deep.

“I have a spare evening gown. Miss Yun, come with me to change. Let me apologize to you on behalf of my sister,” Cecilia said, though there was no apology in her eyes.

“No, thank you. I’m fine.”

“Go change. Are you going to dance in that for the rest of the ball?”

“I don’t plan on dancing.”

Jiang Musheng had already told her when they came in that he had no intention of dancing. As his dance partner, she couldn’t just go and dance with someone else.

Besides, she didn’t know how.

” Yun Ran, you don’t want to accept my sister’s and my apology.”

Cecilia pulled her sister out from behind her.

The little sister was a bit afraid of Yun Ran but more afraid of her older sister. Under her sister’s intimidating gaze, she lowered her head and apologized to Yun Ran.

Yun Ran felt that if she didn’t accept, the little sister would start crying.

“Alright, Cecilia, thank you for taking me to change.”

“Come with me.”

Seeing her agree, Cecilia let go of her sister. The little sister escaped her sister’s clutches like a whirlwind and ran towards her father.

Yun Ran looked over and saw Jiang Musheng, who was talking with the Governor.

” Yun Ran?” Cecilia was growing impatient with her lack of cooperation.

Yun Ran said, “I need to go say hello to Musheng, so he won’t worry if he can’t find me.”

With that, she ignored Cecilia’s sour expression and walked towards Jiang Musheng.

The Governor’s youngest daughter thought she was coming to complain and completely hid behind her father, not letting her see a glimpse of her.

As she got closer, Yun Ran could see the Governor’s appearance more clearly: the stereotypical British blue eyes, a somewhat overweight body, and cheeks so saggy they looked like they were about to fall to the floor.

“Aran,” Jiang Musheng, who had been sitting, stood up and took her hand, introducing her to the Governor.

“Governor, this is my girlfriend, Yun Ran.”

The Governor also stood up. His eyesight didn’t seem very good; he squinted to look at her.

“Hello, Miss Yun.”

Yun Ran smiled and said, “Hello.”

The Governor turned to Jiang Musheng. “You’ve never been willing to accept Cecilia. It turns out you prefer authentic Eastern beauty.”

“But Miss Yun is quite a sight. Look, all my British officers are secretly eyeing her. They aren’t even drinking the wine in their hands.”

Jiang Musheng turned slightly, shielding Yun Ran from some of the stares, and said, “It seems Aran has conquered both Eastern and Western aesthetics.”

The Governor didn’t respond but turned to look at his younger daughter behind him.

“Clara, did you offend Miss Yun?”

Clara shook her head. Yun Ran intervened, “It was my own fault for not paying attention. I bumped into your daughter’s wine glass.”

Clara’s eyes widened, surprised she would say such a thing.

Yun Ran smiled at her.

Jiang Musheng took off his outer coat and draped it over Yun Ran’s shoulders. “Is your dress wet?”

“Just a little. But Cecilia said she’ll take me to change into an evening gown. I came over to let you know.”

Jiang Musheng nodded and released her hand.

Yun Ran went with Jiang Musheng’s coat on.

She hadn’t known she was going to a ball tonight, so she hadn’t prepared at all, but Jiang Musheng had known, yet he was also dressed so casually.

Cecilia was still waiting where she was. Yun Ran clutched Jiang Musheng’s coat. “Sorry to keep you waiting.”

Cecilia’s gaze lingered on Jiang Musheng’s coat for a few seconds.

As if afraid of being discovered, she suddenly pulled her gaze away.

“Come with me.”

Yun Ran followed her, feeling quite amazed.

Did Cecilia like Jiang Musheng that much?

What did she like about him?

Did she like his excessively handsome face?

Did she like that Jiang Musheng was the most distinguished Chinese person in Hong Kong?

Cecilia led her to a private dressing room. On a wheeled clothes rack, there were six different styles of evening gowns, apparently what was left after Cecilia had picked hers.

It didn’t matter. Yun Ran wasn’t picky. As long as she could wear it, it was fine.

Cecilia didn’t give her the right to choose, tossing her a red, spaghetti-strap dress with ruffles that looked a bit like a seductive nightgown—it was a little too revealing.

In her heart, Cecilia was sure that Yun Ran’s small frame couldn’t pull off the dress.

Because even she couldn’t. All the young ladies were on a diet these days, and she had followed the trend, becoming a bit too gaunt.

To her surprise, Yun Ran’s small frame wore the dress with a graceful, elegant beauty. She was slim but with a lovely fullness.

“Cecilia, I think I’ll change into another one,” Yun Ran said.

She had never worn a dress that exposed so much skin.

Cecilia had originally intended to let Yun Ran change, but hearing Yun Ran propose it herself, she suddenly became unwilling.

‘So what if she has the right body for it? If she’s not comfortable showing it off, she’ll just be all timid and awkward. It won’t look good, and she’ll be out of place.’

Thinking this, Cecilia didn’t let Yun Ran change.

She was also afraid that Yun Ran would steal the show tonight, so she decided to enact a plan she had previously made to create a romantic atmosphere and win over Jiang Musheng: a masked ball.

She had already prepared a large number of masks. She now brought them out and sent people to distribute them to the guests in the front hall.

Yun Ran picked out a fox mask first. She liked the fluffy, white, soft ears on the fox mask. But it was made so innocently that the cunning fox looked a bit like a harmless rabbit.

Yun Ran wasn’t flustered at all. She was even a little pleased with Cecilia’s arrangement.

With a mask on, no one could see anyone else’s face, giving her more freedom to move. She didn’t have to worry about being embarrassed for not knowing how to dance, nor did she have to feel uncomfortable in the revealing gown.

A mask could be a shield, and it certainly was now.

However, Yun Ran also thought of a question: would Jiang Musheng participate?

If he did, what mask would he choose?

The sound of the dance music from the front hall came to her, and Yun Ran realized Cecilia had long since disappeared.

She must have wanted to get to Jiang Musheng before her.

Yun Ran raised her hand, tightened the strap on her fox mask, and walked towards the front hall as well.

On the dance floor, men and women moved shoulder to shoulder, their faces mostly covered, leaving only their eyes visible.

Everyone had to keep their eyes wide open to find their dance partner, to avoid the embarrassment of mistaking someone.

Some people were less particular, forgetting who their original partners were and just taking the shoulder or waist of whoever they made eye contact with.

‘This is really interesting,’ Yun Ran thought.

She was getting excited and tentatively walked onto the dance floor.

Soon, her eyes met a pair of melancholy blue ones.

Her feet moved with the rhythm of the music, but her hands were still.

She had a feeling that besides the pair of blue eyes in front of her, there was someone else watching her.

Yun Ran looked around to find that hidden gaze.

After a moment, she found him. At the edge of the dance floor stood a strange man wearing a majestic lion mask. He was standing completely still, only his eyes moving, following her.

Yun Ran squeezed past many pairs of blue eyes and walked towards the strange man.

Overcoming many obstacles, the two finally met face to face.

“Mr. Jiang, your coat.” Yun Ran offered the coat back to Jiang Musheng.

Jiang Musheng didn’t take it. “Keep it on.”

Under the lion mask, Jiang Musheng’s eyes were on her.

A corner of the coat was lifted, revealing much of the “scenery” underneath.

Yun Ran could feel Jiang Musheng’s gaze, but the mask seemed to have the effect of hiding his dangerous nature. Yun Ran overlooked the potential danger.

She was now attracted by the ball and was eager to try dancing, to dance properly.

She turned to look at the lively dance floor again. She and Jiang Musheng seemed separated from the excitement.

She couldn’t help but feel a longing.

She turned back to Jiang Musheng and begged, “Mr. Jiang, could you teach me one dance?”

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