Dudian frowned slightly and lifted a small corner of the front curtain to take a look.
In the heavy rain with a dim sky, a middle-aged gentleman wearing a straw raincoat stood in front of his carriage. He was holding a walking stick in his hand and stretched out one hand to block the carriage. Seeing that the carriage stopped in time, he seemed to heave a sigh of relief. He immediately stepped forward and said to the coachman, "Our carriage is broken, and we need to temporarily requisition your carriage."
The coachman looked behind the gentleman. The heavy rain affected the line of sight, but he could still see a delicate noble-style carriage parked on the street. There was an oil lamp lit inside the carriage, which was like a warm spark in the heavy rain. He hesitated and turned back to say to Dudian inside the carriage, "Sir, this gentleman..."
Before he could finish, Dudian waved his hand and said, "No, I won't exchange."
The middle-aged gentleman was taken aback when he heard the young voice inside the carriage. He immediately stepped forward and said, "Hello, I'm the butler of the Blom family. I hope to borrow this carriage. Don't worry, I'll pay you double the price. Of course, I won't let you get caught in the rain either. You can go into my young lady's carriage to take shelter from the rain. It's still early, and I believe there will be other carriages passing by here."
Dudian frowned slightly. The Blom family was one of the top levels of the Mellon Consortium. He didn't expect that he would encounter such a troublesome thing on this rare outing. He could only say, "Sorry, I'm also in a hurry. You can continue waiting for another carriage."
The middle-aged gentleman's face looked a bit unpleasant. Just as he was about to say something more, a voice came from inside the noble-style carriage behind him, "Uncle De, forget it. Give me your straw raincoat, and I'll ride the horse back."
"Miss, how can that be?" The middle-aged gentleman turned around and said hastily, "It's raining so heavily. You'll catch a cold if you ride the horse."
"It's okay. I'm in good health." The female voice inside the carriage said.
Seeing this, the middle-aged gentleman hurriedly tried to persuade her.
Dudian heard this voice inside the carriage and suddenly felt it was somewhat familiar. Although the heavy rain was disturbing, his hearing was not comparable to that of an ordinary person. He vaguely remembered hearing this voice somewhere before. Suddenly, a figure flashed in his mind, and he said hastily, "Come here for a moment."
The middle-aged gentleman was taken aback when he heard Dudian calling him. He turned around and said, "Do you agree?"
"Yes." Dudian nodded and said, "But I have a condition. I won't leave this carriage. If your young lady wants to get on, I can give her a ride on the way."
"This..." The middle-aged gentleman hesitated for a moment and shook his head, saying, "No, our young lady can't be in the same carriage with a stranger."
When Dudian heard this, he couldn't help but frown.
"It's okay, Uncle De." The female voice inside the carriage said, "Heming is riding the horse and following. He will protect me if there's any danger."
When the middle-aged gentleman heard this, he took a look at the knight sitting on a tall horse beside the carriage, all in armor. After hesitating for a moment, he said, "All right, but I want to escort you back personally, Miss."
"No, there's not enough room in the carriage." Dudian immediately refused.
The middle-aged gentleman was stunned for a moment and said angrily, "What do you mean? What are your intentions towards our young lady? I'm telling you, our Blom family is not something you can afford to provoke."
Dudian frowned and said, "I'm just stating the fact. Can't you see it for yourself?"
The middle-aged gentleman was immediately silenced. Indeed, this carriage was a small single-person carriage and could only seat two people.
"All right, Heming, you must protect the young lady well and there must be no mistakes!" After much hesitation, the middle-aged gentleman finally agreed and solemnly told the knight. The main reason he agreed was that he judged from Dudian's voice that he seemed to be of a young age and guessed that he was most likely a child from a wealthy merchant family, so he wasn't too worried.
If the other party was an adult, he would definitely not have agreed.
When Dudian saw that the other party agreed, a smile appeared on his face. The middle-aged gentleman went back to the carriage with the broken wheel, held up a black oilcloth umbrella, opened the carriage door, and a petite figure bent down and came out from inside. Holding up her skirt, she followed him to Dudian's carriage.
Dudian pushed open the carriage door and saw her clearly at a glance. He was even more delighted in his heart and reached out to help her in.
"No need." When the middle-aged gentleman saw that there was only Dudian in the carriage, he let out a sigh of relief. Seeing that Dudian was a bit clumsy, he immediately frowned and pushed away his hand. He helped the girl get into the carriage and said to Dudian with a serious face, "You must never touch our young lady, understand? Miss, if he dares to touch you, you tell Heming to beat him up!"
The girl had been keeping her head down. After sitting in the carriage, she quickly looked up and glanced at Dudian. When she saw Dudian's appearance, she was stunned for a moment, and a flush quickly flashed across her cheeks. Hearing the middle-aged gentleman's words, she subconsciously replied, "Okay, okay. Uncle De, be careful on the way."
"Don't worry about me, Miss." The middle-aged gentleman said, and then he gave Dudian a warning look and closed the carriage door to prevent the rain from splashing in.
Dudian ignored it and simply paid no attention.
"Coachman, go to No. 1, Greenton Street!" The middle-aged butler said to the coachman.
Seeing that Dudian didn't say anything, the coachman took it as his acquiescence and immediately agreed. He whipped the horse and it started running.
In the small carriage, Dudian looked at the figure sitting beside him and smiled, saying, "Long time no see. I didn't expect you to be the young lady of the Blom family. You actually dared to deceive me last time."
"I didn't mean to." The girl looked up at him. Seemingly feeling that her breath would reach his face when she spoke, she couldn't help but blush and quickly lowered her head.
She was exactly Jenny whom Dudian had met when he sneaked out at the noble banquet last time.
"All right, I'll assume you didn't mean to. Fortunately, I met you today. Otherwise, you would have become a drowned rat." Dudian smiled.
"A drowned rat?" Jenny seemed to hear this word for the first time. She was stunned for a moment, and then she reacted and couldn't help but laugh out loud. She said, "Where did you learn that strange phrase? I won't be that embarrassed. I could have just stayed in the carriage and not come out."
"Is that so? Didn't someone say they were going to ride the horse back?" Dudian exposed her immediately and smiled, "I didn't expect you to be able to ride a horse. Noble young ladies usually don't practice horseback riding, do they?"
"Yes, horseback riding is not very ladylike." Jenny said frankly, "However, I think horseback riding is very dashing. Moreover, there are female knights, aren't there? It's just that there are fewer of them."
Dudian nodded in agreement and said, "As long as one has the determination to do something, it doesn't matter whether they are a man or a woman. There aren't too many restrictions."
"Do you really think so?" Jenny turned her head and looked at him with joy.
Dudian took a look and found that her eyes were shining brightly, like two brilliant jewels. His heart beat a little faster for no reason. He retracted his gaze and said seriously, "Yes, horseback riding is not a man's exclusive privilege."
A smile appeared on Jenny's face, and she said, "But my father really doesn't like to see me riding a horse. Every time he sees me, he gets angry and loses his temper."
"Then just ride secretly." Dudian said.
"That's exactly what I do." Jenny said cunningly.
Dudian couldn't help but burst out laughing.