Chapter 76: The Sudden Turn of Events

  The Temple of the Great Bell was some distance from the mansion of Prince Tuan, and it took the carriage about an hour to get there. As soon as they arrived, they got down from the carriage and were led into a special rest house for ladies by a little novice monk who knew them well.

  Liu Rongjin's footsteps paused involuntarily in her room, almost causing Dong'er to bump into her.

  Dong Er followed Liu Rong's gaze and was taken aback, for in this room there was a familiar face.

  It was Chen Er Miss who had been with her family's young lady in the Weibei Marquis' residence, and now she saw the other party sitting in a corner position.

  Dong Er couldn't help but look at Liu Rong with some worry, only to see that Liu Rong had already sat down calmly beside Mrs. Liu.

  The woman beside Miss Chen, however, burst out laughing: "Liu Dà Niáng, you've finally arrived! We were just talking about you, saying that the girls in your mansion are all so pretty and well-behaved, unlike my own daughter who can't even be found in a crowd." But by the end of her words, her expression had turned somewhat strange.

  "How dare you talk about your own daughter like that, be careful she gets angry and won't accompany you to burn incense in the future." Liu Dà Nǎi (Liu's grandmother) burst out laughing, clearly delighted by others' praise.

  "I wouldn't be angry, the third miss of Wending Houfu has such a temperament and appearance, I couldn't even get angry with someone like that." A clear voice suddenly rang out, and Chen Erniang looked at Liu Rong with no kindness in her eyes.

  Everyone couldn't help but follow Miss Chen's gaze to Liu Rong, and when they saw those bright apricot eyes, they were all taken aback. Then, as if thinking of something, their expressions became somewhat strange.

  Liu Dainai's face suddenly turned iron-green, she brought Liu Rong out, but it was just to avoid people gossiping, not to let Liu Rong steal her second daughter's spotlight. But unexpectedly, Liu Rong had already changed into ordinary clothes and still stole the spotlight from her second daughter.

  At this thought, Liu Dainai glared fiercely at Liu Rong.

  "Mrs. Chen frowned: 'You little girl, how dare you speak like that! Have you forgotten all the rules I taught you every day?'"

  Miss Chen Er pulled at Mrs. Chen's hem: "Mother, isn't this jealousy? I think Miss Liu San won't mind."

  "Is that so, Miss Liu San?" asked Chen Er with a raised eyebrow, looking at Liu Rong provocatively.

  Liu Rong suddenly felt two piercing gazes directed at her, and without thinking, she also knew that one was from Liu Dainai and the other was from her second sister, Liu Miao.

  Liu Rong looked at Miss Chen Er steadily, but lowered her head without saying a word, completely ignoring Miss Chen's words.

  The temporary silence was somewhat awkward.

  "Look, Miss Liu San isn't even saying a word. Isn't this just being indifferent?" After a while, someone finally broke the silence, but even so, the atmosphere in the room had cooled down a bit.

  "Mrs. Chen, I heard that your nephew is only seventeen this year and has already passed the imperial examination to become a scholar-official. Is it true?" A lady next to Mrs. Chen pulled her aside and asked carefully, obviously interested in the young man for her own daughter.

  Mrs. Liu pricked up her ears and listened carefully when she heard this lady mention it.

  "It's true, my nephew is a top scholar, and his family background is also good. His father was the deputy envoy of the Department of State Affairs, and he was a jinshi who came out of the Imperial Academy." Madam Chen said this with some pride.

  "Has your family's nephew outside settled his marriage?" Liu Dainai couldn't help but ask.

  Madam Chen suddenly fell silent. After a while, she replied somewhat perfunctorily: "His mother said that we have to wait until he passes the imperial examination and becomes a scholar before we can talk about this."

  "What a pity."

  There were also a few mentions of the young masters in other families. They all said good things, and when others asked about things, they would chat and laugh together. But as soon as Liu Dà Niáng was asked, she immediately brushed it off and dodged the question.

  In the end, even Liu Dà Nǎi felt that something was off. She stopped speaking and just listened quietly on the side.

  Liu Ping was anxious beyond measure, yet she couldn't urge Liu Dainai to speak up.

  Liu Rong furrowed her brow, feeling that all the ladies were being too consistent, which didn't seem right. She looked up at Miss Chen Er and saw her smiling at herself with a hint of depth in her eyes, making Liu Rong's heart sink slightly.

  After some thought, Liu Rong whispered to Dong Er and instructed him to go outside the house, only then did she quietly continue listening to a group of ladies talk about their own daughters or sons.

  Listening to them, she also felt uninteresting. A few ladies were all talking about the good things, and they couldn't help but praise their own daughters and sons to the sky. Those with a slightly better family background were even more exaggerated in their praise. In Liu Rong's view, several cows had been blown up.

  Some are not good at these things and blow out loopholes, making it easy for others to grasp their weaknesses.

  Miss Chen whispered to the lady beside her, occasionally glancing at Liu Rong with a smile, causing Liu Rong's brow to furrow even deeper.

  Before long, Dong Er walked into the house with a pale face and whispered to Liu Rong, who also changed her complexion greatly.

  She couldn't help but look at Chen Er again, and saw that the other's mouth was hooked up, obviously knowing that Liu Rong had already known something.

  "Miss, what's going on? I don't know who it is, but they're spreading such rumors!" Dong Er anxiously looked at Liu Rong.

  Liu Rong was silent, since the rumors had already spread to this extent outside, why did the Wen Ding Hou Fu still not know about it until now? If they had known, Liu Da Niang would never have brought them out like this. In such a situation, there wasn't even enough time to hide, how could anyone be expected to give directions.

  And she is even less likely to be so carefree, still being taken out for a stroll, probably would have been stripped by the people in the Wendinghou Mansion long ago!

  "Miss!" Seeing Liu Rong didn't respond, Dong Er's face became even more anxious: "You'd better say something."

  "Don't worry for now." Liu Rong comforted Dong Er.

  Since the Wen Dinghou Fu doesn't know about it yet, that means such rumors are still within a small circle. But some of the maids talking about it there just means this matter is going to spread widely and get worse!

  She must think of a way to break through!

  Thinking of this, Liu Rong said a few words to Grandma Liu, and then led Dong Er out of the house.

  "Who did you hear those words from before?" Liu Rong asked Dong Er hastily as soon as they walked out of the house.

  Dong Er suddenly reacted: "A maidservant, just standing near the door a moment ago." Dong Er said, looking in one direction: "Strange, where did she go?"

  Liu Rong bit her lower lip: "Besides what you just said, did the other person say anything else to you?"

  Dong Er slapped his forehead: "There's still one more important thing, it's said that this matter has already spread to Zhang Xue Shi's mansion."

  Jian Liu Rong looked puzzled, and Dong Er continued to explain: "It's the Zhang Xue Shi Fu where Eldest Sister has been betrothed. Apparently... apparently, when the Zhang family heard about this matter, they were furious and said that the other party might even call off the engagement with Eldest Sister!"

  PS：

  This is the second update of the night, which serves as a thank you to Ling Hu for two consecutive days of rewards. By the way, I'm seeking pink tickets, and I'm about to fall off the pink ticket chart, so please smash more votes! This weekend, I'll be at home working hard to write more updates.