Chen wang stood by the entrance of the garden with eyes full of austerity as he glanced at everyone inside, so the furen and xiaojie who were still whispering in discussion about the incident with Yuan Qing Zhou and Su Qian Yue effectively shut their mouths one after another, and lowered their heads as they contently ate the delicious food presented before them.
But Chen wang's identity and status, as well as his appearance, he was still able to garner stealthly glances from those xiaojie, with hopes that Chen wang would take notice of one of them amongst the crowd.
But within the garden, his eyes were focused solely at the area where Yun Qian Meng and Qi Ling'er were seated.
Yun Qian Meng felt a bit annoyed at Chen wang's eyes fixating at her direction, but she still maintained her smile as she turned to Qi Ling'er to tease her. "Princess, wangye is looking at you! You must approach him and say hello."
Qi Ling'er had originally planned to take the initiative and strike first, yet Yun Qian Meng was unexpectedly quicker and had stolen the key moment. Sure enough, after Yun Qian Meng said the words, Qi Ling'er sensed the resentful and envious glances being shot towards her from all directions.
Observing Yun Qian Meng once again, she appeared to be smiling beautifully with an unconcerned look on her face, causing a flicker of anger in Qi Ling'er's heart, but she kept face virtuous as she replied, "Yun Qian Meng, you must be joking. Wangye must have come here due to the matter concerning Su xiaojie. If you don't believe me, we can bet on it."
"Make a bet?" as Yun Qian Meng was delicately tasting the words, a dimple on her right cheek was faintly discernible, attracting other people's tender affection towards her magnificent bearing.
"Oh yes! A bet, let's see whose guess is more accurate." At Yun Qian Meng's hesitation, Qi Ling'er smiled and said soothingly, "Yun xiaojie, please don't be too nervous, just treat it as a small game. It won't bring you any harm, Yun xiaojie, and neither will you lose face."
Qi Ling'er seemed to be using psychological tactics to force her into something, so Yun Qian Meng's gaze slightly turned towards Chen wang. She noticed his vicious gaze aimed at her, so she immediately glanced back at Qi Ling'er beside her, then laughed before replying, "Princess, you are an honored guest of Western Chu. Even if Qian Meng were insensible, I would still not make such a bet with the princess! Besides, Qian Meng is a daughter of an honorable family, I'm fully aware of the importance of morality and conduct. Thus, I wouldn't wish to do anything that would negatively reflect on my morality and conduct, or risk being mocked by people everywhere. So please accept my apologies, princess."
Yun Qian Meng's eyes brightly stared back at Qi Ling'er, and her words had been spoken slowly. She not only declined Qi Ling'er's request, but made Qi Ling'er realized that being an unmarried daughter of a noble house, she was absolutely unlikely to ignore her morality and conduct, at that the act of betting was something that could damage them.
Although her voice had not been too loud, the entire garden had been absolutely silent due to Chen wang's arrival. As a result, everyone heard Yun Qian Meng's response.
Even though many harbored some hostility towards Yun Qian Meng because she would soon marry Chu Fei Yang, in the presence of one who was the number one beauty and princess of Northern Qi, Qi Ling'er, their jealousy towards Yun Qian Meng was next to nothing. Moreover, Chen wang counted as the best gongzi of Western Chu right now, as the situation stood, there was a huge chance that Qi Ling'er would marry Chen wang, hence the extreme hostility against Qi Ling'er. Subsequently, there were also more defensive of Yun Qian Meng, who Qi Ling'er was giving a hard time.
There was an immediate transformation in the atmosphere of the entire garden from Yun Qian Meng's few statements. Only then did Qi Ling'er became aware of the extremely hateful gazes she was receiving from all sides. In her heart, she warned herself that Yun Qian Meng was someone who evidently would not tolerate any contempt. With barely a few statements, she had transformed the atmosphere. Clearly, she was an eloquent and fluent speaker.
Qi Ling'er suddenly became interested at Yun Qian Meng's behavior of repeatedly rejecting her. Qi Ling'er slightly hung her head down, feeling a bit dejected, she said, "Yun xiaojie, are you unhappy with Ling'er? Why won't you make friends with Ling'er? Ling'er already considers you a close friend, please do not drive us a thousand miles apart."
The tip of Yun Qian Meng's brows slightly rose. There was a dramatic change in Qi Ling'er's attitude, enough to be qualified to perform in the Sichuan opera.
For Yun Qian Meng it was not hard to recognize Qi Ling'er's intelligence. Knowing force would do her no good, Qi Ling'er was now humbling herself in order to gain people's sympathy, while Yun Qian Meng would be accused of lacking regard and being heartless. Everything had been executed quite expertly indeed.
"Yun xiaojie is indeed bold, now that she has gained a supporter recently, she now believes she can disrespect the noble guests of Western Chu." Chen wang coldly blurted out as he approached the two.
Though Chen wang appeared like he was speaking to Qi Ling'er, his eyes were coldly gazing at Yun Qian Meng. Like the evening snowfall in the mountains, his gaze harbored intense and violent storms that surged forth, making Yun Qian Meng realized that his reaction had not been aimed at Qi Ling'er, rather, Chen wang was having issue with her attitude towards him.
"Don't be so strict, wangye, I was just having fun with Yun xiaojie. Yun xiaojie is not feeling well today, yet she still accompanied me here. This shows that Yun xiaojie is being very cordial with me. Please don't be mistaken by my words a while ago." Qi Ling'er smiled and explained, as she took Yun Qian Meng's hands and held them amicably.
Qi Ling'er's words did not stop Chen wang from his glaring, as Jiang Mu Chen's eyes were still focused on Yun Qian Meng, waiting for her to speak.
Fed up with this kind of repeatedly occurring situation, Yun Qian Meng retracted her hands from Qi Ling'er's hands with a shallow smile. Afterwhich, she faced the two before her with an indifferent expression to pay her courtesies, "As my body is still feeling unwell, I shall take my leave now."
She then turned around, preparing to leave, but Chen wang had no plans to make it easy for her, and blocked Yun Qian Meng's way, his cold voice resounding in her ear, "Regarding today's incident, I would like to request Yun xiaojie to explain it at once."
Lifting her head, Yun Qian Meng similarly shot a cold glance at Jiang Mu Chen, who had not only blocked her way, but was also being righteous and arrogant. She coldly laughed and said, "Forgive me for asking, I merely came here to attend the wedding reception but still need to explain myself, don't tell me that the honorable hosts invite people with wedding invitation, but still demand a verbal explanation from their guests?"
At her cold expression and incisive words, for a moment, Jiang Mu Chen felt a little disturbed. Thinking that his tone had perhaps been a little too harsh, he was about to open his mouth to explain himself.
Qi Ling'er had not given him the chance though. After sensing that Yun Qian Meng was somewhat angered, Qi Ling'er stepped forward and pulled her over to console her, "Why are you angry, Yun xiaojie? As you came as a guest, why would there be a need for you to explain yourself? Surely wangye is talking about another thing, Yun xiaojie. Please think thoroughly about what had happened a while ago inside Han Guo Gongfu."
The implied meaning in Qi Ling'er's words certainly wanted to bind her and Su Qian Yue's incident. Yun Qian Meng coldly hid her hands inside her sleeves, then the cold and detached face she gave Chen wang was now turned towards Qi Ling'er, as she retorted in a ridiculing tone, "Princess, it seems you are quite knowledgeable of the incident that happened inside Han Guo Gongfu. Qian Meng is only a guest in Han Guo Gongfu; I rarely go out of my house and barely ever have any contact with the outside world. How can I explain the incident to wangye? Princess, please do not force me to do something I am incapable of."
Yun Qian Meng then walked on, moving towards the doorway and no longer paying any attention to the two.
Hearing such a tone being used at her, the smiling expression on Qi Ling'er's face froze. She was momentarily baffled, as she failed to comprehend it. Afterwhich, she closed her lips, and her eyes watched Chen wang, waiting for him to respond.
Chen wang's brows slightly creased, together with Qi Ling'er, he ran after Yun Qian Meng to block her path to the arched door that lead out of the garden, then he said in a low voice, "Based on Su Qian Yue's yatou's statement, before the incident happened to her xiaojie, you were seen together with Su Qian Yue. Don't you feel that you need to explain this?"
Chen wang had always known that Yun Qian Meng was a very clever person. If one were to engage with her in a circuitous conversation, Yun Qian Meng was very likely to lead the topic into something irrelevant, so it would be better to speak to her bluntly, and then he would watch how she would explain herself.
Those furen and xiaojie present naturally would not just let this opportunity slip by, even if the incident between Su Qian Yue and Yuan Qing Zhou's had been sufficient topic of mockery for a couple of days.
Chen wang was still staring at Yun Qian Meng, refusing to let her go. The crowd grew very curious at what was happening among these three, but Chen wang's voice had remained very low, so they were not able to clearly hear what was being talked about.
Yun Qian Meng only slightly inclined her head and wrinkled her brows at Chen wang's interrogation, as if she was deeply caught up in thought. After a long while, she helplessly shook her head, and said in an apologetic tone, "During that time, I was not feeling very well. I let my yatou accompany me as I took a little rest, so I seriously don't know about the rest of that matter. It was the negligence of Su xiaojie's yatou, so naturally, she would put the blame on another person. Please take note of this clearly, wangye, do not accuse anyone wrongly."
Yun Qian Meng presented herself as a victim and wore a sad expression on her face, causing the others to feel pity for her.
Qi Ling'er's eyes were already filled with tears, feeling pity she approached Yun Qian Meng, and spoke with deep concerns, "Wangye, why don't we proceed to the backyard and discuss such family matters further. If Yun xiaojie is afraid of being accused, I'll go with you, okay? Just treat it as me returning the favor of you accompanying me here to Han Guo Gongfu."
Judging the two before her eyes to be in full cooperation, Yun Qian Meng really felt like they were fit for each other as if they had already known each other for decades.
However, she had no intention to accompany them in playing anymore, so she only smiled and stated, "Princess, you know very well that this is wangye's family matters, as outsiders, how could we interfere? Although Qian Meng is ignorant in this matter, I still know my position. Even if there was something unacceptable that happened, how can I go beyond my station?"
In one breath, she had classified herself as an outsider, while categorizing Qi Ling'er as someone who meddled in other people's business and a trouble maker.
Chen wang's face suddenly sank and his eagle-like eyes firmly stared at Yun Qian Meng, almost as if he wanted to dig out her heart to investigate it and see if it was still red.
Qi Ling'er smiled awkwardly, brows lightly pinched at an angle. She wanted to open her mouth to explain, yet was afraid that people would consider it inappropriate. In the end, she knew her place but was still restless.
"Wangye's hospitality towards his guests is really an eye-opener. You've actually allowed guests to speak while standing, no wonder the people in the front yard were currently discussing why the Han Guo Gongfu keeps on committing mistakes. I presume these servants are quite useless as they only stood there watching their masters speak without doing anything." Only Chu Fei Yang would dare say these words to Chen wang.
Before the voice completely faded out, the three of them saw Chu Fei Yang approaching, wearing a shallow smile on his face. His expression was so warm that it seemed unlikely that he was the one who had just spoken.
Chen wang looked at Chu Fei Yang, who always seemed to miraculously appear at just the right time, and the cold frost in his eyes was already forming a thick layer, as he said mockingly, "Chu xiang, you are quite undisciplined, regarding yourself like you are someone very important. Don't forget that this is Han Guo Gongfu, not your Chu xiangfu."
Facing Chen wang's ire, Chu Fei Yang only smiled more brilliantly, afterwhich, he said innocently, "Wangye, what you've said is quite reasonable, but I think it's getting late and Meng'er is not feeling well today, I wish to send her back to Yun xiangfu without delay, so that Yun xiang won't worry."
As he spoke, Chu Fei Yang moved closer until he stood before Yun Qian Meng. From an angle where Chen wang and Qi Ling'er could not see his face, he quickly winked at Yun Qian Meng who pouted naughtily back at him. Her eyes flickered, conveying how sick and tired she was of these two.
Seeing how she really felt, Chu Fei Yang's thin lips curled up in a contented smile, and immediately, he turned to say, "Since that is the case, together with Meng'er, I will take my leave now. The noble wangye still has many things to attend to, so there's no need for you to see us off."
Chu Fei Yang then obstructed Chen wang with his body to give way to Yun Qian Meng.
Unexpectedly, Qi Ling'er actually agreed with him and said, "Since I have been out for a very long time already, I'm afraid that the Crown Prince and his people might be anxious. I will also leave with Yun xiaojie and Chu xiang. Goodbye, wangye."
Qi Ling'er then nodded towards Chen wang, before she following Yun Qian Meng and left.
Jiang Mu Chen watched Chu Fei Yang who did whatever please him. As he was about to chase after them, he was stopped by Zhu Feng hurriedly coming over and whispered something in his ear. Jiang Mu Chen's face then instantly turned more ashen and his gloomy eyes watched those figures, now far away. He then roughly shook his sleeves and suddenly turned around, walking towards the backyard.
At this time, there was a huge commotion in the backyard. Su Qian Yue had slowly regained her consciousness but she was strangely being pressed down onto the bed and continuously being beaten by Wu Qin Qin and Wu furen. With her body still powerless, and nobody daring to come and drag away the mother and daughter, they continued on like ferocious beasts. Su Qian Yue could only shout out loud, and one could hear sounds of hands beating the flesh with every creak of the wooden bed. Wu Qin Qin was constantly cursing and slandering, while Su Qian Yue's screaming was like a horrible curse that echoed in everyone's eardrums.
Lin laotaijun and Yuan de taifei were observing everything indifferently at one side, not permitting anyone to save Su Qian Yue, who was half dead by now, and neither would they let anyone pull away the mother and daughter of the Wu family who were both still raging with fury.
"What are you doing? Stop it!" Su Yuan immediately roared as he was brought into the room. Seeing someone taking advantage of his daughter, his body instantly emitted an insidious air, frightening the mother and daughter of the Wu family and making them halt in their actions.