Flowery Hair: A Maidservant

Chapter 122 Rongxing Earl's Mansion: Confiscated Property and Exiled

The turn of events wasn't sudden, because Madam Wei, who had been standing behind Aunt Zou, nimbly moved to Madam Yun's side. The old woman beside Aunt Zou was questioning a maid, and in that moment of inattention, Aunt Zou fell to the ground with a thud...

Leaving aside the chaotic scene for now, Su Wanwan suppressed her doubts, changed her clothes, and led Hua Yan and the other two towards the Nine-Bend Pavilion.

Liu Yuhe patiently stared almost continuously at the direction leading to the side courtyard. When she saw Su Wanwan return unharmed, an expression of disbelief appeared on her face. While sending her maid to the side courtyard, she handed the newly copied poem to Mr. Lin's maid.

Those who could attend the Princess's poetry gathering were naturally from prominent or powerful families in the capital, and the positions of the young ladies from each family reflected this.

Surrounding Miss Lu were mostly daughters of military officers and noble families. Their fathers and brothers mostly held positions in the military or were guards of the Imperial Guard. Even the worst among them held honorary titles in the military.

The ancestors of the Marquis of Huai'an were military generals. Originally, the two sisters, Tang Yu'er and Tang Ling'er, should have been closer to the Lu and Jiang families. However, the previous Marquises of Huai'an abandoned military affairs for civil affairs, and the Marquis of Huai'an's mansion has gradually drifted away from families like the Xunhui General's mansion.

Among the upright families who had served as officials for generations, the daughter of the Prime Minister's family was the leader. Liu Yuhe's father was the Minister of Rites. At this time, she and several other young ladies from the Zhuang family gathered together to talk with the daughter of the Prime Minister's family.

The remaining families, such as the Sun, Su, and Cao families, and even the second young lady, would not easily have close interactions with these two groups due to the influence of their fathers' and brothers' families, as well as their personalities.

Cao Xinglin stepped forward and pulled Su Wanwan along, giving Liu Yuhe a disapproving look through the crowd. He said regretfully, "Wanwan, the poetry gathering has ended. It's a pity your poem isn't finished yet. However, the second young lady of the Tang family just filled in the last verse for you. I think the structure and artistic conception are very compatible, so I decided to hand it over to Mr. Lin."

"Sister Su's lyrics are excellent, expressing emotions through scenery; Mr. Lin just praised them..."

In just a short while, the second young lady had already started to sing and dance with Miss Cao, a rare occurrence. Seeing them chatting about poetry and literature, Hua Yan turned to Rui Zhu and Ming Yue beside her and asked if anything unusual had happened.

Mingyue raised her chin and said in a low voice, "After you left, Miss Liu has been very nervous, glancing towards Qionghua Pavilion from time to time. She clearly has something to hide and even sent a maid over there, but she hasn't returned yet. She must have been kept occupied by Mengzhu under some pretext."

While Su Wanwan was changing her clothes, Mingwu had already told Huayan about the changes in the courtyard. Huayan then said, "It's alright, there shouldn't be any more trouble. But we should still be vigilant and not let our guard down."

In truth, Liu Yuhe's thoughts weren't particularly complicated. The scholar Chen Lin had captured was none other than the nephew of Madam Liu's family in the Minister's household. And ever since Hua Yan instructed Huan Yun to send someone to keep an eye on the Liu residence, this young man had been frequently visiting. Huan Yun naturally kept a close eye on things and secretly investigated. The results of her investigation were astounding, indirectly confirming that Hua Yan's rumors were not unfounded.

All of this dates back to when Miss Liu, through Tang Ling'er, intentionally arranged for the Second Miss to host a banquet, so that she could take the opportunity to visit the Tang residence. At that time, Tang Ling'er inadvertently mentioned the house next to the Tang residence, which was originally a garden carefully built by the Imperial Academy Chancellor, and is now the back residence of the eldest young master, Yunqi Courtyard.

Recalling the jade pendant incident at the young lady's poetry gathering, and considering what Huanyun had mentioned about the maidservant from the Liu family in the Disi Pavilion, Hua Yan couldn't help but become even more vigilant. Liu Yuhe and Tang Ling'er were very close, so it was entirely possible that she had met the young master and might even have secretly harbored feelings for Tang Linfang.

Huanyun discovered this: Liu Yuhe did indeed have special feelings for Tang Lin, and even Minister Liu intended to recruit Tang Lin as his son-in-law.

But who could have predicted that Madam Yun would act so swiftly? Tang Lin had just passed the imperial examination and was already engaged to Miss Su.

Based on all this information, Hua Yan had every reason and basis to deduce that the Second Miss, being a newcomer to the banquet, would likely encounter no mishaps, but Miss Su was not immune to trouble.

If, out of jealousy, someone were to ruin Miss Su's reputation at Mr. Lin's banquet, without even making a scene, this marriage would likely be in jeopardy...

Therefore, Hua Yan had no choice but to consult Madam Yun before she could send Ming Wu over, just in case.

At this moment, the sounds of string and wind instruments began to play. Mr. Lin was organizing his poems in the pavilion, occasionally picking out some outstanding ones and setting them aside. The waterside pavilion on the opposite bank had also come to an end, and the sounds of lively conversation could be heard from time to time.

Mr. Lin offered a few brief comments, then instructed the nanny from the Princess's residence to lead the young ladies to Qionghua Pavilion, where the Princess had prepared a feast. A maid carrying the poetry manuscripts followed Mr. Lin as they left first.

Donggua was staring blankly at the lake, feeling utterly bored. She was an excellent swimmer and had been specially arranged by Huayan to be by the lake in case of any trouble. When she saw several young ladies strolling to the lakeside in twos and threes to admire the koi, Donggua's heart immediately jumped.

Fortunately, the second young lady and her companions had already followed Mr. Lin toward Qionghua Pavilion and did not linger by the lake.

Seeing this, Donggua stopped worrying about it and prepared to leave.

Zou Xiuer was standing by the lake with a smile, chatting intimately with Miss Jiang. However, Miss Jiang did not respond. Just as Zou Xiuer was about to speak again, two old women hurriedly came over.

It turned out that the emperor had issued an edict for some unknown reason, demoting Rongxing Earl to a commoner and exiling all 137 members of his household to the frontier, never to return to the capital.

Another old woman added anxiously, "The lady fainted when she heard the terrible news!"

Upon hearing the news of her mother's collapse, Zou Xiuer panicked even more. Her vision suddenly went black, and she swayed precariously. She was already unsteady on her feet, and now she lost her balance and plunged headfirst into the icy lake water.

A loud "thud" was heard, followed by chaos and screams.