Shortly after, various kinds of snacks were served while everyone chatted and laughed. The Old Madam pulled Old Madam Han and a few others to play mahjong, while the young girls went outside to stroll in the courtyard and enjoy themselves. Some people accompanied Gu Sui’er to see the little imperial grandson, Ah Chen. With so many people around today, he was in a good mood. He rolled and spun on the Persian carpet, making everyone laugh and like him even more.
The Old Madam had always loved little Ah Chen the most. Now, she couldn’t even bear to let go of him. Old Madam Han looked at his white, chubby body and couldn’t help but exclaim: “Concubine Consort is truly blessed to have given birth to such an adorable little imperial grandson!”
When Old Madam Han said this, everyone recalled how this little imperial grandson had kicked this and grabbed that in the imperial Palace but the Emperor didn’t even show a hint of displeasure.
Someone whispered secretly: “Children are very perceptive; they can understand the intentions of an adult. Her Majesty clearly didn’t like this child and since he could feel that, he couldn’t help but kick. He doesn’t know how to cover up his actions!”
Everyone agreed with this.
Everyone hung out till noon before having lunch and returning to chat. It could be said that everyone was having a great time. In the afternoon, those who had other matters to attend to slowly began taking their leave.
At this time, Xiao Heng returned, accompanied by the first and second princes.
Apart from Xiao Heng, there were four other princes in the imperial family. The first and second princes were born to imperial concubines while the third prince was born to the Empress. There was also a fourth prince who had passed away early.
In the previous years, Xiao Heng and the third prince had a close relationship but they gradually drifted apart due to the matter of Gu Sui’er. At this time, Xiao Heng had a good relationship with the first and second princes.
As the Emperor put it, he hoped that they could get along harmoniously as brothers.
The princes willingly followed their old man’s wishes, which resulted in the three princes occasionally making appointments to drink tea and wine together.
Rules stated that male guests were to be placed in the courtyard and female guests in the reception pavilion, to avoid them running into one another.
Unexpectedly, Miss Yu, upon hearing that the fifth prince had returned to the residence, purposely dawdled around without any signs of leaving.
Finding an opportunity when Xiao Heng returned to the courtyard to retrieve a painting, she spilled a cup of tea on her skirt.
“Aiyou, my skirt is stained!” Miss Yu exclaimed softly.
Gu Sui’er saw it and hurried over to help. Upon seeing the stain, she smiled: “If you don’t mind, I have spare skirts. You can go change into one.”
Miss Yu shyly lowered her head and said, “Sorry for the trouble, My Lady.”
Gu Sui’er led Miss Yu back to Tingzhu Courtyard, fetched a skirt for her, and let her change inside while she waited outside.
After waiting for a while, Gu Sui’er noticed that there was no movement in the room and wondered: “Miss Yu?”
Miss Yu whispered: “I suddenly got my period…”
Upon hearing this, Gu Sui’er quickly said, “Then I’ll go get a menstrual belt for you.”
This was exactly what Miss Yu wanted. So she hurriedly said, “Okay. Thank you so much, My Lady.”
When Gu Sui’er was about to go fetch it, Guizhi pulled her back and whispered: “My Lady, I think this Miss Yu may have some ulterior motives.”
Gu Sui’er didn’t quite understand. “What ulterior motives could she have?”
Guizhi thought for a moment and said: “Here’s the plan, My Lady. After you get the menstrual belt, go and if possible, just invite the Old Madam and the others to come over. Tell them you’re calling them to taste the newly made Wuzi cake here.”
Gu Sui’er was initially confused, but considering Guizhi’s intelligence and Miss Yu’s somewhat odd behavior, she decided to follow along with her suggestion. “Alright, I’ll do as you say.”
She went over and spoke about Wuzi cake. The Old Madam loved to eat. Moreover, she had also heard of Xiao Heng’s return and wanted to see him. This aroused everyone’s interest, so they decided to come over and have it before leaving.
As the group of people arrived at the Tingzhu Courtyard, they heard a woman’s scream followed by loud sobbing. “You… Who are you?!”
Upon hearing this voice, Madam Yu’s expression changed immediately. “That is my family’s Xiuming’s voice ah! What happened?”
Gu Sui’er was also shocked and afraid that something might have happened, so she hurriedly wanted to go see.
Just as everyone was about to rush over, Guizhi also arrived. “What happened? Miss Yu said she wanted to have some tea and told me to fetch it. I just came back, but where is Miss Yu?”
She looked bewildered.
After listening to her, Madam Yu was the first one to rush over.
This room should be a study because it was filled with books and various writing materials. A tall man stood near the door, and in the corner, a woman’s figure was curled up, facing away from every one, with disheveled clothes and a trembling body. Her hair was slightly messy.
Madam Yu’s turned pale as her eyes fell on the dark-skinned and tall stranger. She stamped her feet in anger: “You- Who are you? How did you get here?”
She quickly rushed over and wrapped her daughter in her clothes: “Xiuming, what happened? Are you okay?”
Yu Xiuming cried bitterly and threw herself into her mother’s arms: “Mom, just now, he… he— I don’t want to live anymore!”
As she spoke, her words became incoherent.
Madam Yu looked at the tall man and became anxious: “You mean him? He didn’t do anything to you, right? Nothing happened, right? Right? Nothing at all, it was simply a misunderstanding!”
She couldn’t understand. Didn’t she teach her daughter well? How could she end up in a room with this tall and dark-skinned stranger?
Everyone was stunned. What happened with Yu family’s young lady, and who was this tall stranger?
Just then, a beautiful woman rushed forward with a face filled with grief, indignation and disappointment. She told the tall man: “You… you… I thought you were an honest person. I didn’t expect you to have such thoughts. Do you think a toad can eat swan meat1T/N: This is from an idiom 癞蛤蟆想吃天鹅肉 (lài há ma xiǎng chī tiān é ròu) which means wishful thinking or having unrealistic and exaggerated aspirations. ah? Who do you think you are? How could you do such a thing?”
Hu Tie, the tall man was at a loss for words. His face turned blushed. He didn’t know ah, he really didn’t know what was going on ah! He had just met Guizhi girl, who asked him to come to the study to get something. How did it end up like this?
Gu Sui’er couldn’t help but say: “Hu Tie, you’ve always been honest. Tell me, do you have anything to do with this young lady?”
When everyone saw this scene, they looked at the tall man with worry.
Little did they know about Miss Yu’s evil intentions, who had always thought that the person who entered the study was the fifth prince. Even when she heard Gu Sui’er call him “Hu Tie”, she didn’t pay much attention, thinking that it was just a nickname or something.
After all, she had heard that the fifth prince had a complicated past. He had lived with his mother in his early years. Then, he was taken in by Marquis Ruiding before finally becoming the fifth prince. With so many twists and turns, how could he not have a nickname?
So, without waiting for Hu Tie to respond, she took the initiative to pour dirt on herself: “He has already assaulted me! He assaulted me! He cannot deny it. Otherwise, I’ll just knock my head and kill myself!”
As she said this, she wailed pitifully and struck the posture of actually going to hit the wall.
Hu Tie could no longer accept this. “Hey, Miss, you can’t say that. You rushed in after I came to get something and started yelling and crying. I didn’t see or do anything ah!”
As soon as he spoke, Miss Yu froze.
She had seen the fifth prince from afar before; he was clearly a refined and elegant person. So why was he speaking in this tone?
In incredulity, she turned her head to look at Hu Tie with tearful eyes.
After the first glance, her face turned pale. She cried out in fear: “You… who are you? Why is it you? Who are you? Where is His Highness, the fifth prince?”
Hu Tie replied impatiently: “It has always been me! Ptui! You don’t even know who I am or what I look like, and yet you accuse me of assaulting you and even arbitrarily insist that I’m dirty? I don’t know who you are ah. I just came to get something!”
With things reaching this stage, everyone could clearly see what was going on.
Miss Yu was trying to play tricks on the fifth prince, but she accidentally blamed the wrong person.
Some people almost couldn’t hold their laughter, but considering the presence of the Minister of Rites’ family, they barely stifled it. They didn’t want to offend the former too much.
By now, Madam Yu’s face was switching between red and white. She was extremely embarrassed. However, she managed to spit out a few words: “Since… since it was a misunderstanding, let’s forget about it. It was nothing, nothing. My family’s Xiuming must have made a mistake.”
Bao Ya immediately realized.
So, it actually turns out she wanted to falsely accuse someone but accused the wrong person? And that wrong person happened to be Hu Tie?
Annoyed, she deliberately snorted: “How can you just call it a misunderstanding? Just now, who was it that kept on accusing Hu Tie of assaulting her just a moment before ah? When others didn’t believe her, she even insisted on knocking her head against the wall to prove her resolution. But how come it had become a misunderstanding in the blink of an eye? This change was too quick!”
The people present suppressed their laughs. Xiao Xu couldn’t help stepping forward and mocking: “If the person in the room had been my third Brother, it wouldn’t have been a misunderstanding then, right?”
Miss Yu was too ashamed. She covered her face and ran away crying.
Madam Yu sighed with helplessness but could only find an excuse to slip away as fast as possible.
She couldn’t possibly stay there and actually let her daughter marry this tall and dark-skinned man!
After the mother and daughter left, Xiao Xu burst out laughing.
Her laughter made it impossible for the others to hold back any longer. Soon, the sounds of everyone’s laughter rang out.
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