Chapter 50
After Wen lao-furen's longevity feast ended, all sorts of rumours flew across the skies.
The rumour that gained the most traction was about the immoral conduct of the two concubine-born daughters from the Mu Family, which implicated the reputations of the other young ladies of the Mu Family, such that even the students who were anxiously preparing for battle had heard of their rumours.
Allegedly, the day after Wen lao-furen's longevity banquet, Minister Wen's illegitimate second son had visited their residence to cancel the engagement, bluntly stating that he would never marry a woman with poisonous intentions. The matter had caused a huge ruckus, but the marriage agreement between the pair was broken off.
Mu Qing Ling's reputation was completely ruined.
The rumour of Mu Qing Ci using unscrupulous means like ruining her own innocence for the sake of clinging onto the Fourth Prince was also abuzz within the capital. Everyone was pointing and criticising the Mu Family's daughters behind their backs, and they wanted to know if the Fourth Prince would admit Mu Qing Ci into his back courtyard. However, a heavyweight piece of news had also smashed down at this moment: the Emperor had conferred a marriage to the Fourth Prince, and the candidate chosen was Senior Official Li's legitimate granddaughter, Li Xiang Xiang.
Once the news appeared, the majority of the people felt that the possibility of this Mu xiaojie entering the Fourth Prince's back courtyard was exceedingly slim.
Ruan Xi had also learned about the gossip and rumours from Su Yu's and Su Zhu's mouth.
Wen Ting Yi hurrying to break off his engagement with Mu Qing Ling was within her expectations, since Wen Ting Zhou had told her that his concubine-born younger brother had his heart set on the daughter of a seventh-ranked official. With Mu Qing Ling seeking her own death, it goes without saying that Wen Ting Yi would seize the chance.
From Wen Ting Zhou's letter, Ruan Xi learned that Wen Ting Yi had cancelled the marriage agreement on his own initiative by going past his elders to break off the engagement himself. Minister Wen had gone along with it because he did not want this marriage either, and the matter was thus settled.
Ruan Xi had no feelings towards this.
Regardless of whether Mu Qing Ling or some other noble daughter was going to be her sister-in-law, Ruan Xi did not care at all.
Ruan Xi ate a peach slice as she smiled, "Su Yu, the rumours can't be trusted. Ting Zhou da ge and I were present at the scene back then, and we can only say that Mu Qing Ci was too unlucky since she was accidentally pitted by san jie. The Fourth Prince is similarly aware of the circumstances in his heart, and he certainly wouldn't take his anger out on Mu Qing Ci. Just wait, not long after, Mu Qing Ci will be entering the Fourth Prince's back courtyard."
Su Zhu widened her eyes at side. "Young Lady, don't the rumours say that Mu xiaojie incited the Third Young Lady into implementing those actions? The Third Young Lady hasn't stepped in to clarify."
Su Yu nodded her head in agreement.
Back then, she and Su Zhu hadn't followed their Young Lady and Wen gongzi, so they were unclear about the exact situation.
The Third Young Lady should be aware, but why wasn't she clearing up the matter?
As Ruan Xi pondered over Ruan san niang's moral integrity, she questioned, "Would clarifying the matter have any use?"
Even if Ruan san niang stepped out and clarified the situation, the rumours would still fall to one side. Not only was the Fourth Prince's identity dignified and noble, his appearance was handsome, and the noble daughters that liked him were too many to count.
