Chapter 409 - Deceived! How Unashamed!

Chapter 409 Deceived! How Unashamed!

Hearing Qin Yuru’s words, Old Madam of Duke Yong looked livid and felt suffocated. “What? I can’t believe such a thing just happened! That’s going too far!” after she tried her best to say the words, she almost fell down.

When seeing things going wrong, those servant girls and old maids who stood aside hurried to support her and cried, “Old Madam! Old Madam!”

“What is going on?” Countess Yong came in and frowned tightly.

“Madam! Madam! It is not good here! Old Madam almost faints!” an old maid turned around and answered anxiously.

Hearing that Old Madam was not well, Countess Yong hurried to help them and awoke Old Madam who was almost unconscious because of the intense anger.

When she got sober again, she felt weak. Her lips trembled and she seemed to say something. However, she found that she could say nothing even though the words were on her lips.

“Mother, don’t get anxious. Let me ask her!” Countess Yong knew Old Madam’s situation was not good according to her look, so Countess Yong quickly comforted her.

Old Madam now only felt her heart was burning but she could say nothing. Thus, she nodded heavily. Since the matter had become so serious, Countess Yong would know it.

“AUNT! AUNT! PLEASE HELP ME! PLEASE!” Qin Yuru burst into tears and rushed to Countess Yong. There was a thud as she knelt down in front of her. Qin Yuru put her hands on Countess Yong’s knees and her tears poured.

“Yuru, what is going on?” Countess Yong’s instincts told her something was wrong and she now looked a bit pale.

“Aunt, Prince Cheng’s Mansion sent invitation cards to our mansion, so I went there with my sister. However, I was immersed in the view so I went to the garden subconsciously. I suppose I lost one of my earrings there as I noticed that it was gone when I walked out of the garden. Then I ran into Prince Cheng and Prince Zhou who were greeting Rui’an Great Elder Princess. When they knew my earring was lost, they helped me find it out. But, but…”

Qin Yuru could not say anything more. Her words were choked by sobbing as tears rolled down her face.

“What?” Countess Yong snapped.

“Those ladies said that it was I who tried to seduce Prince Cheng and Prince Zhou. As Prince Cheng and Prince Zhou were also in the garden at that time, they then claimed that I deliberately… Aunt! I have been engaged to my cousin and how can I do this unashamed thing! But, but everyone just kept saying like that… Aunt, I don’t know how I can live now!”

The more Qin Yuru said, the more grieved she looked. She crawled on her knees to Countess Yong and stayed close to her.

“You mean they all misunderstood you?” Countess Yong asked severely.

“Aunt, what should I do? What should I do? I am not familiar with Prince Cheng’s Mansion! I just wandered around, but I have never expected that this would lead to such a trouble! Had I known this would happen, I would have refused the invitation!”

Qin Yuru cried bitterly. Actually she did want to shift the blame onto Qin Wanru but almost everyone knew she didn’t get on well with Qin Wanru. Thus, she could not say that the reason why she would be in the garden was that she was to look for Qin Wanru or it was Qin Wanru who brought her to the garden.

It was quite easy to check Qin Wanru’s route. She had been with those ladies and went to the Flower Hall by following the crowd. There were many people who could testify for her. Therefore, she could not put the blame on her.

She could not take Qin Wanru down with her. Thus, the only way Qin Yuru could do was to show that she was innocent and to convince Duke Yong’s Mansion of her innocence before the rumor spread.

“You have to figure out a way to defend Yuru’s honor.” Old Madam of Duke Yong now finally began to recover. She said angrily, “They just want to bully her because Yuru just arrived in the capital city and she has no famous background. How can they distort the fact like this! Yuru has an engagement with our mansion and how can she think about another man! How dare they say that! These ladies must intend to cut a dash in front of Prince Cheng! They even don’t know the female virtues, and how dare they intend to be the Prince Cheng’s Consort!”

Duke Yong’s Mansion didn’t receive the invitation card but they didn’t care since not every aristocratic family would be invited. Not receiving the invitation only meant that the mansion wasn’t included in the choices of Prince Cheng’s Consort and it didn’t depend on the mansion’s official status. Who should be invited and who should not be invited were all arranged by the imperial palace.

Those who were invited might not be happy since some people who attempted to seize power were unwilling to accept the invitation. In addition to Prince Cheng, many other princes were also going to hold their consort selection. Compared with Prince Cheng, they were much stronger than him and their future seemed to be much brighter than his as Prince Cheng seemed to lead a tranquil life and keep himself away from the power.

Duke Yong’s Mansion also thought of it like this. Thus, they were satisfied that they weren’t invited.

However, Old Madam was extremely regretful that they didn’t receive the invitation. Otherwise, she was sure that her granddaughter would not have been bullied by others with Duke Yong’s Mansion supporting her.

“They all thought in the same way? Did Rui’an Great Elder Princess think of it like that?” after a pause, Countess Young asked, but she didn’t respond to Old Madam’s words. She wasn’t like Old Madam and she didn’t intend to spoil Qin Yuru. Moreover, she had not considered Qin Yuru as her future daughter-in-law before.

However, she had to do that because of Qin Huaiyong’s induction!

“Aunt, I don’t know. I have no idea about that! They were laughing at me so I ran away with tears! I don’t know whether Rui’an Great Elder Princess believes in their words!”

Qin Yuru answered, wiping her tears. She was clear that to convince Countess Yong was much harder than to convince Old Madam. She was on pins and needles as she secretly observed Countess Yong’s look when crying.

She didn’t claim that Rui’an Great Elder Princess also thought in that way. Otherwise, she would be caught in a lie! But she didn’t say that Rui’an Great Elder Princess was opposed to this saying. If the rumor was spread, people would know that Rui’an Great Elder Princess agreed with the saying even if she said nothing about it.

Fortunately, Countess Yong could not ask Rui’an Great Elder Princess who was in a high status about the truth directly. Thus, it was fine to say that she didn’t know Rui’an Great Elder Princess’ attitude.

“Yuru, do you know that the banquet is the consort selection?” Countess Yong was a hard person to fool.

“I don’t know. Why would I know? I have always been in the mansion… Given my mother’s situation, I have been taking care of her. I, I would have no evil thought when I have to see my mother’s painful look which seems that she now is living in a hell every day. Besides, I don’t know any informed person in the mansion now so I know nothing about the selection. I just received the invitation and went there with my second sister to attend the banquet!”

As Qin Yuru answered, she still cried bitterly. Her red and swollen eyes on her white and tear-stained face made her look quite piteous.

“Why would Yuru know Prince Cheng is going to choose her consort? Given her situation in her mansion, how can she know the matter happening outside! Only aristocratic families like us know Prince Cheng is going to choose his consort! She is just a little girl and there is no senior to inform her! Why would she know! Yuru, my poor dear!”

Seeing Qin Yuru’s pitiful look, Old Madam almost cried. Thinking of her daughter who now was still lying on the bed and her granddaughter who was bullied by others and cried bitterly, Old Madam was overwhelmed with extreme sorrow.

Countess Yong frowned. Something told her that it was not true. However, since she couldn’t figure out which part was weird, she just corrugated her brows tightly and stared right at Qin Yuru, which made Qin Yuru flustered and nervous. Since Qin Yuru couldn’t conduct any suspicious behavior now, she then covered her face with her handkerchief and kept crying loudly.

“Yuru, you really didn’t know the banquet is Prince Cheng’s Consort selection before, did you?” asked Countess Yong again.

“No, I didn’t know it before!” Qin Yuru didn’t dare to completely deny.

“When did you know then?” Countess Yong kept asking.

“When I found the earring, I guessed that according to those ladies’ words.” Qin Yuru cried more bitterly. She now looked more pitiful and said, “Aunt, I really didn’t know that before! Since I have arrived in the capital city, I just have attended banquets for several times. You know that! I have never expected that things behind the seemingly simple banquet would be so complex! Had I known this, I would not have attended it!”

Seeing her crying so ruefully and sincerely, Countess Yong thought that Qin Yuru had just started her life in the capital city. Besides, Qin Yuru seldom walked out when she lived in their mansion. Moreover, her sister and she didn’t attend many banquets even when Qin’s Mansion had moved to the capital city. It was reasonable that they might not be familiar with many events in the capital city.

It was reasonable to think in this way.

Countess Yong looked bad. This situation was very complicated because if Qin Yuru had a bad reputation, the fame of Duke Yong’s Mansion would also be influenced negatively. Di Yan was going to inherit the position of Duke Yong so Qin Yuru would be Countess Yong in the future. However, before she married into their family, such a thing just happened! And it was even related to Prince Cheng!

Countess Yong was very regretful now! Had she decided Di Yan’s engagement with another mansion earlier, they would have nothing to do with Qin Yuru! No matter how Qin Yuru conducted any behavior which would damage her reputation, their mansion would not be affected by her!

“Figure it out! Stop their nonsense!” Old Madam of Duke Yong scolded.

“Old Madam, what, what can I do? We weren’t there!” Countess Yong threw up her hand resignedly and answered.

“I can’t let Yuru get wronged like this! She is so piteous! Her father doesn’t care about her while her mother now has been like this. If we don’t help her, then how can she still live on!” Old Madam of Duke Yong shouted with her red-rimmed eyes. She turned to stare at Qin Yuru with a pathetic look.

She felt deep sorry for her dear granddaughter.

“Poor? She deserves this!” someone roared at the entrance. The door curtain was torn off rudely. Round pearls from the broken string fell and rolled on the ground. Di Yan whose face was dark rushed in the room madly. He strode towards Qin Yuru and tried to drag her out of the room as he shouted angrily.

“Qin Yuru! You are the most unashamed woman in the world! You’ve been engaged to a man before but then you denied it! Now you’re engaged to me but then you intend to get rid of me! You want to marry up? The imperial palace? Fine, get out of my mansion and go to Prince Cheng’s Mansion! Let’s see if he wants you!”