Farewell Flower Festival

Han Min and the ladies of each family were all here. Shang Qingrong was at home taking care of her pregnancy and did not come. Madam Wen was frightened by Mu Tianchen's incident and was recuperating at home, so she was not present either.

Minister Liu's wife and daughter Liu Yao were both present, and it was heard that the latter had begun discussing marriage.

When Zhao brought Chaoyan over, Liu Yao's face darkened a little. She didn't like Chaoyan, Princess Ling very much. Madam Liu didn't stand up to greet her either. She only bowed slightly after Chaoyan sat down, and seemed to have some complaints about Chaoyan.

Although both the mother and daughter did not like her very much, she was now a princess and should have a broader mind. She did not care about the mother and daughter's impoliteness. Instead, she praised Liu Yao for her knowledge and manners, and praised Madam Liu for her good upbringing. In front of the ladies and young ladies of other families, the mother and daughter looked a little embarrassed.

Han Min smiled and joked, "You are still so fierce when you talk back, you really don't show any mercy." Chao Yan said, "If a tiger doesn't show its power, they will think I am easy to bully." Han Min smiled again, tilted his head towards Chao Yan, and lowered his voice a little, "I didn't want to come. Who knows what the purpose of celebrating the birthday in such a ostentatious way is?"

Chaoyan tilted her head towards Han Min and whispered, "I don't want to come here either, but I'm worried about letting His Highness come alone." Han Min joked, "Are you afraid that the Fourth Prince will be entangled with other girls?" Chaoyan denied, "I'm afraid that he will get drunk and won't even know the way home, so I have to keep an eye on him." Han Min smiled behind her handkerchief and talked about other things with Chaoyan.

The play "Resurrection of the Soul" happened to be being performed on the stage, and the part where the dead came back to life made the guests in the audience laugh out loud.

"This play is quite interesting." Shang Ye said with a smile.

Mu Tianqi said, "Fourth brother, you must have seen or heard of many bizarre cases in the Nine Punishment Department. Is there any case of resurrection among them?"

Mu Tianling said: "If there is such a good thing as resurrection in the world, there would be no need to investigate the case."

Shang Ye drank a glass of wine and asked his brother-in-law Wen Yunlan what he thought and whether he believed in the resurrection of the dead. Wen Yunlan said that there are all kinds of strange things in the world and gave an open answer.

Shang Ye drank another glass of wine and said with a smile, "If people could live forever, there would be no need to bring the dead back to life."

Just then, Zhao Zhong and his eldest son Zhao Cheng walked in. Shang Ye poured another glass of wine and raised his glass, saying, "I wish you a long life and good health." Zhao Zhong also poured a glass of wine in return, saying with a smile, "Thank you for your good wishes, young master." He glanced at the actors on the stage and said with a smile, "This play was ordered by Princess Ling."

Shang Ye said, "Oh~" and said, "So it was ordered by the Fourth Princess. No wonder it's so interesting." Wen Yunlan coughed lightly, reminding his brother-in-law to be careful with his words.

Mu Tianling's face darkened slightly. He didn't like his appearance being commented on by outsiders, especially men. He changed the subject and asked, "Is your son feeling better?"

When mentioning Zhao Huan, Zhao Zhong showed a hint of embarrassment.

Zhao Cheng bowed and said, "Thank you for your concern, Your Highness. I believe that my second brother will get better in time."

As a half-brother, Zhao Cheng rarely had the opportunity to show up. Before Zhao Huan's crime was exposed, it was basically Zhao Huan who was in the limelight. Therefore, most people in the outside world did not know that the Marquisate had an eldest son. They only knew that there was a young Marquis Zhao Huan. Now Zhao Cheng followed Zhao Zhong out to greet guests. He behaved properly and spoke tactfully, which was much better than Zhao Huan.

On the other side, a maid came over and whispered a few words to Feicui. Feicui stepped forward and told Chaoyan that Furong wanted to see her. Chaoyan told Han Min that she would go over to take a look. Han Min nodded, and Chaoyan left with Feicui and Amber.

Seeing Chaoyan leave, Liu Yao became curious and asked her personal maid Daner to follow quietly to see what was going on.

The maid led the master and servants to the tea room. Then a maid came out and led Chaoyan in, saying that Furong wanted to talk to her alone.

Daner quietly followed to the tea room and saw Chaoyan go in alone, and then waited nearby for someone to come out.

When the maid brought Chaoyan in, Chaoyan saw Furong with her back turned and wiping her eyes with a handkerchief. After telling the maid to leave, Furong turned around and wiped her eyes with a handkerchief. Her eyes were not red, and there were no tears in them. It looked like she had not cried.

"What do you want me to do?" Chao Yan asked calmly.

Furong became embarrassed again, hesitating whether she should speak.

Seeing that she hadn't thought it through, Chao Yan said, "If you have nothing else to do, I'll go back first." After that, she stood up and was about to leave, but was stopped by Furong. The next moment, Furong suddenly rushed in front of her, knelt down and begged, "Sister, save me."

This dramatic scene made Chao Yan a little confused. She asked Furong to get up first and talk slowly. She also poured a cup of tea for Furong. Furong did not drink a sip of tea to relieve the pressure. She picked up the handkerchief to wipe her eyes and said in a crying voice, "Sister, you must save me, otherwise I will have no way to live."

Chao Yan asked in a caring tone, "What happened?" Furong was still hesitant, so Chao Yan comforted her, "If you don't tell me what happened, how can I save you?"

Furong looked around, as if afraid that someone was eavesdropping, then she put her head close to Chaoyan and said in a very low voice, "The Marquis wants... wants..." She didn't dare to say the last two words, so she wrote them on the table with her hand and showed them to Chaoyan. Chaoyan was slightly surprised and asked her how she knew that?

Furong said that she couldn't sleep two nights ago, so she went out for a walk. When she walked near a pavilion, she heard people talking. Out of curiosity, she quietly walked over to listen. It would have been fine if she hadn't listened, but when she did, she was startled and ran away before she could finish listening.

Chaoyan found her story full of loopholes but didn't expose it. Instead, she asked her if she could tell who the other person was. Furong shook her head and didn't know who the other person was.

"Have you told the Imperial Concubine?"

Furong shook her head and said to Chaoyan, "Then why did you tell me? Aren't you afraid that I would say it out loud?" Furong pleaded in a crying voice, "Sister, I really don't want to die. What should I do? Sister, please help me." Chaoyan gave her an advice and told her to divorce. As long as she had nothing to do with the Marquis' Mansion, she would not be implicated.

Hearing about the divorce, Furong hesitated again, as if she was reluctant to give up her current status and position.

"Or you can go and ask the Imperial Concubine for help. You are the Imperial Concubine's adopted daughter, so I'm sure the Imperial Concubine will not ignore you."

Chaoyan gave Furong another suggestion, but Furong seemed very embarrassed and did not want to trouble Concubine Yin. She begged Chaoyan to keep it a secret for her and asked Chaoyan to let her think about it carefully for two days and give her a reply when she had thought it over.

Daner waited outside for about half an hour. Furong came out first, and then Chaoyan came out. After Daner came back, he reported to Liu Yao about Chaoyan's meeting with Furong, the young lady. Seeing that it was not a private meeting with a man, Liu Yao was no longer interested.

After Chaoyan came back with jadeite and amber, Han Min curiously asked what Furong wanted to see her about. Chaoyan said that she had complained to her, saying that life in the Marquis' Mansion was not easy and wanted her help.