Chapter Twenty-Five: Whispers on the Wind

Thanks to Concubine Guo, Junior Tutor Xiao decided to spend the next few days outside the mansion, using the excuse that he had been deeply infuriated by the schemes within his inner courtyard.

By staying away from the inner quarters, he could limit the gossip from outsiders who claimed he owed his position to women.

However, his good mood was ruined the very next day after he left the morning court.

As his carriage was moving at a leisurely pace through the busy market, a sudden commotion erupted outside, mixed with the squawking of chickens. In the next moment, several chickens flapped their way inside his carriage.

"Ah! Xiwei! How are you doing your job!"

Junior Tutor Xiao cried out in alarm, jumping out of the carriage with a few quick steps, despite his usual refined demeanor.

But just as the shaken Junior Tutor Xiao was about to catch his breath, he collided with someone.

The man fell, but instead of crying out in pain, he scrambled on his hands and knees to retrieve a flag inscribed with the words "Half-Immortal" and a horsetail whisk, muttering in a panic:

"This little one was only speaking the truth, I beg the noble one to spare me! I shall leave today, I am leaving this very day!"

Junior Tutor Xiao ignored him, feeling deeply annoyed.

He had only just come up with that idea yesterday, and today things were already going so poorly. Was this a sign that he truly could not function without that woman?

No, that was absolutely impossible—how could there be such a coincidence!

He refused to acknowledge it in his heart, but unexpectedly, a sharp exclamation pierced his ears.

"A catastrophe of beauty!"

Junior Tutor Xiao was startled and glared fiercely at the man, shouting for his personal attendant, "Xiwei!"

The man, as if accustomed to being scolded and unable to control his own tongue, scrambled away while turning his head to finish his sentence.

"The unrest in the noble one's household is primarily due to a beauty! The wife and daughters are fine, but for the unmarried, remember well: do not dally with women these days!"

"Master, I'll go catch him!" Xiwei, whose attention had been entirely on the chickens, heard his master’s call and hurriedly said.

Junior Tutor Xiao, however, raised a hand to stop him. The anger in his eyes had vanished, replaced by confusion as he watched the man gradually disappear.

This man was very strange. If he were a fraud, why not say something pleasant to earn a reward?

If he were telling the truth—no, it felt more like someone was intentionally warning him.

"Dallying with women"—based on those words alone, Junior Tutor Xiao immediately pinpointed his ill-fated third son, Xiao Jichen!

"Catastrophe of beauty," Junior Tutor Xiao connected this to that foolish Marquis, and the truth of the situation quickly pieced itself together in his mind.

Since that foolish Marquis could not openly become in-laws with him, he would surely target his own ill-fated, womanizing son.

Once it was a done deal, he would have no choice but to accept it!

Thinking this, Junior Tutor Xiao clenched his fists and gritted his teeth as he ordered, "Xiwei, use whatever means necessary! Do not let the Third Young Master leave the house these next few days!"

He paused, then as if reaching a firm decision, added, "Tell him that if he obeys, I will give him a portion of his mother's keepsakes."

Xiwei, who had been looking troubled—for he had no way to control the Third Young Master—was suddenly overjoyed upon hearing about the late mistress's keepsakes.

The Third Young Master, if nothing else, cared deeply for his late mother. Now, he would only need to use his words to convince him.

Afterward, Junior Tutor Xiao boarded the now-cleaned carriage in high spirits.

Heaven was truly helping him.

Since the person behind this was using such methods to warn him, they must be unable to show their face, so he need not worry about it further.

*

The sun, scorching enough to make people sweat, rose and set. Time passed quietly, and in the blink of an eye, three days had gone by.

Meng Zhenyue, dressed in a light cloud-colored long dress embroidered with scattered flowers, sat by the window writing a story.

Yunxia stood on her left fanning her, while Manzhi was on her right, reporting the news.

"Miss, it is true that Third Young Master Xiao has not stepped out lately, but the Marchioness continues to visit Huaxi Courtyard."

Meng Zhenyue listened and nodded.

For the past three days, the Marquis's mansion had appeared to be going about its daily business as usual.

After the incident at the Buddhist shrine, the Marchioness had sent many rare items, and she continued to send good things daily.

However, she herself had not visited once; she spent most of her time at Zhao Zhizhi's courtyard, having her practice dance.

After realizing that the Marquis of Chengwu would turn against Junior Tutor Xiao, Meng Zhenyue had anticipated that the Marquis would use extreme measures to force the marriage.

Sure enough.

The Marchioness was now simply waiting for the right moment.

Meng Zhenyue had originally intended to use the "Half-Immortal" tactic on the Marquis of Chengwu, but because it concerned the interests of the Marquis's mansion, the Marquis only assumed it was a trick by Junior Tutor Xiao and did not believe a word of it.

Therefore, she could only strike at Junior Tutor Xiao, but that was not a long-term solution either.

Because the Marchioness had not been coming, the governess had also become increasingly perfunctory. Although she arrived every day, the lessons were constantly repeated.

As a result, Meng Zhenyue had much more free time. Last night, she had used an excuse to search the Marquis's study for clues about her parents, but she found nothing and dared not act rashly.

Xiao Zhou would likely take another day or two to send back news.

There had also been no movement from Zhao Xianzhi at the Buddhist shrine these past few days, which made her feel somewhat uneasy.

The Yuehua Courtyard was now filled with her own people, making it much easier to monitor and gather intelligence, yet she still could not detect Zhao Xianzhi's true intentions.

Thinking of this, Meng Zhenyue felt a bit restless and set down her pen, asking, "What about the Buddhist shrine..."

Before she could finish her sentence, the second-tier maid, Bing'er, entered through the beaded curtains.

Six eyes in the room turned toward Bing'er in unison as she spoke in a calm and orderly manner:

"Miss, rumors have started to spread outside the mansion."

"They say that the Eldest Young Master is not of the Marquis's bloodline, and that as soon as you returned, Miss, you began to alienate him, causing him to be confined."

"Others say the Eldest Young Master was locked up by the Marquis for molesting a woman."

"Some even claim that the Eldest Young Master was never poisoned at all, and that it was a ruse by the Marquis to harm Junior Tutor Xiao, along with many other things even more unbearable to hear."

Meng Zhenyue listened with interest, her fingers tapping against the table.

Yunxia frowned, unable to help but say, "This is..."

"This is Zhao Xianzhi preparing to come out," Meng Zhenyue said with a light laugh.

By creating public opinion, he was forcing the Marquis of Chengwu to let him out to clear his name.

Perhaps Junior Tutor Xiao had added fuel to the fire, but that just made him the perfect scapegoat.

It seems the saying holds true: when bad people are quiet, they are definitely brewing something.

Seeing their worried faces, Meng Zhenyue said calmly, "He was going to come out sooner or later."

"Let him come out. Right now, everyone is indulging him because of his past pretense. He needs to come out and cause more trouble so that people can finally see his true face," Meng Zhenyue said, a hint of ruthlessness flashing in her calm eyes.

She did not fear seeing the enemy's moves; she only feared not knowing their intentions.

Sure enough, two days later, these rumors intensified, and the Marquis of Chengwu flew into a rage in his study.

"That Xiao man! He is simply going too far!"

After hearing the report from his attendant, Yaowang, the Marquis of Chengwu swept everything off his desk.

His eyes blazing with fury, he paced back and forth for a long time before speaking: "Have word spread that Xianzhi was merely injured from overly strenuous martial arts practice for the military examinations, which is why he hasn't been out."

Now, what was truly giving him a headache was Xianzhi's identity.

How could Junior Tutor Xiao have found out?

He had given strict orders regarding matters concerning the Marquis's bloodline!

The only solution now was to have Zhenyue and Xianzhi go out together to let those rumors crumble on their own!

But he knew Xianzhi’s temperament; since he had requested to go to the Buddhist shrine himself, he wouldn't come out easily until he felt satisfied.

After much thought, he said, "Call the Eldest Miss and the Marchioness here."