By now, the group had spotted the two of them. Huangfu Qian immediately walked up to them, his expression clearly stiff as he looked at Meng Wan and Huangfu Yu together: "Miss, what's wrong with you two..."
He had been confined to the palace by the emperor for some time and was not allowed to enter the palace. However, he had vaguely heard that the empress intended to match Meng Wan with Huangfu Yu. He originally thought it was just a rumor, but now it seems to be true. Otherwise, why would Meng Wan come with him to watch the opera?
Meng Wan was somewhat annoyed. She had come out because she could not disobey the Empress's orders. She had originally planned to just make do and go back, but she did not expect that things would turn out this way. Now that people had seen her with Huangfu Yu, she was not sure how to explain herself!
"It was when the Empress Dowager heard that Miss Meng liked to listen to opera that she instructed me to bring her here. Little did she know that my brothers also had an interest in listening to opera."
The eldest prince stood up and came over: "It's because our seventh brother has been back for a while, but we haven't had much of a chance to get to know him, so we brothers thought we'd come over for a little get-together."
The brothers he mentioned clearly excluded Huangfu Yu, causing Huangfu Yu's face to stiffen. His already stern face darkened even more.
Meng Wan, who was watching from the side, could see it clearly and couldn't help but secretly grumble to herself.
The fifth prince, Huangfu Yu, was born to a mother of humble origin who died young. As a result, he was introverted from a young age and was not very close to his brothers. In addition, he was raised by the empress's side. Although others had to be friendly to him on the surface, they were unwilling to be close to him in their hearts.
The reason is nothing more than jealousy that he has a powerful backer like the Empress. Now, seeing him with Meng Wan, they worry that the Empress and the others are trying to bring them together, which is tantamount to giving Huangfu Yu wings and bringing him one step closer to the position of Crown Prince. So at this moment, those people's tone is barbed, and it is inevitable that every word is aimed at him.
Huangfu Yu's face stiffened for a moment, but then he regained his expressionless demeanor, stared at the eldest prince for a while, and then nodded slightly: "In that case, I will not disturb you any longer and will take my leave."
Turning to Meng Wan, he said, "Miss Meng, I'm afraid we won't be able to enjoy the opera today. Why don't I take you home first, and we can meet again another day?"
V10 The Scumbag's Persistent Pursuit (Part 1)
Turning to Meng Wan, he said, "Miss Meng, I'm afraid we won't be able to enjoy the opera today. Why don't I take you home first, and we can meet again another day?"
In this tense atmosphere, Meng Wan was unwilling to stay any longer. She nodded, curtsied to everyone, and turned to leave. At this moment, the eldest prince gave Huangfu Qian a wink, and Huangfu Qian understood. He quickly stepped forward and blocked Meng Wan's path, saying, "Miss, please wait!"
Meng Wan felt disgusted with him, and at this moment she would rather leave with the Fifth Prince, but on the surface she had to pretend to be harmless and smiled faintly: "I wonder what the Third Prince's orders are?"
With a distant and indifferent attitude, Huangfu Qian glanced at the eldest prince, assuming that Meng Wan was just shy because there were many people around, so he stepped forward and said, "Actually, I've been thinking about you a lot these past two days. That night, I even had someone invite you to meet me outside Desheng Gate, but it's a pity you didn't go."
Meng Wan took a step back imperceptibly, placing her hand on the table behind her. With nowhere left to retreat, she looked up at Huangfu Qian and said, "Father has already pleaded with the Emperor about the Third Prince's matter, but the Emperor has ignored him, so I am powerless to help. The Third Prince is going to see the Seventh Prince later, so why don't you ask him to plead for you?"
Huangfu Yu watched from the side. Although the two were speaking in very low voices and it was impossible to hear what they were saying, Meng Wan's expression clearly showed resistance. After a slight hesitation, he stepped forward, grabbed Meng Wan's wrist, and freed her from Huangfu Qian's grasp with almost no effort.
"Let's go." He said casually, ignoring the various expressions behind him, and took Meng Wan's wrist, and they left Changyin Pavilion together.
Meng Wan was very grateful for his action; otherwise, she was really worried that if she said a few more words to Huangfu Qian, she would not be able to resist slapping him.
After the two left, Huangfu Yu let go of her hand, and she gratefully thanked him, saying, "Thank you so much for helping me out earlier, Fifth Prince."
Huangfu Yu remained silent, turning to walk away. After passing through the winding corridor, he suddenly stopped. "I'm sorry to have made you come all this way for nothing, and to have you humiliated by my third brother. It's all because of my long-standing discord with them. I'm sorry."
It turned out that he hadn't heard Meng Wan and Huangfu Qian's conversation clearly, so he thought that Huangfu Qian was making things difficult for Meng Wan because of him, but he didn't know about the various entanglements between Meng Wan and Huangfu Qian before.
Meng Wan shook her head hastily, but felt a little grateful to the stern-faced Fifth Prince: "You don't need to blame yourself. Anyway, I didn't really like watching operas before, so it's fine to give them space."
To be fair, Huangfu Yuren is not a bad person. Although the Empress tried her best to bring them together, he did not fawn over Huangfu Qian. Instead, he always maintained a proper demeanor with Meng Wan.
This is probably why Meng Wan did not dislike him, even though she knew the Empress's intentions.
Upon hearing this, Huangfu Yu slightly curved his lips, clearly grateful for Meng Wan's understanding. His usually icy lips showed a rare hint of a smile. Seeing this, Meng Wan also smiled slightly, and she felt even less dislike for this person.
As they walked out, a sedan chair was waiting outside the gate. Huangfu Yu personally lifted the curtain for her, and she sat down, giving him a grateful smile, but her gaze drifted to a figure in the distance.
The distance was too great, and the person was walking very fast, so it was impossible to see their face clearly. However, from their figure, it was vaguely discernible that they were men. Their red clothes were as if dyed by the setting sun, so flamboyant. The lamplight fell obliquely, and their long hair, as black as ink, was scattered on their clothes. They only tied their hair back with a brocade ribbon.
Meng Wan frowned slightly. That person looked so familiar...it seemed to be...Feng Qi?
She muttered to herself, glancing at him a couple more times, but the person had already disappeared from sight. If she wasn't mistaken, he must have entered Changyin Pavilion.
Her delicate eyebrows furrowed even more tightly.
Could she have been mistaken? That person just now should have been one of the princes, or an actor from Changyin Pavilion, not Feng Qi.
She must have misread it.
Thinking this, she felt somewhat uneasy, as if something was stirring within her. After Huangfu Yu escorted her to the Prime Minister's residence and left, she called out to the sedan chair bearers, intending to return to Changyin Pavilion. However, before she could even make a move, she heard a wail from within the Prime Minister's residence: "Master, my daughter, our Junyao—"
Meng Wan naturally stopped and walked into the courtyard. There, she saw the Second Madam wailing in the arms of Prime Minister Meng. If it weren't for Prime Minister Meng supporting her, she would have collapsed to the ground.
Her pitiful and heartbreaking appearance was so distressing that it broke one's heart. Meng Wan watched quietly, her brows furrowing slightly. "Meng Junyao, what's wrong?"
Wu'er was looking around anxiously outside. Meng Wan didn't care about anything else and grabbed her: "Wu'er, what's wrong with Second Aunt? Has something happened to Second Sister?"
These questions brought tears to Wu'er's eyes: "Replying to the eldest young lady, it was the second young lady. The carriage that was taking the second young lady encountered bandits and accidentally fell off a cliff. The second young lady, the second young lady..."
Meng Wan had thought of a thousand or ten thousand ways to kill Meng Junyao, but she never expected such an accident to happen. Seeing Wu'er's tears streaming down her face and hearing the Second Madam's wailing in her ears, her already bad mood became even heavier.
She didn't know what was wrong with her. She should have been happy, after all, she had wanted revenge for so long, and now, heaven had eyes, allowing Meng Junyao to fall off the cliff. However, when she thought of the Second Madam, Meng Wan still felt a little reluctant, after all, Meng Junyao was the Second Madam's only daughter.
He sighed, returned to the Bamboo Pavilion, sat by the window, and remained lost in thought for a long time.
--
Regardless, Meng Junyao is still a daughter of the Meng family. Even if she was kicked out, after such an incident, a burial is still inevitable.
On the same day, Prime Minister Meng sent people to search for her body at the bottom of the cliff where she fell. However, after three days, they did not find a single bone. They only heard that wild wolves often appeared in that area, and perhaps she was carried away.
It inevitably evokes another sigh of sorrow. Although no remains could be found, the cliff was so high that the chances of survival after falling were extremely low. Helplessly, they could only use the clothes that Meng Junyao wore during her lifetime to make a tomb.
The vast Prime Minister's mansion was plunged into a state of mourning. Whether it was genuine or just for show, everyone ended up wearing mourning clothes and plain attire.
Meng Wan was unwilling to do anything for Meng Junyao, but the dead were gone, and seeing how sad the Second Madam and her father were, she couldn't do anything to make them even more upset.
V11 The Scumbag's Persistent Pursuit (Part Two)
Meng Wan was unwilling to do anything for Meng Junyao, but the dead were gone, and seeing how sad the Second Madam and her father were, she couldn't do anything to make them even more upset.