"Third Miss... The news that you're going to marry into the Prince Yu's Mansion has spread all over the capital."
"Really?"
This was just perfect! Ling Yufei couldn't help feeling smug. Song Jinyu, when you return to the capital and receive this 'big gift', will you be overjoyed?
How dare you snatch the position of the princess from me. Song Jinyu, you're seeking death!
Ling Yufei was a woman who would stop at nothing and was especially good at bewitching people. Now that her reputation was well - known, outsiders only thought that it was Zhongli Mingye who had behaved badly back then.
When three people spread a rumor, it will be believed. Rumors like this, once repeated often enough, would be taken seriously by some.
The Ling Prime Minister and his wife had always doted on their daughter, so they just turned a blind eye. However, the royal family despised Ling Yufei's actions.
Especially He Yi, who was almost hopping mad.
How could there be someone so eager to be a concubine!
A play started in Linyuefang, which was actually a veiled reference to the current Prince Yu and his wife. The princess in the play was depicted as a jealous and hateful woman, and Song Jinyu was slandered as an ugly woman.
Rong Shuang'er, who was dining upstairs, couldn't bear it any longer when she saw this.
"Hey! Where did you get this playbook?" The head of the opera troupe looked down on this weak - looking woman. "I wrote it myself..."
Rong Shuang'er scoffed. "Tell the truth, or you'll face the law!"
"You're being so unreasonable, miss!"
Relying on the support of the Ling family, the head of the opera troupe was extremely arrogant and didn't take Rong Shuang'er seriously at all.
Although Rong Shuang'er had never interacted with Song Jinyu, from a distance, the Princess of Prince Yu was graceful and charming.
How could she be the shrewish and ugly woman in this play?
This play also caught Ming Ruyi's eye. He was quite surprised that Rong Shuang'er was standing up for Song Jinyu.
"Take them all away!"
Ming Ruyi looked down at the head of the opera troupe from above. "I don't care what your play is about. Just the fact that it refers to the royal family is enough to cost you your heads!"
"If you tell the truth, I might spare your lives!"
Only then did the head of the opera troupe realize that he had offended a powerful person.
But he stammered and couldn't say a word clearly. Ming Ruyi narrowed his phoenix eyes and waved his hand to have them taken away.
"Miss Rong, if you don't have enough power, don't meddle in other people's business!"
Rong Shuang'er was so angry that she was speechless. "... " How much did she owe Ming Ruyi? He always talked to her like this.
When Zhongli Mingye and Song Jinyu returned from the estate, the capital was full of rumors about the three of them.
The two looked at each other.
Then the emperor's decree came, which made Zhongli Mingye's face turn dark.
Song Jinyu was helpless. How deep must the feelings be to force Ling Yufei to "commit suicide" to show her determination?
She kept silent and felt a bit lost. She turned around and went back to her room, while Zhongli Mingye stared thoughtfully at her back.
No one knew what he was thinking. Qingfeng and the others were extremely angry!
Ming Ruyi brought the head of the opera troupe to the Prince Yu's Mansion. "Here... I've brought you a big gift. No need to thank me!"
"This opera troupe belongs to Linyuefang." Ming Ruyi said slowly, "And the owner of Linyuefang is the nephew of Prime Minister Ling."
Zhongli Mingye looked at him as if he were looking at a dead man. His face turned cold. "How daring!"
Ming Ruyi was happy to watch the show. He patted Zhongli Mingye on the shoulder. "Go and comfort your little wife now..."
"Beat them to death!"
The head of the opera troupe was scared to death and knelt on the ground, begging for mercy. Unexpectedly, Zhongli Mingye coldly ordered that after they were beaten to death, their bodies should be sent to the door of Prime Minister Ling's mansion.
A few days later, Linyuefang suddenly changed its owner.
And Prime Minister Ling's nephew was arrested by the Prefect of the Capital for usury. At Zhongli Mingye's instruction, he was sentenced to be executed in autumn.
Although Prime Minister Ling wanted to plead for mercy, the Prefect of the Capital was always impartial.
Madam Ling could only watch helplessly as her nephew was executed, while Ling Yufei's face turned pale. For the first time, she felt that the methods she had used three years ago were ineffective.
Now she could only rely on the emperor's decree and hoped to enter the Prince Yu's Mansion one day. Unfortunately, Zhongli Mingye and his wife were deeply in love and didn't care about her at all.
"What do you want me to do?"
Zhongli Mingye stood at the door, blocking Song Jinyu's way.
She was too lazy to talk to him. It was clearly Zhongli Mingye who had caused this mess. "Your servant... doesn't understand what the prince means... Although Miss Ling wants to be my sister."
"But... your servant thinks this is the prince's business." She looked at Zhongli Mingye in a sarcastic way, her eyes flickering.
Zhongli Mingye was dissatisfied. "Then I'll welcome her into the mansion another day?"
"Whatever!"
Humph... Song Jinyu gritted her teeth and pushed him away forcefully before going out! What was this man up to?
Not getting the answer he wanted, Zhongli Mingye was not willing to give up. He reached out and pulled her back. "Don't you care at all?"
She looked at him helplessly. Sometimes this man was really childish! "I care. Can you defy the emperor's order?"
"Besides! The emperor has spoken... Can I say no and make it effective?"
Wouldn't that just confirm the reputation of a "jealous woman"?
He looked at her seriously. "If you say no, then it really won't happen!"
"Pfft..." Song Jinyu couldn't help laughing. "Come on, don't be so willful."
"Although I don't want her to enter the mansion, since the emperor has spoken, there seems to be no room for maneuver." She felt a bit sad for no reason. Even though she knew that marrying him would inevitably involve such things.
But when it really came to this, Song Jinyu was very sad. She didn't blame Zhongli Mingye. She only blamed herself for indulging this feeling from its budding to its blooming.
Zhongli Mingye hugged her and whispered, "As long as you say no, I'll make sure she won't enter."
She looked at him in surprise. "Defy the emperor's order?"
He looked at Song Jinyu mysteriously. She was really smart when she wanted to be.
But when she was confused, it was also quite... nice! After all, he had spoiled her. He smiled and went out. Song Jinyu was very confused.
She didn't know what he was so happy about.
Rong Shuang'er couldn't fall asleep no matter how hard she tried. Her mind was full of Ming Ruyi's figure. She got up silently, wrote dozens of big characters, and then lay back in bed peacefully.
He was not a good match. He was the youngest son of the empress dowager and was deeply feared by the emperor.
While warning herself, she also remembered his teasing tone. Rong Shuang'er's face gradually turned red.
"Niaoniao... Why do the characters in these playbooks always like to steal someone else's love?"
Song Jinyu thought and thought. The situation they were facing now was just like the worn - out plot in those playbooks.
"Princess..."
"Your servant thinks the prince is really good to you..." Niaoniao looked at her seriously. "Alas..." Song Jinyu knew how good he was to her.
It was precisely because he was so good to her that she felt she didn't deserve Zhongli Mingye's deep affection.
So she thought that if she really couldn't defy the emperor's order, she would just endure it. Song Jinyu didn't know when, the principle of "one man, one woman for a lifetime" that she had always adhered to had gradually changed because of him. She was just afraid that Zhongli Mingye would be scolded by the emperor and that he would have a hard time in the court.
Husband and wife were one entity. She really regarded herself as Zhongli Mingye's wife.
So she was willing to give in, right?
That night, Song Jinyu tossed and turned in bed and couldn't fall asleep.
Zhongli Mingye hadn't come back yet. She waited until the middle of the night but didn't hear any sound from the study next door.