Chapter 174 My brother is devastated when his fiancée breaks off the engagement.

After Princess Nanping returned to Jinling from the Northwest, she had already attended all the banquets of the most prestigious and influential families.

Although she is not as enthusiastic about these banquets as before, she has gotten to know most of the young ladies from aristocratic families. She then whispered in Li Qingluo's ear, "The one with the round face is Cui Shiyi Niang from the Cui family."

"The woman with the oval face standing next to her is Cui Jiuniang, the one your brother is engaged to."

"She only arrived in Jinling last month. Everyone is guessing whether she was sent here to marry into your family."

Is that Cui Jiuniang?

The order of the Cui family girls is that all the girls of the eldest son's direct line are lined up in a single row without being separated into different courtyards.

However, the Cui family kept the news that Cui Jiuniang had arrived in Jinling a secret; not a single person in their entire general's mansion knew about it.

Li Qingluo couldn't help but scrutinize her.

Cui Jiuniang's appearance and figure were both of the highest quality.

If she were to marry Li Kechuan, wouldn't she be ruined?

It's like a beautiful flower stuck in cow dung; what a waste.

As Li Qingluo was sizing up Cui Jiuniang, Cui Jiuniang seemed to notice her gaze and glanced back at her indifferently.

However, after only one glance, Cui Jiuniang turned her head away again.

A deep sense of disgust flashed in her eyes, as if she loathed everyone in the Li family.

Li Qinglu thought to herself: It must be because Li Kechuan's reputation is too dirty that I have been implicated.

But what did Cui Shiyi Niang mean by saying that?

Could it be that the Cui family has finally decided to call off the engagement?

Thinking about this, Li Qingluo felt a little excited.

She had always left Li Kechuan with a sliver of hope, not completely destroying him, just in time for him to truly lose everyone's support.

Dying is too easy.

But if he is despised by everyone, his engagement is broken off by the Cui family, and he can never have a career in government again, and Li Chaojing will have other sons in the future, and he, the disabled legitimate son, will become dispensable, then living will be more painful than dying.

Liu Qingzhu was being pointed at and insulted; how could she possibly tolerate it now?

She was furious: "You've gone too far! I was just passing by, does that mean I did it because the Cui family's horse died?"

"Also, I'm jealous. What exactly am I jealous of about Cui Jiuniang?"

“I have no grudge against Cui Jiuniang, and I have never even met her. Why would I do this?”

"If you ask me, with so many women here today, everyone is a suspect. If you really want to arrest a suspect, don't just pin the blame on me!"

As Liu Qingzhu spoke, her whole body began to tremble slightly.

Her face was pale, her eyes were red with tears, and she was gently biting her lip with her pearly teeth, looking both stubborn and pitiful.

But today, all those present were women, and none of them were buying her act.

Pan Li, in particular, let out a cold laugh.

“Others may not know, but I know it very clearly! You once told me that your brother promised you that even if he marries Cui Jiuniang in the future, the most important person in his heart will only be you, his younger sister. You are very proud of this, and you have said it to me more than once.”

Liu Qingzhu immediately retorted, "You...you're lying! Cui Jiuniang, I didn't..."

She looked anxiously at Cui Jiuniang, wanting to explain, but Cui Jiuniang seemed to find even a glance at her unclean, and simply stared at Pan Li, asking, "Is what you said all true? If so, very well!"

She turned and left after she finished speaking, leaving everyone else present feeling uneasy.

"What does Cui Jiuniang mean?"

"Exactly, the horse died, and she's not going to pursue the matter?"

"Also, Cui Shiyi Niang said the marriage proposal is falling through. Does this mean the Cui family is finally going to call off the engagement?"

"If you don't break off the engagement, are you going to wait to become the eldest daughter-in-law of the Li family? Although you will be the matriarch in the future, Li Kechuan is already crippled. I heard that he went crazy for Liu Qingzhu."

"Haven't you heard the rumors about the two of them before? Anyway, it's all unclear."

"Tsk tsk, Liu Qingzhu, you're so filthy..."

"Those who come from the General's Mansion, let's all stay away from them from now on..."

Everyone unconsciously took a few steps back, and even those who didn't want to get close to Li Qingluo were reluctant to approach her.

It's as if being near her would ruin your reputation.

Nanping angrily hugged Li Qingluo even tighter.

"Don't you have any sense of right and wrong? Sister Luo'er is the most innocent person. How can you isolate Sister Luo'er because of Liu Qingzhu's disgraceful deeds..."

Li Qingluo grabbed Nanping to stop her from saying anything more.

She didn't care at all whether she would be isolated or neglected.

She didn't care how people in the world viewed her.

She came here today entirely because of Nanping.

Since Nanping didn't dislike her or distance himself from her, she felt happy.

"Why don't we first find out how this horse died?"

Li Qingluo looked at Liu Qingzhu, "Is this really none of your business? If so, then tell me, what were you planning to do when you passed by here alone?"

Liu Qingzhu hated Li Qingluo so much that she didn't want to answer her question at all.

However, everyone was staring at her, as if she would not be able to get away and clear her name if she did not explain herself clearly today.

She clenched her fists in utter humiliation: "I'm not alone. Does anyone else want to team up with me? Now you all avoid me, even that bitch Pan Li treats me like this. If I'm not alone, who else can I team up with in pairs or trips?"

"I just wanted to go over there and take a look at the horses, because I didn't bring one with me today. Princess Qinyu said she would let me pick one of the horses she brought so I could run around and have some fun!"

"What did I do wrong?!"

She cried so pitifully that some people with soft hearts actually felt sorry for her.

"If that's the case, then she has indeed been wronged..."

“No matter what, Pan Li shouldn’t have done that. They used to be best friends. Childhood confidantes, and now she’s changed her mind so easily. Does she think she’s right?”

The situation seemed to be about to reverse. Pan Li was both angry and anxious, wishing she could go up and tear apart Liu Qingzhu's face, which was all she knew how to do was cry.

Li Qinglu then said, "Why did Cui Jiuniang's horse die? I suggest we report it to the authorities!"

Upon hearing this, the women all disagreed.

They didn't want to attract the attention of the authorities, since it was just a horse.

"Maybe there's something wrong with her horse itself?"

"Yes. And we're all here trying so hard to help her find out the truth, but look at Cui Jiuniang herself, she doesn't even care. Why should we do this?"

"That's right, the Cui family has all gone into hiding. I think we should just call it a day."

Everyone was afraid of trouble, so they actually broke up.

As Liu Qingzhu wiped her red eyes and prepared to leave, Green Firefly beside her gave Li Qinglu a deep look.

Li Qinglu instantly understood.

It seems that Liu Qingzhu did indeed have a malicious intent.

Cui Jiuniang's horse might truly have nothing to do with her, but her own horse was a different story.

The crowd dispersed, and Princess Qinyu, who had been watching from a distance, kept her gaze fixed on Li Qingluo, and slowly curled the corners of her lips into a smile.

"The daughter that the Li family found is quite interesting."

"He is calm, composed, and magnanimous, with a reserved and shrewd mind. He is much smarter than that fool Liu Qingzhu."

A maidservant asked, "Doesn't His Highness value Liu Qingzhu quite a bit? Prince Yun dotes on her now, and even His Highness was asked to carry her sedan chair today."

Qin Yu snorted coldly: "Just a new favorite, how long will the novelty last?"

"Liu Qingzhu is now just a commoner's daughter from a humble family. To my fourth cousin, she's nothing more than a plaything, someone he can discard at any time."

"I'll give my fourth cousin some face and let him have a good time, what's wrong with that?"

"Moreover, if Liu Qingzhu were smart, would she have turned herself from the eldest daughter of a general's family into a concubine in the inner quarters? She's as stupid as a pig!"

The maid nodded, deeply agreeing with this statement.

Qin Yu: "It is quite unexpected that Cui Jiu Niang would appear here today."

"She must have long loathed this general's mansion, but unfortunately she was just a woman and had no say in her own marriage."

Maid: "Yes, just now I noticed that she didn't want to talk to the eldest daughter of the Li family."

Qin Yu smiled coldly: "The Cui family is a century-old family. The reason they didn't break off the engagement just because Li Kechuan broke his leg was because they were concerned about their own reputation."

"But later, scandals kept emerging from the General's Mansion, yet the Cui family remained inactive. But Cui Jiu Niang knew what a den of wolves it was, so why was she still willing to marry into it?"

"Moreover, as far as I know, she secretly left Fujian and endured a lot of hardship along the way with her servants and attendants before finally arriving in Nanjing."

"She came because she wanted to break off the engagement with the Li family."

The maid asked curiously, "Would the Cui family agree?"

The head of the Cui family, the second master, and some talented descendants all hold official positions in the imperial court. Although the Li family has had many scandals, nothing has yet happened that is so serious that the Cui family cannot tolerate it and is willing to betray their reputation.

Therefore, the Cui family must have disagreed for Cui Jiu Niang to come to Jinling on her own.

She wanted to persuade the head of the Cui family to make the decision for her.

Whether it will succeed or not depends on her abilities.

"With the wedding date fast approaching, there are only a little over three months left... let's see how she manages to pull it off."

"If she can really accomplish this, then I really admire Cui Jiuniang quite a bit."

At that time, bringing Cui Jiuniang under my command might be of great help.

The two Cui sisters did not come out when they were eating roasted whole lamb.

Princess Qinyu had her servants deliver a leg of lamb, along with hot milk and some hot food directly into their tents.

When it was finally brought out, they ate it all up.

However, because of this incident, everyone's enthusiasm for playing was not very high.

After the meal, the girls from each family prepared to go home.

After all, it was in the suburbs, and the return journey was not short. The roads were also slippery due to the melting snow. So, although Nanping felt a little disappointed, he still had the soldiers escort everyone out safely.

Each family brought their own servants and maids, and after they were all ready, they set off in grand processions.

Li Qinglu deliberately lagged behind, and as she boarded the carriage, she suddenly turned to look at Nanping.

"Your Highness, would you mind riding in the same carriage?"

Nanping was naturally overjoyed, and the two of them held hands and got into the princess's carriage together.

When Liu Qingzhu saw this, she was so angry that she almost shook the wooden frame of the carriage apart.

However, she immediately let out a cold laugh: "It doesn't matter. So what if you hide in the princess's carriage? Let's see if the princess will forgive you if you implicate Princess Nanping today!"

She had personally experienced the Princess's methods and knew they were no pleasant experience.