Chapter 75 Chapter 75 Who is behind the scenes?

Before Duan Wenpei could think carefully about what he really felt towards Nan Xu, Liu Hui came in and reported that someone had come from the palace and summoned him to come in.

Duan Wenpei and Xie Jin looked at each other and saw understanding in each other's eyes.

Duan Wenpei did not dare to delay. He changed his clothes, asked someone to harness the carriage, and left the mansion and headed straight for the imperial city.

At the same time, Nan Xu came out of the study and, with the help of Chunya and others, walked through the rain and returned to the main room. The maids lifted the curtain, and before Nan Xu could step in, an orange figure rushed out of the room and bumped into Nan Xu's skirt.

Nan Xu lifted the golden ball up with a hint of disdain. "Where have you been? Why are you covered in all this filth? It's raining so hard, if you run out and fall into a pit, I won't come looking for you!"

Although she said she was disgusted, her hands did not stop moving. She took out a handkerchief and started to wipe the dirty water off Jinqiu's body. While wiping, she stepped into the house. As she stepped over the threshold, she saw a man coming towards her panting. She looked closely and saw that it was Yuxiang who had returned after delivering the things.

Nan Xu glanced up and down, then glanced at the golden ball in her hand, and asked curiously, "What happened today? Why are you two so soaked?"

Chunya followed in and was surprised to see Yuxiang soaked all over. She wanted to pull Yuxiang downstairs to wash and change clothes. Before leaving, Nanxu stuffed the golden ball into Yuxiang's arms and asked them both to go downstairs to wash.

After a few howls, Jinqiu's fur stood on end as soon as he fell into Yuxiang's arms. He jumped into Chunya's arms, bared his teeth, raised his tail, and stared at Yuxiang fiercely.

Nan Xu looked at it thoughtfully, and then Chunya took the man and the cat away.

After Nan Xu turned two pages of the book in her hand, Chunya also walked in with the man and the cat, who were all dressed up.

Nan Xu put down the book, embraced the golden ball that jumped out of Chunya's arms, kissed it lovingly, then turned to look at Yuxiang who was silent below.

After asking a few routine questions about the delivery, Nan Xu then asked about the reason for getting caught in the rain.

"After Yu Ming fell into a coma, you took care of Jinqiu. Besides me, he was closest to you. Why did he just raise his tail towards you and bark at you? Could it be that you got all that dirty water on him?"

Jinqiu was very human. When he heard Nanxu say this, he stretched out his claws, stood up all the fur on his body, and stared at Yuxiang with a grunt.

Yuxiang rolled his eyes at it and called it a beast.

Jinqiu knew it wasn't a good thing, so he started to flutter and try to tickle her, but Nanxu held him tightly in her arms. "Tell me, what's going on?"

Everything happens for a reason. Nan Xu doesn't believe that Yuxiang would treat Jinqiu like this for no reason.

Yuxiang withdrew his gaze, looked at Nanxu cautiously, and slowly told the whole story.

According to the route, they first sent them to the Marquis' Mansion and then to the Yin's Mansion. When they came out of the Yin's Mansion, they passed by a restaurant. Several drunkards in the restaurant were drunk and were kicked out by the owner. They happened to block the carriage of the Bo's Mansion. Yuxiang and others were about to expel these people, but they heard some rumors about Li Zhan and the princess from their mouths.

"That person said that the prince consort didn't love the princess but loved a whore, that he didn't enter the royal family but a brothel, that he first betrayed his wife and then abandoned the princess. He's simply the Chen Shimei of the modern world!" Yuxiang sniffed and quietly observed Nanxu's expression. Seeing that she didn't show any unusual expression, he continued, "I was afraid I had heard it wrong, so I went to the nearest restaurants to ask around, and surprisingly, every one of them said the same thing. They even said it with such detail that they even knew the name of the courtesan that the prince consort spent so much money on: Yao Niang. Pah! I can tell it's one of those voluptuous women. I wonder what the prince consort saw in her!"

She spoke with righteous indignation, her face flushed with anger. Looking at the chapped corners of her mouth, Nan Xu soothed the golden ball in her arms and raised her hand to signal Chunya to pour Yuxiang a glass of water. "So what did the rumor say about the princess?"

Yuxiang took the teacup from Chunya, took a swig, licked her lips, and asked Chunya to pour her another cup with an unsatisfied look. "The princess's matter is related to another person, and the wife knows about this person. It's the man in the cave of the Big Buddha Temple last time. I think they said he was the fourth son of the Zhao family. The princess rescued him from the fire and arranged for him to live in the princess's mansion. They say that the princess has not forgiven her husband because of this person. Maybe the husband discovered that the princess had fallen in love with someone else, so he stayed overnight in the brothel out of spite."

Zhao Huaijue is not dead?

This thought first popped up in Nan Xu's mind, and then she felt that it was not impossible.

Although she had not met the members of the Zhao family yet, Zhao Huaijue's crazy look still left a big shadow on her, not to mention Zhao Huaian who finally chased her to the riverside on the outskirts of the city and ordered people to almost defile her, but escaped.

The impression the Zhao family gave her was that they were crazy and difficult to kill. Back then in Tianxiang Tower, even the Thunderbolt couldn't kill Duan Wenpei!

What she wondered was why Jingyi got involved. Could it be that she and Zhao Huaijue really had some hidden relationship?

Nan Xu shook her head, thinking it unlikely. Jingyi had been in the cold palace for so many years. Even if the Zhao family had a long hand, there was no need for them to get involved with a princess in the cold palace. Besides, outsiders didn't know why the princess and her husband had fallen out like this. Didn't she know? It was hard to tell how much truth there was in these rumors...

"Madam, Madam." Nan Xu was lost in thought when she was interrupted by Yuxiang's repeated calls. When she looked up, she saw Yuxiang's indignant face. "Madam, aren't you angry? Your husband actually betrayed you for someone who didn't love him at all, and even went to meet that prostitute named Yao Niang! What then is the relationship you had with him for all those years? Ah, nothing!"

As she spoke, she put the teacup in her hand on the table, and tears welled up in her eyes. She was so angry that she was standing up for Nan Xu.

Nan Xu watched her wiping her tears with her sleeves, silently handed her the handkerchief she had just changed, and patted the seat next to her for her to sit over.

"So, you were so angry that you took the golden ball out to get wet in the rain?"

Yuxiang sat down next to her, nodded without hesitation, and added, "And kicked it."

Because of the restraints on his body, Jinqiu could not do anything to Yuxiang, so he hummed softly at her a few times and buried his head in Nanxu's arms, as if to pretend that out of sight, out of mind.

Nan Xu found it funny, and knew it was feeling wronged, so she asked someone to get Yuxiang its favorite cat food as compensation. She then took Yuxiang out of her arms and slapped him twice in front of him. "Okay, Yuxiang bullied you, so I'll bully him back for you. We're even. But," Nan Xu tapped her little pink nose, "you have to be good and don't scratch Yuxiang. If I find out, I won't give you these delicious treats next time."

The amber cat's eyes rolled around, and the golden ball raised its head proudly, glanced at Yuxiang reluctantly, then rubbed Nanxu's wrist, jumped onto the cat rack beside it with a cat's step, and enjoyed its food with peace of mind.

Nan Xu knew it had agreed, so she smiled and shook her head, then turned to look at Yuxiang. "What about you? Jinqiu is just a cat. What does Li Zhan's actions have to do with it? Why are you taking your anger out on it because of Li Zhan?"

Yuxiang twisted the handkerchief in her hand in silence, clearly unconvinced. "I feel sorry for Madam." She looked at Nan Xu's calm demeanor, puzzled. "Madam, do you really not hate or resent me?"

I hate that heartless and cold-hearted man who, for the so-called glory, wealth and prosperity of his family, betrayed his wife and made her marry someone he didn't love.

Facing the confusion and anger in her eyes, Nan Xu was stunned.

No one has ever asked her whether she resents or hates Li Zhan.

Since she married Duan Wenpei, few people mentioned this person in front of her.

As time went by, those ten years of happiness and joy were gradually forgotten in a corner. Whenever she touched upon them, it only added to her sighs and a bloated bitterness.

It was not until Li Zhan blocked the sword slashed by the princess for her, and Nan Xu looked at the bloody wound and the regret in his eyes, that she suddenly understood.

What is lost will be lost, no matter how hard you try to make up for it, it will be in vain.

The person in her heart had long since disappeared with the silent flowing water on the Wind and Rain Bridge that night.

Only a few memories and a few regrets are left.

Just like the rumors just now, the first thing she thought of was the Zhao family, not whether Li Zhan had been to the brothel.

"Do you want me to hate him?" Nan Xun asked her.

Just as the word "hope" was about to come out of his mouth, Yuxiang remembered what Yuming had said before. He paused, wavering between hope and hopelessness.

Nan Xu smiled and said, "Love is followed by hate. I no longer love Li Zhan, so naturally I don't hate him."

Yuxiang was still a little confused. "But isn't your wife sad at all that your husband is going to a brothel? Those people outside say you're not even as good as a prostitute..."

"What nonsense are you talking about! Madam is now the wife of Marquis Weiyang. Why would she care whether irrelevant people go to the brothel or not?"

Chunya raised her hand and pushed her, telling her to stop talking nonsense.

Yuxiang also realized that he had made a mistake and quickly covered his mouth with his hand. He looked at Nanxu cautiously, "Madam, this servant..."

"It's nothing, you're just repeating what you heard." Nan Xu raised her hand to signal her not to explain, but she couldn't help but sneer in her heart.

I didn't expect the rumors to have spread to this extent, and those people actually made up such a story about her.

Regardless of whether the matter is true or not, no one would feel comfortable listening to such exaggeration and nonsense, which makes people become a laughing stock.

Moreover, bad words can hurt people and cause deep resentment. Many of the disturbances stirred up by verbal attacks in Kyoto City ended up causing a city-wide uproar.

The rain stopped and the wind died down, leaving behind a field of unclean bones.

I just don't know who is behind this...

"Do you know where this rumor came from?"

Speaking of this, Yuxiang's anger, which had just been suppressed, suddenly surfaced again, "Where else could it have come from? It must have come from that prostitute named Yao Niang. She was so proud of it, afraid that others would not know——"

"Tell me, where did it come from?"

Nan Xu suddenly interrupted her and her expression became serious.

Yuxiang didn't understand and repeated it again.

This time she heard it clearly, but Nan Xu's face became increasingly tense. She solemnly asked the two maids, "When my eldest sister-in-law came over, she said that my second brother was infatuated with an oiran. What was that oiran's name? Do you remember?"

Yuxiang didn't notice, but Chunya thought about it for a moment and said uncertainly, "I think it's also called Yao...Niang?"

There are only a few courtesans with the same name in the capital. Nan Xu felt as if something pinched her heart, and then it started beating non-stop.

"Go, prepare the car, and return to the Marquis' Mansion."

Chunya and Yuxiang looked at each other, stood up and were about to go out to give orders.

He had just taken a few steps when Nan Xu called him back.

Yuxiang was a little confused, but Chunya looked at Nanxu with some concern, "Madam?"

Nan Xu slowly leaned back on the couch, supported his forehead, and lowered his brows in thought.

"No, it's getting late and the rain is heavy. Let's go tomorrow."