By the time the shopkeeper returned, the boutique had turned into a tea party with the entire hall buzzing with discussion.

Most of the people present were young girls, whose families were either officials or wealthy. They were particularly concerned about gossip in the capital and issues such as the marriage of the crown prince and princes.

"I thought the Crown Prince would definitely choose the Prime Minister's daughter, who is the most beautiful woman in the capital. That young lady has almost become an old woman in order to marry the Crown Prince. Although I don't like her very much, I still feel sorry for her."

"Yes, in the whole capital, the daughter of the prime minister is considered the most noble lady in terms of appearance and family background. But I didn't expect that after waiting for the prince for so many years, the prince would get so close to an unknown peasant girl. It's really unbelievable."

"Over the years, perhaps only the missing young lady's status could be compared to hers. The missing daughter of the prime minister's family had almost decided to be the crown princess, but she didn't expect Cheng Yaojin to show up halfway. Oh, I really want to see her expression at this moment, it must be very beautiful."

…

The shopkeeper looked at Su Zhiruan worriedly, "Ruanruan, I'll have someone evacuate them. There's been a lot of gossip lately. Don't take it to heart. After a while, they will be cleared up."

"No problem, let's listen again," Su Zhiruan didn't care much. She was more interested in the so-called "missing young lady" in these people's mouths, so she asked casually, "Who is the missing young lady they are talking about? Her status can actually compete with the daughter of the prime minister's mansion."

The shopkeeper scratched his head and said that he didn't know much either. However, Erya, who had been in the capital for a long time, spoke up and said in a low voice, "I heard my husband say it before, and then I was curious, so I asked further."

Su Zhiruan nodded, "Then what?"

"The highest rank among civil officials is the prime minister, while the highest rank among military officials is the general who guards the country. The civil and military positions in our dynasty are equal," Arya first explained the situation in the court to her, and then continued, "The prime minister has a daughter of the prime minister, and the general had a young lady who was raised in the palm of his hand. The two elder brothers, who are the young generals, love and pamper the young lady. Her status is comparable to that of the prime minister's daughter."

Su Zhiruan listened to it as a story, and occasionally listened to the comments of these girls on her as a peasant girl, which she found quite interesting.

"Then what happened? Why did she disappear?" The shopkeeper was listening carefully, not even relaxing for a moment. He held an account book in his hand and continued to ask, "Did someone frame her? Or was it because the daughter of the prime minister's mansion couldn't stand seeing someone of similar status to her?"

"Of course not," Erya rolled her eyes at him, "It is said that the young general of the general's mansion, that is, the eldest son, took the young lady out to visit the lantern festival, and then they got separated. As for the prime minister's daughter framing you mentioned, the two children were about the same age at the time. My husband said that if the young lady of the general's mansion was still alive, she should be in her twenties now. Oh, that's her age."

After saying that, Erya pointed at Su Zhiruan.

Su Zhiruan didn't care at all. The general's eldest daughter and the prime minister's daughter had nothing to do with her.

The girls gathered together and felt sorry for the Crown Prince. One of them suddenly said with emotion, "Alas, if the General's daughter was still alive, maybe we could guess who would get the position of Crown Princess between her and the Prime Minister's daughter."

"Alas, both of them have red birthmarks on their arms, but why are their fates so different? Alas..."

"What red birthmark?"

"Don't you know?" The girl who had just spoken raised her head in surprise. After looking around, she said mysteriously, "It is said that when the eldest daughter of the general's mansion was missing, even the emperor was alarmed and sent many people to search the capital for the woman with the red birthmark on her arm. But no one knew what the specific shape was, and many women were not recognized after they went there."

…

The crowd was noisy, and the girls showed their snow-white arms one after another, as if they wanted to compare, but this was just a casual remark and no one took it seriously.

At this moment, Su Zhiruan felt like he was struck by lightning.

"Ruan Ruan... Ruan Ruan, what's wrong with you?" Erya and the shopkeeper looked at her worriedly.

Su Zhiruan: “…”

Are there really such coincidences in this world?

She silently rolled up her sleeves, revealing the red cloud birthmark on her arm.

“Ah???” Erya was stunned.

The shopkeeper opened his mouth wide, his face full of disbelief.

The entire boutique was bustling with noise, but only Su Zhi, Ruan and the other two present were completely dumbfounded.

Erya originally thought that she was just telling a story for Su Zhiruan's entertainment, but she never dreamed that the person in the story might be Su Zhiruan!

"Twenty years old, an orphan, you were just over three years old when I first saw you, and the birthmark on your arm--" the shopkeeper muttered over and over again, and even his pupils grew bigger.

When Su Zhiruan came to this world, she saw a red birthmark on her arm, but the mark was not dark in color and it was on her arm. For a woman who has been dealing with Chinese herbal medicine for many years and lives in the countryside, some scars are normal. She didn't even doubt it. But when she suddenly learned the news today, even she found it a little unbelievable.

"Please keep it a secret for me," she lowered her sleeves to cover the birthmark, and said to Arya and the shopkeeper, "It may not be me. The capital city and Sujia Village are thousands of miles apart. Maybe it was just a coincidence."

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"Of course we are all a family in Sujia Village who have been through thick and thin together. We can't just spread the news out because of this." The shopkeeper naturally knew this. Su Zhiruan was now the backbone of Sujia Village. In the eyes of outsiders, she was even the head of the Su family. No one would think that their life was too comfortable and take the initiative to stir up trouble.

Erya also nodded. She said simply, "Don't worry."

"Then I'll take my leave first. If you have anything, you can come to my house to find me." Su Zhiruan took the things from the shopkeeper. These included the account books of the boutique in recent times, as well as the situation of their secret forces.

"good."

After the three of them said goodbye, Su Zhiruan walked out of the main gate. The girls who were chatting did not realize that she was the protagonist of the rumored story in the capital. After she walked out, she got on the carriage.

"Miss, where are we going now?" The coachman put away the stool, lifted the reins and asked Su Zhiruan in a low voice.

"Let's go to the jewelry shop in the west of the city." Su Zhiruan opened the account books and documents in the carriage and read through them quickly. She added, "Stop at Su's Pawnshop when passing by."

"Yes, miss!" the driver drove away.

The owner of the pawnshop was also a villager of Sujia Village. Su Zhiruan read all the account books and other documents in the carriage, then got off and handed them to the owner of the pawnshop.

Afterwards, the driver drove to the jewelry shop in the west of the city.