Therefore, Xie Rutao's initiative to talk to Shi Mingyue seemed to them to be free fun. However, they still didn't dare to stare at the two of them blatantly. Instead, they stretched their necks and pricked up their ears, for fear of missing out on important information.
Shi Mingyue noticed the special attention people around them were paying them. She acted calmly and replied, "Lingjing is suddenly feeling unwell, so we won't be enjoying the flowers."
Xie Rutao sighed, "What a pity."
"Miss Xie, if you have nothing else to do, then I will go back with Ling Jing. Goodbye." Shi Mingyue said and was about to leave.
But Xie Rutao tried to stop them, saying, "Wait a minute. I just saw Doctor Liang coming. Why don't you let him take a look at Miss Lu?"
Shi Mingyue looked at Xie Rutao calmly, wondering what she wanted to do.
Lu Lingjing said, "No, I just feel a little unwell, there's no need to bother the imperial physician."
Xie Rutao was sharp-eyed and saw Doctor Liang, so she asked her maid to call Doctor Liang over.
"Doctor Liang is here. It wouldn't hurt to let him take a look." Xie Rutao said with concern.
Doctor Liang was summoned. He had only recently joined the Imperial Hospital, so he was young and handsome. After hearing Xie Rutao's words, he apologized to Lu Lingjing and examined her pulse through her handkerchief. "The young lady is fine, but she's been feeling depressed lately, and she's been feeling a bit listless."
Lu Lingjing nodded, and Doctor Liang looked worried: "Miss, you should take care of yourself and pay attention to your emotions."
After the illness was examined, Shi Mingyue thought that she should be able to leave this time, so she thanked Doctor Liang and Xie Rutao, turned around and wanted to take Lu Lingjing away.
"I heard that Master Junhe from Ningguo Temple will be giving a lecture soon. Princess and Miss Lu might as well stay and listen to it before leaving. Master Junhe has profound knowledge of Buddhism. Perhaps after listening to it, Miss Lu will no longer feel depressed." Xie Rutao suddenly said again.
Shi Mingyue paused, a dark thought flashing through her mind. Had Xie Rutao just overheard their conversation? Otherwise, why would she be so enthusiastic about asking them to stay and listen to He Jun's lecture?
"No, we'll go back now." Shi Mingyue couldn't smile at Xie Rutao at this moment. If Xie Rutao was upset because Fu Yueli didn't marry her, then the person most responsible was the emperor, not her. After all, it was the emperor who proposed the marriage, and it would be unreasonable for him to blame her if he withdrew it.
Xie Rutao sighed, "What a shame! Missing Master Jun He's lecture is such a pity."
Shi Mingyue pulled Lu Lingjing along, and they walked out of Dongli Garden without stopping. For the next few days, she had people keep an eye on Xie Rutao. She wasn't sure if she'd overheard her conversation with Lu Lingjing that day, but if Xie Rutao dared to say anything, she wouldn't admit it.
But she never expected that a rumor would suddenly spread throughout the city. It had nothing to do with Lu Lingjing, but rather with her. More specifically, it was about her and Qin Zheng. A letter she had written to Qin Zheng had been circulating, and people were describing their relationship in a very unpleasant light.
The first thing Shi Mingyue did was to call Hongyin, "Where's the letter I asked you to burn? Did you burn it?"
After Hongyin learned about the incident, she tried to recall the day when Master Mingyue asked her to burn the letter. "I did burn it. I put the letter in the box and burned it together. I clearly saw the box on fire, but suddenly someone called me and I left, thinking that once it burned, it would be over."
Shi Mingyue remained silent. It seemed that someone had put out the fire and taken out the letter from the box after Hongyin left.
She could only think of one person, only one person who would deliberately leave those letters, let them circulate in the market, and create those rumors.
It's the emperor, only him.
A servant from the mansion heard about this and immediately told her when he returned. Fu Yueli was away from home, having gone to the Ministry of Rites. Shi Mingyue wasn't afraid of him finding out; she had indeed written the letter, as she and Qin Zheng were childhood sweethearts at the time. Her letter wasn't explicit, even quite reserved, but anyone could tell it was a letter from a young girl to her lover.
She didn't want to care about the rumors. Rumors were just rumors. Right now, there was nothing between her and Qin Zheng. She was upright and she wasn't afraid.
When Fu Yueli came back that night, he seemed not to have heard about this incident. His words and actions were normal. After all, who would dare to gossip in front of him?
When it was time to go to bed, Shi Mingyue told him about this. Fu Yueli really didn't care about her writing a letter to Qin Zheng. She just frowned and said, "There are people with dirty hands in the mansion."
Shi Mingyue guessed that he would definitely suspect Fu Baiheng, but Fu Baiheng would not use such means to make things difficult for him, and Fu Yueli knew this clearly.
"No matter who spread it, don't pursue it anymore. It's just a rumor after all. Since it's not true, why bother with it?" said Shi Mingyue.
Fu Yueli sighed, holding Shi Mingyue's shoulders and said, "That being said, it will damage your reputation." This was what he felt sad about.
Shi Mingyue smiled faintly, "Reputation is an objective and fair evaluation of oneself by others. I don't care whether others praise me or belittle me. I only care about you and the people I care about."
Fu Yueli looked at her deeply, then hugged her tightly, "Me too."
Early the next morning, the Shi couple came to the house and asked Shi Mingyue whether the rumors were true.
"Really." Shi Mingyue admitted.
"But that's what Qin Zheng spread?"
"No." Shi Mingyue told her parents what happened.
After the two learned about it, they asked many questions. Shi Mingyue just said that she didn't care and sent the two elders away. She was still upset. She was not upset about the letter, but what would it take for the emperor to give up on her?
Inside Baoyun Building on East Street, tables of people ate and discussed recent events. The most intriguing topic was, of course, the imperial secrets. Their discussion was intense, and Qin Zheng, sitting alone at a nearby table, listened to every word they said.
The letter couldn't have been leaked by Shi Mingyue, so it must have been someone else. Qin Zheng called the waiter to pay the bill, then left Baoyun Tower without looking back.
The rumors finally died down after a while, and Qin Zheng tracked down a young eunuch in the imperial city. He discovered that this young eunuch had been leaving the palace frequently recently, carrying a lot of silver with him, and the place he went most often was Yicui Tower in the capital.
A eunuch going to Yicui Tower is simply a joke. Since he is castrated, he has no power to go there. After Qin Zheng followed the eunuch to Yicui Tower, he found out that the person he was looking for was the famous courtesan Zanxing. So was he just looking for Zanxing to chat?
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