"The Duchess's affair?"
"No wonder the Emperor's brother-in-law didn't come home at night..."
A crowd of onlookers gathered outside the gate, whispering and discussing amongst themselves.
The Duchess was restless, her usual dignified demeanor gone. She lowered her head, feeling utterly ashamed, and could only gamble that Chen Yu cared about Liu Yu and would do everything in her power to protect the reputation of the Duke's mansion.
Shen Yu didn't want the Duke's mansion to ruin its reputation, so she glared at Ma Wen and loudly retorted to Bai Yehua, "Who witnessed the shameful act? Yanran and I left temporarily to get my elder brother's birth date and time. The Duchess asked Master Yideng to divine the birth dates and times of my elder brother and Miss Yanran."
Can you divine the birth charts of Gu Dalang and Yanran?
Yanran was surprised, but thinking that she could exonerate the Duchess, she nodded in agreement, "Yes, Yanran is not young anymore. My mother wanted to find a marriage for Yanran, but she was afraid of being seen by acquaintances, so she came to this secluded courtyard to ask Master Yideng to tell Yanran's fortune."
Bai Yehua nodded repeatedly, but his face was gloomy. He stretched out his palm towards Chen Yu and questioned sharply, "Fine, since it's about divination of birth charts, whose birth charts are you divining for Miss Yanran? Where are the birth charts? You can't just make things up without proof, can you?"
Shen Yu was secretly delighted. Fortunately, Madam Gu had given her Gu Dalang's birth date and time. She calmly took out the slip of paper, raised her eyebrows, and handed it to Bai Yehua with a confident air.
Bai Yehua took a look and realized it really was Gu Dalang's birth date and time. Oh no, Shen Yu had ruined the Crown Prince's grand plan.
He was furious. He crumpled the note into a ball and crushed it into pieces. Still seething with anger, he shouted at Chen Yu, "Little Yu, stop being so stubborn! I could forgive you for using Liu Yu to annoy me before, but how can you act so recklessly in this kind of situation!"
"What kind of thing?"
Faced with Chen Yu's persistent questioning, Bai Yehua was speechless. Someone informed the Crown Prince that Liu Yu had secretly sided with Prince Yan. In order to suppress Prince Yan's faction, the Crown Prince dared not expose the Imperial Uncle's peculiar habits, and could only use the Duchess's scandal to bring down the Duke's mansion.
In order to confirm the Duchess's scandalous affair, Bai Yehua could only do his best to expose Shen Yu's lies. "Xiao Yu grew up in the Gu family, so she naturally knows the eldest son's birth date and time. I'm afraid this note was written by you in advance to cover up your affair."
Shen Yu pursed her lips and nodded repeatedly. Looking at the scraps of paper scattered on the ground, she laughed out loud. "Heh! Young Master Bai must have recognized that it was my elder brother's handwriting, so he destroyed it and then said that I wrote it. In fact, that note was given to Shen Yu by Madam Gu herself. Young Master Bai can confront Madam Gu and then he will know whether Shen Yu is lying."
------
Noon.
Madam Gu beamed with joy as she led the Duchess out of the temple, chattering incessantly about how wonderful Gu Dalang was.
Although the Duchess wore a smile, she was filled with lingering fear. If it weren't for Madam Gu giving Chen Yu the note, Bai Yehua would probably have already kidnapped Yideng.
Yideng divined the horoscopes of Yanran and Gu Dalang and concluded that it was a good match. He then verbally agreed to the marriage with Madam Gu. Looking back, he saw Chenyu and the two Gu family girls walking side by side, but where was Yanran?
"Shenyu, where did Yanran go?"
Chen Yu looked at Gu Xiaoliu.
Gu Xiaoliu replied, "Just now, Miss Yanran said she was tired and went back to her sedan chair to rest."
"girl."
Cuiwei and Cuizhu hurried over, supporting Chenyu on either side. "Miss, Madam has sent a carriage to take you back."
“Miss, just now Miss Yanran entered our Mu family’s sedan chair, saying she had important business with you.”
As the group walked to the roadside, they saw Bai Yehua rushing towards the Mu family's carriage and leaping into it.
A moment later, a woman screamed from inside the sedan chair, "Ah..." Everyone rushed over.
Then, Bai Yehua emerged with scratches all over his face, hurriedly got off the carriage, and stood beside it with his head down.
Inside the sedan chair, Yanran was terrified. She clutched her clothes and burst into tears, crying, "Indecent assault! Someone, come quick!"
The already uneasy Duchess was now even more panicked. What should she do? She had originally planned to marry Yanran to the Gu family, but now that Bai Yehua had assaulted her, would the Gu family still want Yanran?
Madam Gu was dumbfounded and furious. She had finally found a girl from a prestigious family for her eldest son, Gu Dalang, but how could she have been molested by Bai Yehua? If she were to force herself to marry Yanran, wouldn't she be laughed at by the world?
This happened on the Mu family's carriage, so Shen Yu naturally went forward to ask what was going on. Seeing that Bai Yehua's face had been scratched by Yanran, she couldn't help but laugh and quickly covered her mouth with a handkerchief.
"Ahem..." She cleared her throat, her smile softening, and asked softly, "How did Young Master Bai end up in my Mu family's carriage? Did we all see it?"
"I……"
Bai Yehua hesitated, unable to speak, for he had a lot of unspeakable suffering!
Recently, Shen Yu has been in frequent contact with Liu Yu, so he secretly sent Ma Wen to monitor the Duke's mansion's every move.
Not only did they discover that the emperor's brother-in-law was secretly keeping male lovers, but they also discovered that the duchess was having an affair with Yideng.
When the Crown Prince learned of this, he ordered him to expose the Duchess's affair.
Little did they know, the plan was ruined by Chen Yu.
Just now, Ma Wu reported that the Emperor ordered him to lead troops to the northern frontier tonight.
He thought he wouldn't be back for at least a year or two, so he wanted to say goodbye to Chenyu in person and have some heartfelt words to win her back.
He climbed into the Mu family's sedan chair and saw that Chen Yu was asleep with her cloak covering her face. He thought of pulling Chen Yu into his arms, but as soon as he touched the cloak, he was scratched by ten fingers.
It wasn't until he stepped out of the sedan chair that he realized the person inside was Yanran.
He, who had intended to offend Chen Yu, blushed and didn't know how to explain himself.
At this moment, Yanran lifted the curtain and, supported by Cuiwei and Cuizhu, stepped down from the carriage. She embraced the Duchess and wept bitterly, "Mother, please do justice for Yanran! Bai Yehua put his hand inside Yanran's... Waaah..."
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