Xiao Yunrou nodded and agreed, "It's good to know some dietary supplements, Miss Xie. If you don't mind, I would like to ask you for a recipe for medicinal food. You know that children don't like to drink bitter medicine the most."

Xie Qi naturally agreed, and Xiao Yunrou thanked him again.

After the meal started, Xiao Yunrou and Mrs. Xue sat at the same table. Looking at the fatigue and sadness on Mrs. Xue's face, Xiao Yunrou muttered, "Could it be that Xue Lin is seriously ill?"

"Mrs. Xue, is Miss Xue feeling better?"

Mrs. Xue was startled, then smiled and said, "It's rare for an illness to happen, but it's really serious. I need to recuperate for a while."

Xiao Yunrou nodded slightly. Wouldn’t it be serious if someone who doesn’t get sick often gets sick?

"During the Chinese New Year, I got a 100-year-old ginseng. I asked Qingci to deliver it to Miss Xue when I got back home. It's a token of my appreciation. Miss Xue is very lively and should recover soon. I'm not used to seeing her for a while now."

Mrs. Xue did not refuse and accepted it with a smile. However, Xiao Yunrou felt that Mrs. Xue seemed to have some unspeakable secrets. However, her relationship with the Xue family was not close, so it was enough for her to send some token of her appreciation. She should not ask about other matters.

The banquets held by the Ningguo Mansion have always been the best in the capital. Those who come to the banquet are all officials of the third rank or above in the court. Of course, this year's new recruits are hot talents, so they are also invited. Xiao Yunrou ate some dishes at the banquet and waited for the noon banquet to end. The female family members were all taken to the stage in the garden to enjoy the flowers and listen to the opera.

The wife of the Duke of Ning loved to listen to operas, and the new songs in the opera troupe were reserved by the Duke of Ning's mansion for the first time. For today's banquet, the opera troupe arranged two new plays, and even Xiao Yunrou, who had no interest in opera, listened to them with gusto.

"The play performed by the Duke's wife is really good. I have never heard it anywhere else. Next time you arrange a new play, please give me a copy in advance."

Xiao Yunrou smiled brightly, and Lady Ningguo also smiled and said, "It's not that I'm worried that you young people can't sit still. My dear mother-in-law, you don't go out often. Next time there's a play, you and your wife can come over and we can have some fun together."

Shen followed suit and laughed without objecting. Xiao Yunrou knew that Shen had some unpleasant experiences with Lady Ning in the past, but it had been so long that she couldn't remember clearly. With such a step today, she would naturally step on it.

"When the time comes, you will go with mother and sister-in-law to watch opera. I can't sit still, so I have to drag Rou'er to accompany me to the study to appreciate paintings."

Lady Ningguo glared at Pei Wanyue, who smiled and instructed the maids to add more tea.

Halfway through the opera, a maid from the Duke's Mansion came running over and whispered something in the Crown Prince's wife's ear. The Crown Prince's wife's face changed drastically, and she informed the Duke Ning's wife and left in a hurry. Everyone was watching what was going on, and there was a burst of whispers.

The wife of Duke Ning also did not look very happy, and she snorted coldly at the sight of those ladies who could not help but get ready to make a move. Upon hearing this, those ladies immediately stopped muttering, and just looked at the direction where the Crown Prince's wife left, wishing they could grow wings and fly over to see what was going on.

Not long after, a maid in green clothes came in with a tearful face and whispered a few words in the ear of the wife of Duke Yue. Her face turned as dark as coal in an instant, and before she could say a word, the person behind her interrupted her.

"Madam, the second young lady had a few too many drinks just now and went to the backyard of the Duke's Mansion to rest. But for some reason, many young masters went to the pond and said that the second young lady had secretly given and received something from someone and was caught red-handed. But the second young lady was in her room all the time and it was only when I heard it that I hurriedly woke her up. Now the second young lady went to the pond and said that she wanted to prove her innocence and see who wanted to slander her so viciously."

Xiao Yunrou saw that the person who was talking was actually Hongluan, Xiao Yunya's personal maid. Xiao Yunrou turned around abruptly and saw that Xiao Yunya was not there. She also saw Su's anxious look not far away and became anxious as well.

The wife of the Duke of Yue was not bothered by Hongluan, she pushed the maid aside and walked out without even saying hello to the wife of the Duke of Ning. Now the wives' minds became active, and the wife of the Duke of Ning knew that if this matter was not handled well today, the Duke of Ning's mansion would be constantly inquired about and lose its dignity.

"Today's excitement is one after another. It concerns the reputation of my daughter's family. Ladies, please come with me to take a look."

Although the wife of the people was suppressing herself, she could not fake her excitement. Although the wife of Ningguo Mansion was very unhappy, she still led people to the edge of the pond that Hongluan mentioned. Xiao Yunya was standing there with a pale face and a very cold expression. Xiao Yunrou and Su immediately stepped forward to protect Xiao Yunya behind them and looked at the crowd in front of them.

Because of the arrival of the wife of the Duke of Ning, the crowd made way for them. A man and a woman were lying on the ground. They were only wearing middle clothes. The woman's figure was similar to Xiao Yunya's. The scattered clothes on the ground were also somewhat similar to Xiao Yunya's dress today, but if you look closely, they are very different. However, the woman's clothes were disheveled, her bellyband was vaguely visible, and there were purple marks on her skin. There were scratches like nails on the man's neck, and his belt was not even tied. At a glance, it was clear who was making love by the pond just now.

"Assholes! How dare you do such a dirty thing in my Duke's Mansion!" Lady Ningguo Duke originally thought that they were just caught two young men secretly meeting to exchange some gifts, but she didn't expect it to be such a situation.

"Madam Yue, is this the tutor of your Yue Mansion? He is having sex in broad daylight in the territory of my Ning Mansion?"

Lady Ning sneered and directed her anger at Lady Yue who was covering her daughter's body. Lady Yue was naturally furious, but now she had no choice but to hold back her anger and smooth over the matter.

Mu Yuying soon woke up in the noise. She opened her misty eyes and looked around. When she came to her senses, she realized her current situation and couldn't help but scream.

"You idiot! You still have the nerve to yell!"

Lady Yue was furious, Lady Ning didn't want to see the mother and daughter's pretense, so she called a maid over. "Take Miss Mu to the guest room to change clothes. No matter what the result is, you have to dress decently when you leave the Ning Mansion."

Lady Ning's words were very impolite. Lady Yue was angry, but she didn't dare to protect her daughter. She hurriedly took Mu Yuying to the chamber to change clothes. The man lying on the ground looked very unfamiliar. Lady Ning looked at him for a long time but couldn't remember whose son he was.

"Whose is this?"

The man had already packed his clothes without telling the women, but the look on his face showed that he had been having sex, which made many of the unmarried ladies blush and turn their heads away.

"My dear Madam, I am Li Jue, the second-class candidate this year. I am currently working as a seventh-rank clerk in the Imperial Guard."

Li Jue spoke nervously, and when he looked up, he glanced at the people present. When he saw Xiao Yunya, he was shocked, but it was quickly covered up. Xiao Yunrou did not miss Li Jue's expression. She narrowed her eyes, and her eyes were full of sternness.

"Ya'er, do you know what happened?"

Xiao Yunrou asked in a low voice. Xiao Yunya shook her head, with a look of injustice and grievance on her face.

"I don't know either. I just drank a few more cups playing flying flower with them at the banquet. I felt dizzy after sitting on the stage for a quarter of an hour, so I asked someone to take me to the room to rest. It was not until Hongluan called me up that I knew that someone had spread the rumor that I had done something shameless with someone in this pond. I would not let the rumor spread, so I brought Hongluan here and pulled the person out in front of everyone. Mother, sister, although my marriage was rejected, I would never do such a shameless act. I don't know who I offended, but I was accused of being shameless and committing adultery in broad daylight just because I was wearing similar clothes."

Xiao Yunya bit her lip. The more Mrs. Su listened, the more distressed she felt for her little daughter. Xiao Yunrou was also very angry. But she knew that the backyard was the place with the most intrigues. She guessed that maybe Xiao Yunya was supposed to be the one being plotted today, but she didn't know how it became Mu Yuying. From Li Jue's eyes just now, Xiao Yunrou was sure that Li Jue must be an insider, and maybe even the mastermind.

"Miss Xiao was wronged. It was my Ningguo Mansion that did not treat guests well. These two people were caught in the act. It has nothing to do with Miss Xiao. Madam Xiao, please rest assured that I will give her justice."

Lady Ningguo had been in the rear palace for many years, and she felt that this matter was not simple when she heard it. She looked at Li Jue coldly, saying that he was handsome, but unfortunately he had a dirty heart.

"This pond is in the backyard. How did you get here? You actually did something so shameless!"

Lady Ningguo cast her sharp eyes straight at Li Jue who was kneeling on the ground. Li Jue felt a faint sweat on his forehead. He secretly clenched his fists and replied in a trembling voice:

"I don't know. I drank a few glasses of wine at noon. I vaguely remember that someone helped me to the room, but I don't remember what happened afterwards."

After Li Jue finished speaking, some of his fellow scholars echoed him. "Indeed, Brother Li was forced to drink a lot of wine by us at noon, and a servant helped him down."

Upon hearing this, Lady Ningguo turned around and looked at the people who were talking, "Do you remember what that servant looked like?"

Those people looked at each other, and finally shook their heads to indicate that they only remembered drinking and reciting poetry together at that time, and did not pay attention to the appearance of the servant.

Lady Ningguo looked at the unguarded Moon Gate, and her face became even worse. Because today was a flower viewing banquet, Ningguo asked the servant to move his collection of Eighteen Arhats and other famous flowers to the front yard for viewing. As a result, the guards of the Moon Gate connecting the front and back yards were relaxed. Who would have thought that someone would take advantage of the loophole!

After a while, Mu Yuying had put on her clothes and tied her hair up again, but the makeup on her face was gone, and her face looked even darker and paler. Her eyes were full of hatred as she looked at Li Jue.