It was fine if nothing was said, but as soon as Lin Wan’er’s name was mentioned, the humiliation deepened.
A pregnant bride getting married was already against societal expectations, and now it was being discussed openly—was someone really trying to shame her further?
"Oh dear, could it be that the ancestors of the Lu Family refuse to let the new bride enter the door?"
Tan’er crossed her arms and boldly stepped forward from amongst the onlookers.
Lu Luo’s expression changed: "It’s you? Why are you here? The Lu Family didn’t even send an invitation to the Governor Mansion! Absolutely shameless!"
Her gaze swept across the crowd, and she immediately spotted Meng Qianqian and Xi Que standing among them.
Xi Que was the maid of the Old Madam.
With a serious tone, Xi Que said, "The Grand Commander and Madam Lu are honored guests of the Old Madam. She has made it clear that the Governor Mansion’s guests must be treated with respect."
The Old Madam was there to back up the young couple; she would not allow anyone to bully Meng Qianqian and her prospective great-grandson-in-law.
Tan’er stuck out her tongue at Lu Luo with a smug look. "Hmph."
Lu Luo was so furious she almost passed out!
As if that wasn’t enough, the onlookers began to openly judge the bride.
"Her own mistress is the one pregnant out of wedlock, and she’s calling others shameless? Who’s the shameless one now?"
"Exactly! If you ask me, maybe it really is the ancestors of the Lu Family appearing to stop her from entering."
"Look at her belly—there’s no doubt she got pregnant before the General divorced her."
"So... doesn’t that make her a mistress?"
At this moment, the sound of drums also came to an abrupt stop.
Every word of the crowd’s discussion drilled into Lin Wan’er’s ears. She clenched the red silk in her hands tightly.
Meng Qianqian, you’re already married, why do you continue to haunt me?!
At this moment, she wished more than ever that Lu Lingxiao would step forward to defend her, just once. But at this very moment, Lu Lingxiao was staring intently at Meng Qianqian, a look of disbelief plastered across his face.
"You had me come here just to see this?"
Meng Qianqian asked Tan’er.
Meng Qianqian pressed further, "Your doing?"
Tan’er chuckled and whispered in Meng Qianqian’s ear, "I swapped the tiles. I just wanted to see if she had any martial arts skills, but it seems like she doesn’t."
The wedding concierge, seeing the bride unable to break the tile underfoot, helplessly tugged the red silk in the bride’s hands and prompted Lu Lingxiao, "Step on it!"
Lu Lingxiao finally came back to his senses, stepping forward to help Lin Wan’er crush the tile.
When he looked up again, Meng Qianqian’s figure had already vanished from the crowd.
Only Tan’er was left hopping away gleefully: "Come on, let’s go see the bride and groom bow to Heaven and Earth!"
Meng Qianqian did not stay to witness their wedding bows. To her, the Lu Family was a closed Chapter—how Lu Lingxiao lived moving forward was no longer her concern.
She cared more about Lin Wan’er than Lu Lingxiao because she needed to use Lin Wan’er to uncover the traitor among the Twelve Guards.
Elsewhere, Lu Yuan was leisurely enjoying tea in a pavilion in the front courtyard.
Qing Shuang had taken a stroll and returned, having thoroughly reveled in the chaos.
Lu Yuan asked casually, "Are the guests all here?"
He waited until everyone arrived before making an appearance, ensuring no one slipped through unnoticed.
Qing Shuang replied, "They’re all here."
Lu Yuan said indifferently, "What are they saying?"
Qing Shuang hesitated to speak.
Lu Yuan sneered, "You don’t need to say it—I can guess it’s all unpleasant talk. This bunch of people is truly tiresome. Even though I’ve left the court, they still obsess over me, deeply... passionately."
Qing Shuang’s expression turned slightly uncomfortable.
Lu Yuan set down his tea cup. "Put aside those insulting me. Who has been speaking ill of Meng Xiaojiu?"
Qing Shuang replied, "No one insulted Madam. All the criticism was aimed at you."
Meng Qianqian headed to the pavilion to look for Lu Yuan, intending to accompany him to the banquet. However, as she passed through the small garden, she caught sight of a familiar figure out of the corner of her eye.
Even though the figure wore a bamboo hat that obscured most of his face, she immediately recognized him by his posture and movements.
What was he doing at the Lu Family estate?
He had taken a seat at the pavilion at the far end of the garden with an air of ease.
The Lu estate had many pavilions, and this one in the garden was the most tranquil. Typically, there would be no refreshments placed there, but due to the large number of banquet guests today—half from the Lu Family and half from the Yao Family—the stone table had been set with tea and snacks to avoid seeming neglectful.
Chen Long reached out, picked up a piece of pastry, and was about to put it into his mouth.
Meng Qianqian quickly called out, "You can’t eat that!"
Chen Long’s eyes turned cold, and a wave of killing intent surged toward Meng Qianqian.
Clearly, he had recognized Meng Qianqian’s voice, identifying her as the person he had dueled with that night in Feng Shui Alley.
Meng Qianqian’s breath halted.
The elder brother who had once cherished her now regarded her with such unfamiliar eyes.
She really wanted to tell him that she was Little Nine.
Perhaps realizing that it was the Lu Family hosting the banquet and most of those present were affiliated with them, Chen Long retracted his gaze and continued eating the pastry.