"Miss!" Yaner hurriedly supported her and turned back to glare fiercely at Lin Yuan, "You stop spouting nonsense here! Young Master Xia and my mistress have a wonderful relationship, and it’s not something you can meddle with just a few words."
"Is that so? Well, if that’s the case, then why did Miss Su have to run all the way from the Capital city to Zhuma Town? Wouldn’t it have been better just to wait comfortably at home? Oh right, perhaps you missed him? Then why not just use a little green bird to pass messages to each other? Why bother traveling such a long distance and tire yourself out?"
Su Qiuyu’s swaying body suddenly stilled, she incredulously grabbed Lin Yuan’s hand - it was very cold, as if she had attached a layer of ice onto Lin Yuan’s hand. It seemed Su Qiuyu was truly angered by her.
"A little green bird? How do you know about that bird? Did he, Brother Zheng, use that bird to communicate with you?"
A bird, what’s so special about that? Lin Yuan wondered as she looked at her, "That little green thing, I hung it at the window."
Su Qiuyu felt truly like spitting blood. That green bird was a rare species gifted by a Foreign Country, spiritual, capable of delivering messages.
The Emperor, fond of Princess Anle, awarded it to her, and Princess Anle gave it to her youngest son. That bird had become Xia Zheng’s beloved pet, which people were forbidden to even glance at, let alone touch.
Now, this precious bird had been treated by this village girl as a common one and hung at the window; did she not fear that the village cats would snatch it away and eat it?
"You, you ignorant village girl, you, you’re simply not worthy of Brother Zheng!"
Out of frustration, Su Qiuyu pointed at Lin Yuan and used the most venomous words she ever uttered, "You wretched girl, just you wait. Even if Brother Zheng has been bewitched by you, you won’t be able to enter General Mansion! Parental orders and matchmakers’ words, the marriage arrangement is not his decision alone. You, a mere village girl, no matter how capable, could never match the General Mansion. They would never accept a daughter-in-law of your birth!"
Lin Yuan had indeed considered Su Qiuyu’s words, especially after learning about his family. Matchmaking based on equal social rank was not something that could be resolved with just a saying; differences in upbringing and experiences, habits, ways of dealing with things, all of these could become triggers for a breakup.
What troubled Lin Yuan most was their respective families. A woman marries into a family, not just to an individual. If his family didn’t accept her, what status could she claim once she married in? Did they even have a future?
Though disheartened inside, Lin Yuan didn’t show it on her face, maintaining a calm and collected expression, which made Su Qiuyu even more furiously agitated.
Just as she was about to say more, Su Qiuyu’s eyes suddenly bugged out, staring at Lin Yuan’s neck. There, Lin Yuan had just moved her collar and exposed the Jade Pendant Xia Zheng had given her.
"This, this Jade Pendant?" Su Qiuyu’s eyes widened, then she shook her head in disbelief, "No, it can’t be. You must have stolen it! Yes, you stole it! It was you who stole it!"
Lin Yuan looked at her as if she had gone mad, frowned, and without paying her any attention, stuffed the Jade Pendant back under her collar.
Seeing her not respond, Su Qiuyu grabbed her sleeve, shaking it forcefully, "Speak, did you steal it or not? Did you?"
Lin Yuan brushed off her hand with amusement and squinted her eyes as she asked, "Miss Su, do you look down on Young Master Xia’s abilities? Or perhaps you rate my abilities too highly? Do you think Young Master Xia is someone from whom anyone can just steal things at will?"