Indeed, the next morning, the streets and alleys of Qianyuan County, including the breakfast stalls, were abuzz with a fresh piece of news.

That's Cao Tingting, the second young lady of the Cao family. She was originally supposed to be betrothed to the sixth prince of Great Qi.

But the engagement banquet had only just begun, and before either of them could exchange tokens of affection, Prince Yun suddenly canceled the engagement and left Qing'an County overnight.

>

The guests who came to celebrate also left yesterday and this morning, now everyone on the street is discussing what went wrong, how could such a good engagement party be canceled halfway through?

Some say that there was a sudden outbreak of war in the South, and the King of Yun received an imperial edict from the Emperor. He left immediately for the South that night.

In the teahouse, the people at the table behind Yang Ruqing and Luo Fengtang whispered.

The other person at the table quickly denied, "No, no, it's not true. I heard that in recent years, the south has been very peaceful under the command of General Luo and General Ning."

“I heard it was because King Yun discovered that the second Miss Cao walked with a limp, so he changed his mind at the last minute.”

"What you're saying is ridiculous. Firstly, Miss Cao from the Cao family wasn't lame to begin with. Even if she were, wouldn't the royal family have found out during their investigations before the betrothal? Why would they wait until the engagement banquet?"

"Then what do you say, why would the Cloud King cancel at the last minute?" the speaker asked unconvincingly.

I heard that Miss Cao, the second daughter, is a stone woman...

"No, it was a pockmarked face. King Yun ran away..."

"This is really like a hundred people, a hundred versions. I don't even know who to listen to anymore. Hahaha..." Yang Ruqing turned her head and whispered with a smile to Luo Fengtang sitting beside her.

Luo Fengtang also smiled.

"Wherever you go, there will always be people who gossip." he said.

“Who cares about the versions, anyway? The Cao family has lost all face this time, and with an unstable marriage, it's also detrimental to their future development.” He analyzed.

Yang Ruqing said, “Of course. Although the Cao family is a renowned and influential clan, in recent years, few of their younger generations have excelled in a particular field.”

“They’re all just as mediocre as Young Master Cao, or else they're like Third Young Master Cao—those idle young masters who have been spoiled rotten and are good for nothing.” she said.

>

"Therefore, they desperately needed to climb onto a sturdy, thick tree trunk to preserve their family's honor."

"Marrying into a good family was the best way to go, but unfortunately, Zhou Xia came along halfway and messed things up." she said.

The two of them returned to their inn, Tianxianglou, after a satisfying meal. Tianxianglou could continue operating the next day, even though Yang Huazhou, the manager, was absent. Over time, the restaurant had established its own operational model.

Even if the shopkeeper leaves for a short time, it's no problem, as the other managers in the tavern each do their own jobs.

"Darling, I want to have a good sleep tonight. I'll go home tomorrow. Anyway, everything here is done."

>

After breakfast, Yang Ruqing walked back, holding onto Luofeng Tang's arm and discussing something.

Luofeng Tang said, “Okay, I’d like to go back early too.”

Zhou Xia came at this moment, which surprised both Yang Ruqing and Luo Fengtang.

“All one hundred taels of silver are with Old Niu. If you need money, go ask Old Niu. Don’t bother me here.” Yang Ruqing dropped her face directly and said without good temper.

Zhou Xia, however, looked quite happy and showed no anger towards Yang Ruoqing. Instead, she smiled and sat down at the table herself.

Then he nonchalantly picked up the teapot on the table and poured himself a cup of tea. He took a sip, his excitement bubbling over as he said, "I put on quite a show last night. It's a shame you two didn't come to see it. It was truly spectacular!"

Upon hearing this, Yang Ruohua and Luofeng Tang exchanged a glance.

Then, Luofeng Tang said, "Did you really go to Cao's residence last night?"

Zhou Xia glanced at Luo Fengtang and said, "Cousin, you're being naive. I said I'd go, so I will definitely go. Do you think I'm joking?"

"Then how did you get in? Cao's residence was heavily guarded last night..."

Even if he and Qing'er wanted to go in for a stroll, it would be difficult to get in without an invitation.

Because guards were everywhere, and because the mansion was full of officials and nobles, besides these openly visible guards, there were also secret guards.

Zhou Xia rolled her eyes again and flashed a token from her person.

"This is a token from the Xiangyang Prince's Mansion. With this token, who would dare to stop me?" she said.

Yang Ruqing and Luo Fengtang were speechless.

“As someone who has been abandoned by the Xiangyang Wangfu, you're still going around pretending to have authority with their token. Be careful, if the people of Xiangyang Wangfu find out, you’ll be in trouble.” Yang Ruqing said.

Zhou Xia snorted and said, "That's for the future. I feel great now. Just thinking about Cao Tingting's face at last night's banquet, the one that looked like she had eaten a fly, makes me happy!"

“You guys don't know, when I told them about how back in the capital she got engaged to her cousin from her maternal family side, and they even used such a disgraceful pouch as a token of their affection, Cao Tingting was so angry she almost fainted.”

“That despicable woman, she thinks a sparrow can be washed clean and fly high branches to become a phoenix? Dream on!”

"I, Zhou Xia, couldn't even get the position of Cloud King's concubine, yet you, Cao Tingting, just a nobody, got to be his legitimate wife? This is unfair!" she shouted.

"You just say that someone is flirting with your cousin, but you can't produce any solid evidence to back it up. It doesn't convince anyone. People might even speculate that you're going crazy because you couldn't accept being abandoned by King Yun and the Xiangyang王府, so you're trying to frame someone out of spite." Yang Ruqing said.

Zhou Xia sneered and said, “You’re wrong. I, Zhou Xia, never make mistakes when I do things.”

>

"I really have the evidence against Miss Cao, don't even ask me where I got it from. I spent two years as the Snow Dance Princess in the capital, that wasn't for nothing, hahaha!"

"Brother, you didn't see last night, when I presented the irrefutable evidence to Qixingyun, his shock." Zhou Xia continued, and extended her hands to make a few circles in front of her eyes before continuing, "I saw Qixingyun's face gradually turning from white to red to blue. It was really magical."

Finally, he directly announced the banquet's end, without even glancing back at Cao Tingting who had already burst into tears. He just left that night. Hahaha, so satisfying, so refreshing!

After hearing Zhou Xia's boastful words, Yang Ruqing could imagine the scene.

When the entire grand flower hall was adorned with massive, dazzling, colorless wreaths overhead, the newlyweds looked deeply into each other's eyes, a truly perfect match.

Just as they were about to exchange tokens, Zhou Xia rushed in and revealed the answer to everyone.