The daily struggles of divorced women in ancient times

Xia Mianwan asked Ruzhu to follow Qin Qinqing, but Qin Qinqing still felt unhappy.

Xia Mianwan secretly rolled her eyes in her heart and told Ruzhu, "No matter what, nothing can happen at this time, so as not to affect the reputation of the girl in the family."

"Yes, young lady!"

Although many people at the banquet today looked down on Xia Mianwan, many also came up to chat with her. During the chat, several ladies were interested in the girl from the Pei family, but there were also two ladies who knew that their family was of humble origin and were interested in Qin Qinqing.

One is the wife of the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, and her sister’s family. Although her family is only a seventh-rank official, her son passed the imperial examination and became a juren at the age of 19. Her family is simple, and although her family background is not high, her family is quiet.

The other one was a sixth-rank official in his family, but he was seeking marriage for his illegitimate son.

Xia Mianwan secretly took note of the situation at the two ladies' homes and planned to send someone to inquire about it when the time comes.

At this moment, Ruzhu came in hurriedly, took a few quick steps, leaned over and whispered in Xia Mianwan's ear: "Madam, our cousin fell into the water."

Hearing this, Xia Mianwan stood up calmly and nodded slightly to show that he understood. Then he smiled and said to the lady next to him, "I'll leave for a moment."

Afterwards, Xia Mianwan followed Ruzhu out.

Ruzhu took Xia Mianwan to the lake and told her what had just happened while walking.

It turned out that the third son of the Qiu family was playing with the eldest son of Duke Xu's family. After Miss Wang, Miss Zhou and Qin Qinqing found out, they all asked Miss Qiu to take them to watch.

Miss Qiu was embarrassed, and the other ladies started quarreling. In the end, for some unknown reason, Qin Qinqing and Miss Qiu fell into the water together.

Ruzhu was about to jump down to save people, but unexpectedly she ran into the young master of the Qiu family and Master Xu.

When Xia Mianwan heard this, she paused, "Master Qiu and Master Xu jumped down to save people?"

Ruzhu responded in a low voice: "Yes."

"Go on." Xia Mianwan suppressed the anger in his heart and wondered what went wrong that allowed Qin Qinqing to take advantage of him.

"Later, my cousin was rescued by the prince. Who would have thought that she would cling to the prince and refuse to let go, and even... cried bitterly."

Xia Mianwan: "..."

Xia Mianwan felt a headache and wondered if there was something wrong with this woman.

Xia Mianwan and Ruzhu arrived at the lake and were disgusted again. Miss Qiu had already been taken to the side room by the maid to change clothes, but Qin Qinqing was still wearing wet clothes and crying by the lake with her arms folded.

Some of the ladies standing by were mocking, some were disdainful, and some were pulling her to persuade Qin Qinqing not to cry.

Xia Mianwan sighed, and Ruzhu pushed away the ladies who were gathered in a circle.

"Cousin, you are so wet, you should wait for me. My cousin's wife is here, I will take you to change clothes."

Qin Qinqing saw Xia Mianwan coming so quickly, secretly thinking it was bad luck, and forced herself to say to Xia Mianwan pitifully: "Cousin, I'm fine, thanks to the prince who saved me, I haven't thanked the prince yet!"

Xia Mianwan rolled her eyes secretly in her heart, complaining that Qin Qinqing's abacus beads were hitting people's faces. He thought everyone was as stupid as that young master!

Xia Mianwan looked around and saw the anxious maid of the Qiu family standing aside and asked, "Are you the maid that Miss Qiu arranged to take us to change clothes?"

The little maid nodded repeatedly while holding the clothes, "Yes, yes, it's the young lady's order."

Xia Mianwan raised her head and asked Ruzhu to pull Qin Qinqing up. "You have to thank your aunt. My cousin should not freeze here."

Ruzhu received Xia Mianwan's order and pulled Qin Qinqing up. Qin Qinqing was still struggling. Xia Mianwan whispered in Qin Qinqing's ear: "If you move again, I will throw you down again. This time, no matter you really want to fall down or someone else pushed you down, I will let the servants rescue you. See if your wish can be fulfilled?"

Xia Mianwan's words successfully subdued Qin Qinqing. Ruzhu hugged Qin Qinqing and followed the maid into the west wing.

There was such a loud commotion outside that Mrs. Qiu must have known about it. After hearing about it, she hurried over from the front hall.

"I'm sorry, Madam Pei, is Miss Qin okay?" Madam Qiu asked anxiously.

"Thank you for your concern, Mrs. Qiu. My cousin is changing clothes in the inner room. Where is Miss Qiu? Is Miss Qiu okay?" Xia Mianwan asked.

Mrs. Qiu said anxiously: "My girl is fine, but how could such a thing happen at this critical moment!"

Xia Mianwan seemed to have grasped the key point, "Critical moment? I wonder what Mrs. Qiu is referring to?"

Madam Qiu sighed and said, "My daughter Yuan'er was discussing marriage with the prince, but who knew something like this would happen? What should I do?"

Mrs. Qiu looked at Xia Mianwan as she spoke, but she saw that Xia Mianwan's face showed nothing, and she could not tell anything, which made her even more anxious.

What should I do if the Qin family wants to rely on the Xu family? I hate my own son for being so stupid that he didn't let Master Xu save his sister, but rushed forward himself.

"Mrs. Qiu, don't be anxious. What happened? Can't we just ask her?" Xia Mianwan secretly felt sorry for Qin Qinqing in her heart. It was a pity that all her efforts were in vain.

Mrs. Qiu asked the maid to bring Miss Qiu over. At this time, Qin Qinqing also came out.

Mrs. Qiu was about to ask, but was interrupted by Xia Mianwan.

"Mrs. Qiu, forgive me for being frank, but you are the host. If you leave for too long at this time, it will arouse suspicion. If you trust me, let me ask. You go out first and deal with it after all the guests have left." Xia Mianwan said.

Mrs. Qiu certainly knew that Xia Mianwan was right. She glanced at Miss Qiu and left even though she was anxious.

Xia Mianwan dismissed all the maids in the house, leaving only Miss Qiu and Qin Qinqing.

Miss Qiu looked pale and there seemed to be tears on her face.

Of course Qin Qinqing also heard about Master Xu's marriage discussion with Miss Qiu. Her face turned pale and her body couldn't help shaking.

Xia Mianwan sighed secretly, if he had known this would happen, why would he have done it in the first place...

"Ms. Qiu, cousin, who of you wants to speak first?" Xia Mianwan asked.

Miss Qiu said with a pale face: "Madam Pei, today the young ladies were all clamoring to secretly take a look at the young master, so... that's when they started arguing, and then there was a shoving and pushing, and I was pushed down, and Sister Qin was trying to save me."

Xia Mianwan glanced at Qin Qinqing and said calmly, "Really?"

Qin Qinqing lowered her head and replied, "Cousin, I am trying to save people."

Xia Mianwan pondered in silence. If Qin Qinqing continued like this, if she was still not clear-headed, she would become... the concubine of Master Xu.

"In that case, there's nothing unclear about the facts. I'll take my cousin back first." Xia Mianwan said to Miss Qiu with a smile.

Before Miss Qiu could speak, Qin Qinqing raised her head stubbornly, "Cousin, I can't go back now."