Remarrying Chun Yuan

Tian Ya Yun forced the servant to go out and spread the word that she was pregnant with Wei Gongming's child, or else she would tell Wei Gongming about his harassment of her and have him beaten to death.

She even demanded that the servant take responsibility and pin the blame on Liu Yuechu, claiming that Liu Yuechu was unreasonable and wouldn't allow Wei Gongming to give her a proper title, otherwise Wei Gongming wouldn't marry her even if he got the kite.

But Wei Gongming was a man of honor and loyalty. He refused Liu Yuechu's marriage proposal and insisted on protecting her in the Marquis's mansion until she gave birth to his eldest son...

Thus, rumors spread that Liu Yuechu became a mean and wicked woman, while she was a pitiful and devoted lover, and Wei Gongming became a kind and righteous man.

No one studies the truth or falsehood of gossip; it's just something to have fun and talk about over tea.

As the story was embellished and repeated, it not only reached the residences of various families but also the ears of the noblewoman of Dongguan.

"I knew she wouldn't give up being the wife of the heir of the Zhenning Marquis's mansion and choose a poor scholar instead. It turns out she was rejected by him, which is why she came up with this trick of real and fake kites. She has so many tricks up her sleeve."

Consort Wan sighed with disdain, utterly despising Liu Yuechu.

She had hoped to run into His Majesty in the Empress Dowager's palace that day to complain, but the Empress was also there, so she didn't get a chance to speak.

She was feeling down when someone told her about the rumors surrounding Liu Yuechu.

The person who told this story was Consort Yue. Consort Yue's family was the largest fur merchant in the capital and had once supplied furs to the palace. However, this year, the Liu family took her place, and she was already resentful.

But if it were only for her family, Consort Le wouldn't have gone to the palace to spread rumors about Liu Yuechu. She did it to clear Li Shu's name of her previous scandals, because her son wanted to marry Li Shu.

In the past, the Li family would never have agreed.

Because the seventh prince, born to Consort Le, is of average appearance and learning and is mediocre, but Li Shu has been rejected by all the families, the only reliable marriage is to the seventh prince. So, Li Shu can only get to know Consort Le for a while first.

When women get together, they start gossiping. Li Shu casually mentioned Liu Yuechu, and Consort Le immediately came to see Consort Wan.

Although her rank as a concubine is higher than that of Consort Wan, Consort Wan's family is very powerful.

"That's right. People who value relationships and loyalty are always taken advantage of. It's a pity that our Xiaoshu was betrayed by her friend after being close friends with Liu Yuechu for so many years." Consort Le sighed and gave Li Shu a look.

Li Shu pursed her lips and said calmly, "It's also because Liu Yuechu is unworthy." Unworthy to be the Crown Prince's wife, unworthy to marry Wei Gongming, and even more unworthy to be her, Li Shu's, good friend...

Consort Wan snorted coldly, "What a piece of trash!" She then brought up the matter of Liu Yuechu refusing to lend "Le Yuan", "...It's just a guqin, yet she refused so readily. She only did a little something during the snow disaster, and His Majesty bestowed upon her the title of official merchant. The capital can hardly contain her anymore!"

"Although we are both merchant families, there is a big difference between us. Our Wang family has been in the fur business for over a hundred years, and we have always adhered to the rules and never cheated. This little girl, Liu Yuechu, has no experience whatsoever and knows nothing about fur, yet she dared to take on a job in the palace. Whether she can do it well is really hard to say." Consort Le cursed sarcastically.

After being teased a few times, Consort Wan still couldn't suppress her anger and was only thinking about how to teach Liu Yuechu a lesson.

At this time, there were still people who disliked Liu Yuechu, namely her third and fourth uncles.

After they were each kicked out of the Liu family's business with 20,000 taels of silver, not only were they refused entry by Liu Yuechu, but their former drinking buddies also stopped paying attention to them.

Since they had no business to run, what was the point of continuing their relationship? So the two families watched as Liu Yuechu became a fur merchant and helped Pan Sisheng set up a horse farm.

Although both families are not short of money, they still feel really uncomfortable being left out.

Now that they've heard that Liu Yuechu has gotten into some scandalous affairs that involve the Zhenning Marquis's mansion, the Fourth Uncle's family hasn't stopped gossiping. They're spreading rumors that Liu Yuechu is cold-blooded, mean, and unfilial, and they'd love to tear Liu Yuechu's spine apart.

The story became increasingly outrageous, with the Wang family adding fuel to the fire and the Dongguan nobles adding fuel to the fire...

"The rumors have spread like wildfire, why haven't you reacted at all?" Huang Wanwan had been trying to arrange a tea date with Liu Yue for three or four days before finally finding her a free moment.

"She's been obsessed with money all along and doesn't even talk to me anymore!" Lin Mengyu pouted, pretending to be angry. The small gathering that was supposed to be on the second day of each month had been postponed for a long time, and today was already the fifteenth.

"I've been busy all day learning how to run a fur business, how to distinguish between fox, mink, and rabbit furs, and the different types of fur for all four seasons. I don't have time to listen to gossip. I only had time to sit down and rest after sending the first batch of furs to the palace." Liu Yuechu was so tired and dizzy from the past month that all she wanted to do was lie down when she had some free time.

"So, whose gossip are you talking about? Is there something strange happening in the capital again?" Liu Yuechu squinted at the two of them.

Lin Mengyu and Huang Wanwan exchanged a glance, utterly astonished.

"So you didn't know at all?!"

Liu Yuechu looked at him with a bewildered, almond-shaped eyelid, "What do I know?"

Lin Mengyu let out a hiss and immediately recounted the recent rumors about her.

"...It's been like this for a month now. You've gone from a gentle and kind person to a mean and unforgiving shrew. Not only did you bully a pregnant woman, but you were also abandoned by the heir of the Marquis of Zhenning!"

"Not only that, but they also said that you used the disaster relief issue to blackmail the Imperial Household Department, demanding that they give you a quota for officials and merchants because you have the support of the people."

"They even said you married a poor scholar just to lord it over the family, to be greedy and stingy, and to not allow your older brother to get involved in any profitable business, sending him off to fetch smelly and dirty horses. You're utterly wicked!"

"They also said that you were chosen to be an official-merchant, and that you were arrogant and disdainful of even the nobles in the palace."

……

The two of them talked at once, chattering away.

Liu Yuechu gasped, pointing at herself and asking, "Is this me?"

"Of course, didn't you see that the shopkeeper's attitude was different from usual when you went upstairs just now?" Lin Mengyu said gloatingly.

Huang Wanwan said seriously, "I don't know if other things are true or not, but Yuan Cuo is indeed busy with the miscellaneous affairs of your Liu family all day long, and has no time to study or participate in the autumn imperial examination. Yue Niang, are you afraid that he will really change his mind if he wins the prize, or...?" Her long, narrow eyes were very serious, waiting for Liu Yuechu to give her the correct answer.

Liu Yuechu is even more wronged than Dou E; she really didn't do it!

She had indeed considered this before, but ever since the two of them had that conversation at the trading company, she had never assigned Yuan Cuo any tasks, leaving everything to him to do as he pleased.

Moreover, she has been very busy lately and hasn't really asked Yuan Cuo what he's been doing.

Are you still busy with the Liu family's affairs?

But this wasn't something she was threatening!

"Second Sister, someone from the Imperial Household Department has sent a message asking you to come immediately." Liu Muchi chased after her to Jingchun Tower to deliver the message, clearly indicating that the matter was urgent.