The cousin's family is extremely wealthy; she deserves to be a concubine.

For a time, only a few people in charge of the household remained in Fushou Hall.

Hua Sirong, supported by Wang Mama's hand, quickly left. Today, she seemed to have been cleared of all wrongdoing, but she had incurred the disdain of the old lady of the mansion.

Fushou Hall fell silent instantly. The old lady looked around at her two daughters-in-law, and then at He Zhilang, who had stayed behind.

"Why did Lang-ge'er suddenly go to the women's quarters today? If there really were men there, he should have gone discreetly. Why did he bring so many men with him?"

"His Highness the Fourth Prince is of noble status; he should not be aware of the sordid affairs within his residence."

The old lady also had her own selfish motives. If the Fourth Prince were to be tricked in their Marquis's mansion, the relationship between the Fourth Prince and the Sixth Girl would probably fall through.

Upon closer examination, this matter could be considered both a major and a minor issue.

Seeing her own son embroiled in this lawsuit, Mrs. Zhan felt even more resentful towards Jin Yaoyao.

Faced with the old man's questioning, He Zhilang dared not show the slightest dissatisfaction. "I was indeed a bit reckless today." He did not want to argue further, as he could not refuse any decision made by the Fourth Prince.

After a moment of contemplation, he remembered something: "At that time, I sent a servant to find my mother, intending to entrust this matter to her."

But with so many guests today, I couldn't help but feel uneasy, so I thought I'd secretly go over and check to make sure no other man had entered."

"The young masters who were originally accompanying His Highness the Fourth Prince have a relatively close relationship with our Marquis's Mansion. The Fourth Prince and the others have agreed to keep this a secret for our mansion."

However, Meng Silang suggested that if I were seen alone, it would easily cause trouble, and he wanted to go with me. The others, probably also wanting to see the excitement, also chimed in, wanting to follow along.

The Fourth Prince, probably because he was in the palace and had never seen such a scene before, wanted to join in the fun.

The grandson couldn't refuse, so he reluctantly agreed. Xiaoya led us along a secluded path, and we didn't encounter many people. It was just as we were about to cross the bridge that the incident involving my second sister happened.

Young people are very curious, and once they hear someone shouting for help, they forget all their original intentions for coming here.

And just like that, a group of grown men appeared at the scene where He Zhihuan had fallen into the water.

The old lady frowned. "Meng Silang?"

She then gestured to Granny Xie to go to the side hall and invite the men of the household over.

Seeing He Zhizhang inside, she said, "Why are you here instead of staying with your new wife, Zhang-ge? Today's affairs in the manor will be handled by your parents and brothers. You should go back to your bridal chamber."

He Zhizhang first thanked the old lady before saying, "I came from the bridal chamber. Don't worry, I can go back after things are settled here."

The old lady thought that he was, after all, the eldest grandson, so she stopped worrying about it.

"Has the matter of Er Yatou falling into the water been investigated? At first, I thought that Er Yatou had accidentally fallen into the lake. But now that Lang Ge'er has mentioned Meng Silang, I feel that things are not so simple."

Lord He couldn't help but look up, "Mother, do you think that Meng Silang wants to break off the engagement?" After all, He Zhihuan was rescued by a man from another family and then Meng Silang saw her.

If Meng Silang really wanted to break off the engagement, he could use this incident to say that He Zhihuan was not innocent.

Even the legal mother, Madam Zhan, found it unbelievable. The Meng family wanted to break off the engagement? With the wedding date set for early next year, canceling the wedding at this time would first and foremost affect her fourth daughter.

She strained her ears, trying to figure it out.

The old lady shook her head. "If Meng Silang hadn't gone with the women today, even if Er Yatou was rescued by a man from outside the family, and our household had received some benefits and we had publicly declared that it was a servant from our household who had saved her, the matter would have been over. What could the Meng family possibly say about that?"

Everyone thought about it and agreed. Whether Meng Silang's insistence on following He Zhilang to the women's side was a spur-of-the-moment decision or a long-planned scheme was hard to say.

Madam Shen interjected, "Let's wait quietly in the manor for two days and see what the Meng family plans to do next. If the marriage continues, then we have wronged Meng Silang."

If the engagement changes, or even if the Meng family comes knocking tomorrow, then it's a certainty that Meng Silang is plotting something.

Mr. Zhan also agreed with Mr. Shen's view.

At this moment, Lord He's face was heavy. "A book went missing from the inner study today. It was the one that was supposed to be part of Huan'er's dowry."

Madam Shen was shocked. "What a coincidence!" The book was lost on one hand, and the engagement had changed on the other.

Madam Zhan's heart skipped a beat. "Could it be that the book thief is also connected to the Meng family?"

Lord He smiled wryly, "This matter is hard to say."

The old lady gripped her cane, her mind heavy with worries. This was the downside of having secrets in one's heart; no matter what happened in the household, there was always a sense that others were plotting against them.

"Has the thief not been found?" Although the old lady already had the answer in her heart, she still couldn't help but ask.

Lord He's expression was not good. "When the guests were being seen off, the steward sent people to keep a close eye on them, not even the servants, but they still couldn't find any flaws."

The old lady said, "There are too many people and too many eyes on us today. Some of our guests are of noble status. How can we possibly check them all?" After saying that, she looked at Madam Shen and thought to herself that if it weren't for Madam Shen's meddling, the book would never have been lost.

Although Madam Shen felt ashamed, she did not want to take the blame. "The book in the inner study is just a copy. It would be unreasonable for the Meng family to break off the engagement because of this."

The real, unique copy is still in Er Ya's hands. Just send someone to ask her; she'll know the answer immediately.

Lord He, unaware of the inside story, felt his mood brighten considerably.

When they sent someone to He Zhihuan's courtyard to retrieve the books, they discovered that the books on He Zhihuan's bookshelf had already been switched.

This was truly a bolt from the blue.

He Zhihuan fell into the water today and was frightened. She was supposed to be resting in bed, but now she couldn't care less about that and came directly to Fushou Hall to apologize.

The loss of this rare book is no small matter. Even Aunt Shui, who was secretly gathering information, disregarded the rules and bribed the servants of Fushou Hall to pass on the news.

He Zhihuan knelt down as soon as he entered the door to beg for forgiveness, "My books were always managed by Xiangcao. Xiangcao was also in charge of sending copies to the ladies in the manor. After Xiangcao disappeared, I never looked at that rare book again."

I only remembered to look at that book today because you wanted to see it.

Little did anyone know that the rare copy had probably been swapped out by Xiangcao; only the cover was the original, while the inside had long been replaced with a handwritten copy.

I was wrong in this matter; I bear responsibility for oversight.