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

"Is this the one you said you were betrothed to my Rong'er?" Madam Shen looked Pei San up and down. "If you are truly in love with Rong'er, then you should have found out that I've been looking for a husband for her recently."

"If you truly wish to marry me, why haven't I ever hosted any official matchmakers at the Marquis's residence?"

"Young man, are you trying to deceive us ignorant women by relying on the Second Prince's power?"

Pei San was forced to retreat by Shen's aggressive approach. He stammered for a long time and almost decided to harden his heart and simply marry this girl, Rong, who was said to bring misfortune to her parents.

After all, this girl is truly beautiful.

He had served the Second Prince for many years and could be said to have seen a lot of things, but he had never seen a girl of Hua Sirong's looks and character.

Objectively speaking, it was not uncommon in the palace, but it was also rare in the entire capital.

Honestly, he didn't lose out at all by marrying Hua Sirong.

However, the biggest problem is that he is male and his interests are male.

If it weren't for this damned weakness that someone had seized upon, how could a young guard by the side of the Second Prince be so easily manipulated by a few women in the inner quarters?

It's because they're afraid that the Second Prince's brothers will find out about this and use it to attack the Second Prince for being dishonest.

In particular, although the Second Prince has already married and taken concubines, he has no children yet.

If it were to be revealed that the Second Prince's bodyguards were homosexual, both the Emperor and the court officials would question the Second Prince's abilities.

First and foremost, he would have no chance of serving under the Second Prince again.

Even for the sake of his own future, he had no choice but to reluctantly accept this scheme of using someone else to do his dirty work.

Just when he thought he was going to fail in his slander and suffer a backlash, a sweet child's voice rang out, instantly attracting everyone's attention.

"Yes, if it's not a lie, then produce the evidence. Do you have any evidence?"

Hua Sirong looked in the direction of the voice and saw Jiang Yilan. The one who spoke was a twelve or thirteen-year-old girl who was holding her arm.

Feeling guilty, Jiang Yilan avoided Hua Sirong's probing gaze, let go of the little girl's hand, and went straight to Madam Jiang.

The girl, with her innocent, wide eyes, walked straight up to Pei San, leaned close to him, and repeated, "Do you have any evidence?"

After saying that, she giggled and turned to snuggle into Old Madam Jiang's arms.

"Why did you come here? It's freezing cold. Why aren't you staying indoors and keeping warm? What are you doing out here?"

When the old lady asked the question, the girl answered immediately, "I heard something happened here, so I thought I'd come and see what was going on. Besides, my mother is here too, so how could I leave her alone?"

The woman beside Madam Jiang gave the girl a gentle smile, and everyone understood that this was probably the cousin Qinqin that Madam Jiang had just mentioned.

Madam Jiang laughed and said, "Your mother is with me, what are you worried about, little one? Do you think I would lose your mother?"

Qinqin replied coquettishly, "Of course the old matriarch wouldn't abandon my mother, but I'm thinking that my mother and I are, after all, outsiders. I'm afraid she might not be able to stand by and interfere in the affairs of the household, which would annoy people."

Madam Jiang was displeased. "Nonsense! Who said your mother is an outsider? To me, she is like my own daughter, and you are like my own granddaughter."

Your mother has been a widow for many years; it hasn't been easy for her.

She lives in our Jiang family mansion and has long been part of our family. Don't ever mention her as an outsider again; it only makes me uncomfortable.

Qinqin was deeply moved and hugged Madam Jiang with admiration, saying, "Oh, it's still our grandmother who loves my mother the most."

Under the old lady's doting gaze, she added, "And me, she loves me the most too."

This display of cunning made the seasoned gamers present cringe.

Some people bluntly turned their gaze to Madam Jiang and asked, "Are you just going to watch like this?"

Aren't you afraid that some widowed, wicked woman will take a fancy to your Master Jiang?

Having spent many years in the inner quarters of the household, Madam Jiang immediately understood that this concern was mixed with a secret desire to watch the drama unfold. She patted her own daughter beside her, just about to say a few words.

Unexpectedly, Pei San, as if struck by a revelation, pulled something from his robes, held it up, and declared, "I have this jade pendant as proof."

Before the crowd could even settle their thoughts, the commotion intensified again. He San and a few others, in particular, were on edge, wondering what item had ended up in Pei San's hands. They could only secretly pray that it wasn't something he kept close to him.

Hua Sirong stepped forward to examine it, and the jade pendant was indeed the one she had worn that day.

A hint of surprise flashed in her eyes; she wondered when the jade pendant had left her.

But why did Pei San wait until now to bring it out and increase his bargaining power?

What triggered his motivation?

Hua Sirong's mind raced. She looked around and saw Jiang Yilan's slightly guilty look, the slightly smug excitement of that girl Qinqin, and Qiu Kui trying her best to hide herself next to He Zhizhu.

She pieced together the events leading up to her and had a bold guess in her mind.

The jade pendant in Pei San's hand was probably handed to him by that girl named Qinqin while they were talking.

As for how Hua Sirong's personal jade pendant ended up in the hands of that Qinqin.

She suspected it might be related to the okra next to He Zhizhu.

After all, she hadn't seen okra when her aunt and He Zhizhu came in.

Just then, after Jiang Yilan and Qinqin entered, and as Pei San held the jade pendant in his hand, Qiu Kui appeared...

Of course, it's also possible that Qiu Kui had something else on her mind and couldn't accompany He Zhizhu.

But Hua Sirong was more inclined to believe her guess, which was perhaps closer to reality.

After all, she was used to being cautious. When she went out, she would usually check her clothes and jewelry several times. She wouldn't easily let the hairpin in her hair fall off, and she wouldn't easily let the cords on the things she wore break.

Only someone with a discerning eye can take something from her without making a sound.

She composed herself, a slight smile playing on her lips, and asked Pei San, "Was it on the day at Baiyun Temple, when we pledged our love, that I took off this jade pendant and gave it to you?"

Pei San had just received the jade pendant and was just holding it up when he vaguely saw the character "Rong" in the lower left corner of the pendant. Only then did he realize that this item must be of great use.

As for where Hua Sirong gave him this token of love, how would he know!

However, upon reflection, he realized that he had met this girl twice before, once at Baiyun Temple and once at the Jiang residence.

But now that Hua Sirong has specifically mentioned Baiyun Temple, is this jade pendant a gift from Baiyun Temple or from the Jiang residence today?

Pei San was so anxious that he broke out in a sweat. He felt that this girl was setting a trap for him again.

But what good is what Baiyun Temple gave, or what good is what Jiang Mansion gave?

Could there be some other explanation behind this?

wrong! wrong!

What if he says it was a gift from Baiyun Temple, but the girl says she had the jade pendant made after she went to the capital?