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

When the purchase was made, the time and place will be verifiable, making it easy to expose his lie!

Hua Sirong pressed again, "Is it yes or no?"

Pei San decided to take a gamble: "No!"

"This jade pendant was clearly handed to me personally by you in the plum grove today."

Pei San saw the disappointment flash in Hua Sirong's eyes, and he secretly rejoiced that he had won his gamble.

Seeing Hua Sirong's pale face, the young girl Qinqin, feeling confident of victory, actually stepped forward to kick the dog when it was down.

"Then why did this Sister Rong deliberately mention Baiyun Temple just now? Could it be that she was intentionally misleading this Guard Pei?"

Realizing she had spoken out of turn, she hurriedly covered her mouth and looked around. Sure enough, many women began to whisper and point at Hua Sirong.

Pei San glanced at the accomplice. Although he was indignant at the other party's despicable methods, at this moment, if he wanted to protect himself, he had no choice but to go along with the other party and play along.

"Rong'er, I never expected you to be this kind of person. Could it be that all the vows we made before were just lies?"

Otherwise, how can you explain that at this crucial moment, you resorted to such a desperate measure to get rid of me?

He then covered his face and sighed deeply, sniffing. His eyes unconsciously reddened, and he looked at Hua Sirong again with a deeply affectionate expression. He suddenly said:

"Rong'er, I suddenly realized that I made a mistake, and I shouldn't blame you."

I should have gone along with you and said that this jade pendant was a gift from you at Baiyun Temple. That way, you would have had a chance to completely sever ties with me, and you would have forgiven me.

After saying this, he looked at everyone and raised his hand to swear, "What happened in the plum grove today was all due to my dirty thoughts and my attempt to take advantage of Miss Rong. I am the one who should be disgraced. She has nothing to do with this matter."

Of all the mistakes, I am the only one who knows they are my fault.

Miss Qin's eyes shone as she cast an admiring glance at Pei San. What a clever move of retreating to advance!

However, she wanted to add fuel to the fire, "Guard Pei, it takes two to tango. Mutual affection isn't solely your fault, and secret rendezvous isn't solely your fault either."

Now that the truth has come out, how dare Sister Rong let Guard Pei take all the blame?

Guard Pei, you are so affectionate. Even if you want to take all the blame in order to protect Sister Rong's reputation, are we, the witnesses, stupid?

Can't we clearly distinguish who is right and who is wrong?

What's wrong with loving each other? Just admit it openly. If Sister Rong is so secretive, I'd think she's unworthy of your deep affection, Guard Pei.

After listening to Qinqin's words and glancing at the whispers around him, Pei San cast a helpless and frustrated glance at Hua Sirong.

"I'm sorry, Rong'er, it's all my fault today. If I had taken all the blame from the beginning, people wouldn't have misunderstood you."

He was filled with deep self-reproach. His repeated displays of affection deeply moved the women who had long lived in the inner quarters and stirred the hearts of the noble ladies waiting to be married.

"Isn't it said that Miss Rong doesn't discriminate against the poor and love the rich? This Guard Pei has already gone to such lengths. If you ask me, we should just agree to let Guard Pei come and propose marriage."

"I think this Miss Rong is deliberately keeping that guard hanging on. She's living in the Marquis's mansion now, so who knows, she might marry some official's son."

"Who says otherwise? She comes from a merchant family and is incredibly shrewd with money. I think this Miss Rong is not worthy of Guard Pei's sincerity."

"..."

Sure enough, after Pei San's performance, Hua Sirong's reputation was overwhelmingly positive.

Leaning against Old Madam Jiang, Qinqin couldn't suppress the slight upturn of her lips. She reminded everyone once again...

"Hearing what you say, I am reminded of what Sister Rong just said about the jade pendant. I'm afraid there's another purpose behind it."

Seeing the puzzled looks on everyone's faces, Qinqin boldly explained, "The jade pendant was clearly a gift from Meilin today, so why did Sister Rong insist on implying to Guard Pei that it was a gift from Baiyun Temple?"

A noblewoman chimed in, "The time and place are different, what's the mystery behind that?"

Qinqin laughed and said, "There's a lot to learn about this. I guess this jade pendant is something that Sister Rong acquired in the capital after she came here."

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately understood.

Indeed, if a piece of jewelry is newly made in a jewelry shop in the capital, there will definitely be purchase records and receipts as evidence.

If Guard Pei was referring to Baiyun Temple, wouldn't that just give Hua Sirong a chance to clear her name?

Following Qinqin's train of thought, everyone's gaze towards Hua Sirong became even more unpleasant.

There's no other reason than that this girl is too calculating and not suitable for friendship.

Hua Sirong has now identified the mastermind behind this, and Qinqin is definitely one of them.

She glanced at Qinqin, then looked at the still-charming woman sitting below the old lady, a faint smile on her face, appearing detached from worldly affairs.

Hua Sirong's eyes darkened. Today, I will shatter your beautiful dream and make you regret doing things behind my back.

She looked at Jiang Yilan and asked, "Miss Jiang, is the back of your neck still hurting a lot?"

Jiang Yilan's pupils dilated instantly as she looked at Hua Sirong. She shrank back and moved even closer to Madam Jiang.

Jiang Yilan hesitated, making Qinqin anxious, fearing that she might give herself away.

With a determined look, she interjected, "My cousin has been with me ever since she entertained the guests today. I can vouch for that."

Jiang Yilan gave Hua Sirong a subtle apology, but Hua Sirong ignored what Qinqin said and spoke directly to Jiang Yilan, or perhaps, to Madam Jiang's ears.

"Miss Jiang, as far as I know, if the back of the neck is attacked suddenly and medical attention is not sought in time, it may lead to some serious health problems. Even if you spend a lot of money later, there may still be long-term effects."

Miss Jiang, you are still young, you should take better care of your health.

Jiang Yilan was frightened by Hua Sirong's alarmist words. She unconsciously touched the back of her neck. Madam Jiang knew Jiang Yilan's habits well, so there was nothing she didn't understand at this moment.

While Hua Sirong's threats to Jiang Yilan may have been exaggerated, what she said before was probably entirely true.

She cast a disgusted glance at Qinqin and her daughter beside the old lady, realizing that her daughter was once again covering up the stupid things those two had done.

She looked sternly at Jiang Yilan, "Aren't you going to tell the truth?"

In the place where she was in charge of household affairs, unauthorized men were allowed to come and go at will, slandering unmarried women and their reputations. Their intentions were utterly despicable.

What's even more infuriating is that the other party used her own daughter's hand!

Jiang Yilan was still somewhat afraid of her own mother, but considering that she had agreed to Qinqin's request, she couldn't be a person who broke her promise, so she continued to struggle.

Hua Sirong felt she had already given Jiang Yilan a chance, and she didn't mind adding fuel to the fire. "There was a part in what I said earlier that was actually fabricated."