Chapter Nine – Encountering a Bosom Friend

Qingfeng listened quietly from within the crowd, overhearing the gossiping village women. He began to piece things together in his mind.

It seemed that the girl who had followed his master home was indeed Lin Furong from Yushou Village. However, the villagers’ version of her departure didn’t quite match what Lin Furong herself had said.

According to Lin Furong, she was someone unwilling to be controlled by societal norms.

But in the villagers’ mouths, she sounded more like someone desperate to “fly up the branches and become a phoenix”—a social climber.

This kind of woman…

Just as Qingfeng was trying to sift through the tangled mess of clues for some clarity, a girl caught his attention.

She was crouching on the ground, hugging her knees as she silently wept while staring at the river. She, too, was dressed in plain, coarse clothing and looked about Lin Furong’s age. As she cried, she occasionally wiped her tears with her sleeve and glared resentfully at the gossiping women.

Qingfeng walked over and asked in a casual but probing tone, “Miss, what’s going on here?”

The girl was startled to be addressed. She quickly stood up and wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes with her sleeve. “We’re looking for someone,” she replied.

“Looking for someone? Why in the river?”

“Because…” She turned to look back at the water. “Because Furong might have jumped in to take her own life.”

Her voice began to quiver near the end.

Qingfeng sensed that this girl likely had a close relationship with Lin Furong. He thought if he questioned her gently, he might be able to learn more about who Lin Furong really was.

So he changed his tone to one of concern and urgency, asking, “Oh no, why would she jump into the river?”

“It’s all because of those people!” The girl pointed her chin toward the group of gossiping women. “If they hadn’t spent all day talking behind her back, her family wouldn’t have agreed to marry her off so carelessly.”

“People who gossip like that really are awful,” Qingfeng said, feigning righteous indignation to gain her trust.

Hearing someone side with her, the girl’s emotions flared up. She hurriedly said, “Exactly! They don’t know the truth at all. It was Meng Qiancheng who proposed eloping! His family arranged a marriage for him, but he didn’t want it, so he convinced Furong to run away with him. Poor Furong kept the appointment, but Meng Qiancheng got caught and dragged home. And not only that, he turned around and claimed Furong seduced him and that he never wanted to elope in the first place!”

“What?!” Qingfeng was shocked. He hadn’t expected such a tragic backstory behind Lin Furong’s situation.

“So, where is Meng Qiancheng now?” he asked.

The girl curled her lip into a contemptuous smile. “He took his new bride and went off to town. Probably too ashamed to face Furong.”

“Poor Furong,” Qingfeng said with genuine sympathy.

“Yes,” the girl replied, tears welling in her eyes again. “She really met the wrong person. What’s even more infuriating is that Meng Qiancheng’s mother has been going around slandering Furong—saying she invited Meng Qiancheng to meet in the grove outside the village on his wedding night. But that’s complete nonsense! I was with Furong that entire time because I was afraid she might do something foolish. She never even left her room, let alone met him anywhere.”

The girl’s anger mounted as she continued, “That woman is deliberately trying to ruin Furong’s reputation! They want to drive her to her death.”

“I see… No wonder you said she might’ve jumped into the river. Her situation really is heartbreaking.”

“And it gets worse,” the girl said, her voice rising. “To avoid gossip, Furong’s own mother actually agreed to marry her off to Old Crooked Wang from the west end of the village. He’s over fifty, with a crooked mouth and a face full of pockmarks…” At that, she shut her eyes, likely recalling how terrifying he looked.

Qingfeng could picture it too—an innocent young girl forced to marry an old and ugly man…

That was truly like a fresh flower stuck in a pile of cow dung.

No. He had to save this flower.

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