Chapter 37: The Spectacle

Pan Bin suppressed his heavy breathing, listened carefully, but did not detect anything unusual. He reassured:

“Our trusted people are stationed on both sides of the road, there will be no trouble. The wall outside leads to the street, it must be the noise from there.”

He continued with his actions.

Of course, he didn’t know that the two people had already been quietly knocked unconscious and taken away by the hidden guards Chen Susu had sent.

Meng Xiang lightly tapped his shoulder, “It’s all your fault, you insisted on picking this spot, making everyone so anxious.”

Pan Bin, looking at her charming appearance, and hearing the faint sounds from outside, felt a rush of heat rise in him and increased his movements.

His voice came out in rough gasps: “Isn’t this more exciting?” He moved closer to Madam Meng, “Don’t you like it?”

The force of his actions made Meng Xiang unable to hold back and she let out some sounds, struggling to say, “I hate it.”

A young master, who had stealthily climbed up the rockery, heard these sounds and mistakenly thought it was a rooster crowing. He quickened his pace.

He climbed all the way to the highest point of the rockery, but still saw no sign of the rooster. Hearing another faint sound, he felt something was wrong and began to carefully search for the source.

Finally, he spotted a scene through a fist-sized hole.

He widened his eyes in disbelief and noticed his friend had quietly approached. Immediately, he placed a finger to his lips, then waved his hand and pointed to the small hole that allowed a glimpse of the situation inside the rockery.

The two young masters, well-known troublemakers in the capital and old friends, immediately understood the meaning of the smile and tiptoed over.

Just one glance was enough to make their eyes widen, exchanging a mischievous look as they locked eyes.

Inside, there were more soft moans.

The two men covered their mouths, laughing, their backs turned, thoroughly entertained. The other two, noticing their odd behavior, soon joined in the voyeurism.

Below the rockery, someone had spotted the rooster.

“Here it is!”

The ladies, of course, wouldn’t personally catch the rooster, so they sent their maids and nannies forward to capture it.

The four mischievous young masters on the rockery still kept their eyes fixed on the scene, their faces grinning wickedly.

One particularly gossip-loving lady, seeing the four young men, felt something was amiss and, driven by curiosity, quietly went up.

As she got closer to them, she heard several urgent feminine sounds and instantly realized what they were. Her face flushed with embarrassment, but she still went forward, pushing through the young men’s heads for a glance.

Disheveled clothes were scattered on the ground, and two figures looked incredibly disheveled.

From this angle, she couldn’t see their faces clearly, but she could catch the details of their bodies.

She almost slipped off the rockery, shouting loudly, “In broad daylight, what are you two doing?”

The two quickly froze, rapidly pulling apart and scrambling to put their clothes back on.

They had no idea where the voice had come from, so they silently hoped it was just the person speaking, someone easier to deal with.

The four mischievous young masters, meanwhile, continued to cheer them on.

The two, now hurriedly dressing, had their hands momentarily freeze as if their fingers had been quickly frozen stiff.

The lady, unable to hold back, shouted again, “Which family are you two from? How shameless to do such things at someone else’s birthday banquet?”

When Qin Xuan and the eager Mrs. Cao arrived, they overheard the outburst.

Qin Xuan quickly instructed a few servants, “Take the young master and miss away from here, back to the main hall.”

Mrs. Cao realized what was happening and hurriedly urged a few more servants.

After the children were escorted away, Mrs. Cao regained her composure, seeing that everyone had stopped and was now staring dumbfounded at the lady on the rockery.

The beautifully feathered rooster was still leisurely wandering about, occasionally pecking at the ground.

She slowly moved her body closer to the rooster.

At the sound of the lady’s shout, she took a quick step forward and grabbed the rooster’s wing.

Mrs. Cao laughed heartily, holding the rooster by its wing as she turned to walk back.

Inside and outside the rockery, the joy and sorrow were entirely disconnected.

Qin Xuan watched the rockery coldly.

She had been waiting for this moment, and it had finally arrived.

The person who caught them in the act must have been carefully chosen by Chen Susu.

The young men on the rockery were all notorious troublemakers in the capital.

And the lady, who had just instructed her servant to find the mistress of the house, Madam Wang, though a bit of a gossip, had a sense of justice.

It seemed there was no need for her to do anything else.

Qin Xuan glanced toward the door.

Two maids in clothes patterned with fortune were hastily leaving, likely to report what had just happened.

It was no coincidence that they had encountered the two groups.

When Qin Xuan turned around, she found herself face to face with Mrs. Cao, who was smiling broadly while holding the rooster.

“Qin Xuan, your An’an seems to really want to catch this rooster. Let’s give this one to her.”

Mrs. Cao held up the rooster, searching on its wing for a moment before pulling out a yellow cloth strip.

“It was that little dog that had just left.”

Taking this opportunity, Qin Xuan revealed her joy on her face and politely declined, “Let’s first ask your young master; he’s only eight years old.”

Mrs. Cao waved her hand, “He doesn’t play with such things anymore; he’s always leading his new little pony around, unwilling to part with it.”

With no way to refuse the kind gesture, Qin Xuan signaled for Nanny Lei to take the rooster.

The people inside the rockery still hesitated to come out. Madam Wang had already instructed the servants from various families to surround the rockery.

Madam Wang carefully descended from the rockery.

The four young masters on top were still teasing each other, laughing in a rough manner.

The young master who had first discovered the two of them volunteered to go into the rockery and pull them out. The other three responded eagerly.

The group of them nimbly descended the rockery and entered through the small opening one after the other.

Before long, the sound of angry shouting came from inside the rockery. The two were dragged out by the four youths and brought to the stone path in front of the rockery.

Meng Xiang was shoved by one of the young men and fell to the ground, scraping her palm. However, she paid no attention to it and hurriedly covered her face.

The ladies who had been watching from the side rushed forward, with some recognizing her immediately, exclaiming, “Isn’t that Chen’s daughter-in-law?”

The other ladies were stunned into silence, recalling Meng’s reputation in the capital for being gentle and filial. They were shocked beyond words.

“That’s Chen’s son-in-law!” the leading young man laughed.

Pan Bin shook off the restraints of the other two young men, his face filled with shame and anger as he lowered his head.

Madam Wang followed, whispering mysteriously to the ladies around her.

The group of ladies’ eyes widened, as if they had never heard such a juicy piece of gossip, and they began to whisper excitedly.

When Qin Xuan saw the two of them, in order not to arouse suspicion from the second house, she had no choice but to leave with a stern face, intending to inform Old Madam Meng of the news personally.

Mrs. Cao followed her closely.

In the main hall, Old Madam Meng was chatting with her mother, noticing that the elderly lady from the Chen family had heard some news and hurriedly left, feeling puzzled but not thinking much of it.

She glanced at the door, wondering why Nanny Zhang hadn’t returned yet.

Just then, Qin Xuan appeared at the door, rushing toward Old Madam Meng in a flustered manner.

Zhou Huajin, standing nearby, immediately fixed her gaze on Qin Xuan.

Qin Xuan was usually composed, and even when her mind was in turmoil, she always managed to maintain control. It was rare to see her in such a frantic state.

Qin Xuan looked at Old Madam Meng, her expression troubled, and after hesitating for a moment, she seemed to make up her mind. She lowered her voice:

“Madam Meng and Chen’s son-in-law were in the back garden rockery…” She paused, sighing with anger and shame, “And several mischievous young men were watching them, catching them in the act!”

“What?” Old Madam Meng gasped, clutching her chest before fainting.

Old Madam Meng instantly turned pale.

Zhou Huajin, standing a bit farther away, hadn’t heard, as Qin Xuan hadn’t spoken loudly, considering there were others in the room.

When she saw Old Madam Meng faint, she immediately rushed forward.

The Meng family’s maids and nannies were in a panic, pinching Old Madam Meng’s acupoints and fanning her. Zhou Huajin was unable to get close, so she pulled the anxious Qin Xuan away to ask what had happened.

Qin Xuan explained again.

Zhou Huajin blinked, her eyes fixed on Qin Xuan, her mouth slightly open. Suddenly, she dropped to the floor in a daze.

After the incident with the Fang family, Consort Liang had wanted to call off the engagement, but Prince Qi insisted on going ahead.

After this incident, that marriage was definitely over.

Fang Zhenzhen, who was beside Zhou Huajin, was unaware of the change in the bride-to-be but knew the importance of reputation, especially since she was to marry into the royal family.

Her maternal family’s scandal had affected their reputation too.

Fang Zhenzhen stood frozen for a moment, her eyes rolling back before she also fainted.

The surrounding servants became even more frantic.

Soon, the news spread throughout the mansion, and everyone forgot about the rooster-catching, rushing toward the main hall to join in the spectacle.

Only Fang Yuean remained focused on catching the rooster.

Madam Xu was gentle by nature, not interested in gossip or excitement, and continued to accompany her daughter.