In the Wang Mansion, the Dowager Lady Wang had carefully groomed herself for her upcoming audience with the Empress Dowager in the palace. She also put on the hairpin and bracelet bestowed by the imperial court.
She was just waiting to confirm that the Prince Qing's Mansion had accepted the betrothal gifts from the Prince Cang's Mansion, and then she would set off for the palace to request an audience with the Empress Dowager. As for Wang Chongling, he could then incite the imperial examination candidates who had not yet left.
The entire Wang Mansion was now in a state of readiness.
Just then, the spy they had sent out hurried into the mansion and headed straight for Wang Chongling's room.
Hearing that the spy had returned, Wang Chongling coughed twice forcefully and ordered his servant to summon the spy in. However, when the spy entered the room, his face showed no sign of joy but was full of anxiety. Seeing this, Wang Chongling's heart sank.
"How is it?"
"Prince Qing didn't accept the betrothal gifts. Instead, he drove Prince Cang out of the mansion and said that from now on, he would sever all ties with Prince Cang and no longer consider him as his adopted son," the spy reported what he had seen.
In the room, Wang Chongling's face turned extremely ugly. "How could this happen?!"
The Dowager Lady Wang frowned and asked the spy, "Are you sure they weren't just acting?"
The spy nodded vigorously. "I'm sure. The servants in the Prince Qing's Mansion even set the dogs on Prince Cang. It's definitely not an act."
"Moreover, no one else knows about our plan. There's no way they could have gotten wind of it and staged such a show."
Since it wasn't an act and there was no possibility of their people leaking the information, it could only mean that Su Qing really didn't want to marry his daughter to Cang Xuan.
The Dowager Lady Wang looked at Wang Chongling and asked, "My lord, what should we do now?"
The severance of the relationship between Su Qing and Cang Xuan had completely deprived them of the opportunity to use the relationship between the two families to slander Cang Xuan and incite the scholars across the country to overthrow the imperial examination.
Unexpectedly, such a rare opportunity had slipped through their fingers. Wang Chongling took a deep breath and closed his eyes tightly. His chest heaved violently with emotion.
After calming down his emotions, he said, "Forget it. We'll just look for other opportunities. At least now we know that Cang Xuan also has a weakness, and that weakness is the little girl from the Prince Qing's Mansion. It's really a pity that we couldn't get rid of her during the imperial examination. I don't believe that Cang Xuan and the people in the Prince Qing's Mansion can protect her forever!"
...
In the Prince Cang's Mansion, the servants were bustling around. Two hours ago, they were busy carrying the betrothal gifts out of the warehouse, and now they were busy putting them back. Not only Cang Xuan but also the servants felt annoyed looking at the gifts that had returned to their original places.
After Tian Shu finished counting the gifts and saw the warehouse filled to the brim, he let out a soft sigh and headed towards the main courtyard.
When he entered the courtyard, he saw Cang Xuan standing with his hands behind his back.
Walking up to him, Tian Shu said in a low voice, "My lord, the betrothal gifts have been put back in place. I've counted them, and nothing is missing."
Cang Xuan didn't reply. He just waved his hand. Tian Shu thought he was upset about the failed proposal and let out a silent sigh. He bowed and retreated.
In fact, although Cang Xuan's brows were tightly knitted, there was no sign of annoyance on his face. Instead, he looked deep in thought.
He had sensed something was wrong when Su Qing and his three sons drove him out of the mansion. Su Qing had turned against him too suddenly. Knowing his true identity, he still called him a traitor and wanted to sever the relationship with him. This was definitely not something Su Qing would do.
Since this wasn't Su Qing's intention, then their actions were just an act.
"Woof! Woof woof woof!"
"How are you guarding the gate? How did these three black dogs get in?! Shoo, shoo! Get out quickly! If you don't leave, I'll kill you and make you into dog meat soup!"
In the distance, there came clear barking and Tian Shu's scolding.
Suddenly, Cang Xuan turned around and said, "Tian Shu, let the three dogs in."
Tian Shu didn't expect to have alerted Cang Xuan. He quickly responded and let the three dogs in. The next moment, he saw Hei Ying, Hei Ye, and Hei Feng appear from around the corner. With their tails between their legs and their heads down, they trotted towards Cang Xuan.
The three dogs didn't dare to get too close to him. They stopped five meters away from him, sat obediently on the ground, and stuck out their tongues. They didn't look as imposing as they had when they drove him out of the mansion.
Cang Xuan was both angry and amused. He said coolly to the three dogs, "You were quite arrogant and imposing just now. Why? Aren't you in a hurry to go back and report to your master?"
Hei Feng looked at Hei Ye, and Hei Ye looked at Hei Ying. Finally, Hei Ying took a timid step forward, walked towards Cang Xuan, bit his sleeve gently, and then rolled over on the ground, exposing its belly.
There was a letter pasted on its belly.
On the envelope, there were six characters written in delicate calligraphy: "To Brother Yun Jian." Cang Xuan's expression softened. He bent down to take the letter. Immediately, Hei Ying got up and ran back to its original position, then squatted down again.
Cang Xuan unfolded the letter. There wasn't much written on it. It only said, "The Wang family intends to make trouble with our marriage and incite the imperial examination candidates to cause a stir. We should choose another time for our marriage and be extremely cautious."
So that's why. No wonder the little girl had said that she wouldn't agree to the proposal "today." Su Qing must have received a hint from the little girl and changed his attitude. In front of the onlookers outside the mansion, he had publicly announced that he would sever the relationship.
Although the informants of the Liuyun Pavilion were all over the city, the speed and means of transmitting information were still somewhat limited. But Su Yuanyuan was different. With just a little gray mouse, she could find out a lot of information. What the little girl had written in the letter was definitely not groundless.
This meant that from the moment the Dowager Lady Wang went to the Prince Qing's Mansion to propose marriage, it had been a trap set by the Wang family against them.
Because they had both provided free medical treatment in the city and won the praise of many common people, the Wang family didn't want to see the influence of their two families continue to grow. So they came up with this dirty trick. They sent someone to find out the time when the girl went out every day and blocked her in the mansion on the pretext of proposing marriage before she went out.
As long as he cared about Su Yuanyuan even a little bit, once he heard that someone had come to propose marriage to her, he would never just sit back and watch her fall into someone else's hands. He would definitely go to the Prince Qing's Mansion with the betrothal gifts within the day.
As long as their two families got engaged, the Wang family could take advantage of the situation. By using the mouths of the scholars across the country, they could make this imperial examination end without a result just like the previous autumn imperial examination, and the Wang family's goal would be achieved.
The Wang family really went to great lengths to prevent the new talents from entering the court and changing the situation in the court.
Presumably, even the Wang family didn't expect that he would be driven out of the Prince Qing's Mansion by Su Qing and the others. The little girl's plan really caught the Wang family off guard.
Putting all the things together, Cang Xuan understood the real reason why Su Yuanyuan had rejected the proposal. The indescribable pain in his heart instantly dissipated, and a hint of sweetness that only he knew emerged.
Forget it. It was just a failed proposal. If it didn't work today, there would surely be a suitable time. In ancient times, Liu Bei had to visit Zhuge Liang three times in his thatched cottage before he could persuade him to come out of seclusion. He, Yun Jian, had just been rejected once. What did it matter?
However, he was a man who never let an insult go unavenged. He couldn't just suffer this grievance in vain today. He had to ask the little girl for some benefits.