After rebirth, she became the favorite of the powerful minister.

In the next few days, Yuan Ge didn't go anywhere. She didn't even leave Luofengxuan. She just took Shiyin and Jianshu to pack up her dowry and renovate her yard.

The maid from the Tong family still came every day, and Yuan Ge always found excuses to refuse. Either she had a headache, was ill, or was too busy studying needlework. In short, she had a new excuse every day, and it was never repeated. Until today, when the doorman said that the maid from the Tong family was about to cry, Yuan Ge stopped cutting the branches with the scissors in her hand and said with a smile, "Then tell her to come early tomorrow morning."

The doorman didn't seem surprised. He nodded, lowered his head and quickly left.

He was a very clever boy. He probably realized Yuan Ge's purpose from the beginning. Therefore, he would imitate the other party's reaction every time he passed on the message. Today's reminder was just right... He was a wonderful person. Tong Wanzhen invited him every day with an anxious attitude. I'm afraid she did what Madam Tong meant. She was a concubine of the Tong family. Madam Tong was famous for her jealousy and intolerance. Tong Wanzhen was already walking on thin ice in the Tong family. I'm afraid she was suffering day and night recently.

The timing... is just right.

……

The teahouse they had agreed to meet at, Sanpinju, was located on Dongshi South Street, north of Shengyefang. It was the largest and most famous teahouse in Shengjing. Wen Qian and Tong Wanzhen had mostly met here in the past.

It only took half a cup of tea to get there from the Kejing Marquis's residence. When I left, the sky was gloomy and it started to rain halfway. The rain in late summer and early autumn was drizzling, not heavy, but always brought a lingering melancholy.

When Yuan Ge arrived, the Tong family's servant was already waiting at the door. He was standing outside the eaves without an umbrella, craning his neck to look around. When he saw Yuan Ge, he hurried forward to greet him and said that his young lady had arrived and was sitting by the window on the second floor. As he spoke, he led Yuan Ge upstairs without saying anything, which made the waiter who came to greet him a little at a loss.

Sanpinju is a three-story building. There is no private room on the second floor. The seats are simply separated by curtains. In fact, people come and go in an endless stream. Every move is under the eyes of others. There is really no privacy. In the past, we were invited to the private room on the third floor, but this time it was intentional.

As soon as he went upstairs, Tong Wanzhen had already greeted him. Seeing Yuan Ge, who was wearing a red dress and plain face, paused for a moment, a flash of surprise flashed across her face, and she greeted him warmly, "Qianqian! You are finally here. Are you feeling better? I have been worried every day since I heard you say that you were not feeling well these days. However, since you had just entered the Kejing Marquis's residence, I did not dare to visit you rashly for fear of causing trouble for you... I was relieved to hear that you had finally recovered yesterday! How are you? Are you okay?"

It was not true that he was afraid of getting into trouble, but it was true that he was worried about being embarrassed and losing face in the Song family because of that unpleasant conflict.

Yuan Ge tilted his head to look at her, curled his lips and chuckled. She was about fifteen or sixteen years old, and her appearance was not of great quality, but she had a pair of beautiful, expressive eyes, which were somewhat innocent and naive, and somewhat bright and charming. How could Wen Qian recognize such a pair of deceiving eyes?

Yuan Ge smiled faintly and perfunctorily. He walked slowly past him and sat down. Then he looked at him and said softly, "It's okay. I just caught a cold from staying out late at night. Now I've been drinking medicine for two days and I'm much better now."

The man frowned and looked Yuan Ge up and down. He sighed and walked over to sit down before calling in a low voice, "Qianqian... are you still blaming me? I was also scared to death when I saw you fall into the water that day, but you still, still, still slandered me like that. Tell me yourself, when did I ever plot against him behind his back? After returning home, I realized that you said that to protect yourself. I shouldn't have reacted so violently and said you were a water ghost... Are you still blaming me?"

"Hmm?" Yuan Ge also looked confused and pretended to be stupid, "Didn't you say that? I clearly heard you say that to me. If I had known earlier that my husband was handsome, gentle, knowledgeable and talented, I wouldn't have gone through all this trouble of hanging myself or jumping into the river. I could have just married him happily."

In public, with a screen blocking the way, who knows who is sitting next to him? How could Yuan Ge be blamed?

In her words, there was a vitality in her bright eyes and white teeth, a cleverness and cunningness that Wen Qian had never had before.

Tong Wanzhen stared at the almost unfamiliar "Wen Qian" in front of her, dumbfounded. After a long while, she frowned and shook her head and sighed, "Qian Qian, you should speak according to your conscience. Even if you give me the courage of heaven, I dare not make up stories about Lord Song behind his back! I know that you used me as an excuse because you didn't want people to talk about you and the second prince, but now that there is no one around, you still say this... I am really disappointed."

No one around? Yuan Ge leaned back in his chair and raised his eyebrows to look across. He took a quick look at the table behind him when they came in just now. It seemed that there were people there and they had ordered a table of dishes. But now there was no sound at all. No one was talking, no one was picking up their chopsticks, and no one was drinking tea.

What a lonely place.

Yuan Ge leaned forward and took the teacup in his palm, playing with it for a while, and then said with amusement, "What happened between me and the Second Prince? He and I are innocent, we have never been alone together, and we have never given or received anything from each other privately. Why do you have to find an excuse to cover up? You knew the inside story, but you still said such misleading words... Really, I am the one who should be disappointed, right?"

Tong Wanzhen was slightly startled, and felt that the person in front of her was really unfamiliar... Wen Qian, as her name suggests, was gentle, timid, pale, and never noticed. As the daughter of a minister, she was even more cautious than a concubine's daughter. She always walked with her shoulders tucked in and her neck shrunk. She spoke in a low voice and rarely looked people in the eye. She had beautiful facial features but no spirit, like a puppet without a soul.

She is very easy to control and believes whatever I say.

When have you ever been so sharp-tongued?

"Qianqian, but you clearly..." Tong Wanzhen glanced at the stairs calmly, "But you clearly love the Second Prince, how can you fake it? If you say those misleading words, isn't it because you have done something misleading? Now you want to blame me... Blame me, I know your position is difficult, and I always stand by you. But you, but you still have to say these heartbreaking words... I, I..."

As he spoke, his voice choked and his eyes were filled with tears. I felt pity for him seeing him cry in front of such a beautiful woman.

Yuan Ge had no pity.

Miss Yuan put down her teacup, propped up her chin, raised her eyebrows slightly, and asked with a smile, "Zhenzhen, I have a question I have always wanted to ask you... Do you like Song Wenyuan?"

The tearful beauty was startled and subconsciously looked towards the stairs.

The stairs were not far from here, and there stood five young men in gorgeous clothes with brilliant looks on their faces.

A chopstick fell from the table behind me and landed right under the screen, with half of it on that side and half on that side.

The sound of chopsticks falling to the ground was like some kind of switch, awakening the almost frozen people. Tong Wanzhen suddenly stood up and loudly proved her innocence, "I didn't!" Her eyes were still fixed on one person, her heart beating like a pounding drum.