Transmigrated as a Scum Alpha: Now I Have a Wife via the Heartless Dao - Chapter 12

After saying that, no matter how much Yu Qianyan asked, Rong Shu wouldn’t answer anymore.

Helpless, Yu Qianyan decided to put the matter aside. She didn’t bother looking for her usual pack of fair-weather friends, opting instead to stay by Rong Shu’s side to greet guests, preventing any other dim-witted troublemakers like Qi Xiaoxiao from coming over to stir up trouble.

As for the Beta who had been standing with Rong Shu and was called a “lickspittle” by Qi Xiaoxiao, they had left with their group shortly after Yu Qianyan arrived, though their identity and background remained unknown.

Yu Qianyan felt inexplicably curious about this, thinking she should ask Rong Shu about it later.

Thanks to Yu Qianyan’s timely intervention, the trouble Qi Xiaoxiao had stirred up for no reason didn’t cause much of a stir among the guests.

After all, regardless of how Rong Shu and Yu Qianyan’s engagement had come about, the scale of today’s event showed that the Yu family valued her highly. Besides, a done deal could hardly compare to the thrill of royal gossip.

Before a few rounds of drinks had passed, people began to probe Yu Qianyan indirectly about the truth behind the gossip.

Yu Qianyan was no fool. Being forced to reveal the truth to fight back was one thing, but continuing to maliciously spread it later was quite another. So, she kept her mouth shut and smilingly deflected anyone who came to ask.

Ironically, this cryptic attitude only made people believe the secret even more firmly, and it began to spread quietly through the social circle.

Yu Qianyan didn’t care about how the situation developed. After accompanying Rong Shu to toast a few more rounds, she made the excuse that Rong Shu couldn’t handle her liquor and took her to the lounge.

Although Rong Shu remained silent, she didn’t refuse Yu Qianyan’s kindness, obediently going to the lounge to wait for the Yu family’s mother and daughter to finish their socializing. The ceremony was already over, the required formalities had been completed, and the Yu family’s high regard for her had been made perfectly clear, so leaving now wouldn’t cause any negative impact.

Once Rong Shu had left, Yu Qianyan had no intention of facing things alone and quickly went to find Yu Qishan.

When she arrived, Yu Qishan had already had enough to drink. Given her status, no one dared to force her to drink too much. Seeing her daughter arrive, Yu Qishan lost interest in socializing further. She gave Yu Qianyan a signal, preparing to leave early under the pretense of being busy with official business.

At this stage of the engagement banquet, the hosts’ presence mattered little. If Yu Qishan left, most of the guests would probably leave too. As for the few who wanted to stay and drink, the hotel certainly wouldn’t kick them out, letting them have their fill, as the Yu family wouldn’t stiff them on the bill anyway.

Unexpectedly, before she had taken a few steps, Xiong Weian appeared out of nowhere and stopped Yu Qishan, saying he wanted to speak to her privately.

Yu Qishan looked reluctant, saying, “If you have something to say, say it right here!”

Xiong Weian looked at Yu Qishan, then at Yu Qianyan, who didn’t understand what was going on but was listening obediently to her mother—and snorted.

“Are you going to talk or not? If not, I’m leaving.”

Xiong Weian was likely truly anxious, as he didn’t argue with Yu Qishan further. He scanned his surroundings to ensure no one was near and whispered, “What about the matter I discussed with you earlier? Have you considered it?”

“Not at all. Different paths do not make for common ground. You walk your path of speculation, and I will walk my own broad road.”

After Yu Qishan finished speaking, Xiong Weian’s anger was clearly flaring, but he forcibly suppressed it. He stared sullenly at Yu Qishan, and in the end, he left without even throwing out a harsh threat.

Yu Qianyan glanced toward the small door Xiong Weian was heading to and noticed that Xiong Yi had been waiting there for a long time. Xiong Yi opened the door before Xiong Weian even reached it. The two left rather stealthily, without alerting anyone, and she immediately felt a sense of doubt.

Glancing at Yu Qishan’s expression, Yu Qianyan guessed that with her mother’s stubborn nature of fighting to the bitter end, she definitely wouldn’t tell her, so she didn’t ask further and followed Yu Qishan to take Rong Shu back to the Yu residence.

Rong Shu’s luggage had already been sent over, and her room, arranged opposite Yu Qianyan’s, was already tidied up. Aside from some personal items that had been packed separately, the rest had been properly organized by the servants, ready for her to move in at any time.

Yu Qianyan told Rong Shu to go check if she needed anything added to her room first, while she followed Yu Qishan closely to her private study.

Yu Qishan was impatient and puzzled, asking with great displeasure, “I’ve brought your fiancée back for you, why aren’t you going to find Rong Shu? Why are you following me?”

Once she finished, her expression changed, and she demanded fiercely, “You didn’t do something absurd again and need me to clean up your mess, did you?! You’ve only been well-behaved for a few days!”

Yu Qianyan didn’t care about Yu Qishan’s attitude. Her mind was occupied with other things, and she had no time to bicker about such trivialities. She asked directly, “Didn’t you say no royal family members would come to today’s engagement banquet? Then why did Qi Xiaoxiao show up? And why didn’t he sit at the main table?”

“He came for that brat from the Xiong family. He’s been clinging to Xiong Yi for a long time. That old fool Xiong Weian pretends to say his son and the other are just good friends, but in reality, he’s probably incredibly smug about it. After all, he’s the Emperor and Empress’s own youngest son. Why? Did the Ninth Prince offend you both? If he really did, it must have been instigated by Xiong Yi. That kid is just as cunning as his father.”

So he had snuck in, which explained why he was so nervous when she mentioned exposing the surveillance footage.

Since that was the case, now that she had offended the Ninth Prince, he surely wouldn’t dare retaliate openly, and it shouldn’t implicate Yu Qishan.

But these were all Yu Qianyan’s own deductions. After contemplating for a moment, she still told Yu Qishan about these events to avoid causing trouble without knowing it.

Fortunately, Yu Qishan had the same idea and waved her hand dismissively, “It’s fine. The Ninth Prince won’t dare tell anyone. He won’t even mention that he attended the banquet today. If His Majesty knew he dared to associate with noble officials in private during such a period, he wouldn’t let him off lightly. You can rest assured on that count.”

Upon hearing this, Yu Qianyan felt there was a lot of hidden information and wanted to ask more, but she was immediately kicked out by Yu Qishan, who turned hostile again.

Having been kicked out so many times, Yu Qianyan had gradually grown accustomed to Yu Qishan’s temper, which changed at the drop of a hat. She went to Rong Shu’s room, her mind full of thoughts.

“How is it? Is anything missing?”

Rong Shu was sitting on the bed, her hands clutching the newly changed sheets, pulling wrinkles into them like flowers. She lowered her eyes and bowed her head, her expression unreadable, and she didn’t respond to Yu Qianyan.

Yu Qianyan stepped forward, confused. Seeing that Rong Shu still refused to look up at her, she had no choice but to crouch down by Rong Shu’s side and look up at her.

“What’s wrong? Are you unhappy? Did something get lost? Is it broken? Or did someone bully you?”

Rong Shu slowly raised her eyes and gazed silently into Yu Qianyan’s pupils, as if trying to find her own reflection in the depths of them.

Yu Qianyan didn’t rush her, simply waiting for Rong Shu to speak voluntarily.

After a minute or two, Rong Shu shifted her gaze lightly toward the decorative painting on the wall and asked in a hoarse voice, “Yu Qianyan, can you tell me, since you’ve never met the Ninth Prince before, how did you know he was infatuated with Xiong Yi?”

Yu Qianyan was stumped. She had naturally known it from the plot.

Originally, Qi Xiaoxiao wouldn’t have appeared until a year after Rong Shu married the original host, and before that, the original host had indeed had zero interaction with this Ninth Prince.

This was hard to explain, and looking at Rong Shu’s reaction, could it be that she had misunderstood and thought she was secretly close to Qi Xiaoxiao, and was now jealous? That would make sense, and it would explain her drastic change in attitude and talk of forgiveness.

Yu Qianyan immediately declared that she had heard it all from Yu Qishan, repeating almost word-for-word what Yu Qishan had just said.

Rong Shu listened, pondered for a moment, and neither said she believed it nor that she didn’t.

Yu Qianyan assumed she had believed her and was just about to ask who that Beta standing next to her was, when she saw Rong Shu’s eyes suddenly brighten. Rong Shu slowly smiled, as blooming as spring water and as charming as green mountains.

Yu Qianyan was dazzled by the smile. She stared distractedly at Rong Shu, who was moving closer and closer to her, not realizing that the distance between them had become excessively intimate, almost touching the tips of their noses.

Rong Shu tilted her head slightly, her lips pressed against Yu Qianyan’s ear. Yu Qianyan’s gaze shifted instinctively to Rong Shu’s fair, delicate neck. Vaguely, she seemed to smell that intoxicating, alluring fragrance again and swallowed hard.

In this position, Yu Qianyan couldn’t see the madness burning in Rong Shu’s eyes, only hearing her ask softly and melodiously, “Since it wasn’t to seek my forgiveness, then why were you protecting me so much today?”

“Yu Qianyan, you wouldn’t happen to be in love with me, would you?”

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