Chapter 62 – Rumors, People Are Spreading Gossip About Him

Every time after thinking about all these things, Meng Huan always felt that his mental state was not right, but he couldn’t suppress himself from thinking in that direction, feeling very conflicted.

He could feel it himself. He was becoming more and more like a man in a female-dominant society.

This was not a superficial change, but a change in his essence. His thinking was already different from before.

He felt that he was a failure. Compared to the male protagonists in other novels who were invincible, he was simply a waste. He was clearly a modern person, but he was firmly grasped in the palm of an ancient woman.

But, but he was just an ordinary person. He didn’t have the willpower like the protagonists, nor did he have heaven-defying luck or the help of a powerful backer. He also didn’t have solid skills.

He was a completely useless person in modern times. At most, he was just a bit more fickle, a bit more irresponsible, and a bit more incapable.

“Wen Xi, find me a white silk rope!” Meng Huan suddenly stood up from his seat, and after giving the order, he picked up the back of the chair and walked out.

Wen Xi was a bit dazed, not understanding what he wanted the white silk rope for. He could only hurriedly chase after him and then saw that he had already placed the stool in the center of the vermilion-lacquered main door of Qingzhu Garden.

He stood on the stool, trembling and gesturing a few times, with a posture of wanting to hang himself. He even waved at Wen Xi, “Hurry up, all I’m missing now is the white silk rope!”

With Meng Huan like this, how could Wen Xi dare to really get him a white silk rope? He hurriedly rushed to the stool to hug him, “Young master, you mustn’t think of doing anything rash!”

The guards standing at the door saw that the situation was not good and also ran over to help.

But men and women should not have physical contact. They could only stand around anxiously without being able to get him down.

There was no way to keep this stalemate going. The leading guard was afraid that something big would happen, so she hurriedly sent someone to find the master. Before long, Wen Zhaoyin rushed over.

She frowned as she looked at Meng Huan squatting on the stool, her head aching unbearably. “Get down.”

She really didn’t know who he learned this set of crying, making a scene, and threatening suicide from. She just didn’t come for three days, and he was already making a fuss.

“Still not coming down? Waiting for me to hug you?” She walked up close and looked down at Meng Huan squatting on the stool.

The latter slightly raised his head, glanced at her, then turned his face away. His words were very tough, “If you want to kill or flay me, just say it. What are you doing keeping me locked up and not seeing me?”

Meng Huan knew that he was a coward and afraid of death, ordinary and useless. Even if he was raised to be a man in a female-dominant society, he still wanted to live on shamelessly.

After accurately positioning himself, he felt much more open-minded. He was not just waiting passively but used all the methods he could think of to fight for more benefits for himself.

He opened his arms, indicating for her to do as she said. “If you don’t hug me, I won’t come down.”

He knew that he had broken Wen Zhaoyin’s rules by sneaking out of the mansion. If he waited for her to deal with it, she might impose some punishment, so he wanted to take the initiative instead of being passive.

Who knew that the other party didn’t fall for his trick at all? She stood in place, lowering her head to look at him, not angry but smiling instead.

Moreover, she ordered around, “Wen Xi, go to the warehouse to get a white silk rope. Guards, open the main gate wide. Make sure everyone passing by can see him.”

After saying all this, she turned around to leave.

Wen Zhaoyin was sure about this man. She knew that he was greedy for life and afraid of death. How would he dare to really kill himself? He was just putting on a show for her to see.

Did he think that just because she liked him, he could do whatever he wanted and even sneak out of the mansion without being held accountable?

She was just hesitating for a few days because of what happened with the human traffickers and had some sympathy for him. She hadn’t figured out how to punish him yet. It wasn’t that she was really that tolerant.

Now with him making a scene like this, it undoubtedly dissipated her softness.

“Suit yourself.”

Hearing her leave the last sentence and turning to leave heartlessly, Meng Huan, squatting on the stool, stomped his feet in anger. Why wasn’t this trick working when he used it?

“Wen Zhaoyin!”

He called out, but she still didn’t turn back. In a moment of desperation, he directly jumped off the stool and ran after her.

The guards didn’t think to stop him this time. He chased after her like this, reached out to grab her sleeve, and forced her to stop.

Wen Zhaoyin turned around, feeling that he was being too unruly today. Just as she was about to scold him, she saw that he had already started shedding tears.

She didn’t know why he was crying. Even Meng Huan himself didn’t know why he suddenly cried.

“Don’t always keep me locked up. I really can’t take it anymore.”

“Maybe for you, a man running out is a big mistake. If I made a mistake, then have someone beat me. What’s the point of keeping me locked up all the time?”

“Your father and that surnamed Xie, they took advantage of my absence before and took Wen You away every day. They didn’t even let the wet nurse follow. I couldn’t even go out the door to take the child back.”

From being a bit stuttering at the beginning to speaking faster and faster now, it was as if he had opened up a chatterbox.

“Don’t you like the way I look? You always lock me in the courtyard without even a glance. What kind of liking is that?”

“You have no idea how difficult it is for me to live here, with no one to rely on and not even a single relative. I even have menstruation and give birth to children. I’m in pain and fear every day, and no one ever cares about me.”

“No phone, no games, and I can’t even drink alcohol. I’m bored to death every day, but you act like nothing happened. When you’re in a good mood, you think of me and take a look. When you don’t think of me, you just busy yourself with your own things.”

“I don’t want to live every day like a pet. That’s why I secretly ran away. Really, if you want to kill or flay me, just say it. Don’t make me suffer like this anymore!”

After finishing, Meng Huan raised his sleeve to cover his face, crying, then secretly left a slit to observe Wen Zhaoyin’s expression.

Half-true and half-false words were the easiest to make people believe, especially when he spoke from the perspective of relying on her, which must be correct.

He was a bit expectant of what her reaction would be.

However, this expectation lasted a bit long.

Meng Huan took his sleeve away and looked at her, only to find that she was not moved at all and just stood there looking at him calmly.

This woman had no heart! He said so much, yet she didn’t even have a single expression!

For some reason, he felt even more upset and really started crying, silently shedding tears, unlike the fake wailing just now.

“Sigh.” A barely discernible light sigh entered his ears.

Wen Zhaoyin finally moved. She walked towards him slowly, raised her hand to vaguely rest on his shoulder, and led him back to Qingzhu Garden.

“Let’s go back.”

Meng Huan looked up at her, and in the end, he didn’t say anything. He was led by her into the courtyard, then into the room, and sat with her on the couch by the window.

Seeing that she didn’t seem to be in a hurry to leave, he realized that she had probably calmed down. So he said, “I haven’t eaten today.”

“Thinking that you wouldn’t come to see me, the more I thought about it, the more upset I became. I couldn’t even eat.” He said somewhat insincerely.

Wen Zhaoyin didn’t know if she believed him or didn’t want to expose his lie. She only said, “What do you want to eat? I’ll have someone make it and bring it over.”

“Is that the point? It’s the previous sentence!” Meng Huan glared. Compared to the previous unfamiliarity, he was now very skilled at acting spoiled.

What was the previous sentence? Of course, it was missing her. Wen Zhaoyin wasn’t stupid. She naturally knew, but she pretended not to know and asked him with a raised eyebrow, “What is it?”

Was this asking him to say it himself? Meng Huan wasn’t quite sure. He turned his head to look at her a few times and found that it seemed to be the case.

He had already said it once, so how could he be embarrassed to say it a second time? He said very naturally, “Of course it’s missing you!”

He thought these words would make her happy, but unexpectedly, she retorted, “Then during the half month you were outside, did you ever think of me? I suppose you didn’t, right?”

With just a short sentence, just a few words, it was like it had thorns, stabbing Meng Huan so directly that he couldn’t say a word.

If he lied and said he missed her, he would definitely be questioned about why he didn’t come back if he missed her so much, and he might even be told that since he liked her so much, why did he run away?

But if he said he didn’t miss her, wouldn’t that directly negate what he just said?

In this current situation, he was really in a difficult position.

Seeing that he didn’t say anything, Wen Zhaoyin was not angry. She only said calmly, “I hope that after this incident, you can be more settled. I won’t pursue it then.”

These words seemed to say that she knew all his little tricks and told him not to play any tricks. If he lived peacefully, she would not punish him again for this matter.

Meng Huan forced a smile, just nodded, and didn’t say anything else.

——

After this day, he was able to move freely around the Wen family’s residence again.

However, the servants who were very polite to him before, after he returned this time, hurriedly avoided him when they saw him, and also spoke to him evasively, running away as soon as they finished speaking.

Even if Meng Huan was a fool, he could obviously feel the change in everyone’s attitude towards him, but he didn’t know the reason.

Sometimes, he could even see two or three people in the corner watching him and whispering. When they were discovered by him, they hurriedly left.

When he was with Wen Zhaoyin, those people were a little more restrained, but he could still feel the invisible rejection.

What exactly was going on? Could it be that after going out for a trip, these people started to reject him?

He asked Wen Xi in bewilderment, “I see that many people have been avoiding me recently. You live next door to them. Have you heard anything?”

Wen Xi’s hand paused while combing his hair, smiling a little reluctantly, “No, no, it’s just Young Master’s misconception.”

“You want to hide it from me again?” Meng Huan didn’t believe it at all. His hand grabbed Wen Xi’s wrist, not letting him leave even if he wanted to.

He pulled the person to turn around and face him, “We can be considered to have a life-and-death relationship. What can’t I know? Just tell me quickly.”

He knew that Wen Xi was wholeheartedly good to him. Even if he hid it from him, it was for his own good.

But Meng Huan still wanted to know, what exactly were those people rejecting and alienating him for?

The latter bit his lip and finally told the truth, “It’s just some rumors.”

“The master said to outsiders that you went out to worship Buddha, but someone said that you were abducted from home by bandits… and ruined, and then found by the master.”

“There are also those who say that you ran out by yourself, were harmed by someone, and then couldn’t survive outside, so you came back on your own.”

“Also…” Wen Xi said a string of similar rumors, each one sounding like it had a nose and eyes, as if it was real.

Meng Huan was simply speechless. He slammed his hand on the table, “Why was I either ruined or harmed when I went out? These people’s thoughts are really dirty!”

With his experience in the village, this time he wouldn’t underestimate the power of rumors, but after hearing all this, he didn’t know how to solve it.

He couldn’t just grab someone and say that he wasn’t ruined. Not only would it be strange behavior, but it also wouldn’t work. If he was unlucky, it might even make things worse.

“When did you know? It must have been a while, right? If I didn’t ask you, would you never tell me even if you were beaten to death?” He turned his head to look at Wen Xi, getting even angrier.

Wen Xi kept waving his hands, “This servant also heard it recently. At first, they were very careful, and this servant didn’t notice either.”

“But this servant secretly listened for a few days and heard some clues. These rumors about you, most of them came from the mouths of servants from Young Master Xie and Patriarch’s side.”

“Servants of Xie Yunjin and Zu Jun?” Meng Huan muttered in a low voice, and suddenly the image of Xie Yunjin and Wen Zhaoyin standing together at the door on the day he returned appeared in his eyes.

He remembered that when he came back that day, he didn’t tidy himself up. His clothes were in disarray and he was covered in blood.

It must be that surnamed Xie who fabricated these few rumors based on his appearance at that time, trying to use them to ruin his reputation!

Deducing this, Meng Huan’s teeth creaked, “Does he think that by doing this, he can make Wen Zhaoyin like him? He’s delusional!”

Wen Xi looked out the window nervously and advised, “Young Master, don’t say that. Be careful of being heard by the servants outside.”

If it was before, it wouldn’t matter if Meng Huan spoke a little recklessly, but now it was a special period. Everyone was spreading rumors that he was ruined. Whatever he said, he had to be careful to avoid causing more trouble.

“Besides, this servant doesn’t have much ability. I can only find out that it was spread by servants from those two, but as for whether they were instigated, this servant can only guess. I can’t completely determine it now.”

Meng Huan had calmed down a bit and nodded after hearing him finish.

“That’s right. Even if it was really done by them, I have no way to solve it.” Even if he dragged Xie Yunjin out and pointed at his nose in front of everyone, saying that it was him who spread it, what use would it be?

Those people must have preconceived notions and wouldn’t believe his words anymore. They might even think that he was framing the surnamed Xie.

This kind of thing couldn’t be explained, because it would definitely get worse the more it was described.

He thought, even if the rumors outside were fierce, Wen Zhaoyin knew the truth. He wasn’t ruined. What else could they do to him besides just gossiping?

He wasn’t a real man in a female-dominant society, and these servants, as slaves, couldn’t hurt him like the villagers. Mere words couldn’t affect him at all.

“Let’s go. Let’s take a walk outside.” The more those people talked about him, the more he wanted to go out.

He wouldn’t back down and would even compete!

Xie Yunjin wanted to drag him down? He wouldn’t. He would even be together with Wen Zhaoyin in front of him to infuriate him.

Usually, Wen Zhaoyin would work in the small study of Qingzhu Garden, but sometimes when handling big matters or meeting guests, she still had to be in the big study of the main house.

When Meng Huan went, it was just right. The guests had just left, and then Zu Jun sent someone to invite her to the small courtyard to talk.

“I want to go together too!” He said bluntly.

The former had no objection and took him along to the small courtyard. It was Zu Jun whose expression was not very good when he saw him.

Previously, Zu Jun said that he was ill and strongly demanded Xie Yunjin to stay. Zu Jun was not pretending to be ill, but was really ill, and even seriously ill, almost lying in bed every day and unable to get up.

Tortured by the illness, plus his old age, Zu Jun felt that his days were numbered. He no longer hid his emotions. Seeing Meng Huan unpleasant to the eye, he scolded him with all his might.

“It’s been some time since you returned from outside. How come you only came to see me today? I’m afraid you don’t take this old man seriously.”

“If you don’t want to come, you don’t have to come. How come you suddenly came today? Don’t force a smile on your face. It’s disgusting to see.”

Meng Huan couldn’t even maintain his smile anymore. Before his buttocks even touched the chair, Zu Jun started to criticize him. He really couldn’t tolerate him at all.

He didn’t say anything, but frowned and tugged at Wen Zhaoyin beside him, hoping that she could say something.

He didn’t ask her to favor either side, only hoping that she could divert Zu Jun’s attention and not let him keep focusing on criticizing him.

He came to provoke Xie Yunjin, but before he could provoke him, he didn’t want to leave dejectedly after being scolded.

In the end, Zu Jun was angry because Wen Zhaoyin liked him and not the surnamed Xie. As long as he maintained Wen Zhaoyin’s liking for him, no matter what the two said or did, it would be ineffective.

“Wife…” He called out in a low voice, looking at Wen Zhaoyin with some sadness.

She seemed to be unable to listen anymore and wanted to speak. On the other side, Xie Yunjin was supported by servants and walked in.

As soon as he entered, he discovered that there was an extra person in the room today. There was a momentary consternation on his face, but he quickly replaced it with the same smile as before.

“Patriarch, do you feel a little better today? This is lotus seed and bird’s nest that I personally cooked for you. Try it.”

The two talked and laughed for a while. He turned around with undiminished enthusiasm and greeted, “Cousin is also here? And Young Master Meng.”

“I had some matters at hand these past few days and haven’t had the chance to visit Young Master since his return. It’s really too rude. Yunjin apologizes to you here.”

If it weren’t for witnessing his other side on the morning of the day he ran away from home, Meng Huan would have believed his false enthusiasm today.

He pulled his hand away from the other party’s grasp with a somewhat fake smile and said bluntly, “I don’t seem to be very familiar with you. Whether you come or not, you don’t need to apologize to me.”

The smile on Xie Yunjin’s face remained, as if he wasn’t the one being spoken to at all.

Instead, Zu Jun beside him slapped the bed and said angrily, “Bastard! Yunjin, don’t pay attention to this wretch! How did I agree to let him be Zhaoyin’s concubine back then? I must have been blind.”

He was muddled by illness and didn’t care how many people were present. He just said it out loud, making even Wen Zhaoyin’s face look a bit unpleasant.

She spoke, “Father, if Meng Huan did something wrong, just tell me. I’ll have him change it. There’s no need to say such things.”

“Besides, Meng Huan and Xie Yunjin are not familiar with each other to begin with. He didn’t lie either. What are you angry about?”

She already had some objections to Zu Jun letting Xie Yunjin stay. Moreover, Zu Jun found various reasons every day to call her over to spend time with him.

She actually didn’t dislike Xie Yunjin, but she disliked this feeling of being forcibly matched up. The more it happened, the more she hated coming over. If it weren’t for her father’s illness getting more and more serious, she definitely wouldn’t have come.

As a result, her father was now getting increasingly presumptuous, starting to criticize Meng Huan in front of him, and it was especially obvious, as if looking for trouble for no reason.

Regardless of whether Meng Huan was good or bad, he was her man. Saying a few words was fine, but if it continued, she couldn’t listen to it either.

Zu Jun never expected that his daughter would actually talk back to him because of a man. He instantly became so angry that he started coughing.