Chapter 84: Back to the Chen Residence

The whole convoy and the crowd were in the midst of noise and chaos. Chen Rong looked left and right. Seeing that no one was paying attention to her, she jumped off the carriage and squeezed into the crowd.

She was agile, drilling in and out of the crowd with ease, and ran in the direction of the Chen residence.

Everyone was pouring towards Wang Hong's direction. Chen Rong went the opposite way. It was easy to walk there, and in a short while, she arrived at South Street.

The whole world quieted down.

Looking at the familiar street, Chen Rong, who narrowly escaped death, looked around. Everything was so familiar and beautiful.

After walking past a few closed shops belonging to her family, she saw from afar that there was one with its doors wide open. It was a rouge and powder store. There were pink veils everywhere, brightly painted mahogany counters, and it was spotless.

Chen Rong walked in quickly.

Guarding the shop was a tall, thin young servant of twenty-seven or twenty-eight. When he saw Chen Rong come to the door, he hurriedly welcomed her and said with a polite smile, "Gentleman..."

Just then, Chen Rong took off her gauze cap and revealed her face.

The young servant froze, he cried out in surprise, "Gentlewoman, gentlewoman."

Chen Rong looked at him and smiled, saying, "It's me, no need to be so agitated."

The young servant wiped the wet corners of his eyes with his sleeves and said in a trembling voice, "We worried day and night, and news coming from Moyang City got worse day by day, I¹He refers to himself as "the slave". was really scared."

Chen Rong was impatient, she nodded her head haphazardly and asked, "Where is Mrs. Ping? She can show herself now."

"Yes, yes." The young servant hurriedly said, "I will go and call her."

Chen Rong waved her hand.

The shop wasn't small, with two rooms in and one out. Chen Rong walked inside and collapsed into a sit since she was the only one there.

After sitting down, she looked around as she sipped a drink. The store was exquisitely cleaned, but it was a little deserted, and business seemed to be on the low end.

Just as she was thinking, the sound of hurried footsteps came. In the blink of an eye, Mrs. Ping rushed in. As soon as she saw Chen Rong, her eyes reddened. Tears were streaming down her face.

Mrs. Ping covered her face with her sleeves. When she saw Chen Rong stand up to hug her, she took a step back.

She fell to her knees in front of Chen Rong with a plop, crying. As she cried, she accused, "Knowing that Moyang City is a deadly place, how could a maiden go there just like that? Even if the king of Nanyang asked for her, she could live and peacefully grow old. Hasn't the maiden ever heard? Better a living dog than a dead lion."

She said a sentence, then choked, continued, and again burst into tears. Chen Rong looked at her and saw that in only the past few days her black hair and had been speckled with frost.

Moved, Chen Rong hurriedly supported Mrs. Ping's arms and forcibly pulled her up. As soon as she was lifted up, when she saw Chen Rong's face, she began to cry again.

Mrs. Ping cried for a quarter of an hour before she stopped under Chen Rong's impatient urges for her to quiet down.

They sat down next to each other. Chen Rong hurriedly asked, "After I left, was there anything unusual in the Chen residence?"

Mrs. Ping took out her handkerchief to wipe away her tears and hoarsely said, "There wasn't anything unusual, but I heard that your uncle lost his temper, saying 'how dare that girl not say anything to the family after leaving' and that you had to kneel in the ancestral temple when you got back. Even your sisters, at the party, said that you might have eloped with a man. However, after your uncle sent someone to check your possessions, they all said that you had not picked up a penny or any of your belongings, nothing was missing."

Chen Rong breathed a sigh of relief.

She took Mrs. Ping by the hand and said, "Beldame, come back to the Chen residence with me."

Mrs. Ping was surprised and her eyes widened. "Miss, I was driven out."

Chen Rong frowned, "It doesn't matter. I will say you were loyal to me on my journey, and I brought you back." Then she sneered and said, "At worst, I will announce in front of everyone that all your expenses will be borne by me, and guarantee that I won't spend half a grain of the family's rice."

Mrs. Ping bowed her head and thought about the feasibility of her words.

Chen Rong impatiently ordered, "Beldame, do you have any clothes for me? It's getting late. We're going back to the Chen residence."

Mrs. Ping nodded again and again and said, "Yes, yes, when I was driven out that day, I took two sets of the old dresses the miss often wore in the north for keepsake. I'll fetch one right away."

After a while, Mrs. Ping brought a set of Chen Rong's dress.

While Chen Rong changed, Old Shang quietly drove over a carriage. The three got into the carriage and returned to the Chen residence.

At the gate of the Chen residence, the servants came and went, one by one, tiptoeing and looking in the direction of the North Gate. Amidst the chatter, they all asked, "I wonder if Wang Qilang will pass this way?" "Surely he will. See, several masters have gone to greet him." "Didn't King Nanyang already received Wang Qilang at the Nanyang mansion?" "Certainly not. If he did, why is the North Gate still so crowded?"

Amidst the chaotic shouting, Chen Rong said to Old Shang, "Go through the side gate."

Old Shang understood what she meant and drove the carriage toward a remote side gate through which Wang Qilang's entourage would never pass.

Sure enough, the side gate was deserted and Chen Rong's arrival only alarmed a few doormen and house guards.

When the carriage drove past Chen Wei's courtyard, the yard was deserted. Chen Wei probably went to watch the hustle and bustle.

In Chen Rong's courtyard, the servants had nothing to do because their master was away. Suddenly seeing Chen Rong return, one by one, they beamed with delight. They swarmed around her, asking questions.

Chen Rong did not answer. She waved off the crowd and went back to the house to bathe and change her clothes. After soaking in the bucket for more than half an hour, she lazily stood up and changed into a new light green dress.

When she got to the courtyard, there was already a lot of laughter in Chen Wei's courtyard next door.

Mrs. Ping was a little uneasy. When she saw Chen Rong coming, she hurriedly greeted her and asked, "Miss, are you going to see the master?"

Chen Rong frowned and thought, then nodded and said, "Well, I'll have to sooner or later. Since I can't avoid it, let's go." She thought that now that the news of Wang Qilang's safe return had stormed the city, Chen Yuan and Miss Ruan wouldn't punish her too much.

Chen Rong had just turned around when she heard Chen Wei's cry of surprise, "What, Ah Rong is back?"

After her cry, there was a swarm of footsteps, and in the blink of an eye, seven or eight heads poked in Chen Rong's courtyard gate.

As soon as the Chen ladies came back after going to see Wang Hong, they heard the news of Chen Rong's return. Curious and surprised, they rushed in.

Looking at the girls who were peeking, Chen Rong bowed and called out, "Ah Rong greets the sisters." Without waiting for Chen Xi²SOS is she called Chen Xi or Chen Qian? The Chinese character can be read both ways... to ask, she hung her head and nervously said, "I was just about to ask my uncle for forgiveness."

As soon as the words left her lips, Chen Xi said, "Let's go together."

Chen Wei said at the back, "My father is not here. He is helping Wang Qilang wash off the dust³(接风洗尘)
welcome and help wash off the dust — to treat somebody to dinner on arriving."

Chen Rong still bowed her head and respectfully said, "It'd be the same even if I were to greet my aunt."

Chen Xi impatiently rushed in, "Just go later." She didn't stop until she was in front of Chen Rong.

Tilting her head and sizing up Chen Rong for a long while, Chen Xi suddenly asked, "Ah Rong, why are you back now?"

Chen Rong knew that what she really meant was, how come you came back at the same time as Wang Qilang?

Chen Rong's eyes were bright and shining as she raised her head and hurriedly told the girls, "I heard that Wang Qilang returned today. Did he come back safe and sound? The streets are so crowded. Did you welcome him, too? Great."

Her tone and expression were really happy and expectant, even a vague regret that she did not see Wang Qilang showed. When the girls saw her, they couldn't help looking at each other.

Just now, when they heard that Chen Rong had returned, their first thought was: why did she come back at the same time as Wang Qilang?

Looking at her face, could it be a coincidence?

Just then, Chen Rong looked towards the street and murmured in a low voice, "In a place like Moyang City, he must have really suffered. I thought I would never see him again."

What she said reminded the girls, right, Moyang City is a deadly place. Chen Rong's brain wasn't fried, even if she wanted to meet her lover in private, she would have to go while it was safe. It seemed to really be a coincidence.

Having figured it out, the girls were heated up again.

Chen Wei rushed up, she circled around Chen Rong and laughed, "Ah Rong, not only have you lost weight, you darkened. It seems that if Qilang calls for you, you have to apply powder."

As she said that, her eyes turned to see Mrs. Ping and she exclaimed, "Why are you, old servant, still here?"

As soon as her words fell, Chen Rong's unhappy voice sounded from behind. "I met a refugee on the way, and Mrs. Ping stood in front of me. Fortunately, a carriage rushed by in time. If it hadn't, I really don't know what would have happened to her. Ah Wei, she is a loyal servant who saved my life, so I brought her back."

After a pause, she pursed her lips and stubbornly said, "Even if my uncle wants to beat or kill her, I will keep beldame Ping."

Chen Wei, startled, said in a daze, "She saved you loyally and you brought her back to reward her kindness, Father will not disagree." Her voice seemed a little displeased. Ah Rong, knowing full well that since the servant saved her, her father would allow her to stay, actually said that he'd want to 'beat or kill her', making her father sound heartless and unjust.

When Chen Wei pouted, Chen Xi turned to stare at Chen Rong and suddenly smiled.

Her smile was very strange. It took the ladies by surprise at first, but the next moment, they looked at Chen Rong with the same smile.

Chen Wei was no exception. She covered her mouth with her sleeve, narrowed her eyes, and sympathetically said, "Ah Rong, there is one thing... You must hold on."

As her voice trailed off, Chen Xi said disdainfully on the side, "Her? With her status, she's just being toyed around with. It's out of the question, no matter how much he likes her. Ah Wei, telling her to hold on is improper. Besides, a woman should be tolerant. Even if he is really engaged to another, she should be glad."

After the girls laughed for a while at Chen Rong's dazed, confused and uneasy eyes, Chen Xi was the first to open her mouth, "Ah Rong, your Qilang has brought back a 'darling'. Tsk, tsk, you don't know, when your Qilang called his darling, it was so gentle and passionate, really."

She tsked a few times, her eyes full of sympathy. But her voice carried jealousy of the 'darling' she never met.

Chen Rong's face was still.

She blinked and lowered her head slowly. After bowing for a moment, she stepped back, turned her back to the girls, and said lowly, "Thank you, sisters, for telling me. Ah Rong knows who she is."

The voice was low, almost a whisper.

The mockery in the way the girls looked at her deepened.

Chen Xi took a step and came behind Chen Rong, "Ah Rong, you are right, what is your identity? What is Wang Qilang's identity? It's a matter of fact. I'm sorry to say that the whole world would demand you not tarnish his name."

"Yes, Ah Rong, don't be sad. You're not his match, don't be lost in foolish dreams."

The voice was gentle, from a concubine's daughter of the same father as Chen Xi.

Chen Wei also comforted in a low voice, "Ah Rong, don't think about it, he is not a person you can think of."

She smiled and held Chen Rong's hand comfortingly. Looking at Chen Rong, she thought to herself: every time I push her around and see her sad, I can't help but sympathize with her.

Chen Rong broke free of her hand and shook her head, messing up her silky black hair, with a bitter smile. Chen Rong bowed to the girls and hung her head, "Thank you very much, sisters, Ah Wei. Ah Rong is really not sad."

She said she wasn't sad with her mouth, but kept her head down and hunched her shoulders. Her entire body seemed to be drained of energy, listless.

The girls' eyes became more and more sympathetic.

Chen Rong again bowed her head, "Sisters, Ah Rong left without saying goodbye and made the elders worry. Now that she has returned, she should confess her guilt."

With that, she turned and walked forward unsteadily, Mrs. Ping hurriedly following her.

Looking at her staggering figure, Chen Xi suddenly said, "Let's go, too. Ah Wei, go and tell your mother that Ah Rong has suffered a lot. Tell your mother not to punish her yet."

But even after she finished her sentence, Chen Wei stood still in the same place with a stiff expression. She couldn't help saying, "Ah Wei, I'm talking to you, did you not hear me?"

Chen Wei smiled bitterly and echoed, "Yes, yes." She also turned around and followed Chen Rong.

In a short while, Chen Rong appeared outside Miss Ruan's courtyard.

Miss Li was standing behind Miss Ruan. With sharp eyes, she saw Chen Rong.

Her voice was pointed as she said, "Oh, who is our distinguished guest?"

Her high-pitched voice immediately attracted everyone's attention, and Miss Ruan and the maidservants simultaneously raised their heads to look at Chen Rong.

Miss Li's willowy eyebrows were raised. With a smirk, she swayed her waist and stepped forward, "Oh? Our distinguished guest arrived but still hasn't kneeled?"

The words left her lips, but Chen Rong did not move. Miss Ruan's warm voice carried a tint of impatience. "Why, does the little girl really turn a blind eye to her uncle's wife?"