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Not only Yan Ruchun, even Su Qiuyu also left her greatly disappointed.

Ever since Su Qiuyu entered the room, she had remained silent, showing some loss of composure only when interacting with Xiao Linshuang; otherwise, she was the picture of calm without fault.

Could it be that they had reached some agreement in private? For instance, both marrying Xia Zheng?

How could that be?!

Yao Hanai was startled by the thought that suddenly emerged in her mind. How could Xia Zheng do this? How could he do such a thing?

In fact, Yao Hanai’s speculation was baseless, and Su Qiuyu’s reluctance to speak was actually an attempt to present a superior stance as if she was above engaging in a dispute with Lin Yuan.

Among those present, only Cheng Yuexiu, who had made prior arrangements with her, would know; otherwise, why was it Cheng Yuexiu who spoke up every time there was an objection?

Tian Xuan sat on the chair, carefully examining Lin Wei’s handkerchief, and when another young lady approached with a newly obtained handkerchief to speak to her, she was immediately drawn away.

Seeing Tian Xuan eagerly chatting with the crowd, Lin Yuan couldn’t help but smile wryly and shake her head. Indeed, she had the same temperament as Xiao Linshuang, completely forgetting the words she had said upon arrival.

With nothing exciting to watch, everyone started to gather in small groups and chat.

Of course, just as Yan Ruchun had said, no matter whom those people were speaking with, no one approached Lin Yuan and her group; they were truly excluded.

Lin Yuan shook her head amusedly, glanced at Yan Ruchun who sat beside her, resting with her eyes closed, and turned to start a conversation with Xiao He and Lin Wei.

Su Qiuyu and Cheng Yuexiu had disappeared somewhere, and she didn’t want to interact with them too much, so she didn’t pay them any mind.

While the sisters were huddled together talking, they suddenly noticed the light dimming, as if dusk had arrived in an instant.

There was still some time before nightfall, so how had it suddenly become dark?

The group looked up in surprise, only to see an exceedingly large face looming overhead, which made them gape in silent amazement, "What a huge face!"

The great face smiled broadly upon seeing them look up, revealing a row of bright white teeth.

"Miss Lin, hello."

Lin Yuan was taken aback, blinked her eyes, and didn’t expect that someone would actually come over to chat with her.

She hurriedly stood up and nodded with a smile, "Hello, miss. May I ask for your esteemed surname?"

The plump-faced young lady chuckled, waving her chubby hand in front of her.

As soon as Lin Yuan saw this chubby hand, a thought flashed in her mind, finding it somewhat familiar.

Sure enough, she then heard the young lady laughingly say, "What esteemed surname? Miss Lin, you’re too polite. My name is Xu Muqing, I’m Sister Hui’s friend. She specifically sent Shuishui to my house to tell me to look after you at today’s banquet."

Speaking of this, Xu Muqing suddenly smiled with a touch of embarrassment, "However, my father doesn’t hold a very high office, and I’m not good at speaking, so I sat at the very edge. As soon as I saw the food, I, hehe, I forgot the errand Sister Hui entrusted me with."

It turned out she was a friend of Tian Hui. Lin Yuan recalled the conversation she had with Tian Hui on that day, where Tian Hui mentioned helping her to make connections. Unexpectedly, someone really did remember.

"Miss Xu, thank you,"

This thanks from Lin Yuan was genuinely heartfelt. Moreover, she now recognized that this Xu Muqing was the same person whom Yan Ruchun had previously referred to as Fatty Xu. Indeed, she hadn’t guessed wrong; Miss Xu was a food lover, the kind who loved to eat everything and was not picky at all.

Xu Muqing shook her head and exchanged a few pleasantries with Lin Yuan, who then introduced each of her three younger sisters to her.

As for Xu Muqing, whose body was nearly overflowing with plumpness, Xiao Linshuang took a particular liking to her. Especially when she pinched the soft and spongy fat on Xu Muqing’s body, she found the touch extremely good and real.

While they were chatting, Lin Yuan suddenly noticed that in the direction Xu Muqing had stood up from, several young ladies were looking over and pointing, discussing something amongst themselves.

"Mu Qing, do you know those girls?"

Xu Muqing was the same age as Lin Yuan, only her birth month was a bit later, so they had taken to calling each other by their given names.

Besides, Xu Muqing was quite plump and had a carefree heart.

If Lin Yuan hadn’t asked her, she wouldn’t have even noticed the pointing and whispering from those few ladies.

Glancing back, Xu Muqing smiled and said, "Oh, them? They are also good friends of Sister Hui. Just now, when we were chatting together, everyone was thinking of coming over to talk to you, but they are quite shy and didn’t dare to come, so, so I came, hehe."

Xiao Linshuang pinched Xu Muqing’s chubby, plump hand and giggled, "Sister Qing isn’t shy? I like Sister Qing, Sister Qing doesn’t need to be shy at all."

With Xiao Linshuang saying so, Xu Muqing laughed even more joyfully, nodding continuously and waving at those few young ladies, signaling them to come over.

Those girls were taken aback by Xu Muqing’s sudden invitation and were somewhat stunned.

However, the most genuine reactions are those in unexpected situations.

Almost at a glance, Lin Yuan realized that these ladies were treating Xu Muqing as a scapegoat and that they didn’t share the good intentions Xu Muqing imagined.

They were disdainful of interacting with Lin Yuan.

In their eyes, Lin Yuan was just a village girl who had stumbled upon some incredible luck. What if she was the Third Prince’s sworn sister? Without any title or posthumous name, in the end, she was still just an ordinary commoner and would eventually be forgotten by the Third Prince.

And what about Xia Zheng? He was even more unreliable. Without being married, who could be sure whether they would stay together in the end?

Indeed, these thoughts were shared by everyone present, each maintaining a wait-and-see attitude. After all, aligning with Lin Yuan was akin to picking a fight with Su Qiuyu, who represented the Prime Minister Mansion.

"Mu Qing, you go chat with them for a bit. I’m fine here, you don’t need to stay with me anymore." Lin Yuan had also discerned this point and considering that Xu Muqing’s father was the Minister of War, a government official, she didn’t want Xu Muqing to be implicated because of her.

But Xu Muqing had not thought of these concerns at all and still refused to leave.

Lin Yuan was about to persuade her further when the usually closed-eyed Yan Ruchun suddenly cried out in irritation.

He stood up from the chair, and taking Xu Muqing’s chubby cheeks in hand, he began to knead them back and forth, expressing his distaste as he did so, "You, Fatty Xu, when will you toss away all this fat on your body? Look at yourself, so ugly and fat, how did Second Fool come to like you? Aren’t you afraid that one day he’ll come to his senses and divorce you? "

With her face turning red from Yan Ruchun’s kneading, Xu Muqing whimpered in distress. After finally wriggling free from his grasp, she quickly scurried away to a safe distance.