"Have you ever met my son?" Sima Ziyi asked her. Even though she was angry, she didn't show it.
"Forgive her, Sister-In-Law. This girl doesn't know what she is saying," Yu Tianhao apologized with an embarrassed look on his face. His came here to apologise for one thing, but things were only getting worse now.
"I'm not angry at her. I just want to hear her answers," Sima Ziyi said. "Tell me, Ling. Have you ever met my son?"
"No, I haven't met your son," Ling answered Sima Ziyi.
"Then why do you accuse my son's character like that? As far as I know, he hadn't even talked to a girl from this kingdom, let alone having relations with them," Sima Ziyi said.
"You should ask outside. Everyone in the kingdom knows about the reputation of your son. Before the age of 12, he had already slept with most of the girls from this kingdom," Ling said confidently.
"Who told you this nonsense? Don't you know that he had suffered an Assassination Attempt when he was 8? Since then, he didn't leave the house as his head suffered an injury, making him lose his intelligence and become like a kid. He only recovered when he was 12! Before the age of 15, he was only out of the mansion two times. One was when he was kidnapped, and the second time was when he went hunting for a few days after recovering. Are you saying that in a few days, he made relations with every girl in the kingdom?"
It was Grand Elder Mu that replied to this baseless accusation.
"What? Head injury? You're lying," Ling said as she stood up.
"I talked to the people of this kingdom. They said that he was the biggest playboy of this kingdom!" She added.
"This is so stupid that I don't even know how to reply," the Grand Elder sighed as he looked at her.
"I-i can prove it to you! Let's go outside! You can lie, but the citizens won't lie! Cover your faces so that you don't intimidate them with your status and come with me! I'll expose all your lies!" Ling said.
"Ling! Stop being stupid! You should believe them more than random strangers!" Yu Tianhao furiously smashed the table before him as he stood up.
"There's no need to be angry. I would love to hear who spreads such lies. Xue, Mei, can you bring a few masks for us?" Sima Ziyi said.
Xue and Mei both left the hall.
"Sister in Law, there's no need for that. I understand that she has been misguided. She is naive and stupid. Please don't take her seriously," Yu Tianhao said to Sima Ziyi.
"Don't worry. It's nothing serious. I also want to see what citizens think about my son," Sima Ziyi muttered as she stood up.
After some time, Xue and Mei came back with a few masks that they distributed to everyone.
Almost everyone covered their faces with masks, except Ling.
They left the mansion and walked to the center of the Dragon City that was under the influence of the Royal clan.
They let Ling go talk to everyone while they kept their distance
Ling walked to a random person walking on the street. It was a young man who was stunned as he saw a beautiful girl talking to him.
"Can you tell me something about a person?" Ling asked.
"Of Course. I'll tell you everything I know," The man said as he smiled. He wanted to charm Ling with his smile, but his smile only made him look worse.
"Ah, I want to ask about Long Tian," Ling said.
"Long Tian? The grandson of the Long Clan patriarch?" The man exclaimed in surprise.
"Yeah, I heard that he is the most infamous playboy in the city. I wanted to ask if that was right," Ling let out as she asked with an innocent look on her face.
" Who told you that? That boy and the playboy? Hahaha," the man couldn't help but laugh.
"That boy was the heartthrob of countless girls in the kingdom when he was 8, but he never even talked to a girl. He was such a book nerd from what I heard. It only got worse after the Assassination Attempt on him. I heard that he lost his intelligence and became a retard who never left his house. From what I know, he did recover when he was 12, but he hasn't been seen in the city since then," The Man said. "Calling him a playboy? that's funny."
Ling's expressions changed as she heard his words. She started sweating. She was finally starting to doubt herself.
"Thank you," She thanked the man.
After some time, she walked to a girl.
She asked the girl the same question, and she received a similar answer. The girl talked about how she had a crush on Long Chen when he was young, but her feelings changed after she found out that he became a retard. She also said that there was no news about him being involved with any girl in his life.
Ling's frown deepened. She hurriedly walked to another person.
One after another, she kept talking to different people. She asked young and old, but the answer was always the same.
Yu Tianhao was also nearby, hearing all the answers, his face was only turning red in shame.
"Sister in Law, Please don't be angry at her. This daughter of mine is stupid, but she doesn't lie. Maybe someone fooled her when she came here last time. This idiot probably believed that person instead of asking anyone else," Yu Tianhao once again apologized to Sima Ziyi.
"It's alright. Call your daughter back. It's enough," Sima Ziyi said as she started walking back toward the Long Clan.
Yu Tianhao walked to Ling and took her back.
They all walked back to the Long Clan and entered the Meeting Hall.
Sima Ziyi was sitting silently, waiting for Ling to respond.
"I am sorry. I was wrong. I was fooled," Ling replied. Her eyes were filled with tears already.
"Do you remember the people that lied to you?" Sima Ziyi asked.
"It was a 13-14-year-old boy who told me this," Ling replied.
"Only a single person? You believed a single person instead of asking anyone else?" Sima Ziyi said as she sighed.
"Yes. That boy claimed to be Long Tian's cousin. I believed him after knowing that," Ling said as she wiped the tears off her face.
"What was he wearing?" Sima Ziyi asked.
"He was wearing a green robe and white clothes," Ling replied after taking some time to remember.
"It might be someone who was jealous of our clan and lied about being from our clan to spoil our reputation. The kids of Gu Clan are the most likely culprit. They used to wear Green Robes at that time. I don't think anyone from our clan would destroy Tian's reputation like that after knowing what he went through. Our Clan Members also wear golden robes," Grand Elder Mu analyzed the situation and recognized the culprit.
"That should be the case. Opposition clans can be quite petty. We have some clans like that back home as well," Yu Tianhao said.
"Was that rumor the reason for you breaking the Engagement?" Sima Ziyi asked Ling.
"That was one of the reasons, but my main reason was that I didn't want to marry a stranger and a weaker guy. I want my husband to be someone stronger than me. Someone from this small kingdom can never be my match. I'm the disciple of the Supreme Elder of an Empire. My husband can only be someone who is superior to me. Someone from this small kingdom can never be my prince," Ling replied.