Just as things were going as smoothly as Xiangxiang had anticipated, and the outcome was about to be decided by her "nonsense", a loud shout suddenly came from the corridor of the waterside pavilion!

  "That's enough!"

  The crowd followed the sound and left, only to see a man walking alone from the distant road with big strides, his face bearing a fierce and sinister expression, with dark clouds gathering.

  Xie Xuan knew that there was a banquet at the mansion today. Although it was just a banquet in the rear courtyard, thinking of Qin Miaoru being pregnant now, he wasn't quite at ease, so he finished his work at the military camp ahead of time and hurried back home. After tidying up, he came to the backyard to look for Qin Miaoru.

  As soon as I arrived at the entrance of the garden, I saw a crowd of people gathered near the pavilion, and there was a woman who sometimes cried out loudly and sometimes spoke sarcastically, all of which were extremely unpleasant to hear.

  And upon closer inspection, it turned out that the woman was actually Qin Xiang, whom he had rescued with good intentions back then. He thought they had already made things clear last time, but unexpectedly this woman still came to his doorstep to stir up more trouble.

  He really didn't know why he had listened to Yu Zhang Wang's entrustment back then, and had a kind heart, but it actually brought about such a venomous person. And the Po Feng who followed him, hadn't seen the person yet, just relying on the voice had already recognized that the person was Qin Xiang, and was even extremely excited.

  Since she left her own courtyard without saying goodbye, he has never found any trace of her. Until Mrs. Hou once tactfully revealed that Qinxia might have become someone else's concubine, Baofeng gradually calmed down his thoughts. But now, Qinxia suddenly appeared in the mansion again, which really made him extremely excited.

  Xie Xuan walked heavily to the center of the pavilion, looked at Qin Miao with pity and saw that she was pursing her lips and not speaking. He felt extremely guilty in his heart. First, he thought of sitting down in front of Old Lady Xie to make a bow, then he could walk over to Qin Miao's side and ask softly: "Are you okay?"

  Qin Miao had already been brewing a speech in her heart to confront Xingxiang, but when she saw her man arrive, the shield that had risen in her heart slightly lowered. She leaned against Xie Xuan with a hint of grievance. "You're here, I'm fine." She looked up at Xie Xuan, feeling that as long as he was there, she didn't have to pretend to be calm and could temporarily put her mind at ease.

  Still standing in the hall, Qingxiang naturally saw the loving and affectionate scene between the couple, her heart secretly stabbed with pain, feeling as if her eyes were spitting fire and her heart was overflowing with acid. Not to mention that she had never received such tender love from Xie Zhuo before, even if she had thrown herself at him, he might not have taken a serious look at her.

  While she was still there, self-pitying and self-reproaching, Xie Xu suddenly stood up, took a step forward, and swept his gaze over Qin Xiang, making her feel cold all over. Among the women present, except for the married women, the unmarried young ladies all got up to make way, after all, Mr. Xie was an outsider, and they couldn't linger here for too long.

  "Ladies, today's events have made a mockery of us all. I, Xie, am not talented, but I want to clarify a few things for my wife here. Since you've all already heard what Xiangxiang had to say, it wouldn't hurt to stay and listen to mine."

  Xie Xuan saw others leave and return, only then did he focus his energy on the present Qin Xiang.

  "Xiang, does our household owe you a favor or not? You tell me."

  Xiang subconsciously wanted to nod and say yes, but the next moment a hint of hesitation flashed by. Was there any kindness? Giving her hope to return to normal life, yet ignoring her, neglecting her, what was the use of such kindness?

  "That's also what you, Lord Xie, should do! Isn't the Weiyuan Marquis Manor always proud of being upright and just? But after rescuing a loyal minister, why are you thinking about it every day as if it's a favor, don't you think that's a bit self-serving?"

  Xing Xiang didn't have much romantic feelings for Xie Yan, his presence was like that of the numerous high-ranking and powerful guests who had passed by her side, except that others had ulterior motives towards her, while Xie Yan initially showed great respect for her. Moreover, he was young and didn't have a woman by his side, making him the perfect target for Xing Xiang to turn her life around.

  Xie Xuan listened to her words, and couldn't help but sneer at himself. It turned out that this woman was really not sensible at all. Fortunately, he had been at odds with Qin Miaoxin for her sake back then.

  "If you think so, then there's nothing for me to hide from the Xie family either."

  Qin Miao's heart skipped a beat, was she going to let go of her worries? But what about that broken wind? Just now, she wasn't unable to defend herself, it's just that first, she wanted to hear how much nonsense Xingxiang could come up with, and second, she still wanted to give Xingxiang a way out, as long as she didn't go too far.

  Ke Xie's words meant that he didn't plan to show any more courtesy. Qin Miao couldn't help but feel a sense of relief, fine, the trouble was brought upon by him anyway, so let him deal with it himself.

  "As expected, Xie Xuan began to explain: 'Everyone, I was entrusted by a friend back then to help this Qinxiang girl redeem herself from the brothel. Since she was alone, I arranged for her to have a house and servants to attend to her. I thought that after the storm had passed, I would find another way out for her.'"

  As soon as the two words "qing lou" were heard, the people below were in an uproar. These were all women who guarded the teachings of propriety and etiquette, naturally looking down on qing lou women and even avoiding them in the same room. At this point, many people had already frowned, whispering to each other, feeling that being in the same room as Xiang Xiang was a loss of face. The Zhang family maid who came with Xiang Xiang couldn't help but be surprised that her mistress was actually from a brothel.

  Qin Xiang least wanted others to know was her origin, but she couldn't shout everywhere that she used to be the descendant of a criminal. Once they entered the brothel, who cared about who you were before? Coming out of the brothel, in people's eyes, it was a filthy existence, a plaything for men. But previously, she never worried that others would know her origin because she was certain that even if Xie Yan got angry with her again, he would still leave her a way to survive.

  Is this how it's going to be? Not leaving her a way out? Isn't he always claiming to be upright and just?

  "Just because of my momentary kindness, you repeatedly did evil to me, calculated against me, and made my wife misunderstand me, leaving with a cold heart, separating us for two years. I still remember these old grievances, but considering your poor circumstances, I couldn't help but feel resentment towards the world, which gave rise to that unyielding heart. Therefore, after finding my wife again, I still left room for you, arranged a way out for you, and didn't let you lack silver by your side, making it hard to get by."

  "We have treated you with utmost kindness and righteousness, but today you are resorting to your old tricks again. First, you fabricated false facts and bullied my grandmother, then you made up stories and slandered my wife. Your words and actions are truly unbearable! It's all because of Xie Zhuang's one-sided benevolence that our whole family cannot live in peace!"

  After the most violent words, Xie Yan didn't even want to look at Qingxiang again, feeling that one more glance would sully her own eyes. She immediately shouted out: "Someone, come and throw this wicked woman out of the house for me!"

  "Wait!"

  Jing Xiang struggled to get out of a servant's hands, her bright red eyes staring fiercely at Xie Yu, as if she wanted to stare him into a hole.

  "Thank you, Master Hou! Don't be in a hurry! Qin Miao, this water-like Yang flower woman, who she's been with, and who she's gotten along with, don't you really know? Or are you just pretending not to know?! Haha!"

  Before, Qingxiang was still somewhat rational when talking to Qin Miao and others, but seeing herself about to be kicked out, she couldn't care less. She directly stabbed Xie Yun's heart with a "knife".

  Men, she understood them best. No matter how much they loved a woman, if that woman had ever had or seemed to have had dealings with other men, there were few who could swallow this insult. As for Qin Miao's disappearance over the past two years, after arriving in Xunyang, she didn't hesitate to spend money to gather information. Regardless of whether Qin Lang and Qin Miao were related or not, just because they didn't share a bloodline, many stories could be spun out of this alone.

  It turned out that Qin Lang had indeed been harboring thoughts about Qin Miao. This was the "ironclad evidence"!

  "Thank you, Duke Xie. Qin Lang is as elegant as a jade tree in the wind, not one bit inferior to you. Moreover, he has been growing up with Qin Miao since childhood, and his treatment of Qin Miao is deeply affectionate. He is much stronger than you in this regard. These two years have not been just two days, many things can happen, and even a narrow-minded person can think of sinister motives. How could a wise and intelligent person like Duke Xie be so confused?"

  Xiangxiang was speaking very smoothly, every sentence was aimed at Qin Miao's reputation, and every sentence came with a trample on Qin Miao's face. On the other hand, Po Feng, who had been silent from head to toe, had his heart, which had initially warmed up when he saw Xiangxiang, slowly sink down, cool down, and eventually lose all its temperature.

  Another person who had been silent all along was Qin Miao. Since things had already come to this point, she really felt that there was no need to reserve the slightest bit of kindness towards Xing Xiang anymore.

  She stretched out her hand and pulled Xie Yan, who was speaking for himself, to stand in a line with him. She looked at Quanxiang seriously: "Quanxiang, from start to finish, I have always had a thread of pity for you, and I didn't want to say something too harsh in public. But now, it seems that there is no need for this."

  She then cast her gaze at the broken window not far away and let out a sigh of helplessness.

  "You have your own sinister intentions, that's your business. You can't bear to see others doing well and go all out to ruin my reputation. I didn't want to argue with you, but since you've now viciously involved my family members and slandered my second brother, that's crossing the line for me, Qin Miao!"

  "Come, listen to Master Hou, have this woman thrown out for me. Also, send someone to tell Madame Zhang that this girl is from a brothel, of lowly status, and had the audacity to plot against you, trying to take your place. I hope Madame Zhang will be cautious with the matters of the inner courtyard, lest this girl stir up more trouble and tarnish Master Zhang's reputation!"

  Qin Miao's words were clear and calm, far from the reckless abandon of Xing Xiang's previous behavior. However, in this calmness, it was evident to all the ladies that Qin Miao and Xing Xiang were worlds apart, who had ulterior motives, who resorted to base tactics, and whose demeanor was proper and dignified.

  It's just a messy family affair that can't be cut off, how to make amends and calm down is not about the facts, but about what to say and how to borrow momentum. And this time, it's clear that Qin Miao's words finally gave this headless lawsuit a best definition. That is, a low-born brothel woman, in order to get a seat at the high gate, used all kinds of tricks to sow discord and caused the husband and wife to become estranged. After her plan was exposed, she refused to be ordinary and randomly framed the Houfu lady, ruining someone else's reputation.

  Everyone present today is a member of the inner court, and it's not uncommon to see wives and concubines engage in subtle struggles with each other. Today's events, with the loving couple in front and the master's stern rebuke in response to the confrontation behind, make it clear that the courtesan was simply being foolishly romantic.

  The thanksgiving feast of the Xie family has finally come to an end, and after the women from various families returned home, they naturally had a lot to say, with different understandings of what happened. Fortunately, most of them still acknowledged Qin Miao's innocence.

  While Qingxiang was arranged by Qin Miao, as soon as she returned to the mansion, she was called by Mrs. Zhang to do her duties. The momentum of this fifth aunt today has changed from the once favored third aunt. However, after returning from the Xie Mansion, with the report from the Xie Mansion's servant, it really gave Mrs. Zhang a good reason to scold her.

  Lord Zhang was just knocked down by someone on the street, and now another scandal about his love for a courtesan is coming out. Is he going to lose all reputation? Can he still hold this official position? How can he maintain his reputation as a clean official? After so many years of marriage, Lady Zhang still understands her husband's concern for his reputation very well.

  That night, Qin Xiang was punished with house arrest by Mrs. Zhang, and after reporting the matter to Mr. Zhang, she would be dealt with separately.