Before Shen Zhiyi could speak, Hongrui couldn't help but ask, "Is it that my young lady doesn't want to get close to them?"

"On our first meal together, Ying-ge used a slingshot to get my daughter's clothes all dirty."

"After that, they deliberately threw mud at my daughter."

“Whenever we bring him food, it’s always something my daughter cooks herself, but he just throws it on the ground and stomps on it like mud. Even so, my daughter never blames him.”

"My daughter wants to visit him, but he always gives us the cold shoulder. What can we do?"

...

After Hongrui's words, everyone looked at Yingge with furrowed brows.

This child,

So young, yet so wicked.

"You unruly servant! How dare you interrupt your master!" Song Ruoying glared at her angrily. "What do children know? As an adult, do you really have to be so petty?"

"Sister-in-law, Ying-ge is just being childlike; he's not targeting you on purpose."

"Is that all you're doing to give him this kind of gift?"

As Song Ruoying spoke, she walked up to Shen Zhiyi and snatched the clay doll from her hand. "What kind of trash is this? The workmanship is poor, it's dirty and old. As the wife of the heir of the Xuanhua Marquis's mansion, how can you present something like this!"

"Ruoying, this isn't trash, this is..." Shen Zhiyi tried to explain.

The old lady suddenly spoke up, "Alright, all of you, shut up!"

"With so many guests around, don't you feel ashamed?"

She was looking at Song Ruoying when she said this, but her tone seemed to be directed at Shen Zhiyi.

after all,

In front of so many high-ranking officials and dignitaries, a clay sculpture? It's really not presentable.

“No matter if the gift is new or old, it’s a token of your sister-in-law’s affection. Ying-ge will be her child in the future, and as a mother, how could she not love her?” The old lady stroked her prayer beads and glared at Song Ruoying. “Don’t talk nonsense again.”

Chen Zhiyi raised an eyebrow:

As expected of an old lady, she's really amazing.

Even if she didn't like the two children, she couldn't criticize them in public, otherwise she would easily become the subject of gossip.

Song Ruoying pouted, clearly dissatisfied.

"Alright, hurry up and return the gift to your sister-in-law," Song Maozhang reminded her.

The important thing is to quickly end the family reunion banquet and register the two children in the family genealogy, specifically under Shen Zhiyi's name.

Since her father had said so, Song Ruoying reluctantly handed the clay sculpture to Shen Zhiyi.

Just as Shen Zhiyi reached out to take it, before her fingers even touched the clay sculpture, she suddenly let go.

The clay doll landed.

It instantly shattered into mud fragments.

"Ruoying?" Shen Zhiyi frowned.

"Sister-in-law, what's wrong with you? Why can't you hold it steady?" Song Ruoying asked, her face full of grievance.

"Miss!" Hongrui frowned. "It was clearly your own fault for not holding it properly and dropping the clay sculpture. How can you be the one to blame me, saying it's my young lady's fault? Do you even know what a clay sculpture is...?"

"What is this!" Song Ruoying shouted angrily, "How many times has this happened? How dare you interrupt your master? Is this the rule of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion?"

"Who is questioning the rules of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion?"

Not far away,

A deep, weathered voice rang out; the voice arrived before the person.

Low-key and languid, yet incredibly intimidating.

Everyone turned around, trembling with fear, and knelt down, saying, "Greetings, Empress Dowager! Long live the Empress Dowager!"

The Empress Dowager, dressed in purple with an air of elegance, entered the Marquis's residence sometime earlier, supported by Eunuch Cao. She slowly walked into the hall, and behind her…

The man, dressed in black with his hair tied up, was tall and slender. A white jade belt fastened around his lean waist. He wore a bronze mask, exuding a sinister and eerie aura. Every gesture he made was noble, and his powerful aura spread silently, startling the kneeling crowd so much that they dared not even breathe.

Even the old lady of the Marquis's mansion was kneeling on the ground at this moment.

After addressing the Empress Dowager, everyone paid their respects to the Regent.

He was horrified:

The Marquis of Xuanhua's mansion was merely a third-rate prestigious family; how could it possibly alarm these two noblemen?

The Song family members were even more terrified.

Especially her mother-in-law, Chen, since the Regent was present when she had her accident.

Now this god of death has come to our door again.

I really didn't know they came to offer congratulations.

Let's go again...

A soul-reaping monster!

Neither of them spoke, so everyone could only kneel on the ground. The Empress Dowager walked directly to the shattered clay doll and said in a low voice, "This is..."

"Your Majesty, this is a gift my daughter-in-law prepared for the child she is about to adopt," Marquis Song Maozhang of Xuanhua said hastily.

"How did it break?"

"this……"

Before he could speak, Hongrui said, "It was Miss who fell."

“It wasn’t me, it was clearly my sister-in-law who didn’t hold it properly!” Song Ruoying retorted. “The Empress Dowager is still here, how dare you, a lowly servant, speak like that?”

"You were the one who said earlier that the people of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion have no manners, right?" Because everyone was kneeling and dared not look directly at the noble, no one knew what the Empress Dowager's expression was at this moment.

“Your Majesty, this maid was part of my sister-in-law’s dowry. She has interrupted her mistress several times and now she dares to slander her mistress. She is clearly unruly.”

The Empress Dowager chuckled softly, "I remember last time there was an earthquake in western Sichuan, Zhiyi went to distribute porridge, but you went on a lavish shopping spree, wasting resources..."

“At that time, I made an example of someone to warn others, but I did not punish you.”

"Looking at it now..."

"The rules of your Xuanhua Marquis's residence are simply outrageous!"

"Guards, slap him in the face!"

At the Empress Dowager's command, Eunuch Cao immediately signaled to his servants, and two of them dragged Song Ruoying up. Eunuch Cao, holding a board, then struck her repeatedly—

"Smack!"

"Smack!"

The paddle struck their faces with a crisp sound, but it frightened everyone so much that they knelt on the ground, speechless.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!