Chapter 17: The Fourth Prince Speaks Up Twice on Behalf of a Married Woman...

She seems to have figured out a way to increase Song Jie's "cuckold value," and that's Xiao Zhen.

The villain Song Jie is like a clown in the love story of the male and female protagonists. He is insanely jealous and cannot even tolerate her, the substitute, having an affair with Xiao Zhen.

That would be wonderful; she would be more than happy to see the two of them fight at the banquet.

Xie Yushu continued to look at Xiao Zhen, and could almost conclude that it was Xiao Zhen who told Meng Tingchun and Xie Ling that it was Xiao Dao who had secretly injured them. She blamed herself for being too careless and calling out Xiao Dao's name in front of Xiao Zhen.

But he underestimated her. She wasn't going to prove her innocence by explaining whether she had a follower named Xiaodao. If he dared to cause her trouble, she would drag him down with her. It wouldn't be her who would be stripped naked and humiliated.

"What kind of petty thief could possibly sneak past the Duke's guards and get in?" Zhang Ling frowned in disbelief. "Are you making this up?"

"If Young Master Zhang thinks the Duke's mansion is so heavily guarded that no one can break in, then how could someone have secretly injured him?" Xie Yushu withdrew his gaze, looked up at Zhang Ling and Meng Tingchun, and frowned coquettishly, saying, "Young Master Zhang and Cousin, have you been fooled by some Tom, Dick, or Harry?"

Even Pei Shilin frowned at her affected coquettishness, but he noticed that Meng Tingchun was staring straight at her, looking quite pleased.

Meng Tingchun was indeed pleased. His cousin Jia Ning never called him "cousin" because she looked down on him and always called him by his full name.

But Xie Yushu blinked at him with those eyes that resembled those of his cousin Jia Ning, calling him "cousin" in a charming and coquettish way, which made his heart tighten a little.

He had only met Xie Yushu a few times before, and she always kept her head down, so he never noticed that she had such a beautiful face.

Even Zhang Ling, that clueless simpleton, was taken aback by her scolding. Then he said, "I think you're lying to us. Others saw you with a follower named Xiao Dao in the West Garden. They have witnesses. How could you lie? And why are you lying to me and Brother Tingchun?"

"You instigated you to embarrass me in public?" Xie Yushu knew everyone was watching her, including the Lady of Yong'an Marquis, so she deliberately put on a wronged posture: "It's one thing for others to do this, but how could my cousin believe the instigation of outsiders to bully his own family?"

What an amazing mouth!

Song Jie coughed softly, her gaze fixed on the quick-witted Xie Yushu. She never blushed or tried to prove her innocence; she only attacked, attacking the two idiots for being used as pawns, and provoking them to prove themselves.

As expected, Zhang Ling, that fool, retorted first: "Don't try to turn the tables on me. Nobody knows you, why would anyone want to embarrass you?"

Xie Yushu immediately chimed in, "Yes, what grudge does that other person have against me that he would publicly humiliate me? Young Master Zhang and my cousin, why don't you invite that person out and ask him in front of everyone when and where he saw me instructing my attendants to secretly injure you two? And why did I secretly injure you two?"

“It’s all because of me and Brother Tingchun…” Zhang Ling was about to answer when Meng Tingchun quickly grabbed her arm and interrupted her.

Those present all understood the reason; it must have been that these two notorious playboys of Bianjing had offended Xie Yushu first.

The female guests all frowned. Although Xie Yushu, the youngest illegitimate daughter of the Marquis of Yong'an, was not favored, she was still registered under the name of the Marquis's wife, Meng Min. Meng Min was Meng Tingchun's aunt. For Meng Tingchun to make such a scene in public like this, he really didn't care about Meng Min's feelings.

As expected, the faces of Marquis Yong'an and Meng Min in the audience darkened.

Meng Tingchun's widowed mother immediately stood up and scolded her son in a low voice to stop his nonsense.

Zhang Youwei couldn't stand it either, so she quickly walked over and slapped her younger brother Zhang Ling on the back of the head: "Shut up!"

Zhang Ling, who had just been slapped, was both angry and embarrassed. Her face flushed red as she shouted, "I was injured like this in my own home! Am I supposed to just swallow my anger and stay silent?!"

His face was indeed swollen and red.

Meng Tingchun's right hand was also smashed by the stones, and he was now in a very awkward situation.

His aunt and uncle were both staring at him. If he couldn't prove that he wasn't deliberately causing trouble for his family, he would be in trouble.

So he could only say, "It's not that Lingdi and I want to cause trouble for my cousin, but since Lingdi is injured like this, we need to find out if anyone has really infiltrated the Duke of Ying's mansion." His tone also became gentle and polite, and he affectionately called Xie Yushu his cousin, asking, "Someone saw my cousin with a servant named Xiaodao in the West Garden. Is that true?" But quite a few people saw her coming out of the West Garden. What was she doing in such a secluded garden by herself without a maid?

“It’s fake.” Xie Yushu said without blinking, “I did go for a walk in the West Garden, but I only saw a petty thief. If I had any attendants with me, I would have caught the thief and handed him over to the Duke of England.”

Xiao Zhen, sitting in the front row, laughed in anger. He had never seen anyone lie so calmly and confidently.

"Did you really see a thief break into the Duke's mansion?" Zhang Youwei asked Xie Yushu in surprise.

Meng Tingchun then asked, "Can anyone prove it? Surely my cousin wouldn't be out in the secluded West Garden all by herself in the wind?"

Xie Yushu did not answer immediately; she was waiting for someone else to step forward and answer for her.

"Are you satisfied with my testimony for her?" Meng Min asked coldly, her face dark.

Xie Yushu leaned back in his chair with satisfaction.

Meng Tingchun's expression changed drastically. She looked at her in surprise and hurriedly exclaimed, "Aunt, how could you..." How could you speak up for Xie Yushu! Wasn't Aunt always the one who hated Xie Yushu the most and wished she could drive her out of the Yong'an Marquis's mansion?

Meng Min glared at him fiercely, not saying another word to him, and turned to look at Duke Zhang Yunkai of England, saying, "Your Excellency, Yu Shu's words are not false. When Yu Shu and I were admiring the flowers in the West Garden, we did encounter an unknown person acting suspiciously. He suddenly fell from the treetop. Fortunately, Yu Shu protected me and we left. That person has also disappeared without a trace."

"Someone actually managed to infiltrate the Duke's mansion?" Zhang Yunkai frowned immediately. "Madam Xie, did you get a good look at the person?"

Xie Yushu slowly waved the fan in his hand and looked at Xiao Zhen. He must be feeling extremely uncomfortable.

Xiao Zhen looked up at Meng Min, but fortunately Meng Min shook her head and said, "I was too far away at the time to see what that person looked like."

But Zhang Ling had to chime in: "Was there really a thief? How could a thief fall from a tree by himself? Madam Pei must have seen the thief's face clearly, right? Didn't you say you also found the jade hairpin that the thief stole?"

idiot!

Xiao Zhen had essentially shot himself in the foot. He clenched his fists and stared at Xie Yushu, determined not to let her take out the jade hairpin. The hairpin was engraved with a lotus flower and was a gift from his mother. Song Jie and the Duke of Yingguo would recognize it as his at a glance.

If he is recognized, how will he explain it? Will he explain that it was stolen by a thief? But how could a thief steal the jade hairpin he was wearing? With Song Jie's intelligence, he will inevitably suspect something, and then it will be too easy for him to expose the fact that he is hiding Song Jie's martial arts skills.

“I imagine Madam Pei and Lady Yong’an must have been quite frightened.” Xiao Zhen finally spoke, looking at Xie Yushu with a very gentle tone and eyes, and said to Xie Ling, “You two should stop questioning Madam Pei like this.”

His words surprised everyone; no one at the table expected the Fourth Prince to speak up for the illegitimate daughter of the Marquis of Yong'an.

Song Jie frowned and looked at him. Why was he helping Xie Yushu out of that predicament?

"Zhang Ling, Tingchun," the Duke of Yingguo chimed in, "apologize to Madam Pei now!"

Zhang Ling and Meng Tingchun were utterly humiliated and lost all face. However, since Meng Min and the Fourth Prince had spoken up to testify for Xie Yushu, they could only bow their heads and apologize to Xie Yushu with dark faces.

Xie Yushu turned away unappreciatively, stood up, fanning himself with his fan, and bowed to the Duke of England, saying, "Your Excellency, please forgive me, but I am unwell and must excuse myself from the banquet."

This is clearly an excuse.

Zhang Yunkai had not expected that she would not accept the apology and would leave the table directly. Even the Lady of Yong'an Marquis would not dare to be so temperamental.

But Xiao Zhen spoke up again to defend her: "Madam Pei doesn't look too well. Since you're not feeling well, Duke Zhang won't blame you for leaving the table."

Zhang Yunkai glanced at Xiao Zhen, quite surprised. The Fourth Prince had spoken up for the married woman twice, protecting her in every word. Why was that? It was far too inappropriate.

He smiled and said, "My son was the one who offended me today." He then waved for the nanny to take Xie Yushu to rest.

Xie Yushu left the waterside pavilion without any politeness, leaving behind an awkward situation and the uneasy Pei family mother and son.

Pei's mother, Li Huixian, had none of the courage her daughter-in-law possessed. She dared to argue with two men from outside the family and even dared to disrespect the Duke by leaving the table. She stood frozen beside her seat, seeking her son's advice: should she stay? Or should she go see her daughter-in-law?

Pei Shilin's face was extremely ugly. His wife was really something. Zhang Ling and Meng Tingchun had offended her but hadn't gained any advantage. She acted more arrogantly than a princess, and even the Fourth Prince publicly defended her!

Does she actually know the Fourth Prince? When did they meet? Otherwise, why would the Fourth Prince protect her?

He also wanted to leave, but if even he left, it would be too disrespectful to the Duke of Yingguo by the Pei family. So he asked his mother to sit down and then went to apologize to the Duke of Yingguo on behalf of his wife.

Song Jie coughed several times and said in a low voice, "Coward."

Pei Shilin's face turned green.

The Duke of England was busy scolding his son and didn't hear him. He only heard Xiao Zhen get up and tell him that he was going to change his clothes.

As soon as Xiao Zhen got up and left the waterside pavilion, Song Jie frowned and also got up, suppressing a few muffled coughs as he said, "It's time for me to take my medicine, so I won't stay any longer."

The Duke of England was surprised. Why was Lady Pei leaving her seat, and now one or two of them were leaving as well?

"Is Prime Minister Song feeling unwell? Did you catch a chill? Why don't you go to the warm pavilion and fetch a doctor?" Zhang Youwei wanted him to stay, but Song Jie was unmoved and insisted on leaving.

Her cheeks were burning from the sun, and her eyes were stinging. She had finally found a chance to see Song Jie today, but she hadn't even exchanged a few words with him... It was all Zhang Ling's fault! He came and ruined the birthday banquet! He made it so she didn't even have time to say a few words to Song Jie!

And Xie Yushu too! If she hadn't come today, that idiot Zhang Ling wouldn't have joined Meng Tingchun in wanting to see if she really looked like Jia Ning.

She really couldn't understand why her older sister insisted that she send an invitation to Xie Yushu to celebrate her birthday!

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A note from the author:

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The next chapter will feature a slightly awkward "catching someone in the act" scene [shy].

I'm planning to go live for premium content next Tuesday, so please bookmark my articles and my author. I'll be posting 10,000 words a day on the first day it goes live, and I'll add extra chapters after that. I'll also continue giving out red envelopes (cash gifts). [Keep it up!]