Just when Zhixia let the snow eagle go, there was a sudden noise outside the yard.

"Bang--"

Soon, the courtyard door was kicked open, and Gu Yanran rushed in aggressively with a few burly old women.

She was dressed in luxurious brocade, with her hair covered in dazzling pearls and jade. She looked around at the decorations and furnishings in Yilan Garden as if she were examining some goods, with a look of great satisfaction in her eyes.

"I didn't expect that you, a daughter of a merchant, have such good taste and have decorated this courtyard so elegantly. This way, I don't have to renovate it again."

Zhixia immediately stood in front of Chu Qingniang, her eyes wide open: "What do you mean? The legitimate daughter of Prime Minister Gu is actually such a bastard? It's not enough that she robbed someone's husband, now she wants to rob my lady's yard?"

"Oh, the plaque with the words 'Integrity and Honesty' in Prime Minister Gu's house, I'm afraid it wasn't bought on credit from a brothel, right?"

Gu Yanran's face instantly turned pale: "How dare you, you slut! How dare you insult my father! Who gave you the courage! "

Gu Yanran said this, and she was about to hit Zhixia in the face without caring about anything.

But at this moment, his wrist was grabbed by a small but strong force.

"If you dare to touch her, believe it or not, I will make sure you can't leave this door!"

Chu Qingniang's voice was obviously not loud, but it revealed an irresistible meaning, and her whole body exuded an aura of nobility and inviolability. Gu Yanran was stunned for a moment.

She stared at Chu Qingniang blankly, and then a hint of hatred flashed in her eyes, "You are a merchant's daughter, are you going to fight with me——"

Before she finished her words, her wrist was suddenly pushed back by a strong force. She couldn't step back in time and fell to the ground in embarrassment. Her luxurious skirt was covered with dust, and her carefully combed hair was also a little messy.

All the servants in the yard were stunned and looked at Chu Qingniang like crazy.

The next second, Gu Yanran's hoarse roar rang out in the yard: "Are you all dead? Catch this bitch, I want to tear her face apart myself!"

Four or five burly old women immediately surrounded her, and one of them, with a fat face, reached out to grab Chu Qingniang's hair.

Just as the rough hand was about to touch the black hair, a figure flashed in front of Chu Qingniang like a ghost.

"court death--"

Zhixia spat out two words coldly and turned her slender wrist. The next second, the woman let out a pig-killing wail, and her entire arm twisted at a weird angle.

The yard was suddenly in chaos. Zhixia moved as light as a swallow as she moved through the crowd. Wherever she passed, there were wails of pain. The old women were kicked out of the yard like rags, and they slid several meters away.

However, after a short while, the people brought by Gu Yanran had not yet reacted to what had happened, and they were all lying outside in a mess.

"This... this girl knows martial arts!" someone screamed in horror.

Zhixia clapped her hands, as if brushing off dust, "Miss, how should we deal with this?"

Chu Qingniang's eyes swept across the maids rolling on the ground, and finally stopped at the pale-faced Gu Yanran. She said lightly: "Throw them all out, don't dirty our yard."

"yes!"

In the end, Gu Yanran and her group came in high spirits and left in disgrace.

…

At this time, in the front hall, Qi Che was toasting with several people in official uniforms. Upon learning that the top scholar had returned home in glory today, the local prefect, county magistrate and others all gathered together to congratulate Qi Che.

Everyone knew that this number one scholar not only won the crown in the Golden Palace, but also had the presence of the Prime Minister himself, becoming Prime Minister Gu's son-in-law, and his future was limitless.

At this moment, Gu Yanran rushed in with disheveled hair and threw herself into Qi Che's arms, completely ignoring the astonished looks of everyone present.

"Husband——"

The hall suddenly fell silent, and the cup in the county magistrate's hand fell to the ground with a bang.

Qi Che was stunned at first, then his face looked a little embarrassed.

But due to the occasion, he still gently supported Gu Yanran and asked softly, "Madam, what's wrong?"

Gu Yanran was sobbing and didn't say anything. At this time, the maid Chuntao who followed closely cried for her: "Son-in-law, you have to make the decision for my young lady!

The merchant daughter of the Chu family is simply lawless. She relied on her husband's favor to actually lay hands on the wife of the principal wife!"

After these words were spoken, the looks of the adults present suddenly became subtle.

The temperature in Qi Che's eyes also dropped, "What's going on?"

Chun Tao continued to exaggerate: "Our young lady is a precious girl, raised by Prime Minister Gu. Today, I just wanted to teach Chu some rules, but who knew she would order the maid to commit the crime? If the young lady hadn't dodged quickly, she would have been killed by now..."

She wiped away the non-existent tears and added, "What's even more hateful is what Mrs. Chu said. She said...she said that the daughter of the prime minister's mansion is nothing, she's just a bride who came to her house unconditionally. She also said that the son-in-law was able to win the first place in the imperial examination because of her money..."

hiss!

Several officials present gasped inwardly.

Several people had heard about how this number one scholar abandoned his wife and married a noble lady from a wealthy family.

But men, who doesn't have three wives and four concubines? It is human nature to use the power of a high-ranking family to rise to the top in order to avoid decades of struggle in the official career.

The few of them exchanged glances, then tactfully stood up and said goodbye.

"Since Lord Qi has family matters to take care of, we will not disturb him." The leading prefect glanced at Qi Che's slightly stiff face and added:

"But you must know that pillow talk is the most powerful. If you want to gain a firm foothold in the rear house, you must be soft when you need to be soft, and hard when you need to be hard."

"Isn't it?" Another judge continued, "The concubines in my house also got angry at first, and I had them locked up in the woodshed for three days.

Now everyone is very obedient. If you have any difficulties, just come and ask me. We are experienced people. Although we don’t have other skills, we still know a thing or two about coaxing women. "

As they walked to the door, the judge suddenly turned around and added with a half-smile, "Of course, if you want the noble lady from a rich family and the wife from a poor family to live in harmony, the key lies in how you balance things. Some things can be thrown away, so don't be foolish and let irrelevant people ruin things."

The seemingly 'well-intentioned' advice from several people made Qi Che's eyes darken.

After the guests left, Qi Che comforted Gu Yanran a few words and went straight to Yilan Garden.

Just as he was about to enter, he was stopped by Zhixia at the door. She had a hostile look on her face and didn't even bother to greet him.

"stop!"

"The young lady is copying scriptures and does not want to see any visitors!"

Qi Che's forehead was bulging with veins: "How dare you call me a 'foreign guest' in this Qi residence?"

Zhi Xia sneered: "Every blade of grass and every tree in the Qi Mansion is supported by my young lady. It's a compliment to call a heartless man who relied on nepotism to be a guest."

Zhixia didn't take Qi Che seriously at all, and what she said made Qi Che's face look extremely ugly.

"That's enough, Zhixia. For Qingniang's sake, I won't bother with you. Get out of the way. I have something important to discuss with Qingniang."

Zhixia crossed her arms and said without mercy: "I told you, Miss is busy!"