Chapter 563 No wonder he wouldn't agree to a divorce.

Shen Wantang herself did not expect that Xiao Qingyuan would speak up for her.

She thought about it and realized that it must be because she was the housekeeper in her past life and never gave him any money. He was so afraid of being poor that he finally realized how important money was.

Seeing that her attempts to speak up for her daughter had not only failed to help her but had also angered Xiao Qingyuan, Madam Qi quickly changed the subject: "Your Highness says that Tang'er is upright and honest, but you are very wrong! Your Highness is no longer an outsider, so I won't hide it from you. Tang'er is now thinking of currying favor with the Duke's mansion!"

Xiao Qingyuan's face turned ashen, and his tone was vicious: "Who says we're not outsiders? My surname is Xiao, what's yours? You're not qualified to try and establish a connection with my Xiao clan!!"

Madam Qi's face stiffened. She hadn't expected Xiao Qingyuan to be so difficult to talk to; it seemed that no matter what she said, she could anger him.

But she was unwilling to accept this. She didn't want Shen Wantang to steal all the limelight, and she didn't want her daughter to be overshadowed by Shen Wantang.

She gritted her teeth and continued, "I saw that you were close to the young master and accidentally used the wrong words, but that's a small matter. The important thing is that I want to tell you, young master, that Tang'er is not as good as you think. While she came to the palace to see you, she was also secretly plotting to win over the second young master Gu!"

Upon hearing this, Princess Ning and Xiao Qingyuan were both taken aback, and the mother and son looked at Shen Wantang in unison.

Princess Ning's tone turned icy: "Second Miss, is what your mother said true? It wasn't enough that my Ning Prince's Mansion invited you here, do you also want to take over the Duke's Mansion? You're so young, yet your appetite is so big, be careful not to burst your belly!"

Shen Wantang looked bewildered: "Your Highness, please calm down. I really don't know what Mother is talking about. My only connection with the Duke's Mansion is that I ran into the Duchess at Fazhen Temple last time. That's all. I don't know any Second Young Master Gu!"

"As for taking down the Second Young Master Gu and the Duke's Mansion, that's even more impossible. I may not have other advantages, but I know my own limitations. My status is too lowly to be able to enter a high-ranking family like the Duke's Mansion."

"As for the Prince Ning's Mansion, I have never dared to even dream of it. The Princess Consort does not mind my stupidity and is willing to invite me to the manor to broaden my horizons. I am already very grateful. I have never even thought of anything else."

Princess Ning's expression did not improve after hearing her words.

She looked at Shen Wantang, then at Madam Qi, and for a moment she didn't know who to believe.

She didn't believe that the Qi family would fabricate rumors and slander Shen Wantang out of thin air, so Shen Wantang must be lying!

But she didn't believe that Shen Wantang, a mere fifth-rank official's daughter, would have the audacity to manipulate both the Prince of Ning's mansion and the Duke's mansion at the same time, so Qi must have lied too!

Neither of these two is honest!

Princess Ning's eyes revealed a hint of annoyance. She felt that inviting them to the palace today was a mistake. She shouldn't have even considered daughters of concubines from such families!

She said coldly, "I'm tired, Granny Quan, see the guest out!"

Granny Quan immediately stepped forward and rudely urged them to leave: "Madam Chen, our Princess Consort is going to rest now. You and the two young ladies should leave!"

Lady Qi was surprised that the Princess Consort of Ning would dismiss someone so easily when she was unhappy. She panicked a little: "Your Highness, Tang'er is very ambitious, but my Xuan'er is honest and dutiful. Why don't you take a look at her again? Ask her some questions? She still has some insightful opinions!"

However, Princess Ning acted as if she hadn't heard anything, and with the help of her maid, she got up and left.

Xiao Qingyuan did not leave. He stared at Madam Qi and sneered, "She's not my biological mother, but she's really vicious. She's afraid that her illegitimate daughter will climb the social ladder. All she says is slander."

"Your Highness, it's a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding! Look at my mouth, I'm too straightforward, I can't keep a secret!"

"Hmph, you know perfectly well whether it's a misunderstanding or not! But you probably can't imagine how well I know Shen Wantang. She married me in her past life! So, your slander is simply laughable!"

Madam Qi froze, unable to even manage a fake smile: "Your Highness is joking. There's no such thing as a past life. Even if there were, Tang'er could never marry Your Highness. She's not worthy of you."

Xiao Qingyuan suddenly laughed: "Hahaha, you think she's not good enough for me? Does that mean your own daughter is? Your Shen family isn't even ranked in the entire capital. Does it matter whether she's a legitimate daughter or an illegitimate daughter?"

“Your Highness, this is not just a matter of whether she is born of the legitimate or illegitimate child; it is a matter of character and upbringing. Our Xuan’er is upright, kind, gentle, and compliant…”

"Come on, you can fool others but you can't fool me! I know better than you what kind of person Shen Mingxuan is!"

Xiao Qingyuan seemed to be in a good mood, and even his voice became cheerful: "However, Madam Shen, I should thank you. If you hadn't spoken ill of Shen Wantang in front of my mother, my mother might have wanted me to marry her!"

"Now that's settled, you've successfully angered my mother. She should be disgusted with Shen Wantang now and won't force me to marry her anymore. I can now marry Nan Shi!"

"You really have a knack for ruining Shen Wantang's reputation with just a few words. If what you said today gets out, it will probably destroy Shen Wantang completely!"

"Tsk tsk, ruthless, cunning, and terrifying! If you're this terrifying, how could I possibly marry your daughter, Shen Mingxuan? Do you think you're the only smart one and everyone else is a fool?"

Madam Qi's face turned pale instantly.

Oh no, she seems to have backfired; she unintentionally harmed her own daughter!

Seeing her expression change, Xiao Qingyuan chuckled and then walked up to Shen Wantang:

"Shen Wantang, no matter how badly I spoke of you in my past life, it was useless. My mother always liked you. I never thought that a few words from your stepmother would have such an effect! If I had known this would happen, why would I have bothered to go through all that trouble? I could have just gone directly to your wicked stepmother!"

Shen Wantang still looked bewildered: "What is the young master saying? I don't understand."

Xiao Qingyuan sighed: "Alas, you are quite pitiful. So this is the kind of hard life you had before you got married. You must have suffered a lot of beatings and injustices from your stepmother, right?"

"No wonder you refused to divorce me. If you did, you'd be tormented to death by that vicious stepmother when you returned to the Shen family!"

"Alright, I forgive you for not wanting to divorce me in our past life. After all, you had your reasons and you genuinely loved me, even though you don't remember any of that."

Shen Wantang listened to him talking to himself without giving him a single response. She remained completely bewildered the whole time, and anyone who didn't know better would have thought she was listening to gibberish!

Xiao Qingyuan spoke for a while, but seeing that Shen Wantang had no reaction, he felt as if he was talking to a brick wall: "Sigh, this is boring. Why am I the only one who was reborn? There's no one to discuss my past life with. It's so dull, I'm about to suffocate!"

Shen Wantang's heart stirred slightly. She finally gleaned a somewhat useful piece of information from Xiao Qingyuan's long string of nonsense—Liu Nanshi probably hadn't been reborn either.