Qin Xue was pushed away by Chen Banjun. After seeing who the man she had just kissed was, she wanted to scream.

But considering the other person's identity, he dared not, and could only suppress his anger.

Her complexion changed from white to red.

Her face turned pale because she had just seen Chen Banjun deliver the plaque and knew that he was the emperor's chief eunuch. She had just kissed a eunuch who was older than her father.

However, he held a high position and wielded great power, which the Qin family could not afford to offend; at least on the surface, the Qin family could not confront him.

Then her face turned red, not from shyness, but purely from holding it in.

She wanted to vent her anger and shout. When had she ever suffered such humiliation? But because of Chen Banjun's status, she dared not act rashly.

But Chen Banjun cried out, "How dare you, woman, molest my family! My family has guarded our chastity for over forty years..."

He pointed at Qin Xue, utterly ashamed and furious, "You actually took her away from us! How can we ever face anyone again... You... you have to take responsibility for us."

Little Sheep grew up pampered by money. In Jiangnan, she was surrounded by people who fawned over her or were bullied by her. She had never seen anything like this before.

She was furious. She had been taken advantage of by that old eunuch, and before she could even say anything, he was demanding that she take responsibility.

"Please forgive me, Eunuch Chen, my daughter did not mean it."

She cried, both from feeling wronged and from being frightened.

“My daughter was in a hurry to catch up with my cousin and Sister Su, and she tripped and fell. It was all my fault for tripping you, Father-in-law. I am willing to offer 50,000 taels as compensation. Please forgive me, Father-in-law.”

She didn't know if the "responsibility" Chen Banjun mentioned was what she meant.

But she would never marry a eunuch, especially since she was pregnant with her cousin Shuhuai's child.

The only solution is to use money.

But this time it seems to have failed.

She noticed that Chen Banjun's face had darkened further.

Chen Banjun seemed to have been deeply humiliated. "How dare you! Whose daughter are you? We need to ask your elders. Can money buy back our family's reputation?"

Or do you think our family is all about money?

Not only have you insulted our reputation, but you've also humiliated us. How dare you! We want to know how your parents raised their daughter.

Upon hearing the commotion and running back, Li Shuhuai knelt down beside Qin Xue and explained his and Qin Xue's identities as her cousin. He then begged for forgiveness, saying, "Father-in-law, please forgive me. My cousin did not mean to insult you. She only felt guilty and wanted to make amends."

Chen Banjun scoffed, "Then tell me how you're going to take responsibility?"

Cold sweat broke out on Li Shuhuai's forehead. "How does Father-in-law intend to take responsibility?"

What do you mean by that?

Chen Banjun was very dissatisfied, "She has tarnished our reputation, so of course she has to marry into our family. Do you think we are casual people? That our lips are something that can be kissed by just anyone?"

This was his first kiss; he sacrificed a great deal for His Majesty.

"no!"

Before Li Shuhuai could speak, Qin Xue exclaimed anxiously, "I can't marry you."

"You look down on our family?"

Chen Banjun glared at him and said, "We don't even think much of you. How dare a merchant's daughter start a relationship with us and then abandon us?"

"Guards, tie her up and take her to the Li family. Ask them if they can give us justice. If not, we will appeal to His Majesty."

Historically, it has always been the case that when a woman's chastity is ruined, the man is held responsible. There has never been a situation like this before, but Li Shuhuai cannot say that the man's chastity is not important.

If things really escalate to the Li family, they probably won't fare well either. Just as they were trying to come up with a solution, they heard Su Luoqing's voice.

"Cousin Qin, is it because Li Shuhuai has rejected you and you want to get revenge on him, that you deliberately approached Eunuch Chen?"

"But you're already pregnant with Li Shuhuai's child, and you're trying to extort money from Eunuch Chen, yet you're still using this 'playing hard to get' tactic. That's a bit unethical."

"Oh, so you wanted to cling to our family and play hard to get."

After realizing what had happened, Chen Banjun was furious. With her pinky finger raised, she said, "I knew it! I was walking along just fine, how did you manage to tackle me and then kiss me so precisely on the lips?"

So you were deliberately scheming against our family just to find a father for your child.

Su Luoqing quickly lowered her head again.

She usually keeps a cool demeanor because she has a low threshold for laughter and doesn't want people to see her laughing foolishly all day, thinking she's easy to bully.

But with Eunuch Chen being such a good actor, she really couldn't resist.

It was clearly Ye Zhen who had someone throw stones at Qin Xue's feet, and it was only through Chen Gonggong's cooperation that the kiss happened so perfectly.

However, they were all trying to help her, and she couldn't let them down.

"Please forgive me, Eunuch Chen. My cousin Qin is pregnant out of wedlock, and Li Shuhuai is unwilling to take responsibility. She is naturally resentful. I suppose it is because of your noble status that she wants to curry favor with you to spite Li Shuhuai."

"I didn't, you're lying."

Qin Xue cried, her heart filled with hatred for Su Luoqing. "My cousin Shuhuai didn't despise me. He will marry me as his concubine. I didn't need to scheme against Eunuch Chen at all. It was all an accident."

The Li family hadn't told Su Luoqing about taking a second wife yet, fearing she would cause trouble. They only planned to have Qin Xue be a bride on the day she entered the family.

Once Su Luoqing enters the Li family, the Li family will force her to tell others that marrying Qin Xue was her idea.

This way, the Li family's reputation was preserved. The Li family asked Qin Xue to keep this a secret, but now Qin Xue was afraid of marrying Chen Banjun and didn't care about anything else.

Upon hearing this, Su Luoqing looked at Li Shuhuai and asked, "Is what she said true? You want to marry her as your secondary wife?"

If it weren't for her kindness in saving the illegitimate daughter of the Li family back then, and the illegitimate daughter of the Li family happened to overhear this secret, she would have been plotted against and killed by the Li family.

For the sake of the Li family's illegitimate daughter's life, she couldn't let the Li family members know that she had learned of the Li family's conspiracy.

He feigned anger and questioned Li Shuhuai, "I thought you were just having an ambiguous relationship with her, but I never expected you to want to marry her as a concubine. Then let's annul the engagement."

Today's events are far beyond Li Shuhuai's control.

With so many people watching, his admission that he wanted to marry Qin Xue as a concubine meant he was cheating on his fiancée, so Su Luoqing's request to annul the engagement was justified.

He didn't deny it, but Qin Xue was very likely to marry Chen Banjun. He vaguely knew a little about Qin Xue's purpose in marrying into the Li family, and he absolutely couldn't allow it to go wrong.

Fortunately, an official who was on good terms with the Li family spoke up, "I wonder if Father-in-law was injured from that fall just now. It would be best to have a doctor take a look first."

The official wanted to quell the matter concerning Eunuch Chen first. "As for this girl, since she already has Young Master Li's child, it would be an insult to the father-in-law to marry her. Since she is a cousin of the Li family, I think the Li family will give the father-in-law an explanation."

Taking advantage of his age, he looked at Doctor Su and said, "Young lady of the Su family, marriage is a matter of goodwill between two families and should be decided by the elders of both families. Young lady, you should not keep talking about breaking off the engagement."

Su Luoqing looked at him and sneered, "I've heard that the old master is still as sharp as ever, all thanks to Li Shiling for taking care of you."

Even in your sixties, you can still have an affair, and you're invincible in your daughter-in-law's bed, earning her high praise.

You are indeed grateful, thanking Li Shiling, and thus you eagerly stepped forward to speak on behalf of the Li family.”

Everyone's expression changed drastically, and the official's face turned ashen, his beard trembling with anger. "Ignorant woman, spouting nonsense!"