turbulent
Yang came from a prominent family and was granted an imperial title. Moreover, she was the most important guest of honor today. Therefore, when she walked slowly with a solemn expression, everyone was inevitably awestruck by her righteous aura.
When Gao Youyi saw Lin Xu cowering in the corner, her heart pounded. She rushed forward and pulled Lin Xu into her arms, then whispered softly in her ear, "Good Xu'er, it's alright, it's all over. Your mother is here, no one will dare to cause trouble..."
A fleeting look of embarrassment crossed Yao Suran's face, but it was quickly masked by her composure. Yao Su'an, upon entering the room, was startled by the mess on the floor, her lips turning pale with fright. She immediately rushed to Yao Sha's side, who was now in a terrible state, and asked in a trembling voice, "Sha'er, what happened? Why are you covered in blood? Who dared to hurt you?"
Zhou Quan snorted coldly upon hearing this, the long knife in his hand gleaming with a chilling light: "We would like to ask the Duke's Mansion this question. This East Room, which is off-limits to strangers, is only used by the young lady to bathe and change clothes. How come the young master of your Duke's Mansion is completely ignorant of the principle of maintaining proper separation between men and women, which even a three-year-old child knows, and can still do such a despicable thing?"
Yao Su'an, who always presented herself as gentle and self-possessed, couldn't help but change color at this moment. Seeing Yao Sha covered in blood, looking delirious, and with his hands tightly bound and unable to move, she abandoned her usual kind and gentle demeanor and immediately blushed and retorted:
"How dare you! Our Yao family are honored guests invited by you, how can we allow such rude treatment from the lowly servants of the Lin family! Untie my brother at once!"
Zhou Qi raised his chin dismissively, his dark face full of contempt. He glanced down at Yao Sha, who was slumped on the ground, his rough hands gripping the thick hemp rope even tighter, and said in a muffled voice:
"The Zhou brothers were ordered to protect my young lady with their lives, but we are unable to comply."
Zhou Weikan had been standing at the back of the crowd, remaining silent. He then quietly instructed his servant, who soon brought out a heavy wooden screen inlaid with white jade from the courtyard outside the east room. The screen was tall and heavy, far more opaque than the previous plain silk screens that allowed only vague, indistinct figures, instantly obscuring Lin Xu completely from view.
The fleeting glimpse of spring that had stirred endless reverie is nowhere to be seen.
Zhao Fuchang, somewhat embarrassed, withdrew his probing eyes and walked towards the door with his hands behind his back.
After arriving at the east room, Madam Yang stood silently. She saw Lin Xu's sorrowful expression and understood the Yao family's constant bullying. She flicked her sleeve and slowly said in a deep voice, "Today is a joyous occasion for the Lin family's daughter's coming-of-age ceremony. The Lin family has gathered us here to celebrate and congratulate Lin Xu on her coming of age. If anyone intends to cause trouble and disrupt this joyous occasion, not only will the Lin family not tolerate it, but even I, Madam Yang, as the honored guest of honor at this ceremony, will absolutely not tolerate it!"
She was already quite composed, and her words, though spoken slowly and deliberately, were full of warning. Yao Su'an, who had been quietly sobbing beside her, couldn't help but tremble upon hearing them.
Gao Youyi glanced at Xin Tan, who was standing to the side, and sternly ordered, "This matter is of great importance. You must not disturb the people in the main hall. Go quickly and call several guards to guard the outside of the East Hall. Under no circumstances should anyone be allowed to enter. Go and secretly report to the master."
She surveyed the people standing in the east hall, her noble and full face bearing an imposing, stern expression. Then she bent down to look at her stepdaughter, her face full of tenderness, carefully tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear before cautiously saying:
"My son, quickly tell your mother, did anyone cause you any trouble just now? If so..."
Gao Youyi's voice became hoarse, and she could no longer bear to speak. She desperately held back the tears in her eyes, glanced at Yao Sha who was lying limp and weak beside her, and couldn't help but grit her teeth and say, "...Mother will definitely get justice for you today!"
All eyes turned once again to the carved screen beside Gao Youyi.
Tears welled in Lin Xu's eyes and slowly dripped onto the thick fleece blanket covering her. She opened her mouth, but a thousand words remained unspoken. Just as she was gathering her thoughts, she suddenly heard a familiar, alluring voice from outside the door: "Xu'er, what's wrong? She was just bowing properly a moment ago, how could such a disaster have happened? Who is so vicious as to dare to sully our Xu'er's purity!"
Madam Qi, heavily pregnant, rested her hands on her sides, while a young maidservant behind her diligently fanned her. She gently wiped the excess powder from the sides of her nose with a handkerchief, her eyes filled with sorrow as she sobbed, "Our Xu'er was finally about to come of age, but this has happened. How can we possibly marry her off now?"
Lin Xu forced down her annoyance. Zhu Ling, standing beside her, immediately sneered. Before she could speak, Yang Shi, her expression unchanged, stared intently at the little maid and laughed loudly, "How dare you! Your mistress is pregnant and very precious. Instead of serving her properly, you, as her servant, have brought her to this tiny east room. What other intentions do you have? Let me ask you, if anything goes wrong today, firstly, it will delay your mistress's auspicious time for the ceremony, and secondly, it will disturb your mistress's pregnancy. Can you, a lowly servant, bear the responsibility?"
Upon hearing this, the young girl immediately went limp and knelt on the ground, begging for mercy. Having been humiliated in front of everyone, Qi's beautiful face also showed embarrassment. After a long while, she spoke again in a sweet voice:
"I've long heard of Madam Gao's skillful management of the household, and seeing it today, I can confirm the rumors are true. However... I was merely worried about Xu'er's safety. After all, she's still a young woman about to be married, and yet such a disgraceful incident has occurred..."
Zhu Ling already harbored deep resentment towards Qi Shi because of the previous incident involving Fu'er and Qingwu. Seeing Qi Shi slander her young mistress in front of outsiders, she was furious but laughed, her eyes filled with contempt and surging hatred. She stepped forward and said loudly:
"Auntie, please don't rush to shed tears. My young lady has been wronged, and we don't even know why. Yet you have arrived late, and there is not a trace of concern in your words. Instead, in front of all the distinguished guests, you have directly poured a huge basin of dirty water on us. I'm afraid I don't need to spell out what you are thinking!"
Seeing that the Qi family members had also started arguing, Yao Suran sneered and said coldly, "What filth? Our Shan'er was first framed by you all, and then humiliated in front of everyone. That's the real filth! I order you to release him immediately, otherwise, if anything happens to Shan'er, I will hold the lives of more than a hundred people in your Lin family accountable!"
As soon as she said these words, everyone felt a chill run down their spines.
Yao Su'an knelt beside Yao Sha, wiping his wounds repeatedly with her embroidered handkerchief, already sobbing uncontrollably.
Although Zhou Qi and Zhou Quan were highly skilled in martial arts, they knew that the Yao family held immense power in the court and among the people. Seeing Yao Suran's ruthless display just now, they couldn't help but hesitate. However, this momentary lapse in judgment gave others an opportunity—
Suddenly, Yao Su'an stepped forward and, with all her might, snatched the long sword from Zhou Quan's hand, desperately holding it in front of her. Everyone was stunned by this action, but the usually gentle and delicate Yao Su'an did not stop at all. Instead, she quickly cut all the ropes that Yao Sha was tightly binding, and then, trembling, raised the long sword and held it straight in front of Zhou Quan.
"Elder sister!"
Even the usually unrestrained and flamboyant Yao Suran was shocked by her elder sister's actions, who was usually as delicate as a willow in the wind. She hurriedly cried out, fearing that Yao Su'an would lose her mind and hurt herself. Before she could stop her, she heard Yao Su'an's face turn fierce, her teeth clenched, and her gaze swept over everyone in the Lin family before finally landing on Zhou Quan.
"Today my brother has been publicly humiliated by the servants of your Lin family. How dare you go so far! I will immediately kill you, you lackey, to avenge my brother—"
Seeing the knife pointed straight at Zhou Quan not far away, everyone present was shocked. In the chaos, a black pebble flew from the crowd and struck Yao Su'an's hand holding the knife. Yao Su'an's wrist was struck and turned bright red, and tears immediately streamed down her face from the pain. The knife, which was quite heavy, was immediately knocked onto the thick carpet with a dull thud, typical of metal.
A tall figure stepped forward from the crowd. Zhou Weikan, his expression indifferent, spoke slowly:
“Miss Yao, since we have both been invited here today as honored guests to celebrate the host’s joyous occasion, we should naturally behave properly and observe proper etiquette. How could we possibly draw our knives at each other and make things difficult for the host?”
Yao Su'an was filled with anger and was about to lash out when she saw that the person who had questioned her was none other than Zhou Weikan, whom she had longed for. She was immediately filled with shame and guilt, and her fair face flushed red. She looked at her beloved, who seemed incredibly gentle but whose words were extremely cold, and was about to speak in her defense when she heard a woman's voice softly ring out from behind the screen in the distance.
It was clear and cold, as if it had been soaked in ice, yet it also contained a sense of infinite tenderness.
"Today was supposed to be Xu'er's coming-of-age ceremony, and I thank you all for coming. However... such a thing has happened, and I feel very ashamed..."
Kao Yu-yi's eyes were filled with endless heartache, and she couldn't help but blush.
She had invited the Yao family, thinking that since they were fellow students in the palace and held some power and status in Mujing, they could bring some surprise and glory to Xu'er's coming-of-age ceremony. She never imagined that the Yao family would be so vicious, causing such a commotion...
She was already filled with remorse, and had been gently patting Lin Xu's shoulder to comfort him, but she noticed that his thin shoulders, which had been trembling slightly, gradually hardened as he spoke.
"...Just now I was supposed to change my clothes in this east room to prepare for the coming-of-age ceremony, but unexpectedly, as soon as I approached this screen, I felt weak all over, my vision went black, and I gradually lost consciousness..."
The voice behind the screen was extremely faint, interspersed with barely audible tremors and sobs.
Zhou Weikan, standing at the back of the crowd, shifted slightly, as if he couldn't bear to listen any longer, and gently closed his eyes.
"Unexpectedly, in my dazed state, I felt someone whispering something beside me. When I finally came to my senses and opened my eyes, I saw Young Master Yao... How could he be here? Isn't this the backyard of our Lin family mansion?"
Upon hearing this, Yao Su'an turned her head away, her eyes lowered, and a hint of awkwardness appeared on her face.
The voice did not stop, as if it had mustered all its courage, and softly said:
"I was very flustered at the time. I felt that Young Master Yao was drunk and not quite in his right mind, unlike usual. So I tried desperately to push him away. But then, Young Master Yao kept muttering someone's name... I was startled and didn't know what to do. I was also worried that Young Master Yao's life was in danger, so I tried to wake him up by hitting him..."
Yao Suran scoffed coldly, her lips curling into a sneer:
"If what I said is true, all your efforts were just to climb the social ladder and attach yourself to our Duke's mansion. At worst, I'll go back and beg my mother to give you to my brother as a concubine. If I had known you had such intentions, you would have told me sooner. Why did you have to resort to such despicable means? Now, not only is your innocence ruined, but you also dare to hurt people. If anything were to happen to my brother, you would have been so ruthless. Do you really want to live a life of widowhood?"
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