The frown on Old Lady Su's face gradually relaxed, and her voice was filled with kindness when she spoke again, "You are thoughtful. I didn't realize you are so smart before. Stay with me and sort things out. I think you will be no worse than those noble ladies!"

Jiang Caiping heard the hidden meaning and her expression changed immediately, "Mother-in-law, you can't..."

Old Lady Su didn't even look at her and said in a loud voice: "Housekeeper, go ask the accountant to count Miss Sun's dowry, then go to the government office and tell her--"

"Someone has seized the property of the Yongning Marquis's Mansion and even came to cause trouble. Please trouble their officers to go there!"

For a moment, the expressions of the two women in the Xie family changed.

Old Madam Xie tried to keep a straight face and looked at Old Madam Su with a somewhat panicked look.

"Old Madam, this...isn't it a bit too embarrassing for our two families to end up in court over such a private matter?"

Old Lady Su didn't buy her story, and said with a half-smile, "Madam Xie didn't mind coming to cause trouble, and she didn't mind seizing the dowry, but now she's starting to care about her face when the Marquis's Mansion comes to ask for money?"

Madam Xie even attempted to threaten, "Don't forget, Miss Zhiyao and our Qingxu have an arranged marriage..."

"Zhiyao is just an adopted daughter of the Marquisate. She has no adoption certificate and no clan elders to guarantee her. To put it bluntly, she is an outsider who can be driven out of the house with just one sentence. What is the old lady's intention in mentioning this several times?"

Old Madam Xie was startled. Her last trump card was useless and she was completely panicked.

Su Zhiyao, who was standing by, turned pale. Her body, kneeling at Old Madam Su’s feet, went limp and she fainted.

"Zhiyao, Zhiyao, what's wrong with you? Don't scare mother!"

Jiang Caiping panicked and rushed over to hug Su Zhiyao, feeling very distressed.

Old Lady Su looked impatient, "Can you wake him up by just shouting twice? Hurry up and take him down, and call the doctor to take a look!"

Hearing the disgust in the old lady's tone, Jiang Caiping didn't dare to talk back. She quickly took a few maids and carried Su Zhiyao back to the room.

From beginning to end, he never even glanced at Su Jinyue who was kneeling in the hall.

She knew clearly that the Xie family came here with such force today that they wanted to embarrass Su Jinyue.

After the person left, the Xie family began to feel uneasy. Old Madam Xie secretly pushed Mrs. Xie Lin, who was unhappy but could only lower her head.

She said to Su Jinyue, "Alright, considering that you have served me well for three years, I will not bother with you before, and I will not ask you to pay compensation. Now kowtow to your mother-in-law and apologize to me, and I will forgive you and allow you to enter the Xie family!"

Her tone was extremely embarrassed, as if she had given Su Jinyue a great gift.

Old Madam Xie quickly continued the conversation to smooth things over, "Ah, we are a family and we don't have to talk about different things. There is no need to apologize or not. As long as the young couple lives a good life, that is more important than anything else!"

As she spoke, she pretended to help Su Jinyue up, showing the affection between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.

Unexpectedly, Su Jinyue did not respond at all: "Madam Xie, instead of using all kinds of tricks for my dowry, why don't you go back and ask Xie Qingxu to come and apologize to me in person."

"A man of eight feet tall can only hide behind a woman when something goes wrong?"

Madam Xie's several nice words didn't get Su Jinyue to compromise. She became impatient and her vicious and mean face showed. She couldn't help but scold Su Jinyue.

"I have given you face several times, don't refuse my toast and drink a forfeit! Even if you want your dowry back, what can you do? You have been staying in your husband's house for three years without any status, and everyone in the capital knows it. Do you really think that other than the Xie family, who would dare to want a woman with a bad reputation like you?"

"Besides, you caused trouble in the street on your wedding day. Do you really think that anyone can uphold justice for you? Let me tell you, women in this world are supposed to obey men. Husbands are heaven and earth. Even if you haven't married yet, you have no right to disobey!"

"After this, all the nobles will know that you are an uneducated, shameless bitch. When no one wants you, don't come crying to our Xie Mansion to beg us to take you in!"

“Bang!”

Even Old Lady Su couldn't stand listening to this and slammed the table.

"Madam Xie, be careful with your words! Look carefully, whose territory are you in? How dare you be so presumptuous to the daughter of a legitimate marquis?!"

After all, Madam Xie came from a humble family, so how could she compare to the grandeur of the old lady's main wife in the Marquis's mansion? She was so frightened that she trembled, and her body, which had just recovered, looked like it was about to have a seizure on the spot, and she couldn't utter a word for a long time.

"Why did I stay in the Marquis' Mansion for three years? Isn't Madam Xie the one who knows best?!"

Su Jinyue stood up and sneered at Madam Xie, "Before Xie Qingxu went to war, he knelt down and begged me to take care of his mother. He wrote three letters a day, saying that his mother was lonely and asked me to take good care of her."

"What did Madam Xie say when I first went to see you at the Xie Mansion? It was you who said that I was Xie Qingxu's only daughter-in-law, that my eldest brother was incompetent and my eldest sister-in-law was disloyal, and that the burden of the entire Xie family would be on me from now on."

"If you and your son hadn't been crying and begging me like stray dogs, why would I have disregarded my reputation and personally come to take care of you? If I had known that my kindness would lead to this fate, I would have used the money I spent on the Xie Mansion to feed stray dogs. Even dogs would wag their tails at me after being fed for three years. Only people like you in the Xie Mansion, who are worse than the dogs, would repay kindness with enmity!"

Old Madam Xie was so angry that she was shaking all over. She raised her finger and pointed at Su Jinyue, "You, you, you..."

I couldn't utter a complete sentence for a long time.

"Madam, Miss, the accountant has arrived. The government office has also received the news and will be here soon!"

The housekeeper came back panting, dragged the accountant and reported to Old Lady Su repeatedly.

Old Madam Su subconsciously turned her head to look at Su Jinyue, watching her standing obediently beside her and letting the maid hand her a stack of account books.

She then took it slowly, flipped through a few pages casually, looked up and spoke.

"Mr. Accountant, do the accounting in the front hall. Gather all the young and strong servants in the mansion and go to the Xie Mansion to bring back all the dowry for our eldest lady!"

Ever since that day when the old lady personally took charge and moved all the dowry back to the Marquis' Mansion, the Xie family was quite quiet for a while. Perhaps they knew they were in the wrong, so they never came to make trouble again.

As a result, Xie Qingxu also hid at home. Apart from reporting to court every day, no other news was heard from him. Su Jinyue knew too well that he was a two-faced person, and he probably wanted to avoid the limelight and then take his time.

But after all this, the one who suffered the most was Su Zhiyao.

Because the marriage was granted by the emperor, it could not be cancelled. However, Xie Qingxu had no intention of marrying her, so she could only shed tears every day in the mansion.

Su Jinyue, on the other hand, was enjoying her leisure time. She counted on her fingers and found that it was the day when Xiao Duo would return triumphantly.