He spoke as if he were utterly helpless, making one feel that Xin Jiuwei was beyond redemption.
The young master of the Zhao family, who was watching the commotion from the sidelines, said, "That's right, the young lady hasn't read many classic books, so Brother Qi should teach her more!"
The others echoed this sentiment.
"Neither the Xin siblings are cut out for studying; everyone in Yingzhou knows that."
"Without Brother Qi, the Xin family's future would be difficult."
Xin Jiuwei kept her head down, her hands under her long sleeves already bearing bloody marks. She told herself to hold back and not to lose her composure, otherwise, just as Qi Huaiyu said, she would be "acting willfully and recklessly".
Suppressing her anger, she smiled and looked up at the crowd.
“Xin San has learned his lesson. However, although I am unlearned, I am not entirely ignorant, but I am quite worldly-wise. May I ask, Miss Li, would you give the dowry left to you by your mother to your wet nurse?”
Miss Li, who was called out, replied matter-of-factly, "How could that be? If my mother found out, she'd probably break my legs."
Everyone burst into laughter. Xin Jiuwei then looked at Young Master Zhao, who had spoken first.
"Young Master Zhao, how would you handle it if your steward caused such a scene at today's banquet?" Xin Jiuwei reminded him, "The steward is older than you."
Young Master Zhao glanced at Qi Huaiyu, whose face was pale, scratched his forehead, and did not answer.
"Finally, I'd like to ask Young Master Qi a question," Xin Jiuwei said, looking at Qi Huaiyu with an ambiguous expression. "The storeroom has records of this Feng woman's attire; it all belongs to the Xin family. If it wasn't stolen by Feng woman, then it truly is as she claims, a gift from me. But why would I give my mother's dowry to a wet nurse?"
She paused, then said meaningfully, "I suppose she must have some other identity for me to act this way?"
Qi Huaiyu's expression changed repeatedly.
Finally, sensing the threat in his words, he ignored Madam Feng's pleading gaze and said, "Since it concerns your mother's dowry, I won't interfere. But... don't go too far."
Upon hearing this, Xin Jiuwei sneered inwardly. He spoke with such righteous indignation, but Qi Huaiyu was nothing more than that!
Unable to acknowledge her son and humiliated in public by Xin Jiuwei, Madam Feng had no choice but to sit down on the ground.
"Come on then! Even if we report this to the authorities today, these were all sent by you!"
"I think you just want to make things difficult for an old woman like me. Otherwise, why didn't you act up before? Why did you have to act up today? If you have the guts, then beat me to death today!"
Old Mrs. Feng was also quick-witted. She had already attended several banquets with Xin Jiuwei, so it was simply unreasonable to accuse her of being a thief at this time.
Xin Jiuwei was getting a headache from her loud voice. Today, she really wanted to take advantage of the situation to show off the old woman's power and also to vent her anger for her tragic death. Even if she really went to the authorities and broke ties with Qi Huaiyu, she might not be able to suppress the mother and son.
Thinking of this, Xin Jiuwei rubbed her temples and instructed Wang Qing: "Take off all her jewelry and clothes, leaving only her undergarments, and throw them out the door."
Feng opened her mouth to howl again, accusing Xin Jiuwei of bullying the elderly.
However, everyone at the table already knew that she was not Xin's aunt at all, so who would offend Xin Jiuwei for her sake?
It was better to avoid trouble, so no one stepped forward to plead for them.
Fearing that it would offend the eyes of the noble ladies, Wang Qing and several maids dragged Feng away.
The young men who had just complained that Xin Jiuwei was being unreasonable now saw it as a trivial matter between women and disdainfully made way for her.
Qi Huaiyu remained silent with a cold face, just watching his mother being dragged away.
Xin Jiuwei didn't even glance in their direction again, and put the hairpin she had won into her hair.
She should enjoy her things promptly, unlike in her previous life when she gave away everything to please Qi Huaiyu, only to have it all end up in Xue Yingxue's hands.
Just then, I actually heard Xue Yingxue's voice.
"Huaiyu".
She was led in by a servant, but stopped far away and stood outside the crowd waiting for Qi Huaiyu to come over.
When everyone looked over, they saw her with an air of arrogance and nonchalance.
As soon as she arrived, a group of young noblemen immediately turned their eyes to her, and some even went up to her to curry favor.
Qi Huaiyu quickly went over and asked, "Ying Xue, what brings you here?"
"You haven't returned for a long time, and the tea has gone cold." Xue Yingxue glanced over here casually. "Otherwise, why would I come to this boring women's section?"
She's always been like this; whenever she attends a banquet, she finds it boring for the noble ladies to appreciate flowers and paintings, and always goes to the men's section.
Yet no one said she was ill-mannered, simply because she was the daughter of a military family, the orphan of a general, and everyone praised her for having the heroic bearing of her father, unlike any other woman in Yingzhou.
Qi Huaiyu lost all his arrogance in front of Xue Yingxue and became very gentle, saying, "The trivial matters between women have delayed us for a while, so let's finish this now."
“Yes, yes, yes.” The young master next to her chimed in, “Miss Xue, let’s go and finish discussing the article we just read. Let’s not waste time on trivial matters.”
Xue Yingxue's gaze fell on Xin Jiuwei, and she frowned slightly.
Qi Huaiyu asked, "Ying Xue, what are you looking at?"
Xue Yingxue seemed to have lost interest in the women's section and walked up to Xin Jiuwei.
Where did you get this hairpin?
Xin Jiuwei was originally wearing a flower hairpin today, but the only thing she won in her hair was a hairpin.
She stared at Xue Yingxue, her mind filled with the image of the other woman standing coldly at the door on the day she died tragically.
And that line, "May she be a smart person in her next life."
Xin Jiuwei composed herself, thinking to herself, "Then I will grant your wish."
She knew why Xue Yingxue was asking, but she pretended to be clueless. "This is a little something Miss Ye added to our flower-viewing banquet. Is there a problem?"
Upon hearing this, Miss Ye said, "I also bought it by chance. This hairpin has a unique design and is not commonly seen."
Xue Yingxue's eyes flickered, as if she wanted to say something but held back.
The young man who had previously echoed her, surnamed Chen, was always attentive to Xue Yingxue. "Does Miss Xue like this hairpin?"
“I have never liked such vulgar things as gold jewelry,” Xue Yingxue said proudly, but she couldn’t help but look at Xin Jiuwei’s hair again, her expression turning disappointed. “It’s just that this hairpin seems to be a memento from my late mother, so I took another look.”
Young Master Chen immediately exclaimed, "It's so precious! Why don't we discuss it with Miss Xin? I'm sure she'd be willing to part with it."
Xue Yingxue said, "Since it was properly purchased by Miss Ye, let's just forget about it."
He lowered his head and smiled wistfully, "Even if she is special to me, she has already been won over by Miss Xin. I can't take away what belongs to someone else."
Xin Jiuwei smiled inwardly, thinking, "Just as I thought."
Not long after Madam Feng stole the hairpin in her previous life, Xin Jiuwei heard that Xue Yingxue had seen it and only casually mentioned that it was her deceased mother's keepsake before Qi Huaiyu took it and gave it to her.
Feng then confronted Xin Jiuwei again, causing a scene and stealing even more valuable jewelry from her.
At this moment, Xue Yingxue was still the same as in her previous life, clearly wanting it but pretending to be helpless.
Sure enough, Qi Huaiyu immediately said to Xin Jiuwei, "Jiuwei, give the hairpin to Yingxue."
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