As more and more people gathered, the area became completely packed, but everyone kept a respectful distance from Song Lingxi, with some even standing close to the wall.
Upon seeing this, the servant of the Song family hurriedly ran into the mansion to report: "It's terrible! It's terrible! The eldest young lady is coming with a group of people!"
The servant's words immediately puzzled the Song family. What did he mean?
Just as the servant was about to barge into the main hall, the maid Yexiao, who was guarding the door, quickly stopped him: "Hey, who are you? Do you know who the madam is meeting inside? How dare you barge in?"
The servant recognized her as the maid who often followed the madam, and as if he had found a lifeline, he quickly grabbed her sleeve and said...
"Miss Night Snack, I'm the doorman. I saw the young lady return, and there's a large crowd gathered at the door. Please inform the madam immediately."
As she calculated the days, she realized it was the third day after her daughter's return to her parents' home. But she frowned and scolded the servant for being so irresponsible.
"You can't make such a scene. Madam is receiving Her Highness the Princess. She is Her Highness the Princess. If you disturb such an important guest, you'll have several heads to lose."
The servant's face paled, and he shut his mouth, standing with his head down beside the late-night snack stall. He was just a gatekeeper; how could he possibly offend someone like the Princess?
Seeing that he had quieted down, Ye Xiao was finally satisfied. She glanced at him arrogantly and said, "I'll go and report to Madam. You can go back now."
The servant dared not say anything more and stammered, "Yes."
...
After Song Lingxi and the others finally managed to break free from the crowd, they saw that the gates of the Song residence had been opened, but the person in the lead was not her stepmother, but her good younger sister.
Song Lingyu, dressed in a round-necked blue lotus-patterned ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress), with her hair styled in a flying bun, bowed gracefully to them when she saw them looking over. Her voice was gentle and sweet, perfectly embodying the demeanor of a noble lady from a high-ranking family.
"Greetings, elder sister and brother-in-law. Father and mother are receiving Her Highness the Princess and are unable to leave, so they specially ordered me to receive you both here."
This was truly a huge embarrassment for them. If no one had come to see them, it would have been fine; they could have just said the Song family had been negligent. But instead, only an unmarried girl showed up. Were they trying to gain fame by stepping on her head?
Song Lingxi narrowed her eyes, tightened her grip on Xie Changling's large hand, and her expression revealed undisguised disgust, her eyes blazing with anger.
Xie Changling's eyes never left Song Lingxi. Seeing that Song Lingxi looked unhappy, he took her small hand in his large hand and patted the back of her hand to comfort her.
Song Lingxi looked up and saw Xie Changling wink at her, as if to say, "Watch how your husband gets revenge for you." This startled Song Lingxi.
"Since my father-in-law and mother-in-law are not available today, I will not bother them any longer. It was my fault for being ungrateful. I apologize in advance."
Xie Changling's voice was clear and pleasant, like a gentle breeze and a bright moon. Although he said this, there was no trace of apology on his face. A faint smile always lingered on his lips, as gentle as a spring breeze.
Song Lingyu's eyebrows twitched. Looking at Xie Changling in front of her, her eyes inexplicably became moist. The onlookers thought that she was thin-skinned and was about to cry because she had lost face.
Only Song Lingxi knew that Song Lingyu had always coveted Xie Changling, but she had given up on her because Xie Changling was in poor health and there was always the possibility of her becoming a widow after marrying her.
However, judging from the man's appearance, he is now very healthy, with a robust body, rosy complexion, and exceptionally handsome appearance. He doesn't look like he won't live much longer at all.
Song Lingyu's dead heart has come back to life, and is even showing signs of stirring again.
But when she thought of the Princess in the main hall, the flame that had just been lit was extinguished again, and a sense of desolation filled her eyes.
Xie Changling wasn't paying attention to her; he simply wanted to vent his anger for his mistress. Seeing that the crowd hadn't left, he began his persuasion.
"But, if I may ask, why is the indenture of my wife's maid still in the Song household? Do you intend to remain a slave to both families?"
These words caused an uproar among the crowd, and a torrent of discussions rushed into Song Lingyu's ears, making her immediately sense that something was wrong.
"Miss Song, we know you are young and inexperienced. Could you please ask Madam Song to return the servants' indenture after you have finished entertaining our distinguished guests?"
Xie Changling's attitude was not aggressive; on the contrary, it was somewhat courteous. Therefore, the onlookers did not think Xie Changling's attitude was bad; on the contrary, they thought he was too polite.
"This young master is so well-mannered. He truly deserves to be the eldest son of the Prime Minister's mansion. He is as gentle and refined as jade, a gentleman like jade."
"What? This person is the eldest son of the Prime Minister's family? Wasn't he supposed to be dying soon—how can he be so healthy and robust?"
"You may not know this, but the eldest son of the Prime Minister's family was indeed in poor health. However, a master predicted that marrying a girl from the Song family would resolve the karmic entanglement. It seems that Miss Song is the lucky star."
"Miss Song is so beautiful, like a fairy from heaven. No wonder she can ward off evil spirits."
"goddess!"
The crowd buzzed with discussion, and someone shouted "Goddess!" The others joined in, creating a noisy uproar that made Song Lingxi inexplicably shy.
Xie Changling stood beside her and raised his hand to signal the people to calm down. The title of "Goddess" sounded nice, but if it displeased the higher-ups, then they would be in trouble.
"Thank you all for your kindness to my wife. However, we are newly married and are returning to our parents' home three days later to pay our respects at the Song residence."
"We really don't want to disturb my father-in-law and mother-in-law's meeting with our distinguished guests, so please don't shout. We only have one small request: we want to get back the indentures of our maids and servants."
Xie Changling gently persuaded them, successfully bringing the topic back to the point that a trivial matter, so commonplace, had caused the Song family to lose face.
"Oh dear, Madam Song is really unethical. She's definitely not her biological daughter, and she's trying to manipulate people."
"Huh? Didn't everyone say she was a good stepmother, treating the eldest daughter like her own child? How could she withhold the dowry and indenture?"
"You can know a person's face but not their heart. Madam Song always talks about how good she is to the eldest daughter, but when have you ever seen her bring the eldest daughter out to a banquet?"
"I also heard that Madam Song plans to marry her eldest daughter to her gambling and womanizing nephew!"
"Oh, is that so? What a hypocrite! If she's not his biological daughter, he'll push her into a fire pit."
"Indeed, with the eldest daughter's looks, if Madam Song were to bring her to a banquet to make an appearance, what chance would the second daughter have?"
The crowd started talking all at once, each offering their own opinion, and successfully destroyed the image of a kind mother that Madam Song had cultivated for so many years.
No matter how cunning Song Lingyu was, she had never experienced such a major event as verbal and written attacks. She was immediately frightened and her face turned pale, completely losing her previous poised and elegant demeanor.
The same clever servant boy went in to announce the news before anyone could react.
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