Deng Qiao, who was kneeling, was slightly taken aback. She turned her gaze to Lu Mingqian not far away. Seeing his solemn expression as he gestured for her to walk over, Deng Qiao looked away as if she hadn't seen him. She cleared her throat and said loudly.
"Your subject is naturally the wife of Lu Mingqian of the Lu family of the Duke's Mansion."
Gao Yan glanced at her, then looked at Lu Mingqian.
"She's your wife?"
Lu Mingqian couldn't understand what the other person meant for a moment, so he could only nod subconsciously.
Suddenly he noticed that Gao Yan's gaze was a little strange, and Lu Mingqian shook his head guiltily.
"We are not married yet."
"Oh, you're already calling yourself a wife before you're even married. I understand, you're now taking over as a concubine."
Upon hearing this, Deng Qiao, who was initially filled with anxiety and nervousness, turned pale instantly.
She suddenly looked up at the distinguished young man in front of her, her mind going blankly.
"Your Highness, Mingqian and I have been together for almost ten years and are already husband and wife. Do you have some misunderstanding about me?"
Seeing Lu Mingqian's tense expression and Deng Qiao's angry and anxious look, Gao Yan suddenly burst into laughter, quickly realizing the situation before him.
"Hahahaha... So that's how it is. No wonder you haven't come back for ten years. It turns out you abandoned your first wife and kept a mistress outside."
Okay, that's good too!
Lu Mingqian was completely confused by Gao Yan.
Suppressing his panic, he hurriedly sought help from the old lady. He had never seen such a scene before and was afraid of saying the wrong thing and angering the Eleventh Prince, so he simply asked his mother to help.
The old lady stood up and smiled as she served food to Gao Yan.
"Your Highness is not familiar with our family affairs. Mingqian has just returned to the capital and is not yet mature. Please do not hold it against him if there is any inadequacy in our hospitality."
"Deng Qiao, why aren't you sitting down? You and your husband should offer His Highness a toast!"
Deng Qiao quickly sat down next to Lu Mingqian, picked up her wine glass, and took the initiative to speak.
"Your Majesty, I am Deng Qiao. I lived in the Gubei area many years ago. I heard that Your Majesty had seen me before. I didn't expect that you would still remember me..."
"Stop, shut up."
Deng Qiao, who had prepared a whole speech, was ruthlessly shut down by Gao Yan.
His smile faded, and compared to his previous amiable demeanor, he now appeared cold and impatient. The dramatic change in his emotions caught the entire Lu family off guard.
"Alright, Lu Mingqian, I'm asking you, you brought her back, but what about Jin Shu? Have you divorced her?"
Jin Shu?
Why bring her up for no reason?
At this moment, Lu Mingqian suddenly realized something. Recalling the Eleventh Prince's attitude towards Deng Qiao just now, it was completely different from the familiar and gentle tone when he first entered the room. If he still couldn't react at this time, he would really be a fool.
"Jin Shu... Jin Shu, she..."
"Your Highness, Jin Shu has already left the Duke's Mansion."
Dissatisfied with Lu Mingqian's stammering, Deng Qiao spoke up directly and answered first.
Gao Yan nodded, a cryptic smile playing on his lips.
"So you two got divorced, is that right?"
Lu Mingqian nodded, and Deng Qiao, who was standing next to him, added with a straight face.
"Yes, she had long wanted to leave the Duke's mansion. As soon as we got back, she took the initiative to ask for a divorce."
Gao Yan stared at her coldly.
"So you mean that Jin Shu suffered alone in the Duke's mansion for ten years, finally got her husband back, and just when the ten-year wait was coming to an end, she suddenly felt that staying in the Duke's mansion was meaningless, took the initiative to propose a divorce, and left alone?"
The truth was laid bare, and the people sitting at the table felt cold sweat pour down their backs, and their seats felt like they were sitting on pins and needles.
Deng Qiao wanted to explain a few more words to salvage her image in the other person's eyes, but unexpectedly, the Eleventh Prince suddenly stood up and turned to leave without hesitation.
"Your Highness! Your Highness, where are you going?"
The old lady hurriedly followed, but was stopped by two guards behind Gao Yan who were holding knives. The gleaming blades frightened the old lady so much that she fell to the ground with a thud, her face turning pale and her whole body trembling like a leaf.
Seeing this, Lu Mingqian quickly went to help him up, his voice filled with barely suppressed resentment and anger.
"Your Highness, what is the meaning of this?"
Gao Yan slowly turned around and glanced at them.
"Your family is so heartless and unjust that I find it irritating. What? Does anyone in this world dare to force me to stay?"
No one would dare to force them to stay.
Lu Mingqian couldn't understand why the person who had been so proactive in helping him get out of trouble and had agreed to have a small gathering at his residence had suddenly changed their attitude without any warning, and even threatened to fight him.
"Your Highness, what have I done wrong? Please enlighten me!"
"No, although you are severely blind, you did not do anything wrong, and you even saved me a lot of effort."
Alright, thank you for your hospitality today. You and your family can continue eating. Take advantage of this time and eat as much as you can, because I don't think you'll be able to enjoy yourself for much longer."
After saying that, Gao Yan turned and left.
Beside the table laden with fine wine and food, Lu Mingqian and Deng Qiao exchanged a glance, both seeing resentment and anger in each other's eyes.
The old lady had just fallen quite hard, and it took two people to lift her up and take her back inside.
"What does the Eleventh Prince mean?! What right does he have to treat us like this?! Just because he has an emperor as his father?"
Deng Qiao stood inside the room, screaming in anger.
Since she transmigrated, she had never suffered such humiliation! Everyone who saw her was either very respectful or, if not respectful, very polite.
Even though that person was a prince, so what? Does being a prince mean you can just trample on other people's dignity and hard-earned achievements?
"Keep your voice down, or someone will hear you."
"So what if they heard it?! I'm going to say it! I painstakingly prepared a table full of good wine and food, and not only did they not appreciate it, they even turned around and cursed at us!"
Lu Mingqian, don't you have any dignity at all? How can you remain indifferent to something like this?!
"He is a prince, second only to the emperor. Putting aside the fact that he is the Empress Dowager's most beloved grandson and is very likely to be the future crown prince, the fact that he is a prince is enough to make him someone we cannot afford to offend."
This is the capital, not some backwater. Anyone here could easily crush us. Deng Qiao, wake up!
"So the prince can act with impunity? We can only let him trample on and humiliate us?"
Lu Mingqian lowered his head and stared at Deng Qiao with a strange and ugly expression.
He really couldn't understand where Deng Qiao came from, or what gave her such strong confidence to say such outrageous things.
She seems to disapprove of everything in this world, but what gives her the right?
Having lived together for so long, he really couldn't figure out what Deng Qiao's background was.
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