Before Old Madam Xu could even ask a question, Xu Lingwan, limping, raised her head and went out. Her pretty little face had been covered in tears.
"Mother..."
Xu Lingwan cried out to Liu Shi, looking as if she had suffered a great injustice.
Madam Liu had always doted on her two children, so she quickly got up and stepped forward, pushing Xu Yunyao aside with one hand and pulling Xu Lingwan into her arms, looking her over from head to toe.
"What happened? They were fine when they left, how did they end up like this?"
Xu Lingwan threw herself into Liu's arms, pouted, and burst into tears, repeatedly saying "Cousin, cousin, cousin" before falling silent.
Madam Liu's face was gloomy. She assumed that her daughter had been bullied and was in a fit of anger. She heard a noise at the door and saw Li Shiyue and her other sisters walking in.
He rushed up to Li Shiyue in two strides, his tone harsh: "You're an unwanted girl, yet you dare to bully my Shi Niang!"
"Today I'm going to teach your mother a lesson for you, you unruly little girl!"
Li Shiyue had just walked in when she was grabbed and berated before she could react. By the time she realized what Liu had said to her, Liu had already raised her hand.
Sitting on the warm couch, Old Madam Xu pointed at Liu and angrily rebuked her, "Liu, how dare you!"
Before she finished speaking, Xu Yunci had already stood up and walked to Li Shiyue's side, raising her hand to protect Li Shiyue behind her. Her gaze turned to Liu Shi with a deep look, and without saying a word, she had already represented the attitude of the eldest branch of the family and Old Madam Xu.
Liu's raised hand trembled slightly as she reluctantly lowered it: "Mother, Shi Niang is already so badly injured, why are you protecting an outsider!"
Supported by Madam Yang, Old Madam Xu clutched her chest. She looked at Li Shiyue behind Xu Yunci with heartache, her face blank, her eyes red, but she stubbornly stood there, refusing to let the tears fall.
Seeing this, she felt a pang of pain in her heart, ignoring Liu's questions. She stretched out her hands and said softly to Li Shiyue, "Jiaojiao, come to your grandmother."
Li Shiyue raised her head, not looking at anyone else, and walked towards Old Madam Xu.
Liu was unwilling to give up, but Xu Yunyao stepped forward and stood beside her brother, stopping Liu: "Second Aunt, you should listen to what your cousin has to say. I'm afraid it's not reliable to say it's just Shi Niang's words. Besides, Shi Niang didn't explain what happened clearly just now. It's not necessarily that your cousin did Shi Niang's injury."
Could it be that her tenth sister deliberately fell like this?
Madam Liu's chest heaved with anger, and she looked coldly at Old Madam Xu and Li Shiyue with a dark expression.
"Jiaojiao, tell your grandmother, did you inflict Shi Niang's injuries?"
Li Shiyue sniffed, her voice trembling with emotion, "Grandmother, it wasn't me, it was my cousin who fell."
"You're talking nonsense! That's impossible!"
As soon as Liu took two steps forward, Yang, who was standing to the side, also looked rather displeased: "Sister-in-law, you are worried about your daughter. Don't lose your manners in front of Mother."
Liu fell silent and angrily hugged Xu Lingwan in her arms.
Seeing that Li Shiyue answered readily, Madam Xu asked again, "What exactly happened?"
Li Shiyue hesitated for a moment, glanced at Xu Lingwan nestled in Liu Shi's arms, and when their eyes met, Xu Lingwan guiltily looked away.
“My cousin fell down on her own. She tried to push me, but my fifth cousin caught me. She lost her strength and fell down the steps. Chunling and the others also know that my cousin was unhappy with me because of what happened during the day, which is why this happened.”
"Grandmother, please understand, it really wasn't me who pushed my cousin."
Madam Liu retorted angrily, "Just because you say it's not true doesn't mean it isn't. Who knows if it's because you're holding a grudge against Shi Niang during the day and are plotting revenge?"
"If my second aunt doesn't believe my cousin, then I can believe what I say."
Xu Yunyao stood beside Xu Yunci. He was naturally active and spoke in a gentle tone, but his face was full of the arrogance unique to young men.
"My uncle was testing my studies today, and I came back early. As I passed the stone steps in the garden, I overheard Shi Niang telling my cousin that the Xu family was not a place for her. By the time I realized what was happening, Shi Niang had already pushed my cousin away."
"It was so urgent that I could only catch my cousin who was about to fall. It was only because Shi Niang pushed her that she lost her balance and fell and injured herself."
After saying that, Xu Yunyao looked at her brother beside her: "This is what I saw, and then I brought Shi Niang back."
Xu Yunci remained expressionless, his hands behind his back, his gaze fixed on Xu Lingwan, whose face was filled with guilt. The truth was clear, and his tone was serious.
"Shi Niang, you used a slingshot to injure someone's face, and you're still resentful and don't truly repent. You even wanted to take someone's life. Is this how you learn the rules?"
Only then did Xu Lingwan realize she was scared. She buried her face in Liu's arms and sobbed, "I was wrong, I was wrong, I was really wrong, waaaaaah..."
The once vigorous Liu Shi fell silent, and even dared not look at Old Madam Xu.
"If you know you've made a mistake, you won't repeat it."
Outside the door, the four lords of Rongguo entered with a young man. Rongguo stood in front of Madam Xu and said, "Mother."
Madam Xu nodded, holding onto Li Shiyue tightly, making her stance clear.
Duke Rong then looked at his niece whom he was meeting for the first time, his gaze revealing a hint of nostalgia. His niece looked very much like his younger sister when she was young.
Although he was over fifty, he was still tall and imposing. When he saw his wife, Yang, his usually stern face showed a rare tenderness.
"Lize, you are the eldest brother in the family, so it is up to you to discipline your younger siblings."
Xu Yunci cupped his hands and replied, "Yes."
"Shi Niang committed violence and injured someone first, and showed no remorse. She injured herself instead of others, and attempted to commit violence a second time. She is to be punished with twenty strokes of the cane. Chang Shun, go to the ancestral hall to fetch the cane."
Upon hearing this, Liu's eyes rolled upwards. She quickly pulled Xu Lingwan into her arms, thinking that if she were to receive twenty strokes of the ruler, her hand would be ruined.
She glared at Master Xu with hatred: "My lord, please say something! Shi Niang is the proper lady of the Duke's mansion. Are you going to punish your own lady for the sake of outsiders?"
"Shut up!"
Suddenly, the usually silent Madam Xu flew into a rage, slamming her hand heavily on the bed beneath her, making a dull thud.
Li Shiyue, who was standing nearby, was startled and quickly moved to the other side, silently lowering her eyes. She held Old Madam Xu's hand, which was already red, and gently rubbed it in Old Madam Xu's palm.
Unexpectedly, Madam Xu held him tightly. Madam Xu looked around and saw that when the four Rongguo Duke brothers came in, everyone who was sitting had stood up.
Madam Xu scanned everyone's faces one by one, finally settling on Madam Liu and her daughter.
"Now that I have brought Jiaojiao into my household and raised her under my care, she will be a daughter of the Xu family from now on."
"What did my Jiaojiao do wrong? She only entered the manor today, and she's already being bullied like this by you and your mother. My dear girl, how could you leave so early, so heartlessly letting your daughter be bullied like this!"
With her other hand, Madam Xu pounded her chest and stamped her feet as she spoke.
Li Shiyue rushed forward, ignoring the tears streaming down her face. Her grandmother was old and couldn't be put through this, she said urgently, "Grandmother!"
Yang walked to the other side and, together with Li Shiyue, comforted Old Madam Xu. Suddenly, Xu Lingwan, who was in Liu's arms, burst into tears, and for a moment, the Shousong Hall was filled with the sounds of crying and commotion.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com