"I'm fine."
Qin Sheng's face stung, but he still smiled and comforted Qiao'er, "Why are you crying? It's just a slap. Just return the favor."
"..."
Then, to everyone's astonishment, Qin Sheng turned around and slapped Yin Wenxiao across the face, using even more force than he had. The crisp "smack" was louder than the one Yin Wenxiao had used to hit her earlier.
"ah!"
Ye Jiaoniang screamed and rushed over to shield Yin Wenxiao.
...
Fifteen minutes later.
All the servants in Songliu Courtyard who witnessed the tragic and absurd scene inside the house were tied up.
Having witnessed this horrific scene between their masters, the bound servants were either poisoned to make them mute, or beaten to death or sold off.
The bound servants all looked terrified, trembling with fear.
The door was already closed.
Qiao'er and Emerald stood guard on either side of Qin Sheng, fearing that Yin Wenxiao would harm his wife again.
The son she had doted on since childhood, never daring to say a harsh word to him, had now been slapped by Qin Sheng.
Madam Yin was furious. She kept shouting that she wanted to open the ancestral hall and demand family discipline. She said that this was outrageous! She even dared to hit her own husband. What kind of behavior was this?
However, they made no mention of the fact that it was clearly Yin Wenxiao who struck first.
Ye Jiaoniang chimed in, "Yes, the Earl is our everything. Even if he struck first, how could Madam possibly..."
Qin Sheng glanced at her coldly, and Ye Jiaoniang immediately shut up.
After Old Madam Yin had finished her tirade, Qin Sheng finally spoke again: "Since you think you made a mistake marrying me, then let Yin Wenxiao divorce me."
"..."
"..."
"..."
These words immediately stunned Madam Yin and her son, as well as Ye Jiaoniang, and all three pairs of eyes turned to look at her.
"What did you say?" Yin Wenxiao was the first to react, his eyes widening in disbelief. "Qin Sheng, are you crazy?"
Even if we were to get a divorce, it shouldn't be now! And it can't be Qin Sheng who brings it up first!
Madam Yin originally wanted to teach Qin Sheng a lesson because of what happened that day, but she never expected that her daughter-in-law would have such a strong personality.
Not only did she slap her husband, but she also wanted a divorce!
That won't do!
Qin Zhengde was a high-ranking official of the second rank, holding great power and influence, and was highly regarded by the Regent and His Majesty.
Moreover, Qin Sheng's elder brother, Qin Yu, has made great contributions in the Northwest, and the Qin family is now thriving.
Divorce at this time... putting aside reputation, the Yin family will definitely suffer!
Madam Yin, who was always driven by self-interest, was surprisingly not angry at this moment and gestured for Ye Jiaoniang to help her up.
"Divorce?" Old Madam Yin suppressed her anger as she looked at Qin Sheng and said, "Do you know what will happen to your parents' reputation if you divorce Wenxiao---"
Qin Sheng interrupted her calmly: "You earn your reputation yourself. Ever since I married into the Pingyin Marquis's family, I have never regretted anything I have done."
After a pause, Qin Sheng's lips curled into a slightly mocking smile. "On the contrary, you and the Earl have never treated me as family. Madam, I may not like to fuss over things, but I'm not stupid."
"..."
For once, Madam Yin seemed a little guilty about what she was saying.
She said, "We were wrong to keep Jiao Niang's affair from you, but now that Jiao Niang has entered the manor, what's done is done. Let's not dwell on the past anymore."
This can be considered her giving in to Qin Sheng.
Yin Wenxiao was still furious and said coldly, "One thing at a time, Qin Sheng. As the legal wife, you shouldn't have stopped your husband from taking a concubine. Besides, you even laid a hand on your husband. How should this be accounted for?"
What's the point of calculating!
Old Madam Yin kept giving him meaningful glances, signaling him to shut up.
He had only said he would open the ancestral hall and invoke family law to scare Qin Sheng. Did he really dare to use family law on her?
"How does Your Excellency intend to calculate this?" Qin Sheng asked him.
"..." Yin Wenxiao was momentarily startled by the coldness in her eyes and didn't know what to say.
At this point, Ye Jiaoniang stepped in again to smooth things over.
"What's done is done. Lord and Madam are husband and wife, they shouldn't hold grudges against each other like this. Let's both take a step back and let it go."
...
Qin Sheng left Songliu Courtyard with Qiao'er and Emerald.
She originally intended to be more patient and didn't want to break ties with these people so quickly.
But her elder brother was about to return. In her previous life, out of respect for her, he had helped Yin Wenxiao make connections with many military colleagues.
This paved the way for Yin Wenxiao's later embezzlement of military pay and supplies.
Although Yin Wenxiao deserved to die based on the many evil deeds he committed in his previous life, Qin Sheng was still able to distinguish right from wrong in matters of principle now that she had been given a second chance at life.
In the half month before Qin Sheng died in his previous life, Da Xiang and Di Lan had been fighting for several months, with both sides winning and losing.
Later, due to a shortage of military rations at the Da Xiang front, and because the delivered rations were moldy and rotten, the soldiers either suffered from stomach aches or couldn't even eat the moldy and rotten rations.
The defeat in the Battle of Da Xiang was devastating; I heard that tens of thousands of soldiers died.
Qin Sheng had no idea at the time that all of this was caused by Yin Wenxiao and Ye Jiaoniang.
Later, the Regent went to the battlefield himself. As for whether he turned the tide and won, Qin Sheng had no idea, because not long after the Regent went to the battlefield, she was burned alive by Yin Wenxiao and Ye Jiaoniang.
In the Pine and Willow Courtyard.
Granny Shi dealt with the servants who had witnessed everything that day and then came in to report back to Old Madam Yin.
She was part of Old Madam Yin's dowry, and her relationship with the old lady was naturally different from that of other people in the mansion. Besides, having been by the old lady's side, Granny Shi had seen and experienced quite a few sordid things.
"mother---"
Sitting beside Old Madam Yin, Yin Wenxiao was still furious about the slap he had received from Qin Sheng earlier that day.
"Alright." Madam Yin raised her hand to rub her forehead. "You started it today. You know Qin Sheng's brother, Qin Yu. He's been a troublemaker since he was little. When he comes back and finds out you hit his sister, who knows what he'll do."
Qin Yu, the eldest son of the Left Censor-in-Chief's family, disliked studying from a young age and preferred to hang out with his cronies. Later, he became the top martial arts scholar and joined the army, where he was disciplined under the Duke of Zhenguo, which improved his behavior somewhat.
Qin Yu has doted on his younger sister Qin Sheng since childhood. If he finds out that Qin Sheng was beaten at the Yin residence, who knows what outrageous things he might do.
"That's not how it works," Ye Jiaoniang said weakly. "After all, it was Madam who contradicted you first, and Lord was only trying to protect Madam..."
"Don't try to stir things up in front of me at a time like this," Old Madam Yin said calmly.
"..."
Ye Jiaoniang bit her lip, looking extremely aggrieved, her eyes reddening as she looked at Yin Wenxiao.
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