Xu Wan'er was taken aback by this unexpected intervention and covered her face with her hands, crying, "I know I'm just a nobody, please stop talking! Waaah..."
Her act of feigning weakness implied that Shen Qingyu was abusing her power.
"You shameless woman! You're the one who tried to harm others but ended up reaping the consequences, and now you dare to slander them!" Caijin was so angry that her nose almost twisted. She had seen the whole scene clearly.
Xu Wan'er sobbed, "My sister has many friends, but I have no one to rely on. How could I dare to cause trouble..."
The implication is that Caijin is in cahoots with Shen Qingyu.
The onlookers also began to condemn the prize money.
"This woman is covered in soup, and her maid is injured like this. Can't you show some mercy?"
Shen Qingyu's maid was furious; these people had said everything, good and bad!
Caijin, hands on her hips, started arguing with the women, and the argument escalated. Then a loud shout rang out: "Shut up!"
The crowd fell silent again, and the abbot appeared, his brow beaded with sweat.
"Ladies, if you have something to say, please move to another place. Don't argue here!"
"No way! They look like they come from a wealthy family. What if they use their power to bully us!"
After another round of commotion, Song Yaozhu put down her chopsticks and went over, just in time to see the old woman who was standing up for Xu Wan'er push Caijin away.
"Hey, hey, hey, you can talk, but why are you hitting people!" Granny Qin hurriedly went over to help the person up.
"How can you be right to bully others just because you have power!"
"So you're right to believe everything you hear?" Song Yaozhu glanced at the old woman indifferently. The old woman was originally aggressive, but after seeing Song Yaozhu's attire, she immediately backed down.
"Madam, could you please tell me about your relationship with this... gentleman?"
Before Song Yaozhu spoke, she already knew that the lady standing there was named Shen Qingyu, the young mistress of the Vice Minister of Revenue, and that the pitiful woman was her concubine.
Granny Qin was a gossip. The last time she met them while offering incense, she told them all about the affairs of the Vice Minister of Revenue's family.
The son of the Vice Minister of Revenue favored his concubine over his wife. When his wife became pregnant, the concubine caused her to miscarry. The mother-in-law not only didn't blame the concubine, but also resented Shen Qingyu for being incompetent in failing to protect the child. This was because the concubine was her mother-in-law's niece, and she and her husband had been childhood sweethearts.
Their family was so loving and harmonious that Shen Qingyu seemed like an outsider.
When everyone heard that Xu Wan'er was a concubine, they unconsciously distanced themselves from her. They all looked down on concubines from the bottom of their hearts.
"It's my fault for failing to manage the inner quarters properly, making this a laughing stock for everyone." Shen Qingyu looked ashamed. It wasn't that she didn't want to manage it, but that she simply couldn't.
Before she could finish speaking, a male voice rang out.
"Why are you all blocking the entrance?" A man in fine clothes walked by, saw Xu Wan'er looking disheveled, and immediately rushed over to hug her. "Wan'er! What happened to you!"
His words were full of heartache, and without asking why, he immediately shouted at Chen Qingyu, "You poisonous woman, how could you harm Wan'er in the temple!"
Song Yaozhu was stunned. She had seen stupid people before, but never anyone this stupid. Her aversion to stupidity and her misogyny were about to flare up! But this was someone else's family matter, and she couldn't interfere.
Who would have thought that she didn't want to get involved, but some fool insisted on coming to her doorstep?
Upon seeing her childhood sweetheart, Xu Wan'er immediately felt a sense of security and pointed at Song Yaozhu, saying, "They all bully me!"
Since they dared to expose her status as a concubine and embarrass her, then they shouldn't blame her!
Song Yaozhu was dressed modestly today, and she wore very little jewelry because she found it too heavy. Therefore, Xu Wan'er assumed she came from a humble family, while her husband was the eldest son of a high-ranking official, a third-rank Vice Minister of Revenue, who could practically do whatever he wanted in the capital!
"Tell me, how did I bully you?" Song Yaozhu looked at her with a half-smile.
"She instructed her maid to slander me! I clearly didn't push my sister, but her maid insists that I did, and now I'm in this mess, boohoo!"
Fang Wencai was a fool; he believed everything Xu Wan'er said. He immediately yelled at Song Yaozhu, "Apologize to Wan'er! Otherwise, you'll regret it!"
Song Yaozhu was already on the verge of losing her temper today; she held back for a moment, but couldn't hold back any longer.
He's just a third-rank official, Xie Liwei can handle that, right?
Just as Fang Wencai was about to speak again, Song Yaozhu took two steps over the broken pieces of the bowl and slapped Xu Wan'er across the face.
The slap landed with full force. Xu Wan'er's pale face was turned away, and her skin quickly swelled up.
Fang Wencai was stunned for a moment, then roared in fury, "Who do you think you are! I'll teach you a lesson! Guards, seize this shrew!"
"A shrew?" Upon hearing this title, Granny Qin immediately stepped in front of Song Yaozhu.
"How dare you lay a hand on our Princess! Our Prince is the Carefree Prince!"
The servant who was about to step forward immediately stopped in his tracks upon hearing the words "Princess" and dared not move forward any further.
Granny Qin originally thought that revealing her identity would put her in control, but Fang Wencai was not afraid at all.
"So you're that country bumpkin Xie Liwei married? You really are a shrew, ungrateful wretch! Seize her! If I kill you today, Xie Liwei might even thank me for cleaning up a stain on his record!"
Outside the crowd, Qin Yu looked at his master, his tone somewhat anxious: "Your Highness, aren't you going in to help?"
"I won't help," Xie Liwei said coldly.
Then a woman in the crowd said, "Indecent assault! The son of the Vice Minister of Revenue assaulted the Princess Consort! When she refused, he tried to force himself on her!"
Xie Liwei: !!!
Qin Yu watched his master storm off, shaking his head and sighing. He thought to himself, "If you had shown up earlier, none of this would have happened."
The princess is truly amazing!
"Step back!" Xie Liwei's cold and deep voice pierced everyone's eardrums, and the servants who were about to step forward subconsciously stepped back to make way for him.
Xie Liwei walked up to the group, his eyes sweeping over everyone present. Wherever his gaze fell, it was as if frost had passed through, causing people to shiver involuntarily.
Fang Wencai was intimidated by his chilling aura and didn't know what to say for a moment. He was still somewhat afraid of Xie Liwei, even though he had no official position or real power, the emperor's favor towards him was genuine.
Who could blame him for having an older sister who was the founding empress, and who unfortunately died? Even if the emperor was just putting on an act, he still had to show favoritism towards him.
"Your Highness, she hit me!"
While everyone was still in shock, Song Yaozhu fearlessly threw herself at Xie Liwei, pointing at Xu Wan'er and sobbing.
"Look, my palms are all red, and they hurt so much!"
Xu Wan'er's eyes widened in disbelief. Who hit whom?!
Fang Wencai immediately defended Qingmei, "Your Highness, it was clearly she who hit Wan'er, and now she's spreading rumors here!"
He didn't think Xie Liwei would side with Song Yaozhu, after all, the story of him leaving Song Yaozhu in the pavilion at the palace banquet had spread throughout the capital.
Furthermore, Song Yaozhu's eagerness to have a child now must be because she knows she is not favored by Xie Liwei and wants a son to solidify her position as a princess.
"Your hands hurt?" Xie Liwei's gaze fell on her reddened palms. After she scraped her skin on the ground last time, she applied ointment every day, and not only did it heal completely, but the calluses also faded considerably. Her hands were now fair and tender.
"They really deserve to die," Xie Liwei said calmly.
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