Xie Qingran suddenly laughed out loud.
She rarely smiled. After all, in front of the mammy, even smiling was a mistake.
But now, looking at the scene before her, Xie Qingran found it utterly ridiculous.
She walked forward and picked up a piece of light purple fabric. “Sister, this one, do you like it?”
Xie Hanyue had expected Xie Qingran to throw a tantrum and argue her case as she always had. She never imagined that Xie Qingran had now learned to advance by retreating.
With this move, it made Xie Hanyue seem like the unreasonable one.
Xie Hanyue looked at Xie Qingran, who still had the same cold and detached expression as before. Her eyes immediately flickered, and she subconsciously stepped back, shaking her head as tears flew.
“Sister will not touch a single thing that Elder Sister likes.”
Xie Qingran didn’t even bother watching her performance any longer. She simply took the fabric and handed it to the Tailoring Mammy at the side.
“This one will do. Thank you for your trouble, Mammy.”
Xie Qingran’s face was icy, yet she did not lack any of the required etiquette.
The matter of the clothes was thus settled. As for Xie Hanyue’s grievances and tears, Xie Qingran paid them no mind at all.
She turned her head and met Wang Shi’s slightly stunned gaze. “Mother, is there anything else?”
The matter was over, yet Wang Shi couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. Every one of Xie Qingran’s actions was proper, even exemplary for a maiden of the inner chambers, but there was a natural barrier that seemed to separate them.
Soon, Wang Shi understood. Xie Qingran’s eyes held only coldness and calm, without a trace of any other emotion, which was why it felt so discordant.
“Elder Sister, are you angry?”
“If you like this fabric, I can give it to you.”
Xie Hanyue quickly brought the fabric over, holding it with both hands and looking at Xie Qingran in a fawning manner, her pair of watery eyes filled with anticipation.
It had to be said, Xie Hanyue’s acting was truly superb, and her face was naturally pitiable. There was a reason she was so well-liked.
Unfortunately, even after being reborn, Xie Qingran simply did not possess such skills, nor could she be so gentle and tender.
“I don’t want it.”
Xie Qingran gave a cold curl of her lips and dodged Xie Hanyue, who was leaning toward her.
Just like that, Xie Hanyue fell heavily to the ground and instantly burst into tears.
“Yue’er!”
Wang Shi was terrified. She rushed forward, shoving Xie Qingran aside to help Xie Hanyue up from the floor.
“Ah, how did your hand get scraped?”
“Quick, call the Estate Physician over to have a look!”
“Xie Qingran, can you really not tolerate your younger sister!”
Caught off guard, Xie Qingran had been shoved hard, her lower back slamming heavily against the corner of the table. A sharp pain instantly bit into her.
Before she could even steady herself, Wang Shi’s accusations came crashing down on her.
“Mother, it wasn’t Elder Sister! It was my own fault, I didn’t stand properly!”
Xie Hanyue hurriedly grabbed Wang Shi’s arm and looked at her pleadingly, the tears still wet on her face, looking utterly pitiful.
This only made Wang Shi’s heart ache for her even more.
“Look at your sister! You pushed her down, and she’s still defending you.”
“As the elder sister, how can you be so insensible!”
Indeed, some people didn’t have to do anything; they could just stand there and receive all the favoritism.
Even though this scene had played out endlessly in both her past and present lives, Xie Qingran still felt a tightness in her chest. The pain in her lower back even grew sharper at this moment.
She quickly averted her gaze and said coolly, “Younger Sister has been clothed in silks and fed with jade at home since she was a child. How is it that her constitution is so poor she can’t even stand steady and has to implicate others? Could it be she truly has some serious illness?”
“You… What did you say?”
Xie Hanyue had thought Xie Qingran would apologize meekly, just like before.
Who would have thought she would retort so sharply?
She subconsciously looked to Wang Shi, seeking protection, a flash of viciousness unintentionally crossing her eyes.
Today’s Xie Qingran was very unusual. What exactly was she trying to do?
“Enough, Xie Qingran! You are not to slander your sister!”
“I did not.”
Xie Qingran spoke coolly, her gaze turning colder by the inch.
There were clearly a dozen pairs of eyes in this room watching. Xie Hanyue had clearly fallen on her own. Why should she be the one to bear the blame?
“Insolence! How dare you be so defiant and unfilial!”
“Someone, come and strike this unfilial, disobedient daughter for me!”
Losing face, Wang Shi screeched harshly.
The old mammy behind her quickly stepped forward and gave Xie Qingran a vicious slap across the face. Half of her face instantly swelled up.
“My, my! Did we arrive at an inconvenient time?”
“How is it that every time we come, we see the Eldest Miss being punished?”
Bao Gonggong’s sharp, thin voice rang out. Everyone in the room froze on the spot, and even Wang Shi was dumbfounded.
She never would have imagined that Bao Gonggong would come at this moment.
Xie Yankang, who had led Bao Gonggong over, had an expression that was even more terrifyingly grim. He truly couldn’t understand how a simple matter of delivering fabric could escalate to physical violence.
Originally, Xie Yankang was supposed to have Xie Qingran meet the guest in the front hall. But knowing that Wang Shi was here delivering fabric, he thought of bringing Bao Gonggong over to have a look, hoping to salvage the situation from last time.
He never thought it would backfire, that he would shoot himself in the foot.
“What is all this commotion!”
Xie Yankang strode through the door, his eyes glaring viciously at Wang Shi.
Did this woman have no brain? Did she treat his words as farts?
“Father, don’t blame Mother! It’s all Yue’er’s fault for insisting on taking Elder Sister’s fabric!”
Xie Hanyue quickly came forward. With a single sentence, she shouldered all the blame, acting meek and aggrieved.
Her eyes were red from crying, a truly pitiable sight.
However, Bao Gonggong had been in the palace for a long time. He could see through a woman’s act with a single glance.
“Second Miss’s words are interesting. Since the fabric was for the Eldest Miss, how did you come to fancy it?”
Bao Gonggong had a good impression of Xie Qingran, and with the Emperor wanting to facilitate this marriage, he naturally had to go with the flow.
His one sentence successfully interrupted Xie Hanyue’s performance. The countless words she had prepared all turned to ash, stuck in her throat, unable to come out.
The tears on her face, hesitating to fall, made for a very awkward sight.
“Bao Gonggong is unaware. Yue’er was just speaking casually and did not snatch her sister’s things. It was Xie Qingran who was insolent and defiant toward her elders…”
“Shut up!”
Xie Yankang finally couldn’t listen anymore.
Bao Gonggong also curled his lips in a sarcastic smile. “Lord Xie, so you are trying to push a defiant and unfilial daughter onto the Zhen Guo Duke Manor?”
“No… that’s not it.”
“Gonggong has misunderstood. There is absolutely no problem with Qingran’s moral character!”
Cold sweat beaded on Xie Yankang’s brow.
If Xie Qingran’s reputation suffered any damage, it would be a slap in the face to the Emperor, the Imperial Consort, and the Zhen Guo Duke Manor all at once