Li-shi’s expression changed at once. Qu-shi had come in such a threatening manner—she was here to settle accounts with her!
Even if Qu-shi had come to accuse her, Li-shi was not afraid. She curled her lips.
“What are you saying, Third Sister-in-law? How unpleasant.”
Qu-shi was furious.
“Stop pretending! In front of Mother-in-law and Eldest Sister-in-law, do you dare say you didn’t deliberately borrow people from the Marquis’s residence? Are there not enough servants in the Xie family for you to command? Why would outsiders be coming into the rear courtyard?!”
Li-shi deliberately put on an astonished, aggrieved expression and muttered,
“I only meant to do a good deed, but it turned out badly…”
“You!”
Qu-shi was so angry she nearly toppled backward. Her whole body trembled.
“If it weren’t for you… you…”
Li-shi’s sharp tongue was quick indeed, and she retorted,
“Third Sister-in-law, don’t be so eager to push all the blame onto others. Even if no outsider had seen it, your son sleeping with a man on his wedding night is still a fact!”
“I heard Qing Ge’er even deliberately drugged Madam Shang unconscious? Tsk, tsk… How despicable and filthy. Third Sister-in-law, you raised a child like this—how can you face the Xie family’s ancestors?”
Shang Lingjun’s brows lifted slightly. She really wanted to give Li-shi a thumbs-up.
Li-shi certainly had a clever tongue that never let her suffer a loss.
In front of Old Madam Wei and the Eldest Sister-in-law of the First Branch, Shang Lingjun still had to remain dignified, so she only watched coldly as the two quarreled.
“Shut up!”
Old Madam Wei gave a cold snort.
Li-shi hunched her shoulders and pressed her lips tightly together.
Qu-shi’s face was full of unwillingness, but she said no more. She glanced at Shang Lingjun, who was dressed in a bright maple-red brocade skirt. Qing Ge’er had met with such an incident, yet she was this happy?
She had eagerly changed into festive clothing and was cheerfully marrying Xie Yan’an?
Her daughter-in-law becoming her sister-in-law—what a humiliation!
Even if she were beaten to death, she would never be able to call her “younger sister-in-law”!
Old Madam Wei raised her hand, and Nanny Qiu helped her to her feet.
“It is time to go to the ancestral hall.”
“Mother-in-law, let me support you.”
Shang Lingjun immediately rose and went to Old Madam Wei’s side. Old Madam Wei acknowledged her and did not refuse.
Qu-shi’s expression turned ugly. She certainly knew how to curry favor!
Li-shi raised her brows, inwardly brimming with smugness, but Madam Murong lightly nudged her shoulder, signaling her to watch her words and actions and not let the clan make a laughingstock of them.
Li-shi reined in her expression and followed behind Old Madam Wei with a normal look, proceeding together with them toward the Xie Family Ancestral Hall.
……
The ancestral hall was austere and solemn, with curling green smoke winding around the plaque of the Xie Family Ancestral Hall.
The senior members of the clan had already arrived. Old Patriarch Xie was seriously ill and unable to rise from bed, so his younger full brother, Grand-Uncle Xie, would preside in his place.
Today, they were not only changing Madam Shang’s name in the genealogy, but also discussing the matter of expelling Xie Zhaoqing from it. Though they called it a discussion, Old Madam Wei had already made the decision herself.
Grand-Uncle Xie agreed as well. It was merely a formality.
“Today, having chosen an auspicious hour, we open the ancestral hall of the Xie clan and gather our clan relatives to deliberate on the revision of the genealogy. In this revision, following the old rules left by our ancestors, we add—”
“Wait.”
Grand-Uncle Xie furrowed his brows, realizing there was an error.
He paused, feeling that “add” was inappropriate, and changed his wording:
“Upon this new marriage, let Madam Shang be recorded as the wife under Xie Yan’an’s name. From this day forth, may she carry on the family line together with him, sharing honor and disgrace, and may she serve her parents-in-law and live in harmony with the clan…”
“I object!”
Before Grand-Uncle Xie could finish, two young servants escorted in the bound Xie Zhaoqing and forced her to her knees. Xie Zhaoqing shouted in agitation.
Grand-Uncle Xie’s expression was solemn. He merely glanced up and signaled the servants to gag her.
The ugly incident of the previous night had caused an uproar. Grand-Uncle Xie loathed her for dragging the whole clan’s reputation through the mud, and could hardly bear the sight of her.
Now, he was unwilling even to utter a reprimand, lest he sully himself.
Xie Zhaoqing looked toward Shang Lingjun, her eyes filled with deep venom.
“Madam Shang curses her father and mother, and now her husband too! She is the one who brought me to this! This ill-fated bastard, born under the star of calamity—are the clan elders truly going to marry her to Seventh Uncle? Seventh Uncle’s health is already poor; he cannot withstand her curses!”
As soon as these words were spoken, whispers spread throughout the hall.
It was true that Madam Shang’s parents had both died, but…
Qu-shi’s expression was cold, and she did not stop her.
Nanny Qiu was about to step forward and control the situation, but Old Madam Wei stopped her with a glance.
If she could not handle even this minor scene, how could she be worthy of being her daughter-in-law?
Shang Lingjun’s expression was solemn. She stepped forward calmly and said in a voice neither loud nor soft,
“Since Qing Ge’er has put it that way, I, as your aunt, will argue this out with you!”
The moment Xie Zhaoqing heard her call herself his aunt, her eyes widened as though she had suffered the greatest humiliation.
“How dare you call yourself my aunt again?”
Shang Lingjun looked down at her, her gaze full of contempt, and said in a maddeningly unyielding tone,
“I am your aunt—the aunt recognized by propriety and law, your genuine, indisputable aunt! You disobedient and unfilial junior, listen carefully to your aunt!”
Then, Shang Lingjun began unhurriedly,
“First, you accuse me of having an ill-fated destiny and say I brought disaster upon my parents. Then do you know how my parents died?”
“Years ago, Xiao Jing mischievously ran out of the military camp and was captured by the enemy. My father led men to rescue him at the risk of their lives. Xiao Jing was brought back safely, but my father and elder brother became prisoners. The Xiongnu beheaded them, cut out their hearts, and hung their naked bodies beneath the city walls. What kind of humiliation was that?”
Shang Lingjun’s tone was flat, as though she were merely recounting someone else’s affairs, yet everyone fell into a deep silence.
After a pause, Shang Lingjun continued,
“My mother could not withstand the blow and died of illness less than two years later. That was why the Xiao family adopted me, and I became Xiao Jing’s younger sister.”
“That was your doing too!”
Xie Zhaoqing’s words were tipped with venom, causing everyone’s expressions to change!
Everyone frowned slightly, displeased.
Xie Zhaoqing hated Shang Lingjun too much and was too intent on smearing and trampling her. She had not realized that she had already provoked the fury of the entire clan.
The Shang family had made grievous sacrifices; how could she insult the orphan of a fallen soldier like this?
How the Xiao family handled matters was none of their concern.
But the Xie family was a distinguished scholarly clan that placed the greatest importance on passing down the family through ritual and learning. If Xie Zhaoqing’s words and conduct spread outside, how could the Xie clan members hold their heads up in public?
Shang Lingjun swept her cold gaze over them and continued,
“Second, you say I brought misfortune upon my husband. That is even more absurd. You and I never completed the wedding rites, so you are not my husband. How could I have brought misfortune upon you?”
“You hated me and tormented me from the beginning. I could never understand what I had done to offend you. Later, Xiao Jing forced me to marry you. Even when I starved myself and begged to die, he forcibly sent me into the bridal sedan.”
“You shamelessly drugged me on our wedding night, while you and that man carried on indecently on the bed. And now you actually turn around and blame me, attacking my destiny simply because you cannot find any fault in me?!”
Shang Lingjun shook her head and laughed scornfully.
“How laughable. Who in this world could be so shameless?”
When her words fell, the entire hall fell silent. Everyone wore different expressions, but shame was the most prominent.
They were ashamed that their clan’s upbringing had produced a shameless wretch like Xie Zhaoqing.
Only now did Huo Chuan understand the suffering Shang Lingjun had endured. In her previous life, she had not gone to the front courtyard to expose the affair. Life in the Xie family must have been terribly difficult for her then, hadn’t it?
That bastard Xie Zhaoqing!
The color drained from Xie Zhaoqing’s face. She could no longer save face. How… how dare Shang Lingjun publicly speak of such lewd matters between the sheets?
Did she have no shame?
Qu-shi surveyed everyone’s expressions and discovered that, to one degree or another, they were looking at Xie Zhaoqing with subtle disgust.
Qu-shi instantly felt humiliated. She glared at her useless daughter.
“Just shut your mouth!”
It would have been fine if she had truly managed to drag Shang Lingjun down, but instead she had been thoroughly outmatched in the exchange and publicly humiliated.
It was infuriating…
Qu-shi also glared resentfully at Shang Lingjun.
“You have such a sharp tongue. Are you finished yet?!”
Shang Lingjun could not be bothered to spare Qu-shi a glance. Her words were just as cutting, and she refused to let her off either.
“Third Sister-in-law, you raised your son to behave like this, and you are still proud of it?”
Qu-shi’s face darkened, and her embarrassment deepened!
Old Madam Wei cast a slight sidelong glance. Nanny Qiu immediately understood and called out,
“Men, what are you waiting for? Gag her at once! This is the ancestral hall—how can we allow her to spout such rubbish?!”
Scolded by Qu-shi, Xie Zhaoqing felt utterly wronged. Was her mother really going to stand by and watch her be humiliated without defending her even once?
“Wait!”
Xie Zhaoqing shouted toward Old Madam Wei.
“Grandmother, I have something to say to you in private. This concerns the survival of the entire clan!”