"Quick, stop her!" Old Mrs. Xu shouted!
Wang Cuilian rushed over and grabbed Li Xuemiao. Xu Manjiang had already been intimate with her, and out of affection, he couldn't bear to let Li Xuemiao take her own life. He ran over and knelt before her.
"Xuemiao, it's all my fault. I drank too much and mistook you for someone else. I'm the one who deserves to die. Please don't do anything rash!"
"That's right, Xuemiao. As long as there's life, there's hope. Don't worry, we'll definitely give you an explanation!"
Seizing the opportunity presented by the mother and son's intervention, Li Xuemiao leaned into their embrace and burst into loud sobs.
Fang Yao watched her hypocritical performance and turned her gaze to Xu Qingzhou. Earlier in the courtyard, he had clearly been furious, but now his expression had returned to normal. His calm eyes seemed to be watching a play that had nothing to do with him.
Fang Yao thought to herself that he probably didn't have any feelings for Li Xuemiao yet, which was why he could become indifferent so quickly.
She took a step forward and faced Old Mrs. Xu seriously. "Grandma Xu, there's something about tonight's incident that I can't understand. Xu Manjiang may have been drunk, but Li Xuemiao was sober. Even if she was sent to the wrong bridal chamber, how could she not recognize her own man? When I was in my cousin's room, I knew something was wrong as soon as he entered."
"This…" Old Mrs. Xu looked toward Li Xuemiao.
Li Xuemiao tightly clutched Wang Cuilian's collar. To solidify her relationship with Xu Manjiang, she had deliberately turned off the lights and taken the initiative during their encounter. Xu Manjiang had quickly realized something was amiss but was lured by her into continuing.
She had already prepared excuses for all of this.
Lifting her tear-streaked face, she looked at Old Mrs. Xu with a pitiful expression. "Xu Qingzhou is often away with the military. Since our engagement, I've only met him twice. It was your family who sent me to the wrong bridal chamber. How can you blame me for not recognizing him? Wuwuwu…"
"That's true. Qingzhou is rarely home. It was our negligence that sent Xuemiao to the wrong bridal chamber, and she suffered because of it." Old Mrs. Xu's eyes flashed with guilt.
Seizing the moment, Li Xuemiao buried herself in Wang Cuilian's arms again, crying and shouting that she didn't want to live.
Fang Yao curled her lips mockingly and took another step forward.
"Fine, even if she was wronged, I was also properly married into the Xu Family. Now that Xu Manjiang and Li Xuemiao have been intimate, just thinking about it disgusts me. I can't possibly live with him in the future! And I believe Auntie and the others… wouldn't accept a tainted, fallen woman either?"
Fang Yao shifted her gaze to the right. Xu Qingzhou's expression remained calm, but when their eyes met, there was a hint of scrutiny and amusement in his.
Wang Hua was about to voice her grievances on behalf of her family.
But Wang Cuilian beat her to it, lifting Xu Manjiang's bruised, swollen face. "If you can't live with it, then don't! As if our family is so eager to have you! I already said my son was drunk and entered the wrong bridal chamber. Yet you came in and beat him up like this. We must have been blind to have chosen you in the first place!"
"Who's really blind here? Xu Manjiang drinks a bit of cat piss and can't recognize his own bride. And Li Xuemiao—as soon as the guests left, she couldn't wait to be intimate with him. Were the two of them so desperate they couldn't even spare the time to turn on the lights?" Fang Yao retorted coldly.
"You…" Wang Cuilian was left speechless by her words, her face flushed red as she glared at Fang Yao.
But Fang Yao had no intention of letting her off easily. In her past life, when she struggled to conceive, Wang Cuilian had tormented her daily with sarcastic remarks, forcing her to try so-called "folk remedies" that left her physically and mentally scarred.
This time, Fang Yao was determined to pay her back with interest!
"If what Li Xuemiao says is true—that Xu Manjiang, drunk, took advantage of her under the guise of being her cousin—doesn’t that count as violating a woman’s will? Reporting it to the police would make it a rape case. Would that be enough for him to get a bullet?"
Wang Cuilian instantly turned deathly pale, and Xu Manjiang, now completely sobered up, jumped to his feet to defend himself: "I didn’t violate her will! Tonight, Li Xuemiao was the one who initiated it. I even called for Fang Yao, and she didn’t resist!"
Li Xuemiao’s mind went blank with shock!
Xu Manjiang had just thrown her under the bus!
"I can’t go on living!" she screamed, throwing herself against a pillar with force. Her head cracked open, blood spilling out, and she closed her eyes, pretending to faint.
Old Mrs. Xu could no longer sit still and hurriedly sent Wang Cuilan to fetch a doctor.
Fang Yao stood coldly to the side, watching how this pair of scoundrels would deal with the mess they’d made!
The commotion dragged on until midnight. Since Li Xuemiao had already been intimate with Xu Manjiang, Wang Hua refused to acknowledge the marriage arrangement and wouldn’t take her back to their courtyard.
Wang Cuilian had no choice but to have Xu Manjiang carry Li Xuemiao to the bridal chamber. However, to absolve her son of guilt, she rallied the entire family to insist that Li Xuemiao was a shameless hussy, claiming she was desperate for a man!
Fang Yao had witnessed Wang Cuilian’s treachery in her past life. Whenever her son’s interests were at stake, she would act like a mother hen protecting her chicks, resorting to any means necessary to force her will.
Now, even if Li Xuemiao wanted to back out, she had no choice but to marry Xu Manjiang!
After dealing with the mess surrounding Xu Manjiang, Old Mrs. Xu returned to the room, utterly exhausted.
She walked over, weakly taking Fang Yao’s hand, and said, "Grandma knows you’ve been wronged too, but Manjiang and Xuemiao have already crossed that line. As you said, there’s no way you can live with him now. And as for Qingzhou… Grandma knows this isn’t fair to you, but what’s done is done. Could you two… let them be together?"
"Since you’ve made your decision, Grandma Xu, I…" Fang Yao was about to agree to break off the engagement with Xu Manjiang. After all, they hadn’t registered their marriage yet, so parting ways would be as simple as saying the word. She could even seize the opportunity to demand compensation.
But before she could finish, Xu Qingzhou, who had remained silent since entering the room, suddenly interrupted her: "I don’t mind letting them be together, but my mother has spent this whole year busy with my marriage arrangements. Now, at the last moment, my bride has been taken by someone else. How do you expect her to accept that?"
"What do you want me to do then? I can’t force your brother to die!" Old Mrs. Xu cried, slapping her thighs in despair.
With a cold snort, Xu Qingzhou turned his gaze to Fang Yao.
"If Xu Manjiang marries Li Xuemiao, then I want her."
Hearing Xu Qingzhou’s demand, Old Mrs. Xu’s sobs abruptly stopped. Her eyes red, she turned to Fang Yao and pleaded, "That’s right! Girl, our Qingzhou isn’t a bad match either. Since you can’t go on with Manjiang anyway, why not make the best of a bad situation and marry our Qingzhou instead?"
Before Fang Yao could respond, Wang Hua, seeing the situation, also stepped forward and took Fang Yao’s hand. "Fang Yao, it’s already so late. We wouldn’t feel safe letting you travel back to your parents’ home in the dark. Why don’t you stay with us for now? You can think things over and consider marrying our Qingzhou."
At this moment, having lost her daughter-in-law and holding back a bellyful of grievances, Wang Hua felt as if she had grasped a lifeline, desperately signaling to Xu Qingzhou with her eyes.
Xu Qingzhou stepped forward, grabbed Fang Yao's arm, and strode back to the rear courtyard.
The door to the bridal chamber opened and closed, and just like that, Fang Yao was brought back by him.
Xu Qingzhou untied the large red flower from his body and casually placed it on the desk, leaving only the dazzling medal on his chest. He stood before her with his hands on his hips.
His tall, straight figure stood like a pine tree, not exaggeratedly burly nor overly thin, but well-proportioned and agile, with long limbs. Paired with his cool and handsome face, as he approached, Fang Yao couldn't help but swallow nervously.
"Marrying Li Xuemiao was to follow my mother's wishes, to put her at ease. Compared to Xu Manjiang, I'm not much better, but I'm certainly no worse. However, there's one thing…"
He sat on the edge of the bed, maintaining just the right distance from Fang Yao, his voice deep like the toll of an ancient bell.
"I will always remain loyal to my partner."