This was the first time Xiao Ye had seen Xiao Tianci get humiliated, not counting the few times he'd snuck up and beaten him with a sack over his head. He pulled out the dagger at his waist and weighed it in his hand with satisfaction.
He turned to look at Ruan Nanxi and, somewhat awkwardly, muttered a "thanks."
Ruan Nanxi feigned deep affection, blushing as she lowered her head, putting on a shy and demure appearance. In her mind, she was thinking:
[Don't worry, don't worry. No matter what, even if you have to sever ties with your family, I'll stand by your side. After all, you're my unlimited black card!]
But that wasn't the only reason. In the original book—
Ruan had committed adultery with her brother-in-law and was ultimately thrown into a fire by her lover and burned alive.
That brother-in-law was Xiao Tianci.
Moreover, the original owner had said before dying that within less than a month of her marriage to Xiao Ye, Xiao Tianci had schemed to take her chastity and used it to blackmail her into doing his bidding.
So to avoid the original ending, and to save herself trouble in the future, she had to get rid of this Xiao Tianci.
Xiao Ye didn't understand what an "unlimited black card" meant and simply assumed it was some new trendy way of expressing affection in the capital's social circles.
At this moment, he couldn't deny he was moved. His dearest parents and family would rather believe the sweet talk of an impostor than trust their own son.
In the year since returning to the capital, he had endured endless grievances at home.
And yet Ruan Nanxi—his despised wife in name only—had chosen to stand unconditionally by his side.
Not for money or status, but purely for him as a person.
But feelings couldn't be forced. He truly didn't like her!
At the thought, the young man's heart was tangled in worry and conflict.
Ruan Nanxi had no idea what her cheap husband had conjured up in his head. She looked up and saw that everyone in the flower hall—except Xiao Tianci—was staring at her with shock.
She scratched her cheek in confusion. "Why are you all looking at me like that? Is there something on my face?"
"No… nothing."
The others quickly averted their eyes, thinking to themselves that they must have had hallucinations from not sleeping well last night.
They could have sworn they'd just heard their daughter-in-law's/sister-in-law's thoughts!
Madam Xiao cleared her throat to mask her embarrassment and glanced at the elderly maid beside her.
Soon, a servant woman brought over a kneeling cushion. Ruan Nanxi accepted the tea offered by the maid, first presenting it to the Duke of Jin. Lowering her eyes, she obediently called out:
"Father."
The Duke of Jin was a handsome middle-aged man whose expression was as stern as his demeanor. He took the tea, handed Ruan Nanxi a thick red envelope, and said stiffly:
"Live well with Third Son from now on."
When it came time to serve tea to Madam Xiao, Ruan Nanxi was slightly nervous. But the moment she knelt and called out "Mother,"
Madam Xiao quickly rose and helped her up, smiling warmly. "Alright, we're all family now. The tea ceremony is just a formality—go sit down and rest!"
Ruan Nanxi could hear the sincerity in her tone and blinked in confusion.
[This mother-in-law seems pretty nice! Then why did she send a stewardess to my courtyard this morning to check the bridal cloth? And why was that stewardess so arrogant?]
[Could there be some misunderstanding? Not sure. I'll keep observing.]
The teacup in Madam Xiao's hand trembled.
Confirmed—this time it wasn't an illusion. She really could hear Ruan Nanxi's thoughts!
The others were equally astonished. Even the perpetually stern Duke of Jin nearly lost his composure.
He opened his mouth, only to discover with amazement that he couldn't voice the fact that he could hear Ruan Nanxi's thoughts.
Forcing herself to calm down, Madam Xiao frowned in confusion. When had she ever sent a stewardess to Ruan Nanxi's room to check the bridal cloth?
She had known from the very first moment that Third Son had gone to sleep in the study on their wedding night. She'd felt that Third Son's wife had been wronged and had even doubled the thickness of the prepared red envelope because of it.
Madam Xiao decided she would have someone investigate this thoroughly later.
After the tea ceremony came the family recognition segment.
The Xiao family was a large clan, but most members remained in their hometown of Qingzhou or were scattered across the Great Xia Dynasty serving as officials. Only the Duke of Jin's household remained in the capital, along with Xiao Ye's two cousins.
The two cousins' wives seemed easy to get along with for now. The eldest cousin's wife, Tang Wanru, was a socially versatile powerhouse of a woman, while the second cousin's wife, Su Yin, was introverted and quiet.
A maid brought forward the shoes that had been prepared in advance.
It was a local custom—before a new bride entered the family, she was to make a pair of shoes for each member of her husband's family. But for families like theirs, it was merely a formality, with most of the work done by the household embroiderers.
These few pairs of shoes were exchanged for three pairs of bracelets.
Especially the pair of mutton-fat white jade bracelets Madam Xiao gave her—they felt smooth and warm to the touch, like congealed cream. Worn on her wrist, they truly seemed to be wrapped in a ring of light.
Ruan Nanxi put them on with the utmost care, terrified of accidentally chipping them. With such top-tier quality, they'd be worth at least ten million if brought to the modern world.
Her little heart pounded wildly. This tea ceremony was an absolute jackpot!
Seeing Madam Xiao gift such fine bracelets to Ruan Nanxi, the two sisters-in-law said nothing, but Xiao Tianci, who had remained silent all along, darkened his gaze.
That was the most expensive piece of jewelry from his mother's dowry. Even when their eldest sister had married, their mother hadn't been willing to part with it.
A cold laugh rose in his heart—so this was his plan, to have Ruan Nanxi help smooth things over between her and Xiao Ye's mother-son relationship!
He said he would treat her and Xiao Ye equally, but what was the result? After all the effort she'd put into sowing discord, such a good thing, and his mother still thought to keep it for her own biological son.
Xiao Tianci raised his head and let out a pained sigh:
"With such a lively gathering, it's a pity Little Sister isn't here. I wonder if she's been bullied out there?"
The moment those words fell, the harmonious and pleasant atmosphere in the flower hall suddenly froze. The Duke and Duchess of Jin seemed to think of something, and their originally gentle expressions instantly dimmed.
The Duke of Jin suppressed his temper and said flatly:
"It's getting late. Everyone, disperse!"
Ruan Nanxi set down the half-eaten pastry and blinked.
[What's going on? This green-tea man is about to stir up trouble again!]
Her sister-in-law Tang Wanru leaned in and whispered, "Sister-in-law must know about Little Sister's disappearance, right? It was Third Brother…"
Ruan Nanxi remembered now. Three months ago, Xiao Ye had taken his little sister Xiao Qing to the night market, but because he'd run off midway to meet the female lead Jiang Ruoyu, he'd left Xiao Qing—a ten-year-old girl—alone on the street, and she'd gone missing and hadn't been found since.
Originally, Xiao Ye's relationship with his parents and brothers hadn't been this strained, but after this incident, they'd become completely disappointed in him. Every meeting turned into an argument.
Xiao Ye pressed his lips tightly together and turned to leave, but thinking of the rare warm scene just now, he still held a sliver of hope toward his parents.
He stopped, took a deep breath, and explained very earnestly:
"I've said it many times. That day, before I went to see Miss Jiang, I'd already taken Little Sister home. I watched with my own eyes as she entered the courtyard before I left. I can swear on my life…"
"Third Brother, how can you be like this? Father and Mother already investigated thoroughly. That night, no one in the household saw you bring Little Sister back.
We all know you didn't mean it, and no one truly blames you. Shouldn't the most important thing now be working together to find Little Sister?
Why, at a time like this, do you still refuse to admit it, Third Brother?"
Xiao Tianci interrupted him with an indignant and hurt expression, his acting so convincing that no one present except Xiao Ye and Ruan Nanxi suspected he was putting on a show.
Xiao Ye, however, ignored him completely. His beautiful starry eyes stared straight at the Duke of Jin.
"That day, I saw with my own eyes Xiao Tianci sneaking out of the courtyard.
If Father still doesn't believe me, then to prove my innocence, Father can go to the palace and ask the Emperor for help, have the Jinyiwei intervene and investigate. I, Xiao Ye, will never admit to something I didn't do, even if I'm thrown into the imperial prison and subjected to every torture imaginable—I'm not afraid.
But Xiao Tianci—does he dare?"
Hearing his almost accusatory tone, the Duke of Jin's anger flared up instantly. He slammed the table and was about to open his mouth to curse.
Then Ruan Nanxi's inner voice rang in his ears:
[Sigh, why ask him? Your father's heart is completely biased toward Xiao Tianci. Aren't you just asking to be hurt?]
[It can only be said that for an unloved child, everything they do is wrong. You just want to prove your innocence, but in your father's ears, it sounds like you, the son, are being disobedient, aggressively interrogating him.]
[He's definitely going to curse you out. Curse you viciously. Then the two of you will fight until both sides are wounded, and in the end, father and son become enemies, while Xiao Tianci hides in the corner, gleefully watching you two turn against each other.]
The Duke of Jin choked on his words. Just as his embarrassed anger began to rise, he looked up and met Xiao Ye's knowing, mocking gaze.
The young man smiled bitterly and shook his head. "Forget it. In the end, I was the one asking for too much."
The faint hope he'd held for his parents dissipated. Ruan Nanxi was right—for an unloved child, everything they did was wrong. No matter how much he did, it couldn't compare to a few sweet words from Xiao Tianci.
Seeing his son like this, the Duke of Jin felt an inexplicable panic in his heart. But Ruan Nanxi's inner voice kept chattering in his ear.
[Huh? Why hasn't he started cursing yet? Let me count down—three, two, one…]
The Duke of Jin: "…"
He forced the corners of his lips into a gentle smile. "Father believes you. In a moment… I'll have someone investigate thoroughly."
Ruan Nanxi was dumbfounded: [Huh? What's going on? Has this old geezer finally woken up?!]
In the original plot, under Xiao Tianci's constant instigation, the Duke of Jin had nearly killed Xiao Ye in the end.