“Why is your maid not by your side, leaving you alone?”
Because she went to save your sister, Meng Jinyue thought to herself.
Xie Yunye grew suspicious, and his voice unconsciously turned cold and stern.
He hailed from the Duke of Zhenguo’s household. The old duke had spent his entire life on the battlefield, renowned for his bravery and skill in warfare.
The Xie family had established their standing through military achievements, earning them the title of duke.
Xie Yunye had been to the battlefield and had even taken lives. Having trained and fought for years in the midst of war, he exuded an aura of sharpness and severity that left others speechless.
When he fixed someone with a cold stare, his authority was palpable even without anger.
Women raised in the inner chambers rarely encountered men, let alone someone like Xie Yunye, a military man.
In her previous life, when Meng Jinyue first met Xie Yunye, he had also questioned her with the same cold expression.
At that time, she was timid, and upon seeing such a fierce-looking person for the first time, she thought he was going to harm her as well.
Having lived through her past life, Meng Jinyue now knew exactly what kind of woman Xie Yunye favored most.
“You’ve misunderstood me, Young Master Xie.”
Xie Yunye stopped in his tracks and turned around, deciding to give her a chance to explain. “Then speak.”
However, after turning back, Xie Yunye’s originally indifferent expression darkened.
The person behind him was biting her lower lip tightly, tears streaming endlessly from her watery eyes, which were as red as a rabbit’s, as if she were deeply aggrieved.
She wiped away her tears and spoke haltingly, “I know what you think of me.”
Her voice trembled with sobs, yet she mustered the courage to speak loudly, “But I’m not like that. You and Second Sister are to be engaged, and in the future, you will be my brother-in-law. I would never do such a thing.”
Tears pooled in her eyes, making her appear utterly pitiful.
Xie Yunye should have been angry and should have thoroughly despised the person before him.
But seeing her foolish demeanor, he found it somewhat amusing.
He had stopped to hear her explanation to see what this woman would say.
Yet, when she spoke, not a single word touched upon the key points. Her explanation was no different from not explaining at all.
This foolish appearance also seemed unlike that of a scheming woman.
Xie Yunye studied her, unable to tell for a moment whether she was truly naive or merely pretending to be.
“How would I know what you dare or dare not do? I only ask you, where is your maid?”
Xie Yunye’s voice was stern and cold, mainly intending to frighten her.
Meng Jinyue stammered, “I had something to ask her to do… so she’s not by my side.”
Xie Yunye scoffed, “What matter, and so coincidentally? You’re so timid in front of me, not even daring to speak loudly. How could you have the courage to send your maid away and stay alone in an unfamiliar place like the Xie residence?”
But on the surface, she continued to feign nervousness and timidity, murmuring, “I…”
Xie Yunye sneered, turned, and walked away, ignoring her.
He must have been mad to waste time listening to this liar’s explanation.
Just then, a voice called out.
“Miss!”
Qiu Ning ran up to Meng Jinyue, panting heavily. “Miss, I finally found you. I was so scared.”
Beside Qiu Ning followed a graceful young woman with a lovely face. She walked up to Xie Yunye.
“Elder Brother!”
Xie Yunye raised an eyebrow. “A Zhi, shouldn’t you be in the front hall entertaining guests?”
Xie Qingzhi was Xie Yunye’s full-blooded younger sister and the person he cared about most.
In her previous life, shortly after this banquet, Xie Qingzhi quickly became engaged to a cousin who was staying with their family.
Later, Meng Jinyue learned that it was because Xie Qingzhi had been tricked into falling into the water by this cousin, who then staged a rescue himself.
Because of this, Xie Qingzhi ended up marrying beneath her station, entrusting herself to the wrong person and living a tragic life.
“Elder Brother.”
Xie Qingzhi lowered her voice, choking back tears as she spoke: “Today, Cousin deliberately caused me to fall into the water and even tried to jump in to take liberties with me. It was this elder sister and her maid who knocked Cousin unconscious and saved me.”
“The elder sister also had her maid escort me away to change clothes and helped cover for me.”
“If it weren’t for Elder Sister Meng today, I don’t know what would have happened to me.”
Xie Yunye’s expression turned extremely grim.
His sister’s words were understated, but he could imagine the danger involved.
The Xie family was complex and intricate, and the person staying with them as a guest was a despicable character—Xie Yunye knew this all too well.
It was only out of consideration for him being the nephew of the Duchess that they couldn’t simply drive him away.
But he never imagined that this person would be so audacious as to dare scheme against his sister.
His previous negligence had nearly led to disaster today.
Xie Yunye took a deep breath and clenched his fists: “A Zhi, your elder brother will seek justice for you.”
Xie Yunye didn’t dare imagine what would have happened if Xie Qingzhi had truly been tricked and rescued by that man—how his mother would have seized the opportunity to arrange this marriage.
Xie Qingzhi sniffled and whispered: “I believe in you, Brother.”
Qiu Ning: “Miss, how did you end up with General Xie?”
Perhaps because she was facing her familiar maid, Meng Jinyue found the courage to speak: “I… that man showed signs of waking up, and I was too scared to stay there waiting for you. I tried to retrace my steps from memory, but the Xie residence is too large… and I got lost.”
Her voice pulled Xie Yunye back to the present.
Xie Yunye was not foolish; on the contrary, he had been clever since childhood and quickly pieced everything together.
He understood now why she had been unable to articulate the key points when he questioned her, why she had hesitated.
Aside from fear, she must have also been unwilling to disclose another woman’s private matters in public.
Xie Yunye looked at her with a complicated expression, stunned for a moment.
Without her today, he didn’t know what would have become of his own sister.
Yet not only had he held prejudices against her because of her sister’s words, but he had also misunderstood her.
Since childhood, he had known how aggrieved and painful it felt to be wronged.
No one in this world liked being wronged or misunderstood.
Yet he had repaid kindness with injustice and wronged her.
Xie Yunye stepped forward to stand before her.
“Third Miss, I, Xie, was wrong.”