Springtime Affairs in a Noble Family

Xie Yunting sat on the table, one foot propped up on the chair, and raised an eyebrow at Cui Zeyu with a smug look. "Brother Cui, your brother-in-law is no good, tsk tsk. Why don't you have your sister divorce him?"

Song Shulan rushed out from the inner room, shouting, "Xie Yunting, don't go too far! This is my home, not a place for you to run wild!"

"Did I act wildly? Did I?" Xie Yunting jumped down. As a military general, he was a size larger than Song Shulan, and his imposing presence was overwhelming. "Lord Song, which of my statements do you think was wrong?"

"This is my family matter, please leave!" Song Shulan pointed towards the door, issuing an order to leave.

"Family matters? My good brother is your wife's brother, so I am also the brother of Lady Song, which is also my family matter." Xie Yunting never cared about saving face.

He and Old Mrs. Song were in stark contrast; one valued reputation more than life itself, while he was the one who disdained reputation the most.

Song Shulan couldn't beat Xie Yunting in a fight, nor could he win an argument with him, so he had no choice but to call over a servant, "Xie Yunting, if you don't leave, don't blame me for being impolite."

"Come on then! I've never been afraid of anyone when I was fighting on the battlefield. Even if all of you come at me together, you won't be able to do anything to me!" Xie Yunting swept his gaze over, his murderous aura overwhelming, and no one dared to step forward.

Seeing Song Shulan's forehead veins bulging with anger, Xie Yunting continued, "I say, Lord Song, are you blinded by grease or have you lost your mind? How could a doctor who has served the Rong Prince's mansion for decades possibly harm someone from the Rong Prince's mansion? You can't tell who's putting on an act and who's harming people at all. No wonder you're a mediocre official with no ability."

Song Shulan was furious. Xie Yunting was shameless and spewed filth; he was utterly despicable.

Meanwhile, the Rong Prince and his wife, who were in the inner room, looked extremely pale. They had never expected to involve Xie Yunting in this.

How do we solve this now?

The couple exchanged a glance, absolutely determined not to let Cui Lingrong file a complaint with the emperor. The emperor was still hesitant about who to choose as crown prince, and if this affected his opinion of the Rong Prince's residence, it would be a greater loss than gain.

Prince Rong took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and whispered, "You've raised a fine daughter!"

Princess Rong had a splitting headache; how did this happen?

In order to solidify Yu'er's guilt, Princess Rongjia not only put on a show for others to see, but also found Aunt Zhao to be a witness.

If this is overturned now, it cannot be said that she was unaware of it.

Princess Rongjia's heart pounded wildly as she pondered how to protect herself.

Princess Rong was also thinking about this issue. She looked at Wang Shanxi's wife and Qingxue, who were kneeling on the ground. Losing one or two servants was nothing. The important thing was that her daughter could not become estranged from Song Shulan.

She walked up to Wang Shanxi's house and Qingxue, but before she could say anything, Old Mrs. Song had already started arguing with Xie Yunting.

"General Xie, you're quite something, coming to my Jiangyuan Marquis's mansion to show off your power. If you want to file a complaint with the emperor today, you'll have to step over my dead body first." After saying this, Old Madam Song looked at Cui Zeyu. "Do you think filing a complaint with the emperor will be good for your sister? Does right and wrong matter? Once she and Yu'er are involved, the world will only gossip about them. If the Song family divorces her then, will the Cui family leave her a way out?"

Cui Zeyu clenched his fists. At this moment, Xie Yunting offered a compromise: "Since Old Madam Song is threatening suicide, how about this: let me interrogate everyone. I'm the most reasonable person, and I will never show favoritism to anyone."

Old Madam Song said no, if she agreed, the Rong Prince's Mansion would blame the Marquis's Mansion for being incompetent.

Song Shulan also disagreed. If Xie Yunting were to take action, wouldn't that expose all the Marquis's affairs to Xie Yunting? What if Xie Yunting went out and talked about it? Where would the Marquis's reputation be then?

At this moment, Song Shulan thought of Cui Lingrong. It was all her fault for insisting on holding on to this matter, which led to the current uncontrollable situation.

Song Shulan felt that Cui Lingrong had changed a lot; she was no longer considerate and gentle, and she no longer cared about him, her husband.

"Since everyone disagrees, then..." Xie Yunting hadn't finished speaking when Prince Rong came out and said he agreed, which surprised him.

Prince Rong's eyes burned with hatred, as if he wanted to tear Xie Yunting apart, but at this moment, he could only concede. "You can interrogate all of Wang Shanxi's family members. However, you must guarantee that what happened today will only be known to those in Wutong Garden, and no one is allowed to spread it!"

Xie Yunting said he didn't care, and Prince Rong went to see Cui Zeyu.

Cui Zeyu didn't express any opinion; he listened to his sister.

Cui Lingrong came out and said, "Whether or not to summon them depends on the attitude of the Rong Prince's Mansion after the interrogation. Your Highness, since you have already agreed, let them go ahead with the interrogation. I have plenty of time to wait."

Cui Lingrong's greatest strength in life was patience. She bowed respectfully to Xie Yunting, "Thank you for your help, General Xie. I am very grateful for what happened today. I will definitely bring my daughter to express my gratitude to you in the future."

Xie Yunting said it was a small matter, and he asked Cui Lingrong to give her the two of them, then left with Wang Shanxi's wife and Qingxue.

The remaining people in the room didn't want to talk.

Cui Lingrong was exhausted. She had endured the day, and she was not only mentally exhausted, but also emotionally drained.

From this day forward, her relationship with Song Shulan as husband and wife is over.

After more than ten years of marriage, it's laughable that she never even considered trying to salvage the relationship.

Exhausted, Old Madam Song was helped to a side room. Song Shulan sat there, his scalp tingling. Cui Lingrong remained silent, as did the Prince Rong and his wife. He didn't know what to say.

Time passed slowly, and it wasn't until the sky turned red and the sun began to set that Xie Yunting returned with his men.

Xie Yunting slammed the confession on the table. "Wang Shanxi's wife and Qingxue vehemently deny the false pregnancy, but they confessed to the matter of Yu'er. It was indeed because the princess was angry that Yu'er didn't give her face and wanted to teach her a lesson. Unexpectedly, Princess Rongjia suddenly started bleeding and mistakenly thought she had miscarried, which led to what happened next."

Xie Yunting tried the methods used in the military camp, but the two men refused to speak, seemingly loyal servants to the death. No amount of torture could pry them open their mouths.

The confession was written in black and white, and everything was clearly stated.

Song Shulan frowned as he read this. How could the princess use such a thing to get angry with Yu'er?

Princess Rong looked at Song Shulan nervously. Her daughter was a widow who had remarried, and she hoped that her daughter could be happy. If Song Shulan became estranged from her daughter because of this, her daughter's future days would probably be difficult.

Prince Rong had also read through the confession; this was his biggest concession. "Cui, are you satisfied now?"

Cui Lingrong picked up the statement and read it carefully before daring to secretly breathe a sigh of relief. "Grandma, Lord Marquis, do you now know that Yu'er is innocent?"

Grandma Song was so embarrassed that she couldn't speak.

Song Shulan looked at Cui Lingrong, feeling very annoyed. Why was the princess resorting to such methods?

"Madam Cui, although Rong Jia made a mistake, she had no intention of harming anyone," said Prince Rong. "You are the child's mother, and I am also a father. The Rong Prince's Mansion will send apologies to you and your daughter for this matter. As for Rong Jia... she will be confined to her quarters for a month to reflect on her actions."

He mentioned the children again, and Cui Lingrong knew that if she continued to confront Prince Rong, he would really harm her two sons.

Moreover, Princess Rongjia and Song Shulan's marriage was bestowed by the Emperor, so Song Shulan would not divorce Princess Rongjia, for the sake of his future and also for the sake of the Jiangyuan Marquis's reputation.

She understands Song Shulan.

However, there were some things she had to bring up at this time. "Your Highness loves your daughter dearly, and I think you can understand my feelings better. When I went to Wutong Garden today, Yu'er was forced to kneel in public and was even kicked by her father. All these grievances were caused to her by Princess Rongjia."

Prince Rong frowned. "What are you trying to say?"

"Your Highness, rest assured, I will not ask the Marquis to divorce his wife. I just feel that confinement for a month is not a serious punishment." Cui Lingrong had an idea in mind. "Since it is Princess Rongjia who is wicked, let her kneel in the ancestral hall for two hours every day and copy the 'Rules for Women' and 'Admonitions for Women' fifty times, so that she will know how to conduct herself in society. Your Highness has no objection, does he?"

It will get colder and colder, and the ancestral hall is very cold and damp. Now that it's Steward Cui Lingrong's turn, she will never allow anyone to light a charcoal fire for Princess Rongjia.

Princess Rong said with concern, "How can Rong Jia's knees endure kneeling for a month? How about we just have him copy 'Rules for Women' and 'Admonitions for Women'?"

"My daughter was beaten and then tried to kill herself by hitting a pillar. I almost lost my daughter. Does Princess Rong still think she should be punished leniently?" Cui Lingrong's attitude left no room for argument.

Unable to refute Cui Lingrong, Princess Rong turned to Song Shulan, hoping that Song Shulan could say a few words on behalf of her daughter.

"Ling Rong, you..."

Before Song Shulan could speak, Prince Rong agreed first, "That's how it's going to be. You can do whatever you want with Wang Shanxi's family. I'm taking Doctor Xu with me."

It was already dark, and Prince Rong didn't want to stay a moment longer, so he turned and left.

Princess Rong wanted to go back in to see her daughter, but was urged to leave quickly by Prince Rong's men.

Grandma Song didn't want to face Cui Lingrong, so she left first, leaving Cui Lingrong and Song Shulan to handle it themselves.

After seeing that everyone from the Rong Prince's residence had left, Xie Yunting took his leave. Cui Lingrong wanted to see him off, but Xie Yunting waved his hand, saying, "As I just said, Brother Cui and I are good brothers. From now on, I'll call you Sister Cui, just like him. If you need anything, just come to me. I'm the kind of person who loves to stand up for the weak. You go ahead with your work, and we'll get together again later!"

Cui Lingrong sent her younger brother to see Xie Yunting off. She and Song Shulan stood under the corridor, watching the three trembling Zhao Yiniang kneeling in the courtyard.