After getting married, she spent every night alone in her room; when she asked for a divorce, he kne

Su Tinglan seemed to have lost her mind, laughing loudly with her head tilted back as she spoke, which frightened Liu Nianxi so much that she kept pushing her away: "Let go of me! I'm not your daughter. What are you to be worthy of being my mother?"

"You don't want to acknowledge me? You only want to be Bai Yinzhu's daughter, is that it?"

Su Tinglan was certain that Liu Nianxi refused to accept her because of Bai Yinzhu. She was so jealous that she was trembling all over. She grabbed Liu Nianxi's wrist tightly and said through gritted teeth, word by word.

"Why did you do this? Why did you do all this!" Liu Nianxi cried out in despair, shaking off Su Tinglan's hand.

"You want to know why I did this? Fine, I'll tell you!" Su Tinglan wiped away her tears, stood up, and said, "Don't blame me, blame Bai Yinzhu! Everyone says Bai Yinzhu is good, but what's so good about her? Her background is similar to mine, and in terms of looks, I'm not much worse than her! Just because she can treat patients, you all fawn over her? But there are plenty of people in this world who can treat patients!"

"She said we were friends and often brought me along, but she never gave me any opportunities. She made me watch helplessly as she rose through the ranks and gradually became a respectable person!"

After speaking, Su Tinglan swayed slightly, looked at Liu Jingyuan whose expression was now filled with nothing but disgust, and said, "Jingyuan, do you think I only fell in love with you later? No, that's not it. Back then, when I came to the Prime Minister's residence with Bai Yinzhu to treat the old lady, I fell in love with you at first sight. But I knew that there was a huge difference in our social status, and I had no chance of marrying you in this lifetime. However, not long after, Bai Yinzhu was betrothed to you by the Empress Dowager!"

"Do you know how much hatred I felt back then? From that moment on, I decided that I must take you away from Bai Yinzhu, take everything that belongs to Bai Yinzhu, and completely destroy Bai Yinzhu!"

"You, you're simply an incomprehensible madwoman." Liu Jingyuan stared at Su Tinglan with a somewhat dazed expression. "You can never truly know a person's heart. I never imagined you were such a ruthless and vicious woman!"

"I never want to see you again! Get out, both of you, get out!"

After saying this, Liu Jingyuan slumped onto the table and coughed violently.

Su Tinglan was in tears, sobbing uncontrollably, but she showed no intention of leaving. Liu Nianxi was even more dumbfounded, because she realized that no matter how much she objected or how unacceptable it was, she could not change the fact that she was indeed Su Tinglan's daughter.

"No, no, this is ridiculous, so ridiculous!" Liu Nianxi stumbled out. "I want to leave here, I want to find my second brother, I want to go..."

"You're not going anywhere," Xiao Jinghan suddenly said. "We haven't settled our score yet. Where do you think you're going?"

Liu Nianxi paused in her tracks.

She turned around timidly, looking at Xiao Jinghan, and said, "Settle accounts? Settle what accounts?"

"Of course, it's a score between you and Liu Yuansheng," Xiao Jinghan said. "You might have been a little upset today, but not to the point of amnesia, forgetting what you did to Liu Yuansheng, right?"

Liu Nianxi's heart skipped a beat.

"What did I do?" Liu Nianxi said, her words clearly contradicting her words. "I have never bullied Liu Yuansheng. On the contrary, Liu Yuansheng has always been disrespectful to me and indifferent to me. I have hardly any contact with her at all."

"Oh." Xiao Jinghan gestured to Ying'er, "You tell her!"

Ying'er was in high spirits and didn't care whether the roasted lamb leg was roasted or not. She bowed and replied, "Yes," then said, "Liu Nianxi, how dare you lie in front of the young master! Don't you remember how you bullied my young lady? Fine, I'll tell you!"

"You never stop using tricks all year round. In spring, you make my young lady go to the garden to pick flowers for you, saying she wants to take a petal bath. You laugh out loud as you watch my young lady get a face full of red rashes from the pollen."

"In the summer, you deliberately restricted the young lady's clothing, making her wear thick spring and autumn clothes in the sweltering heat. You also deliberately took her out of the manor, letting others see her sweating and making a fool of herself in the scorching summer heat!"

"In autumn, you made my young lady go fishing in the icy lake; in winter, you cut back on her charcoal, preferring to burn it for your cats and dogs rather than let her warm herself. You just want to freeze my young lady to death!"

Ying'er grew angrier as she spoke, because she had suffered just as much as Liu Yuansheng had. Now that she thought about it, if it weren't for her father, who was a steward, secretly helping her, her young mistress would have been killed by Liu Nianxi long ago.

Recalling the past, Liu Yuansheng was also filled with emotion. Yes, how could she have been so easy to bully back then?

She looked at Su Tinglan and Liu Nianxi, and suddenly felt incredibly tired. She really didn't understand why they had to live like this. Did they think that bullying others would bring them happiness? Wouldn't they still be held accountable the day their true colors were revealed?

"All year round, spring, summer, autumn, winter, Liu Nianxi, you really know how to torment people," Xiao Jinghan said. "Besides that, what else have you done to Liu Yuansheng?"

Liu Nianxi was stunned and didn't say anything. Su Tinglan, driven by her maternal instincts, instinctively stood up for Liu Nianxi, saying, "Your Highness, Liu Yuansheng, if you have any problems, come at me. Don't hurt Nianxi."

Xiao Jinghan nodded. "Since you've said that, men, tie Liu Nianxi up!"

As soon as Su Tinglan finished speaking, Xiao Jinghan immediately gave the order, so fast that Su Tinglan couldn't react at all.

"What are you doing? Xiao Jinghan, what do you want to do?"

Su Tinglan shouted loudly, but to no avail. She could only watch helplessly as the guards rushed in and pinned Liu Nianxi down.

She herself was bound hand and foot by the guards and knelt face to face with Liu Nianxi.

Liu Yunheng tried to stop him, but Liu Jingyuan raised his hand to stop him, telling him that everything was up to Xiao Jinghan to handle.

Xiao Jinghan twirled the jade thumb ring on his right thumb and said slowly, "Ying'er, continue."

Ying'er cleared her throat and continued, "She bullied Miss so many times! I can't even list them all! But the thing that angered me the most, the thing that makes my hair stand on end just thinking about it, was when Liu Nianxi and Su Tinglan pricked Miss with needles. The more Miss cried, the harder they pricked her, and the happier they were!"

"Really?" Xiao Jinghan's face darkened. "Really? I want to have some fun too. Go and give them a few acupuncture treatments."

Ying'er immediately looked at Han Bin, who whispered a few words to the old woman outside the door and soon brought back the silver needles.

Xiao Jinghan: "Make your move."

The old woman glanced at Liu Jingyuan, and seeing that he had no reaction, she took out the silver needles and walked towards Liu Nianxi.

Liu Nianxi trembled with fear, struggling desperately, "No, no! Your Highness! Please, Your Highness, spare me!"

"It was Aunt Su's idea, and I just listened to her. If you want to punish someone, punish Aunt Su. I'm innocent!"

Xiao Jinghan was disturbed by Liu Nian's voice, rubbed his ears and said, "Hurry up and stab her."

The old woman half-squatted in front of Liu Nianxi and stabbed her hard.

"Ah!" Liu Nianxi screamed, "It hurts! Stop stabbing me, stop stabbing me!"

"Nianxi!" Seeing Liu Nianxi in such pain, Su Tinglan finally shed tears of remorse. "Prime Minister, Prince, please, please spare Nianxi! Punish me instead!"

"Father, save me, save me!"

Liu Nianxi was still crying, but no matter how much she cried, Xiao Jinghan refused to order the punishment to end. "Keep stabbing her," Xiao Jinghan said. "I'll only stop when you confess all the wrongdoings you've committed. Otherwise, I won't stop even if you suffer to death."

After saying that, Liangliang glanced at the old woman.

The old woman shuddered, fearing she would be implicated by Liu Nianxi. She gripped the silver needles tightly and began to prick Liu Nianxi's body, one needle at a time. The vast Prime Minister's mansion was filled with Liu Nianxi's pitiful weeping, making everyone's head spin.

"Still not talking?" Xiao Jinghan smiled slyly. "She's got a tough bone. Go get a thicker and longer needle. I want to see how long she can hold out."

"I'll talk! I'll talk!" Hearing Xiao Jinghan say that someone was going to change the needle, Liu Nianxi finally couldn't hold back anymore and confessed with tears streaming down her face, "I, I pretended to be framed by Liu Yuansheng and accidentally fell into the water in order to sow discord between Liu Yuansheng and my father, so that my father would punish her..."

"And also, the poisoning I did before was faked. I was afraid that my father would fall in love with Liu Yuansheng and love her more than me, so I did it..."

Next, Liu Nianxi honestly and tearfully recounted all the schemes she had framed against Liu Yuansheng since he entered the manor.

At first, Liu Yuansheng listened without changing his expression, but as time went on, he was probably annoyed by Liu Nianxi's crying and couldn't help but speak up to stop her, "That's enough."

Stop.

This time, the old woman was smarter. She looked directly at Xiao Jinghan's expression and saw him nod before she stood up, exhausted.

As soon as she stood up, the guards released Liu Nianxi. Although Liu Nianxi had no visible injuries, she had been tortured by the needles. Her hair was disheveled, and her beautiful face was wet with a mixture of tears and sweat.

Kneeling opposite her, Su Tinglan was completely limp, like a rag doll. She stared at Liu Nianxi for a long, long time with heartache, and then muttered to herself, "I lost. I still lost."

Liu Yuansheng didn't know whether she was saying this to her or to her mother. She didn't want to know. She just wanted to leave this place as soon as possible, return to the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, and get a good night's sleep.

She is so tired.

"Su Tinglan, you are not worthy of being a human being, much less a friend of my mother," Liu Yuansheng said without a trace of emotion. "I don't want to see you again. Take your daughter and get out of the Prime Minister's residence."

Su Tinglan felt a chill run down her spine.

This was the first time since Liu Yuansheng was recognized by Liu Jingyuan that he had used his status as the legitimate daughter to suppress and reprimand her.

What's infuriating is that she was powerless to resist or refute it.

"What? Didn't you hear what she said?"

Seeing that Su Tinglan and Liu Nianxi did not react, Xiao Jinghan stood up by supporting himself on the armrest and said, "You can choose whether you get out of the Prime Minister's residence on your own or I order your men to throw you out."

Liu Nianxi, who had just been sobbing uncontrollably, suddenly stopped crying, knelt down in front of Liu Jingyuan, and said, "Father, I know I was wrong. I will never dare to do it again. Please, Father, let me stay in the Prime Minister's residence and take care of me like a puppy or a kitten. Please don't kick me out!"

"Father, I'm not good to Liu Yuansheng, but I'm very close to you! How can I live without you? Please let me stay. I'm willing to marry me off to Wang Hanxuan. I don't want to go with Aunt Su. I don't want to go with Aunt Su."

Liu Jingyuan looked down at Liu Nianxi, then closed his eyes helplessly.

He has to make a choice.

Make a choice between Liu Yuansheng and Liu Nianxi.

But in reality, he didn't have much of a choice.

Because if he chooses to keep Liu Nianxi, he will offend Xiao Jinghan, and given Xiao Jinghan's personality, he will definitely retaliate against him.

He couldn't afford Xiao Jinghan's revenge.

Thinking of this, Liu Jingyuan shoved Liu Nianxi out and said to Han Bin, "Han Bin, kick those two out!"

Liu Nianxi was stunned when she heard this, and Su Tinglan was also stunned.

Su Tinglan still hoped that Liu Jingyuan would soften his heart and keep Liu Nianxi. That way, as long as there was life, there would be hope, and one day she could return to Liu Jingyuan's side.

But to everyone's surprise, Liu Jingyuan didn't even want Liu Nianxi anymore.

This was utterly unacceptable to her, and she shamelessly shouted at Liu Jingyuan, "Master, you've watched Nianxi grow up! How can you bear to let her go out and suffer!"

"You've pampered her for over a decade. Even if you had a cat or dog by your side, you'd develop a bond by now, right? Are you really just going to give her away like this? Can you really bear to?"

"Master, why think so much? It was Xiao Jinghan who exposed this matter. If today's events hadn't happened, wouldn't you still be a loving father and son? Is blood relation really that important? Just treat Nianxi as your own daughter and continue to dote on her, what's wrong with that?"

"Shut up!"

Liu Jingyuan was so angry at Su Tinglan's unreasonable words that his face turned ashen. "Get her out of here! No, give her thirty heavy lashes, then get her out!"

"Yes, sir."

Han Bin accepted the order, but Ying'er, annoyed by her father's slow pace, patted him on the shoulder and urged, "Dad, hurry up!"

Because Ying'er really wanted to see Su Tinglan get beaten, Liu Yuansheng held out for another half an hour before returning to the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion.

It was already completely dark by then, and both of them seemed to have a faint smell of blood on their clothes. Liu Yuansheng couldn't wait to take a bath and change her clothes. After doing all this, she was exhausted.

In her current state, let alone eating roasted lamb leg, she could barely sit up and drink half a cup of tea. Yet Ying'er was unusually excited, chattering away while tidying the daybed: "That's wonderful! That's truly wonderful! I finally understand what 'after the clouds disperse, the moon shines through' means. It means that as long as we stay with the young master, he will let us wait until the truth comes out! Miss, I never expected this! Aunt Su is actually Liu Nianxi's biological mother! How dare she do that back then?!"

Liu Yuansheng was so tired that he couldn't even lift his eyelids. He originally didn't want to pay attention to Ying'er, but his mind was in a mess, and all he could think about were the things that happened in the Prime Minister's mansion.