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

The gold bracelet on her wrist was indeed a gift from Xiao Jinghan. Over the past few days, Xiao Jinghan had given her many things intermittently. At first, she was unwilling to accept them, but Xiao Jinghan said that he had done a good job in saving Yan'er, and he would feel bad if he didn't give her something in return.

Liu Yuansheng couldn't refuse Xiao Jinghan, so she temporarily accepted it, intending to return it to the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion when they divorced.

As a result, when Ying'er was getting ready this morning, she brought out all the jewelry that Xiao Jinghan had given her and let her choose. Looking at those pearls, agates, rubies, and sapphires, she only felt a headache coming on. In the end, Xiao Jinghan chose a gold bracelet and put it on her wrist.

The gold bracelet was heavy and quite substantial, and it was inlaid with many gemstones, making it dazzling and eye-catching. Ever since she put on the bracelet, she had hardly raised her right hand because it was so heavy.

She discreetly covered the bracelet on her wrist with her sleeve. Suddenly, the chair next to her creaked, and then, Yuan Shi, with a gloomy face, stood up and said, "I'm not feeling well, first... ugh—"

Madam Yuan suddenly vomited, and the maids and servants around her immediately surrounded her, saying, "Madam."

"How are you, Madam?"

Yuan Shi braced herself on the table with one hand and pressed the other against her chest, struggling to suppress the rising acid reflux, looking extremely uncomfortable. Liu Yuansheng instinctively checked Yuan Shi's pulse, and in just a moment, her eyes widened in shock.

Not far away, Xiao Jingting was tense, his gaze fixed on Yuan Shi. When Yuan Shi noticed Liu Yuansheng taking her pulse, she abruptly pulled her hand away, "What are you doing?"

Liu Yuansheng remained silent, lowered her head, and her mind went blank.

"Why are you so agitated? Yuan Sheng saw you weren't feeling well and was just taking your pulse," Xiao Jinghan said.

"She can take a pulse?" Yuan Min's expression changed. "What can she diagnose?"

Liu Yuansheng remained silent, but Yuan Min's expression grew increasingly grim. "What exactly did you diagnose?"

Liu Yuansheng clenched her fists and glanced sideways at Yuan Min.

That look seemed to say, "Do you really want me to say it in public?"

Yuan Min was stunned for a moment. Realizing that she shouldn't have given herself away in front of everyone, she regained her composure and said with a smile, "I didn't expect Yuan Sheng to know medicine as well. However, I'm not in any serious condition. I just ate too much and have some indigestion. I'll be fine after taking some hawthorn pills when I get back."

Upon hearing this, Liu Yuansheng looked away, ignoring Yuan Min's comment.

Xiao Jinghan watched coldly from the sidelines, and gently curled the corner of his lips.

Madam Dong, wanting to stir up trouble again, added, "I'll accompany my sister-in-law downstairs to rest for a while. The banquet is good, but staying there for too long can get a bit stuffy."

As she spoke, she stood up, about to leave with Yuan Min. "Don't go yet," Xiao Jinghan suddenly called out, stopping them. "There's something I need to clarify in front of Yuan Min."

At the family banquet, Xiao Jinghan called Yuan Min by her full name, which was extremely disrespectful to her. It was as if he had torn off her dignity as the matriarch of the household and trampled on her.

Yuan Min's expression was stiff. Suppressing her anger, she turned around under the curious gazes of everyone and asked Xiao Jinghan, "What do you want to figure out?"

Xiao Jinghan clapped his hands, and immediately someone brought Qiu Ju in.

Qiu Ju's hair was disheveled, her face was swollen, and blood was seeping from the corner of her mouth. She was timid and cowering, clearly having been tortured. As soon as she saw Yuan Shi, she immediately shrank towards the door and said tremblingly, "I didn't say anything, I didn't say anything, I don't know anything."

Yuan stared at Qiu Ju, her body involuntarily leaning backward, then looked at Xiao Jinghan.

Xiao Jinghan sat in his chair with his legs crossed, looking quite pleased with himself. "Killing someone is just a matter of beheading them. To cover up your crimes, you had people torture and berate Qiu Ju. If I hadn't discovered it in time and rescued her, she would have gone mad by now."

Yuan clenched her fists tightly.

She knew Xiao Jinghan wouldn't let her go!

Therefore, after returning from the lake trip, she took control of Qiuju before Xiao Jinghan could, determined to silence Qiuju and prevent her from revealing the truth. She did succeed, after all, she had been in charge of the household affairs for many years and was quite adept at managing matters in the inner quarters.

But Xiao Jinghan still managed to get the person out of her hands.

She originally thought that the people below had killed Qiuju, but she never expected that she would fall into Xiao Jinghan's hands.

Madam Yuan gasped. "Qiuju seems to be out of her mind. To prevent her from offending the old lady and the other relatives, let's take her away."

"No, let's talk here. It'll be more lively with more people."

Xiao Jinghan adjusted his posture and looked at Qiu Ju, who was still behind the door. "Qiu Ju, tell me, who told you to push the Third Young Mistress into the lake before?"

As Qiu Ju was muttering to herself, she heard Xiao Jinghan's voice, slowly raised her head, and looked at Yuan Shi.

Both Yuan and Dong were standing, making them very conspicuous. Upon seeing this, Dong silently sat down, afraid of being mistakenly harmed.

Yuan's eyes were trembling, but she stood firmly. She stared fiercely at Qiu Ju, as if she would rush up and tear Qiu Ju to pieces if Qiu Ju dared not say another word.

Sure enough, this tactic worked perfectly. Qiu Ju vehemently denied it, "It wasn't Madam, it wasn't Madam who told me to push the Third Young Mistress into the water!"

Yuan suddenly closed her eyes, and the crowd erupted in uproar, looking at each other and whispering amongst themselves.

The old lady turned pale with anger. "Yuan Shi! You really are incorrigible! I already forgave you last time, but this time, let's see how you forgive yourself!"

The old lady grasped Liu Yuansheng's hand, "Yuansheng, don't worry, anyone who dares to harm you, I'll take their life!"

"Grandmother, there must be some misunderstanding. Why would Mother order the maid to push my third sister-in-law into the water? This maid must be talking nonsense, or someone is stirring things up behind the scenes, trying to use this crazy girl to achieve their own ulterior motives," Xiao Jingting argued for Madam Yuan.

"Brother, are you targeting me?" Xiao Jinghan asked. "My goal is to become a widower, is that alright?"

Xiao Jingting was rendered speechless by Xiao Jinghan's retort, while Dong Shi, who had been waiting to watch the show, burst out laughing.

Xiao Jingting glared at Xiao Jinghan hatefully, "You're ruthless and vicious, you won't give up until you get what you want. What wouldn't you do?"

"There are many things," Xiao Jinghan said slowly. "Should I tell you about them now?"

Xiao Jingting was taken aback, seemingly intimidated by Xiao Jinghan's implied meaning, and immediately shut his mouth. The old lady angrily said, "Bring that maid here! I want to ask you how you all conspired to harm Yuan Sheng!"

Granny Tian was about to arrest someone when Madam Yuan quickly gave Xiao Jingting a look. Xiao Jingting said, "Grandmother, it's the Mid-Autumn Festival. Why make such a fuss? Whatever it is, let's talk about it after today."

"What about my brother's matter? Shall we talk about it after today?" Xiao Jinghan asked.

Xiao Jingting was taken aback. "What do you want?"

Xiao Jinghan stared at Xiao Jingting and smiled, pondering whether to deal with the Yuan family first, then Xiao Jingting, or take them both down at once. Xiao Xiuyan, who had left the table midway, walked in and said, "What's all this commotion about?"