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

Xiao Jinghan followed behind Liu Jingyuan and hurried to Qingfeng Hall. From a distance, he saw a group of servants pushing and shoving each other. Standing in the middle of the servants, Liu Nianxi glared at them, put her hands on her hips, and started cursing at Liu Yuansheng.

Protected by her maid Ying'er, Liu Yuansheng stood three feet away from Liu Nianxi. Her lips were tightly pressed together, her gaze was cold, and her expression was indifferent. Even though she was entangled with Liu Nianxi and couldn't get away, she remained calm and composed, showing no sign of distress.

Xiao Jingxiao unconsciously quickened his pace, and then clearly heard Liu Nianxi's cursing.

"You shameless woman! You're always playing the victim, feigning innocence, and using that vixen-like face to deceive people!"

"You stole my Prince Xiao through despicable means, I will never let you get away with this! You just wait!"

"Nianxi! What are you doing!" Liu Jingyuan shouted at Liu Nianxi, "Didn't I tell you to stay home and reflect on your actions? Why are you still in Qingfeng Hall?"

Liu Nianxi paused upon hearing the voice, and her eyes instantly reddened when she saw who it was. "Father! Father, you've finally come!"

She threw herself into Liu Jingyuan's arms, sobbing uncontrollably. "Father, you must do justice for me! I was just about to leave when I ran into my sister. I was just about to say hello, but she hit me! She even pushed me to the ground!"

After saying that, she touched her chest and patted the dirt off her skirt.

"Fourth Miss, you're talking nonsense!" Ying'er, standing next to Liu Yuansheng, exclaimed excitedly. "You were clearly the one who deliberately picked a fight with my young lady! When she ignored you, you lunged at her, only to miss and fall to the ground yourself. Why are you blaming my young lady?"

"You damned maid, shut your mouth!" Liu Nianxi said. "Father, don't listen to Ying'er's nonsense! She only said that to protect my sister! The servants all saw what happened; they can testify for me!"

As he spoke, he looked at the servants beside him. The servants all lowered their heads, and none of them dared to utter a sound.

"Speak up!" Liu Nianxi said angrily, "Tell my father what just happened!"

The servants looked at each other, remaining silent. Occasionally, one of them would raise his head, but upon seeing Xiao Jinghan's expression, he would immediately lower his head again, burying it even deeper.

Liu Nianxi finally noticed something was wrong, stopped crying, and turned to look at Xiao Jinghan beside Liu Jingyuan.

Xiao Jinghan was also looking at her, but his eyes were full of impatience. Liu Nianxi blushed instantly and called out shyly, "Young Master..."

She started to sob again as soon as she spoke, her voice trembling and tinged with a hint of coquetry. Xiao Jinghan raised his hand to stop her. "Fourth Miss, wait a minute before you cry. Tell me first, when did I become yours?"

Liu Nianxi choked, and now she really wanted to cry.

Xiao Jinghan continued, "You just said that Liu Yuansheng pushed you down?"

"Yes!" Liu Nianxi wiped away her tears. "I was talking to her when she suddenly pushed my chest and knocked me to the ground. It took me a while to get up."

"But if she pushed you in the chest, you should have fallen backward, getting your clothes dirty from the back, not the front," Xiao Jinghan analyzed. "Unless you're incredibly skilled and managed to roll over in time when you fell backward, this situation would never have happened."

Liu Nianxi was confused and it took her a while to understand what Xiao Jinghan meant.

Before she could react, Xiao Jinghan continued, "Besides, I remember when you stormed into Qingfeng Hall, you were shouting that you wanted to settle accounts with Liu Yuansheng, so Ying'er's words are more credible."

After saying that, she looked at Liu Jingyuan and asked, "Father-in-law, what do you think?"

Liu Jingyuan's expression was already quite grim.

He exhaled softly and asked Liu Yuansheng, "Yuansheng, did you do anything?"

"No," Liu Yuansheng said.

"If you didn't lay a hand on them, why didn't you explain yourself just now?"

"What's the point of explaining?" Liu Yuansheng said coldly. "Before, I explained to you time and time again, but did you ever believe me? Every time, weren't you biased towards Liu Nianxi?"

She didn't even look at Liu Jingyuan when she spoke, clearly having given up all hope for this father. Liu Jingyuan was extremely embarrassed, lowered his head guiltily, and said softly, "Alright, this time it was indeed your sister's fault. I'll have her apologize to you."

"No, I don't want to! I don't want to apologize to her!" Liu Nianxi cried, grabbing Liu Jingyuan's arm. "Father, you're only making me apologize to her because of Prince Xiao, right? But I didn't do anything wrong!"

"Let go!" Liu Jingyuan said angrily. "Do you want me to pry the servants' mouths open? Stop causing trouble! Apologize to your sister right now!"

"No!" Liu Nianxi shook off Liu Jingyuan's arm, looking aggrieved. "Father, you're bullying me! I'm going to tell Auntie! I'll make Auntie stand up for me!"

Liu Nianxi lifted her skirt and tried to run away, but Liu Jingyuan grabbed her back and slapped her hard across the face. "I've really spoiled you! With your unruly nature, you'll cause a huge disaster sooner or later!"

"Father! You hit me!" Liu Nianxi covered her face, sobbing uncontrollably. "From childhood to adulthood, you've never laid a finger on me! It seems Aunt was right, now that my sister's back, you don't love me anymore!"

"How could I not love you? You've gone too far!" Liu Jingyuan said. "You've been occupying your sister's identity for years, you already owe her so much, how can you still bully her?"

"Who owes her anything? I don't!"

"You owe my young lady so much!" Ying'er interjected. "Not to mention anything else, how much of my young lady's dowry did Fourth Miss and Aunt Su embezzle! That was left to my young lady by the late Madam!"

"That was my mother's dowry! Mine! Why should it go to Liu Yuansheng!"

"Who knows who Fourth Miss's mother is? But the late Madam Bai Yinzhu was indeed my young lady's mother!" Ying'er argued forcefully. "You've embezzled nearly ninety percent of the late Madam's dowry! Do you think I'm clueless and know nothing?"

Xiao Jinghan smiled upon hearing this, "Your maidservant remembers things quite clearly."

Ying'er raised her head arrogantly, "Of course! My mother was the late Madam's personal maid. She knew more about the dowry the late Madam prepared for you than the late Madam did! And I know it too!"

Xiao Jinghan nodded and said with a smile to Liu Jingyuan, "Then please hand over what Madam Bai left for Liu Yuansheng. After all, Liu Yuansheng is already married, and it's really not right for her mother to leave her dowry in the Prime Minister's residence."

Liu Jingyuan rubbed his forehead, utterly exasperated. "What are you all standing there for?" he angrily ordered the servants. "Go and fetch Madam! Now!"

-

They arrived with only three carriages, but left with a full ten.

Xiao Jinghan even had several paintings by Weng Shiming tucked into his arms. Gazing at the bright sun on the horizon, he said contentedly, "This trip has been quite fruitful!"

Liu Yuansheng looked at the sedan chair bearers who were placing the sedan chair stools without saying a word.

Xiao Jinghan gathered the scroll in his arms, turned to Liu Yuansheng and said, "No wonder you're in such a hurry to get married. Your family home isn't as comfortable as being in the Ministry of Justice prison!"

Liu Yuansheng walked down the steps and stepped onto the sedan chair to get into the carriage.