Ruyi poked her head out and smiled brilliantly at her: “Long time no see, Lady He.”

The moment she saw this face, Wen Zhenxue was reminded of the source of her current predicament, and her face turned even paler: “Why are you here? I didn’t send you an invitation.”

“This is a friend of mine.” Shen Qiyuan spoke up. “If she has offended in any way, please forgive her.”

With these words, how could Wen Zhenxue dare question anything further? He Zeyou, hurriedly said: “Please come inside, please come inside.”

Shen Qiyuan nodded and went to the banquet seats while Ruyi followed behind him, deliberately slowing her pace by two steps: “Lady He, today’s banquet seems rather meager. Why didn’t you come to me to cater it? For the sake of being an old customer, I could even give you a discount.”

Wen Zhenxue clenched her fists and glared at her, but after glaring for only a moment, tears appeared in her eyes first: “You came to mock me, didn’t you? Seeing me like this now makes you very happy, doesn’t it?”

Not expecting her to suddenly burst into tears, Ruyi blinked and took half a step back: “That’s unfair – I don’t even know what’s happened in your manor. How can I be happy about something I don’t know? Why don’t you explain it first?”

“Zhenxue.” He Zeyou scolded you with a stern face.

The scolding only made things worse. No longer wanting to endure it, Wen Zhenxue pushed him away and ran crying toward the back courtyard.

“Ruyi.” Shen Qiyuan stopped and frowned. “What are you following her for?”

Ruyi felt very helpless.

Did she want to follow? It was Wen Zhenxue who was dragging her along. For someone who looked quite frail, how could she have such strength?

“I’ll be back in a moment.” She gestured to Shen Qiyuan, then stumbled along as she was dragged through the moon gate into the back courtyard.

“Don’t worry, Lord Shen.” He Zeyou said awkwardly. “My wife has been ill for a long time and lacks strength – she won’t hurt Miss Liu.”

It wasn’t that he was worried about this, since there weren’t many people in all of Lin’an City who could hurt her. It was just that this banquet was already boring, and without her here, how would he endure it?

Shen Qiyuan flicked his sleeves and sat down at the banquet table with evident displeasure.

Meanwhile, Ruyi had been dragged into the lush back garden. As soon as they entered, Wen Zhenxue released her hand and glared at her fiercely with almond-shaped eyes: “From the moment I entered the marquis’ manor, you’ve been hoping I’d fall from favor, hoping I’d be in a sorry state, hoping I wouldn’t have good days, haven’t you?”

“Madam overthinks it.” She said. “I don’t have that kind of idle time.”

This was the truth, but Wen Zhenxue didn’t believe it, saying through gritted teeth: “Now everything is as you wished. Come on, mock me!”

Seeing her frantic appearance, Ruyi did find it rather amusing.

She brushed off the artificial mountain stone behind her and sat sideways on it: “Previously, when you two were at the inn, taking turns telling me to fulfill your wishes, weren’t you desperately in love and unable to control your feelings? Yet you still fell from favor.”

“He was already deceiving me then!” Wen Zhenxue wailed loudly. “Otherwise, how could an eldest son who has just given birth appear in just half a year?”

Ruyi clicked her tongue. So today’s banquet was to celebrate the addition of a son? Wen Zhenxue had only been married for half a year, yet the eldest son had already been born, meaning that when she was seducing He Zeyou, he was still keeping another woman outside.

She couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

Wen Zhenxue’s crying stopped abruptly, and she looked up in disbelief: “Don’t you have any compassion? I’m like this, and you can still laugh?”

“Miss Wen, you were the one who forcibly stole He Zeyou from me. When I was crying, weren’t you laughing too? Just because you’re taking the initiative to show weakness now, should I sympathize with you?” Ruyi was even more incredulous. “Do I look that kind?”

Wen Zhenxue choked up, then her sobbing became even louder.

She and Liu Ruyi were good sisters with similar backgrounds who were arranging marriages at the same time. But why should Liu Ruyi be able to shamelessly hook up with Ningyuan Marquis while she had to marry down to Huizhou? Since marriage prospects could be fought for, what was wrong with her fighting for them?

Ruyi had intended to watch coldly from the sidelines, but for some reason, hearing the crying made her chest feel somewhat blocked – not her chest, but perhaps the original owner’s chest.

She frowned and tentatively spoke: “The fact that you could seduce He Zeyou, who had been involved with me for four years, proves he’s a beast born of a bitch. If he could abandon me to choose you, naturally, he could abandon you to choose someone else. Is this logic hard to understand?”

Wen Zhenxue wiped her face: “I’m the legitimate wife of his marquis’ manor. He wants to abandon me? Impossible! He still needs to rely on my father to establish himself at court.”

“Then what do you have to cry about?”

Not mentioning it would have been fine, but once said, Wen Zhenxue’s tears came down again: “His mother is a cruel creature who constantly thinks of ways to use my dowry. Today she wants to visit Baozhai Hall, tomorrow she wants to see Ninxiang Garden. If I don’t give it to her, she makes snide remarks, saying I’m not as generous as you. The little slut in the side courtyard relies on having given birth to the eldest son and eats shark fin and bird’s nest every day, all using my silver, and the marquis doesn’t care.”

He would like to care, but with what? Ruyi snorted with laughter: “Previously, when he was spending my silver, you enjoyed the benefits. Now it’s just tit for tat.”

“I knew you often sent things to the marquis’ manor, but I didn’t know everything here was bought with your money.” Wen Zhenxue sobbed intermittently. “When he married me, he sold all the family property and generously gave me eight thousand taels to arrange the banquet. I was so pleased at the time, thinking he was wealthy. But only after the banquet ended did I discover that it was the last money in the manor. When you extorted those eight thousand taels from me, I had to supplement it with my dowry and still owed some debts.”

As she spoke, she was about to burst into tears again.

Ruyi crossed her arms: “From what you’re saying, you have a request of me?”

Closing her mouth that was about to wail, Wen Zhenxue blinked at her, rarely showing the obedient appearance of the good sister from before: “Sister, you and I are friends of many years. Can you bear to see me living such difficult days?”

“I can bear it.” Ruyi nodded without hesitation. “If villains who receive their comeuppance still get sympathy, that would be too unfair to the good people who suffer.”

Not expecting her to be so cold-blooded, Wen Zhenxue was momentarily speechless, her brow slowly furrowing: “Setting everything else aside, the eight thousand taels from the banquet was something you extorted from me. Don’t you plan to return it?”

“Lady He, think carefully – was that extortion?” Ruyi raised her eyebrows. “That was the price you had to pay for insulting me.”

“How can there be such an expensive price – eight thousand taels!” Wen Zhenxue became anxious.

Looking at her seriously, Ruyi nodded: “I was born precious. Eight thousand taels is a lot to you, but to me, it only barely balanced my resentment. Just like that, sisterhood of many years – to you it wasn’t worth as much as a beast, but to me it was already my greatest support.”

As soon as the words fell, she felt her heart clench, followed by thick resentment spreading from her chest cavity.