What Shen Qingrang had feared most since childhood wasn’t the once majestic and imposing Duke Yingguo, nor was it those playmates and elder brothers who were more formidable than him. It was this father before him who always maintained the bearing of a stern patriarch.

He bit his teeth, feeling his upper and lower teeth grinding together. The pain made his teeth ache sourly. Hearing his mother’s obviously pointed words, he hesitated for a moment.

If he didn’t give a reason for today’s matter, with Shen Xiaohai’s personality, he really might beat him half to death in front of all these people to vent their anger…

But he hesitated, unable to make a decision.

Just at this moment, Chunmei, the senior maid beside Lady He, carefully entered and softly said something in her ear. Lady He’s eyes immediately lit up, and her just-defeated complexion looked much better.

“Master!” She glanced at Madam Cui and Great Aunt, only feeling her heart let out a heavy sigh of relief. A smile returned to her face: “I was just saying how could Rang’er have such audacity. As it turns out, this foolish child is actually taking the blame for someone else.”

Shen Xiaohai suspected she was about to cause more trouble, and feared even more that she would push this black pot onto Shen Qingyun’s back. He glared at her in warning.

But Lady He didn’t care. Now that the huge weight had lifted from her heart, her mind began racing again. She pulled Madam Cui and Great Aunt, speaking from the heart: “Both elder sisters, it’s truly not that I’m making excuses for my worthless son. The fact is, this matter definitely has other hidden circumstances. I’m afraid we’ll need to summon one more lady before we can investigate this matter thoroughly.”

“Mother!” Shen Qingrang suddenly spoke at this moment, looking both angry and anxious at Chunmei beside Lady He. Then he shifted his gaze to Song Chuyi, his eyes full of disgust. He bit his teeth and looked at Lady He: “This matter was done by me! This girl follows me around every day like a tail. I found it annoying and just wanted to teach her a lesson!”

What kind of “just a lesson” was this? Who knew what exactly was at Xianyue Garden? That was Shen Qingyun’s residence. If Shen Qingyun had any peculiar habits or if Song Chuyi had witnessed something, would Song Chuyi still have any prospects in the future?!

“Shut up!” This time Lady He was even more agitated than Shen Xiaohai. She reached out and slapped the precious son she usually couldn’t bear to touch even with a finger: “You worthless thing!”

Shen Qingrang wanted to be this hero, to save the beauty heroically, but she as his mother absolutely would not agree!

Lady He took a deep breath and pointed at him, scolding: “You think you can hide this from anyone?! Just now, the servant beside the Li family girl came to inquire with your servant!”

The Li family?!

Great Aunt, who had been unable to resist wanting to speak earlier, finally exclaimed in astonishment: “Could it be that this matter actually has something to do with the Li family?!”

How could every bad thing be connected to the Li family! Great Aunt cursed inwardly about the bad luck, her expression becoming even more unsightly.

Song Chuyi was somewhat surprised as she glanced at Shen Qingrang. She also knew Shen Qingrang couldn’t possibly have thought up such a detailed and thorough scheme by himself, but those two girls from the Li family…

In her previous life, she had also interacted frequently with those two girls from the Li family. Because the Li family’s Great Aunt didn’t regard Li Shi and Song Chuning favorably, they both had distant relationships with Song Chuning as well. Their usual relationship wasn’t even as good as hers, a cousin without blood relation. Why would they do such a thing that harmed others without benefiting themselves at such an important occasion?

Moreover, with just the two of them, they simply didn’t have the ability to design such a scheme in Duke Yingguo’s estate, much less could they make Shen Qingrang obey their every word.

But it absolutely couldn’t be Song Chuning’s doing either. She was currently on the run. Even if she had tremendous capabilities, she couldn’t reach this far now…

Shen Qingrang was already shouting anxiously: “It has nothing to do with the Li family sisters! I was the mastermind!”

“No matter what, we will definitely give your esteemed estate an explanation regarding this matter.” Shen Xiaohai glared at Shen Qingrang, and Shen Qingrang backed down, resentfully not daring to speak again.

“Even if this matter wasn’t masterminded by this stubborn thing, it’s inseparable from him.” Shen Xiaohai reached out to stop the anxious Lady He who wanted to interject, saying in a deep voice: “Bring the family punishment rod and beat him severely! Beat him until he knows how to distinguish right from wrong, until he knows his error! If he remains obstinately unrepentant, just beat him to death!”

Madam Cui only watched coldly from the sidelines. Only when she saw four servants indeed enter and press Shen Qingrang to the ground for a severe beating did her face show a trace of emotion—Shen Xiaohai truly was someone who could be ruthless.

“Madam!” Another servant woman hurried in. Looking at Shen Qingrang in alarm, she turned back to Lady He and said: “The Li family’s Great Aunt requests an audience.”

“Let her in!” Lady He could no longer muster any thoughts of covering up for her. She shouted quickly, then looked pleadingly at Shen Xiaohai: “Master, you can’t beat him anymore. If you continue beating…”

It really was related to the Li family!

Madam Cui looked at the Li family’s Great Aunt who had just entered the door with a half-smile, gripping Song Chuyi’s hand tightly.

But the Li family’s Great Aunt didn’t dare meet Madam Cui’s gaze at all. Looking somewhat awkwardly and uncomfortably at Shen Qingrang who was being beaten so badly he couldn’t even cry out, she stepped forward to greet everyone.

Lady He snorted heavily, reached up to wipe away the tears at the corner of her eyes, turned her head to avoid her greeting, and said with a cold laugh: “We don’t deserve such courtesy! Madam Li, why don’t you explain the purpose of this visit instead.”

The Li family’s Great Aunt felt even more embarrassed, but the matter had already occurred. No matter how uncomfortable she felt, she could only steel herself and say: “It’s all my two girls causing trouble. They actually came up with some scheme to ‘lure the prey into the trap,’ saying they wanted to play a trick on Miss Song the Sixth. This is all due to my lax household management…”

“Years ago, when the young lady of the Marquis of Dingyuan’s household caused trouble and pushed her clan sister into the lake, they also said it was just playing around between sisters…” Madam Cui suddenly spoke: “As for what happened afterward, I don’t need to say it—everyone should know the result, right? We noble and prestigious families—our every word and action represents the family’s reputation. There has never been any talk of ‘joking’ or ‘not joking.'”

Later, a censor submitted a memorial accusing the Marquis of Dingyuan’s household of lax family management and unstable inner quarters. It also implicated the Marquis of Dingyuan’s wife in improper wealth accumulation, and the Marquis of Dingyuan was demoted in rank…

The Li family’s Great Aunt’s face turned completely white. Their Li family already had unfinished old accounts with Li Shi and Old Madam Li. At this moment, if Madam Cui brought up old matters again, or reported this to the Empress…

“Princess, you speak correctly.” The Li family’s Great Aunt steeled her heart. Biting her lip until blood was about to be drawn, she said: “Those two have no sense of propriety and were ignorant and rash. They nearly caused a grave error and should go to the family temple to properly reflect on their mistakes. When I return home, I will immediately inform the parents and proceed with this.”