The next day, Li Weiyang went as usual to pay respects to the Old Madam, but who knew that halfway there, she would be stopped by someone.

“Isn’t this Third Cousin?” A voice rang out from the pavilion.

Bai Zhi first saw those young ladies walking over and couldn’t help but tense up.

Li Weiyang followed the line of sight and saw several young ladies striding toward them. The tall-figured woman walking at the very front was precisely Gao Min, whom she had just met yesterday. Gao Min’s eyes narrowed slightly: “Li Weiyang!”

Gao Min was the legitimate daughter of the Duchess of Weiguo and the Marquis of Bochang. Her status was noble, and she was proficient in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. In the capital, her reputation was very prominent. Yesterday she had suffered a loss at Li Weiyang’s hands, and today she couldn’t wait to come looking for her.

“Li Weiyang, did you have enough fun yesterday!” Gao Min was tall in stature, a month older than even Li Changle. At this moment, she looked down at Li Weiyang from her superior position.

“I don’t know what Cousin Min means by this.” Li Weiyang paid no heed and said indifferently.

This girl was truly arrogant. A trace of anger flashed through Gao Min’s eyes.

“Since you know I’m your elder cousin, why don’t you pay respects when you see me?” Gao Min’s willow-leaf eyebrows stood slightly on end as she shouted in a deep voice.

Li Weiyang smiled faintly: “Weiyang grew up in the countryside and doesn’t understand etiquette. I’ve made Cousin Min laugh.” Having finished speaking, her gaze looked toward Li Changle standing to the side. Seeing her expression calm and unruffled, she knew it must have been her instigating Gao Min from behind to come make trouble for herself.

Gao Min sneered: “Still not kneeling down to admit your fault!”

Her attitude was haughty and aggressive, making Bai Zhi’s eyes nearly red with anger.

Li Weiyang looked at Gao Min, her face carrying a trace of coldness. Gao Min considered herself of noble birth and trampled on others like ants at will. Such a person was truly detestable to the extreme: “Weiyang doesn’t know what fault I have?”

“You are after all a Chancellor’s daughter, a young lady of a noble house. You should properly cultivate your character and nature. Yet you actually allowed your servants to commit violence, and then stubbornly made excuses. If I announce your evil deeds to everyone in the entire capital, in the future you can forget about getting married!”

Gao Min’s words were viciously intentioned. Li Changle’s brow and eyes were calm, as if she hadn’t heard. Li Changxi listened from the side, the corners of her mouth slightly smiling. Whether it was eldest sister Li Changle or third sister Li Weiyang who suffered misfortune, she was happy either way. Only Li Changxiao, though she didn’t speak, revealed a worried expression.

“So I was wrong…” Li Weiyang looked at her, seemingly talking to herself.

“Of course you were wrong! And outrageously so!” Gao Min slightly raised her chin, looking down at her from above, saying: “If you kneel down and admit your fault now, I can still consider forgiving you. Otherwise, if yesterday’s matter spreads, you’ll have no place left to stay!”

Li Weiyang suddenly sneered coldly.

This laugh came suddenly, containing several parts full mockery. Gao Min froze.

“Kneel down and admit fault?” Li Weiyang suddenly stepped forward, looking directly at Gao Min.

“You want to publicize yesterday’s matter? Then do I need to tell everyone that your second brother is nothing but a lustful demon—a fool who tried to steal fragrance and jade but got beaten viciously!”

“Or should I tell others that it was my eldest sister Li Changle who secretly arranged a tryst with your second brother, but was discovered by my poor third brother, and the two of them actually joined forces to beat third brother until his head was bloody, intending to silence him permanently!”

“Cousin Min, I’m merely a small concubine-born daughter. Tell me, will the people of the capital be interested in my unreasonable willfulness, or in the romantic affairs of the renowned eldest daughter of the Chancellor’s residence! If you spread this matter, will you ruin me, or will you ruin your most beloved eldest cousin!”

This string of words, one sentence after another without pause, came smashing down. Gao Min, who had originally been imposingly aggressive, immediately had her complexion change drastically and couldn’t help but retreat a step backward.

Li Changle’s face turned pale, and as for the others, they had long been scared silly. They had never seen Li Weiyang’s aggressively pressing manner.

Gao Min blurted out: “How dare you? How dare you?”

Li Weiyang stood there coldly, staring at them: “What wouldn’t I dare!” She flicked her sleeve and said word by word: “You find me annoying, and I also look down on you. Since we mutually disgust each other, please, Cousin Min, when you encounter me from now on, keep three feet away.” Having finished speaking, she turned to leave.

“Li Weiyang!” Gao Min shouted angrily. “You ill-mannered thing! Watch me go tell…”

“Tell my father?” Li Weiyang whirled around, her eyes shooting out rays of cold light, completely unlike a delicate thirteen-year-old girl: “Go ahead. I think he should be grateful to Cousin Min for being a busybody and disciplining his daughter for him! As for what you said last time, I think Father hasn’t forgotten yet!”

Gao Min trembled with anger, her complexion alternating between green and white. Looking at Li Weiyang, she actually couldn’t say a single word.

Li Changle had originally wanted to use the domineering and willful Gao Min to deal with Li Weiyang. Seeing this scene, she had no choice but to forcibly suppress her anger and say gently: “Cousin Min, my third sister grew up in the countryside and is young in age. She still doesn’t understand things. If there’s anything that has offended you, please be more forgiving.”

Hearing these words, Li Changxi sneered and said: “Third Sister, staying too long with those country bumpkins will only make you increasingly crude, ignorant, and base. You’d better go back and read more books, lest in the future you have difficulty entering elegant halls and instead cause us to be laughed at along with you.”

Li Changxiao bit her lip, wanting to say a word on Li Weiyang’s behalf, but ultimately hesitated and stopped.

“Oh? You’re embarrassed by me?” Li Weiyang’s gaze was like burning ice and fire: “Eldest Sister, Fifth Sister, every year on your birthdays, Father exhausts all efforts to prepare gifts for you. Those silks beautiful as morning clouds are made by ignorant silkworm women who toil day and night, nearly going blind to rush them out. Those luxurious and magnificent bear furs are caught by crude hunters who lie in ambush for days and nights in the bitter cold and heavy snow. Those priceless tears of the merfolk are gathered by base pearl divers who risk their lives diving into the sea. Everything you eat, drink, wear, and use daily—which one doesn’t come from those crude and base people you look down upon? Taking from the people, yet still speaking nothing but insults—who exactly is crude, ignorant, and base!”

Everyone who heard these words was stunned. Seeing Li Weiyang’s delicate face that inexplicably revealed a stock of cold, sinister aura in her smile, they were even more shocked and didn’t know how to react.

Li Changxi, seeing Li Changle in an awkward position, hurriedly said: “Eldest Sister, don’t bother arguing with her! Let’s go!”

“Yes, you all such noble people should not bother with a crude and ignorant woman like me. When porcelain collides with rubble, who knows which will shatter!” Li Weiyang sneered inwardly. Reborn in this life, she absolutely would not swallow her anger, nor would she talk to them about seniority and hierarchy. If they came looking to be scolded, she wouldn’t be polite!

“Hahahaha!” Suddenly, a man’s clear, bright laughter came from behind the artificial mountain.

Everyone was immediately startled and saw two young gentlemen walking over gracefully. The one walking in front wore a bamboo-green long robe embroidered with ink-wash wind and lotus in gold thread, with a silver fox fur cloak draped outside. His jet-black hair was bound with a jade crown. His features were extremely handsome and refined—actually a beautiful youth whose face rivaled a woman’s, elegant and unrestrained. Li Changxi, seeing him, hurriedly said smilingly: “Eldest Brother, you’ve returned!”

Li Minfeng smiled: “Let’s not talk about that first. Quickly come meet the Third Prince.” Before his words had finished, a tall and handsome young man in brocade robes and sable fur walked out quietly and unhurriedly.

Everyone was stunned…