Chapter Seventy-Six: Confrontation Face to Face

I did not! Xie Sixth Young Master denied it.

Old Lady Xue’s expression darkened. She looked at him with the distrustful stare one gives a criminal. “Then why did you go to the Third House? Why did you go to Fifth Young Lady’s courtyard? Don’t tell me you were simply wandering about for pleasure!”

He could hardly say he had gone looking for Xue Sixth Young Lady.

This was how it had happened: Xie Sixth Young Master had received a message from Xue Fifth Young Lady asking him to go to the Third House to find her, and that she would take him to look for Sixth Young Lady that night.

Why go at night, and what was to be done there at night? As a man who understood such matters, Xie Sixth Young Master naturally knew what Xue Fifth Young Lady meant.

He too was no innocent in the ways of women, and since he knew Xue Fifth Young Lady liked him and would never deceive him, he went at the appointed time.

Unexpectedly, he did not see Xue Fifth Young Lady. Instead, he was beaten and seized by several old women.

Now that he had calmed down and thought it over, he realized he had been set up by Xue Fifth Young Lady.

His back still ached from the blows, and recalling the humiliation from moments ago, he hated Xue Fifth Young Lady to the bone.

He raised his voice. “Since your Xue family has no decency, then I have nothing left to hide either. It was Xue Fifth Young Lady who asked me to go there. As for what for—she, a young girl, summoned me. Before I even saw her, who could know what she intended to do? But seeing how attentive she usually is toward me, what else could it have been but an invitation to fall into my arms?”

Second Madam Xie, as though she had grasped Old Lady Xue’s weak point, sneered. “So that’s how it is. I knew your Xue family was a nest of lechery; otherwise why else would one, two, three, four young masters all come running to your house? Shameless. You seduced my Sixth Young Master and then turned the tables on him, all because you wanted to marry into our family, is that it? I’ll tell you this now: not a chance. If you have the ability, call that Xue Fifth Young Lady over here and watch if I don’t tear into her. Shameless creature...”

If she were an outsider, Xue Fanzhi would have urged Old Lady Xue to summon Xue Fifth Young Lady and let her be scolded, just to avenge the previous life in which Xue Fifth Young Lady had murdered and then humiliated her own sisters. Unfortunately, she was also a daughter of the Xue family; she could not let a vulgar shrew like Second Madam Xie make a mockery of them.

Xue Fanzhi said sternly, “Grandmother, I do not believe Fifth Sister would be so foolish as to let a man into her own courtyard. I think it is Xie Sixth Young Master who has been caught red-handed and refuses to admit his fault, so he deliberately slanders Fifth Sister to lessen his own guilt. In plain words, he is trying to shift the blame. We ought to bring Fifth Sister here to confront him. There are so many girls in our family—we cannot let him ruin our reputation!”

Old Lady Xue naturally understood this reasoning, but was it really Xie Sixth Young Master who was slandering Fifth Young Lady?

For a moment she hesitated. The eldest house had only three girls, and she knew perfectly well what each of them was like. But the Third House was governed by that old matriarch, and she had never bothered to inquire much there. Fifth Young Lady had been raised by the old lady of the Third House, who prized profit above all else—could it be that Fifth Young Lady had really set her sights on the Xie family’s status and was trying to seduce Xie Sixth Young Master?

She wavered.

Second Madam Xie, having seized what she thought was the Xue family’s weakness, said in a tone of, I knew you wouldn’t dare, “Your family has done something utterly shameless and yet wants to pin it on my son. I will never let this matter rest today. Old Madam, you had best give me an explanation right now!”

Xie Sixth Young Master nodded. “That’s right. I cannot have been beaten for nothing. This matter absolutely cannot be let go.”

And if it cannot be let go, what are you offering, two coins?

Xue Fanzhi could not be bothered to watch the mother and son jumping up and down, and instead looked at Old Lady Xue with an anxious gaze.

The old lady naturally saw the hint in her granddaughter’s eyes. Suddenly, she thought of the Third House matriarch’s character and made up her mind at once, ordering the servants, “Go to the Third House and invite Fifth Young Lady here!”

Then she looked at Second Madam Xie and Xie Sixth Young Master. “No need to rush. Right and wrong must be made clear. Sixth Young Master, do you dare confront Fifth Young Lady face-to-face?”

Xie Sixth Young Master believed himself to be in the right and sneered. “Why would I not dare? Let her come!”

Old Lady Xue nodded. “Then let us speak of this properly!”

Before long, Xue Fifth Young Lady arrived. As expected, the old matriarch of the Third House, not knowing what great matter had occurred and only hearing that a licentious fellow had been caught in their courtyard, had followed her as well. Otherwise, how could she rest easy letting her precious granddaughter come alone?

When they reached the grand hall and saw Xie Sixth Young Master and Second Madam Xie, the old lady, shrewd as she was, immediately scented trouble. The lecherous fellow was likely Xie Sixth Young Master after all.

And Xie Sixth Young Master was now a legitimate son. If he had feelings for her granddaughter, perhaps the girl might yet marry into the Xie family.

At this point, she had not yet learned what kind of “mother-in-law” Second Madam Xie truly was, and still kept a rosy hope in her heart. Afraid the eldest house might offend others, she began at once, “What is this all about? Young Master Sixth is here as well. Why do you all look so displeased? Is there some misunderstanding?”

Then she looked to Second Madam Xie and asked, “When did Second Madam arrive? Why was no one sent to the Third House to inform us? We could have made preparations in advance and properly welcomed Second Madam.”

Moments ago Old Lady Xue had still been quite grim-faced, but now someone from the Xue family was speaking pleasantly. Second Madam Xie only felt more certain that something was amiss—that the Third House was trying to curry favor with the Xie family. Her confidence swelled, and her haughty bearing rose several feet higher. She sneered, “I can’t bear such hospitality. Your Xue family is a den of debauchery, and the Third House is an even greater den of debauchery. Who would dare go there? Once you go, you’ll end up coming to our house!”

Even if the old matriarch of the Third House had hopes of attaching herself to the powerful, those words were still hard to bear. Shame and anger rose together in her, and her voice turned cold. “I do not yet know the exact matter. I only meant to counsel everyone. You may be a wife of the Xie family, but you are still a junior. Is this how you speak to an old woman? I have truly seen the fine household discipline of the Xie family!”

“Don’t go putting on airs of seniority before me. What are you people worth? What have you got to do with my Xie family?” Second Madam Xie said rudely.

In truth, those words were not only for the old matriarch of the Third House, but also for Old Lady Xue.

Of course Old Lady Xue could hear the hidden barb, but she would not take up the challenge on her own.

As for the old matriarch of the Third House, though she liked to cling to the powerful, everyone present was a person of standing. In the past, even if she met someone who disliked her, no one had ever insulted her like this. Today, both her dignity and face had been trampled underfoot—where was a seventy-year-old woman supposed to put her old face?

She truly wanted to flare up, but at that moment she felt Xue Fifth Young Lady quietly poke her arm.

Then Fifth Young Lady lowered her voice. “Grandmother, that is Second Madam Xie!”

Her voice was soft, only enough for the old matriarch of the Third House herself to hear, but that was enough. In an instant, the old lady was jolted awake. Yes, that was a wife of the Xie family. There might be some misunderstanding between them. For now, they could not yet tear their faces apart. If the misunderstanding were resolved, perhaps they might even forge a favorable connection.

She swallowed the rebuke that had risen to her lips.

Xue Fifth Young Lady, taking advantage of the pause, looked toward Old Lady Xue and asked, “Great-Grandmother, why did you summon your granddaughter here? What is the matter?”

Why quarrel? Better to speak of the main point first.