Xie Wan again set up a banquet for Xie Liang's apprenticeship ceremony.

  Xie Lang heard that Cheng Yuan had rich experience and extraordinary insight, so he asked Wu Xing to prepare ten top-grade good wax meats, and another two jars of champion red as a gift. On that day, in the main hall, after formally going through the ceremony of paying respects to his teacher, Cheng Yuan reappeared in the mansion with the status of a western scholar.

  Xie Qigong also heard about this matter, although he had always respected Confucianism and Taoism. However, because he felt that nothing good would come out of the second house, and the person who came to ask for help wouldn't be anyone important, so he didn't ask much. He only asked Pang Fu a few questions about the daily life in the second house, then went to the backyard to see Deng Yiniang.

  Recently, Wang often indulged Xie Qigong, and sometimes even after observing his words and expressions, would urge him to spend the night in Deng Yiniang's room. Anyway, at Deng Yiniang's age, she couldn't have children to threaten her, so she wouldn't mind getting some benefits back at this time.

  Although her position has suffered an unprecedented impact because of Xie Wan, she is still the mistress of this mansion and must maintain a benevolent and virtuous appearance. Moreover, if she doesn't do so, Xie Qigong's heart will be even more impossible to return to her.

  Xie Qi was absent, Ren Huan had left, Zhang Fang shut the door and refused to come out, Wei Jiong and Xie Yu each hid in their own rooms to avoid suspicion, and the entire mansion presented an unprecedented tranquility.

  Xie Wan counted the days and felt that there should be news from the capital these two days. On this day, in the late afternoon, she was strolling in the front yard when she heard a commotion outside the second gate, followed by the sound of carriage wheels rolling on the ground one after another.

  Just about to go out and take a look, Wu Xing flew in quickly: "Miss, Third Master is back! He also brought Wei Gongzi's father, Wei Da Ren!"

  Xie Wan heard the words and stopped there. She even forgot to put down her left foot, which was raised in mid-air. She had originally thought that at most, they would send a trusted person to deliver a letter to show their intention, but she never expected that because of this matter, he would come in person, and still with Xie Rong together!

  "Shall we go and take a look?" asked Wu Xing.

  Xie Wan glanced at him, "What's with the look?" The mansion had a guest, and without waiting for permission, she ran out to take a peek. She wasn't exactly dissatisfied with her current life.

  However, even if you can't go out to see for yourself, it's not like there's no way to find out what's going on. When Wei Bin comes to the manor, the first thing he'll definitely do is go see Wei Cai. As long as you stick with Wei Cai, there won't be anything you don't know about. She thought for a moment and said: "You take some tea leaves in your brother's name and give them to Young Master Wei. If Young Master Wei doesn't let you come back, then don't come back."

  Wu Xing sent tea leaves to Xiaoxiang Academy as promised.

  Wei Zuo was in a hurry to go out and almost bumped into Wu Xing. When he heard that he had come to deliver tea leaves, he said without looking back: "Put it there. I'll thank him later!"

  Wu Xing put down the tea leaves and immediately followed him. Wei Cai saw this and couldn't help but feel surprised, but after thinking about it, he realized that Wu Xing was a member of the second house, suddenly running over to deliver a package of tea leaves at this time. He suspected that it wasn't Shuai Zhen's order, but rather Shuai Zhuo's. Regardless of whether it was or not, Shuai Zhuo had more ways of dealing with things than he did. At present, his father personally coming over didn't know if it was good luck or bad luck. Wu Xing followed him and would naturally pass on the message to Shuai Zhuo; in case something unexpected happened, she could also come over to save the situation.

  "Follow me and don't leave my side."

  Wu Xing was overjoyed and hastily followed him to the main hall.

  In the main hall, Xie Qigong and Xie Rongzheng sat on the upper right side, entertaining Wei Bin who had come from afar to drink tea.

  Wei Bin was slender in build. He had a pair of eight-shaped whiskers on his upper lip, and wore a sky-blue Changsha silk robe with a straight collar. Although he wasn't tall or large, wherever he went, people could feel an aura of dignity around him.

  "This is what happened. I, being small, did not dare to act alone and make decisions, so I wrote a letter to inform the adults. If there was any wrongdoing, I hope you will forgive me."

  Xie Qigong leaned forward slightly and said to Wei Bin.

  Wei Bin was silent for half a day. His face showed neither the arrogance of being in a high position, nor the embarrassment of being at fault due to Wei Xiao's actions. He simply sat there quietly, and after a long while, he spoke up: "My son has repeatedly disturbed your esteemed household, and I haven't even had a chance to thank you, Master Xie. Now that he's caused such a great calamity, I don't know where he is now."

  Xie Qigong said to Pang Fudao: "Quickly go and invite Master Wei."

  Pang Fu went out of the gate and turned back: "Wei Gongzi has been waiting outside for a long time."

  As he spoke, a man walked in from outside the door, it was Wei Jiao.

  Wei Bin's eyes fell on him, and suddenly turned cold.

  Wei Xiao shivered and stepped forward, bowing his head and calling out "Father".

  Wei Bin stood up and said calmly to Xie Qigong, "Since I've come over this time, I must give you an explanation, Lord Xie. For now, let me go back to my room and ask him in detail, then I'll come find the two of you again."

  Xie Rong hastily got up and said: "Your Excellency has had a hard journey, it's only right to rest well before discussing this matter further."

  After finishing speaking, he personally led the way in front, and a group of people went to the Xiangxiang Courtyard.

  He waited until everything was arranged and returned to the main house, where Xie Qigong was waiting at the door. Seeing him step inside, he hastily asked: "What's going on? Why did Lord Wei come over in person? What are the chances of success?"

  "You're too bold!"

  Pang Fu covered the door, and Xie Rong rushed to Xie Qigong with a stern face. "Wei Bin is a second-grade official of the current dynasty and a participant in the Ministry of Civil Affairs. How dare you do such a despicable thing and frame him! Do you know that if he just moves his finger, I will have to crawl out of the Hanlin Academy? If this matter were so easy, why would I wait until now?"

  Xie Qigong rarely saw him so angry, and for a moment he was at a loss for words. He said: "It's true that Wei Zhan and Yu Jie were together in the dark room, and it wasn't us who invited him to come. Even if we had some coercion, we can't be blamed entirely. No matter how powerful or influential he is, there are still laws of the imperial court. Can't Yu Jie just suffer a loss of reputation for nothing?"

  "Law?" Xie Rong sighed: "Father, don't you think that just because of this, Wei Bin will obey? In the capital city, there are so many young masters and brothers who should have been punished by law long ago. The emperor uses people based on their talent, as long as they are useful to the court, even if they occasionally do something wrong in private, it's usually just a light reprimand. Wei is a pillar of the imperial court, how can the law possibly restrain him?"

  Xie Qigong heard this and finally felt that the situation was becoming serious, "Then in your opinion, will Wei Jie be wronged this time?"

  Xie Rong's eyebrows furrowed as she stared at him, her lips pursed in silence.

  In the Xiangxiang courtyard, Wei Xiao knelt on the ground and recounted the events in a stumbling manner.

  "At the time, I was indeed afraid that Big Sister would not be safe, so I accompanied her into the teahouse. Who would have thought that she would harm me like this later? The child has said all that needs to be said, please punish me, Father."

  Wei Bin stood in front of him, holding a horse whip and fuming with rage: "You keep saying that the young lady harmed you, but I'd like to ask you, if you hadn't gone to that backyard, how could she have harmed you? A gentleman does not deceive those who are alone. You knew the young lady was alone here, and it's not right for a man and woman to be together in private. Yet you still dare to argue that you were afraid she wouldn't be safe so you accompanied her inside. Have all your classical books been read into the belly of a dog?!"

  As he spoke, a whip had already been lashed onto his body.

  Wei Xiao didn't dare to move, hanging his head and enduring the pain: "The child knows he's wrong! The child shouldn't have used this as an excuse to defend himself. In short, the child already knows he was wrong, I'm willing to apologize to the Xie family and Miss Xie, but marrying her is absolutely out of the question!"

  "Shut up!"

  Wei Bin cursed loudly, "You've brought this disaster upon yourself, and you still dare to negotiate with me! I personally raised you for over ten years, and I knew you were used to being spoiled by your sisters, but I didn't know you had such a despicable character! I feel sorry for that Miss Xie, how did she end up with a beast like you!"

  Having said that, another whip was cracked down.

  Wei Jiao was a bookish scholar who had never been subjected to such corporal punishment before, and even if he didn't dare move, he couldn't help but shrink his neck.

  Tianci Wu Xing and others saw from afar, even if they were heartbroken, there was nothing they could do.

  Wei Xiao clenched his teeth and raised his head, saying: "Father beats me and scolds me, I don't dare say anything, but the four words 'beginning to end' are unbearable. I have never had any private feelings for my elder sister, and I came to visit the Second Young Master of Xie's family because we hit it off, that's why I came to pay a visit.

  "This time, the matter has been thoroughly investigated by San'er, and it was actually the second daughter who designed to harm me, which is why this happened. Even if I have made mistakes, I shouldn't be blamed for seducing a good woman. Moreover, I still don't know whether the first and second daughters are in cahoots with each other, but Father only scolds me, which is unfair."

  Wei Bin gritted his teeth and pointed at him with a whip: "What kind of person is this little three in your mouth?"

  Wei Xiao paused and said in a low voice: "It's their third daughter."

  Wei Bin was even more furious upon hearing this: "You still have the face to say that I am unfair! Look at what you've done! The three Xie sisters, each and every one of them has been entangled with you! You'd better confess honestly, what exactly did you do to them?! What sweet words did you use to get them to help you?! If you don't spit it out today, I'll break your legs, and from now on, don't even think about setting foot in the Wei estate again!"

  "Dad!"

  Wei Jiong sadly raised his face: "I may be unworthy, but Xiao San'er is not that kind of person!"

  Wei Bin's face turned red with rage, and the horse whip pointed at his nose: "What a good person! Then I'll ask you, as the successor of the Xie family, she helped an outsider like you expose her own sister's ugliness. What benefit does she get from this? Moreover, you said they have no parents, it can be seen that they need to rely on the Xie family to survive. Such a person, how can you still trust her so much!"

  "Wei Xiao gritted his teeth and said, 'Xiao San is so clever and capable, why would she need to rely on others for a living? She's helping me out of justice!'"

  "Shut up!"

  Wei Bin let out a loud roar, and the room immediately fell silent.

  Wu Xing could no longer bear it outside the door, shot a glare at Wei Bin who had his back to the entrance, and turned around to return to Yi Feng Yuan.

  ps: Thank you feifiguan for the sachet, thank you dandanbaby for the wealth pot~~~Thank you aitingaaa, lanlexin, yange sh for the peace symbol~~~Thank you miejin, biyer77, huanxiangziyouyun, xiaohanweiyu for the pink ticket~~~~Thanks to all of you, love you all~~~