In another carriage, Lü Songyuan and Guo Xinyue sat facing each other.
Guo Xinyue tightly clutched her clothes with both hands and didn't dare to raise her head at all.
Lü Songyuan had remained silent all this time, but she had sent all her maids out. Clearly, she had something to say.
Guo Xinyue thought to herself that since she had made Lü Songyuan lose so much face today, how could Lü Songyuan forgive her?
Although the situation on the scene had changed rapidly today, Xiao Jingnan had stepped forward to relieve their predicament and even vaguely promised that he would never tell anyone about this...
However, in the end, he and Lü Songyuan had stood at the door and chatted for quite a while. Who knew what they had talked about?
She had clashed with Li Wanming at Lady Li's birthday banquet before, and then made things difficult for her at the flower - viewing banquet hosted by Princess Chengping. Today, she had even been the instigator of this incident. How could Xiao Jingnan let her go?
Would he tell Lü Songyuan to help get rid of her as a condition for "making friends" today?
If so, with the power of the Lü family, it would be very easy to deal with her.
The more Guo Xinyue thought about it, the more panicked she became. Big beads of sweat dripped from her forehead, but she didn't dare to wipe them off.
Her face was deathly pale, and she couldn't help but tremble slightly.
After a long time, Lü Songyuan spoke up, "Miss Guo, where did you get the news that Li Wanming didn't have the wine - license? Was it that Miss Sun Miaoqing who told you?"
"Yes... yes..."
Guo Xinyue's mind stirred, and she quickly calculated.
Lü Songyuan didn't come to blame her but instead asked about Sun Miaoqing...
Moreover, judging from her tone, she seemed calm and didn't seem to be planning to make things difficult for her.
Then, why didn't she just take advantage of the situation and shift the whole thing onto Sun Miaoqing?
Anyway, Lü Songyuan was unlikely to go and verify with Sun Miaoqing.
Wasn't the truth just up to her words?
In this way, she could claim that she had also been deceived by Sun Miaoqing and was a victim of this incident, extremely innocent.
Having figured this out, Guo Xinyue calmed down a lot and said,
"Sun Miaoqing is my elder brother's newly - married wife... She is related to the Li family and is Li Wanming's cousin."
"Before Li Wanming got married, she often bullied Sun Miaoqing because she was the daughter of a general. So Sun Miaoqing has always secretly resented Li Wanming... It was also she who told me about the wine - license this time, hoping that I could take the opportunity to teach Li Wanming a lesson."
"I knew that the Li family was a fourth - rank general's family, and Li Wanming's husband's family was supported by the Cheng family of Langya and Princess Chengping. I was afraid that as a mere young girl from a boudoir, I couldn't do anything to her... That's why I went to ask Miss Lü for help."
Suddenly, tears welled up in her eyes, and her expression was extremely anxious and mournful.
"Miss Lü, Sun Miaoqing is Li Wanming's cousin and has lived in the Li family for many years. I really didn't know that she would give me false information... Miss Lü, you must believe me. I really didn't know!"
Lü Songyuan looked at her quietly, raising her eyebrows slightly. "Your sister - in - law? When did Young Master Guo get married? Why haven't I heard about it?"
Guo Xinyue's eyes flickered, and she said, "Sun's father is a sixth - rank official, from a small family. My father said that we didn't need to make a big deal out of it, so as not to seem like we were bullying others with our power and to avoid embarrassing the Sun family..."
"Oh?"
Lü Songyuan gave a soft laugh. "Lord Guo is really considerate."
The matter between Guo Ziyan and Princess Danyang was no secret among the nobles.
The Guo family had clearly tricked that girl into their family but was afraid of offending the princess. So they had held the wedding in a low - key manner. They just refused to admit it and still had to sound so high - minded. It was really hypocritical!
"According to what you said, Miss Guo, it was your new sister - in - law who made the two of us lose face?"
"Yes..."
Guo Xinyue lowered her head and didn't dare to look at her.
"I really didn't expect that although my sister - in - law seems smart, she is actually so stupid. She didn't even find out clearly about the wine - license and just rushed to tell me the news..."
"Really?"
Lü Songyuan said indifferently, "I don't think so."
"You also said that Sun Miaoqing and Li Wanming are cousins. How do you know that it wasn't the two of them colluding to stage a play and deliberately lure us into the trap?"
"You mean..."
Guo Xinyue suddenly raised her head. "Did Sun Miaoqing deliberately deceive me? In fact, she and Li Wanming had colluded long ago. After I told them about the wine shop, they let Li Wanming take the opportunity to bite me back?"
"Yes," Lü Songyuan said meaningfully. "Think about it. When we went to the general's mansion and mentioned the wine - license today, was Li Wanming flustered?"
Without waiting for Guo Xinyue to speak, she continued,
"No, she wasn't at all!"
"She looked so relaxed, as if she had known we were coming."
"And the last few words she said, according to the laws of our dynasty, those who slander others and damage their reputations will be beaten with thirty strokes and exiled for one year... It's obvious that she had been well - prepared!"
A cold light flashed in Lü Songyuan's eyes. "If you hadn't found me, and if her husband hadn't asked something of me in the end... If you had exposed this matter, think about it. Could you escape the charge of slander?"
These words made Guo Xinyue break out in a cold sweat.
Yes, she had always thought that Sun Miaoqing was stupid and had looked down on her.
But who could guarantee that she wasn't just playing dumb to catch others off guard?
Now that she thought about it, Sun Miaoqing was able to marry into their Guo family entirely because of her relationship with the Li family. What good would it do her to have such a bad relationship with Li Wanming?
Thinking of this, a surge of anger welled up in Guo Xinyue's heart.
That bitch Sun Miaoqing actually dared to play tricks on her!
Lü Songyuan saw her expression and knew that her goal had been achieved.
She didn't know Sun Miaoqing, but this incident had started because of her, and she didn't want to let her go!
It was a pity that the other party was the newly - married daughter - in - law of Guo Wei, the minister of the Ministry of Personnel. She didn't dare to alarm her father because of this matter, so she could only use Guo Xinyue's hand to teach that stupid woman a lesson!
In fact, she also knew in her heart that this matter might not have been initiated by Sun Miaoqing. Guo Xinyue was more likely to be the main instigator.
But she just wanted to stir up the internal strife between the sister - in - law and the younger sister - in - law!
No matter who had started this matter, it was inseparable from the two of them.
And she had suffered such a big setback today. She had to vent her anger!
Since she had reached an agreement with Xiao Jingnan and couldn't touch Li Wanming, then let this pair of sister - in - law and younger sister - in - law from the Guo family bear her anger.
Thinking of this, Lü Songyuan decided to add fuel to the fire.
She let out a soft sigh and said, "It's a pity that Young Master Guo is newly married. I imagine he is very much in love with his new wife. If you, his younger sister, have been wronged, he may not necessarily side with you."
Guo Xinyue sneered. "Newly married and in love? Miss Lü, you don't need to worry. Since this is in our Guo family, I naturally have a way to get justice for myself!"
Since getting married, her elder brother had hardly been at home every day and had never touched Sun Miaoqing!
Where was there any so - called newly - married bliss?
That bitch still pretended to be extremely innocent every day and went to cry to their mother about her grievances.
If it weren't for the fact that the matter behind her elder brother was really hard to talk about, their mother would have been too lazy to perfunctory her!
Humph, now that that bitch actually dared to play tricks on her, she would surely let her know her methods!