Xue Yusong immediately let out a sneer. "I wouldn't dare. My father would never beat me for no reason. But Uncle, only a kind father can expect filial piety from his son. Since you're not kind, why force your younger son to be filial to you? Look at your build. Not to mention my younger brother who's in the army, even I'm afraid of touching you. For my brother to endure your beating without fighting back, that's his filial piety."
Xue Yuxuan was no match for Xue Yusong in terms of eloquence, and he was also no match for Marquis Xue in terms of martial arts. Naturally, he didn't dare to beat Xue Yuxi who was kneeling on the ground. So he just turned around, looked at Concubine Bai, and slapped her across the face. "You slut! If it weren't for your promiscuity, how could such a thing have happened? Is it true that Yuxi is doing this rebellious thing because I've hit the nail on the head? Is he not my son but the son of that adulterer, Liang Hong?"
Xue Yuhan quickly stepped forward to block the blow for her mother, but was knocked to the ground by Xue Yuxuan. The official from the Ministry of Justice quickly shouted and protected Xue Yuhan and Concubine Bai behind them.
Xue Yuxin sneered. "Uncle is really funny. Concubine Bai never even steps out of the courtyard in the Marquis Mansion."
Xue Yuxuan could only glare at her with his eyes and said angrily, "That was in the Marquis Mansion. You don't know what happened here. How can you be so sure that she didn't go out to meet her lover?"
Concubine Bai shook her head desperately. "I didn't, I never went out. Madam, you know that I've reported everything to you."
Lady Xiao was humiliated by her elder sister-in-law from her natal family and was in a fit of anger. How could she admit it? She just shook her head and said, "She may not have done it openly. This mansion is small and not well-guarded. Who knows if she did it secretly?"
Xue Yuxin laughed again. "Exactly! Such a thing would never happen in our family. It's just that Second Aunt is not good at managing the household that such a mistake occurred. But then again, Yuhan and Yuxi were born in the Marquis Mansion. If they're not Uncle's children, then whose are they?"
Just then, they heard the sound of horses galloping from behind.
Everyone turned around and saw a tall and imposing man on a horse. He was very skilled in horsemanship and reached them in a moment. He stared fixedly at the weak woman kneeling on the ground.
General Liang said nothing. He picked up Concubine Bai from the ground and turned to leave.
Concubine Bai was greatly frightened. She didn't recognize the man in front of her and shouted repeatedly, "Who are you? Second Miss, Young Master, please save me."
Xue Yuxuan was furious to see General Liang abducting his concubine right in front of him. He pointed at General Liang and shouted, "Liang Hong, stop right now!"
General Liang didn't seem to feel any pain even though Concubine Bai was hitting and biting him. He just looked back coldly at Xue Yuxuan, freed one hand, and stepped forward to grab Xue Yuxuan.
The onlookers were originally just listening to the secrets of the mansion, not knowing who was right and who was wrong. They just regarded it as a fun thing to listen to. Many people were pointing fingers, thinking that the woman must be promiscuous. Maybe the two children were really not the children of this family.
However, now that the "adulterer" had appeared, the onlookers looked at the extremely powerful "adulterer", then at the gentle and weak young man kneeling on the ground, and then at the adult of this family. Clearly, the young man looked exactly like the adult, but there was not the slightest bit of resemblance to the "adulterer".
At this moment, Xue Yuxuan didn't look the least bit arrogant. Seeing General Liang coming menacingly, with his thick arm almost thicker than his waist, if he were to come up and pinch him, wouldn't he be immediately strangled to death?
However, just as Liang Hong's hand was about to touch Xue Yuxuan, it was blocked by a young girl.
There were tears in Xue Yuhan's eyes. She was very scared when she saw this powerful man and stammered, "Y-you don't do anything. P-please put my aunt down first."
Liang Hong looked at the appearance of the young girl in front of him and understood her identity immediately from her words. Immediately, the hostility all over his body dissipated a lot, and his tone was also very gentle. "Don't be afraid. I won't hurt her."
Xue Yuxuan hid behind his daughter and poked his head out to shout, "Look, look at him. He dares to do such a thing in public. Who knows what he has done with my concubine in private..."
Before he could finish his words, Liang Hong had already put Concubine Bai down. He reached out to push Xue Yuhan aside and slapped Xue Yuxuan. Xue Yuxuan couldn't withstand this slap at all. He kept retreating until he hit the big tree in front of the house and was pinned against the tree by Liang Hong.
Liang Hong's face was not handsome. In fact, because his eyes, nose, and mouth were all big, his whole face seemed to be a circle bigger than ordinary people's, which made him look quite scary.
When he looked directly into Xue Yuxuan's eyes like this, it really scared Xue Yuxuan so much that his legs trembled and he didn't dare to make a sound.
Finally, Marquis Xue walked over and gently patted Liang Hong's arm. "General Liang, this is originally a private matter in my family and has nothing to do with you."
When Liang Hong saw him, his attitude softened a little, but he still didn't let go. "He's not worthy of being a man. It's okay that he doesn't protect his wife and children. He's a coward outside and only knows how to show off his power at home. What kind of man is he?"
Marquis Xue sighed. "General, I know you're concerned and confused, but your actions have indeed brought a lot of trouble to my second brother's concubine."
Hearing this, a look of confusion appeared in Liang Hong's eyes. He was a military general and never had any other skills. He thought he had been very patient. Even though he knew that his former lover had become a concubine in the second branch of the Xue family, he wasn't unable to find an opportunity to meet her. He just was afraid of bringing trouble to her, so he restrained his longing and only met Xue Yuxi occasionally.
But why did things still turn out like this?
Marquis Xue then reached out and removed his hand from Xue Yuxuan's neck.
Xue Yuxuan was saved. He immediately scurried behind his elder brother and really didn't dare to make a sound.
Over there, Concubine Bai finally recognized that the man in front of her was the young man she hadn't seen for twenty years. Now she hardly recognized him, but he looked so powerful, while she had been worn out by the years.
Concubine Bai felt ashamed of herself. She took a step back, wanting to hide in the crowd so that he wouldn't see her haggard appearance.
However, this scene made Liang Hong feel even worse. It turned out that all his yearning was just one-sided. She had already forgotten about him and didn't even want to see him.
Maybe he had brought too much trouble to her.
Liang Hong bowed to Marquis Xue and said, "Marquis, I was reckless. Since she came to the capital, I haven't seen her again, and there's no affair between us. This man... is telling lies. I hope the Marquis will investigate clearly."
Marquis Xue nodded. "I know in my heart that you're a military general of the Great Zhou Dynasty. You have the most straightforward personality and will definitely not do such sneaky and improper things."
Suddenly, a servant from an unknown family beside them said, "Actually, it's true. Look at that concubine's appearance. How can she be worthy of the heroic General Liang? Now the matchmakers lining up to propose marriage for General Liang's family don't know how long the queue is. This Second Lord Xue is really worrying unnecessarily."
Originally, this was to speak up for General Liang. But General Liang didn't look happy at all. Instead, he glared angrily at the servant, scaring the man into quickly shutting his mouth and silently moving back, for fear of being seen by General Liang again.
Maybe because General Liang was standing there, Xue Yuxuan didn't say much. He handed the deed he had already written and Concubine Bai's personal deed to his elder brother, and then said, "But Yuxi is still my son after all."
Marquis Xue didn't say much either. In front of everyone, he also wrote a deed stating that Xue Yuxi was no longer a member of the Xue family. He also communicated with his uncles and asked them to remove Xue Yuxi's name from the family genealogy after they returned to the ancestral home.
Seeing this, Xue Yuxuan didn't dare to make a fuss. Grinding his back teeth, he wanted to go home and close the door.
However, Marquis Xue didn't let him go. Instead, he pointed at Xue Yuhan and asked, "Wait, what about Yuhan?"
Xue Yuxuan widened his eyes. "Y-you took away one of my daughters. Do you still want to take away the other one?"
Shen Yuning couldn't help laughing when she heard this. "Lord Xue is wrong. You said back then that I wasn't your daughter and that the Xue family had raised me for fifteen years for nothing. It was you who suffered a loss. Later, it was my father who took pity on me and let me enter the Marquis Mansion to be his daughter. What does it have to do with you? Why have you forgotten all the words you used to scold me back then?"
Xue Yuxuan shouted, "You also said that I raised you for fifteen years and was your father for fifteen years. For such a kindness of raising you, you don't want to repay it. Now you even join others to bully me?"
Just as Shen Yuning was about to argue again, she heard a calm male voice.
"Why don't I know that my princess needs to repay your kindness of raising her?"
Shen Yuning looked up and saw the jade-like young man getting off the carriage. Who else could it be but Xuanzhi?
Yin Zidu strode forward, holding a cloak in his hand. He put it on Shen Yuning. "It's getting cold. Why don't you wear more? Look, your hands are so cold."
Shen Yuning's hands were cold, not because of the weather, but because she had suffered during her days in Shenjiapo. Later, she had been busy all day and had never had time to recuperate her body.
Yin Zidu held her hands with his big hands, frowned, and said again, "Now that you're pregnant, you're still so careless."
Shen Yuning's eyes curved into a crescent. "You know?"
Yin Zidu looked stern. "If your mother-in-law hadn't told me, how long were you going to hide it from me?"
Shen Yuning felt really wronged and only said, "I just found out today. I was still thinking of telling you when I got home tonight."
She was curious in her heart and even couldn't understand what Xuanzhi was angry about.
Yin Zidu's expression only softened a little, but it still didn't look very good. He stroked her hands. Other women would think of telling their husbands the good news of their pregnancy as soon as possible, but his little lady only had cases and files in her head and didn't have any place for him at all.
Thinking of this, he felt even more aggrieved. Since they got married, he finally got to be with her every day. Although he was so busy with the court affairs, he still rushed back to Xingmu Palace on time every day to see her. But she was good. After work, she often disappeared and only returned to the palace when it was almost curfew.
She was really a cold-hearted woman.