Chapter Seventy-Seven: Striking Out in Anger

Since Lady Xue had already summoned him, her earlier hesitation was gone. She spoke plainly of how Young Master Xie had climbed over the wall, saying, “The young man of the Xie family has no morals and still refuses to admit it. I called you here so you could confront him face-to-face.”

Lady Xue the Fifth was stunned when she heard this. So the one the main branch had caught in her courtyard was Young Master Xie.

Her mind raced. Could she use this chance to marry into the Xie family? Perhaps she might even become the rightful wife?

But just then, Young Master Xie, unable to bear being wrongly accused, blurted out, “It was Lady Xue the Fifth who seduced me first. She was the one who told me to go to her courtyard. Your own girl is the one with no shame, throwing herself at me. This cannot be blamed on me!”

It was as if a bucket of cold water had been dumped over Lady Xue the Fifth’s head. She stared at him in disbelief.

By then, Young Master Xie hated her to the bone. How could he possibly see any of the wounded longing in her eyes?

He snapped, “Tell your family the truth at once. You lured me there, told me to come find you, and even said you would help me find the Sixth Lady. Say it, quickly! This has nothing to do with me...”

Second Lady Xie was also cursing viciously from the side.

Lady Xue the Fifth might be calculating and eager to climb to a higher station, but she was not so stupid as to let others ruin her reputation.

If she admitted this, forget marrying into the Xie family; she would probably struggle even to marry into an ordinary household.

Besides, she had never arranged to meet Young Master Xie at all.

Her face darkened. “Young master, please conduct yourself with propriety. I was raised under strict family discipline. Though my upbringing cannot compare with the households of the Wang and Xie clans, I am still a properly reared young lady. Why would I summon you to my courtyard for no reason, and for the sake of the Sixth Lady at that? What would I gain from it? Clearly, nothing. Before you speak, use your head. Is this not sheer slander? I don’t even know where I offended you to make you harm me like this!”

Young Master Xie was dumbfounded. He could not believe Lady Xue the Fifth was actually denying it.

Why was this young woman like this? Before, in order to curry favor with him, she spoke to him so carefully and politely, hardly daring to breathe too loudly.

How had she managed, at the crucial moment, to neatly push all the blame onto him?

Compared with those strong, brawny old women, this young girl was just as terrifying. Why were women all so frightening?

“You’re lying. You clearly invited me, or else why would I have gone to your courtyard?”

Lady Xue the Fifth had not invited him; even if she had, she could not admit it.

She remained calm, not simply shouting in a fury. “Since the young master says Fifth Lady invited you, then may I ask what proof you have? How exactly did I invite you?”

Xue Fanzhi found this very satisfying. She had to look at the Fifth Lady in a new light. At the same time, she clearly realized something else: no wonder the Sixth Sister had lost to the Fifth Lady in her previous life. Faced with accusations, the Fifth Lady did not panic or argue recklessly; she asked for proof instead. Most young girls would have found it hard to stay as composed as she was in such a situation.

Indeed, she had not misjudged the Fifth Lady. She did not even need to act; with the Fifth Lady alone, Young Master Xie and Second Lady Xie would be dealt with.

Second Lady Xie was afraid that Young Master Xie would go easy on the Xue girls, so she kept urging, “Sixth Young Master, if you have any proof, bring it out and make them submit! Did she write you a letter? Where is the letter?”

Young Master Xie knew his mother was anxious, and he was eager for revenge too, but this was not something that could be forced by urging.

He said calmly, “It wasn’t a letter. It was a message sent to me by a servant of Lady Xue the Fifth!”

Lady Xue the Fifth secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Just a verbal message, then. Good that there was no written evidence. She had been most afraid of someone framing her.

She looked at him and said, “Without any material proof, young master, are you simply lying?”

Young Master Xie had never liked Lady Xue the Fifth in the first place. He liked the generous and graceful Sixth Lady. If it were the Sixth Lady asking him to bear the reputation of a lecher, perhaps it would still be worth it. But Lady Xue the Fifth had no chance of wrongly accusing him.

By now he had recovered from the fear and shock of being beaten, and had long since sorted out exactly what had happened.

He said, “You had a servant boy carry me a message, telling me to come find you and discuss how you would take me to see the Sixth Lady. You were very clear about the time and place. And you still want to deny it?”

Lady Xue the Fifth’s expression turned strange. “Wait,” she said. “You’re saying I sent a servant boy to look for you?”

She could not help but want to laugh. Surely someone was framing her.

“If I needed to find you, I would naturally have had one of my maids inform you. Why would I send a servant boy? He is a man from the outer estate. How could I possibly order him around?”

Even though the strict old codes were not quite as binding as before, the distinction between inner and outer quarters was still very clear. Women were still confined to the rear quarters, and a young lady of a great clan would never keep a servant boy as a companion.

Young Master Xie looked as though he had suddenly understood. “I know now. You deliberately framed me, which is why you didn’t use a maid. You were afraid I’d catch hold of your weakness, so you did it this way, weren’t you? What more is there to say? You’re just framing me!”

Lady Xue the Fifth frowned. “I didn’t. Why would I do such a thankless, laborious thing?”

Young Master Xie sneered. “Because you like me. You know I like the Sixth Lady, so you wanted revenge on me, or else you wanted to cling to me!”

Lady Xue the Fifth had once entertained such thoughts, but now, even if the title of Madam Xie were placed before her, she would not admit it.

Before she could speak, the protective old matriarch of the Third Branch could no longer hold back. “When has my Fifth Lady ever liked you? Don’t slander a good girl. If word gets out, how is my granddaughter supposed to marry? Can you take responsibility for her?”

Second Lady Xie rolled her eyes. “There it is. There’s the real point. You still wanted to marry into my family and attach yourselves to us, so you framed him. Your Xue household is nothing but a den of wanton women!”

The instant she finished speaking, everyone saw Xue Fanzhi, who had been sitting beside the old matriarch, rise to her feet. In just a few strides, she was before Young Master Xie, and with one swift motion, she struck him hard across the face.

The crack of the slap sounded like thunder on open ground, and the noisy room fell instantly silent.

Everyone looked toward the source of the uproar in disbelief.

Young Master Xie was naturally the first to react, since he was the one in pain. His eyes reddening, he roared, “What are you hitting me for?”

Xue Fanzhi spat at him. “You should be grateful it was only a slap. My Xue family may not be as vast, powerful, or influential as the Xie family, but our young ladies all live by proper conduct and spotless virtue. You have no proof at all, yet you dare smear them with your filthy mouth. Since we are innocent, all we have done is give you a small lesson. If it were a girl with a fiercer temper, she would have thrown herself to her death already. Do you not know that words can kill? You are a butcher’s hand, trying to murder the women of my Xue family. A slap from me is already too light. I should be fighting you with my life!”

Her eyes were red, like those of a furious little beast.

If she had once been meek and dull, someone anyone could trample on, who would dare look down on her now?

Lady Xue the Fifth and the old matriarch of the Third Branch both twitched at the eyelids, thinking that this person seemed almost like a different woman.

Young Master Xie, who had been about to strike back, immediately wilted. Seeing this, Second Lady Xie, whose courage depended on strength and whose nature was to bully the weak and fear the strong, had originally wanted to curse as well, but she pressed her lips together and swallowed it back.

For a moment the air seemed to freeze. The momentum had shifted entirely to Xue Fanzhi’s side.