Wei Zhengyin and her niece left the palace gate with a heavy heart and did not talk about anything that happened in the Changle Palace. When they arrived at the carriage, Wei Zhengyin held her niece's hand and said, "Let's go. I will go to the Grand Preceptor's mansion with you." Then she turned around and called a servant in the carriage, asking him to return to Su Mansion and tell Old Madam Deng.

Wei Changying guessed that Wei Zhengyin's real purpose for visiting Madam Su was related to Shen Cangfeng's thoughts, so she was worried.

When they arrived at the Grand Preceptor's mansion, Wei Changying led her aunt straight to the main room. After entering the courtyard, they heard that Mrs. Liu said in a lukewarm attitude in the room, "If the mother didn't like you, she would not have allowed you to marry here. Fourth sister-in-law, do you think so?"

Pei Meiniang did not answer, but another older woman said with embarrassment and a cautious smile, "The first young madam is right. We are from a common family who don't know the etiquette well, so she has caused such a misunderstanding. This is really..."

She should be Pei Meiniang's elder, who was a sensible person, trying to be tolerant so that her in-law could be relieved. If a bride married for less than a month but made the elders angry, how could she have a good reputation? Not to mention whether Pei Meiniang could stay in harmony with her husband’s family, nor to mention whether the Shen Family would suppress the Pei Family in the future, Pei Meiniang was not the only girl in the Pei Family, and she still had unmarried sisters and nieces! If she was not virtuous, how could those young ladies marry to good families?

However, Pei Meiniang was not as sensible as the elders. Instead of apologizing, she coldly said, "When it comes to my marriage, my husband is not the son of the first aunt, but I am the daughter of the aristocratic family. The other three cousins are gentlefolks. How do I know what is the intention of the first aunt?"

As soon as these words came out, not only Mrs. Liu was so angry that her face turned blue for a while, but even Wei Zhengyin outside was shocked. She whispered to her niece, "Is... is this your fourth sister-in-law, Mrs. Pei?” Wei Zhengyin originally thought that Pei Meiniang was not virtuous because she had a little bit of a temper, but she would be careful when faced with others.

But she didn't expect that she would be so rude that she shouted out such words in public. Did she intend to be divorced? Wei Zhengyin could hardly imagine that there were such people in the gentry families.

Wei Changying nodded with a wry smile, "It's her."

"I know why your mother-in-law becomes sick." In the case of Wei Zhengyin having such a daughter-in-law, she must be sick too. Wei Zhengyin sighed and said, "I won't go inside now, lest it’s even more embarrassing. Send someone to lead me directly to your mother-in-law’s room. You can go in and accompany your two sisters-in-law to help them out; otherwise, your mother-in-law will think you are reluctant to help her. But you are the third daughter-in-law, so let your two sisters-in-law act first. I think this Mrs. Pei is extraordinarily unreasonable, and it is really shameful to argue with such a person!"

"You are right!" Wei Changying sighed and asked Qin'ge to ask Man Lou to lead Wei Zhengyin to meet Su Madam on a detour. She tidied the dress and stepped in the door reluctantly.

The seat of Madam Su at the top of the inner center was empty. Mrs. Liu was in the first seat on the right. Opposite her was an older Madam with a gorgeous skirt, looking similar to Pei Meiniang, maybe Pei Meiniang's mother. Several other Madams dressed gorgeously, who should come from Pei Family, all of them looking awkward and shameful.

Pei Meiniang, who sat at the end of the right side, held her head high and looked around fearlessly, with no guilt and shame. She didn't think that she had made any mistakes. It seemed that she was the one who was wronged and now waited for Mrs. Liu and Mrs. Duanmu to apologize to herself.

Seeing Wei Changying coming in, Mrs. Liu, who had been too angry to speak, said with a sneer, "Third sister-in-law, I'm glad that you are here! I have never heard of such ridiculous things in my life. Do you know what the fourth sister-in-law just said?"

"How about repeating what I just said?" Before Wei Changying answered, Pei Meiniang said first, "When I got engaged, I thought my husband was the lineal eldest son of Count Xiangning's family, and how would he marry me, a daughter of the aristocratic family, as his wife? On the day I married, the first sister-in-law and the second sister-in-law kept joking with me as expected. Although it was a joke, I knew the implied meaning of contempt for my humble origin.

Mrs. Liu was so angry that she almost smashed the tea bowl on her head. "Isn’t it a custom passed down from ancient times to tease the bride and the bridegroom on the wedding day? Even His Majesty and His Highness got married, they could tolerate a few jokes! In the bridal chamber that day, there were not just us inside. The maids crowded inside and outside. So you can ask them whether we were joking to enliven the atmosphere or making fun of your origin?

She trembled her voice and said, "You are the wife of the fourth younger brother selected by the mother. No matter what your background is, you have become our sisters-in-law since you entered the Shen Family. We are all in the same identity, the wives of the Shen Family! Isn't it disrespectful to the mother if we despise you? You can go out and inquire about whether we have disrespected the elders and been unkind to the peers and the younger ones over the years!"

The womenfolk of the Pei Family were all embarrassed and angry. The Madam opposite Mrs. Liu didn't even care about etiquette. She quickly got up, rushed to Pei Meiniang, and slapped her face hard. She yelled with a trembling voice, "You behave well at home, but why are you mad after getting married?"

To calm the Shen family, the slap was not light. Pei Meiniang's head was slightly leaned, and five fingerprints appeared on her white and pink cheeks, looking terrifying. Pei Meiniang seemed to be stunned and speechless.

The madam who beat her cried and apologized to Mrs. Liu and Wei Changying, "I taught the girl badly and hurt your family. Now I dare not let her serve in your family, and we will take her back! We will come another day to apologize!" She expected to be humble today to resolve the matter, but she didn’t expect her daughter to be so stubborn and to offend her husband's family so fiercely!

Originally, Pei Meiniang's maternal family was inferior to her husband’s. Pei Meiniang would still do that for fear that she would not be divorced? But for Pei Meiniang was still in the Shen Family, her elders would immediately query her why she was so confused?

The three sisters-in-law got Madam Su's order yesterday to divorce Pei Meiniang from the Shen Family. But now Pei Meiniang accused the two of them of bullying her, which led to Pei Meiniang's resentment. Mrs. Liu and Mrs. Duanmu had to make it clear before they agreed to let her go. Mrs. Duanmu said, "Madam Min, don’t worry, and the matter hasn’t been made clear yet. The first sister-in-law and I can’t bear the accusation of bullying a new sister-in-law relying on our family backgrounds!"

She said to Wei Changying, "Madam Min, this is our third sister-in-law. Just now your daughter rebuked me and the first sister-in-law, but she did not mention the third sister-in-law. It seemed that she thought the third sister-in-law didn't bully her. So now I ask the third sister-in-law to answer fairly about whether we despised the Miss of the Pei Family on the day of the wedding?"

Mrs. Duanmu didn't call her the fourth sister-in-law but called her "the Miss of the Pei Family" instead, showing her intention of breaking. Although Pei Meiniang's mother, Madam Min, said she would take her daughter home, she still hoped that her daughter would be the daughter-in-law of the Shen Family. She planned to persuade or fight her when they returned. When she knew that she was wrong, they would come to apologize to Madam Su, Mrs. Liu, and others.

But Mrs. Duanmu was not fooled at all, and she refused to admit that Pei Meiniang was the younger sister-in-law when Madam Min wanted to take her daughter back. Madam Min felt dizzy in her head and almost fainted on the spot. Buzzing in her ears, she did not speak for a long time and just stared at Wei Changying in a daze.

Before Wei Changying came in, Wei Zhengyin told her to let Mrs. Liu and Mrs. Duanmu arrange everything and that she should not be active. She herself didn’t want to provoke a difficult person like Pei Meiniang. Ji Qubing and Gu Naizheng had been annoying enough for her.

Unfortunately, she was asked by Mrs. Duanmu to say something fair, so she had to say, "I didn't hear the first sister-in-law and the second sister-in-law say anything that shouldn't be said that day."

"Do you hear that, Madam Min?" Mrs. Duanmu sneered at the people of the Pei Family and said, "If you don't believe our third sister-in-law..."

"You are too polite, the second young madam." Mrs. Min was angry and speechless, so her sister-in-law had to get up and answer on the right. Pei Meiniang suddenly sneered and said, "The third sister-in-law hasn't heard what your sister said, so how do you know what kind of thoughts were contained in your words that day?"

She turned her head, looked at Wei Changying, and snorted, "The third sister-in-law has just married two months earlier than me. In this family, she is still a newcomer. Dare she not comply with the eldest sister-in-law and the second sister-in-law?"

Everyone was stunned by her words. Before scolding her for her nonsense, Mrs. Duanmu asked furiously, "My sister?"

"Your cousin Duanmu Wuse, second daughter-in-law of minister of the public, Mr. Song, and she is also the third sister-in-law's second cousin!" Pei Meiniang covered her face and stood up, looking at Mrs. Duanmu with disdain and unkind eyes, and said coldly, "She told me that the Madam of Grand Preceptor selected me to be my husband's wife because my family background is inferior to yours. When I got married, you can bully me easily and suppress my husband for fear that he will threaten the clan's third brother's status! How can the third sister-in-law be as intimate as your cousin? And you two are so powerful that you can bully our two new sisters-in-law together. The third sister-in-law is afraid of you, but I am not! Never say of another what you would not have him heard. You pretended to be joking, but you were hiding evil! I have heard the truth from Duanmu Wuse long ago. Do you think you will fool me?"

Now it was Mrs. Duanmu's turn to faint!