Mrs. Duanmu was terrified, but Mrs. Min was refreshed! There was a clear smirk in her eyes, but she still sternly reprimanded, "You are really nonsense! The second madam of the Song Family is the daughter of Duanmu family in Jinxiu County (AKA Jinxiu Duanmu), born in the gentlefolks as your second sister-in-law, whose family background is much better than ours. Their family disciplines are so strict that how could they say such things to instigate discord? You have projected your guess on the second madam of the Song Family, who is originally ignorant!"

These words reminded Pei Meiniang to come up with evidence quickly. Pei Meiniang raised her head and said coldly, "Mother always respects gentlefolks and doesn't believe me. When Duanmu Wuse said it to me, the maidservants were all there, and the first madam of the Song Family also heard it and stopped her. You can ask the first madam of the Song Family, who has been praised for her straightness. Even if she wants to lie for Duanmu Wuse, she can't be completely calm when asked face to face!"

Things took a turn for the better. Originally Pei Meiniang was the chief culprit; now, she became the victim instigated and deceived by Duanmu Wuse, Duanmu Yanyu's cousin. Mrs. Liu and Mrs. Duanmu were helpless. Wei Changying also thought that it was more and more chaotic. How could the Pei Family let this opportunity pass?

Mrs. Min burst into tears immediately, "I know my daughter has been gentle and virtuous before she married. Otherwise, how could she be selected by the Madam of Grand Preceptor and assigned to be the wife of Madam's nephew, who was raised like her own flesh and blood! How come she became so innocent when she married and annoyed the elders and sisters-in-law! I have made some mistakes in my previous life and implicated my daughter, causing her to be confused. But I didn't expect that she is too sincere to be deceived by others!"

She defended with what Mrs. Liu had said before and asked Mrs. Liu to explain, "You are the first daughter-in-law of the Shen Family. My daughter was confused with being instigated by others and offended you several times. She is wrong and I will definitely beat her hard to apologize to you! But now she hasn't received her divorce notice, and she is still your sister-in-law! After all, she is disrespectful to you and her elders because she was instigated by others and she preconceived that you were unkind to her. Please hold the scales even and punish the person who instigated my daughter!"

Mrs. Duanmu trembled with anger and screamed, "Really... really nonsense! My cousin is the daughter-in-law of the minister of the public, who has always been dignified and cautious. How can it be possible for her to say such things? It must be clarified by the first madam of the Song Family. How can the purity of our Duanmu Family be spoiled by the women of the Pei Family!" She scolded Mrs. Min, "Madam Min, you are too hurried. It's just your daughter's words. Why are your daughter's words so believable but others are not?"

Mrs. Min made a quick calculation in her heart, "Anyway, her daughter is so arrogant that everyone is offended, including Duanmu Wuse. Now it is useless to show humility to Mrs. Duanmu, which will weaken our momentum instead. So it may be better to insist; maybe the first madam of the Song Family will give a surprise."

Therefore, instead of being careful since entering the room today, she grew solemn and said coldly, "The second young madam is ridiculous! It was not our Pei Family who wanted to let our daughter be a daughter-in-law of the Shen Family. The madam of Grand Preceptor knows well what my daughter is like when she is unmarried. Everyone in the capital knows the fourth young master is raised by the madam and is regarded as her biological son. The madam is so virtuous, so won't she choose the wife for the fourth young master carefully? Or the second young madam, are you also fooled like my daughter, thinking that the madam has been pretending to be good to the fourth young master and wishing to let a bad wife ruin the fourth young master?"

Mrs. Duanmu was defeated by Mrs. Min in a panic, who then brought out that Madam Su took the initiative to be engaged with Pei Family for his nephew. Mrs. Duanmu couldn't help but be silent. Mrs. Liu said with a gloomy face, "This is a big deal. Madam Min and other madams, please wait for a moment. I have to go inside and ask my mother for instructions!"

To put it this way, Pei Meiniang involved Mrs. Huo, the first madam of the Song Family, and the second madam Duanmu Wuse in front of the Pei Family. Whether Madam Su believed it or not, or whether she was willing to believe it or not, she had to send people to go to the Song Family and ask the two Madams to come over and make it clear.

After Mrs. Liu came back, she conveyed Madam Su's meaning. At the moment, Mrs. Min scolded her daughter, "Duanmu Wuse is the daughter-in-law of the Song Family, and you are that of the Shen Family. You are not relatives, so why would you listen to her words? Being deceived into offending your elders and sisters-in-law, you are so stupid! Since you are wondering, why don't you ask your elders and sisters-in-law? You just said the Song Family's first madam has a good reputation, but your first sister-in-law is also a well-known good person. You... you are trying to make me irritated!"

Mrs. Duanmu secretly gritted her teeth. She and Mrs. Liu both had a good name outside. Now Mrs. Min only mentioned Mrs. Liu and implied that Duanmu Wuse and Pei Meiniang were "not relatives at all." Duanmu Wuse and Pei Meiniang were indeed not relatives, but Mrs. Duanmu and Pei Meiniang were sisters-in-law. According to the words of Mrs. Min, Mrs. Duanmu instructed Duanmu Wusemu to harm Pei Meiniang. How evil was her intention!

As long as the first madam of the Song Family hinted that Duanmu Wuse did say such words, not only her cousin would fail to live in her husband's family in the future, but Mrs. Duanmu would also be involved!

But Mrs. Duanmu could not say anything for her cousin now. After all, Mrs. Duanmu was clear that what kind of person Duanmu Wuse was. She could do such things.

Now Mrs. Duanmu was busy getting rid of this matter, so how could she care about her cousin? She also resented that Duanmu Wuse was so mindless. Even if she wanted to say that, how could she not avoid the Song Family's first madam! Can she really be unscrupulous as the daughter of the Duanmu Family?

When Mrs. Duanmu was pulling her veil and racking her brains, Pei Meiniang cried and said chokingly, "Duanmu Wuse said that our Pei Family was a small family; if it weren't for the big aunt who would like to suppress Count Xiangning mansion on the excuse of my husband’s marriage, how can I be qualified to marry here? Our Pei Family is not as eminent as the Shen Family in Western Liang, and she is the cousin of my sister-in-law, so..."

"Don't say that to me. I will invite the two madams of the Song Family to come over and clarify the matter tomorrow. I will hand you over to my relatives-by-marriage. You deserve to be punished! How confused you are!" Mrs. Min shed tears and scolded her daughter loudly, stopping Mrs. Liu, Mrs. Duanmu, and Wei Changying from saying. She pushed Pei Meiniang's arm and said, "You should go in now and kowtow to your elder aunt! Your elder aunt has raised your husband and regarded him as her son, so she is your mother-in-law! How dare you annoy her! Without your elder mother’s forgiveness, even if you kneel and die here, I won’t receive you as my daughter!"

Man Lou cautiously reported the incident to Madam Su in the inner room, and she gradually turned severe. She said after a while, "You go out and talk to Mrs. Min; since Meiniang is deceived, I will accept her apology when it's all clear. I’m not feeling well today, so I can’t go out to see them. Now that it’s decided to invite the two madams of the Song Family to come over, we can talk about it tomorrow."

She added, "If Mrs. Pei must kneel, let two sturdy women send her back to the Count Xiangning Mansion. In short, don't let her stay in our mansion."

Man Lou said, "Yes!"

When she retreated, Wei Zhengyin, who was sitting on the embroidered stool beside the couch, frowned and said, "Why do I think that the Pei Family is on purpose?"

"Let alone the daughters of the aristocratic family, in a family like ours, how many girls dare to be so arrogant?" Madam Su said coldly, "I know her temperament is not so good on the day of the tea ceremony. I think she is young and has a shallow mind. Canghui has favored her since she married so that she might be proud. I wonder how such a niece-in-law could help Canghui in the future. But I'm wrong. She is forethoughtful, but it's a pity that all her thoughts are spent on the family!"

There was an expression of hatred on her face. Pei Meiniang originally had to make a low profile after she married here, not only because she was the daughter of an aristocratic family, whose family background was inferior to her husband’s, but also because Madam Su, his first aunt, brought up Shen Canghui.

So the couple's status was low in the Grand Preceptor Mansion. The three elder sisters-in-law, ranging from Mrs. Liu to Wei Changying, were all lineal daughters of gentlefolks. As a result, it was reasonable that Pei Meiniang had a low status.

But now Pei Meiniang had offended her husband's family members and revealed that Duanmu Wuse, the cousin of her second sister-in-law Duanmu Yanyu, had provoked her before she married here. Although Pei Meiniang couldn't get off, it could serve as an excuse for her previous rebellious behaviors and could bring a turning point.

After all, Pei Meiniang was a newly-married bride who had married for less than a month, and her husband spoiled her so much that he would beg the elders to forgive her because she was young and ignorant. Besides, she was not a daughter-in-law but a niece-in-law. As Mrs. Min said, Madam Su took the initiative to marry her daughter into the Shen Family, and the Pei Family didn't ask for it.

Madam Su selected Pei Meiniang, and Duanmu Wuse, the cousin of her second sister-in-law Mrs. Duanmu, instigated Pei Meiniang. So Pei Meiniang was also the victim.

As long as Pei Meiniang said Duanmu Wuse had instigated her, following by the scene that happened today where Mrs. Min scolded her daughter and Pei Meiniang confessed and knelt in the courtyard of Madam Su, crying bitterly to ask for Madam Su's forgiveness; Madam Su could do nothing about her. Even though Shen Zhou was annoyed by her and insisted that Shen Canghui should divorce her, it would be impossible if Shen Canghui rejected it.

Of course, even if Madam Su tolerated her, she would not like her anymore. But since Pei Meiniang and Madam Su's relationship was not that of daughter-in-law and mother-in-law, Madam Su would not be able to instruct her.

After the incident, Mrs. Duanmu, the second sister-in-law, was completely humiliated. She may well begin to elude Pei Meiniang in the future. In addition, Pei Meiniang also expressed her conjecture that why Madam Su had chosen her as Shen Canghui’s wife. In order to prove that she was not such a person, Madam Su had to restrain herself and her sisters-in-law from interfering with Pei Meiniang.

However, although Madam Su had raised Shen Canghui, she didn't plan to concern about the affairs of Count Xiangning Mansion after Pei Meiniang married here. She did so because of the brotherhood between her husband and her uncle. Besides, she had many children and grandchildren, so she had no more time to worry about others.

But Pei Meiniang didn’t think so, or rather, she didn’t believe that Madam Su would not dominate them because she had raised Shen Canghui, so she took a risk to grasp the power, making the people of Grand Preceptor Mansion dare not throw their weight around Count Xiangning Mansion. Then she could dominate the Count Xiangning Mansion as the first daughter-in-law.

Thinking of Pei Meiniang's ignorance when she just married and her constant scheming of staking her virtuous reputation on the power of Count Xiangning now, Madam Su, who had always been kind to this niece-in-law and had never guarded against her, was grieved and angry.

Wei Zhengyin sighed, "If so, then what she said about Duanmu Wuse is probably true."

"The second daughter-in-law of the minister of the public is notoriously jealous and stupid," Madam Su sneered, "But she married a good husband, who is not as considerate as Cangfeng to your niece but is still generous to tolerate her being jealous with no child. Duanmu Wuse thinks she matches Song Zaijiang and looks down upon her eldest sister-in-law born from the Huo Family in Yunxia, thinking Mrs. Huo is not worthy of being the Family Mother of the Song Family and should hand it over to her. In fact, Mrs. Huo seems to be forbearing, but over the years, she has spread her jealousy to the whole capital, which contrasts with Mrs. Huo’s virtue and kindness!"

Wei Zhengyin sneered and said, "I wonder how the Duanmu Family teaches Duanmu Wuse. I heard from Yuwu her cousin is Duanmu Wuyou, who is a little impatient but not confused. Her family has spoiled her, then my mother and sister-in-law spoiled Changying even more. However, Changying is still obedient and polite," she took the chance to praise her niece, "Two days ago, I heard from the Song Mansion that Duanmu Wuse couldn't tolerate Miss Song Zaishui, the only Miss of the Song Family. Song Zaijiang was informed that she had bullied her sister-in-law and scolded her heavily. Then the elders of the Duanmu Family went to mediate and settled it. It seems that you will not divorce Mrs. Pei, but the Song Family will divorce Duanmu Wuse this time."

Madam Su breathed a deep sign, leaned on the pillow, and said, "These are trivial things now. Let's continue to talk about what we just said..."