To repay kindness with enmity

  After a group of servants and deputy attendants came in, Wu Mingyuan's face changed again and again, and it took half a day for him to squeeze out: "Is the lord blaming this king for repaying kindness with enmity?"

  That was an old story many years ago. If it weren't for Old Master Hou mentioning it, he would have long forgotten! Was Xiao Rui Guo blaming him?

  Old Master Hou raised an eyebrow this time, not hiding the mockery on his face. His tone was still light and airy: "I dare not! The Wu family is the ruler, the Xiao family is the subject, it's only natural for a subject to die for their ruler!"

  Wu Mingyuan was quick-tempered and angrily said: "Why is Lord Hou bringing up these old matters again?"

  The old master looked around at everyone and said, "As soon as I got home, the steward told me about what's been going on between you all, including the trouble Rong'er caused! She did something wrong, I won't show her any favoritism. Whatever punishment she deserves, I won't utter a word of complaint!"

  His eyes fell on Wu Mingyuan, and his gaze suddenly became sharp, making Wu Mingyuan feel a little guilty. He tried to hold his gaze, but his palms were sweating.

  "As Rong'er's grandfather, I must speak up for her!"

  Old Master Hou looked at Wu Mingyuan coldly, suddenly raising his voice and shouting: "Wu Mingyuan, as the husband of my granddaughter, I can afford to call you that! Rong'er is your wife, everyone in this world can say something bad about her, but only you cannot!"

  Everyone was stunned by his sudden anger, staring blankly at him. As the prince, Wu Mingyuan had never been publicly scolded except by the emperor, and he was instantly at a loss, unable to respond.

  If someone else scolded him, he could immediately have them dragged out and killed. But this is the Wu family's god of war; even if the emperor himself wanted to kill him, they would have to weigh it carefully. Who does he think he is!

  "For a woman who likes you, a woman who can even give up her own life for you... You may not like her, but you have no right to discriminate against her feelings towards you! Is being a concubine shameful? If she didn't truly like you, why would she disregard her reputation and face the disdain of her family just to marry you? She's human, with flesh and blood, a woman who can cry and laugh, how could you think that she wouldn't feel pain?"

  Lao Houye's voice lowered as he looked down and saw Xiao Congrong's tear-stained face in his arms, and Wu Mingyuan also saw that dirty tear-stained face along his line of sight. His heart inexplicably trembled, feeling a little uneasy.

  Old Master Hou sighed, didn't say anything else, hugged Xiao Congrong and turned around, throwing out a sentence: "Rong'er, I'll take the imperial edict from the empress dowager back to discipline her, Your Highness doesn't need to come pick her up. If she's willing to return after being disciplined, I won't stop her! If she's not willing to return, then consider her dead!"

  After finishing his last sentence, Old Master Hou's figure disappeared before everyone's eyes.

  Chunxiang and Chunrui looked at each other, then rushed out in pursuit. The nearly seventy-year-old Old Master Hou, carrying someone on his back, was still as agile as a flying bird, running so fast that Chunxiang and Chunrui were left panting and unable to catch up.

  Wu Mingyuan stared blankly at the night sky and asked after a while: "Rong Guang, was this king wrong?"

  Rong Guang lowered his head and didn't know how to respond.

  Before today, he thought just like everyone else that Miss Xiao San was so stubborn about marrying over as a concubine that it would bring shame to the Xiao family. Now, after being overturned by Old Master Xiao's words, his view of her has been completely turned upside down.

  If what Old Master Xiao said is true, then our young master has indeed wronged Miss Xiao's deep affection...