For all the years of the Xie Clan's existence, no one had ever dared to contradict the mistress of the household.
The moment those words were spoken, every clan relative in the hall was startled, their gazes fixed.
A flicker of barely perceptible delight flashed through Xie Renfeng's eyes.
Madam Yuan seemed not to have expected such an answer from you. Her brows drew together, but her expression remained impassive.
She slowly approached, her hands folded over the sash at her waist.
"Xie Guan, since you do not know where you have erred, then let me ask you."
"Practicing martial arts in private without permission is against the rules of this residence. Do you know that?"
"Xie Guan knows!"
Madam Yuan trailed her moonlight skirt back to the raised center of the hall and looked straight at you. "My dignified Xie Clan may have risen through scholarship, but it stands through martial merit. We value the word 'rules' above all else. Since you know the rules, yet still secretly studied martial arts, what punishment should you face?"
"Your mother died early. Though I am not your birth mother, I am the rightful principal mother of this Main Estate. When have I ever taught you to violate the household rules?"
Her tone sank. "Xie Guan... you knowingly did what you knew not to do... Is there still this principal mother in your eyes? Is there still Old Madam Xie? Is there still the Xie Clan's millennium-old honor?"
"And you still dare speak such wild words—claiming you have done no wrong?"
Her final sentence was icy word by word, and even the candles throughout the hall seemed to shudder.
The young masters and ladies of the household changed expression at once. The master had spent all year away from home, while Madam