Let the conflict come even more fiercely

Seeing Fushu go to fetch people with Zhao Ruyu's tacit approval, Xu Xi sneered inwardly. She wasn't going to be foolish enough to wait here for Lady Wei to bring people. If she didn't go back to the main courtyard to complain to the old lady now, when would she?

As she turned to leave, she suddenly heard a man's voice behind her. "Stop! What are you doing?"

Upon recognizing Zhao Yuanliang's voice, the people who were pushing and shoving stopped and turned around. They saw Zhao Yuanliang striding towards them, his face full of anger.

When Lady Wei first married into the Marquis's mansion, she was very submissive to Zhao Yuanliang. However, as her father's official position rose higher and higher, the Marquis's mansion declined. With this ebb and flow, coupled with Zhao Yuanliang's incompetence, she increasingly disregarded her husband.

She raised her chin and said arrogantly to Zhao Yuanliang, "It's best if you don't interfere in matters of the inner quarters, my husband."

"Is this a matter for the inner quarters? You're going to hit my daughter!" Zhao Yuanliang pointed at Xu Xi, his face flushed with anger. "You lost Miss Xi. Now that you've finally found her and brought her back to the manor, is this how you treat her? Don't you have a heart? Are you really her mother?"

Zhao Yuanliang's words made Lady Wei jump up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. "Who are you saying isn't her biological mother? Am I not her biological mother, then who are you? I'm only teaching her because I'm her biological mother. Otherwise, who cares about her life or death?"

"Is this how you teach children? Always shouting for violence and killing. Why don't you fight Brother An?"

"Can she compare to Brother An...?"

Seeing the couple arguing so enthusiastically, Xu Xi shook her head and turned to walk back the way she came.

In the novel, Zhao Yuanliang has a loving father's heart towards his daughter. After the original owner returned to the Marquis's mansion, the old lady and the first lady ignored her because she was Lady Wei's daughter and her words and deeds were not presentable; Lady Wei herself was two-faced. Only Zhao Yuanliang gave the original owner warmth.

But this loving fatherly heart became a joke in the face of self-interest. When Lady Wei arranged that marriage for the original owner, Zhao Yuanliang strongly opposed it. However, after Lady Wei asked her father to find Zhao Yuanliang a good job, Zhao Yuanliang tacitly agreed to the marriage, delivering a fatal blow to the original owner.

Qingfeng was stunned when he saw Xu Xi turn around and leave, heading towards the main courtyard. He quickly followed.

Matron Yuan and the others quickly followed.

Zhao Ruyu was utterly dumbfounded when she saw that she was heading towards the main courtyard, not the second house. She was speechless.

Zhao Rurui was so shocked that she forgot about her quarrel with Zhao Ruyu. Pointing at Xu Xi, she said to Zhao Ruyu, "She... why did she leave? And why did she turn back?"

Matron Li had intended to step forward to mediate the fight, but upon hearing Zhao Rurui's words, she turned around and saw that Xu Xi was actually walking back. She quickly turned to Lady Wei and cried out urgently, "Madam, Madam..."

Hearing this, Lady Wei was arguing heatedly with Zhao Yuanliang, followed their gaze and immediately became furious, her fingers trembling. "What... what's going on with her?"

Zhao Rurui, Zhao Ruyu, and Matron Li, among other servants, dared not utter a sound, keeping their heads down like quails.

"Look at this, this is your good daughter. She doesn't understand a single rule, and we're still here worrying about her. Look at her attitude!" Lady Wei said to Zhao Yuanliang through gritted teeth.

Zhao Yuanliang stared at Xu Xi's receding figure, speechless for a long time.

Although he saw Xu Xi in Xu Family Village as rather stubborn and speaking harshly, he assumed it was because Lady Wei had deeply hurt Xu Xi, which forced Xu Xi to say such hurtful things.

In his view, Xu Xi, having grown up in the city and countryside, was suddenly thrust into the Marquis's mansion. The environment was unfamiliar, and being from a high-ranking family with strict rules, she must have been uneasy, timid, and cowardly. Under Lady Wei's domineering influence, she must have been young, pitiful, and helpless, needing him, her father, to provide warmth.

But now it seems that's not the case at all. Xu Xi is as tough as ever. Could it be that she inherited her mother's personality?

Lady Wei stopped arguing with Zhao Yuanliang and chased after Xu Xi. The maids and servants quickly followed.

Upon hearing Xu Xi's call, Matron Yuan and the others followed closely behind. Seeing that Lady Wei had come after them, Qingfeng nervously called out, "Miss..."

Xu Xi heard the commotion behind her. Seeing that Lady Wei had indeed caught up, she smiled and slowed her pace.

She couldn't let the old lady think she was disobedient and unruly. In these people's eyes, no matter how outrageous Lady Wei was, she, as the daughter, should silently endure it; that's what a filial and obedient child should do.

Therefore, she must maintain this moral high ground. She needs to intensify the conflict so that the old lady and the first lady will believe that her insistence on leaving the second wife's family is out of desperation, not her true nature. If necessary, she can resort to a self-inflicted injury ruse.

She stopped, turned around, and faced the menacing Lady Wei. She shrank back timidly and whispered, "Mother." Then she looked pitifully at Zhao Yuanliang.

Upon seeing this, Zhao Yuanliang's protective instincts as a man compelled him to step forward and shield his daughter.