Another Retort

Consort of the Prince of Ming's eyes turned red.

She was not only furious, but also consumed by jealousy.

She had already apologized to Noble Consort Cen and Zhao Ruxi, and the situation had calmed down.

Seeing this, she couldn't help but become sarcastic again. "Who bullied your wife? Little Five, don't listen to people twisting the truth. Ask everyone here and see who bullied whom! I'm asking you, Little Five, Zhao Zhiwei spends all her time with a bunch of men in the Nanyang government office, don't you care?"

She'll definitely have a hard time going back today. Although Xiao Lingheng won't dare to do anything to her because of the Lu Family, it's inevitable that he'll treat her coldly for a while.

Because today's operation requires the support of the Lu Family, Consort of the Prince of Ming Xiao Lingheng's plan. Otherwise, she wouldn't have dared to act so arrogantly today.

As long as Xiao Lingheng's plan succeeds, the petty squabbles among these women will be insignificant and no one will care.

The death of a prince and the imprisonment of the crown prince are such major events, almost like the sky falling down. Who cares about the disputes these women had? Even if they did care, this quarrel wasn't her responsibility. She had only made a few sarcastic remarks to Zhao Ruxi, and Zhao Ruxi, who hadn't yet married into the royal family, had simply swallowed her anger and let it pass.

But she was sharp-tongued and retorted, saying such unpleasant things, making an escalation of the argument inevitable.

This wasn't her doing.

Those who liked Zhao Ruxi felt a chill run down their spines upon hearing these vicious words and all looked at Xiao Lingyan.

No man is indifferent to his pride. Even if Xiao Lingyan likes Zhao Ruxi, hearing such words, though he may not show it on the surface, will still leave a thorn in his heart.

When they're deeply in love, it's fine; but once the honeymoon period is over, these thorns sprout up like bamboo shoots after a spring rain, and Xiao Lingyan will use them to wound Zhao Ruxi all over.

They felt just as much envy as they had for Zhao Ruxi, and now they felt just as much sympathy for Zhao Ruxi.

Seeing Xiao Lingyan's face darken, Consort of the Prince of Ming felt a surge of satisfaction.

"My fiancée said that Third Sister-in-law is lewd, and she's absolutely right." Xiao Lingyan sneered. "Does Third Sister-in-law never bring bodyguards when she goes out? Doesn't she use male servants at home? Aren't you considered to be philandering with men and not being a virtuous woman when you're with these men?"

The women present all changed their expressions.

They were all housewives, employing male guards and servants in their homes, and frequently going out to deal with shopkeepers and estate managers. If this is considered "having affairs with men and not upholding wifely virtues," how could they possibly survive?

Zhao Ruxi gave Xiao Lingyan an approving look.

He's putting all women on the same side. Consort of the Prince of Ming's remarks get out today, she'll surely become a public enemy among women.

From the time of Zhu Xi and Cheng Yi's Neo-Confucianism in the Southern Song Dynasty, the shackles and ideological constraints on women deepened day by day, harming women for thousands of years.

Now, thanks to Empress Shengyao's efforts, women in the Great Jin Dynasty have finally been able to live a little more freely, but Consort of the Prince of Ming's remarks have once again imprisoned them.

Those women who cherish freedom would probably want to devour her heart.

Didn't you see how terrifying the look in Consort of the Prince of Ming's eyes was when she, who had always been dedicated to fighting for women's rights, looked at Grand Princess Shangde?

Consort of the Prince of Ming never expected that Xiao Lingyan would disregard the bigger picture and get involved in this verbal battle between women, even personally joining in the fray.

She shrieked, "Little Five, don't talk nonsense! They're just servants, and I'm the proper housekeeper. How did this get into a romantic relationship? Are you trying to bully me with your wife? Bullying your sister-in-law for a woman? Do you even respect your third brother?"

"Aren't servants men too? They're not eunuchs. If you're so capable, then you should only deal with eunuchs from now on and not with men. Otherwise, you're being unchaste. My third brother isn't that unreasonable. If he hears what you've said today, I wonder how he'll punish you. Don't worry about me."

"Zhiwei wholeheartedly devoted to the people. She only served as the Assistant Magistrate of Nanyang for half a year, yet she invented agricultural tools that greatly improved the agricultural productivity of the entire Great Jin. Her heart is filled with concern for the entire Great Jin and the suffering of its people. Only someone like you, whose heart is filled with lewdness and whose eyes only see lewdness, will never again call yourself Third Sister-in-law in front of me. You are not worthy."

Normally, Xiao Lingyan wouldn't speak so bluntly.

He knew that if his words got out, Princess Lu, the Lady Lu of Consort of the Prince of Ming, would either be divorced or inevitably fall out of favor and neglected.

But the one who starts it is the one who loses! If she hadn't wanted to drive Zhao Ruxi to the brink, why would they have turned around and attacked her?

You don't know the pain until the knife touches you. All her malice has backfired on her; Lady Lu deserves it!

Besides, with the Third Prince causing trouble ahead, she'll soon be out of a job. The Lady Lu is husband and wife with the Third Prince. If the Third Prince is imprisoned, the Lady Lu won't have a good life either.

Xiao Lingyan's words and actions sealed Lady Lu's fate, nailing her to the pillar of shame. Everyone waited quietly for Lady Lu to go mad, some even turning to look at the expression on Madam Lu's face.

Now that the Lady Lu's words and actions have been leaked, who would dare marry a girl from the Lu Family? Would they be worried about being cuckolded?

However, the behavior of the Lu Family mother and daughter was not what they had expected.

Madam Lu seemed not to have heard those words, her face expressionless.

Consort of the Prince of Ming didn't go mad as they expected. She sneered, "Little Five, I've remembered what you said. You can apologize to me now while you still can, otherwise, you'll regret it when your third brother finds out."

These words had a different meaning to Xiao Lingyan and Zhao Ruxi, but to others, they didn't hear anything wrong.

The Third Prince has always been the most arrogant prince besides the Crown Prince, so it's not surprising that Consort of the Prince of Ming made such a comment.

Consort Jin, however, was worried that making a scene would affect things further, so she stood up and said to Lady Lu, "Alright, sit down."

She looked at Xiao Lingyan: "Fifth Prince, it's just a minor quarrel between women. You're a grown man, and a prince at that, arguing with women. It's not very respectable if word gets out. Let's leave it at that and not talk about it anymore. Your third sister-in-law has already apologized to the Imperial Concubine and Miss Zhiwei."

She glanced at everyone in the room again. "When you go back, don't gossip. We just got to this point today because of the conversation. We're all family, there's no need to hold grudges overnight. We'll still be family after this argument, so let's not hurt our feelings."

Noble Consort Cen is hosting the women's banquet tonight, and naturally doesn't want this quarrel to escalate.

Now that Consort Jin had stepped in to smooth things over, and since her son and daughter-in-law hadn't suffered any loss, she didn't pursue the matter further. She said, "What Consort Jin said is exactly what I wanted to say. Everyone here is family; we all know what should and shouldn't be said. Let's pretend nothing happened. The time has passed; let's begin the banquet."