Li Xiangchen was taken aback and furrowed his brows, but ultimately he had no choice but to kneel in front of the old man!
No one in the room dared to speak. The old man seemed to be silent, but his aura clearly indicated his anger!
The old man asked Li Xiangchen, "Tell me the truth, you and that servant Xiaohe, do you have anything going on?"
"Of course not!" Li Xiangchen responded, "Grandfather, although I have not been an ideal grandson and have caused you to worry, I still respect basic morals and ethics. I am already a father of three children, with Weihuan about to turn twenty-six. How could I possibly indulge in such behavior?"
"Ha ha..." Qi Qun started to sneer as soon as Li Xiangchen finished. "Li Xiangchen, stop boasting before grandfather. Can’t you just speak the truth?"
"The truth is that Xiaohe and I have nothing going on! We haven’t done anything..." Li Xiangchen argued back.
"Then how do you explain the texts? Or what you did that one night?" Qi Qun responded, tears trickling down her face, "I should have known better. Bringing in an attractive widowed servant would lead to trouble. I thought Xiaohe, with her good culinary skills and obedient nature would be a good addition. Even though you always looked down on me, I thought you were at least a person brought up under Grandfather’s discipline. Now, one of you is a seductive woman and the other is a man with wild ambitions. Li Xiangchen, do you think your actions are justified to Grandfather? Or to me?"
Qi Qun turned towards the old man, her words seemed noble, but they were clearly blaming him for his poor judgment!
The old man kept silent. No one else dared to speak in his presence.
Unable to contain himself, Li Xiangchen rebuked, "Qi Qun, what nonsense are you talking about? You’re blowing things way out of proportion just because of a few texts. During the holidays, too. Is that necessary? Is it?"
"No, it isn’t! Not at all! But should I just keep my mouth shut because you made a mistake? Li Xiangchen, I might not be from H city, but don’t think it’s easy to bully me! Are a few texts nothing to you? Do I have to catch you in the act before you admit it? Do you prefer a younger, prettier widow? Li Xiangchen you..."
"Enough——" The old man hit the floor with his cane and roared, shutting up Qi Qun!
Qi Qun, taken aback, knelt in front of the old man with tears in her eyes, "Grandfather, I apologize for inviting you here and making you listen to all this. I know it makes me an unworthy daughter-in-law. But having been married to him for thirty years, despite our poor relationship, we’ve spent half our lives together and we have three children. Now, the way he is treating me, as a wife, as a mother... Don’t I deserve an explanation?"
The old man remained silent, offering no response.
Qi Qun continued, "Grandfather, even though this is the Li Family, the Lu and Li families have always been united. I came to you hoping for justice. I don’t want to be a Lu daughter-in-law who gets mistreated in the Li Family. I want to know what the real nature of both families is... Even if you are partial, I don’t have anything else to say. But I believe you’re a fair man. Please help me."
Li Xiangchen quietly knelt on one side, saying nothing.
The old man sat there, looking at his grandson and daughter-in-law, observing everyone else in the room, and asked, "Where is the servant called Xiaohe?"
Another servant immediately replied, "She has been on leave for the past few days, just arrived after receiving a call, and waiting outside!"
The old man said, "Let her in!"
The servant nodded, "Yes, Master!"
The servant left, and soon, a woman around thirty with a pleasant appearance walked in!
The woman looked at the room full of people, the old man sitting on the main sofa, particularly at Li Xiangchen and Qi Qun who were kneeling before the old man. Startled by the sight, she too knelt down——
"Master, please, do not blame my master for this. It has nothing to do with him. He was just helping me out of kindness. We have nothing going on between us. Please trust me. I beg you not to blame him, don’t blame him..."
"You sly vixen, still lying even at this point!"
Seeing Xiaohe siding with Li Xiangchen as soon as she arrived, Qi Qun got even angrier. She rushed over, grabbed her collar and slapped Xiaohe right across her face!