Ms. Lu looked panicked as she got Pei Wanyue to kneel directly.
"Master, this will be the last time. Yue'er has never seen what the Royal Academy is like. She's eager to go. I know she did wrong. Just punish her appropriately. But that should be all…" Ms. Lu begged immediately.
Xie Niushan thought it was a small matter.
It was just a piece of jade, and it would be the same no matter who used it. Although Pei Wanyue was in the wrong, she was a young lady. Not only that, but she was also not his child. It would be inappropriate for him to scold or hit her.
Xie Qiao suddenly spoke. "Do you not like me, Mother? Do you think I shouldn't go to the Royal Academy?"
Ms. Lu was stunned. "That's not what I meant, first one. It's just that you guys are blaming Yue'er now, and I'm upset because I'm her mother…"
"One should admit their fault when they're wrong. They brought the trouble upon themselves." Xie Qiao was calm as she spoke slowly. "My jade didn't fall from the sky. It almost cost me my life to win it. I fainted to get this jade. Now everyone at the academy calls me a poor soul with a short life. I used my own thing to take care of my brother, and she just stole it. The advantage just comes too easily for her, is it not?"
"Qiao'er! Yue'er is your sister, isn't she? Why aren't you treating us as your family?" Ms. Lu said immediately.
"Since we're family, please return to me the thing that Father gave me, Mother," Xie Qiao suddenly said.
Ms. Lu was stunned.
She thought to herself what that thing was by instinct…
She immediately looked terrible when she understood.
She had forgotten that she had lost Xie Qiao's…jade pendant back at Floating Pavilion Town.
It was a gift from Xie Niushan. He had reminded her many times to give it to Xie Qiao…
Xie Niushan frowned. "What is it? The pendant that repels evil?"
"That's right. Father mentioned the pendant in the letter. However, I didn't see it when I met Mother. Later on, Mother said she lost the item," Xie Qiao said. "Since we're family, why does Pei Wanyue have the gift from Father on her neck while my neck is empty?"
"Did you keep the thing to yourself and not give it to the first one on purpose? What did I tell you!?" Even Xie Niushan was upset now.
If that thing was just an ordinary item, it would not matter if it was lost.
He could just buy another one.
However, the pendant was different. He and Pinggang had spent money to buy a high-grade jade with spirituality. They had even gotten it carved into the shape that could repel evil, as well as getting a master to consecrate it before sending it to her!
To put it simply, that item could bring safety to his daughter.
He knew that his daughter was weak and that her body was filled with Yin energy. She would easily attract spirits to herself. He had spent a great effort to ask a favor from the Grand Preceptor in order to get a master to consecrate it!
She had lost it!?
Xie Niushan's face turned grim.
"There was a thief in that town. It was that wretched thief who stole it. I didn't lose it on purpose. Do you hear what you're saying, Qiao'er? You disappointed me!" Ms. Lu said immediately.
Xie Qiao looked at her, and her eyes were as calm as water. "It was that wretched thief who stole the thing from your bag, but it's forgivable for her to steal the thing from my brother's room?"
Ms. Lu was stunned.
'This girl… sure is sly to be beating around the bush…'
"Father, this is your wife, and that's your half-daughter. I won't be calling the shots of what to do with them, but she can't use my jade to enroll in the academy. If you let her in anyway—"
Before Xie Qiao was done speaking, Xie Pinggang spoke. "What enroll in the academy? She'd embarrass our Xie family even more if she went to the Royal Academy! If she dares to go, don't even think of entering the Xie Residence's door. Scram far away. Since she's the Pei family's daughter, let the Pei family handle her!"