Ms. Lu was angry now.
"Now you're resenting your Uncle Xie!? He was nice to you. The dagger that he gave you was worth up to 1,000 taels of silver. What did he give Xie Qiao? Didn't he chase you out because you made a mistake?" Ms. Lu stared at her daughter. "Be filial to Uncle Xie, and be sensible from now on. I'll bring you to an old lady one day. If the old lady speaks on behalf of you, Uncle Xie will definitely find you a good husband."
Pei Wanyue nodded, feeling annoyed.
Apart from nodding, there was nothing that she could do.
The matter spread to the Xie Residence.
Xie Pinggang merely gave a short response after hearing that. He did not ask too much into it.
This person was no longer his sister, so why would he ask so much about it?
What did her life or death have anything to do with him?
"Rumor has it that His Highness is coming to the Criminal Division. Everyone at the office is tense about it. My superior was worried that there'd be no credit to show when His Highness comes, so he promoted me. I thought it'd be ninth-grade. Never had I thought it'd be a grade higher. I'm an eighth-grade Law Supervisor now. Although it's not a major official, it's quite high-ranking in the Criminal Division," Xie Pinggang said simply.
Xie Niushan nodded and complimented him, "Amazing. You did good, kid. I thought apart from me, nobody in our family would become an official!"
One would not be considered an official if the ranking was low.
"Eat more, Eldest Sister." Xie Pinggang fetched a big, fat chicken drumstick for Xie Qiao.
Her eyelids twitched.
The servant in the kitchen had terrible cooking skills. Granny Wan and Chun Er were better at it.
She was worried that she would grow pimples from eating that oily drumstick.
Ms. Lu looked awkward after glancing at Xie Qiao, "Qiao'er, Yue'er… She's still young. Don't take what she did to heart…"
"Don't worry, Mother. She's just an outsider, I won't take that to heart." Xie Qiao pretended not to care and lifted her head to smile.
Ms. Lu felt a clutch in her heart.
"If you're worried about her, you can visit her sometimes, Mother. It's not that I look down on the Pei family. It's just that I heard it was the Crown Prince who judged that person from the Pei family. Don't hold grudges, Mother. If this spreads, nobody in the family can protect you," said Xie Pinggang.
Ms. Lu said immediately, "How would I hold a grudge? I'm just saying this at home—"
Xie Pinggang looked at her with a stern face before she could finish. "We can't talk nonsense at home. There are many people around. If it spreads, an innocent comment might backfire. I heard the year when the Crown Prince was hurt, a woman was gossiping at home. She was poisoned, and she's now mute."
Ms. Lu's body jerked.
Xie Qiao was surprised too. "Did the Crown Prince do that?"
"That's none of our business whether it was him who did it. No matter what, there are things that we can't discuss even at home." Xie Pinggang warned Ms. Lu, seemingly unintentionally.
The wife his father had married was terrible.
He had to scare her to the point that she would keep quiet.
Xie Niushan knew his son. He dared to say anything.
Xie Pinggang knew that without the clues Xie Qiao had provided back then, it would be difficult for him to solve the case.
However, he thought the clues she had provided were strange as if she had obtained them out of thin air. Therefore, he could not give her credit in public. He could only compliment her at home to show his stance.
In reality, Xie Qiao even heard that Xie Pinggang had been awarded silver.
She had been under the impression he had called her over for dinner to give her a gift. Never had she thought there was no gift to be seen now that dinner was over.
When she was returning to her courtyard, she noticed that Xie Pinggang was wiping a spear in her courtyard.
It was new.
It was definitely new.
Xie Qiao secretly rolled her eyes at Xie Pinggang.
He had bought his sister a weapon instead of getting her something delicious and fun!?
He was a fool!