The mistress who remarried has returned.

Everyone gasped in shock.

Slowly, it dawned on me that Su Miao was only eleven years old, while Su Yunxi was already twenty-one, a difference of more than ten years. This clearly indicated that Su Yunxi's mother was older.

After a long pause, Madam Xue looked at Su Yunxi and said, "This girl is so pitiful. It turns out her mother was divorced and remarried. Her parents are not on good terms, so the child is very pitiful. Is that young master a good child? Wenying, our family doesn't do things that wrong people. It's clear that every family has its difficulties, and it's inevitable that children will suffer injustices when caught between adults."

Seeing that things had come to this point and her grandmother had spoken, Xue Wenying knew that even though she had a prejudice against Liangdi, she still needed to respect the facts. Even if the general was invited, he could not wrong an innocent person. She secretly clenched her handkerchief and said to her grandmother, "Grandson understands."

Qin Huai lowered his eyes, concealing the various expressions within them, brought the tea to his lips, took a sip, and said, "Such a thing has happened. If it wasn't your brother's doing, then I naturally wouldn't have punished him."

Liu Shun was disappointed again. He had thought that Liangdi would immediately reveal that there was a misunderstanding between her and the Crown Prince four years ago, and that she had been wronged by the General. He also thought that she had always been thinking of the General and longed to return to Jiuli Lane. If that were the case, the General would definitely regret wrongly accusing Liangdi and bring her home. It seemed that she was completely devoted to the Eastern Palace and had no desire to go home at all.

Wang Guirong's eyes widened, her anger barely contained. "Su Yunxi, what are you doing, making baseless accusations! Whether it was your own brother who did it or not, you can find out by asking your brother yourself!"

Su Yunxi wouldn't bother asking Su Yunze. She was worried that the little guy might be too eager to get her incense-making tools back and might weakly admit that he was the one who hit the person. So she said to Qin Huaiyan, "I'm in a lowly position, and no one will listen to me. General, you can let Xue Ping identify the person. Xue Ping was the one who was hit, so he'll definitely remember very clearly who hit him! To be honest, if someone bullied me, I would hold a grudge for life. Even if they turned to ashes, I would still remember what they looked like."

Qin Huai stared at Su Yunxi's face, then looked at Xue Wenying, "Go and ask Xue Ping to recognize her."

Liu Shun couldn't help but let his mind wander again, wondering if the general had bullied her and she held a grudge against him. His heart was in turmoil, but the general remained unmoved, showing no doubt about what happened back then...

Xue Wenying immediately went to her grandmother's side. Since Xue Ping was beaten, he had been in a bad mood for the past two days. Even after Wang Guirong and Su Yunze arrived, Xue Ping didn't look at them. Xue Wenying put her hand on Xue Ping's shoulder and said gently, "Ping'er, open your eyes and look downstairs. Was it that little brother who hit you?"

Xue Ping grunted in response and mumbled, "Auntie, my eyes hurt so much, I can't open them at all."

Xue Wenying immediately comforted her, "Just take a look. If he hit you, don't worry, we'll expel him from school right away, and you won't be bullied anymore."

Great-grandmother patted Xue Ping's head and said, "Good boy, just take a look. Open the uninjured eye slightly to see."

Xue Ping was terrified of being beaten and was extremely unwilling to see the people who had hit him. His family had to coax him for a long time before he reluctantly opened one eye to look down at the hall. He immediately saw Su Yunze peeking out from behind Su Yunxi.

Xue Cheng immediately broke into an innocent smile, and the boy with the black eye exclaimed happily, "Isn't this Brother Yunze, the best student in our school? Oh my, it's Brother Yunze! Brother Yunze has come to visit me! I'm so happy!"

Everyone looked at each other in surprise, and they could actually hear the admiration and respect for Su Yunze in Xue Cheng's words.

Xue Ping excitedly opened her injured eyes, ignoring the pain, and tried her best to testify for Su Yunze: "Great-grandmother, grandmother, parents, aunt, it wasn't Brother Yunze who hit me. He even taught me at school. The one who hit me was another boy. That boy was bad at his studies and was spoiled at home. He was transferred to our class through connections from a bad class. I don't remember his name. He was always bullying people. Brother Yunze even stopped him from bullying others at school."

The truth came out immediately.

Madam Xue said, "So it turns out that this stepmother is heartless, taking advantage of the fact that these two siblings have no father to support them, and she's also taking advantage of the children's eye injury and their fear of not being able to see. It's clear that if a woman entrusts her life to the wrong person, even her children will suffer. That Lord Su seems so handsome, how could he be so wicked?"

Su Yunxi breathed a sigh of relief, her eyes red, as if she had survived a disaster. If her younger brother had been wrongly expelled from school, it would have been adding insult to injury.

As for her father's reputation, she didn't care.

However, even after resolving this matter, Su Yunxi would inevitably face her father's reprimand upon returning to the Su residence. Thinking of this, Su Yunxi's lips paled. She wondered what kind of scene awaited her at home. These days truly seemed endless.

Su Yunxi said, "The one who hit the person is Su Miao. This is Wang's biological son."

Qin Huai stared at Wang Shi with a serious expression.

Wang's face was ashen.

After thinking carefully for a moment, Xue Wenying said to Qin Huaiyan, "Su Liangdi has flaws in her character. As the saying goes, 'One is influenced by one's company.' Although her brother has excellent grades, his character is questionable. I'm thinking, why not expel him from school along with Su Yunze? This way, we can ensure that the friends Xue Ping makes are all upright people."

Su Yunxi's heart, which had just been at ease, was now in suspense again. If Qin Huai held a grudge against her for betraying him back then and wanted to make her brother drop out of school in accordance with Xue Wenying's temperament, then she would immediately clarify that she had not betrayed him and expose his shameful act of using her. She would fight him to the death, and at worst, she would even file a lawsuit with the emperor. In short, she would not let her brother be deprived of his education.

Qin Huai frowned, looking at Xue Wenying. "I don't think it's necessary. What happened between Su Yunxi and me has nothing to do with Su Yunze, nor with your nephew. Besides, it's not a good thing for you to spoil your nephew like that. He'll have to come into contact with all sorts of people in this world."

Seeing that Qin Huai hadn't implicated her brother because of her situation, Su Yunxi wondered if she had thought too badly of him. Ultimately, she couldn't impulsively ruin his reputation, so she suppressed the urge to fight to the death. But why had he shown her leniency...?

Xue Wenying's expression turned unpleasant after being turned away.

Qin Huai glanced at Liu Shun, "I've given you face. You pleaded for leniency for her brother, so I'll do it for your sake."

Su Yunxi's face immediately turned pale as she remembered how she had used her own money to help Liu Shun's family pay off their debts. She also understood why Qin Huai had shown leniency.

Liu Shun hurriedly bowed and expressed his gratitude, "Thank you, sir, for giving me face."

Xue Wenying was finally relieved. It turned out that Liu Shun had pleaded for Su Liangdi's brother out of consideration for their past relationship, which was why Qin Huai had shown mercy.

Qin Huai had already made the decision for her nephew, so she couldn't be too unreasonable and appear to want to get rid of Su Yunxi, which would make her seem petty. Therefore, she suppressed her temper and said with a smile, "You're right. I was too cautious and shouldn't have been so paranoid. It's better to raise a child to be a little more resilient."

As he spoke, he glanced at Su Yunxi out of the corner of his eye.

Su Yunxi pursed her lips, deciding not to search for any trace of Qin Huai's concern for her between the lines anymore. Every time hope arose, it was followed by disappointment, a truly unpleasant experience.

Xue Wenying glanced at Qin Huai again. In the past, when he protected his favorite toys, he also asked others to protect them under various pretexts. Could it be that he was avoiding suspicion in front of her and actually protecting Su Liangdi? Was she thinking too far ahead?