The Duke of Qian said, "If you've done wrong, you must admit it. Regardless of the Third Prince's attitude, you have to accept it."
With him and Old He accompanying her, even if the Third Prince was angry, he wouldn't make things too difficult for her.
Under the Duke of Qian's oppressive gaze, Xie Jiang had no choice but to nod obediently.
Xie Jiang picked up her teacup, took a sip, and stared blankly into the distance.
She was wondering just how far she had gone.
Had she taken off Xia Rongyu's clothes? Had she left him his pants?
Did those witnesses happen to see it, or had she really gone feral and pushed him down in front of so many people?
The fact that Yi Yanting hadn't strangled her on the spot out of jealousy was proof of true love.
She had wronged him.
She would have to appease him properly later.
Xia Rongyu was quite to her taste, but she had only met him once and didn't know how difficult he would be to win over.
No matter how difficult, she wasn't afraid. Xu Hengyan was almost within her grasp, and Yi Yanting was already within reach. It would just take patience and a bit more effort.
The Duke of Qian suddenly asked her, "You and Young Master Yi seem to be on good terms?"
Xie Jiang casually replied, "We hit it off immediately. We're sworn friends."
The Duke of Qian said sternly, "No matter how good the friendship, you still need to apologize."
"Hmm?" Xie Jiang raised an eyebrow.
Had she zoned out and missed something? She didn't quite understand.
Marquis Yongxin nodded in agreement, "I heard that when Young Master Yi left your residence yesterday afternoon, his face was so dark..."
The Duke of Qian glared at her, "Speaking of which, Young Master Yi saved your life. Yet you repaid his kindness with ingratitude while drunk! You..."
Xie Jiang was truly shocked, "Huh? Huh? Huh?"
The Duke of Qian said, "Are you pretending to be like this, or do you genuinely not remember anything?"
Xie Jiang was utterly bewildered, "I've only gotten drunk once, and I pushed over the Third Prince. Did I do anything else?"
Marquis Yongxin exclaimed, "Fortunately, you've only gotten drunk once. If you got drunk again, you'd turn the heavens of Da Yu upside down."
The Duke of Qian eyed her suspiciously, "You were delirious from drunkenness that night, so it's understandable. But Young Master Yi didn't leave your residence until noon the next day! How could you not know what you did?"
As he spoke, the Duke of Qian suddenly remembered something, "I heard you had a high fever earlier. When did it break and you recover?"
Xie Jiang said, "Last night."
Marquis Yongxin pointed to his head, "No wonder you don't remember anything. Your brain must have been addled by the fever."
Hearing them say this, Xie Jiang couldn't help but wonder if she had done anything else before regaining her senses.
But she truly couldn't recall anything. Her memory was completely blank.
Xie Jiang decided to give up and adopt a laissez-faire attitude, crossing her legs and smoothing her robes, "Just tell me what else there is."
Marquis Yongxin sighed, "Alas, you..."
"You two said Yi Yanting saved my life. Did I do something treasonous?"
Xie Jiang's mind was flooded with a jumble of chaotic images. Had she cursed the emperor to his death in public, or had Yi Yanting stopped her from causing trouble at Yuanyou Palace?
Unexpectedly, Marquis Yongxin was referring to something else entirely, "It's said that Young Master Yi arrived in time to rescue the Third Prince, who was on the verge of death and had been ravaged, from the jaws of a tiger, from your hands."
Good heavens, what ridiculous adjectives! Couldn't a dignified marquis read more books!
Marquis Yongxin felt his description was perfectly accurate. Which word was inaccurate? "The Third Prince has had lingering health issues for years. He hasn't been well. Then he met someone like you, a beast in human clothing... If Young Master Yi hadn't rushed over and dragged you away, who knows what would have happened to the Third Prince? The Third Prince's seating arrangement at the banquet shows how much the Emperor values him. If something had happened to the Third Prince at this time... You tell me, didn't Young Master Yi save your life?"
Xie Jiang was full of doubt, "I don't remember, but how could I be so, so..."
She had gotten drunk, not taken drugs! httpδ:/m.kuAisugg.nět
But in Marquis Yongxin's eyes, she was clearly a brute. "Several people saw it with their own eyes. It's said even the Third Prince's beloved dog was barking frantically in fear because of you. How could they be wronging you?"
"..."
It sounded like she was a bit of a beast.
"You two didn't see it with your own eyes. What's said by others is always exaggerated. Perhaps it was just a minor scuffle."
The Duke of Qian said, "It might be a minor scuffle for someone else, but for you..."
The Duke of Qian let out a cold laugh.
"Don't you think it perfectly fits your usual behavior?" Marquis Yongxin stated definitively, "This matter absolutely cannot be a misunderstanding!"
Xie Jiang thanked him for his unconditional trust, "Is this how you see me?"
Marquis Yongxin nodded, "You are."
Then he continued to look at her with disdain, "Young Master Yi probably never imagined that after rescuing the Third Prince from your clutches and kindly sending you back to the Marquis of Nanhai's residence to prevent you from causing more trouble in the palace, he would end up falling into a tiger's den himself."
"This is exactly what 'repaying kindness with enmity' means!"
"Eh? Eh? Eh?"
Why did it sound like she had done something to Yi Yanting too?
Even though they had rolled around on the bed, she hadn't even taken his pants off. Did that count?
If she said Yi Yanting was willing, or that Yi Yanting was half-hearted...
They wouldn't believe her.
Marquis Yongxin said, "What 'eh'? I've lived this long, and I've seen many people with poor alcohol tolerance who can't hold their liquor. But this is the first time I've seen someone with such a terrible attitude when drunk."
Marquis Yongxin pointed at her, his finger trembling, "You, you are truly brazen and worse than a beast!"
The more Xie Jiang pondered it, the more something felt wrong. "I don't remember what happened with the Third Prince at the time, so do whatever you want. But I didn't do anything to Yi Yanting. I..."
Had she misunderstood? Did Yi Yanting push her into the lake not because he was angry seeing her push Xia Rongyu, but because he was resisting her?
Being pounced on instead of saving someone in front of everyone on Jade Pot Island, that seemed a bit hard to accept.
"Did Young Master Yi leave your residence with a dark expression yesterday afternoon?"
"Yes."
"Was Young Master Yi angered and driven away by you yesterday afternoon?"
"Yes."
She couldn't deny this, even though it was completely untrue.
Marquis Yongxin concluded, "Then that's that. What more do you have to argue?"
The Duke of Qian said, "You are forbidden from drinking alcohol from now on. Not a single drop."
Xie Jiang gave a cold, sidelong glance, "As if I wanted to drink. Who insisted on dragging me to drink? I had already hidden with Young Master Song, and you still dragged me back?"
The Duke of Qian's old face was filled with embarrassment, "It was me, it was me..."
Xie Jiang then looked at Marquis Yongxin.
Marquis Yongxin said, "You didn't say earlier that you were like this when drunk! If you had said so, who would have drunk with you! We would have avoided you like the plague when you even touched a wine glass!"
Xie Jiang said softly, "I never touched alcohol before."
Marquis Yongxin choked, "We were wrong, we were wrong."
The Duke of Qian cleared his throat, "Since Young Master Yi is friendly with you, he should know your character well and understand that you were acting out in a drunken stupor, not intentionally being malicious or offensive. You should apologize to him properly in a few days."
He then added, "Don't wait for a few days. Do it tomorrow."
He paused and changed his mind, "If you can make it, the afternoon is fine too. It's best to settle such matters early to show your sincerity."
Xie Jiang sighed sadly, "I'll try to go over tonight, or perhaps tomorrow. I need to give him some time to calm down. Appeasing people is tiring."