"So that's how it is," Liang Pan replied respectfully, his status incomparable to the other. "Yes."
Unfortunately, this did not earn him a pleasant look from Xiao Muqian. He snorted and said to him, "It seems the rules of the Liang family have been forgotten. You are merely a third-rank family, while Miss Bai is the daughter of a Prime Minister, and her mother is the Princess Wenyi. Furthermore, she is to be the future second mistress of my Kang Wang Manor. Such conduct, do you not put the Prime Minister's Manor and the Kang Wang Manor in your eyes?"
After this tirade, Bai Siruo, who had been stunned by the side, came back to her senses and was overjoyed. In the past, she had disdained using status to suppress others, but Xiao Muqian's words had thoroughly crushed the Liang family's arrogance. It was exhilarating!
In terms of status, Xiao Muqian naturally had the best background among them all, and no one dared to provoke him. In terms of official position, they were still commoners, while Xiao Muqian was already a general of the fifth rank. From any angle, they dared not confront him directly.
Liang Luo was so enraged that smoke billowed from his seven orifices, but he was suppressed by those around him, unable to utter a word.
Liang Pan was quite adept at assessing the situation. If the other party used status to pressure them, and they continued to argue, the Liang family would only suffer. If this affected the marriage with the Wei family, it would be a loss that outweighed the gain.
Swallowing his anger, he said to Xiao Muqian, "Young Master Xiao speaks too harshly. I was merely anxious for my wife's safety. I hope you can forgive any offense caused."
Liang Luo watched his brother's spine soften and his eyes blaze, but he too had to lower his head. Just as Xiao Muqian had said, they were merely a third-rank family. They could not afford to offend the Wei family, and similarly, they could not afford to offend the Kang Wang Manor.
"The person Young Master Liang should apologize to is not me, but Siruo. As for Miss Liang, considering her youth and ignorance, she should simply bow and apologize to the Feng siblings. Only then will this general let the matter rest."
Everyone present understood the underlying threat. The Liang siblings' faces turned black. Apologizing to Bai Siruo might be possible, but apologizing to the Feng siblings, Liang Luo would rather die than bow.
As expected, she stiffened her neck and stood there. Liang Luo simply tore off the pretense, "Young Master Xiao, I know you have a noble background, but you cannot bully people like this. You only ask us to apologize? On what grounds? Did they not say unpleasant things?"
"Oh? Unpleasant? This general doesn't think they were speaking anything but the truth?"
Liang Luo almost spat out a mouthful of blood in anger. If the occasion had been different, Bai Siruo would have applauded.
If nothing else, Xiao Muqian's blatant favoritism tonight made her look upon him with much higher regard.
She was not one to cause trouble, and her feud with Liang Luo was due to multiple reasons. But his unwavering support for her, without questioning, was truly touching.
She turned her head and looked at Xiao Muqian for the first time with serious attention. Indeed, as her family had said, he was a rare scholar-general, much like her second uncle.
At the same moment, Xiao Muqian felt Bai Siruo's intense gaze. He lowered his head to look at her and smiled faintly, his eyes filled with a calming power.
Seeing the way they were, Feng Jinyao truly felt at ease and entrusted Bai Siruo to Xiao Muqian.
Xu Mingyue pondered deeply and felt that the deep animosity between the two parties was ultimately due to her breaking off the engagement with the Liang family. Rather than letting the feud deepen, it was better to clarify things today.
"Young Master Liang, the marriage between us that day was merely a matter of parental decree. There was no affection between us, yet I believe I never overstepped any boundaries. You know the reason for the broken engagement. I sincerely wish you well in your union with Miss Wei. However, I do not understand why your sister is so difficult. I do not know what I have done to offend her to the point of such jealousy, and to implicate my friends as well. Let us clarify things here today."
Each word was spoken with power and conviction. The passing crowds and the lively atmosphere made their grievances seem insignificant, yet Xu Mingyue's words struck like a hammer, making people dizzy.
"I never harbored feelings for you, so I bore no resentment for the broken engagement. Let the past between us end here. You discipline your sister and do not cause further trouble, otherwise, I will show your Liang family whether they can bear the condemnation of the world!"
Liang Pan was completely devastated by her words. He had heard that Xu Mingyue had been bedridden after the broken engagement and had thought perhaps she had some affection for him, thus he had always felt guilty.
To his surprise, she had never taken him to heart, and he suddenly felt ridiculous.
Looking at Xu Mingyue, his eyes held an indescribable emotion, neither love nor hate, but a sense of shame at being trampled underfoot.
Upon hearing her words, Liang Luo immediately said to her brother, "See, I told you she's not a good person. She never put our Liang family in her eyes at all. It's good that your engagement with her is over, otherwise, marrying such a bitch home, who knows how she would ruin the Liang family!"
From the very beginning, she had looked down on Xu Mingyue's aloof and unapproachable demeanor. It was just that her brother was soft-hearted and always felt that the Liang family had wronged the Xu family, and that he had wronged Xu Mingyue.
Now that everything was clear, her brother should give up hope.
As soon as she finished speaking, before she could add anything else, she was slapped, causing blood to appear at the corner of her mouth and her face to swell up high. She now lunged at Xu Mingyue, who had struck her, as if she had gone mad.
However, Feng Er twisted her raised arm with a counter-move, causing her intense pain.
This scene happened too quickly. By the time everyone reacted, Liang Luo had been slapped and her hand was twisted to the point of near breaking. Xu Mingyue, on the other hand, looked at her as if she were trash and said slowly.
"I forgot to mention, before the New Year, I submitted a document to Wenjin Academy. The letter of appointment for a tutor, personally drafted by Dean Wang, is at home. In other words, my current identity is a female tutor at Da Jin's Wenjin Academy. Miss Liang's casual insults like 'bitch' and 'thing' towards me have indeed given me a good excuse. Tomorrow, after the court convenes, I believe the censors in the Imperial Censorate will surely present my case to His Majesty."
This statement exploded like thunder in front of everyone.
Wei Lanxuan, for the first time, felt admiration for this former "love rival." She had not expected her to become a tutor at Wenjin Academy!
If not for this barrier, she would have sincerely wanted to befriend Xu Mingyue, but unfortunately...
To de-escalate the situation, she could only proactively smooth things over for the Liang family. "Miss Xu is magnanimous. Sister Liang was merely speaking out of anger. Why bother the censors to discuss such a trivial matter?"