“What?” Hearing this, Xu Zhilan glared angrily at her daughter, “Xue Lan, how could you do such a thing? It’s too much.”
Qin Xue Lan’s heart skipped a beat. No wonder she hadn’t heard any news from A Ling these past few days. Had they been discovered?
However, without concrete proof, she couldn't admit it.
“Mom, how is that possible? Si Ye is my own nephew. Why would I monitor him? Don’t listen to malicious gossip.”
“Whether I’m speaking nonsense, Madam Su knows best. If you don’t admit it, I can call Butler Liu right now to bring that maid here to confront you,” Yin Xi stared at her with cold, sharp eyes.
Qin Xue Lan scoffed, “Who do you think you are? Speaking so boldly. Don’t think that just because you’ve been staying at Xing Lan Bay for a few days, you’re actually the young mistress of the Qin family. Si Ye hasn’t acknowledged your status yet. You are merely the mother of the Qin family’s child, and you could leave at any time. Don’t think too highly of yourself. It’s not your place to interrupt when Qin family members are speaking. Go aside.” Her overbearing tone was filled with mockery and disdain.
Jiang Jie glanced at Yin Xi’s flushed face, feeling incredibly pleased. At this moment, Xu Zhilan’s cane suddenly struck the ground, “Xue Lan, what rubbish did you just say? I think you’re the one who should shut up. It seems you’ve been home, but you’ve truly been incorrigible, your temper and personality unchanged.”
“Mom, I…” Qin Xue Lan finally realized she shouldn’t have said those words in front of her mother. But she was cornered; only by speaking that way could she dominate that woman in terms of presence. As long as Qin Si Ye didn’t say he would marry her, she would have no standing in the Qin family.
Unexpectedly, the next moment, Qin Si Ye suddenly took Yin Xi’s hand and calmly said loudly, “Almost all the Qin family members are here today. I solemnly announce a piece of news to everyone: Yin Xi is not only the mother of my child but also my fiancée. I want to spend my life with her.”
Upon hearing this, the reactions of everyone in the hall immediately varied greatly. Xu Zhilan and Qin Xiu Yi’s faces instantly lit up with smiles, and they repeatedly congratulated the couple. Qin Xiu Zhi was startled at first, then calmly picked up the tea from the coffee table and took a sip. His attitude was clearly much more amiable than before.
The ones with the most unpleasant expressions were Qin Xue Lan and Jiang Jie. They exchanged a glance, lowered their heads, and remained silent. Yin Xi, on the other hand, had mixed feelings. She never expected Qin Si Ye to choose this moment to say this in front of the Qin family. Meeting his gentle gaze as she lowered her head, Yin Xi’s eyes couldn’t help but redden. She smiled at him, and the man’s grip on her hand tightened. He then turned to look at Qin Xue Lan and said, “My dear aunt, do you still think Yin Xi doesn’t have the right to speak here?”
“I…” This question rendered Qin Xue Lan speechless.
Qin Si Ye continued, “Do you think you can get away with it just by not admitting it? I had Butler Liu personally send the maid named A Ling to the police station. Didn’t you find it strange that you haven’t received any messages from her these past few days? Oh, I forgot, the Su family had an incident, and you’ve been quite busy these past few days, perhaps too preoccupied to care about this matter.”
After hearing his words, Xu Zhilan looked at Qin Xue Lan, furious, “Xue Lan, it really was you. You’ve disappointed me so much. How could I have given birth to such a hypocritical, cunning, and sinister daughter? It’s truly a sin.”
“Mom, I…” Qin Xue Lan’s face turned bright red. Suddenly, her eyes darted around as if she had thought of something. She pointed at Qin Si Ye and sternly asked, “Si Ye, when Su Rui and Cheng Yu had their incident, did you do it to them?”
Qin Si Ye sneered, not denying it, “That’s because they did too many wrong things themselves, bringing it upon themselves. I merely assisted the police in finding some evidence. Originally, for Grandma’s sake, I didn’t plan to hand over that evidence to the police so quickly. I wanted to give you all a chance to reform. But you reached your hand into Xing Lan Bay, completely crossing my bottom line, forcing me to do so.”
After finishing this long speech, he coughed a couple of times. At this moment, a servant handed him a cup of water. Qin Si Ye took a few sips and felt a little better.