Chapter 31

“What? The emperor was alerted?!”

When the Xiao siblings arrived at the residence, a guard had already returned to the residence and informed Madam Xie beforehand. Madam Xie rushed out anxiously to receive them.

Seeing Xiao Baoshu’s face that had become swollen beyond recognition, her heart ached so much that tears were about to fall.

She did not have the schemes of an aristocratic family, nor did she have the connections of an influential family. When she heard that her son had been ganged up on by young masters of aristocratic families, she was already at her wits’ end. She could only ask the guards to scout for information. How would she find a way to know about the movements within the palace?

At that moment, when she heard Xiao Baoxin’s words, Madam Xie was scared out of her wits. Her heart ached and her tears were reduced to dust. A wave of raging anger rushed to her head.

“You prodigal! Good-for-nothing! Why did you even alarm the emperor? What should we do? Your father isn’t around, and there’s no one to take responsibility! You even implicated your sister to be captured into the magistrate office. Do you still have a heart? You’ve completely ruined the reputation of your eldest sister!”

Madam Xie was furious. She went up to Xiao Baoshu and gave him a few slaps. Xiao Baoshu didn’t have a good spot around him. After being hit by Madam Xie, he cried out in pain and ran away with a few steps.

“Mother, don’t listen to the rumors. We’ve alarmed the emperor, but the emperor is on our side! He beat up all the young masters from the aristocratic families, but they didn’t even touch a single hair on us. They brought us back out the exact way they sent us in.”

“— The emperor even praised my sister. Like father, like daughter! If you don’t believe me, ask Sister!”

Madam Xie’s eyes were still filled with tears. She had hit her son so hard that her hand hurt.

“Mother, let’s go into the residence first.” Xiao Baoxin hesitated for a moment before going forward to hold Madam Xie’s arm. As expected, her mother’s heart was filled with waves of messages. She was almost deafened by them again.

It was nothing more than complimenting the emperor’s wisdom and not venting his anger on the Xiao family.

Followed by a wave of scolding for Xiao Baoshu.

Then, just as Xiao Baoxin was considering whether she should remove her hand for the sake of her own ears, Madam Xie’s inner voice suddenly stopped. Then, she heard Madam Xie trying her best to hide her sniffling.

Looking up, Madam Xie’s eyes were red.

“Mother, it’s alright now…” Xiao Baoxin comforted her softly.

“I heard.” Madam Xie tried her best to control her breathing. She was afraid that she would lose control of her emotions and burst into tears, making herself a joke in front of the servants in the residence.

“There are people from the Yuan family in the fight… What about your marriage…?” By the end of the sentence, she started sobbing again.

“Why is Baoshu so worrisome!? If not, doesn’t he want to become a monk? It seems good to send him to the Daoist temple or Buddhist temple first. He can stay there for a year or so. Let him come back when you are married.”

Xiao Baoxin was speechless.

In such a complicated situation, she could still think of her marriage. She was indeed her biological mother.

In order to prevent Madam Xie from losing her cool, Xiao Baoxin helped Madam Xie all the way back to the main courtyard. Once they entered the room, she immediately dismissed everyone. Before the door was closed tightly, Madam Xie let out a cry and could no longer control her tears. Xiao Baoshu was so frightened that he forgot to dodge and suffered a few punches.

Although it didn’t hurt, the beating was baffling.

“Mother, I’m really not to blame for what happened today. It was those people who slandered my sister and the Yuan family. They also said that my sister is not worthy of Yuan Chen, that our family is from the lower class that is not even worthy to carry the shoes of their great family!”

“What? They really said that?”

Madam Xie was furious. Her tears were gone, and she retracted her fist. She gritted her teeth. “Who is my daughter not worthy of? Shameless! If they are looking down on us, we might as well annul the marriage!”

“Marriage annulment!”

Madam Xie shouted agitatedly. If it weren’t for the fact that it was already late, she would have gone to the Yuan family’s residence to return the betrothal gift. Even so, she still hurriedly called for people to come in and instructed them to find the wedding gift list from the Yuan family that day. Then, they loaded all the items on the list into a carriage in preparation for the annulment the next morning.

Xiao Baoxin was excited. When she had this intention, it didn’t work out. But it eventually happened unintentionally.

Oh my, was the annulment really going to happen because of Xiao Baoshu’s antics?

“Mother, are you serious?” Xiao Baoshu looked even more agitated than her. His face, which was as swollen as a pig’s head, had an expression that was so exaggerated that it hurt. “That’s great! What’s with the Yuan family? They haven’t even married yet, and they dare to insult my sister in public. Wouldn’t they go overboard once she marries?!”

Madam Xie’s anger made Xiao Baoshu even angrier.

“That’s right. Back then, they said it better than they sang it. I only thought that their family was different, but in the end— what kind of people are they, actually despising my Bao’er in front of so many people! Bah, Baoshu, you did well in this matter! If someone bullies your sister, you have to be a real man!”

Look at how badly their family’s man had been beaten up!

Xiao Baoxin forcefully suppressed these words in her heart. Such a big thing like marriage had already been annulled as she wished. What else did she have to say?

Xiao Baoshu was a huge contributor!

“Thank you, Baoshu!”

At this moment, Xiao Baoshu felt proud and elated. He thought that he would at least be beaten up, but who knew that he would not be able to predict his family member’s thoughts!

Women were really hard to understand.

“It’s more intolerable for them to insult my sister than me! My Sister, she’s not that pretty, her personality isn’t that good, her hands aren’t that black— no, I mean my sister has both literary and fighting talent. Whereas Yuan Chen only writes poems all day as if he’s eating, how can he be worthy of my sister?”

Hearing this, Madam Xie nodded her head repeatedly. Whoever said that her daughter wasn’t good was a complete idiot.

Because her daughter was indeed good. If he said she was bad, wouldn’t that be lying through his teeth?

If they had talked about her son, she could still tolerate it…

“Baoshu, what are you going to do with your face? Oh my god, my darling. My dear Bao’er, who did this to you? My heart aches so much.” Madam Xie finally thought of her son, who had been walking in front of her with a pig’s head, and her heart ached terribly. “Quickly call the doctor over and pay three times the medical fee. Hopefully they hadn’t hit you too hard.”

“Mother, for my sister and you, this is nothing.” Xiao Baoshu said obediently.

Xiao Baoxin could tell what he was acting obediently for even without touching him. He thought that he was smart enough to escape trouble as he initially thought that he would be beaten up when he got home.

She did not know if this kid was a fool or not. He had already been beaten up like this. How insane must his family members be to beat him up again and worsen his injuries?

Back then, when her mother gave birth to him, did she leave his brain in her stomach and give birth to placenta instead?

However, even though she was complaining, it would be a lie to say that she was not touched. He might not dare to challenge the rich and powerful— Xiao Baoshu usually thought that his family was already rich and powerful.

The young masters of aristocratic families outnumbered and bullied him, but Xiao Baoshu did not cower. He would rather be beaten than let others look down on his sister. Xiao Baoxin felt that she did not dote on Xiao Baoshu for nothing.

Even though her way of showing affection was different from everyone else’s— others would use their heart, but she would even beat his flesh.

One would only hit if they were close and scold if they cared. If she did not beat or scold him, he would really become a scourge!