Ignorance!

After the banquet, Old Madam Zhang gave a eunuch from the Princess Royal Residence some silver and asked him to go to the front yard and see if Wang Deshui was there.

The eunuch took the silver, went to the front yard, circled around, and came back to tell her, “Master Wang had already left before the banquet started.”

Upon hearing this, Old Madam Zhang’s heart sank. It seemed that Princess Royal had learned about the secret meeting between Xie Wan and Master Wang.

But that doesn’t make sense. If Princess Royal knew about it, why would she still treat that wicked girl who seduced men so kindly?

The more Old Madam Zhang thought about it, the more she felt that the wicked girl must have given Master Wang some aphrodisiac, causing him to leave early.

Thinking this way, Old Madam Zhang felt relieved and stood in the outer room, waiting for Xie Wan.

Not long after, Xie Wan arrived with slow steps, accompanied by one of the Princess Royal’s maids.

Old Madam Zhang quickly walked over when she saw her, smiling at the maid and saying, “Thank you for bringing my unfilial granddaughter here. Please convey my thanks to the Princess Royal.”

The maid raised an eyebrow and glanced at her. In ordinary families, an elderly woman would at least refer to herself as “this old woman,” but she addressed herself as “my.” She also didn’t use a respectful form of address for the princess. She truly didn’t know proper etiquette!

The maid didn’t respond to her words and turned to Xie Wan, giving a curtsy. “This servant will take her leave.”

Xie Wan bent her knee in return. “Thank you.”

Old Madam Zhang was ignored by the maid, and anger welled up inside her, but she didn’t dare to explode. She waited until the maid left, then turned to Xie Wan and confronted her directly, “What’s the matter with you, you wicked girl? Where is Master Wang?!”

Xie Wan glanced at her, frowned, and whispered, “Grandmother, do you really want to discuss Master Wang’s matters here with me?”

People around them looked over, and Old Madam Zhang snorted lightly. “Wicked girl, we’ll settle the score when we get home!”

With that, Old Madam Zhang turned around and left with the maid by her side.

Xie Wan glanced at her retreating figure and calmly followed her, getting into the carriage with her.

As soon as they sat down in the carriage, Old Madam Zhang’s words, along with some spit, came pouring out, “What’s the matter between you and Master Wang? What about the Princess Royal?!”

Xie Wan wiped the spit off her forehead and looked at her calmly. “It’s nothing. After you left, Master Wang tried to force himself on me, but he was luckily seen by the Prince, who rescued me and informed the Princess Royal. Oh, and both Princess Royal and the Prince personally told me that the man you call Master Wang has reached the end of his career.”

Old Madam Zhang immediately started cursing, “You troublemaker! I knew it. Bringing bad luck wherever you go! It was your good fortune that Master Wang took an interest in you, but how... how can you be so ignorant? Now that he’s lost his official position, what about the matters concerning your two uncles?!”

Their matters had nothing to do with her.

Xie Wan sneered, “If Grandmother thinks I’m a troublemaker, why not follow the two uncles? A woman should follow her husband. When he dies, she should then follow her son. There is no son of you in Marquis Residence.”

“Spit!”

Old Madam Zhang spat on the ground, “You want to drive me away so that you can monopolize Lin’er’s salary and the assets of the Marquis Residence? Dream on!”

Xie Wan knew she would say that.

In fact, the Marquis Residence of Yongyu Marquis has no industries at all. Her father came from a rural background and was granted the title of Yongyu Marquis by the former emperor due to his remarkable military achievements. From the ennoblement to his death, it has only been a little over ten years.

The foundation is not deep and coupled with her mother’s gentle nature, although she manages the household expenses, she has very little to take care of while pregnant and giving birth. Gradually, the assets of the Marquis Residence became the private property of her two uncles. Apart from the rental income from the three shops, the entire residence now relies solely on Xie Lin’s salary to sustain itself.

As for her mother’s maternal family, they only came once when her father and mother passed away, and they haven’t visited since then.

The current Marquis Residence can be said to be nothing more than an empty shell.

Old Madam Zhang saw that Xie Wan didn’t speak and thought that she had hit the mark. She immediately snorted coldly and said, “Let me tell you, don’t think that you’re in control of the family now. Filial piety is more important than anything else. No matter how ambitious you are, you still have to get married! The Marquis Residence still has to carry the surname Xie!”

Xie Wan looked at her coldly. Her grandmother, even though she had received an imperial decree and had spent over ten years in the capital, character and behavior were no different from those village women who constantly cursed at the village entrance. She couldn’t understand why, after being influenced for more than ten years, she hadn’t made any progress.

“What kind of look is that?!”

Old Madam Zhang glared at her, “After the incident at the Princess Royal Residence, the Princess must have rewarded and comforted you, right? Where are the things?!”

Xie Wan sneered at her words and directly opened her arms, letting her have a clear look, “Grandmother, do you think there’s anywhere on me that can hide things?”

Actually, she did have something.

She hid Li Yu’s personal jade pendant and some silver pieces in her sleeve. Those silver pieces were originally intended to bribe the servants of the Princess Royal Residence to inquire about Li Yu’s whereabouts. But it turned out that she didn’t need to use the silver at all.

But she knew that Old Madam Zhang wouldn’t search her, because in Old Madam Zhang’s eyes, with the incident that happened to her, the Princess must have thought she was a seductive vixen and casually gave her something to dismiss her. Old Madam Zhang was the kind of person who would always judge others based on her own standards, thinking that everyone was the same as her.

Moreover, Old Madam Zhang didn’t dare to.

After all, she had suffered a loss at her hands before.

Sure enough, Old Madam Zhang didn’t search her, but her gaze wandered around her neckline, seeing that it was flat, and her waist was not swollen. Only then did she give a slight snort and withdraw her gaze.

She looked at Xie Wan and said, “You, after all, had an incident at the Princess Royal Residence. Even if you shed some tears and make a fuss, you shouldn’t have left empty-handed.”

Upon hearing this, Xie Wan didn’t even have the energy to mock her. She coldly laughed and said, “And then? The Princess Royal thinks I’m unworthy and completely disregards me. Then all the important officials and nobles present today will know that I was almost defiled by Wang Deshui. Do you want me to marry him?!”

Upon hearing this, Old Madam Zhang was stunned. She frowned and said, “That’s naturally not possible!”

Without an official position, what help could Wang Deshui provide for her two sons?

It would be better to send Xie Wan to be a concubine for someone else than to make her the wife of Wang Deshui!

“What a good thing. How did it get seen by Prince Ning?!”

Old Madam Zhang glared at Xie Wan, “It’s all because you don’t know what’s good for you! If you knew what’s good for you, how could today’s incident have happened?! Isn’t it good to be the wife of a third-ranking official? Do you have to be happy only if I marry you off to someone poor?!”