CWTGD Chapter 8 - This little haitang is quite fierce

Xie Yin's face flushed red with embarrassment, accentuating the two slap marks on his cheeks, making it even harder for him to contain his shame and anger.

Song Shulan, seeing Xie Yin's reddened eyes, couldn't help but speak up from the side: "The princess is a noble person, how can she keep calling others 'wretches'?"

"Moreover, Brother Yin didn't know his sister would get into trouble. It was her stubbornness that hurt him, so he sent her back to the temple for reflection. How can the princess not distinguish right from wrong and just hit Brother Yin..."

Slap!

The Princess of Cheng backhanded her across the face: "Who do you think you are, to dare call my son 'brother'?" (T/N: I just love Princess Cheng so much)

"What, is forcing your way into the Song family not enough for you? Now you want to climb into the Cheng Royal Mansion as well?!"

Song Shulan's ears buzzed, her head ringing.

Xie Yin quickly supported the staggering girl and stood protectively in front of her: "Mother, this is my fault. It was my lack of consideration that led to Tang Ning's injury, but this has nothing to do with Shulan. She never hurt Tang Ning, and she is kind-hearted and never competes with others. It was Tang Ning who was aggressive..."

"Shut up!"

The Princess of Cheng sneered, "If she truly didn't compete with others, she would have known her place and stayed at the Song residence instead of flaunting herself. If she really cared for Tang Ning, she wouldn't have dragged you all to abandon her on that mountain, nearly costing Tang Ning her life."

"But..."

Xie Yin wanted to speak, but Song Tang Ning, who had been quiet all this time, suddenly spoke up: "Young Master Xie."

Xie Yin whipped his head around: "What did you call me?"

"Young Master Xie."

Song Tang Ning looked at Xie Yin's somewhat incredulous face, as if she found her calling him this way unreasonable, wearing an expression of deep pain and frustration.

Suddenly, she felt disgusted.

Tang Ning lowered her eyes to hide a cold smile. When she looked up again, her gaze was icy: "Young Master Xie keeps saying I'm aggressive, but how have I ever pressured Song Shulan?"

Xie Yin frowned, looking at the once-clingy girl who used to call him 'cousin' while acting spoiled and mischievous. Now, her face was cold as she looked at him.

"You're my cousin..." he began.

"I don't dare to climb the noble kinship of the heir."

Xie Yin was cut off, almost choking on his words. He held back his anger and said, "Tang Ning, don't be like this. I know you've been wronged, but let's talk about it when we get back..."

"Why should we go back?"

Tang Ning was unyielding. "I have nothing to hide, and nothing I can't face. If Young Master Xie is so confident, why fear confronting me in public?"

"Tang Ning!"

Xie Yin, frustrated by her stubbornness, grew angry. "Stop being so willful."

Song Tang Ning's eyes turned cold.

There it was again, telling her not to be willful.

She had heard enough of that in her previous life.

Her voice sharpened: "When I reason with the Young Master, he calls me willful. If I were truly willful, would he accuse me of being arrogant and unreasonable?"

"A person must live righteously, with a heart as straight as their actions, able to stand tall and be proud. A gentleman should have no shame before heaven and uphold justice."

"If Young Master Xie is truly without guilt, open and honest, and believes you have never wronged me, that the mountain incident was not your fault, then why do you use the word 'willful' to silence me? Or does the Young Master already know he's in the wrong, but is relying on our kinship to force me into submission?"

"I am not!"

"If not, then what are you afraid of?"

The room fell silent, except for Xiao Yan, who let out a mocking laugh.

He watched the young girl, like a fierce, clawed cat, rendering Xie Yin speechless, amusement dancing in his eyes, even curving his lips into a slight smile.

Song Tang Ning seemed to take this as encouragement, subconsciously straightening her back, imitating Xiao Yan's cold and commanding demeanor when she first met him.

"You keep saying I bullied Song Shulan. So, tell me, Young Master Xie, what have I done in the past six months since she arrived in the capital that makes you think I bullied her?"

"You..."

Xie Yin opened his mouth to speak, but his mind was blank.

He had seen Song Shulan crying several times at the Song residence. When he asked, she would hesitate and, when asked if she was being mistreated, she would only shed tears. Moreover, whenever Song Shulan interacted with Tang Ning, she always seemed timid and teary-eyed, while Tang Ning often lost her temper.

So, Xie Yin subconsciously believed that Tang Ning had bullied Song Shulan.

But now, when asked how exactly Tang Ning had bullied her, he couldn't think of a single thing to say.

Tang Ning sneered at his silence: "What, has Young Master Xie gone mute?"

Xie Yin opened his mouth, full of embarrassment: "How would I know what you did at the Song residence? But you've definitely bullied her; otherwise, why would she cry every time she mentions you?"

"Shulan's life has been hard. She lived in poverty before and finally returned to the Song family. She is also your elder sister. Why wouldn't you treat her kindly? Why must you be so aggressive, making her unable to even enter the second house's courtyard and forcing her to stay in the main house instead?"

"Isn't it because she wanted to cling to Song Jin Xiu that she stayed in the main house?" Tang Ning sneered. "Besides, why should I treat her kindly? What makes her my sister? She's nothing but..."

"Tang Ning!"

Song Shulan's heart skipped a beat when she heard Tang Ning's words. Seeing that Tang Ning was about to say something she shouldn't, she interrupted her in a panic, tears streaming down her face.

"I know you don't like me, and I know I shouldn't have returned to the Song family. I shouldn't have touched the lady's eternal lamp, and I shouldn't have begged Brother to take me to Lingyun Temple. You don't like me, so I'll avoid you in the future."

"You and I are sisters by blood, both part of the Song family. Now that Father is gone, only the two of us remain in the second house. We should take care of each other. Don't say things in anger. Uncle and Grandmother will be angry if they find out..."

Song Tang Ning looked at that tear-streaked face, the once high-and-mighty woman whose tears could once bring her to ruin.

Even now, she still wanted to use Old Lady Song and Song Hong to pressure her?

She actually dared to mention my father? Where does she get the nerve?

"I never speak out of anger; I just want the heir apparent to understand that I, Song Tangning, have never wronged you, Song Shulan!"

Sitting in the carriage, Song Tangning showed no trace of softness, only a look of disgust.

"Half a year ago, you followed Third Uncle back from Anzhou, claiming to be my father's bloodline left outside. You brought with you the love letters my father exchanged with your mother during their brief affair, crying that your mother had died and you had nowhere to go."

"You knelt in the mansion and begged, saying you just wanted a place to stay. I took pity on you and agreed. Uncle and Grandmother, to protect the Duke's household's reputation, forced me to tell others that you were the daughter of a good servant who served my mother."

"I initially didn’t want to argue with you and pitied you for not being able to choose your birth. I followed Uncle’s and Grandmother's words and allowed you to pose as a concubine-born daughter to enjoy the status of a noble daughter in the Duke's household. But you shouldn’t have treated me like this."

Song Shulan's mind went blank, as if it had exploded.

The entire front hall of the Qian family was in an uproar.

Xie Yin couldn't believe it: "What nonsense are you talking about? An illegitimate daughter?"

"Has Song Jinxiu never told you? Song Shulan's birth mother was never a good servant by my mother's side and was never even admitted into the Song household."

Xie Yin quickly turned to look at Song Shulan.

"I'm not, I'm a concubine-born daughter of the Song family..."

"Then do you dare to go to the authorities to check your mother's registration records? And do you dare to bring out her concubine admission documents?"

Song Shulan's face turned ashen at Tangning's questions.

Ever since she returned to the Song family, everything had gone smoothly. Song Hong and the others allowed her to pose as a concubine-born daughter of the second household. Song Tangning, being soft-hearted, eventually agreed after some persuasion. There was no one else in the second household to challenge her status. As long as Tangning believed her identity, the others wouldn’t bother to investigate her mother's background or prepare the necessary documents to formalize her concubine status.

Now, all these things were becoming hard evidence against her.

To the onlookers, Song Shulan's guilty appearance left no doubt—she truly was an illegitimate daughter posing as a concubine-born daughter.

Xie Yin gritted his teeth in anger and shouted, "You lied to me?"

"I didn't..."

Song Shulan reached out to grab Xie Yin's sleeve, but he harshly brushed her off.

"You’re an illegitimate daughter?!"

He looked at the tear-streaked face before him, his previous affection completely gone.

Xie Yin had liked Song Shulan for her gentle and kind nature, sympathizing with her difficult past, but only under the assumption that she came from a respectable background and was genuinely kind-hearted and simple. Yet, she had lied about something so significant.

A shameful, illegitimate daughter of unknown origins, and he, the heir apparent of the Cheng Prince's residence, had treated her like a treasure.

He didn’t even need to look up to feel the mocking gazes surrounding him.

He could already imagine how today's events would spread, how people would laugh at him.

Xie Yin felt his anger boiling over. "You wretch!"

Song Shulan's face drained of all color. "Brother Yin..."

"Don't call me that!"

Xie Yin, full of disgust, shook off Song Shulan's hand that tried to grab him. "Tangning, I didn’t know..."

He wanted to explain, to say he didn’t know Song Shulan's true identity.

But Song Tangning only looked at him with contempt, showing no intention of giving him any leeway. "Then, Cousin, you’re truly foolish."

"You!"

"Being deceived by a cheap woman is foolish, being tricked by Song Jinxiu is even more foolish, and standing up for someone without knowing the truth is the height of foolishness."

Xie Yin's face alternated between green and white with anger.

Seeing the people around him suppressing their laughter, their shoulders shaking, he turned and stormed off in fury and shame.

Xiao Yan leaned his head on his hand, his long lashes casting a shadow as a smile spread across his face.

This little Haitang is quite fierce.

—----

T/N: Xiao Yan eating melon seeds and admiring his wife
You can read ahead to chapterr 100 here

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