"Nonsense! Nonsense!"
Ye Jueyao was so angry that her face turned bright red, and she sobbed uncontrollably.
"Mother, she's lying... Daughter would never do such a thing."
Qian Fangxue comforted Ye Jueyao while secretly giving a look to Nanny Hao.
Ye Pengcheng's face darkened, and he thundered,
"Bold Taoist nun! Do you know that the person you're slandering today is the daughter of an official? Spreading rumors out of thin air and ruining someone's reputation. I can have you punished for this!"
Ye Xi sneered,
"Lord Ye, you're wrong. There are numerous witnesses in the capital to attest to my 'fortune - telling' skills. The results I've obtained have never been wrong. It was Lady Ye herself who invited me here today. She must be aware of my abilities."
"Since what I've discovered is the truth, how can it be considered slander?"
With a sudden harshness in her voice, Ye Xi said sternly,
"Could it be that just because the result is not what Lord Ye wants, Lord Ye is going to use his power to force me to change my story!"
"You..."
"Lord Ye."
Grand Tutor Cao, who had been silent until now, interrupted Ye Pengcheng directly. At this point, there was no need for further explanation.
This betrothal had been wrong from the start.
"Now the matter is clear. It's your family's business, and I won't interfere. However,"
Grand Tutor Cao stood up from the wooden chair in the main seat and slowly walked towards the screen.
A man in his sixties, upright all his life, who had never bowed down even in the presence of the current emperor, slowly bent his back, which had never been hunched, and bowed slightly towards Jiang Ning disguised as Ye Xi.
Both Cao Dexiu and Ye Pengcheng rushed forward in shock to support him.
"Father!"
"Grand Tutor Cao!"
Cao Dexiu and Ye Pengcheng exclaimed in unison.
Jiang Ning behind the screen, who had been pretending to sob sadly, was so shocked by Grand Tutor Cao's bow that she almost fell off her chair. She got up in a hurry to avoid it and said repeatedly,
"Grand Tutor Cao, you mustn't do this. It's really too much for me. I can't bear it."
Grand Tutor Cao just waved his hand to stop Cao and Ye from coming to support him. He said stubbornly,
"Since my useless grandson has treated Miss Ye so badly and let her down, as the saying goes, 'like father, like son'. I, as his grandfather, am definitely to blame. So I'll apologize to Miss Ye on behalf of my useless grandson first."
"Father, you..."
Cao Dexiu was so shocked by his father's solemn apology that he didn't know what to say.
His father was a veteran statesman of three dynasties and the teacher of the former emperor and the current one! He didn't even need to bow when meeting the emperor. Ye Xi was just the daughter of a second - rank official and a junior. How could she bear such a grand apology!
Ye Pengcheng also didn't expect that Grand Tutor Cao really liked Ye Xi so much. He had thought that Grand Tutor Cao just took care of Ye Xi because of her saving his life back then. Who would have thought that he would bow and apologize to Ye Xi in public for such a trivial matter!
He could only chime in on the side,
"Grand Tutor Cao, you mustn't."
Ye Xi unconsciously clenched her fists, and her eyes grew slightly moist.
She had never expected any reward when she accidentally saved Grand Tutor Cao back then. Later, Grand Tutor Cao and she had a very pleasant conversation and became almost like friends of different generations. He would always think of her when there was something good. That sincere love was much more real than that of her fake parents.
But now, because of Cao Sheng's incident, her relationship with Grand Tutor Cao could never be the same as before.
Grand Tutor Cao ignored the two men and stood up straight again. He continued,
"Originally, Miss Ye saved my life. Later, I liked Miss Ye's personality very much and thought it would be a good story if our two families could form a marriage alliance. But I never expected that my eldest grandson has such a poor character. He is not a good match for a wonderful young lady like Miss Ye."
"Since this good match can't be made, today I'll make a decision again in front of everyone. The marriage between our Cao and Ye families..."
"Amitabha! I'm late."
A loud Taoist chant suddenly rang out at the door, interrupting Grand Tutor Cao's words about breaking off the engagement.
Everyone turned their heads to look. There stood a Taoist nun dressed exactly the same as Ye Xi, with almost the same figure. Behind her was a young Taoist nun who looked almost the same as Saixing.
Qian Fangxue's eyes lit up: Here they are!
Ye Xi finally understood why Qian Fangxue didn't suspect anything when she saw the change of her attendant today. Instead, she couldn't hide her smile. It turned out that she had been waiting for this moment.
The change of Saixing beside her had just given Qian Fangxue a handle and provided her with an advantage.
Pretending to be puzzled, Qian Fangxue angrily said,
"Nanny Hao, who is this? Can't you see we're busy here? What are you doing bringing someone in at this time?"
Nanny Hao knelt on the ground with a "thud" and said fearfully,
"Madam, please forgive me. Just now a servant came to report that there was a Taoist nun outside. She claimed... she claimed..."
Nanny Hao deliberately glanced at Ye Xi, looking very uneasy.
"Claimed what? Just say it. Don't be so hesitant!"
Ye Pengcheng also pretended to be dissatisfied and scolded.
"Yes, yes." Nanny Hao was startled and immediately became more articulate.
"She claimed to be the Immortal Manping and said that she had an appointment with Madam to come to the mansion for 'fortune - telling' today. Unfortunately, something delayed her, so she's only here now. I originally thought she was just someone trying to use the name of the Immortal to cheat some money, so I wanted to send her away."
"But, but she was very confident and even repeated the words Madam said when she made the 'fortune - telling' appointment. Now there are two Immortal Manpings. Thinking that today's matter is of great importance, I didn't dare to make my own decision. So I had to bring her in and ask the lords to make a judgment."
After saying that, she kowtowed heavily and knelt on the ground.
It was almost like saying directly that Ye Xi was the fake Immortal Manping.
The situation in the room suddenly changed -
Jiang Ning was shocked and subconsciously looked at Saixing. Saixing also didn't expect this turn of events. They exchanged a look through the gauze curtain, and thin sweat broke out on both of their hands.
Cao Dexiu quickly helped his father back to his seat.
Grand Tutor Cao sized up the fake Taoist nun carefully. Unfortunately, he had never interacted with the Immortal Manping, so he couldn't tell which one was real. He could only hold back his words for the time being and wait for the truth to come out.
"What? Is there really such a thing!"
Qian Fangxue looked extremely surprised, as if she really knew nothing about it. Her suspicious eyes scanned back and forth between Ye Xi and the fake Taoist nun.
Ye Jueyao immediately perked up and shrieked,
"Bold thief! How dare you impersonate the Immortal Manping and ruin my reputation and innocence!"
"Mother, she," Ye Jueyao grabbed Qian Fangxue's arm and pointed at Ye Xi, "Everything she said just now is a lie. It's all fabricated out of thin air! Daughter almost died unjustly at the hands of this evil Taoist nun... Woo - hoo..."
"Very well..."
Ye Pengcheng turned around and sat back in the main seat. He slapped the rosewood table with a "pop" and roared,
"Now even swindlers dare to come to my mansion. Guards! Arrest this audacious nun!"