Before Xie Tianci could say another word, he was dragged out of the banquet hall, flanked on either side by Marquis Jing'an and his wife.
As they departed, Marquis Jing'an bowed repeatedly with cupped hands, his face pale with rage. He muttered that he was deeply sorry for today's events and would certainly bring gifts to apologize in person another day.
Xie Tianci was led away in a daze. The speech he had prepared—publicly expressing his distaste for well-bred young ladies and pinning the entire blame for the annulment on Su Jinyu's temperament, making her the one who was criticized and cast aside—had now backfired completely.
He had thought "Su Jinyu" would cry, beg, or shrink behind her elders in silence. The one thing he had never expected was for her to kneel down and deliver those words, each one as sharp and solid as a nail.
The noble ladies in the hall, who had originally been waiting to enjoy a spectacle at Su Jinyu's expense, had now shifted the focus of their gossip entirely onto Xie Tianci.
Some lowered their heads to hide their smiles behind their handkerchiefs, while others held their teacups, slowly blowing on the floating tea leaves. The mocking look in their eyes had shifted from "watching the Su family's daughter make a fool of herself" to "watching how the heir of the Xie family would salvage this mess."
Nearby, a lady dressed in a navy-blue robe lowered her voice and whispered to her companion, "That heir of the Xie family does indeed spend his days idling away in pleasure quarters. I heard that just last month, he got into a massive brawl with someone at Zuixian Tavern over a courtesan... What the Su family's daughter said is absolutely right, in my opinion."
The other lady chimed in, "Exactly. Count Jing'an's Manor is truly finished by his generation. To think he has the nerve to say he doesn't care for a well-bred young lady—he should take a look at his own wretched behavior first."
"Su Jinyu" had already sat back down beside her grandmother. Her grandmother, Madam Qian, held her hand and gently patted the back of it. Though the gesture was light, it carried immense relief and gratification.
Her maternal grandmother, the Marchioness of Weiyuan, also leaned over and whispered, "Well said. The daughters of our Marquis's manor should never have to endure such humiliation."
"Su Jinyu" curled her lips into a slight smile and set her wine cup back on the table.
Seated further down, Su Qing'er kept her head lowered. Her fingertips pinched her own skin hard inside her sleeve, clutching her handkerchief so tightly it became completely deformed, yet she did not let go.
Every cold shoulder and mocking glance Xie Tianci received before the crowd at this moment felt like a thorn bent backward and driven straight into her own fingertips.
As she stared at the elegant and serene profile of "Su Jinyu" seated at the head of the room, the smile she had been barely forcing finally vanished entirely. The corners of her mouth flattened, and her entire face stiffened as if her throat had been suddenly choked off.
...
"Su Jinyu's" reputation spread rapidly throughout the capital.
Within a mere three to five days, the events of the annulment had spread to every noble household. Some praised the eldest young lady of the Su family for remaining calm in the face of crisis, her every word carrying weight and conviction. Others colorfully described Xie Tianci's stiff, cornered expression as he stood in the middle of the hall, unable to advance or retreat.
Whenever the matter was brought up, most people would remark, "The eldest Miss Su truly possesses the grace of a great family; she is countless times better than that useless heir."
However, a few families still clung to the annulment in their private gossip, whispering that although she handled herself decisively, she was ultimately a woman whose engagement had been broken. No matter how good her reputation was, she would inevitably remain a topic of idle chatter.
"Su Jinyu" did not care about those whispers.
She had grown up by her grandmother's side, trained since childhood in how to manage a household and how to maintain her standing and dignity before others.
She could not control what others said; she only needed to know what she herself ought to do.
Yet, one thing had struck her as odd—during the banquet that day, when Xie Tianci publicly annulled the engagement, his gaze had darted past the crowd toward the lower seats several times. Though brief, it had been distinct.
At the time, she had not thought much of it, assuming he was merely looking around randomly out of nervousness. But thinking back on it now, every single time his gaze had settled, it had been near the direction of Su Qing'er's seat.
She made no fuss, but secretly sent her most trusted personal maid out to investigate.
When night fell, the maid returned with a stack of papers tucked inside her lapel. When she placed them on Su Jinyu's desk, the sheets still carried a damp chill, as if they had just been retrieved from some hidden, damp corner.
"Su Jinyu" trimmed the oil lamp to make it brighter and flipped through the pages one by one. The further she read, the colder her expression became.
The letters were not particularly long, but the intimacy and secret appointments woven between the lines were unmistakable—Xie Tianci inviting Su Qing'er to meet behind the rockery in the garden, Su Qing'er replying, "What if Sister finds out? What should we do?", and Xie Tianci writing back, "She won't notice." The dates had begun a year ago, continuing off and on right up until the annulment.
"Su Jinyu" placed the final letter back on the desk, her fingertips resting on the edge of the paper as she paused.
As a legitimate daughter raised by her grandmother to the standards of a future matriarch, she had known her future position and responsibilities since childhood.
She was willing to be generous to those below her, and could even tolerate her father favoring his concubines. But for a concubine-born sister to carry on a clandestine affair with her legitimate elder sister's betrothed was no longer a mere lapse in etiquette—it was trampling the order of legitimacy underfoot.
It was grinding her entire dignity and pride into the dirt. As a legitimate daughter of a prestigious family, how could she possibly swallow this insult?
She folded the stack of letters, tucked them into her sleeve, stood up, and pushed open the door to head toward Madam Wu's courtyard.
The night wind blew against her face, lifting the stray hairs at her temples before letting them fall. As she walked beneath the covered corridor, her back was perfectly straight and her steps decisive. Her entire being exuded an unyielding, inviolable dignity that came from her very bones.
The lanterns hanging from the corridor swayed gently in the wind. The light and shadows flickered across the ground in sync with her steps, casting her shadow long behind her.
A quarter of an hour later, the lights flickered to life in Madam Wu's courtyard. Su Jinyu stood at the courtyard gate without entering, merely instructing a servant to pass word: "The Eldest Miss has arrived."
A moment later, Madam Wu emerged from the house to welcome her, wearing only an outer robe draped over her shoulders, looking as though she had already retired for the night but had been called back up.
She saw "Su Jinyu" standing in the glow of the corridor lanterns, her sleeves slightly gathered, her expression calm yet frosty. Though she held nothing in her hands, her mere presence carried a sense of aloofness that forbade any disrespect.
Madam Wu's smile faltered slightly as she drew closer and caught sight of Su Jinyu's expression, though she maintained her warm tone. "Jinyu, coming over so late... is there some urgent matter?"
"Su Jinyu" stood in place and stared at her for a moment. When she spoke, her voice was not loud, but it echoed clearly in the quiet corridor. "Regarding Su Qing'er's clandestine affair with Heir Xie... how much does Auntie Wu know?"
After finishing her question, she fell silent. Her eyes locked onto Madam Wu's face, which was rapidly draining of color, and she did not offer a single word of explanation.
The night wind swept through the corridor, tilting the hanging lantern at an angle. The light and shadow shifted slowly across the ground between the two women, then came to a standstill.
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