At this moment, another girl tugged at her aunt’s sleeve and spoke softly, “Aunt, please don’t blame your two younger sisters. They’re just like this, accidentally blurting out what’s on their minds.”
However, her aunt was not swayed. “This is no place for you to speak. Keep your mouth shut.”
Upon hearing this, the girl began to cry, “Wuwu, I was wrong. Wuwu, I was too hasty.”
Anyone could see she was putting on a show, but her aunt’s two daughters fell for it. “Mother, why are you scolding Cousin? It was we who said it, so please don’t blame Cousin.”
Her aunt was almost infuriated to death by these two foolish daughters, who were being used as pawns and still losing money for others.
“Enough talk, let’s eat.”
The two daughters immediately fell silent.
Ye Qingcheng had initially expected them to mock Xiao Wangye with their words, but upon hearing her aunt’s admonishment, she found it difficult to say anything further. However, this girl, she felt, was not simple, and even her aunt seemed to dislike her. httpδ:/m.kuAisugg.nět
Ye Qingcheng asked her supposed father, “Father, the woman who is crying, why haven’t I seen her before!”
Her supposed father was busy drinking with his elder brother and hadn’t noticed her. Upon hearing who she was referring to, he smiled and explained, “That’s your cousin. But she’s your cousin’s cousin, so you should still call her cousin.” After explaining, he returned to drinking with his elder brother.
Ye Qingcheng understood, but was still puzzled. “Cousin? But I don’t remember my aunt having any sisters. Or sisters of her own.”
Ye Qingcheng had not intended to ask her question quietly, so Ye Father’s voice was heard by them all.
At this point, Ye Lanxin was on the same page as Ye Qingcheng, as she also disliked this woman.
“Ye Qingcheng, are you stupid? That’s the daughter of a concubine’s daughter.”
“Oh!” Ye Qingcheng suddenly realized. “So that’s how it is! I was wondering, my aunt is the legitimate daughter of the family, and her elder brothers are the legitimate eldest sons. There are no legitimate younger sisters below her. So…”
She didn’t finish her sentence, but she had understood everything.
Ye Lanxin chimed in from the side, “Exactly! The daughter of a concubine’s daughter, a relative several times removed, clings and attaches herself, impossible to get rid of. It’s disgusting.”
Ye Lanxin wanted to continue, but her mother tugged her sleeve, “Why are you still talking about this? Eat.”
Ye Lanxin then ate with impatience.
Ye Qingcheng, however, was curious. Someone who made Ye Lanxin hate her so much, what had this girl done?
Ye Qingcheng seemed to suddenly remember something, picked up a dish, and put it in her bowl. She then looked up at the girl and said, “But I’m a bit curious, why are you sitting here? This is a family banquet.” She pointed to the main tables at the very front.
The Ye family had many members, so one table couldn’t accommodate them all. The brothers and sisters sat at another table, and the rest were Ye family relatives.
The girl’s face turned pale.
“I… I’m also a… relative, aren’t I!”
Ye Lanxin retorted mercilessly, “A relative? Hah! Several times removed. If people know, they’ll think it’s a family banquet. If they don’t, they’ll think you’re being charitable to the poor!”
The girl started crying again, “You, you girl, how can you speak so unkindly? No matter what, my mother and your aunt are sisters.”
Ye Lanxin was momentarily speechless, because this woman was not wrong, and it was difficult for her to embarrass her aunt.
“May I ask your surname!”
The girl’s pained expression froze, her tears hanging there, about to fall but not quite.
“You say your mother and my aunt are sisters, but you have no relation to our Ye family. After all, my aunt was brought into the Ye family with great fanfare and gifts, bearing our Ye family’s daughters and sons. But your mother, I don’t know about her.”
Ye Qingcheng looked at her tears that seemed poised to fall and let out a laugh, then picked up another dish.
“Look at everyone here, who doesn’t have the surname Ye?”
The girl’s face turned pale, and she felt a tightness in her chest, unable to breathe easily.
Ye Qingcheng felt she had made her point. She decided to let the two cousins see for themselves what kind of person their beloved cousin was.
These words also resonated with her aunt. Back then, the unfavored daughter of the Ye family had married the Regent. Everyone said the Regent was crippled, but no one ever thought that one day the Regent would wield great power.
Her own family had already benefited from this. But then, her concubine sister had such great ambition, constantly seeking to get close to the Ye family. Now, at the Ye family’s banquet, she even wanted her father to tell her to bring the concubine sister’s daughter along to the Ye family.
Once she entered, it was as if she had taken root in the courtyard, consuming and using without restraint. That was already enough, but now she was shamelessly seated at the head table.
And she was instigating her daughters to criticize the Prince in front of the Princess Consort.
What immense audacity!
Ye Qingcheng had initially thought to teach her a lesson with words, to make her clearly understand that this was the Ye family.
But she had not expected her to burst into tears.
“Wuwuwu, fine, it’s all my fault. It’s my fault for not knowing etiquette, for daring to visit my Ye family as a guest. It’s all my fault, I… I’ll leave now…”
This immediately frightened the two cousins.
They quickly stopped her, “Sister Sisi, don’t go, you haven’t done anything wrong.”
“Exactly!”
But this Sister Sisi wouldn’t listen and insisted on leaving.
The two cousins couldn’t stop her, and turned to ask their mother to persuade her. However, they saw her eating, drinking, and occasionally Ye Mother even serving Ye Qingcheng dishes. Only one or two Ye family relatives glanced at them before continuing to eat with their heads down.
The entire process felt like they were putting on a play, incredibly awkward.
Now, Cousin Sisi cried even harder.
Crying and shouting, she insisted on leaving, finally drawing the attention of her old father and elder brother.
“What… what is happening?”
Her brothers at the neighboring table also turned to look, only to see Sisi weeping profusely. One of them stood up and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Ye Lanxin, annoyed by her crying, slammed her chopsticks down.
Sisi was startled, and now she stopped crying, or rather, she was about to cry.
Ye Lanxin was a legitimate daughter, raised in luxury from childhood. She simply disliked Sisi’s behavior of shedding a few tears and portraying herself as a victim to gain sympathy.
“Cry, cry, all you do is cry. You do nothing but cry all day. Earlier, before the meal even started, I just didn’t want you to enter my room, and you cried, making it seem like I owed you something. Now you’re crying again, it’s so annoying.”
Ye Qingcheng suddenly understood. No wonder when someone belittled her, Ye Lanxin would retort and defend her. It turned out this young lady had already offended her!
Tsk, tsk, it seemed this girl didn't realize she had just offended her helper.
Upon hearing this, Cousin Sisi cried even more sorrowfully.
Ye Lanxin found it irritating, “So noisy.”
Those two cousins were also brainless. Upon hearing Ye Lanxin say this, they felt unhappy.
“We haven’t offended you, have we!”
“Exactly! Cousin is crying so sadly, and you’re still saying that about her. Is your heart made of iron?”