"In my old opinion, this Shen Ke isn't a good person either! Maybe the reason he approached our Third Miss is the same as with his former fiancée – he's after our Third Miss's dowry!"

"I suggest we call off the engagement between Third Miss and Shen Ke, and drown this pair of ill-intentioned scoundrels in a pig cage!"

"Drown them! Drown them!"

The crowd erupted as the Second Elder shouted.

He shuddered, furious. "Second Elder, you can't just spout nonsense without proof!"

"You want to kill people without evidence? This is a disregard for human life!"

"Oh, so you're saying you and Qin *do* have an affair, we just haven't caught you with any evidence?"

*Pfft*...

You had to admit, this Second Elder was quite the talent.

Yu Qingwu almost burst out laughing.

She glanced subtly at Shen Ke, whose face had gone pale, and Qin, who was both shocked and terrified.

Everyone around them turned to look at them upon hearing those words.

Even Song He seemed to have been led astray.

He had quietly let go of Qin Yiliu's hand at some point.

Seeing Song He's reaction, Qin Yiliu's tears flowed even more freely. She gazed at Song He with tearful eyes, her voice affected as she sobbed, gasping for breath, and questioned him with an air of deep affection, "Song-lang, what does this mean? Could it be... could it be that you also suspect me? I didn't! I'm not that kind of person!"

"If you aren't, then why would your two friends say such things?"

Song He was fond of Qin Yiliu. Compared to his original wife, she was gentle and virtuous, and she admired him. Unlike his overbearing and fierce wife, who always overshadowed him.

In front of Qin Yiliu, he felt a sense of dignity as a man.

Of course, it must also be said that Qin Yiliu was even more beautiful than his wife.

He used to think that Qin Yiliu was gentle, knew how to please, and was beautiful and capable, making him proud to take her out.

But at this moment, he felt utterly humiliated because of her.

If she was really as Xie Bai had said, then her previous affair with Shen Ke was true! Not only was she cheap and wanton, but she was also treating him like a fool!

Thinking of this, Song He was consumed with rage.

He pushed Qin Yiliu away with force as she tried to approach him, and roared at her in anger.

"Qin Yiliu! It wouldn't matter what anyone else said! But Xie Bai! He's someone you know in the capital! He was trying to protect you in every way!"

"But too bad, he was a little stupid and flaunted your dirty past as if it were something to be proud of! Showing off how capable you are, how good you are at seducing men!"

"You! You're nothing but a slut for anyone to sleep with!"

"And you! You adulterer! I'm going to kill you!"

Seized by fury, Song He suddenly lunged at Shen Ke like a madman.

Shen Ke was just a weak scholar; how could he be a match for him?

With that solid punch, Shen Ke immediately coughed up blood.

But he wasn't willing to be beaten without fighting back. He raised his hand to strike Song He, but Song He simply picked him up and slammed him to the ground.

"Ah! My back!"

"Enough! Isn't it chaotic enough already?"

As Shen Ke screamed, Song Yan, who hadn't spoken until now, suddenly opened his mouth.

He slammed his palm heavily on a nearby rock and roared at the chaotic crowd, "What are you all yelling about? Do you think I'm dead?"

Song Yan's voice was extremely loud. His earth-shattering roar instantly silenced the restless crowd.

The crowd scattered with a bang. Several elders retreated, looking at each other, all bewildered.

Even Song He was so frightened that he immediately stopped and retreated with clenched fists.

Only Shen Ke was left, clutching his bloodied mouth and trembling on the ground.

Qin Yiliu was also shaking, leaning against a nearby rock, tears streaming down her face.

When she looked at Song Yan, her eyes were filled with extreme fear, and even more extreme despair and hatred.

Song Yan glared at her coldly, his eyes filled with anger, but he didn't say a word.

He just closed his eyes, suppressed his emotions, and turned to look at Song Yilan, who was standing beside him, and asked, "Alan, what do you think? Do you... want to break off the engagement with this Shen Ke?"

In fact, although Song Yan valued Shen Ke, he wasn't too willing to marry Song Yilan to this womanizer.

As a man himself, he knew Shen Ke's character too well. However, because his daughter was deeply in love with Shen Ke, he hadn't stopped it, thinking that with him as her father, and later with so many older brothers, Alan wouldn't be bullied by Shen Ke.

Secondly, if she didn't marry Shen Ke, Alan could marry into a powerful family and choose a husband a thousand times better than Shen Ke, and also bring benefits to the Song clan.

But, the headache was that his daughter had always been obsessed with Shen Ke, and he was afraid that if the engagement was broken off, she would try to kill herself again.

Therefore, he first asked Alan.

At this moment, Song Yilan was extremely disgusted with Shen Ke and Qin Yiliu, and naturally wished they would die sooner.

However, they were also right. If they took their lives without any evidence, it would naturally be difficult to convince the public. In addition, Qin Yiliu was now well-known in Qingzhou, and the name of the Holy Maiden had some credibility among the people.

Therefore, from the beginning, her plan, along with Sister Yu and that Xie-lang jun's plan, didn't involve letting these two die here.

Moreover, her father wasn't a fool. Even if she said she wanted to break off the engagement, he wouldn't easily take their lives.

She wanted to take revenge on them, but not by having the Song Chieftain disregard human life, and certainly not by letting Xie-lang jun and Yu Niangzi be implicated.

Boiling a frog in warm water was the most terrifying revenge.

Thus, in Shen Ke's expectant gaze.

Song Yilan opened her mouth. She turned her eyes, looked at Shen Ke deeply, then looked at Song Yan, and said, "Father, Shen Ke-gege is right, we can't disregard human life without evidence!"

"Furthermore, Xie-lang jun just said that the Prime Minister's wife misunderstood Qin-jiejie's matter."

"Besides, even if... even if it's true, it's a thing of the past. Qin-jiejie has made great contributions to us. We should treat it as atonement and not take her life."

"Moreover, Shen Ke-gege has always respected Qin-jiejie as a relative. If she dies, Shen Ke-gege will definitely be sad."

"I... I don't want Shen Ke-gege to be sad."

As she spoke, Song Yilan wiped away her tears, as if she really couldn't bear to see Shen Ke sad.

Seeing this, Shen Ke immediately breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly crawled to Song Yilan on his hands and knees, prostrating himself at her feet like a beggar, and said 'sincerely', "Alan, I am innocent with Qin Yiliu! You must believe me!"

Hearing this, Song Yilan's tears welled up even more. She looked at Shen Ke with a distressed expression and replied, "Shen Ke-gege, of course I believe you, but Father and the elders probably don't, so you have to prove it to them, prove that you and Qin-jiejie are indeed innocent."