Then let us divorce.

As soon as these words fell, the entire hall was thrown into utter astonishment.
She had actually gone ahead and married someone right here in this manor?!

Xie Yuanju was also taken aback by her unexpected move, staring at the dimples on her cheeks while lost in thought.

Xun Cheng gazed at their intertwined hands, and murderous intent began to gather in his eyes.
His heart felt tightly squeezed, sending a sharp, sudden pang of pain through his chest.
A surge of overwhelming emotion threatened to drown him, urging him to recklessly shatter this eyesore of a scene.
He had only laid eyes on her once, yet such a fierce sense of possessiveness toward her had already taken root.

Hearing that the two of them had already performed the wedding ceremony, his voice turned chillingly cold. "Then get a divorce!"

He simply did not care that she had already married someone else. A mere servant—how could such a person ever be worthy of her, and how could he possibly compare to him?
Once she was with him, he was confident that her eyes would hold only him from that moment on.

Accustomed to being domineering, he refused to spend even another second watching Xie Miaoxuan's gaze linger on Xie Yuanju's face.
He commanded in an overbearing tone, "Someone, gather all the young lady's belongings from her room and bring them back to the Marquis's estate."

With a swift reach of his long arm, he grabbed Xie Miaoxuan's arm and yanked her forcefully out of Xie Yuanju's embrace.
Caught completely off guard by the pull, Xie Miaoxuan fell backward, about to tumble right into his arms.
A sharp pain in her hand came from Xie Yuanju, who was tightly gripping it.
Something dark and volatile was about to burst forth from the depths of Xie Yuanju's pitch-black eyes.

She quickly shot a warning glance at Xie Yuanju, urging him to endure and keep his temper in check.
His expression was terrifyingly grim, and she truly feared he might fly into a rage and beat this heir apparent to death on the spot.
She had no wish to clash with the imperial court just yet. With the heir having brought so many men, she had zero confidence in her ability to protect Xie Yuanju from a thousand troops if he were to kill the noble.

Understanding the signal in her eyes, Xie Yuanju clenched his fists until they cracked. He held back, and held back again, finally stopping himself from striking, but his large hand kept a death grip on her.

Stuck between the two men in an awkward, teetering posture, Xie Miaoxuan desperately suppressed the urge to kick Xun Cheng and silently counted down in her mind.

Not a single member of the Xie clan stepped forward to stop this madness; every last one of them remained as silent as quails with their beaks cut off.
Xie Yuan even stood by, inwardly waiting for Xun Cheng to throw his tantrum.

At that moment, a soft and melodious voice abruptly rang out.
"What a bold and arrogant heir! Disregarding all propriety and the law, demanding a virtuous woman divorce her husband and remarry just like that."

Everyone turned to look.
He Ya came swaying gracefully into view, held closely in Shi Chong's arms.

"I had originally thought the rumor about the heir being a jade-like gentleman in the capital was true, but it turns out to be false. To attempt to forcibly seize a commoner's daughter in broad daylight under the bright sun—this certainly opens my eyes."

He Ya murmured to Shi Chong beside her, though her voice was loud enough for everyone present to hear. "You are the commander of the Forbidden Guard. Is this how you usually condone such lawlessness among your subordinates?"

Xun Cheng's trusted aide stepped inside with a bitter, constipated look on his face.
He had never imagined that this elusive Commander of the Central Guard would suddenly show up in the northern suburbs, let alone right here at the manor.
He had been stationed outside under orders from the Chief Commandant, under strict instructions that not even a fly was allowed to enter, yet he had been completely unable to stop Shi Chong.

Although Shi Chong usually acted with utter disregard for convention, he was nonetheless the direct superior of the Southern Army. Guarding the courtyard entrance, the commandant simply had no power to stop him.

He Ya raised an eyebrow at Xun Cheng with a coy smile. "Chief Commandant, aren't you going to let go of the young lady?"

"And if I say no?" Xun Cheng stood unyielding.

"Head of the Clan, have you been out of circulation for too long, to the point where your subordinates now look down on you? Or perhaps my words mean nothing at all to the Chief Commandant?"

He Ya's voice dripped with honey, sweet enough to make anyone's heart tremble.
Xie Miaoxuan shivered slightly, silently marveling that this was the true definition of alluring and devastatingly charming.
Her voice alone was enough to turn a man's legs to jelly.
She herself couldn't even compare to a fraction of that charm.

Shi Chong felt his bones melt from her sweet call, and his masculine pride welled up instantly. "Xun Cheng, I order you to let go of the Xie family's young lady. Are you going to ignore my commands as well?"

His gaze swept over the Forbidden Guards behind Xun Cheng. Those who had intended to seize Xie Miaoxuan or head toward her bedchamber hesitated, exchanging uneasy glances and halting their movements.

When immortals fight, little demons suffer.
One was his direct superior, and the other was the superior of his superior; neither side could afford to be offended.

Xun Cheng looked at Shi Chong with a half-smile for a moment, then leisurely loosened his grip.
"How could that be? I still have to listen to the Commander's words."

Yet, even as he said this, he suddenly leaned in close to Xie Miaoxuan's ear, whispering like a phantom, "You cannot escape."

It sounded like a devil's whisper.
With that, he straightened up, crossed his arms, and retreated to the background.

Xie Yuan's eyes narrowed dangerously at her sudden movement.
In his mind, he had already listed a hundred and eight ways for this person to die.

Though Xun Cheng had temporarily backed down, the clan elders were even less inclined to abandon the idea of bringing Xie Miaoxuan back to the estate. A young lady who had just arrived in the capital from a remote, barren land had not only managed to catch Xun Cheng's attention, but had even drawn Shi Chong over.

Shi Chong's maternal uncle was Shi Qi, the Inspector of Qingzhou, who controlled the empire's granaries, possessed immense wealth, and was precisely the kind of person the Xie clan wished to be on good terms with.

If Xie Miaoxuan were allowed to leave with Xun Cheng now, it would be a terrible waste. It was better to stick to their original plan: bring her back to the clan first and slowly wear her down with persuasion. Besides, keeping her under their own eyes meant she could be hoarded as a rare commodity.

If handled properly, this could bring the Xie clan benefits that unimaginable wealth could never buy.
The heir had power, and Shi Chong had wealth. If they played their cards right through Xie Miaoxuan, why should the Xie clan ever worry about not prospering?

As her blood relatives and clan elders, they believed they could easily manipulate Xie Miaoxuan.

Xie Mingde gave a light cough, stroking his magnificent beard so vigorously it seemed ready to spark, and urged Xie Miaoxuan, "Intermarriage between the aristocracy and commoners is forbidden across generations—that is our ancestral precept, Xuan'er. Stop being so willful and making a scene."

"If you still don't wish to part ways with this... person for the moment, it is not out of the question for you to return to the clan together."

He figured that as long as they could keep her in their grasp, whatever happened afterward would be entirely up to them; she would have no room to refuse.

Xie Miaoxuan looked with mild amusement at Xie Mingde, who was trying to dismiss her previous refusal with a wave of his hand and a label of willful nonsense.
Were these people utterly incapable of understanding human speech?

Her inner thoughts were voiced mockingly by He Ya. "My, what a stench! Who on earth is talking nonsense? The young lady has already stated that she has established her own household and is living a blissful life with her husband. Why can't you people understand plain words?"

"And we even have a clan head who covets someone else's dowry. Tsk tsk, are you deliberately forcing people to tell you to your faces that they despise you?"

He Ya's pretty face was filled with unadulterated disdain.

This was the first time Xie Mingde had been publicly slapped in the face, but the person speaking was the beloved beauty brought by Shi Chong. A dog must be beaten while considering its owner; he swallowed his anger and kept silent.

With He Ya bringing Shi Chong to back Xie Miaoxuan up, any attempt by the Xie clan to use force to detain her today was entirely out of the question.
The crisis was temporarily averted.

Xie Miaoxuan suddenly spoke up, calling out Xie Miaohan by name. "Respected clan elders, Xie Miaoxuan just now referred to my Second Uncle as 'that scoundrel' and repeatedly insulted my late father. As his daughter, I very much want to know what on earth my father did to make even a junior look down upon him so?"

"Xie Qi..." Xie Mingde seemed lost in memory, recalling that legendary, peerlessly brilliant son of the Xie family who had defined an entire era.