Listening to what Xiangliu had to say, Xiaoyao felt her thoughts briefly aflutter. It seemed she had oversimplified things all along. Had that "Brother Cang Xuan," who had grown up with her since childhood, been plotting against her the entire time? She could still vaguely recall the sincere expression on Cang Xuan's face that day in Qing Garden when he promised to support her. Such profound cunning, such deeply concealed scheming.
Before Xiaoyao could puzzle it out, she heard Xiangliu's voice resume:
"And take Kunwu Xue. She might genuinely have taken a fancy to Fangfeng Bei, but Xiaoyao, don't you find it strange that she dared to openly provoke you time and again, and even come to your doorstep to press you? Fortunately, you handled the situation with a steady head. What if you had gotten into a shouting match with her right there, or even flown into a rage and set out to crush the Kunwu Clan? Tell me, how would those Zhongyuan aristocratic families have talked about you? And if I were the one leading the troops to do it, just imagine how lively that grand spectacle would be!"
Chapter 124