Patriarch Li was shaking with rage. Li Li's righteous and confident words felt like a slap across his proud face.
To make matters worse, the future in-laws had witnessed the whole scene firsthand. Furious beyond measure—something Patriarch Li rarely was—he raised his hand to teach Li Li a lesson.
Li Li just stood there, completely unfazed.
Instead, a hand with prominent veins shot out from the side to intercept him.
Amidst everyone's stunned gazes, that hand grabbed Patriarch Li's wrist. "Patriarch Li, congratulations, congratulations."
Patriarch Li's bones cracked under the grip. He turned his head and locked eyes with Shang Che's cheeky grin.
With his characteristically unserious and unbothered air, Shang Che said, "I always said Shang Yang and Miss Li Li were a match made in heaven. Today they're finally tying the knot, and as his younger brother, I'm genuinely happy for my older brother."
"After loving the eldest daughter of the Li family for so many years, he's finally gotten his wish."
"Li Li?" Patriarch Li was being squeezed so hard he felt like his bones were about to break. He used all his strength to yank his hand free, frowning. "What Li Li?"
"Who told you the one marrying Shang Yang is Li Li?"
As he spoke, Patriarch Li cast subtle glances toward the Shang family, terrified that they might misunderstand.
Li Li was no longer worthy of Shang Yang. Since they still had Li Xiang, he needed to distance themselves from Li Li immediately.
"Not Li Li?"
Shang Che paced a circle around the Li family, asking a question he already knew the answer to. "Could it be that Patriarch Li has still got it in his old age? In the years I've been away from Wucheng, you went and birthed another child bride for my brother?"
"If I recall correctly, the Li family only has one daughter, and that's Li Li."
Everyone knew the Li family pampered their adopted daughter while neglecting their biological one.
Yet, cowed by the Li family's power, no one dared to say a word against it.
For all these years, this dirty laundry of the Li family had never been exposed to their faces like this. Across the entire Li household, besides Li Li, not a single person had a pleasant expression.
Seeing Patriarch Li's face twitching with fury, Shang Yang stepped forward.
Yet his tone remained his usual gentle self. "Shang Che, don't be so rude."
With that, he walked over to Li Li. He looked at her with a hint of helplessness in his eyes, then turned his head to give Patriarch Li a slight nod. "Uncle, please don't blame Lili for this."
"No matter what, she's a young woman and she's been wronged. For her sake, let's just drop this matter here."
For her sake?
Drop it here?
Li Li, who had been expressionless until now, suddenly laughed at Shang Yang's words.
"Mr. Shang hasn't bothered to look into anything at all, yet you've already found me guilty?"
She looked at Shang Yang. Even though she liked him, her affection didn't stretch to letting herself be made a scapegoat for no reason.
How amusing—they weren't even married yet, and he was already parroting whatever she said.
Shang Yang turned back, wearing his usual doting, older-brother expression, and raised a hand to ruffle her hair.
Li Li calmly stepped aside and looked at him coldly.
Shang Yang's hand froze in mid-air, and his gaze grew even more tender. "I've heard all about what happened last night."
"It's not your fault. A-che acted foolishly and wronged you."
"You don't need to worry about those trending searches. I'll clear your name. No matter what, I'm your family, and I'll always be on your side."
"Leave this matter to me to handle, alright?"
His tone was like one used to soothe a child, sounding as though he were protecting Li Li every step of the way, yet from start to finish he hadn't listened to a single word of defense from her.
In fact, without even giving her a chance to speak, he had essentially handed down a death sentence.
And he had the nerve to call it protecting her.
For the very first time, Li Li looked directly into Shang Yang's eyes with absolute seriousness.
His gaze was as gentle as ever, but Li Li found it unprecedentedly alien.
"If you're going to find her guilty, don't drag me into it."
At the edge of the crowd, Shang Che had wandered over to the living room sofa and seated himself.
While everyone else was standing, he half-lounged there like a total scoundrel, a handful of melon seeds in his palm.
He spoke at a leisurely pace, "Are you deaf? Didn't you hear the little matriarch here say that *I* was the one who got slept with?"
Such a rebellious statement made the Head of the Shang Family's face turn pitch black.
"Shut your mouth. Is this some kind of glorious achievement?"
Did this wastrel really need to repeat it over and over again?
Ignoring him entirely, Shang Che carried his insolence through to the end.
"What, is there some law stating a man's purity isn't purity?"
"Miss Li can afford to be generous and let it go, but I hold grudges and I won't stand for taking this unclear, unjust grievance."
"If you don't investigate this and give me an explanation, which family's daughter will be willing to marry me in the future?"
He casually grabbed a piece of fruit from the table and tossed it into the crowd, saying chillingly, "If I can't get married, are you going to hand over all the family assets for me to inherit so you can support me for the rest of my life?"
What an absurd and dissolute speech.
The kicker was that Li Li actually thought he had a point.
She couldn't help turning her head to give Shang Che another look.
And looking only made things worse.
The wastrel was sitting on the sofa with crossed legs, foraging for food.
As if he hadn't eaten anything decent in eight hundred years.
Unable to watch any longer, Li Li chimed in with a prompt, "The box of pastries on your left was sent fresh today from Jiaofangzhai."
Jiaofangzhai was Wucheng's unrivaled luxury pastry shop, carrying recipes passed down by generations of imperial chefs.
Hearing this, Shang Che locked his target, pulled the box over without a moment's hesitation, and didn't forget to look at Li Li. "Miss Li, want some?"
Li Li curved her lips in a smile that wasn't quite a smile and politely refused. "No, thanks."
The Head of the Shang Family let out a cold snort. "So you still know you have a bad reputation."
With his hands behind his back, he sneered, "You still have a reputation?"
"Who in Wucheng doesn't know what kind of filthy piece of trash you are, Shang Che?"
The Head of the Shang Family practically considered this younger son as one he'd never given birth to.
Madam Shang, however, stepped forward and pressed down on the Head of the Shang Family's hand, shaking her head to signal him to stop talking.
The atmosphere in the living room plummeted to freezing. Li Xiang stood there helplessly, tears welling in the corners of her eyes.
"I'm sorry, this is all my fault."
As soon as those words fell, everyone's eyes landed on her.
Shang Yang, who a second before had still been standing beside Li Li, crossed the distance without the slightest hesitation and pulled Li Xiang into his embrace.
The man's tall figure shielded her in his arms, making Li Xiang look all the more fragile and slender.
Madam Li was so heartbroken she shed tears openly.
The Head of the Shang Family and Madam Shang also cast worried looks in her direction.
Shang Yang gently kissed Li Xiang's forehead and offered a soothing comfort. "Nonsense, you're a victim too."
"If I hadn't happened to be nearby last night, I probably would have regretted it for the rest of my life."
As he spoke, Shang Yang unconsciously stroked her waist, his eyes full of tenderness. "Does it still hurt?"
Everyone present was an adult; how could they not understand what that meant?
Li Xiang blushed fiercely, buried her face in his chest, and shook her head silently. "I'm fine."
Li Siyou couldn't bear to see Li Xiang wronged and shot Li Li another vicious glare. "Such a jinx."
Even though Li Li had never pinned any hopes on these people.
Yet, seeing everyone focus their attention on Li Xiang while casting cold, judgmental glares at her and slapping a verdict on her head, her chest still tightened with a suffocating heaviness.
She let out a breath, straightened her spine, and maintained her habitual pride, like a lone white swan standing among a flock of ducks.
She wasn't the odd one out; this bunch of people were the ugly ducklings who had never seen the world.
"Enough."
Li Li's patience reached its absolute limit, a single airy word shattering the room's fake warmth.
"You want evidence? I'll give it to you."