Chapter 166
"Oh heavens, I kindly invited Miss Li to our manor as a guest. Who would have thought she would do such a thing here?" Huo Yunyao said, wiping away non-existent tears with a look of heartbreak.
"This Li Zhiwei truly has no shame, carrying on an affair right here in our Huo family!" Huo Yunlan, truly worthy of being born from the same mother as Huo Yunyao, played her part perfectly in this duet.
After all, she was also more than happy to see Li Zhiwei lose face.
However, Huo Yunlan glanced somewhat strangely into the room.
She thought to herself, Zhu Yunxian usually carried himself with such dignity, who would have guessed he'd stoop to having a secret rendezvous.
This wasn't just a slap in Second Sister's face, but a disgrace to the entire Huo family.
Huo Yunxuan frowned upon hearing this. Li Zhiwei was right beside him, yet she had to bear these people's accusations, which made him feel rather guilty.
He felt rather useless as the host.
As for the people inside the room, he couldn't hear them clearly, but he could vaguely make out the voices of a man and a woman.
Thinking of this, Huo Yunxuan looked somewhat awkwardly at Li Zhiwei beside him.
He was afraid she would be upset.
After all, anyone suddenly saddled with such a heavy accusation would surely be unhappy.
Yet, on Li Zhiwei's face, he didn't see a trace of anger.
Shen An'an stood by, both furious and restrained by Huo Yunxuan's presence, not daring to vent her anger.
Still, her pouted lips clearly showed her current dissatisfaction.
This was simply too much of a bullying.
Shen An'an glared discontentedly at Huo Yunxuan. Did he think she hadn't noticed his interest in Li Zhiwei? In her opinion, he was utterly unworthy of her good friend.
He was utterly unworthy of her good friend.
"Miss Huo, since this Miss Li is so shameless, let's go in and drag that adulterous pair out! Let everyone have a good look at just how shameless they are!" Soon, someone rushed forward, making as if to charge into the room and pull out the two shameless individuals inside.
"Let's forget it. This is, after all, a private matter between others, requiring mutual consent. Miss Li is not yet married, so presumably she has the right to choose," Huo Yunyao said with a somewhat unpleasant expression.
After speaking, she shot a fierce glare at the troublemaker.
How could she dare let anyone actually charge in? If that happened, wouldn't her story fall apart?
Then, the one losing face would become her.
“Second Miss Huo is just too kind-hearted. Miss Li is slapping you in the face like this, yet you still speak well of her. What mutual consent? She's just a flirtatious vixen who can't keep her hands to herself,” someone said discontentedly.
"Second Miss Huo, since she's already this shameless, why are you still sparing her any face?"
Everyone chimed in, one after another, all wanting to rush into the room. The few ladies at the front who had clearly heard the earlier commotion inside retreated upon hearing this.
They had understood perfectly well what was happening inside.
It wasn't Miss Li having a secret tryst with a man at all.
It was clearly Second Miss Huo's husband, Second Master Zhu, and Du Qiuniang carrying on inside.
Even if they knew, they could only keep this matter buried in their hearts. If they stepped forward to be used as someone else's pawn, who knows how Second Miss Huo would hold a grudge against them.
"Yes, Second Miss Huo, you should still let everyone drag that adulterous pair out!" Li Zhiwei also called out to Huo Yunyao.
"I want to see just who dares to act so recklessly in our Huo family!" Huo Yunxuan, emboldened by Li Zhiwei's words, quickly added.
"Right! Drag those shameless adulterers out! Let everyone see clearly who is so brazen!" Shen An'an shouted indignantly.
"Drag them out!" Xu Qingshi shouted excitedly, though he wasn't clear on who exactly was to be dragged out.
"Auntie, drag them out!" Qin Keyun felt that since Xu Qingshi had spoken up, she shouldn't lag behind.
Huo Yunlan frowned upon hearing her daughter's words. What right did she have to speak here?
Moreover, the commotion inside was not something for everyone to know about.
"You child..." Huo Yunlan's words trailed off as she saw Qin Keyun, and then Li Zhiwei and Huo Yunxuan beside her. She was completely stunned.
How could she be here?
Huo Yunlan's sudden interjection also puzzled Huo Yunyao.
However, her niece's words just now had also surprised her.
After all, when had her niece ever spoken to her so eagerly?
Huo Yunyao followed Huo Yunlan's gaze towards Qin Keyun's direction.
Naturally, she also saw Li Zhiwei, the person who should least be here.
"How are you here?" Huo Yunyao asked in shock.
After asking, she felt a pang of annoyance. So that's why the person inside, who should have been Li Zhiwei, had turned into Zhu Yunxian and Du Qiuniang.
That wretch must have used some trick.
"Second Miss Huo thinks I shouldn't be here? Then where should I be? Oh, what were you all talking about just now? It sounded quite interesting. Could you tell me about it too?" Li Zhiwei looked at the crowd with a brilliantly bright smile.
Everyone exchanged glances. How were they supposed to respond to that?
Heavens, they had just been saying Miss Li was inside the room engaging in illicit relations with a man.
But now, Miss Li was standing here perfectly fine.
Then who was inside?
Everyone looked at each other, their curiosity thoroughly piqued.
The few informed ladies bowed their heads even lower.
This... this wasn't something they revealed.
The person came forward herself.
"You... Fourth Brother, what brings you here?" Huo Yunyao was momentarily at a loss for words. Seeing her younger brother arrive, she quickly changed the subject.
The ladies from various families all turned their attention to Huo Yunxuan.
He was, after all, a popular son-in-law candidate in Li'an County, but unfortunately, he was too aloof.
Even if they had ideas, he never gave them any face.
Now, seeing him in person, they all wished to have someone go and strike up a conversation with Huo Yunxuan.
“Second Sister, who is inside the room, daring to act so improperly on our Huo family's grounds?” Huo Yunxuan, not wanting to lose face in front of the one he admired, asked with dissatisfaction.
"Perhaps it's just some... wild couple from the manor fooling around inside. Let it be. Today is for inviting all the ladies and young misses to admire the flowers. We mustn't let this spoil the elegant mood." Having said this, Huo Yunyao wanted to lead everyone away.
“But Second Miss Huo, I just heard everyone saying it was me inside having an affair. Now, I'm quite curious. I wonder, who exactly was I supposedly... having an affair with?” Li Zhiwei, however, stood her ground, looking at Huo Yunyao with a half-smile expression and raising her voice.
The steps of the crowd, originally unwilling to leave, halted on the spot.
Right. Just now, they had described it so vividly—the person inside was Miss Li. But now, Miss Li stood before them completely unharmed. So who was inside?
Everyone's gaze turned back towards the room.
"Servants, go in and search! See who dares to run wild in our Huo family!" No sooner had Huo Yunxuan's words fallen than Jixiang led a group of people charging inside.
