After being reborn, I stole the female lead's cheat ability and raised the empress.

Chapter 72 Qingxu Sect

The next morning, Bai Yue urged A Li to pay her respects to the old lady.

"Old lady?"

I got back too late yesterday, and it was only now that I heard the follow-up about the coming-of-age ceremony from Black Moon.

Xia Deqing was furious and was about to order the execution of the two, but at the critical moment, the old lady appeared and firmly believed that Wen Wan was Xia Deqing's bloodline. The two even had a blood test on the spot to verify their kinship.

To compensate her, Xia Deqing promised to make her his second daughter, registering her under Cui Fangshu's name.

As her birth mother, Wen Chanyi pleaded for her life and was spared the death penalty, being sent to another residence.

Unexpectedly, despite such a commotion, Wen Wan and her daughter were still allowed to stay.

They actually benefited from the misfortune.

However, the old lady never came to the Marquis's mansion in her previous life. Was it because the plot prevented Wen Wan and the others from leaving? Or was it because of something she said casually that day?

Ah Li was preoccupied and unknowingly arrived at the old lady's courtyard. In the courtyard, Wen Wan was nestled in the old lady's arms, acting coquettishly!

"Granddaughter greets grandmother." She bowed respectfully.

The old lady didn't look at her, but chatted and laughed with Wen Wan.

After waiting for a while and not being told to get up, Ali refused to be accommodating and found a seat to sit down on her own.

"Stop! Who gave you permission to move around?" the old lady scolded her.

“After the greetings, you should offer me a seat. I thought Grandmother had already offered me a seat! Otherwise, how could Grandmother not have seen me after I had already greeted her?” Ali said as she sat down.

The old lady choked. What could she say? That she had deliberately ignored her?

With a stern face, the old lady waited until everyone had arrived before announcing a bombshell: "Now that I'm at the Marquis's residence, the morning and evening greetings will resume."

Ali: ? ! !

She suddenly remembered that she had said that day that she really should find someone to set rules for Cui Fangshu.

But who can tell her why she has to follow the rules too?

For someone like her who has a hard time getting out of bed, this is truly a case of hurting the enemy eight hundred while losing a thousand of her own!

Then, the old lady said to Ali, "Now that you have gone through the coming-of-age ceremony, the absurd things you said before are no longer valid. From now on, you will resume your surname Xia, Xia Li."

Wen Wan immediately became anxious: "Grandmother..."

But after receiving a look from the old lady, she obediently kept quiet.

Ah Li, no, now it's Xia Li: "...Yes."

She was originally Xia Li, so whether she had the surname Xia or not was irrelevant.

"Wanwan is now a legitimate daughter, and has changed her surname to Xia, and is called Xia Wanwan."

"Grandson thanks Grandmother." Wen Wan bowed in gratitude excitedly. From this moment on, she was called Xia Wanwan, and was now a legitimate daughter of the main wife.

Having finished discussing these two important matters, the old lady finally got to today's main topic: "Xia Li, kneel down!"

Knowing full well that the old lady harbored ill intentions, Xia Li did not immediately kneel down. Instead, he asked, "Why should I kneel?"

The old lady, as if she had been holding back her anger for a long time, finally had a chance to vent it. She coldly reprimanded, "As the legitimate daughter of the Marquis's family, you should prioritize the reputation of the Marquis's family in everything you do. Putting aside all the things you have done before, just yesterday, if I hadn't arrived in time to resolve the crisis, the entire Marquis's family of Beiliang would have become a laughing stock in the capital!"

"I was just stating the facts. Isn't it only because Wen Chanyi was having affairs with others every night that she possessed such gentleness?"

The old lady interrupted her, her words all in defense of Xia Wanwan: "Her name is Xia Wanwan, and she already had a blood test with the Marquis yesterday; she is the Marquis's own flesh and blood."

"Ha!" Xia Li scoffed, "That doesn't change the fact that her mother was promiscuous and depraved!"

"You're spouting filthy words! How dare you slander Aunt Wen?" Before the old lady could speak, Xia Deqing also began to defend Wen Chanyi. Yesterday, Wen Chanyi had sworn a solemn oath that she only had Xia Deqing as her man and that those were all deliberate slanders by Xia Li.

Ali looked at Cui Fangshu, who hadn't spoken, and said sarcastically, "It's only been one night, and you're already biased towards Aunt Wen. Won't you favor the concubine and neglect the wife in a couple of days?"

Xia Deqing was furious: "You! Talking nonsense! Guards, lock him up in the ancestral hall!"

Ali stared intently at the group of people in the room. They were clearly her closest relatives, yet when outsiders framed her, they sided with the outsiders. Even when she retaliated, her efforts were easily dismissed.

She never wants to be like this again, where she is clearly the victim, yet no one has asked for her opinion in how the whole thing is being handled!

"Do you believe that as soon as you lock me up in the ancestral hall, the whole capital will be abuzz with news that you're going to lock up your own daughter in the ancestral hall because of your newly married concubine?" Ali was not afraid and directly confronted her old father.

Since no one is there to protect you, then you should become self-reliant and strong.

"You!" Xia Deqing was so angry that he wanted to curse, but he held back. Just yesterday, news spread that he had brought his mistress, whom he had raised for more than ten years, into the family. If news of him abusing his legitimate daughter were to spread today, the perfect husband image he had cultivated over the years would be ruined.

He dared not gamble.

Seeing that the Marquis was no match for her, the old lady immediately changed the subject: "You are all legitimate daughters of the Marquis's family. The past is past. From now on, you must consider the Marquis's family and not act like you did yesterday. Remember, you are all in this together, sharing both honor and loss."

She paused, then looked at Xia Li: "Just as Wanwan said, those who grow up in the countryside have no manners. From today onwards, you don't need to go out anymore. I'll hire a nanny for you to learn etiquette."

？ ！！

This is a lockdown!

A-Li's gaze toward the old lady grew increasingly cold.

I won't offend others unless they offend me; but if you act disrespectfully, I won't put up with it.

"I'm leaving today! If you disagree, just kick me out of the manor."

"You!" The old woman slammed her cane down. "Do you even have any respect for me, your grandmother? Do you even have any respect for this Marquis's mansion?!"

"I will never treat you as my grandmother! Go ahead and remove me from the list if you dare!"

"If you don't listen, then remove your name from the family register and expel you from the Marquis's mansion!"

"I can't ask for it!"

"Insolence!" Seeing the situation spiraling out of control, Xia Deqing quickly stood up to stop it: "Guards, please escort Miss back to her courtyard!"

He quickly comforted his elderly mother, saying, "Mother, don't be angry. This child has grown up on the village and has no manners. I'll go and teach her a lesson right now."

After saying that, he hurriedly caught up with Ali.

But now his face was adorned with a fawning smile: "My sweet little girl, don't be angry anymore, look at the pastries Daddy brought you~"

Ali: ...

What is this cheapskate father's purpose?

"Alright, my dear, don't be angry with your grandmother. You just stay in the yard and don't need to go to pay your respects. I'll talk to your grandmother. You can come out again after your grandmother goes back in a few days."

"..."

"Stay in the yard and be good! Don't come out... I'm afraid your grandmother will upset you."

Ali gave a half-smile: "...Okay!"

I'm running away tonight!

That night, at the Marquis of Beiliang's residence.

Two people were plotting something in the Marquis's small study.

Xia Deqing asked with a worried expression, "Can you guarantee success?"

Opposite him was a man wearing a black cloak and a mask. He smiled and said, "Don't worry, after it's done, just announce to the outside world that you've sent her to the Qingxu Sect for further study. Cultivators are often out of contact for years, so no one will know about this."

Xia Deqing: "When do we make our move?"

"Don't be impatient, my lord. Someone will come to collect it in three days. Hehehe..." The black-clad man's exposed eyes were full of greed.

"She's becoming increasingly difficult to control lately, I'm afraid of her..."

“I have a drug that can make someone obey the drugger’s every word. Put it in her food.”

"..."