Chapter 160 -

Chapter 160: Chapter

When dinner was finally ready, everyone gathered in the main hall. Master Bai instructed the younger men to push all the long wooden tables together so the entire household could sit as one big family.

Outside, thick snow drifted down in the howling cold, but inside the hall, it was pleasantly warm and bright. Oil lanterns were lit in every corner.

Dishes of steaming food were brought out from the kitchen and packed neatly across the joined tables.

Liu Feng went straight to the bedchamber to help bring Zhengyu out, while the rest of the household slowly took their seats around the long table.

Master Bai looked around the room, noticed a few empty chairs, and turned to Meiling. "Go call Second Brother and Madame Liu, along with Xiuying and Ruizhe," he ordered quietly. "Tell them dinner is served."

The family had not seen Second Uncle’s household all day, not since the shameful incident this morning.

Meiling nodded quickly and hurried off toward the side quarters. Within a few moments, the heavy door opened again. Second Uncle dragged his feet into the hall, his head hanging low and his face dark with embarrassment. Madame Liu followed behind him, her arms folded tightly across her chest as she tried her best to avoid eye contact with anyone. Xiuying and Ruizhe walked quietly.

As they took their seats at the far end of the long table, a heavy silence settled over the room.

Just then, Liu Feng carefully brought Zhengyu into the hall, placing his chair right beside Yimei. Zhengyu’s wet hair was neatly combed back, and he wore a clean, warm cloak over his shoulders.

As soon as Yimei looked up, her dark eyes met Second Uncle’s humiliated gaze. A tiny, knowing smirk flashed across her lips before she smoothly picked up her chopsticks, completely unfazed by the tense atmosphere in the room

With everyone seated, Master Bai spoke, "As you can see, our table is filled with fresh food cooked by many hands. You can hardly tell who cooked what or who dished what and that is how family should be. We live together as one, sharing everything and living for each other, not trapped in constant hate and competition."

He paused, his voice heavy. "Mother was heartbroken over how greed destroyed the very foundation we grew up on. Now, we are in this village, stripped of our privileges. I know it isn’t easy, and we are all paranoid, but that doesn’t mean we should let fear poison our minds into doing something foolish."

He turned his gaze straight to his second brother, Chengbang. "Today, you did something monstrous. Just thinking about it makes me shake my head. If Mother were here, she would have disowned you on the spot. You tried to sell a human life that didn’t belong to you. You will apologize to the young lady you almost sold."

All eyes at the table snapped to Chengbang.

Madame Liu slammed her hands down, glaring at Master Bai. "Brother-in-law, what are you saying?! How can you demand your own brother apologize to a mere maid? So what if he almost sold her? None of this would have happened if Yimei and Zhengyu hadn’t gotten us banished here in the first place! She is just a servant, her life isn’t worth our family’s pride!"

Qinqin flinched at Madame Liu’s sharp voice, her heart racing. Seated beside her, Yimei felt her tremble. Under the table, Yimei reached out, squeezing Qinqin’s hand to reassure her.

"Brother, please..." Chengbang chimed in, still trying to squirm out of trouble. "I know what I did was wrong, but did you leave me any choice? Yimei provoked me! You know how sharp her tongue is. I only wanted to teach her a lesson!"

Third Uncle opened his mouth to chime in, but Madame Zhang shot him a lethal side-eye that instantly froze him in his seat.

Zhengyu just stared at the shameless couple, shaking his head at their words. Completely unfazed, he popped a fresh dumpling into his mouth and chewed slowly.

Master Bai opened his mouth to shut Chengang down, but Madame Bai moved first.

She abruptly stood up, walked straight over to Madame Liu, and before anyone could even blink—SLAP!

Her hand crackled across Madame Liu’s face.

"You are an absolute disgrace to motherhood."

The dining hall went dead silent. The heavy sting of the slap echoed through the room, cutting through the thick tension.

Madame Liu clutched her burning cheek, her eyes wide with total shock. "You... you hit me? How dare you!"

"How dare I?" Madame Bai’s voice was dangerously calm, but her eyes blazed with pure fire. She stepped closer, towering over her sister-in-law.

"You shameless hypocrite!" Madame Bai hissed, her voice cutting throbugh the silent room. "When you found out Chengang had accidentally sold your own daughter instead of Qinqin, you cried, screamed, and fought like a madwoman just to save her! You knew the terror of losing your child. So how can you sit there now and act like Qinqin’s life means nothing?"

She took another step forward, her tone dripping with venomous clarity.

"Qinqin is someone’s daughter, too! She may be a maid in this house, but she is still a human being! She is a person, not a piece of trash you can sell off just to satisfy your husband’s petty grudges and endless greed! Where is your humanity?"

Madame Liu clutched her swollen, stinging cheek, completely speechless, her lips trembling under the weight of Madame Bai’s words.

Master Bai gently caught his wife’s hand, his voice softening just a fraction. "Sit down, my dear. Don’t ruin your health over this."

Madame Zhao and Madame Zhang immediately stepped forward, carefully taking Madame Bai by her arms and helping her back to her seat. Madame Bai took a deep, shaky breath, her chest still heaving with anger.

Master Bai let out a long, heavy sigh, massaging the bridge of his nose. "Everyone, calm down. Let us—"

"Rulan, do you see it clearly now?"

Yimei’s clear, mocking voice cut straight through the tense silence.

Instead of looking at the furious Master Bai or the humiliated Madame Liu, Yimei turned her eyes toward Bai Rulan, who sat pale and visibly shaken by the explosive fight. Yimei rested her elbow on the table, casually propping her jaw in her palm. A faint, razor-sharp smile danced on her lips as she locked eyes with Rulan.

The whole table went dead quiet. All eyes shifted to Yimei.

"Look at the people you were feeling so much pity for," Yimei said, her tone dripping with sweet poison. "Earlier, you asked me why I didn’t just confront Second Uncle and Third Uncle when I caught them planning to sell Qinqin. You said I should have exposed them right then and there instead of secretly switching Qinqin with Xiuying."

Yimei leaned in slightly, her smile fading into pure, cold amusement.

"But you forgot one very important thing, sweet sister in law. This family is full of greedy, entitled, and evil-minded people."

Madame Liu gasped, but Yimei didn’t even glance her way.

"Who would have believed me?" Yimei continued, her eyes still fixed on Rulan’s pale face. "Everyone in this house already hates my guts. If I had spoken up, no one would have cared. They see Qinqin as a mere maid whose life isn’t even worth their precious family pride. Do you really think anyone would have listened to my words?"

Yimei let out a soft, dry laugh that sent a chill down Rulan’s spine.

"In fact, I’m entirely sure that if I had confronted those two bastards head-on... they would have just sold me instead of Qinqin."