On the other hand, in the study room.

Xiao Yuanshi sent his people to investigate today’s happenings.

He tried to recall as much as he could on what happened after he entered the restaurant.

There were a few questionable points.

Firstly, the waiter’s hand trembled when he poured the wine for him, and it almost spilled out.

Secondly, why was it so coincidental that when he was drinking with his colleagues, that group of profligates were there too?

Most importantly, Xi Rui was with them.

Therefore, he sent his people to arrest that waiter and interrogate him.

Then, he deployed his people to keep an eye on Xi Rui and the emperor’s uncle.

Xiao Yuanshi must be really outstanding to rise up to a general from a small soldier.

After Xi Rui and Liang Youxiao finished spreading the news about the restaurant, they got into the carriage.

Their personal assistants were not simple either.

Of course, they discovered that someone was following them and updated their masters.

Liang Youxiao waved his hand. “Let them follow.”

Xi Rui raised his eyebrows. “Xiao Yuanshi is quite smart. It’s fast that he is already suspecting us.”

Liang Youxiao gave a meaningful smile. “He should be suspecting you, not us.”

Xi Rui thought to himself, he wasn’t a good brat either.

He shrugged nonchalantly. “So what if he finds out? I didn’t intend to cover it.”

Xiao Yuanshi would definitely be able to guess that he had been schemed against.

There were too many coincidences in that restaurant.

It would be strange if Xiao Yuanshi did not suspect them.

Even if he found out, he wasn’t afraid.

He wanted to let Xiao Yuanshi know that if the general’s wife dared to plot against him, she would have to bear his revenge.

Liang Youxiao chuckled. “That’s right. It’s just Xiao Yuanshi. There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

Xi Rui placed his hand on Liang Youxiao’s shoulder. “Let’s go and play Mahjong.”

“Alright.” Liang Youxiao nodded with a smile.

Hence, the two of them quickly went to a teahouse and invited two friends along.

The news of General Xiao in the capital spread as if it had a pair of wings.

When many people heard the news, they initially didn’t dare to believe.

On second thought, it seemed like General Xiao was actually like this.

It was really hard to tell!

The next day, when Xiao Yuanshi went to the imperial court, he received a lot of strange gazes from the courtiers.

Some even looked at him with disdain.

His heart skipped a beat. Could it be that the old profligate had told others about it?

There wasn’t much discussion today, so they were dismissed very soon.

Xiao Yuanshi was unsure if his eyes were playing tricks with him, but the emperor seemed to deliberately glance at him before leaving.

After leaving the main hall, Xiao Yuanshi realised that many people who he was usually on good terms with were keeping a distance from him.

He was certain that yesterday’s matter had been leaked.

At this moment, he wished that he could immediately grab his sword and kill the emperor’s uncle.

At this moment, another general who he knew very well walked over.

This general asked in a low voice, “Did you offend someone?”

He believed that the news spreading outside the imperial court was true, but he did not believe that Xiao Yuanshi had this as his hobby.

They had been on the battlefield together, so he knew that Xiao Yuanshi wasn’t like this.

And even if he had such a hobby, he knew that he wouldn’t do that in a restaurant.

So there was only one possibility. Xiao Yuanshi had been schemed against.

Xiao Yuanshi asked in a low voice, “Did you guys hear something?”

This general told him the news that he had heard.

Xiao Yuanshi’s face instantly turned extremely gloomy. “You mean Xi Rui and a group of profligates were the ones who were spreading the news?”

This person nodded. “That’s right. They even said that they saw it with their own eyes.

“Moreover, one of our colleagues who went to drink with you yesterday assured that it was true. He also saw it.”

Xiao Yuanshi finally understood why others were looking at him strangely today.

And why they seemed a little weird a few days ago.

It turned out that the bastard Xi Rui had led the profligates to spread rumours about him.

He actually said that he and Ge Chunyi…

Now, he had shifted the target who he wanted to kill to Xi Rui.

Only a devil king like him could do this.

“Indeed, I was schemed against. I had no idea what happened yesterday. Then it ended like this.

“Previously, my biological nephew and Xi Rui had a conflict. My nephew accidentally gave him a punch.

“Afterwards, my brother-in-law also had a conflict with Xi Rui. He even got someone to break my brother-in-law’s hand.”

Xiao Yuanshi smiled bitterly. “I didn’t expect that he wasn’t done taking revenge yet.”

He gave him a rough description of yesterday’s incident.

The general sighed. “Sigh, this incident has quite a big impact on your reputation. You have to be more careful next time.”

He didn’t comment on Xi Rui.

After all, this little demon king was very doted on by the emperor and the empress dowager.

Xiao Yuanshi was unlucky to have offended him.

Following that, a small number of people who knew Xiao Yuanshi’s character came to inquire further.

Xiao Yuanshi also explained everything thoroughly.

Everyone felt that he really had bad luck.

However, they had decided to keep some distance from him for this period of time.

After all, rumours had the potential to do great harm.

They did not want to become one of the victims in the rumours.

Xi Rui and his group of profligates had a strong family background and were not afraid of anything.

They could not afford to offend them.

Along the way, Xiao Yuanshi applied for leave from the Minister of War and did not go to the yamen.

He really could not bring himself to make a fool of himself.

The war minister was unhappy that this happened to his subordinates.

He did not want the Ministry of War to garner attention because of Xiao Yuanshi, so he gave him a three-day leave.

Xiao Yuanshi sat in the carriage and returned to the general’s manor.

He crushed a few of the teacups that were in the carriage the moment he saw them.

“Xi Rui!” He gritted his teeth and his eyes revealed his intent to kill.

This bastard was too much. It was just a small matter.

Not only did he completely cripple his brother-in-law, he even schemed against him.

He closed his eyes.

He could not touch Xi Rui and that old profligate now, but one day, he would tear them into pieces.

The best he could do was to reduce the rumours and his damaged reputation at the imperial court.

He had suffered a great loss this time.

It wasn’t easy for him to gain a foothold in the imperial court, and even gained a good reputation in the palace.

Now that those profligates had ruined it, he hated them!

On the other hand, Old Lady Xiao took her daughters-in-law out in the morning.

She met an old lady she had just acquainted with, who grabbed her along to share about what happened to her second son.

Old Lady Xiao was furious upon hearing this.

She did not believe it, and then she ran to ask a few others whom she knew.

She didn’t expect everyone to give similar replies.

She could not help but hurriedly return to the general’s residence with her daughters-in-law.

A young man curved his lips upon seeing Old Lady Xiao.

Not long after, he asked someone to reward the messenger who tipped the news to Old Lady Xiao.

After the good show at the general’s residence ended, he could write a letter to his master and send it back.

At the general’s residence.

Ge Chunru was drinking nourishing soup.

Ever since she was pregnant, she did not have to serve the old lady anymore under Xiao Yuanshi’s interference.

Suddenly, a servant reported, “Madam, the old lady rushed into the courtyard and looked unhappy.”

Ge Chunru frowned. “What is she going to do this time?”

She stood up. “Let’s go and take a look.”

She was pregnant now, so she was confident that the old lady did not dare to touch her like before.

Just as she walked out of the room, she suddenly received a slap on her face.

Ge Chunru covered her face and looked at her in disbelief.

Was the old lady crazy?