Chapter 353 Contradictions
Knowing that this daughter-in-law was difficult to deal with, the old lady snorted and turned her head away, only to attack Qin Xiaoning: "A Ning, no matter what, this matter was caused by you. You caused such a dispute as soon as you came in, and ruined the reputation of my Wang and Lu families. According to the family rules, you should be punished. Do you accept it?"

The Duke's wife was the first to lose her temper when she heard this: "What do you mean, mother?"

Qin Xiaoning cast a disapproving look at the Duke's wife, then stood up, bowed slightly to the Madam Dowager, and then slowly said, "If my granddaughter-in-law has violated the family rules and Grandmother wants to punish me, then I am willing to be punished. However, I have already made it clear to Grandmother about what happened in the palace yesterday. It was not my fault. If Grandmother punishes me for this, it will be hard for my granddaughter-in-law to believe it."

The Madam smiled coldly and said slowly, "The palace is an important place. You acted carelessly and this is your first sin. Even if Fengyi really proposed the superiority first, you should also adapt to the situation and not argue endlessly and cause trouble."

The lady paused, then continued in a cold voice: "Now Ji'er is the regent, so many eyes are watching you. Since you are the regent princess, you should know how to be humble and low-key, so as to avoid disaster. Instead, you are arrogant and bring shame to my Lu family. This is the second crime."

"Also, since you caused trouble outside, you should have taken the initiative to confess to the elders after returning home, but you deliberately concealed it. This is the third crime."

After saying this, the lady snorted heavily and stared at Qin Xiaoning with cold eyes: "You just came in and committed such a crime. Am I wrongly accusing you of punishing you today?"

The Duke's wife became even more anxious when she heard this. Li Lanchun beside her also lost her temper. Qin Xiaoning, on the other hand, looked calm and unhurried. She slowly replied, "Grandmother has charged me with three crimes, but my granddaughter-in-law refuses to accept them."

There were several masters, plus a group of old women and maids serving them, and dozens of eyes in the room were all focused on Qin Xiaoning.

The little woman stood in the middle of the huge hall. Under the gaze of everyone, she looked calm and composed. She spoke neither hurriedly nor slowly, without any trace of fear or cowardice in her voice.

"Grandmother said that I acted carelessly, but I do not admit my guilt. It was the cousin of the Wang family who first proposed to discuss the superiority and inferiority. The Queen Mother tried to mediate, but she still refused to ease up. From the beginning to the end, I had no intention of arguing with her. Therefore, the one who acted carelessly was the cousin of the Wang family, not my granddaughter-in-law."

"Grandmother said that I was spoiled and arrogant, and I lost the face of the Lu family. This granddaughter-in-law also refused to admit it. When faced with the difficulties of Miss Wang, I did not give in to her, but I do not think that I was spoiled. On the contrary, the granddaughter-in-law thought that if I continued to tolerate her, it would be a loss of face for the Lu family. After all, this matter was caused by Miss Wang, and it was not my fault. Why should I tolerate her blindly?"

After hearing what Qin Xiaoning said, the Duke's wife's anger had completely dissipated.

I didn't expect that this daughter-in-law who usually looked gentle and kind could be so sharp-tongued. The wife of the Duke couldn't stand being wronged, so she naturally didn't like those who were submissive. Seeing Qin Xiaoning like this, she couldn't help but shout "Okay."

This caused the lady to give him a fierce look and roll her eyes.

Qin Xiaoning turned her eyes to the Duke's wife, signaling her to calm down, and then said to the Grand Madam, "Since this is not my fault, there is no need for me to apologize to my elders. So when I returned from the palace, I did not tell my elders about this matter. It was such a small matter, but I kept nagging about it. I was worried that I would upset my elders."

The Duke's wife couldn't help but laugh: "That's right, only those petty people would be so petty and would come to the elders to complain about trivial matters."

This is a blatant insult to Wang Fengyi.

The lady's face immediately darkened: "If you were humiliated like that in public, would you still be able to remain calm?" The Duke's wife said bluntly: "She asked for it. She was fine, but she had to argue about the hierarchy. Otherwise, she wouldn't have caused such a thing."

The Madam Tai could no longer maintain her dignity. She slammed the table in anger and pointed at the Duke's wife and said, "Old lady, go out and ask around. There is no one like you in the whole capital. To protect your daughter-in-law, you actually contradict your mother-in-law like this. Are there any family rules?"

Seeing the lady's rude words, the lady of the Duke could no longer endure it. She stood up and said in response: "Since my daughter-in-law married into the Lu family, she has never been protected by her mother-in-law. Therefore, as a mother-in-law, I must give my daughter-in-law everything that I have never received. I have had enough of the pain of the discord between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. I will never let my daughter-in-law experience my pain."

"What are you talking about?" The old lady was so angry that she stood up, completely losing her graceful demeanor. She pointed at the Duke's wife and said, "If you hadn't shamelessly forced my son to marry you, how could I have agreed to let a rough woman like you into my family?"

The Duke's wife is the Duke's second wife. When she was young, she was a heroine and often followed her father, the general, to the battlefield. She had long lost the reputation of a lady from a noble family, so no one in the capital dared to propose marriage to her. However, she fell in love with the Duke who had lost his wife, and it took a lot of fuss before she was able to marry into the Duke's Mansion as she wished.

Hearing that the lady was bringing up old matters again, the wife of the Duke became even angrier.

"It was your son who agreed to marry me. Even if you didn't want to, you still had to marry me in a grand sedan chair. I have been married to the Lu family for decades. I have done nothing wrong. I have a clear conscience as a wife of the Lu family."

The mother-in-law and the daughter-in-law were arguing here. The Duke, who had received the news, hurried into the main room in a hurry. Looking at the mother and wife who were at loggerheads, the Duke's wife couldn't help but shake her beard.

"Why are you two arguing again? Oh, in front of the younger generation, oh my!"

The Duke simply didn't know how to persuade him.

The Duke's wife was the first to withdraw her posture and said angrily, "You are still my mother. You want to punish Ning without asking any questions. As her mother-in-law, how can I ignore it?"

"That's because she made a mistake." The lady said angrily, "If you make a mistake, you must be punished. This is the rule of my Lu family."

"It's not Aning's fault, it's clearly the Wang girl's fault. Mother insists on punishing Aning. Isn't this just asking for trouble?" The Duchess's wife retorted.

The Duke was overwhelmed by what he heard.

He turned to look at Qin Xiaoning and asked, "A Ning, tell me, what is going on here?"

Qin Xiaoning then told the Duke everything that happened yesterday.

The Duke listened carefully, glanced at his mother and wife who were looking at him without blinking, waiting for his decision, then raised his hand to stroke his beard, smacked his lips, and finally said slowly after a long while: "This matter is indeed not Ah Ning's fault."