After being reborn, her aloof ex-husband and her crazy deceased husband got into a fight.

"Perrin, you, what are you doing here?!"

No sooner had Zhao Cen's exclamation subsided than Gan Cai'er's scream rang out, louder and sharper than Zhao Cen's, almost deafening. Even the people downstairs kept glancing at them.

"Ah Cai, what are you doing, shouting like that?" Zhu Xiaoxiao opened the door and came out from the side.

"Hey, why did you go to someone else's room?"

"Ah? Miss Ding, so you're here too?!" A third exclamation rang out from the private room on the second floor.

Now, no one could ignore this place. The waiter also rushed over to check.

The group of noble ladies gathered at the entrance had a variety of expressions on their faces.

Gan Cai'er and Zhu Xiaoxiao were shocked. Yao Xuxu lowered her eyes slightly, seemingly avoiding the topic, but actually showing a hint of contempt. Deng Qiuchen looked gloating, while Shangguan Qi looked like she was watching a gossip. Only Zhao Cen was furious, extremely furious, her eyes seeming to shoot sparks.

Anyone witnessing this scene would be enraged. Not only was her fiancé in a room with another woman, but they were even sitting together on a daybed! Although they were dressed properly and playing chess opposite each other, Ding Peilan had taken off her shoes and socks!

The moment she pushed open the door, everyone saw her delicate, white feet. Such behavior was nothing like that of a noblewoman from a wealthy family. She was no different from a courtesan in a brothel! It was simply unbearable to look at!

Most importantly, there was no one else in the room besides Ding Peilan and Pei Zhang; their servants and maids were all gone.

If this isn't a secret rendezvous between lovers, then nothing is a secret rendezvous at all.

However, Pei Zhang is not Ding Peilan's fiancé; Zhao Cen is!

Gan Cai'er's shock was genuine; she truly hadn't expected Ding Peilan to be so audacious! No wonder Huan'er had hinted that she should just come up and kick down the door; it turned out there wasn't even a single person left to guard the door.

The two must have been engaging in intimate acts in the bedroom, which is why even their servants avoided them.

What Gan Cai'er could think of, others naturally thought of as well.

"Cen'er, don't misunderstand." Pei Zhang finally came to his senses after being stunned, and hurriedly got up from the couch and walked towards Zhao Cen.

"Miss Ding said she had found an ancient chess manual and wanted me to study it. I thought you were here, so I came. Later, Miss Ding and I just studied the manual according to the book. There was nothing improper between us."

Tsk, tsk, that's a really clean way to shift the blame, putting all the responsibility on Ding Peilan. Is this the kind of thing a man would do?

When he came into the room, he didn't act like a stranger to Ding Peilan at all. She couldn't see them hugging and cuddling through the wall, but she heard their intimate whispers very clearly.

"Just because she has chess scores, does that mean she can have secret rendezvous with you?!" Zhao Cen asked shrilly, her eyes red.

"Ah Cen, it's all my fault. Blame me if you must." Ding Peilan also got off the couch and walked a few steps to Zhao Cen. Her eyes were filled with tears, and she looked aggrieved and forbearing.

She explained in a low voice, "It was I who invited Young Master Pei out. Last time I saw you looking worried, I asked you what was wrong, and you said that Young Master Pei wanted to find an ancient chess manual as a birthday gift for his elder brother, but he couldn't find one that suited his taste, so he was worried."

"As it happened, one of the gifts given to Father today was a copy of this book. I have always kept your matter in mind, so I immediately asked Father for it. I was so happy that I was in a hurry to show it to him, which is why I was impolite."

Gan Cai'er was shocked again. Could this explanation be so plausible?

“Miss Ding, you and Miss Zhao have been close friends for many years. She certainly won’t misunderstand you over something like this,” Zhu Xiaoxiao suddenly stepped forward, smiling to ease the awkward atmosphere between the two.

Seeing her gentle and graceful smile, Gan Cai'er felt a sudden tremor in her heart and moved to the side.

"You two should talk things out. It's a holiday, don't ruin your relationship. Also, hurry up and put your shoes and socks on, it's cold on the ground, don't catch a cold. I heard you're already sick."

Zhu Xiaoxiao's words completely ignited Zhao Cen's anger. Her gaze swept over the pair of small leather boots in front of the daybed, and she could no longer suppress the hatred in her heart. She rushed over, grabbed Ding Peilan's hair, and slapped Ding Peilan across the face with a loud "smack".

Then, she began to tear at Ding Peilan's clothes haphazardly. She did so while simultaneously cursing.

"You shameless little hussy! Since you like taking your clothes off so much, why don't you just strip completely naked?!"

"Didn't you say you caught a cold? Didn't you say you were too sick to go out? Well then, I'll let you be sick enough!"

"Ahhhhhh, my hair!!! Ahhhhhh, my face!!!" Ding Peilan screamed.

She tried desperately to break free, but Zhao Cen, in his extreme anger, was very strong and held her hair firmly, making it impossible for her to escape.

Seeing that Zhao Cen had really started to attack, Yao Xuxu and the others rushed forward to try and pull her away. But Zhao Cen was so enraged that she couldn't be pulled away at all. In the end, she collapsed onto Ding Peilan, hitting and tearing at her like a madwoman.

Yao Xuxu and Shangguan Qi tried to pull them apart, but failed and were instead scratched, so they had no choice but to back down. Gan Cai'er and Zhu Xiaoxiao, on the other hand, just stood by and earnestly tried to persuade them the whole time.

"Ah Cen, stop hitting, stop hitting, let's talk it out if there's a misunderstanding."

"Miss Zhao, please stop. If you keep hitting her, Miss Ding will be disfigured."

They're the type who only talk the talk but don't walk the walk, and they just make things worse.

Seeing that this was not going to work, Pei Zhang stepped forward and grabbed Zhao Cen's hand, saying, "Cen, stop fooling around."

"Making a scene? You actually think I'm being unreasonable?!" Pei Zhang's words immediately brought tears to Zhao Cen's eyes. The tears that she had been holding back before poured out all at once.

"Didn't she know you were my fiancé? Wasn't she avoiding us and meeting you privately? Or was she deliberately trying to seduce you by not taking off her shoes and socks?"

Zhao Cen cried bitterly. After all, they had a childhood friendship, and seeing her distress, Pei Zhang looked annoyed. He couldn't help but gently comfort her.

“Miss Ding and I are absolutely innocent. Today’s events were my fault. I shouldn’t have been so eager for a chess manual and instead met with her in private.”

“Ah Cen, don’t cry. I promise you, this will never happen again.”

Pei Zhang pulled Zhao Cen off Ding Peilan, then wrapped her in his cloak and led her away, leaving Ding Peilan, disheveled and dazed, sitting on the ground.

By this time, the doorway was already crowded with onlookers, and busybodies kept gossiping.

"Oh dear, why are they fighting on such a holiday? Can't we talk things out?"

"Tsk, tsk, looks like the wife has come to catch her husband cheating?"

"Tch, what wife and mistress? Didn't you see that both girls have their hair styled like young girls? They're obviously young girls and not married yet."

"Let me tell you, I arrived early, so I only heard the gist of the story. These two girls are best friends, and the man is the fiancé of the girl who hit her. The girl who got hit secretly arranged to meet the man behind everyone's back..."

"Oh, isn't this stealing someone else's girlfriend? Whose daughter is this, so shameless?"

"I heard his surname is Ding."

......

As more and more people gathered, Yao Xuxu and the others silently turned around and left with their maids. None of them wanted to get involved with Ding Peilan again at this time.

For women from prominent families, reputation is a very important thing.

Ding Peilan's maid was nowhere to be seen. Despite the huge commotion at the restaurant, she didn't come out to help Ding Peilan. Otherwise, Ding Peilan wouldn't have been beaten so badly by Zhao Cen.

Seeing that the young ladies and gentlemen had all left, the shopkeeper stepped forward, clasped his hands in greeting to everyone, and said, "Please give me face and leave. I hope you will not spread this matter to others and will do me a favor. In return, everyone's bill will be 20% off today."

The innkeeper was a shrewd man; these young ladies and gentlemen were clearly from wealthy and noble families. If word got out that this incident had happened in his restaurant, even if he bore no responsibility whatsoever, he would very likely be implicated.

Upon hearing that the meal would be 20% off today, everyone cheered and promised not to tell anyone.

"Miss Ding, are you alright?" Zhu Xiaoxiao walked to Ding Peilan's side, helped her up, and her face was full of concern.

"Why is there no one with you? Where is your maid?"

Ding Peilan's gaze was deep, and she ignored her, seemingly lost in thought.

"How are you going to get back like this?" Zhu Xiaoxiao shook her head and sighed. Then, she called out to the shopkeeper who was about to leave.

"Shopkeeper, could you please send someone to inform the Ding family on Fangcao Street and ask them to send someone to pick up Miss Ding?"

Ding Peilan suddenly looked up, her gaze sharp and almost hateful as she looked at Zhu Xiaoxiao.

Gan Cai'er silently moved a little further away from Zhu Xiaoxiao.

Zhu Xiaoxiao seemed oblivious, only smiling gently at her and reassuring her, "Don't worry. You and Miss Zhao have been friends for so many years. As long as you sincerely apologize, she will forgive you."

Gan Cai'er could almost see Ding Peilan's clenched teeth.

Then, Zhu Xiaoxiao considerately closed the door for Ding Peilan. After doing all this, she raised an eyebrow and looked at Gan Cai'er with a smug expression.

"Xiao Xiao, you're so good at stirring things up, adding fuel to the fire, and rubbing salt into people's wounds. How come I never knew this before?" Gan Cai'er asked sincerely.