When she was lost in thought, Madam Zhang hurried forward before shouting in anger, “What nonsense are you talking about! Lingshan has just known there was an invitation sent by princess Mingxi. How is it possible that she has already received the invitation earlier?!” Madam Zhang glared at An Rushuang angrily.

Meeting her father's eyes, An Lingshan, lowering her head, said in grievance, “Daddy... I really don't know what elder sister was talking about, because I have never received any invitation...”

Trying her best to recall, An Lingshan still had no idea what mistakes she had made, thus comforting herself that An Rushuang might have had no choice but to tell a lie in emergency. She really wanted to see how An Rushuang would argue for herself when the lie was debunked.

Disgusting with An Lingshan's affectation, Hong Yu retorted, “Since you have never received an invitation, or knew nothing about it, I have something to ask you. How did you know the there will be a party at the royal palace?”

Without being panic, An Lingshan answered with a smile, “It's just a coincidence. I went to Liuxi Pavilion to visit elder sister and happened to see her maid. Since I dared not to bother elder sister without permission, I had to ask the maid whether sister was feeling well. It was from her that I got the news about the party.”

She continued after a sigh, “It was out of my expectation that elder sister actually detests me so much, even refusing to meet me.”

“Which maid was that well-informed? I really have no idea.”

An Rushuang sneered.

“Take the maid here! I need to know what happened on earth!” An Yipei echoed.

Before long, a maid clad in apricot dress was taken to the room, who, perhaps, having never experienced such a scene, was frightened to death. “Miss An,” she whispered in respect when seeing An Rushuang.

“Silver?! How dare you...” Hong Yu gazed at her, couldn't help grinding her teeth once thinking of the past.

An Lingshan walked to An Yipei with a victory smile, “My father will do you justice. You can tell the truth without any concern.”

Responding submissively, Silver, catching a glimpse of An Rushuang every now and then, was speechless, perhaps, out of fear.

Upon seeing her in panic, An Yipei, getting angrier, took a deep breath before turning to stare at Silver. “Whatever I ask you, you must answer honestly!”

Silver, kneeling beside Zhao Xiaotao, kowtowed at once.

“Did Rushuang inform second miss of princess Mingxi's invitation?”

He, greatly annoyed by the affair, came straight to the point.

Silver looked at An Rushuang, and then at An Lingshan anxiously before shaking her head. “No.”

Setting her mind at ease, An Lingshan said smilingly, “Please don't interrogate her anymore; don't humiliate elder sister in front of the maids...”

An Yipei, staring at Silver, interrupted her directly, “Did you tell Lingshan about the invitation?”

Silver first nodded, but shook her head immediately, her face filled with helplessness.

“What do you mean by that!”

An Yipei frowned heavily.

“I didn't mention the invitation to second Miss.” Silver looked up at An Lingshan, whose face darkened immediately, so she lowered her head in a hurry anxiously before plucking up the courage to say, “I just, just sent the invitation to second Miss as first Miss ordered.”

She looked up at An Yipei in panic, saying in shudder, “Lord An, I really can't make sure whether I had told second miss about the invitation...”

She trembled as she spoke cowardly.

An Yipei turned to look at An Lingshan slowly, his face darkening. Just now he thought it was Rushuang who bullied her little sister, but now An Yipei was not so sure. If she was framed by Lingshan, Rushuang must have been feeling hurt...

“First Miss said that second Miss and her mother were not feeling well recently, so she asked me to send the invitation the day after she received them. What's more, first Miss insisted that since Princess Mingxi asked both of them to attend the party, it was up to second Miss herself to decide whether she would go or not. However, I haven't taken it back since that day, so the invitation should be at second Miss' chamber...” Silver cast a glimpse of An Lingshan in fear before lowering her head in a hurry.

“She is lying! You should believe me, daddy. I have never received any invitation before!” An Lingshan seized Silver's collars in panic before shouting in disbelief, “You promised to me before! Why did you lie to my father?! I know, I know...”

An Lingshan rose to her feet slowly, staring at An Rushuang who was now expressionless. “It's her. It's her who forced you to lie, right? Did she slap you, or...”

Silver kept stepping back while shaking her head, nearly frightened to death by such a hysterical second Miss. “No, second Miss, no, I didn't tell a lie. The invitation, I have sent it to you... and first Miss left the mansion today to search for medicines for you, second Miss. How can you misunderstand her like this...”

“Impossible! She...”

“Enough!” An Yipei stopped An Lingshan by taking her arm before repeating, “Enough, Lingshan, be aware of your ident.i.ty.”

Feeling the sharp pain on her arm, An Lingshan dared not to say a word, but glared at An Rushuang who stayed calm, as if all the things that happened had nothing to do with her.

Intending to put in a good word for her daughter, Madam Zhang had to keep quiet given the lord's fury.

Hong Yu suddenly broke the silence by sobbing sadly before wiping the tears off her cheeks.

“It's more than that! Today, when first Miss went to fetch the medicine, she was abducted by a bandit. Now... Now, she returned home with serious injuries, but still got misunderstood by second Miss as an evil person... I... I really feel pity for her!” Hong Yu couldn't help whimpering once thinking of the torture her lady had suffered. “First Miss doesn't care whether others understand her, but how can you, my lord, misunderstand her like this? I still remember when second Miss and her mother knelt outside the mansion gate, first Miss did give them money out of kindness although not knowing their real ident.i.ty!”

An Lingshan clenched her fists once thinking of the silver ingots given by An Rushuang. Kindness? She merely wanted to humiliate them instead!