Qin Zhao's thoughts were a bit chaotic. After perfunctorily accompanying his Second Brother to greet guests for a while, he slipped away.

Qin Xian didn't bother with him, after all, keeping him there was just to discuss Ji Fei's matter.

On the other side, Chu Xinyue watched as her parents constantly praised Chu Xueqi in their social circle, completely ignoring her. She had long since become numb to it.

However, there was an uncomfortable gaze lingering on her.

She looked around, but there were too many people to identify who it was. She could only leave her spot and go to the restroom for a brief reprieve.

The restroom for guests arranged by the Qin Family was at the end of the corridor, with separate facilities for men and women.

Just as Chu Xinyue was about to enter the women's restroom, a powerful force from behind violently pushed her in.

"Ah!" Chu Xinyue cried out in shock, but her mouth was quickly covered.

Soon after, Chu Xinyue found herself pinned against the restroom wall by a man.

Only then did she clearly see who it was – a young master from one of the wealthy families. She had seen him a few times but couldn't say she knew him.

Chu Xinyue glared at him angrily.

The man, provoked by her gaze, reached out to tear at her dress.

"You bitch, still playing coy with me? I'll show you today, I don't care whose fiancée you are, I'm still going to..."

Chu Xinyue heard the sound of her dress tearing. She never imagined she'd find herself in such a situation. Her mind went blank, unable to cry out, her eyes reddening with urgency, only able to struggle desperately.

Feeling the man's breath on her neck, Chu Xinyue began to cry.

In her moment of despair, the door was suddenly flung open with a bang.

"Damn it, you're asking for death!"

In an instant, Chu Xinyue felt the pressure on her ease. She collapsed to the ground in disarray, helplessly looking up.

She saw Qin Zhao gripping the man's neck, his face full of rage. With one punch, the man spun around.

When Qin Zhao turned to meet Chu Xinyue's gaze and saw her torn dress exposing her pale thighs, he quickly averted his eyes. "Fix yourself up," he said, tossing his jacket towards her.

He then dragged the man out of the restroom.

Qin Zhao was furious, his fists clenching and unclenching. An inexplicable anger surged within him.

Still rational enough not to make a scene, he dragged the man directly to a deserted backyard and threw him to the ground, kicking him several times.

When the man came to his senses, he quickly shouted, "Qin Zhao, are you crazy? You're actually protecting her? Aren't you involved with her sister? You don't even acknowledge her as your fiancée. What, are you here to catch us in the act?"

Qin Zhao's face darkened instantly. "Regardless of who she is to me, this can't happen in our Qin Family. She wasn't willing, and you were trying to force her!"

"Damn it, you don't know shit! That was just a lovers' quarrel between us, marital fun!"

Qin Zhao was momentarily stunned.

"What... what did you say?"

The man got up from the ground, sneering, "I'm not the one cuckolding you. That slut actively seduced me into bed. We dated for three months, then she dumped me. How could I not come looking for an explanation?"

Qin Zhao's expression changed drastically. Instinctively, he raised his hand to grip the man's throat. "Say that again!"

The man also became angry. "What the hell, you didn't want her, so others can't have her? What's with this jealousy act!"

Qin Zhao's eyes bulged with rage. He was about to strike when he was suddenly stopped by the butler who appeared out of nowhere.

"Oh my, young master, how can you hit a guest? Let's talk this out calmly."

The butler quickly separated the two, seeming to realize that Qin Zhao was truly angry. He hastily led the troublemaking man away.

"Young master, please go back to entertain the guests. Everyone has arrived, and the Second Young Master is looking for you."

Qin Zhao stood there dazed, his emotions tumultuous. When he came to his senses and looked back, he saw Chu Xinyue standing there, clutching his clothes, her face pale and lost in thought.

Qin Zhao, with a gloomy face, was about to walk past her and leave.

Suddenly, Chu Xinyue spoke up: "It wasn't me!"

Qin Zhao looked over to see Chu Xinyue seemingly gathering her courage, looking at him as if facing certain death, and said, "It's Chu Xueqi, it must be her again, it's her causing trouble again..."

"Chu Xinyue!" Qin Zhao shouted.

Chu Xinyue was startled. When she saw the look in Qin Zhao's eyes, it was like a bucket of cold water had been poured over her.

Qin Zhao sneered, "Let's forget about those previous times, but for such an outrageous thing, you still want to pin it on Xueqi!"

The color gradually drained from Chu Xinyue's face, the light fading from her eyes. She wanted to say that the previous incidents weren't her doing either, but... she couldn't.

Qin Zhao laughed coldly, "To think that Xueqi has always felt guilty towards you because of our relationship, and out of respect for our engagement, we've never officially dated. Now I feel it's completely undeserved."

"Chu Xinyue, I don't care whether you like me or not, but ever since Xueqi risked her life to save me when we were children, she's been the only one in my heart. So... let's break off our engagement. The only person I want to marry is Chu Xueqi."

The light in Chu Xinyue's eyes completely disappeared, and the clothes she was holding slipped to the ground.

Although she had long known this day would come, it still cut her to the core.

"So you knew I liked you," Chu Xinyue suddenly said.

Qin Zhao no longer looked at Chu Xinyue.

Chu Xinyue gave a bitter laugh and said, "Don't worry, it won't happen again. I agree to break off the engagement."

Indeed, apart from her grandmother, everyone in this world – be it her father, mother, or that little boy who said he would marry her and protect her forever – would only believe in and choose Chu Xueqi.

Hearing Chu Xinyue's response, Qin Zhao felt a strange twinge in his heart, but he still couldn't help saying, "It's good that you're willing to cooperate. I'm warning you, if you ever try to harm Xueqi again, I won't consider..."

[Tsk tsk tsk, this is heading towards a disaster!]

A sudden voice interrupted Qin Zhao's words.

Qin Zhao, still not used to hearing Ji Fei's thoughts, instinctively looked in the direction of the voice.

He saw Ji Fei and Qin Xian standing in the corridor behind Chu Xinyue.

The two seemed to have come together to look for someone.

Before Qin Zhao could speak, Qin Xian frowned and said, "What happened? Why are you making a scene here? Didn't we agree to handle this matter later?"

Qin Xian and Ji Fei had arrived late and only heard Qin Zhao yelling at Chu Xinyue about breaking off the engagement. They didn't know what had happened earlier.

Qin Zhao frowned slightly but still didn't mention the incident in the restroom, as it was too damaging to one's reputation.

"Nothing," Qin Zhao said defiantly.

Qin Xian's gaze swept over, naturally noticing that Chu Xinyue's dress was damaged. Though not indecent, it was unseemly.

He lowered his head and softly said to Ji Fei, "Take her upstairs to change clothes."

Ji Fei had noticed too and nodded.

As she was about to lead Chu Xinyue away, she saw Chu Xinyue's numb expression and couldn't help but glare at Qin Zhao.

Qin Zhao felt provoked and wanted to ask her what she was looking at.

Then he heard: [He just said that from the moment Chu Xueqi saved him, she's been the only one in his heart. Should I find a way to tell this fool that he's got the wrong savior? It was Chu Xinyue who saved him back then, not Chu Xueqi.]

[Seeing how stubborn he is, I'm not sure I want to tell him. He got it wrong, he deserves it.]

Hearing this, Qin Zhao's mind went blank for a moment, followed by a sense of anger at having his cherished memories mocked. He was about to yell at Ji Fei, having already drawn in a breath.

Just then, he heard Qin Xian coldly say, "Qin Zhao, shut up."

Qin Zhao froze, looking at Qin Xian in disbelief.

Ji Fei, not understanding the situation, still led away Chu Xinyue, who no longer cared about anything else.

After the two left, Qin Zhao finally couldn't hold back. He angrily pointed in the direction Ji Fei had gone and said, "Second Brother! Did you hear..."

Qin Xian frowned slightly, "You said you want to marry Chu Xueqi. If the person who saved you as a child was Chu Xinyue and not Chu Xueqi, would your decision be the same?"

Qin Zhao widened his eyes in disbelief, thinking he must have misheard. But even hallucinations shouldn't produce such absurd words.

"Second Brother, Ji Fei has gone mad, and you're going mad with her?"

Qin Xian just looked at him silently, not saying a word.

Seeing that Qin Xian's expression didn't seem to be joking, Qin Zhao couldn't hold back anymore.

"I was there. How could I not know who saved me? Besides, the Chu couple and Xueqi, and even Chu Xinyue, all know it was Xueqi who saved me! Even Chu Xinyue has never denied it! How could this be wrong?!" Qin Zhao found it utterly absurd.

It was precisely because they knew Qin Zhao would react this way that the Qin Family hadn't immediately informed him about the mistake in identifying his lifesaver.

The Qin Family completely believed Ji Fei's account. It must have been the truth.

However, the incident was too far in the past to verify, unless the person involved refuted everything themselves.

So they planned to get through today's banquet first, and when Qin Zhao brought up the matter of the engagement, they would raise this issue and let Qin Zhao make his own decision.

In Qin Xian's view, regardless of how much weight this false impression held in his brother's mind, he shouldn't choose his life partner based on a misconception.

They just hadn't expected it to come to light so soon.

Qin Zhao's emotions were about to explode, and he suddenly blurted out, "Could it be that Chu Xinyue is dissatisfied again and trying to claim the credit for saving me back then? Does she think I'll choose her this way? Ha! Impossible!"

"Don't flatter yourself. It's just a secret your sister-in-law knows. As for whether it's a mistake, we can ask for clarification in person later, but you need to think about who you'd choose if it turns out to be wrong," Qin Xian said directly.

"I love Xueqi for her pure and kind nature. Even without the life-saving grace, I would... I would still choose Xueqi!"

Qin Xian frowned. He wasn't sure about Chu Xinyue's character, but Chu Xueqi was definitely not a kind-hearted person.

It was so frustrating that his brother was so blind! Suddenly, he felt that Ji Fei's words made sense, "If he's wrong, he deserves it."