“Who’s better, me or him?”
Sheng Mingjian blurted this out in a fit of anger, and even he was startled after saying it.
On the way there, he’d planned to skip the nonsense and get straight to business once he entered the room.
But once the door closed from the outside, he couldn’t help but look Qingxin up and down from head to toe.
Qingxin had a graceful, curvy figure, a face like peach blossoms, and a coquettish charm in the corners of her eyes…
She was even three times more beautiful than before, and when he saw her, the fury in his heart came surging out.
What? When she was with him, she wore a miserable face all day. But after she got with his father, she was glowing…
Was his father really that charming? That likable?
Anger mixed with a young man’s fragile self-esteem made him blurt out those words.
“Come here—”
Sheng Mingjian clenched his fists, his voice cold as ice.
“Young Master…”
Only then did Qingxin snap back to her senses. Her body couldn’t help but tremble, and with a thud, she dropped to her knees, crying:
“This servant… is just a maid, I have no say in anything… Please spare me, Young Master…”
Sheng Mingjian sneered. He understood that Qingxin had gotten the wrong idea, thinking he’d come to settle old scores.
But watching this woman kneel on the ground, crying so pitifully, a hint of satisfaction rose in his heart.
It felt like a victor watching his prey beg for mercy—it satisfied his vanity as a man.
“Come here—”
He repeated, his voice hoarse this time, the desire in his eyes laid bare.
Only then did Qingxin realize the truth—she’d been mistaken.
Sheng Mingjian didn’t want revenge. He wanted her.
She hadn’t expected Sheng Mingjian to be so unable to let her go!
Both father and son had fallen at her feet!
Her heart swelled with smugness in an instant! But her mouth said, “Young Master, this servant wouldn’t dare…
“Please let me go… If the Master finds out, he’ll beat me to death…”
Seeing his gaze turn as sharp as a knife, without a trace of tenderness, Qingxin didn’t dare say another word. She crawled over on her knees and began to undress Sheng Mingjian…
In recent months, the Master’s stamina had been getting worse and worse. Honestly, Qingxin was quite dissatisfied too…
If Sheng Mingjian could make her happy, it wasn’t like she couldn’t play along. The more she thought about it, the more she began to look forward to it.
If the Master ever found out in the future, she’d just use Sheng Mingjian as a shield. Could a weak woman like her possibly resist Sheng Mingjian?
By then, she’d just cry and play the pitiful one, and it would blow over…
Before long, Qingxin had only one thought: Youth is wonderful!
But after a while, she smelled it… a foul odor.
The terrible memories from before came rushing back.
Sheng Mingjian still hadn’t cured his problem after all this time?
Was Sheng Mingjian a pervert?
His illness wasn’t even cured and he came out to torment her?! He deserved to die!
Qingxin felt dirty, utterly disgusted, lying there like a dead fish…
Come to think of it, it was almost funny. When Qingxin first schemed against Sheng Mingjian,
Sheng Mingjian had also felt dirty, wishing he could kill Qingxin!
Now it was exactly the reverse.
And Sheng Mingjian was completely satisfied, with no attention to spare for that particular problem.
After more than an hour of commotion, Qingxin started to worry the coachman might get suspicious, so she could only endure her disgust and play along.
She even crazily praised Sheng Mingjian for being amazing, which finally made him let her go.
Before leaving, Qingxin was just breathing a sigh of relief.
Then she heard Sheng Mingjian tell her to come again tomorrow, and a surge of anger rose in her instantly!
Why should she service that reeking Sheng Mingjian?!
And she’d done such “tiring” work, yet Sheng Mingjian wouldn’t even give her money!
There was no benefit at all in being with Sheng Mingjian! Qingxin was furious.
But seeing the threat in Sheng Mingjian’s eyes, she could only nod with difficulty.
Over here, Sheng Mingjian and Qingxin were tangled up together. On the other side, Sheng Mingzhu and Zhu Qisheng were also going at it hot and heavy.
At first, Zhu Qisheng was very enthusiastic, wanting to meet every two or three days.
After a few times, Sheng Mingzhu became even more enthusiastic than Zhu Qisheng, wanting to meet every day…
Zhu Qisheng toughed it out and agreed. After half a month, he’d lost a whole size…
Princess Consort Jing thought it strange and wanted to call the imperial physician. How would Zhu Qisheng dare?
He just made excuses, saying the summer heat killed his appetite, which was why he’d gotten thinner.
Princess Consort Jing was worried, but she didn’t push it.
So Zhu Qisheng sent a letter to Sheng Mingzhu, saying his mother had been strict with him lately and he couldn’t go out for the time being…
After sending the letter, Zhu Qisheng secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Mingzhu was beautiful and made him very happy, but she was just too… His body really couldn’t handle it.
Sheng Mingzhu was very disappointed when she received the letter, and behind the scenes she cursed Princess Consort Jing plenty, wishing she’d die soon.
But when she sat in front of the mirror, she was overjoyed again.
She could clearly feel her looks becoming more and more radiant, her spirit even better.
Sheng Mingzhu had no idea she’d been hit with a forbidden technique.
Plus, she’d abandoned her useless birth mother—Taoniang—and Sheng Minmin, her nominal “mother,” wished Sheng Mingzhu dead.
So no one reminded her how wrong this all was…
“Fourth Sister, I’m so tired, so hungry…
“Fourth Sister, I want to go back to Peach Blossom Village…”
Dongkui’s voice was choked, two streams of tears running down her face, and her hands stopped moving.
“Less nonsense, get to work!”
Qiuju said viciously.
Her eyes were dark and bruised, her cheeks sunken, her lips thin, and with that fierce look in her eyes, she looked like a female ghost who’d wandered into the mortal world.
“Tell me, if we hadn’t come to the capital, could we have married an ordinary man and lived an ordinary life…”
Dongkui kept talking to herself, and rather than asking a question, it was more like she was muttering.
A few big green-headed mosquitoes buzzed around Dongkui’s face, and she acted like she couldn’t see them.
“Shut your mouth!
“If I don’t finish today’s work and it delays my meal, I’ll make you pay.”
Qiuju’s voice was as sharp and mean as ever.
How could she not be sharp, not be mean?
For the past two years, she’d been caring for the Feng family’s every need—their food, drink, and waste. Her life held nothing but stinking raw food, excrement, and curses…
She couldn’t eat well or rest well.
Even breathing a mouthful of fresh air was a luxury. Every day was lived in hell.
Back then, Qiuju kept telling herself over and over.
Her family had done wrong, so the Third Young Master took it out on her, punishing her.
But as long as the Third Young Master’s anger ran its course, she’d still have a chance to climb back up.
Qiuju told herself this every day, otherwise she couldn’t have held on…
Last month, the Third Young Master sent someone to call her back to the estate. Qiuju wept with joy, endlessly grateful.
She thought her bitter days had finally ended!
She thought she could finally turn her life around!
Who could have imagined the Third Young Master was a demon!
The Third Young Master had actually sent her to—wash chamber pots.
Wash—chamber—pots!
That was the lowest, most degrading work a servant could do!
And with the hot weather, the stench coming off the waste in those pots was even stronger…
Surrounded by piles of chamber pots, she felt like she was soaking in a pit of filth.
Her nose could no longer smell anything but stench.
On top of that, she couldn’t even eat her fill.
Only after finishing the day’s work could she get one coarse grain bun. If she didn’t finish, she got nothing…
Yesterday afternoon she’d gone hungry, and at night she saw stars…
The Third Young Master was ruthless!
From the moment she started washing chamber pots, Qiuju was filled with murderous intent toward Sheng Mingyi!
And the same for the rest of the Sheng family and the Feng family!
