Xiazhi felt pain all over her body, especially on her left forearm where Sheng Mingzhu had bitten her…
She kept her head half lowered, enduring the pain as she slowly walked towards the main gate, desperately suppressing the tears welling up in her eyes, terrified that someone might notice something amiss and she’d face punishment from Sheng Mingzhu again.
Five years ago, when Sheng Mingzhu broke her leg, Xiazhi had witnessed her ferocious and terrifying appearance—but back then, Xiazhi didn’t have to directly face Sheng Mingzhu’s hatred and madness.
Today, however, she became the outlet for all of Sheng Mingzhu’s foul emotions, and she realized just how terrifying Sheng Mingzhu could be when enraged…
Earlier, the way Sheng Mingzhu wildly swung the feather duster, beating her mercilessly, was like a demon. A hundred times more terrifying than when the Feng family used to beat Liuyar. It scared her so much she didn’t dare make a single sound…
Later, Sheng Mingzhu still wasn’t satisfied. She gagged Xiazhi’s mouth and bit down hard on her arm. Blood gushed out like a spring… Yet Sheng Mingzhu refused to stop. After letting go, she bit down again on the exact same spot.
In the end, Sheng Mingzhu bit her viciously three times on the same part of her arm.
Xiazhi felt as if Sheng Mingzhu was trying to tear off a chunk of her flesh…
It was too horrifying…
She truly didn’t know what she had done wrong…
Was it really just over that trivial matter in the kitchen?
Even Sheng Mingzhu herself didn’t want to easily offend Qingxin, so what could she, a powerless servant, possibly do?
Why did Sheng Mingzhu treat her like this, and what gave her the right?
She was Sheng Mingzhu’s own elder sister…
As she thought about it, the fear in Xiazhi’s heart gradually receded, replaced by anger and resentment.
One day… one day, she would make Sheng Mingzhu pay a bitter price!
For now, she had to go to a medical clinic first to find a female physician to treat her wounds. She hoped it wouldn’t leave scars…
Meanwhile, near the main entrance of the Sheng mansion, the Feng family lay sprawled on the ground, exhausted.
When they set out from Peach Blossom Village, the Feng family had only brought some dry rations. They finished them last night, and today they hadn’t eaten anything yet. Their water was also gone. Their stomachs had been growling with hunger for a long time.
Feng Erbao licked his parched lips impatiently. “Grandfather, how long do we have to wait? Why don’t we just ask the gatekeeper to call Sanya out?”
Old Man Feng couldn’t be bothered with this foolish grandson and didn’t even spare him a glance.
“I really want to crack open your head and see if it’s just filled with water—”
Feng Laoda was so angry he felt a pang in his heart, cursing, “Do you have any money? Without offering benefits, why would the servants at the Sheng mansion’s gate help you call someone? And even if they did call, do you think Sanya, knowing we’re here, would obediently come out to see you?”
“Why wouldn’t she see us? We’re her family…” Feng Laoer, though he understood Feng Laoda’s point, couldn’t help adding.
“You fool! She’s a servant of the Sheng family now. What does that have to do with you?” If it weren’t his own son, Feng Laoda wouldn’t waste another word on him.
Feng Erbao finally shut up at that.
But Old Madam Li started cursing again. “It’s all that bitch Taoniang’s fault! Selling Sanya off—not caring for her own man, even selling the house in the capital without giving us a single copper—that black-hearted, rotten-lunged bitch—”
Old Madam Li rubbed her blistered feet while cursing; coupled with her dark, sharp-featured face, she looked truly mean and ugly.
Years ago, when Taoniang brought Feng Laoer and their three daughters to the capital, she sold Sanya to a broker not long after, pulling strings to have the broker place her in the Sheng mansion. The Feng family back in Peach Blossom Village only found out about this later.
They also later learned that the place where the second branch of the family lived in the capital was under Taoniang’s name. Unfortunately, by the time they knew, Taoniang had already sold the house, and the Feng family didn’t get to benefit at all.
This time, when Sheng Mingzhu returned from White Horse Temple, they heard she only brought Sanya into the mansion, not Taoniang. No one knew where that bitch Taoniang had hidden herself to enjoy life.
The Feng family decided to stake out the Sheng mansion entrance precisely to wait for Sanya, to find out from her where Taoniang was.
Of course, if they could gain something else from this trip, that would be even better.
“Sanya is also a wretched girl, all these years never knowing to come back and see us…”
No one else chimed in, mainly because they were too tired and hungry. They didn’t know how much longer they’d have to wait to see someone, so it was better to save their energy.
Just then, the Feng family saw a young girl in red clothes walk out of the Sheng mansion.
The girl had very fair skin, a curvaceous figure, and wore a gold hairpin in her hair—a hairpin that looked substantial and heavy—
“My ancestors, what a big gold hairpin! If we had that to buy rice and meat, who knows how much we could get…”
Old Madam Li gazed greedily at the hairpin and said.
The others were also influenced by Old Madam Li’s words, staring at the hairpin.
Only Old Man Feng kept his eyes fixed on the young girl’s face.
He remembered what Taoniang looked like in her heyday, and this girl bore a slight resemblance to her.
So, Old Man Feng’s eyes grew brighter and brighter.
Just as Xiazhi passed by them, Old Man Feng suddenly shouted out, “Sanya—”
Though her name had been changed to Xiazhi in the Sheng mansion, the name “Sanya” seemed carved into her bones. Hearing the call, Xiazhi instinctively turned to look.
At first glance, she thought she saw a group of beggars.
At second glance, Xiazhi’s heart began to pound violently.
She realized that those people weren’t beggars—they were the Feng family!
The Feng family looked at her, their eyes practically glowing green.
That look was all too familiar to Xiazhi—it was the look of wanting to wring every last bit of value from her, to suck the marrow from her bones.
Xiazhi turned to flee, but her reaction was a beat too slow. Old Man Feng, who had quickly closed in, grabbed her right wrist in a tight grip.
“Sanya, I’m your grandfather! This is your grandmother, your father, your uncle and his family—”
Old Man Feng shouted, his voice loud.
“No, I’m not—let go of me—”
Xiazhi tried to break free from Old Man Feng’s grip.
Unexpectedly, not only did she fail to break free, but Old Madam Li grabbed her other arm—the exact spot where Sheng Mingzhu had bitten her.
“Ah—Let go—” Xiazhi could no longer hold back a piercing, agonized scream.
The commotion had already attracted a crowd of gossip-loving commoners.
“Feng Sanya, what are you screaming about? I’m your grandmother! We’re all your family—”
The moment Sanya saw them and turned to run, Old Madam Li’s initial joy at seeing Sanya instantly turned to fury.
So not only did she not let go, she gripped even tighter.
“It hurts, please let go…”
Xiazhi felt as if the pain would split her open and begged.
But Old Madam Li paid no heed. Seeing many people starting to gather, she began to play the victim.
“Feng Sanya, we’re your own flesh and blood. Why won’t you acknowledge us? Where’s Taoniang? Where did she go? For the past five years, you and your mother followed the young mistress to White Horse Temple to enjoy a life of ease. You never sent a single copper back, not any goods, not even a letter home. Our house in Peach Blossom Village burned down, our money was stolen, and your father, your uncle, and your two cousins were all beaten into cripples by bandits… With all the men in the family crippled, unable to do heavy labor, do you know how we survived these years? We lived by eating tree leaves and grass every single day…”
