Liang Mingcheng was now completely consumed by fear, his body going limp.
At this moment, he no longer had any lustful thoughts—and even if he did, his body just wouldn’t cooperate…
He realized that both siblings of the Sheng family were terrifyingly dreadful, and he should never have provoked them.
In a daze, he couldn’t help but wonder: if he had been less greedy and honestly gone through with the engagement to Miss Mu, would everything have turned out differently…
“Are you really… not going to kill me?”
Liang Mingcheng asked, his voice trembling a bit.
“I’m keeping you because you’re useful!
“As long as you don’t betray me in the future, I won’t just spare your life—I’ll give you plenty of benefits too.
“Given my relationship with the princess, if you manage to pass the imperial exams at the provincial level someday, it wouldn’t be impossible for me to help you land a minor official position—”
Hidden in the shadows, Xiong San saw that the seventh young miss had said something to Liang Mingcheng, and surprisingly, Liang Mingcheng didn’t lay a hand on her. His expression grew darker and darker.
In the end, Liang Mingcheng even had a fawning smile on his face…
Xiong San was stunned.
Just like the lady’s daughter, I suppose!
It seemed he wouldn’t be needed today. But then, Xiong San hadn’t expected what happened next.
The next moment, from a concealed spot across from him, a figure emerged.
Xiong San’s eyes widened. He closed them, then opened them again.
He wasn’t mistaken—he saw Sheng Mingjian!
Sheng Mingjian had come personally today.
Over the past several days, Sheng Mingjian had watched the woman he loved suffer setback after setback, and he could barely stand it anymore. He’d been itching to deal with that wild girl to stand up for Mingzhu.
Plus, he had a suspicion—he wondered if that wild girl could also have the same dreams he did.
Otherwise, how could a wild girl raised in the countryside be so formidable?
She picked up music, chess, calligraphy, and painting effortlessly, got along well with the princess, and was completely different from the foolish, timid, cowardly person in his dreams.
Especially last time, when that wild girl competed with him for Master Song’s painting. The more Sheng Mingjian thought about it afterward, the more off it felt.
And the more uneasy he became, always worried that this wild girl might one day threaten Mingzhu, threaten him.
So he orchestrated this whole scheme.
He was also worried that the wild girl, with her silver tongue, might escape unscathed, so he secretly followed behind.
Good thing he came—otherwise, she really might have gotten away.
But today, Sheng Mingjian saw just how cunning this wild girl was. He no longer wanted to marry her off to Liang Mingcheng just to have Liang Mingcheng torment her.
Raising a tiger would eventually bring disaster. Sheng Mingjian began to feel murderous intent.
He turned his head and looked at Liang Mingcheng.
“Do what you’re supposed to do—otherwise, die!“
“Elder Master Sheng… spare me…”
Liang Mingcheng’s legs were already cramping at the sight of Sheng Mingjian.
And when he saw the cold, murderous look in the other man’s eyes, he fell to his knees and begged for mercy.
Liang Mingcheng knew he wasn’t a good person, but he had never descended to the level of “murder.”
And both of these Sheng siblings were not normal!
If he humiliated Sheng Qiyuner today, she would kill him.
If he didn’t humiliate Sheng Qiyuner, then Elder Master Sheng would kill him.
Where was his way out…
Meanwhile, Huang Yaning was suffering an unprecedented blow!
It felt as though her body was being cut in two—one half soaked in ice water, the other half roasted over a fire.
Hot and cold by turns, the agony was unbearable.
She thought Sheng Mingjian’s cruelty, shamelessness, and despicability had already shattered her understanding…
But Sheng Mingjian could sink even lower than she’d imagined…
Sheng Mingjian had been there all along…
If Liang Mingcheng had made a move, would Sheng Mingjian have just watched from the shadows the whole time…
Her stomach churned, bile rose in her throat, and with a “Hua—” Huang Yaning vomited…
She threw up for a long time, until a pungent odor filled the air.
“Still not making a move?” Sheng Mingjian urged Liang Mingcheng with a frown.
“Elder Master Sheng, I… I can’t…”
Sheng Mingjian had originally planned to let the wild girl be humiliated, then kill them both, staging a scene where the wild girl, unable to bear the shame, killed Liang Mingcheng and then took her own life.
That kind of death would be disgraceful if word got out, and his father and mother wouldn’t investigate too deeply.
But since Liang Mingcheng was useless, if he killed them both outright, his parents might report it to the authorities, and an investigation would work against him.
“Xiong San—get your ass out here—”
Sheng Mingjian had followed at the back, so of course he knew Xiong San hadn’t left.
Xiong San was absolutely furious, cursing up a storm in his head.
That twisted Sheng Mingjian!
But he couldn’t not come out. He stepped forward, his face dark as thunder.
He had made up his mind—his master was the lady.
So, at the critical moment, even if it meant exposing his identity, he would not let Sheng Mingjian succeed.
Xiong San saw that the moment the seventh young miss spotted him, the last trace of color drained from her face.
The poor seventh young miss—her own brother, worse than a beast.
Xiong San felt immense sympathy for her. He watched as she staggered to her feet from the ground, her small, thin body swaying unsteadily.
The seventh young miss fixed her eyes on Sheng Mingjian and asked,
“Why…?”
The voice was very soft, yet it carried immense weight.
Xiong San looked at Sheng Mingjian too.
But Sheng Mingjian’s lips curled into a mocking smile, his eyes sizing up the person across from him as if she were an object.
“To me, you’re nothing at all.”
Xiong San thought he understood.
The seventh young miss meant nothing to Sheng Mingjian, so he could scheme against her with such malice and still feel perfectly justified…
At that moment, Xiong San felt that Sheng Mingjian was even colder and more terrifying than a demon from hell.
Thank goodness he worked for the lady, not Sheng Mingjian!
A flicker of relief rose in his heart—but then, in the next second, a figure flashed past his eyes like a startled swan.
Xiong San was slow to react, and only then realized it was the seventh young miss.
He turned his head and saw her small, frail figure seemingly explode with tremendous force. She raised her leg and kicked Sheng Mingjian right in the crotch, as if trying to destroy his manhood entirely.
“Ahh!”
Sheng Mingjian screamed in agony. In retaliation, he slapped the seventh young miss hard across the face.
She was knocked to the ground, and Sheng Mingjian, his face contorted with rage, kicked her.
She flew several meters through the air and hit her head hard against a large tree, then passed out…
The whole thing happened so fast that Xiong San couldn’t intervene.
Seeing the seventh young miss lying unconscious, he felt both guilty and furious. He completely lost control, stepped forward, and punched Sheng Mingjian square in the nose.
“Damn it!
“You heartless bastard!
“Beast—
“You’re not fit to be human! You don’t deserve to live!”
Xiong San cursed as he beat him—left hook, right hook, every punch landing solidly on flesh.
Sheng Mingjian’s most vulnerable area was already injured, and now, under Xiong San’s fierce and relentless assault, he was utterly defenseless.
His once handsome face quickly became a gruesome mess—bruised purple and blue, swollen like a pig’s head.
“Xiong San, have you lost your mind?
“Don’t you want to save your mother anymore—without my money, your mother will die soon—”
“You’re the one who’ll die! My mother is going to live a hundred years!”
No one expected that the physical pain Sheng Mingjian was enduring at this moment would be nothing compared to what was about to happen next.
