When Sheng Mingjian led his men into Haitang Court in a murderous rage, Qingtian gave a few quick instructions and then hurried off to Peony Court to report the news.
Sheng Minmin had already gotten the news as soon as Sheng Mingjian returned to the mansion.
Early that morning, Qingdai had been waiting near the main gate, and she saw with her own eyes Gaoshan carrying Sheng Mingjian back.
Qingdai even said that Sheng Mingjian looked like an evil spirit had sucked the life right out of him, and that he carried an air of death about him…
She figured that beggar from the other day must have used every ounce of his strength, just to earn a few more coins.
While she had Qingdai put on her makeup, she let her mind wander.
Across both of her lifetimes, this was the money she’d spent most wisely!
Ever since she’d come back from the dead and into this body, every single day she’d wished she could torture her enemies…
But Sheng Yong was no simple man. She didn’t dare change too much, too fast, for fear he’d notice something was off.
Plus, with her status as the “birth mother,” she couldn’t just beat Sheng Mingjian’s “biological children” to death all at once.
On the other hand, Sheng Mingjian and the others were still young back then, and they hadn’t done anything that gave her enough leverage to punish them severely…
Because of all these reasons, she first had to establish a firm foothold and build up her own power.
Later, she secretly ruined Sheng Mingyi’s health, step by step. Recently, Sheng Mingyi had been unwell again, but everyone in the mansion was used to it by now.
She also destroyed the foundation of Sheng Mingbo’s martial arts training. Even after years of hard practice, his martial arts skills hadn’t improved at all, and there wasn’t the slightest sign of him ever rising above.
Sheng Mingjian had been under Sheng Yong’s watchful eye before, so Sheng Minmin only dared to use Qingxin to harm Sheng Mingjian.
But this time was different. This time, Sheng Mingjian was digging his own grave.
If Sheng Yong looked into it, the people causing trouble on the estate had been acting on Sheng Mingjian’s orders.
Liang Mingcheng was someone Sheng Mingjian had approached.
Xiong San was also Sheng Mingjian’s man.
And Sheng Mingjian was the one who’d taken the initiative to leave the mansion.
All of this was orchestrated by Sheng Mingjian himself. What did she have to do with it?
Even if Sheng Yong suspected her, she’d deny it to her dying breath!
Besides, Huang Yaning was far more suspicious than she was.
Sheng Mingjian wanted to ruin Huang Yaning’s reputation, which was no different from wanting to kill her!
Huang Yaning had the strongest motive to get revenge on Sheng Mingjian!
In the end, on one side you have a son who falls short in every way, and if this got out, he’d only bring shame to the family—
And on the other side, you have a daughter whose cunning and schemes far exceed the ordinary, someone who could soon be married off to gain benefits for the family—
It wasn’t hard to guess which one Sheng Yong would choose.
If she calculated the time correctly, Sheng Yong should be back soon.
And today, aside from Sheng Yong, there should be some honored guests arriving.
She really couldn’t show up too early…
Sheng Minmin looked at the woman in the mirror—pale, with dark circles under her eyes, looking like she’d been pushing through illness for two straight days and nights—and lay down on the bed, completely satisfied.
She also swallowed a pill that Qingdai had prepared. Once she took this pill, even if the imperial physician came to take her pulse, he would only conclude that she was suffering from exhaustion and emotional stagnation.
Just as she’d finished getting ready, Qingying rushed in with a report.
“Madam, Qingtian says the eldest young master has barged into Haitang Court with a group of servants, and it looks like he might be about to harm the seventh young lady…”
Sheng Minmin’s acting skills kicked in instantly. She pressed a hand to her forehead and put on a pained expression.
“Quick, quick, let her in, and hurry up and help me change—”
Qingtian hurried inside, her face full of worry, and summed up the situation in a few short sentences.
“Monster—
“I think he’s gone mad—”
Sheng Minmin slammed her hand down on the edge of the bed, shouted an insult, and got up. But perhaps because her “illness” was so severe, she moved too quickly. As soon as her feet touched the floor, she pitched forward limply—
“Madam—”
“Madam—”
Qingdai and Qingying were terrified and rushed to support her.
“Oh no, Madam has fainted from anger—
“Someone call the mansion physician—” Qingdai yelled.
Qingtian was at her wit’s end. Madam had fainted, but what about the young lady?
“Qingying, the young lady…”
She secretly tugged at Qingying’s sleeve.
Seeing that the servants were being organized efficiently by Qingdai, Qingying hesitated for a moment, then said,
“Don’t panic. I’ll pull some people from our courtyard and have them go with you…”
After exchanging a few words with Qingdai, Qingying summoned the remaining twenty or so nursemaids from the courtyard and sent them off.
Qingying figured that if Madam woke up and found out something had happened at Haitang Court, she’d probably get so angry she’d fall ill again. They couldn’t just leave Haitang Court to fend for itself…
When Qingying and Qingtian returned to Haitang Court, the scene that greeted them sent a chill down their spines, turned their limbs to jelly, and left them completely speechless.
The day before, Duanmu Rui had heard that the seventh young lady of the Sheng family had gotten into an accident while out, falling from her carriage and slipping into a coma.
She was immediately worried and sent someone to ask the imperial physician who’d been to the Sheng mansion to examine her, just to confirm the situation.
The physician said that if they could invite Aunt Zhu, the imperial physician skilled in medicine who served the Empress, to perform acupuncture on the Sheng family’s young lady, it might help her wake up sooner.
Duanmu Rui wrote a letter to her aunt, the Empress, that very night. Early this morning, she hurried to the palace and brought Aunt Zhu Le straight to the Sheng mansion.
Her older brother said she was too invested in the Sheng family’s affairs, and worried she’d annoy the Sheng family’s head.
He also felt the Sheng household was too turbulent, so he came along, concerned for her safety.
When they arrived at Haitang Court, they were met with a chaotic scene: a group of men were brawling with a group of nursemaids, and everything was a complete mess—
Duanmu Rui had never seen such disorder in an official’s home before!
If Xiao Qi weren’t unconscious, she’d definitely have enjoyed watching the show.
But right now, she was just furious. She shouted,
“Stop—”
What made her even angrier was that the group not only ignored her, but one of the servants saw an opening and tried to make a run for Xiao Qi’s private quarters—
“Yuanyuan—” Duanmu Rui was now thoroughly enraged.
Yuanyuan pulled a flexible sword from his belt, sliced off one of the servant’s ears.
The servant let out a bloodcurdling scream as warm blood splattered everywhere…
Only then did everyone in the room realize that the commandery prince and commandery princess of the Eldest Princess’s manor had arrived.
Everyone except the still-prone Sheng Mingjian knelt on the ground, and the room fell silent in an instant.
And then, from the inner room, came the roar of an enraged man and the piercing screams of a young girl—
“Ah—”
“Xiao Qi—”
Duanmu Rui turned pale with fright and dashed toward the inner room, but someone else was faster.
It was Sheng Mingshu.
The two of them entered the room and saw a sight that made their blood run cold: a man with a hideous expression on his face was strangling Huang Xianjing’s slender neck.
Huang Xianjing’s face had already turned purple, and her limbs were flailing weakly…
“Cousin—”
Sheng Mingshu rushed forward to save her, but as a frail scholar, he was sent flying backward by a single kick from the man…
Duanmu Rui instinctively stepped forward and caught Sheng Mingshu…
“Yuanyuan—” she called out.
By then, Yuanyuan had already made his move. With ghost-like speed, he appeared behind the man, drew his soft sword, and slashed the man’s throat.
Another flash of the sword, and the hand that was strangling Huang Xianjing was severed—
Huang Xianjing collapsed limply to the ground…
Blood, bright red, pooled everywhere.
Only then did the others notice that a hairpin was embedded in the back of the dead man’s neck.
