While Aunt Zhu Le, brought by Duanmu Rui, was taking Huang Xianjing’s pulse and prescribing medicine, the identity of the man had already been uncovered.
He was a handyman working in Sheng Mingjian’s courtyard.
Short in stature, usually quiet and unnoticeable.
Taking advantage of the chaos in Haitang Court today, no one expected him to sneak into Huang Yaning’s room to attack her. Huang Xianjing was the one who discovered him.
To protect Huang Yaning, Huang Xianjing mustered her courage, pulled out her hairpin, and stabbed it into the man’s neck.
But after all, Huang Xianjing was just a frail young girl. The hairpin didn’t go in very deep, only giving the man a minor flesh wound.
In the end, he caught her and nearly strangled her to death.
Huang Xianjing used her own life to buy time, which allowed Sheng Mingshu and Duanmu Rui to arrive and kill the man. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unthinkable…
The man’s body was carried out. The servants were just finishing cleaning up the blood, their bodies trembling, when both Sheng Minmin and Sheng Yong arrived.
Sheng Minmin was carried in, while Sheng Yong, having just returned to the mansion, stumbled and nearly fell to the ground upon learning of the situation at home.
Because the Crown Prince’s wedding was approaching, the entire court was running around like chickens with their heads cut off.
Many high-ranking officials were staying in the front courtyard of the palace, and Sheng Yong had been called there too.
Yesterday morning, as soon as the palace gates opened, Sheng Yong received a message from Dongsheng saying his youngest daughter had been in an accident while inspecting the estates and had fallen unconscious.
Later, he received a letter from “Huang Shi.” Her tone was casual, telling him not to worry and so on.
But before sunset, Dongsheng sent another message: it turned out Sheng Mingjian hadn’t returned to the mansion since the night before last.
His two servants reported that he had gone out with his classmates…
Occasionally, things like this happened, but yesterday the two servants had rushed out, and their expressions seemed off.
Dongsheng looked up several of Sheng Mingjian’s close classmates but couldn’t find any trace of the eldest young master.
He’d been missing for a whole day and night, right around the time his youngest daughter had met with her accident…
Sheng Yong valued his future above all else. Unless something absolutely catastrophic happened at home, he wouldn’t miss such a critical moment.
But yesterday, the more he thought about it, the more uneasy he felt. His right eyelid wouldn’t stop twitching.
Today, he asked his superior for leave, handed over his current tasks, and came straight home.
He never expected to walk in and find the household in complete turmoil!
His eldest son was injured and could only lie down, with a sinister look in his eyes, as if possessed by an evil spirit.
His wife, “Huang Shi,” was also lying down, speaking weakly, looking gravely ill.
His niece had nearly been strangled to death and was still in shock…
And in his youngest daughter’s room, a servant from his eldest son’s courtyard was dead…
Oh, and his youngest daughter was still lying in bed, unconscious…
Sheng Yong felt like he was losing his mind!
What a disaster—
He’d only been gone for two days!
Not two months! Definitely not two years!
How could so many things have suddenly happened at home?
But Sheng Yong didn’t have time to dwell on this.
Right now, his biggest headache was that the commandery prince and commandery princess of the Eldest Princess’s manor, along with Aunt Zhu, the trusted aide of the Empress, had witnessed this whole mess…
What would the Eldest Princess, the Empress, and even the Emperor think of him?
Would they think he couldn’t manage his own household properly, that his family values were corrupt?
The thought of leaving a bad impression on the people at the very top of the pyramid made Sheng Yong so angry he was fuming and restless.
When his youngest daughter first returned, the household had been chaotic too.
But back then, Sheng Yong could still keep his composure. Today, he felt like going mad himself…
Yet he couldn’t afford to lose it now. He had to pull himself together and apologize to the commandery princess and commandery prince…
“Sheng Mingjian, you caused a riot at Haitang Court, and someone from your courtyard took advantage of the chaos to try and kill Xiao Qi. Tell me—did that man act on your orders?”
Duanmu Rui didn’t care that this wasn’t her own home. She directly interrogated Sheng Mingjian.
She was a commandery princess, and two people she’d been looking out for had nearly died today. How could Duanmu Rui not be furious?
“Commandery Princess, I think you’ve misunderstood. I truly have no idea what the man’s motives were. His actions have nothing to do with me—”
Sheng Mingjian took a deep breath and spoke word by word.
Every syllable he uttered carried a chill.
At this moment, Sheng Mingjian’s anger and frustration were even greater than Sheng Yong’s.
His actions today were indeed rash, but he simply couldn’t hold back any longer.
He was going to “ruin” the little wench!
Even if his own reputation took a hit, he was determined to achieve his goal.
So he caused a commotion out front, drawing everyone’s attention to himself.
Everyone would just see him as a dangerous person, which made it easier for his man to slip into the room and destroy the little wench’s face.
Sheng Mingjian didn’t intend for the man to kill Huang Yaning. For one thing, murder was too serious a crime, and the man didn’t have the guts.
For another, Sheng Mingjian wanted to torment Huang Yaning himself.
He always believed that once Huang Yaning’s face was ruined, the day of his revenge would be just around the corner!
After it was done, he would fall under suspicion of “harming his sister,” but his father wouldn’t care about a daughter who’d lost her looks.
To protect him, his father would surely help him cover it up, clear his name, and minimize the impact on him.
And as for Huang Yaning, she would become the meat on his chopping block!
But Sheng Mingjian hadn’t expected Huang Xianjing to also be in the room, willing to risk her life to protect Huang Yaning!
Sheng Mingjian now wanted Huang Xianjing dead, too.
If it weren’t for Huang Xianjing, the little wench’s face would have been ruined already!
He also hadn’t expected the commandery princess to show up and stand up for the little wench.
Not only had he failed to get his revenge today, but he’d also landed himself in a heap of trouble.
The good thing was, he’d only made verbal promises to the man and hadn’t given him anything concrete. No one could pin anything on him.
“You say it has nothing to do with you, so it has nothing to do with you?”
Duanmu Rui pointed at Sheng Mingjian’s face and scolded him.
“Do you think I, a commandery princess, am blind?
“When I arrived, I saw everything clearly. There’s nothing brotherly about you at all!
“What kind of older brother brings a group of servants to cause trouble in his own sister’s courtyard?
“You don’t look like an older brother to me. You look like a vengeful enemy!”
Duanmu Rui’s words hit the mark by accident, striking at the crux of the matter.
“Commandery Princess, you’re overthinking it…”
Facing the commandery princess, Sheng Mingjian struggled to keep a ferocious expression from appearing on his face. He could feel the muscles in his face twitching…
Sheng Mingjian’s defiant attitude made Duanmu Rui’s hands tremble with rage.
Sheng Mingshu stepped forward at this point. Instead of interrogating Sheng Mingjian, he addressed Sheng Yong and Sheng Minmin.
“Father, Mother, Eldest Brother didn’t come home for two days.
“He came back injured today, but instead of resting properly, he brought a group of servants and tried to barge into Seventh Sister’s room—
“After we stopped him, he had his underlings smash up Haitang Court—
“I truly don’t understand why Eldest Brother would act this way at Haitang Court… it’s so unlike his usual behavior—”
Sheng Yong had already noticed that today’s incident wasn’t like his eldest son’s usual style. He also wanted to know what had happened between his eldest son and his youngest daughter.
But he was also a bit worried, afraid of uncovering something that shouldn’t be exposed—
Sheng Yong felt a throbbing pain in his temples.
At this moment, he realized that his youngest daughter’s close friendship with the commandery princess wasn’t necessarily a good thing.
