Sheng Mingzhu was so furious that her vision went dark, and she nearly lost her composure and started cursing out loud.
Why did these lowly people look at her like that?
She had absolutely no idea that Xia Zhi was pregnant!
Sure, even if she had known, she would have made sure to get rid of it—but at the time, she truly didn’t know!
Besides, it was Prince Qi who drugged Xia Zhi. Why didn’t these people go blame him instead?
Why did they have to despise her?
Once she made her comeback, she’d gouge out their eyes, rip out their tongues, break their limbs, and toss them out of the manor—
Sheng Mingzhu was already picturing, in her mind, how she’d tear her enemies apart piece by piece—especially that little wench right in front of her.
She wanted to make that little wench’s life a living hell…
“Sixth Sister, why do you have to be like this?” Huang Yaning sighed as she spoke.
“Xia Zhi is your own blood sister after all. How could you be so cruel to her?
“Don’t you know how miserable a woman in the inner quarters will be if she can’t bear children?
“Now, your birth mother is paralyzed and mute because of you, and your own sister has also suffered at your hands. So she came to me, asking me to…”
With that, Huang Yaning curled her lips into a sly smile, and a servant behind her carrying a tray immediately stepped forward.
The tray was covered with a red cloth, hiding whatever lay beneath.
Qingtian lifted the red cloth, and everyone saw that underneath was a long whip.
Over the years, Huang Yaning had never stopped practicing with the whip, and after Duanmu Rui found out, he even gave her some pointers.
So now, while she couldn’t exactly claim to have mastered the art of whipping, it was more than enough to handle Sheng Mingzhu, who had no martial arts skills at all.
When Sheng Mingzhu saw the whip, her face went pale with fright.
In the past, she might have stupidly asked something like “What are you doing?”
But now, she had experience—this little wench never played by the rules. So she turned and bolted straight toward Yuluo.
Huang Yaning was quick. She grabbed the whip and lashed it toward Sheng Mingzhu.
The whip sliced through the air and came down with a sharp swish, landing solidly on Sheng Mingzhu’s back.
“Ahhh—”
Sheng Mingzhu let out a piercing shriek—so shrill and penetrating that it only made Huang Yaning more excited.
Seeing Sheng Mingzhu running and screaming at the same time, Huang Yaning strode forward and shouted,
“You harmed your own sister, then your own mother. Xia Zhi asked me to give you a good beating—”
She saw Sheng Mingzhu had already reached Yuluo’s side, and the smile on her lips grew wider.
Swish—
The long whip moved like a nimble snake, but this time Huang Yaning wasn’t aiming at Sheng Mingzhu—she was aiming at the blazing charcoal brazier nearby.
On top of the brazier sat a kettle of water about to boil, and inside were glowing red hot coals.
With one whip strike, both were knocked over, scattering toward Sheng Mingzhu and Yuluo.
If either of those things actually hit them, they’d be in for some serious suffering.
Sheng Mingzhu screamed nonstop, but Yuluo remained calm. She grabbed Sheng Mingzhu by the waist and vaulted over the tea table, dodging the danger.
Even while holding someone, Yuluo moved with clean, crisp agility.
In the next instant, Huang Yaning’s whip came again.
But Yuluo reached out and grabbed the whip with one hand. Huang Yaning tried to pull it back, but couldn’t budge it at all.
She thought to herself, This Yuluo’s skill is probably on par with Yuanyuan, the one by the princess’s side.
“You dare lay a hand on me again—”
Sheng Mingzhu’s eyes were wide with rage.
“Yuluo, hit her—
“Beat her until her skin splits open! I want revenge today—”
Sheng Mingzhu’s voice was hysterical—she was clearly out of her mind with fury.
But Yuluo didn’t obey Sheng Mingzhu’s command. Seeing that Huang Yaning had no intention of continuing, she simply released the whip.
Huang Yaning was a little surprised by this.
She hadn’t come to Furong Court just to tell Sheng Mingzhu about Taoniang’s news and get under her skin.
She also wanted to test Yuluo’s skill and attitude.
Yuluo hardly ever left Furong Court, and it had taken Huang Yaning a long time of asking around before she managed to dig up any information.
It seemed Yuluo didn’t know medicine, but Sheng Mingzhu treated her with great respect.
And Sheng Mingzhu wouldn’t treat a useless person with respect. After thinking it over, Huang Yaning suspected Yuluo might know martial arts.
And because of Xia Zhi’s request, Huang Yaning had brought a whip along.
Now she was certain her guess was right—Yuluo did know martial arts, and quite well at that. That wasn’t good news for Huang Yaning.
However, Yuluo didn’t seem to listen to Sheng Mingzhu all that much, so maybe the situation wasn’t as bad as she’d feared.
She’d still have to slowly probe Yuluo’s true intentions.
Huang Yaning handed the whip back to Qingtian and said,
“Send this to Prince Qi’s manor and tell Xia Zhi that I did my best—”
With that, she didn’t even glance at Sheng Mingzhu and walked straight out.
Within less than an hour, news had spread that the Seventh Miss had lost her temper and whipped the Sixth Miss.
The two young ladies often clashed, so everyone was pretty used to it.
Thus, the real focus of attention was on what the Sixth Miss had done.
No one expected her to be so ruthless!
She’d ruined Xia Zhi so badly and even drove her own mother into paralysis…
People used to call the Sixth Miss a lucky star—now it seemed more like she was a jinx.
Of course, no one dared say that out loud—they kept it to themselves.
Some servants were also waiting to see how the masters would react.
But after waiting for ages, not a single master in the manor went to reprimand the Seventh Miss.
The matriarch had never meddled in the quarrels between the two young ladies, and judging by her attitude, she almost seemed to want the Sixth Miss to suffer a bit more.
But the legitimate young masters had always been very protective of the Sixth Miss.
In the past, if the Sixth Miss shed even a few tears, those young masters would be shouting for blood…
So why was it so quiet now?
At some point, the Third Young Master had practically stopped leaving his courtyard.
The Fifth Young Master had also rarely ventured out since losing those two teeth.
As for the Eldest Young Master—word had it he was unwell again and stuck lying down… He probably wanted to help the Sixth Miss but just didn’t have the strength…
But even if the legitimate young masters were out of commission, what about the Old Master? Why wasn’t he stepping in?
What the servants didn’t know was that Sheng Yong had been in an absolutely fantastic mood lately.
When Dongsheng came to report the matter, Sheng Yong simply waved his hand with a smile.
“Little Seven may seem rash, but she actually knows her limits. Otherwise, Sixth Girl’s injuries wouldn’t have healed so fast the day before yesterday.
“It’s just girls fooling around—no need to fuss over such trivial matters.”
Sheng Yong had no idea that Sheng Mingzhu’s unique constitution, thanks to the Jade Beauty Cream, allowed her wounds to heal extremely quickly, so he thought Huang Yaning had shown restraint and “known her limits.”
He also felt that Sheng Mingzhu was too scheming—she always acted like she was on the verge of death, yet in the end, she’d be “bouncing around” again soon enough.
In short, those two “unfilial daughters” couldn’t stir up anything major anyway, so Sheng Yong just couldn’t be bothered.
Ever since he’d taken in Qingxin, Sheng Yong had rediscovered the impulsiveness and vigor of his youth.
People always long for beautiful things they’ve lost.
The older he got, the more Sheng Yong craved youth.
Qingxin was young, had a sweet tongue, and was like a jar of honey—most importantly, her body was extraordinary.
With Qingxin, Sheng Yong felt like he was back to being twenty again.
Now he visited her every single day—if he went even one day without seeing her, he felt miserable.
