Huang Yaning didn’t care whether Sheng Mingjian lived or died.
If Minmin wanted to kill those two, she would never stop her.
Over the past two years or so, Huang Yaning had carefully observed everyone in the household, and she guessed that Minmin had already made her move against her “enemies.”
The Sheng family was always embroiled in gossip and had a bad reputation; Minmin no longer provided money to pave the way for Sheng Yong, and on top of that, Prince Qi hadn’t secretly helped him in this lifetime…
Sheng Yong’s official position remained unchanged, with no hope of promotion.
Those three brothers were also far worse off than in their previous lives, especially Sheng Mingyi’s health…
Huang Yaning didn’t step in to stop anything, nor did she warn Sheng Mingyi.
Because in her past life, that was exactly how she had treated Minmin… turning a blind eye and a deaf ear…
In this life, she couldn’t hurt Minmin again.
Although deep down, Huang Yaning hoped that Minmin would take pity on Sheng Mingyi for being frail and Sheng Mingbo for being useless.
That in the future, she would only “torment” those two and spare their lives…
But in the end, Huang Yaning never asked that question out loud.
Because once, she had tentatively tried to find out how Minmin… had died in her past life…
Huang Yaning still remembered Minmin’s reaction — her eyes instantly turned blood red, and her whole body radiated a murderous intent that seemed capable of destroying heaven and earth.
The surroundings seemed to turn into a living hell…
Minmin said nothing, but that expression made Huang Yaning certain.
Something very, very terrible must have happened before Minmin died in her past life…
Afterward, Minmin fell gravely ill, and their relationship dropped back to freezing point.
After that, Huang Yaning didn’t dare ask about the past life again…
Today she had come purely out of genuine hope that Minmin would act carefully, not let Sheng Yong discover anything unusual, and try not to let Sheng Yong grow powerful enough to become difficult to deal with in the future.
But she had barely said two sentences before the atmosphere turned stiff…
“How I seek revenge is none of your concern. You may leave.”
In the end, hearing Minmin say those words, Huang Yaning had no choice but to leave.
“Princess, it’s getting late…”
Little Apple looked at the tree covered in wish plaques and reminded her softly.
Duanmu Rui felt her face grow warm, but fortunately, she wore a veil so no one could tell.
“Let’s head back.”
Before Sheng Mingshu’s exam, Duanmu Rui had come to make a wish for him to achieve a good ranking.
Today, upon hearing that Sheng Mingshu had taken first place, she immediately came to fulfill her vow and donate some incense money.
In addition, she had also gone to worship at the Yue Lao shrine, praying for a smooth love match…
Just thinking about how she had personally written Duanmu Rui and Sheng Mingshu’s names on a wish plaque, and watched the temple staff hang it up with her own eyes…
Duanmu Rui felt overjoyed.
There was only one thing that made her anxious and disheartened…
She still didn’t know whether Sheng Mingshu… had any feelings for her…
Should she find an opportunity to ask Sheng Mingshu?
Just thinking about asking Sheng Mingshu how he felt about her made Duanmu Rui’s heart race and her throat tighten…
But it wasn’t the right time yet…
The metropolitan exam was at the end of the year, and this period was crucial for Sheng Mingshu…
She could wait until after the exam to ask.
If Sheng Mingshu liked her too and promised he would only ever have her, then she would marry him.
If Sheng Mingshu didn’t like her…
Duanmu Rui shook her head. Right now, she didn’t want to think about bad outcomes.
Duanmu Rui had never considered what she would do if Sheng Mingshu liked her but his family rejected the match.
Because Duanmu Rui knew her mother well — as long as she was determined to marry someone she liked, her mother would ultimately give in and agree.
As long as her mother agreed, it wouldn’t matter if her father objected…
Duanmu Rui didn’t know that her feelings for Sheng Mingshu had long been noticed by her family.
The Grand Princess was the first to see it, and soon Duanmu Hui discovered it too.
When Duanmu Hui found out, he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
He thought they really were siblings — liking the same type of person.
Fortunately, Huang Xianjing wasn’t surnamed Sheng, otherwise one of the siblings would be destined for heartbreak.
So, after Duanmu Rui returned home and had a meal with the family, Duanmu Hui brought some gifts to Duanmu Rui’s courtyard.
In recent years, Duanmu Hui had gotten along well with the Sheng brothers, Sheng Mingli and Sheng Mingshu, and he personally admired these two Sheng brothers, especially Sheng Mingshu.
Since the two had done well in the exam this time, he definitely had to send congratulatory gifts to show his regards.
Most importantly, he knew his sister would be too shy to send gifts herself, so he picked out a batch for her to decide what to give.
In his view, this was practically the same as his sister giving them directly to Sheng Mingshu.
But he hadn’t expected that after his sister pretended to browse for a long time, she rejected all the gifts he had brought and had someone bring out a piece of jade herself.
It was an excellent piece of blood jade, carved into the shape of a fish leaping over the dragon gate — the symbolism couldn’t be better.
“Young Master Sheng Four is exceptionally talented in literature. This piece of jade is most fitting for him.”
Duanmu Rui cleared her throat, her eyes darting evasively as she spoke.
Duanmu Hui found it amusing and deliberately asked.
“And for Young Master Sheng Two?”
The expression on Duanmu Rui’s face turned slightly unnatural.
“I didn’t see anything suitable. Big Brother, you can find another piece of jade for him…”
In the end, Duanmu Hui selected a jadeite pendant from his own storehouse for Sheng Mingli.
He had someone deliver both gifts to the Sheng family the next morning.
Duanmu Rui didn’t know that her low-key trip today to pray for a love match had been seen by the county princess, Murong Yan…
Dong Bing of the Dong household had been living a very stifled life these past few years.
Especially recently — Dong Bing couldn’t eat or sleep well, and he’d even developed two mouth sores.
Because he owed the gambling house a sum of silver, and he didn’t have a single valuable thing left.
If he didn’t repay the debt by tomorrow, the gambling house people would come to his door to collect!
If the gambling house really came after him for debt, his family would help him pay it off, but his good stepmother would not let it go so easily!
These past two years, his stepmother had grown increasingly disgusted with him. If she had to fill in another hole for him, it definitely wouldn’t stop at a beating with a plank.
She might send him far away, or break his hands…
Just thinking about the consequences made Dong Bing terrified.
So he set his sights on his wife.
His wife was pretty and had a generous dowry, but she was a total cheapskate.
After being married for so long, everything else was negotiable — except money.
She had also arranged for several strong and capable maids to keep all valuables locked up tight, so he couldn’t get a single cent of advantage.
After much deliberation, Dong Bing figured that Murong Dan’s jewelry could tide him over, so tonight he deliberately tried to please her.
He served her food, helped her scrub her back, and even stayed overnight in the main chamber.
But after years of eating, drinking, whoring, and gambling — with no discrimination between men and women — his body had long been drained.
That night, Dong Bing truly used every ounce of strength he had to satisfy Murong Dan in bed.
After Murong Dan fell asleep, Dong Bing propped himself up on his weak, trembling legs and secretly opened his wife’s jewelry box.
Inside were quite a few gold bracelets, gold earrings, gold hairpins, and gold rings.
Dong Bing stuffed them all into his clothes in one go. As he reached the door, he remembered his wife was wearing a fine mutton-fat white jade bracelet on her wrist, so he went back to the bed to try to slip it off…
But after one attempt, he heard the person on the bed shout “How dare you!” — scaring Dong Bing into letting go.
Seeing that the person on the bed had her eyes closed and was probably just talking in her sleep, Dong Bing wiped the sweat from his forehead and left the courtyard.
