Reborn in Each Other’s Bodies: A Mother and Daughter’s Deadly Revenge - Chapter 116

“Sister Qingxin, that’s a dessert my young miss specifically asked for. I’m afraid it wouldn’t be appropriate for you to take it.”

Qingtian’s expression turned sharp as she stood up and spoke.

Qingxin frowned. “If I take one portion, you can take the other back for the Seventh Young Miss. Isn’t that perfect?”

Qingtian sneered. “My young miss asked for both portions. First come, first served. Both of these are mine—don’t you dare touch them!”

The milk pudding took a long time to prepare. Qingxin could tell from Qingtian’s demeanor that she had just arrived at the kitchen—there was no way these two servings had been made specifically for Lihua Courtyard.

They couldn’t have been pre-ordered by Lihua Courtyard in the morning either, because reserved items weren’t displayed.

The fact that these two servings were out meant the pastry chef had prepared them that morning for the masters to choose from in the afternoon.

The pastries for the First Young Master’s courtyard hadn’t been delivered yet, so she had every right to take them!

It was already generous of her to offer one portion to Qingtian—why did Qingtian have to be so domineering and take both?

Qingxin felt that Qingtian was throwing her weight around and deliberately embarrassing her. The anger inside her flared up again, and she planted her hands on her hips, retorting furiously:

“Since when are the pastries from the kitchen only for your young miss and not my young master?

“I’m taking this milk pudding today! Pack it up for me!”

“Pah! Have you lost your mind? The cousin is also at Lihua Courtyard. Do you expect my young miss and the cousin to share a single bowl of dessert?”

“Why didn’t you mention the cousin was there earlier?”

Qingxin was so angry she felt like vomiting blood—she was convinced Qingtian had set a trap for her.

Qingtian hadn’t breathed a word about the cousin earlier, all to provoke her into fighting over the pastries.

Once she took the bait and declared she would take the pudding, Qingtian brought up the cousin to force her to back down.

If word got out, the servants would laugh at the First Young Master for being gluttonous—fighting with his two younger sisters over dessert.

If the young master found out, she would be in serious trouble!

No matter how unwilling she was to let Qingtian have her way, Qingxin had no choice but to concede. She gritted her teeth and forced out the words:

“Since the cousin is also there, you can take both…”

As soon as she finished speaking, Qingxin heard faint, mocking laughter from the group of nannies, as if they were ridiculing her. She felt her face burn with humiliation.

“Heh, sister, your tone makes it sound like you’re graciously yielding these to my young miss and the cousin.

“Pah—as if you have the right!

“Don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to?

“You keep saying the pastries are for the young master, but everyone knows he doesn’t like sweets.

“The pastries in the young master’s courtyard end up benefiting some shameless creature every day—

“That selfish, greedy thing hoards all the benefits and never shares with the other sisters in the courtyard. She just stuffs herself all day, acting all high and mighty—”

Qingtian’s words made Qingxin’s face alternate between red and white.

The pastries in the young master’s courtyard were typically left out for a few hours. If untouched, they were默认 given to the servants.

The young master truly didn’t care for pastries, so they almost always ended up in her hands.

She kept a few for herself, gave some away to win favor, and saved some for her family…

First, Qingtian had made her a laughingstock, and now she was exposing her shortcomings in front of everyone, mocking her.

The looks from the others were filled with disdain.

Qingxin felt both furious and wronged.

She had no other choice! Her money had been taken away, and gathering information required offering treats and sweet-talking…

If she had family as supportive as Qingtian’s, why would she bother coveting such petty things?

Besides, the pastries the young master didn’t want were supposed to be distributed by her, as the first-rank maid. How she distributed them was her business.

What right did these people have to look at her that way?

Qingxin was so angry she felt dizzy, her vision darkening.

She clenched her fists tightly, nails digging into her palms. In that moment, Qingxin made up her mind completely.

Even if the young master was a demon, she would climb her way up to him.

In this lifetime, she would definitely hold her head high and regain her dignity!

Someday, she would make Qingtian—that house slave—kneel at her feet, kowtowing and begging for mercy…

Over a serving of dessert, Qingxin resolutely chose her path forward.

Who knew if years later, she would look back on this moment with regret, finding it both ridiculous and pitiful.

…..

While Sheng Mingzhu waited for Prince Qi’s response, Huang Yaning was added to the Sheng family register.

Huang Yaning was given the name Sheng Mingqiu by Sheng Yong, officially becoming the seventh legitimate daughter of the Sheng family.

Sheng Yong had given her the “Ming” generation name, unlike in her previous life when he thought Minmin seemed somewhat dull-witted.

Back then, he casually chose two characters with “Min,” and she wasn’t even formally added to the family register.

When Huang Yaning received the name Sheng Mingqiu, her heart ached again.

She felt sorry for Minmin, wronged on her behalf.

At that moment, she didn’t dare look into Minmin’s eyes where she sat above.

Five or six days after being added to the family register, Sheng Mingzhu sent word to Sheng Yong, saying she wished to go to Baima Temple to pray for her family’s blessings and cultivate in solitude for a period of time.

As soon as Sheng Yong heard “Baima Temple,” he agreed. Once again, he was all smiles toward Sheng Mingzhu, arranging everything with the best provisions.

He even specially arranged for a physician to accompany her…

Both Sheng Minmin and Huang Yaning were somewhat surprised.

They hadn’t expected Zhu Qisheng to go to such lengths for Sheng Mingzhu.

Sheng Minmin felt it was time to make contact with the Princess Consort of the Prince Qi’s household.

In this life, she didn’t want Zhu Qisheng to become Sheng Mingzhu’s supporter ever again.

Around the same time, rumors began circulating in the capital.

Apparently, someone had heard that the Sheng family’s newly recovered seventh young miss had been sent to be a child bride in the countryside.

But strangely, this seventh young miss had only stayed with that family for a day before they shortly thereafter set fire to their house and committed suicide.

Isn’t that odd?

Even though the family of three consisted of a fully paralyzed father and a half-paralyzed mother, why would they suddenly choose to die after clinging to life for so many years?

And why choose such a agonizing method as burning themselves to death?

Thus, whispers began to spread that the Sheng family’s seventh young miss brought disaster to those around her…

Just as Sheng Mingzhu’s luggage was nearly prepared, people in the capital heard that the father and son who later adopted the seventh young miss had also died.

Similarly, they died in a fire…

Two fires, five lives—all connected to the seventh young miss…

Some also said that since the seventh young miss returned to the estate, she had turned everything upside down.

First, she tarnished her father’s reputation, made her mother ill, and caused her several legitimate brothers to get injured…

The third young master of the Sheng family was originally in good health, but ever since the seventh young miss returned, he had been taking medicine daily.

Some began to wonder—could the seventh young miss truly be a jinx reborn?

Whenever people brought up the seventh young miss, they also thought of the sixth young miss.

During the sixth young miss’s years in the Sheng household, Master Sheng’s official career had flourished, and her brothers had enjoyed good health.

Moreover, the sixth young miss was supposed to be a farmer’s daughter but had somehow ended up as an official’s daughter—this indicated she was naturally blessed with good fortune!

So, perhaps the sixth young miss was a lucky star, and the Sheng family had benefited from her presence all these years…

Of course, some found the notions of a “jinx” and a “lucky star” too absurd.

By that logic, if Zhang San wanted to be a noble son in some household, he could swap out the real noble son, take his place, and enjoy a life of luxury.

If the truth came out, Zhang San would become the “lucky star,” and the real noble son would become the “jinx”…

If such reasoning held, wouldn’t everyone try to be like Zhang San?

Wouldn’t the country’s social order fall into chaos?

In short, within just a few days, everyone was heatedly discussing the jinx and the lucky star!

Sheng Mingzhu’s reputation recovered somewhat, while Huang Yaning’s reputation plummeted due to those several deaths.

Sheng Mingzhu was utterly delighted by this.

Lately, Sheng Yong had also been treating her with great importance. All the daily necessities prepared for her extended stay at Baima Temple were of the finest quality.

From her father’s attitude, she sensed that he wouldn’t easily abandon her.

So, she secretly had Xiazhi take care of Nanny outside the estate and planned to bring Nanny along to Baima Temple.

Fortunately, she had a physician accompanying her who could also treat Nanny’s injuries.

Nanny’s leg would never fully heal, but she would have people by her side to take good care of her.

She was determined to ensure Nanny lived a long, long life because the ideas Nanny gave her were always the best.

In extremely high spirits, Sheng Mingzhu boarded a carriage and discreetly left the capital.