Reborn in Each Other’s Bodies: A Mother and Daughter’s Deadly Revenge - Chapter 138

The setting sun dipped below the horizon, painting the sky with brilliant evening hues.

The light was still quite bright, but lanterns had already been lit throughout the Sheng mansion.

Because tonight, the Master was hosting a grand family banquet to celebrate the Sixth Miss’s return to the household…

The main kitchen had been notified days in advance, and today’s provisions were more than double the usual amount.

Everyone was putting their all into it, solely to ensure the banquet went off without a hitch.

Their diligence wasn’t for the sake of rewards, but simply to avoid any mishaps.

Everyone in the mansion knew the Sixth Miss and the Seventh Miss were at odds.

The Sixth Miss had the Master and the several legitimate young masters protecting her, and now she had gained a new, powerful backer!

And the Seventh Miss? While the Madam usually didn’t seem particularly fond of the Seventh Miss, if anything serious happened, the Madam would still desperately protect her.

Just like last time, when the Seventh Miss whipped the Fifth Young Master until he was a bloody mess, and the Master and the others wanted to send the Seventh Miss away for quiet cultivation, the Madam absolutely refused to agree.

And the Master, who seemed to treat both daughters equally, last time still rather easily granted the Seventh Miss her freedom…

When it came down to it, the Seventh Miss was their biological daughter. No matter how outrageous her actions, the Master and Madam would still protect her.

Sheng Yong and Sheng Minmin would never have imagined that their subordinates would misunderstand them so.

Sheng Yong gave Huang Yaning money and land, and released her early, entirely because Huang Yaning had demonstrated her value.

Sheng Yong saw potential benefits and wanted to cultivate her.

And Sheng Minmin’s strong defense of Huang Yaning back then was also to prevent Huang Yaning from being sidelined too early, so she could continue to be used against Sheng Mingzhu in the future…

Neither of them “protected” Huang Yaning out of fondness for her.

But their actions had indeed created a misconception among the servants, making them think the young lady from the Begonia Court was deeply favored!

So, in the servants’ minds, both the Sixth Miss and the Seventh Miss were formidable figures, and neither could be offended.

Tonight, these two opposing formidable figures would be sitting down to eat together. The servants were truly afraid of getting caught in the crossfire.

Therefore, the servants were all watching their words and actions, treading carefully.

However, there were also some carefree servants who didn’t feel nervous but rather found it exciting.

In just the half-day since the Sixth Miss returned, they had already feasted on so much gossip.

For instance, the gift the Seventh Miss sent to the Sixth Miss…

Even from afar, they could hear the sound of figurative slaps to the face and smell the gunpowder in the air…

After being humiliated like that, what would the Sixth Miss do next?

And the several legitimate young masters hadn’t dared to provoke the Seventh Miss these past few years.

But today, with the Sixth Miss being bullied, would the young masters step forward to defend her?

Just thinking about it felt—thrilling!

If it were like this every day from now on, wouldn’t they have an endless supply of gossip and drama to enjoy?

Of course, such carefree, gossip-loving servants were a very small minority.

Most other servants were on tenterhooks, and two servants were particularly tense.

One of them was Qingxin.

Over the past few years, Qingxin had seen that the Eldest Young Master had reached the age where he could take concubines or maidservants…

She was pretty, and she was personally sent by the Madam to serve the Eldest Young Master closely…

The mansion’s servants had long regarded her as the Eldest Young Master’s woman…

But who would have thought the Eldest Young Master had no such intentions at all, focusing single-mindedly on his studies…

Before, Qingxin thought the Young Master was still young and that studying hard was a good thing.

But now, seeing her own age increasing year by year, while the Young Master’s gaze towards her grew only clearer and more detached, Qingxin didn’t show it on her face, but inwardly she was growing increasingly anxious.

Furthermore, in the last two years, her parents and elder brother and sister-in-law had offended people on Hong Concubine’s side. Ligu kept causing trouble for her family every other day.

She had tried speaking nicely a few times, but Ligu didn’t give her the time of day and was utterly arrogant.

This infuriated Qingxin.

A mere maidservant of a concubine dared to be so insolent!

What if she became the Eldest Young Master’s concubine?

Couldn’t she then become someone important too?

Besides, the Madam favored her. If she became pregnant with the Eldest Young Master’s child, the Madam wouldn’t make her get rid of it…

With a child to rely on, she wouldn’t have to worry for the rest of her life!

Her parents and brother and sister-in-law were urging her, both openly and subtly, to secure the position of concubine quickly…

For all these reasons, Qingxin, momentarily blinded by desire, went and bought that kind of medicine.

But after buying it, on one hand, she didn’t dare use it, and on the other, she couldn’t find a suitable opportunity.

But today, with the Sixth Miss’s return, Qingxin happened to catch the look in the Eldest Young Master’s eyes when he looked at the Sixth Miss.

That was absolutely not the look an older brother gives his younger sister!

Although it was just for a moment, Qingxin felt she couldn’t be mistaken.

Recalling how the Eldest Young Master had always protected the Sixth Miss over the years…

The Eldest Young Master actually really did like the Sixth Miss…

She had been so vigilant, not letting any other sly vixens in the mansion get close to the Eldest Young Master—

Who would have thought she’d still be outmaneuvered; the Eldest Young Master’s heart had been stolen by the Sixth Miss!

Qingxin was almost mad with anger! She even felt waves of nausea.

The Eldest Young Master and the Sixth Miss were only revealed to share no blood relation five years ago, but before that, they had been “siblings” for seven years. How could the Eldest Young Master have such feelings for the Sixth Miss?

It made Qingxin sick to her stomach.

But she was even more unwilling to remain an ordinary maid, or to be used by the Eldest Young Master as a public shield, eventually becoming an old maid—

She wanted to climb up, to become someone important!

Therefore, Qingxin returned to her room, took out the carefully hidden packet of medicine, and tucked it into her sleeve…

The Eldest Young Master was sure to drink wine at tonight’s family banquet; it was a golden opportunity.

So tonight, she would become the Eldest Young Master’s woman!

In Qingxin’s heart, both now and in any future recollections, she would believe that taking this step tonight was entirely her own decision.

But in reality, every step she took was being subtly encouraged and manipulated by Sheng Minmin from behind the scenes…

Besides Qingxin, the other tense servant was Xiazhi.

Xia Zhi had already learned that one of her two younger sisters had become Qiu Ju, who served the third young master, and the other had become Dong Kui, who served the fifth young master.

Both were bought by the Madam, brought into the mansion, trained in the main kitchen, and finally assigned to serve the two young masters.

Now, both were the most respected maids in the Third and Fifth Young Masters’ courts.

Xiazhi couldn’t help but picture the Madam’s face.

Did the Madam truly just happen to buy her two sisters by coincidence, while searching for maids resembling Sheng Mingzhu through the slave agency, simply to humiliate Sheng Mingzhu?

Or did the Madam know all along that they were her sisters? And that they were also Sheng Mingzhu’s biological sisters, which is why she bought them?

She didn’t know.

She was almost afraid to think too deeply about it.

And there’s also Miss Seven; it’s impossible for Miss Seven not to recognize Qiuju and Dongkui.

Why hadn’t the Seventh Miss made things difficult for them, or even exposed their identities?

What exactly was the Seventh Miss planning?

Xiazhi felt a throbbing pain at her temples. It had only been half a day since their return, but it felt like so much had already happened. Who knew what would occur at tonight’s banquet.

She had to tell Sheng Mingzhu about her two sisters as soon as possible, even though Sheng Mingzhu would certainly be furious.

But if she didn’t speak now, and Sheng Mingzhu discovered them unexpectedly later, she would only be even angrier.

Her heart filled with fear and unease, Xiazhi hurried back to the Hibiscus Court.

By now, Sheng Mingzhu had already bathed, dressed, and done her makeup. She wore a modest gold hairpin and a moon-white outfit with an orchid pattern woven subtly into the fabric. Her makeup was exquisite yet understated.