Reborn in Each Other’s Bodies: A Mother and Daughter’s Deadly Revenge - Chapter 155

The three Sheng brothers knew Huang Yaning enjoyed practicing calligraphy and had seen her writing. They thought it was decent, but nothing spectacular.

They assumed the people in the mansion had no taste, which was why they praised Huang Yaning to the skies.

Little did they know that Huang Yaning could write in several different scripts. The one she used most often was the most ordinary and unremarkable small regular script.

Those truly stunning pieces of calligraphy were always burned by Huang Yaning on the spot.

Therefore, the three brothers had never truly witnessed Huang Yaning’s skill. Coupled with their disdain for the mansion’s Tutor Lin, they dismissed his opinions entirely.

This led all three brothers to believe that Huang Yaning’s calligraphy wasn’t presentable.

As Huang Yaning’s “biological older brothers,” their words not only suggested she had no talent but also that she lacked self-awareness, was arrogant, and loved to show off.

A smile spread uncontrollably across Murong Dan’s lips as she hurriedly said,
“Young Master Sheng, you mustn’t help!
“Since the flower has reached Seventh Miss Sheng, she must either showcase a talent or drink three penalty cups. Those are the rules.”
“Right, those are the rules,”
a young lady chimed in, her eyes filled with schadenfreude.

The gazes from most others were also unkind.

While the common folk were full of sympathy and goodwill towards this Seventh Miss Sheng, who had been switched at birth and suffered a tragic life, this crowd of young masters and misses, ignorant of the world’s hardships, could not empathize with Huang Yaning’s suffering.

Deep down, many of them even felt that Huang Yaning, having grown up doing rough labor in the countryside, reeked of earth and was utterly unworthy of sitting among them.

Now, hearing the words of the Sheng young masters, they were certain Huang Yaning was about to embarrass herself and were just waiting for the show.

Huang Xianjing, who was usually extremely good-natured, flushed with anger upon seeing their expressions.
She became even more convinced that her cousin had been right to ignore these elder male cousins all these years.

These cousins either publicly belittled their younger sister or implied she was overestimating herself and too competitive…
What kind of older brothers would do such wretched things?

Huang Xianjing wanted to say a few words in her cousin’s defense. “Eldest Cousin, Third Cousin…”
She only realized her voice was as faint as a mosquito’s hum, inaudible to others.

Instantly, Huang Xianjing hated herself for being so timid!
In the mansion, she was always protected by her aunt and cousin. Even outside, she was shielded by her cousin and the princess consort. She also wanted to protect those who were good to her…
But why was she so useless?

Her eyes stung, and Huang Xianjing felt like bursting into tears.

“Cousin, I’m fine. Believe me,”
Huang Yaning secretly tugged at Xianjie’s sleeve and winked…
She then turned to the crowd and said loudly,
“My brothers are right. My calligraphy isn’t much, but there’s no rule saying one can’t make a fool of oneself if their writing is poor—
“Isn’t that right, County Princess?”

Murong Yan pursed her lips into a smile. “Naturally. Seventh Miss Sheng, please.”

Huang Yaning rose decisively, stood before the table, composed herself with a deep breath, and then from lifting the brush to setting it down, her movements were fluid and uninterrupted.

After finishing, she returned to her seat. A maid, a moment later, belatedly displayed the writing for everyone to see.

It was also a single character.
The character for “Dao” (The Way).

At first glance, the character seemed ordinary and unremarkable, yet it contained an irresistible force.
Upon closer look, beneath this force seemed to lie a thick, murderous intent.
As if for the sake of one’s inner “Dao,” one would slay Buddhas and kill gods who stood in the way.

Therefore, everyone was stunned the moment they saw this character.
Some had their sneering expressions freeze on their faces.
Others gaped in surprise, two of them with mouths wide enough to fit an egg.

Someone recalled Sheng Mingzhu’s character for “Buddha” from earlier.
Comparing the two, Sheng Mingzhu’s character appeared too affected, too contrived.

Just who had overshadowed whom completely?!

The scene fell into utter silence.

The expressions of the three Sheng brothers changed repeatedly, their faces burning as if slapped by invisible hands several times.

Murong Yan pressed her lips tightly together. Even if she wanted to forcefully promote Sheng Mingzhu, she couldn’t bring herself to say Sheng Mingzhu’s character was better.
But praising Huang Yaning was also impossible for her, so she remained silent.

A flicker of killing intent passed through the gazes of Prince Qi and Lin Zhijing as they looked at Huang Yaning, likely because they felt Huang Yaning had stolen Sheng Mingzhu’s spotlight.

After all, Sheng Mingzhu’s eyes were already rimmed red, on the verge of tears—

Seeing that the highest-ranking individuals present remained silent, not offering praise,
and the three Sheng brothers also stayed quiet, the others, even if their opinion of Huang Yaning had changed for the better and they thought Seventh Miss Sheng was quite impressive, dared not utter a word of praise.

Huang Xianjing, however, felt a surge of pride rise from the depths of her heart the moment she saw that character.
She had known her cousin was amazing! She had been waiting for these people to discover and acknowledge her cousin’s excellence!

Yet, no one spoke. Even her three cousins wore expressions of being utterly defeated, as if her cousin shouldn’t be so outstanding.

Despite her usual timidity and meekness, Huang Xianjing felt blood rushing to her head. She involuntarily stood up and shouted,
“Seventh Cousin’s calligraphy is excellent—”

Huang Xianjing mustered all her strength to shout this sentence.
She thought her voice would shatter eardrums, but to others, it merely sounded like a normal volume.

Everyone’s eyes shot towards her simultaneously. Huang Xianjing felt a white flash in her mind, a momentary short circuit, and couldn’t utter another word.

“Indeed, I also find Seventh Miss Sheng’s calligraphy superb!
“To possess such mastery in calligraphy at such a young age, Seventh Miss Sheng is sure to achieve extraordinary things in the future!”

Huang Yaning pulled Xianjie back to sit down, then looked at the person who had openly spoken up for her.

At this sight, Huang Yaning was stunned.
Searching her memory and comparing, she was certain this man was that person from her previous life: Liang Mingcheng.

The name was virtuous, but his deeds were worse than those of pigs or dogs.
To summarize, this Liang Mingcheng was a treacherous wolf, even more despicable and ruthless than Sheng Yong.

In her past life, Liang Mingcheng, a poor provincial scholar, married the daughter of a seventh-rank official.
Not only did this Liang make the young lady support his entire family, but he also had her parents help secure him an official position.
A provincial scholar with connections could get a minor ninth-rank post.

The young lady’s parents exhausted themselves running around for their daughter, but ultimately failed.

Then, this Liang “sold” the young lady.
Or rather, he employed a series of schemes to make the young lady willingly sacrifice herself, submitting to a sixth-rank official who favored married women, in exchange for an official post for Liang Mingcheng.

Later, Liang Mingcheng seduced another official’s daughter from a powerful family. Using his wife’s “adultery” as grounds, he divorced her—
The young lady received the letter of divorce and drowned herself in a river immediately after leaving.

The truth eventually came to light because the young lady’s personal maid one day witnessed Liang Mingcheng chatting and drinking jovially with that sixth-rank official…
The young lady’s parents grew increasingly suspicious and, after thorough investigation, uncovered the truth.

It turned out Liang Mingcheng had deliberately approached her from the start. Soon after the marriage, he feigned depression and despair, acting as if he would rather die than remain without an official post—
The young lady, unable to bear it, and after repeated coercion and inducement from the sixth-rank official who often visited the Liang household, finally…

The young lady’s parents were so enraged they vomited blood. They found the family Liang Mingcheng was about to marry into as a second wife and revealed everything.

That family was not to be trifled with either. They brought the case before the emperor, bringing down the sixth-rank official. In the end, Liang Mingcheng was sentenced to beheading.

It was said that when Liang Mingcheng learned his death was certain, he went completely mad.
He laughed wildly, cursing that women were all fools, easily coaxed with a few sweet words, played like puppets in his hands.

He claimed he was a heaven-sent prodigy, that any woman who fell into his hands would be trained into his most loyal “dog”…
Willing to sacrifice everything for him and taking pride in that sacrifice…

The day Liang Mingcheng died, Huang Yaning happened to be out and saw the man in a prisoner’s cart, pelted with rotten vegetables and eggs by a crowd of women.

At the time, she had spat in disgust.
She felt that even a glance at such a man was nauseating.

And at this very moment, Liang Mingcheng was looking at her, his eyes “full of tender affection”…