Reborn in Each Other’s Bodies: A Mother and Daughter’s Deadly Revenge - Chapter 64

Sheng Mingbo had never been particularly bright, and now that he was still young, his thinking was even simpler.

On one hand, he didn’t want his little sister to be upset. On the other, he couldn’t deny that Mother’s reasoning made sense. If he kept arguing, he’d just be making a scene. So for a moment, he was at a loss for words.

After shutting Mingbo down, Sheng Minmin turned her gaze to Sheng Mingzhu.

“Sixth Girl, you’ve disappointed me deeply!

“Just to pressure me into throwing you a birthday banquet, you’d go to such lengths—showing no consideration for the family’s difficulties, no thought for my struggles…”

Mingzhu was so frightened she nearly forgot to cry. “Mother, no, that’s not true! Zhuer would never—”

“If that’s the case, then there’s no need for a birthday banquet this year. From now on, your daily expenses will also be strictly limited to the household’s standard allowances—”

With that, Sheng Minmin closed her eyes briefly, putting on the appearance of someone heartbroken beyond words. Then she rose and swept out of the room, leaving the crowd behind.

The servants watching this scene felt relieved—their New Year’s bonuses were safe!

Their gratitude toward the mistress grew, seeing her as a fair and generous matriarch. Meanwhile, their opinion of Sixth Miss and Fifth Young Master plummeted.

In the end, Sheng Mingzhu ran off in tears.

What she didn’t know was that outsiders had witnessed the entire spectacle.

With the New Year approaching, Sheng Minmin had coincidentally invited managers from several flower and plant shops to purchase new greenery for the festivities.

Additionally, since Sheng Mingli, Sheng Mingshu, and Huang Xianjing had just begun their studies, she had also called in a fabric merchant to make them new clothes.

To ensure the expenses came from the family coffers rather than her own dowry funds, Minmin deliberately avoided her own shops and hired outsiders instead.

So after Qingtian quietly informed Qingying about Mingzhu’s antics, Minmin had Qingying lead the visiting managers to a spot just outside the courtyard.

The shop managers saw and heard everything. On their way out, they caught snippets of hushed conversations among the servants—how pitiable the mistress was, how she’d even dipped into her dowry savings to keep the household afloat, how Sixth Miss only cared about herself…

Having made a trip for nothing and receiving no hush money, the managers left in a sour mood.

Naturally, they later spread word of the Sheng family’s drama far and wide, making Sheng Mingzhu “famous” overnight—though not in a good way.

Truly, she had tried to steal a chicken only to end up losing the rice—her carefully cultivated reputation was ruined, and her standard of living had dropped…

Had she treated her servants as human beings and properly won their loyalty, things would never have come to this.

And Qingtian might have become a sharp blade in her hand, rather than the knife in her back.

…..

Recently, the Feng household in Taohua Village had been unusually quiet, leaving the villagers with little gossip to entertain themselves.

Fortunately, a major incident in the neighboring village provided ample fodder for after-dinner chatter.

A fire had broken out in the Zhang family’s home, killing all three members.

Some said that on the day of the fire, Zhang Yazi had been in high spirits, even buying two pounds of meat on credit from a wealthy villager, promising to pay in a few days…

The family, taking pity on the Zhangs, had given them the meat without expecting repayment—just planning to hire Zhang Yazi for help during the next farming season…

Who could have guessed the Zhangs would choose to end their lives together?

With the New Year just around the corner, why would they act so rashly?

Then again, this explained why they had returned Liuya to her family.

If they no longer wanted to live, why keep a child bride?

Ah, perhaps life had simply been too unbearable for the Zhangs…

In any case, the incident was all anyone could talk about.

The Feng family had heard the news early on.

Old Madam Li spat in contempt, muttering that they’d gotten what they deserved.

She still harbored resentment toward Zhang Yazi for humiliating their family last time.

The others also seemed pleased—except for Old Man Feng and Feng Sanya, whose gazes toward Huang Yaning grew increasingly wary.

Both remembered that Huang Yaning had been absent the night the Zhangs died.

Though she claimed she’d gotten lost, who could say for sure?

“Better a live coward than a dead hero”—if the Zhangs had wanted to die, they’d have done it long ago. Old Man Feng and Sanya found it hard to believe the Zhangs were the type to commit suicide, making their deaths highly suspicious.

But no one else in Taohua Village suspected Huang Yaning. Without proof, the two didn’t dare voice their suspicions.

At least the girl had been leaving early and returning late lately, keeping out of their sight.

Meanwhile, Huang Yaning was at Uncle and Auntie Zhao’s house.

These past few days, she had enjoyed an unusual sense of peace.

She had killed people—yet instead of guilt or remorse, she felt an indescribable exhilaration!

Because she had avenged Minmin from her past life by eliminating three of her enemies. Would Minmin be happy if she knew the Zhangs were dead?

She would. She had to be.

With the Feng family no longer harassing her, Yaning spent her days with Auntie Zhao.

Last time, she had given Auntie Zhao two taels of broken silver. Since then, Auntie Zhao had been waiting to share lunch with her every day.

Auntie Zhao had even found time to alter an old padded jacket for her, making the cold more bearable.

“Liuya, today I’ll make you egg noodles. I started kneading the dough this morning, and I’ll fry some scallion pancakes too—let me tell you, my pancakes are the best…”

Huang Yaning nodded obediently.

“Auntie, I’ll help with the fire—”

“No need, I can manage.”

But Yaning still followed her into the kitchen.

Lately, she had discovered a pattern—if she deliberately relived the memory of killing the Zhangs, she had fewer nightmares.

Yet part of her wanted the nightmares, because only in her dreams could she see her Minmin again…

She missed Minmin so desperately.

Over the past few days, she had come to trust Uncle and Auntie Zhao.

She had previously learned that the couple might visit their daughter in the capital before the New Year. If they went, perhaps they could take her along.

If they agreed, she wouldn’t even need forged household papers—since the Zhaos had two daughters, she could simply pretend to be one of them.

“Auntie, did Uncle Zhao go to study again today?”

As she tended the fire, Yaning made casual conversation, searching for an opening.

Auntie Zhao’s expression turned slightly awkward at the question. Neither she nor her husband could read.

When the mistress had met with them privately, she suddenly remembered this detail. Upon learning they were illiterate, the mistress’ face had stiffened for a moment.

They had feared they’d lose the chance to serve her—until she reassured them it wasn’t a problem.

She said their illiteracy actually made them more convincing as poor villagers. And since there were two of them, one could always rush back to the capital to report in an emergency.

For ordinary matters, they could always hire someone in town to write letters for them…

Then the mistress gave them silver and told them to seek out Scholar Li in Taohua Village to learn basic characters…

No need for flowery poetry—just practical words for daily use. Their handwriting didn’t need to be elegant either; as long as it was legible in charcoal, that was enough…

The mistress claimed they could make decent progress within a month. Of course, they didn’t know Sheng Minmin had learned the same way from Granny Wang in her past life. Seeing her confidence, they believed it wholeheartedly.

Now, Uncle Zhao spent his mornings practicing strokes with charcoal at Scholar Li’s house and afternoons in one-on-one lessons, learning dozens of characters a day.

Lately, he had become obsessed—even dreaming about studying. He skipped lunch entirely, eating only two meals a day.