Chapter 31

Chapter 31

BE ON YOUR GUARD AND IT’LL BE FINE

The servant girls who just had to endure a punishment heavily let out a sigh of relief. Xiao Ying’s voice was just like a voice from heaven, hearing it put their hearts at ease. In just a moment, their savior had arrived.

Xiao Wan’s lip twitched. “Sister, it is not advisable for Little Ninth to privately meet with men. If the great prince has something he wants to discuss about, he should feel free to go look for grandmother.”

When Xiao Wan’s words fell, there was no detectable sound from Xiao Ying’s side. She was quiet for a while. When she listened carefully again, it seemed like there were the sounds of sobbing coming through.

“Miss Ninth, the highness has already asked for the Lord Minister’s permission. The highness is visiting for the sake of the matter involving his third brother. He hopes the Ninth Miss can grant him a favor.”

Lian Jiming’s brows were tightly knitted. Because of Lian Jiye fiercely hitting Xiao Wan in front of an audience, his reputation was completely ruined. If this marriage matter is abandoned, the Right Minister would certainly be offended. He thought about it for awhile and decided to first settle the matter of Xiao Wan first.

Hong Luan took advantage of the opportunity and began to wail in anguish. Seeing the situation, old woman w.a.n.g and Li’s hand did not stop and continued slapping themselves.

“Ninth Miss please spare me. This servant girl knows she made a mistake. This servant girl won’t dare to do it again.”

Hong Xiu was so angry that her nose became crooked. She raised her sleeves and made to step forward and argue. This group of people were just too evil. They were willing to publicly ruin the miss’s reputation. How could they do this!

“Hong Xiu!” Xiao Wan raised her lip. “Go open the door.”

Hong Xiu’s step faltered and she was somewhat unconvinced. Xiao Wan repeated herself again. Hong Xiu hastedly went to go open the door, Hong Xiu had confidence in whatever the miss wanted to do.

Xiao Wan watched Lian Jiming and Xiao Ying walk inside with an indifferent look. Standing under the sunlight, he appeared handsome and charming and she seemed dignified and composed. The pair appeared especially well matched.

The rims of Xiao Ying’s eyes were faintly red and her appearance seemed truly pitiful. She looked like she had just been bullied by Xiao Wan.

Lian Jiming glanced at the servant girls in the courtyard and couldn’t help but furrow his brows. No wonder they had been prevented from entering. They had been privately punishing their subordinates. How wicked of her.

Fortunately for her, the Right Minister cherished her like priceless jewelry. Now that he had a comparison point, Xiao Ying’s gentleness and generosity were made even more apparent.

Xiao Wan’s lip twitched upwards and she glanced at old woman w.a.n.g and Li. “Why did you two stop? Continue hitting yourselves.”

The two were surprised and gave Xiao Ying an imploring look. Xiao Ying laughed and stepped forward to calm down Xiao Wan.

“Little Ninth, what have they done wrong? There is no need to get a great number of people involved in their punishment. If you get yourself sick from anger, grandmother would be heartbroken. You are a young lady of the Minister’s manor. There is no need to not apologize to your subordinates.”

Xiao Ying’s words flowed smoothly and made it seem like she was a natural at understanding people, “These people. I remember are all old people who have served you. After you punish them, this matter will be in the past. Next time, they definitely won’t dare to anger you again.”

“Yes, yes, yes. Miss, this servant girl definitely won’

t dare to make a mistake again. I beg for miss’s forgiveness.”

Old woman w.a.n.g kowtowed. Both sides of her face were badly swollen and the pain of it made her gasp for air.

As Xiao Ying spoke, she had to look over to see what expression Lian Jiming had? When she saw that his eyes had a look of displeasure, the corner of her lip raised ever so slightly.

Xiao Wan smirked, “Eldest sister, these subordinates have taken unfair advantage of me. One has stolen things from the rooms. These two have run off to go drinking in the middle of the day. These past few years, mother has been too lax in managing family affairs, resulting in this family becoming a mess.”

Xiao Wan dragged Fan into this matter, without a single care that Lian Jiming was present. Xiao Ying’s expression went slightly rigid.

“Little Ninth?”

“Eldest sister, this here is the Ling Long pavilion. Little Ninth is only dealing with her subordinates, why is eldest sister expending so much effort? Why aren’t you asking Little Ninth what kind of suffering she’s had to endure? Rather you’re helping to question me?”

Xiao Wan sneered and the ridiculed Xiao Ying’s expression grew ever more white and frail. Her body shook and the pearl-like tears at the corner of her eyes threatening to spill out.

“Little Ninth, eldest sister knows that fifth sister was wrong. The fact you’ve been holding back, it’s right that you’re angry.”

The transformation of Xiao Ying’s feeling was lightning fast. In a bat of an eye, she had pinned Xiao Wan as harboring resentful feelings and her actions were her venting her anger, making Xiao Wan seem even more crafty and unruly.

Lian Jiming couldn’t watch any further, he cleared his throat, “Ninth Miss, the reason for this highness’s visit was to apologize and make amends on behalf of my third brother. That day, third brother had drank too much and offended you. Please forgive him Ninth Miss, my third brother already knows he did wrong; furthermore, he promises to never make this mistake again.”

Xiao Wan wrinkled her brow. “Great prince, what business does the third prince have with me? That day the prince and I were very clear with each other. My grandmother and father were there as witnesses. Ever since that day, the matter of marriage no longer had anything to do with us.”

Xiao Wan sounded determined, without even a hint that she was acting in a fit of anger. Lian Jiming had a somewhat inquiring expression that shuttled around on Xiao Wan’s body. He tightly pursed his lips.

“Little Ninth, seeing as how his highness has personally come over to apologize, you can see he is being sincere. Even if you’re angry, you have to listen to eldest sister’s advice, staying in a deadlock won’t do you any good so why don’t you restrain your temper?”

Xiao Ying lowered her voice when she spoke, her voice was neither loud nor quiet but Lian Jiming still managed to hear. With Xiao Ying present, it had alleviated some of Lian Jiming’s awkwardness.

Just as expected, when Lian Jiming looked at Xiao Ying, her expression was tremendously compa.s.sionate. Xiao Ying was unable to contain her joy, but her face did not reveal that in the slightest. She continued urging Xiao Wan and it seemed as if Xiao Wan was being impertinent.

To begin with, Lian Jiming had many objections about Xiao Wan. Last time, he had lost nine hundred thousand tael and now, she was being unreasonable once more. He almost wanted to struggle her just to blow off some steam.

Xiao Wan sneered, “Eldest sister, Little Ninth isn’t the type of person to go back on her promises. In this lifetime, I will never marry the third prince. If eldest sister wants to marry him, Little Ninth will report this matter to father and grandmother.”

Xiao Ying’s cheeks flushed. “You!”

Xiao Wan went over Lian Jiming, “Great prince, you’ve also seen it. My temper isn’t good. If the third prince were to marry me, the third prince’s manor would certainly turn into an utter disaster. The home would be uneasy. Seeing as how the great prince is looking out for the third prince, why must you insist on ruining the third prince? Perhaps you should be more diligent?”

As Xiao Wan spoke, Lian Jiming’s expression changed. He angrily glared at Xiao Wan. This woman was willing to say anything she wanted to!

Xiao Wan stood right in Lian Jiming’s gaze. A waft of sweet smelling fragrance floated to his nose. A faint scent that had a sweet smell mixed in and smelled extremely pleasant.

Excluding for Xiao Wan’s temper, her appearance was truly lovely. Her forehead hid a hint of arrogance, which awoke a desire to tame her in people.

A smile spread itself on Xiao Wan’s face, like a flower blossoming, like the most beautiful peony. She was graceful and sumptuous. Lian Jiming was surprisingly taken aback and a look of awe flashed on his face.

Xiao Ying glanced at him and managed to catch his expression. Her hand tightly curled into a fist under her sleeve.

Xiao Wan’s eyes contained a look of ridicule and contempt. Lian Jiming snapped back to reality and his expression had a hint of rage in it.

“The third prince does not like Little Ninth, rather he hates Little Ninth. Little Ninth is aware of that so why should the two of us look at each other in contempt? Staying at an empty house, a day would feel like a year. Moreover, Little Ninth is a person who has always been clear about who she likes and who she hates. I would never want myself to suffer. Great prince, what do you say?”

When Xiao Wan’s words fell, Lian Jiming was surprised. He opened his mouth but was unsure of how to refute her words. This girl was truly gutsy and was frank in her speech. She held nothing back.

Lian Jiming suddenly came to a realization. Xiao Wan really did not want to marry Lian Jiye. She wasn’t acting out of a fit of anger.

“Little Ninth…” Xiao Ying continued persuading her.

Xiao Wan, without much consideration, started ousting people, “Great prince, the scenery in the Lord Manor’s is not so bad. Why don’t you have eldest sister show you around? Hong Xiu, send off our guests. We won’t trouble the two anymore.”

Xiao Wan turned around and only left behind a resolute silhouette, without the slightest bit of slovenliness.

After being ridiculed by Xiao Wan, Xiao Ying was so ashamed, she almost couldn’t bear to lift her head up. She terribly wanted to rip off Xiao Wan’s mouth. Even if Xiao Ying had this intention at the beginning, she wouldn’t dare to bring it up now.

Lian Jiming humphed. “This prince still has some matters to attend to. I’ll be taking my leave.”

Lian Jiming swung his sleeves behind him and leave, a somber expression on his face. He was already this age and it was the first time that he had given a look of displeasure to a girl.

Xiao Wan was just too untactful. Sooner or later she’d have to suffer. He didn’t believe it. If it weren’t for the Right Minister, could she have climbed to such a position!

Xiao Wan stood on the porch and looked down at Xiao Ying with a flickering smile on her face. Xiao Ying’s face was paperwhite; she covered her face as she left.

Hong Xiu was flabbergasted. In a blink of an eye, her young lady had managed to defeat the two of them and make them leave. The look she gave Xiao Wan grew in its adoration.

However, this made things difficult for the maid servant below whose eyes were opened wide in disbelief.

“Grandmother Yuan, you came at just the right time. The servant girls here, Little Ninth doesn’t want them. Sorry to trouble Grandmother Yuan.”

Xiao Yuan saw Grandmother Yuan step inside the courtyard and welcomed her in. She pouted her lip and unexpectedly had some delicateness. Her eyes were filled with anger.

Grandmother Yuan was surprised. “Okay, okay. Whatever you say Ninth Miss is what will happen. Seeing as how you trust this old servant woman, then this servant woman feels quite self-important indeed. Ninth Miss, the old madam is looking for you to pay her a visit.”

Xiao Wan nodded. “How perfect. I also wanted to go to grandmother’s place. Sorry to trouble you Grandmother Yuan.”

Xiao Wan was sweet with her words, coaxing Grandmother Yuan to the point of beaming with joy and nodding her head repeatedly. Xiao Wan brought along Hong Xiu with her.

After Grandmother Yuan made clear of the chain of events, her expression turned somber. The years of acc.u.mulated anger was enough to make someone reflexively panic stricken.

“Have the yapo come over. Have these three sold, as for the others, hit them fifty times and send them to the village. If they have any relatives, send them along with them.”

Grandmother Yuan soberly ordered. When Hong Luan heard this, both of her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fainted. Xiao Cui and Xiao Wen were also frozen in place and started kowtowing and begging for mercy. Grandmother Yuan waved her hand and soon, people came over to drag the two people away.

Old woman w.a.n.g, Li and Zhang, the three of them were even more regretful. Being placed in Grandmother Yuan’s hands was not good news. There was no need to invite trouble. It was clear they had offended Xiao Wan.

“Take them away!”

Grandmother Yuan dealt with the matter very quickly, berating the maid servants who had made minor mistakes. Scaring the maid servants to the point of tears.

Grandmother Yuan shook her head. The maid servants in the courtyard were all incapable, she wasn’t sure how Fan had set them up.

The old madam saw Xiao Wan, the corner of her mouth bent slightly. She smiled at Xiao Wan; however, this smile gave Xiao Wan some uneasiness.

“Grandmother?”

“Oh, Little Ninth, seeing as how you don’t want to get married to the third prince. Grandmother has decided to personally help arrange your marriage. In a few days, it will be Princess Jin Shu’s birthday feast. In attendance will definitely be many n.o.bles as well as people from prestigious houses.”

Because the old madam was arranging Xiao Wan’s marriage, she didn’t have time to make decisions. She was feeling terribly guilty. Right now, she finally had an opportunity.

The corner of Xiao Wan’s mouth lifted up. If she had known earlier about being forbidden from leaving the manor, she wouldn’t have mentioned the feast.

“Grandmother, little ninth is still young. Grandmother wants to have Little Ninth married off this badly?”

Xiao Wan’s pet.i.te mouth deflated. The old madam chuckled, “What is this? A woman getting married is a big matter. Grandmother loves you dearly. How can we delay this for you? Besides, it’s not like you can’t see me after you get married. You can still pay your grandmother frequent visits. Let’s first settle the matter of your marriage.”

Xiao Wan was nearly making the old madam faint. Seeing the old madam filled with expectations, she felt bad about dampening her spirits and said, “Grandmother, regardless of who it is, you must first let Little Ninth see them. His disposition is important.”

The old madam nodded. “Naturally, if they’re not a good person, grandmother wouldn’t give them a second thought.”

“That’s right, is the present for Princess Jin Shu ready?”

Xiao Wan changed the subject, the old madam nodded, “You don’t need to worry about this. When you go, you only need to worry about keeping your eyes open and observe each family’s sons.”