Volume One, Chapter Seventeen: Equally Vengeful and Unyielding
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Meng Tingfeng waited a long while, yet Shi Zilu still did not return. Just as she was about to go out and look for her, she nearly collided with Shi Jing, who had come alone.
His jade crown was fastened with immaculate precision, and his cool, indifferent phoenix eyes swept lightly over her.
He was clearly a decisive chancellor, ruthless in both government and war, yet he had dressed himself as an entirely harmless and elegant young gentleman.
A careless smile played at Shi Jing’s lips. “This courtyard is rather nice.”
The instant he stepped inside, an alarm bell began ringing in Meng Tingfeng’s heart.
“Lord Shi, what brings you here?”
“I came to look for my sister. What is it? She is not here?”
He glanced around, frowning slightly.
Meng Tingfeng said softly, “Miss Shi said earlier that she was going to look for you, so she left. I noticed that she had not yet returned and was just about to go to the front hall to see what had happened.”
The man stood beneath the only peach tree in the courtyard. His moon-white robes stirred in the spring breeze as he curled his lips and looked toward her.
“After Second Miss Meng rescued my sister that day, did you catch a chill? If you did—”
As though afraid he might say something inappropriate, Meng Tingfeng hurriedly cut him off.
“Thank you for your concern, Lord Shi. I did not fall ill.”
The smile at Shi Jing’s lips stiffened.
The wind swept fallen leaves across the ground, and for a moment, silence descended.
“Lord Shi, let us go to the front hall together to look for Miss Shi.”
It would not do for an unmarried man and woman to remain alone together for too long. People would inevitably gossip.
Just as Meng Tingfeng was about to pass him, a large hand, cool to the touch, seized her wrist and gave her a gentle tug backward.
“You!”
Alarm filled the young woman’s shimmering eyes, only to meet a pair of eyes as cold and sharp as ice.
Shi Jing scrutinized her. “After waking, my sister refused to say anything.
“Second Miss Meng, do you know something?”
Meng Tingfeng paused. Shi Zilu had not told him anything at all?
She truly was devoted to the Heir of the Liu family…
When she failed to answer, Shi Jing tightened his grip.
A faint flush rose around the young woman’s eyes as she glared at him. “Lord Shi, men and women should not touch each other. What are you trying to do by treating me this way?”
His pale eyes swept over her from head to toe. He raised a brow, neither confirming nor denying it.
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It was almost as though he meant to say that the usual propriety between men and women did not apply to her and him.
Meng Tingfeng was furious. Did he take her for a three-year-old child?
Without the slightest hesitation, she bent down and sank her teeth into the back of his hand.
“Hiss!”
Shi Jing released her and stared at the glittering ring of teeth marks on his hand. Only then did he realize that when a rabbit was cornered, it really would bite.
“Meng Tingfeng!”
“I’m here, Lord Shi.” Meng Tingfeng innocently covered her ears. “Why are you shouting so loudly?”
Seeing the vein throbbing on Shi Jing’s forehead as his expression grew darker and darker, she finally spoke at an unhurried pace.
“Lord Shi, if you want someone to do something for you, you ought to show the proper attitude.
“You have found nothing, and Miss Shi is unwilling to speak. If you want my help, how can you behave like this?”
At that, Shi Jing pressed his lips together and said nothing.
“I can make Miss Shi tell you the truth of her own accord, but…”
As he watched the girl smile until her eyes curved into crescents, he felt an ominous premonition.
“But I have conditions.
“I want to learn many things. I need teachers, books, and, most importantly, a secluded place.”
All of that was within Shi Jing’s power to arrange.
But he did not want the girl before him taking advantage of his willingness and pushing her luck.
Meng Tingfeng clearly knew what he was thinking. “Lord Shi, you can either pry open Miss Shi’s mouth or pry open mine.
“I certainly will not say a word. What do you think?”
Shi Jing’s eyes darkened. He lifted his thin lips and said, “Very well. We shall do as you say. It is a deal.
“But what do you wish to learn?”
There was nothing wrong with a woman being eager to study. He simply did not understand what she wanted to learn, nor why she needed a secluded place.
Meng Tingfeng raised one finger to her lips in a gesture for silence.
“I’ll tell you after I have taken care of this matter for you.”
As she spoke, the corner of her eye caught a flash of orange at the nearby turn. Her plan instantly took shape.
Shi Jing, you are not the only one in this world who holds a grudge. I can be just as vindictive!
The moment she finished speaking, she stepped toward him. The corners of her eyes tilted slightly upward, making her look like a little fox plotting mischief.
A bad feeling surfaced in Shi Jing’s heart. He was just about to retreat when the girl suddenly pressed close. As he tried to evade her, the two of them fell together in front of the courtyard.
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Shi Zilu came running all the way back to Orchid Garden, clutching up her skirts. “Tingfeng, come with me quickly—”
The scene before her brought her to an abrupt halt. It was as though several tiny people were shouting inside her head, leaving her utterly speechless.
Her face flushed crimson, yet she did not forget that this place was easily visible to passersby. She hurried forward to help Meng Tingfeng up, conveniently prying away the arm her brother had placed around the girl’s waist.
“Brother! How could you—how could you bully Tingfeng?”
Shi Jing’s moon-white robes were stained with mud. He slowly rose to his feet, his eyes frighteningly dark as he fixed his gaze on Meng Tingfeng.
The girl’s eyes, however, brimmed with tears as she threw herself into her friend’s arms.
“Miss Shi, thank goodness you came. Lord Shi, he, he…”
Ignoring the ugly expression on Shi Jing’s face, Shi Zilu repeatedly comforted the sobbing girl in her arms while taking every opportunity to condemn her brother as a beast in human clothing.
Along the way, Shi Zilu felt as though she were escorting two sulky children who had both lost their tempers.
The two of them walked on either side of her, not far apart, neither uttering a word. She could not help feeling bewildered.
Why did it seem that she was the one with the most childish temperament among them all?
Meng Tingfeng lowered her lashes, looking listless.
Shi Jing, meanwhile, held his jaw taut and his lips tightly pressed together, staring straight ahead without so much as a sideways glance.
It was not until they entered the front hall and faced Meng Lan that he resumed his amiable expression.
Even so, anyone could tell that Shi Jing was in a foul mood.
Meng Lan complained inwardly, though he did not dare let the slightest trace of it show on his face.
He stepped forward and bowed. “Miss Shi, you asked my son to bring these two servants from the residence here. Have they offended you in some way?”
Shi Zilu did not answer. Instead, she gave an extremely disdainful snort.
“Lord Meng, I would like to ask you something. In this residence, which of them is your biological daughter?”
Everyone trembled inwardly, and all eyes fell upon Meng Xueyi and Meng Tingfeng.
“Of course it is…” Meng Lan paused. “Of course it is Tingfeng.”
His expression was difficult to describe. After all, Shi Zilu’s question was clearly meant to compare Xueyi and Tingfeng. Though both were his biological daughters, if anyone else had asked him, he would certainly have named Meng Xueyi.
Meng Xueyi was gentle, poised, learned, and well-mannered. Meng Tingfeng, on the other hand, was the only daughter he had brought back from the mountains. He had yet to understand her temperament, and she was far less capable than Meng Xueyi of making him feel proud.
In his heart, Meng Tingfeng might be his biological daughter, but she was still someone who could never bring honor to the family.
Having received his answer, Shi Zilu immediately seized upon it.
“Since Tingfeng is your true daughter, we could overlook the fact that you favor Sister Xueyi in everything. But why did you allow the servants in your residence to gossip about their mistress behind her back? What is more, not a single word they said was true. It was all slander and malicious rumor!”
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