“Ah!” Mo Si’an had initially steadied herself, but under this kick, she stumbled awkwardly to the ground.
Having been struck repeatedly, her face twisted in pain as she screamed, “Mo Lingzheng, you wretch! How dare you kick me again! I’ll tell my mother, and she won’t give you a single grain of rice! I’ll make sure you starve to death!”
Mo Lingzheng stepped forward, grabbing her collar with one hand while slapping her face repeatedly with the other, equally furious as she shouted, “You’re the wretch! Your whole family are wretches! Your ancestors for eighteen generations are all wretches! You’ve bullied me for three years—did you really think I have no temper? Believe me, I’ll chop you up and feed you to the dogs right now!”
Usually, Qin Wanxiu only sent radishes and vegetables to her courtyard. Due to last night’s conflict, she had gone to the kitchen earlier, only to find that the steward had given her nothing today…
“Ugh…”
Hearing a pained groan from the bed, Mo Lingzheng turned around and quickly released Mo Si’an. She rushed to the bedside and asked anxiously, “Young Master Yan Si, how are you? Where did she hurt you? Come, I’ll take you to see a doctor!”
“The bundle…” Yan Si pointed toward the table.
Following his finger, Mo Lingzheng saw the bundle that Prince Anren’s subordinate had handed her yesterday.
She brought the bundle to him and quickly opened it.
Yan Si took out a red bottle from inside.
Mo Lingzheng helped him remove the stopper, and then watched as he tilted his head back and swallowed half a bottle of green bean-sized pills in one gulp.
Seeing his unnervingly pale face, Mo Lingzheng was truly panicked. She had already offended Prince Anren; if something happened to Prince Anren’s son while in her care, she would surely be sliced into a thousand pieces!
“Young Master Yan Si, let me take you to see a doctor?” As she spoke, she reached out to pick him up.
“No need.”
Yan Si pushed her hand away and resumed his earlier meditative seating posture, closing his eyes to regulate his breath/qi.
Though still anxious, Mo Lingzheng noticed that his breathing had indeed stabilized considerably after taking the medicine, so she had no choice but to let him be.
Clenching her fists, she straightened up, ready to properly deal with Mo Si’an, when suddenly a man rushed in from outside—
“An’er!”
The affectionate call made Mo Si’an feel as if she had found her savior. Just as she was about to get up from the ground, she immediately cried out in pain to the newcomer, “Young Master… An’er hurts so much…”
Zhou Rongkai hurried to her side, carefully helping her up and asking with concern, “An’er, what happened? I just arrived at the General’s Mansion and heard from the servants that you had come to Qinxin Courtyard, so I came to find you…”
Before he could finish, Mo Si’an pointed at Mo Lingzheng and complained tearfully, “Young Master… Cousin hit me… It hurts so much…”
Hearing this, Zhou Rongkai immediately turned to glare at Mo Lingzheng and demanded angrily, “Lingzheng, have you gone mad? What has An’er done wrong that you would lay hands on her?”
Mo Lingzheng watched the two embracing each other with a twitching eye.
Were these adulterous lovers so shameless that they didn’t even need to hide anymore?!
Seeing her remain silent, Mo Si’an thought she was feeling guilty and thus complained even more pitifully to Zhou Rongkai, “Young Master, Cousin has a child with her now. I was worried she couldn’t take care of him properly, so I brought some food to Qinxin Courtyard. But not only did this child refuse my kindness, he even attacked me. Cousin didn’t even ask for an explanation and kicked me! Wuwu…”
She buried her face in Zhou Rongkai’s chest, crying like willow catkins trembling in the wind.
Zhou Rongkai gently stroked her back with his hand, but his face was filled with anger as he questioned Mo Lingzheng, “Mo Lingzheng, she is your cousin. How could you bully her like this?” Then, he glared at the little boy sitting in meditative seating with his eyes closed on the bed, his voice dripping with disgust. “Where did this child come from? Mo Lingzheng, could this be some bastard you had with a wild man? You shameless wretch, we are engaged! How dare you ignore our engagement and have a bastard with some wild man!”
Watching the two of them perform in perfect harmony, Mo Lingzheng was so angry she laughed. Pointing behind her at the little one, she retorted, “Zhou Rongkai, how old is this child? I’m only eighteen. Could I give birth to a child this big? If your eyes aren’t working, you can gouge them out. If you can’t do it yourself, I can help you.”
How could her original self have liked such a man? Just look at his appearance—thin-faced, sallow complexion, and eyes that look like they’ve seen a ghost. If it weren’t for his flashy brocade robe, she would have thought he was some spirit-possessed stray dog that crawled out of nowhere!
Didn’t people in ancient times check facial features when arranging marriages?
“You…” Zhou Rongkai narrowed his already small eyes into slits, staring intently at her. “How dare you talk back to me? Mo Lingzheng, who gave you the courage to speak to me like this?”
“…” Mo Lingzheng rolled her eyes.
Her original self was such a coward, trained from childhood to obey the Three Obediences and Four Virtues, to the point where she had no dignity in front of this man.
Now, having to face these two scumbags in her place was truly lowering her own standards!
“Mo Lingzheng! What exactly are you trying to do? Are you even listening to me? I warn you, if you don’t kneel and apologize to An’er today, don’t blame me for making things difficult for you in the future!” Receiving no response from her, Zhou Rongkai grew even more furious and issued a threat.
Mo Lingzheng couldn’t help but clench her fists.
Suddenly, a childish voice rang out from behind her. “Get out!”
She turned to look at the bed and saw the little one in meditative seating glaring fiercely at Zhou Rongkai and Mo Si’an.
Seeing that even a child dared to disrespect him, Zhou Rongkai flew into a rage. “What are you, daring to be so rude to me?”
Mo Lingzheng wanted to hit someone, but seeing the little one’s poor complexion and hearing him speak up himself, she could only suppress her anger. Turning to Mo Si’an, she said, “Mo Si’an, Zhou Rongkai may not know this child’s origins, but you do. If you continue to let Zhou Rongkai go crazy here, I won’t mind inviting Prince Anren over. Do you really think Prince Anren wouldn’t dare to touch a mere marquis’s son?”
“Prince Anren? What does he have to do with our conversation?” Zhou Rongkai didn’t understand.
But Mo Si’an’s sobbing suddenly stopped.
She had wanted to drive a wedge between Zhou Rongkai and Mo Lingzheng, making Zhou Rongkai utterly despise Mo Lingzheng. However, when it came to Prince Anren, she knew better than to push her luck…
So, clutching her shoulder, which still hurt from Yan Si’s blow, she lifted her tear-streaked face and said pitifully to Zhou Rongkai, “Zhou Rongkai, I’m in so much pain. Could you take me away from here first?”
Seeing this, Zhou Rongkai seemed to forget he was in the middle of confronting Mo Lingzheng. He immediately helped her up gently and comforted her in a soft voice, “An’er, bear with it a little longer. I’ll send someone to the marquis’s residence to fetch the physician to examine you right away!”
Watching their retreating figures, Mo Lingzheng’s face darkened, as if she had seen maggots—nothing but disgust.
Suddenly, a childish voice came from behind, “Woman, are you engaged to Lord Zhou?”
Mo Lingzheng turned to look at him and couldn’t help but frown.
This little guy may be small, but his tone of voice is even more domineering than a tycoon. Who knows how his family raised him, turning a child into such an old soul!
“Yes, I am engaged to Lord Zhou.”
“Then why are you indifferent when you see him getting close to another woman?”
Hearing this, Mo Lingzheng couldn’t help but laugh. “One is a scumbag, the other a cheap woman—two maggots deserve to be tangled together. They’re such a perfect match. Do you want me to separate them just to disgust others?”
Yan Si narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing her bright and beautiful smile, and said in a commanding tone, “You have three days to break off the engagement!”
“…”
“If you don’tt break it off within three days, I’ll kill you!”
Looking at the little guy’s tense face, his eyes filled with murderous intent as if possessed by a vengeful spirit, Mo Lingzheng felt a dark line forming on her forehead. “Young Master A-Si, this is a matter for adults…”
Yan Si gritted his teeth, clearly dissatisfied with her attitude. “Will you break it off or not?”