The father and son of the Xiao Family exchanged a glance and sighed helplessly.
Although the Pingyang Marquisate had its own resident physician, that doctor only took orders from Xiao Lin alone and was extremely arrogant!
Liu Lingyi and Liu Ying were too severely injured to wait until returning to the mansion to find another doctor, so Xiao Hongyi and his son had no choice but to take the two of them to the nearest medical clinic.
It took a full two days and two nights before the aunt and niece slowly regained consciousness, barely clinging to life.
When the group returned to the West Wing of the Pingyang Marquisate and saw that the courtyard remained as usual, with Su Mingyue not having sent anyone to move their belongings, they couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.
In the Langfeng Courtyard of the West Wing, Liu Lingyi was laboriously carried back to her bedroom by a group of people.
Lying face-down on the newly laid-out chaise longue, she looked at Xiao Hongyi with a pale, bloodless face:
“I told you that little wretch has a thin skin and still harbors feelings for Yunhe in her heart—she wouldn’t go to extremes! You worried for nothing!”
Hearing her mother say this, Xiao Yunhe immediately felt much more at ease.
Yes… Yue’er still cared for him after all!
That cripple could never compare to him!
Seeing the slight curl at the corner of his lips and his improved mood, Liu Lingyi tentatively said to Xiao Yunhe, “It’s not just Madam Su who cares about you… I actually think Ying’er is better, at least we know her background well! You two grew up together!”
She watched Xiao Yunhe’s expression and added, “Good child, go visit your cousin at your maternal grandparents’ home. If you coax her a few words, her injuries will heal by half in no time!”
The servants in the room were taken aback, all lowering their heads in unison.
The father and son of the third branch simultaneously darkened their expressions, their brows tightly furrowed… both feeling that Liu Lingyi not only failed to grasp the situation but, as always, favored outsiders over her own family!
Xiao Hongyi took a step and turned to leave. “It’s still early. I’m going to the garrison office.”
Xiao Yunhe also excused himself; he needed to go out for some fresh air.
…
Not long after the father and son of the third branch had left, Su Mingyue arrived with her people.
Upon hearing the announcement, Liu Lingyi snorted coldly.
“That little wretch… now she’s worried about my injuries? I spent two whole days in that filthy, stinking medical clinic—why didn’t she come to see me then?”
“I won’t see her!”
“Tell her to leave!”
Because Su Mingyue had once admired Xiao Yunhe and had gone out of her way to please every member of the third branch… Liu Lingyi had never been slighted by Su Mingyue before, so she naturally assumed Su Mingyue had come to check on her injuries.
Even the servants of the third branch thought the same.
“Please calm your anger, Madam. Your health is your own—there’s no need to get upset with Madam Su!”
“The autumn wind is strong. Let her wait outside in the wind for a while. You can summon her later!”
With a flicker in her eyes, Liu Lingyi’s face, full of pain and exhaustion, relaxed slightly.
The servant was right!
Although Su Mingyue would soon become her elder… as long as she hadn’t entered the family yet, as long as she still wanted to please her, there was nothing stopping her from teaching her a lesson!
Bah!
“What kind of elder is she!?”
“Just a little brat who hasn’t even grown all her feathers yet…”
“Make her wait outside!”
Seeing her unpredictable mood, the servant quickly replied, “Yes,” and then carefully presented the ‘Eight-Treasure Bird’s Nest Soup’ she drank daily.
Liu Lingyi loved bird’s nest soup.
The top-grade blood bird’s nest from the Southern Seas, with plump, amber-red nests, meticulously cleaned with spring water, then simmered with eight-treasure broth over a low flame for three hours, transforming into a creamy, jade-like broth.
Just this one bowl cost twenty taels of silver!
It must be understood that servants, concubines, and illegitimate daughters in wealthy households… at most receive only two or three taels of silver per month!
Such extravagant items are beyond the reach of anyone but the truly noble!
Liu Lingyi was not obsessed with its taste or texture; what she was infatuated with—was the gaze of awe and envy mixed with jealousy in others’ eyes when she held it in her hands and stirred the spoon.
It was the barely concealed admiration in people’s words when this matter spread among the common folk.
As if only through those discussions could she truly grasp that distant, unattainable dignity belonging to the “nobility.”
But at this moment, her entire body ached so much that she was breaking out in cold sweat, and she had no appetite at all! Nor was she in the mood to put on airs…
“Leave it there for now! In an hour, let Madam Su come in.”
That Su Mingyue may have countless faults, but her secret pain-relief pills and hemostatic powder were remarkably effective, priceless and hard to come by!
Liu Lingyi thought to herself, “If she weren’t truly suffering, I’d make her stand outside for four or five hours without fail!”
Frowning slightly and groaning, she had just closed her eyes to feign sleep when the door was suddenly slammed open with a bang!
Her heart skipped a beat, and she snapped her eyes open to see Su Mingyue sitting directly on a chair not far from her, and without even paying her respects!?
“Who allowed you to come in?!” Liu Lingyi exploded in rage.
She instinctively tried to rise but aggravated her injury, hissing in pain.
Su Mingyue let out a soft chuckle.
Liu Lingyi instantly grew even more furious!
Suddenly meeting eyes, she actually saw in Su Mingyue’s sinister gaze a terrifying, murderous ferocity!
What madness has this wretch fallen into?!
Su Mingyue gave her a cold, piercing glance, picked up the bowl of bird’s nest soup to examine it, and couldn’t help but curl her lips into a cold smile: “So this is how the First Madam has been squandering my private assets all these years?”
Liu Lingyi’s cheeks immediately flushed with heat.
She thought to herself that this wretch was acting unusually strange today, both rude and sharp…
“Who touched your private assets? What nonsense are you spouting?!”
“I, the First Madam of the Pingyang Marquisate, the legitimate eldest daughter of the Liu family, the Imperial Academy Chancellor’s household—can’t I even afford a bowl of bird’s nest soup?!”
Su Mingyue slammed the delicate porcelain bowl heavily onto the table: “Since the First Madam has never misused my property, then all the better.”
“Originally, I should have moved into the Marquis’s Dulan Courtyard, but you all dragged and pulled, begged and coaxed me into staying here… and I’ve lived here for three years.”
“You took care of my daily needs, and I, in turn, provided medical treatment and health adjustments for everyone without charge… upon careful consideration, it seems you were the ones taking advantage of me.”
Su Mingyue was drawing a clear line with the third branch of the family.
“However, I am not the type to nitpick over every detail,” she lifted her gaze, her eyes as sharp as cold blades, “Today, I came only to retrieve all my personal belongings temporarily stored in your courtyard.”
Liu Lingyi’s face instantly turned pale, her entire mind in a daze.
Su Mingyue stared at her unblinkingly: “As for the rest, I have already sent people to take inventory. As for those items you ‘borrowed’ from me in the past with all sorts of roundabout excuses…”
She slowly took out an account book, “I think it’s better to personally come and demand them from you.”
Opening the pages, her voice was as clear as pearls falling onto a plate:
“One octagonal rosewood round table carved with peony relief patterns, four yellow pearwood carved partition screens, one pair of celadon vases with entwined branch and lotus patterns, one set of white-glazed bowls and cups with incised lotus petal designs…”
“In addition, ‘borrowed’ from me: one set of ruby head ornaments, one pair of top-grade jadeite bracelets, five filigree gold hairpins, three pairs of kingfisher feather hair ornaments…”
“The remaining miscellaneous items need not be listed one by one. If there is any damage or depreciation, the First Madam can simply compensate with silver accordingly.”
With each item she announced, Liu Lingyi’s chest visibly heaved.
Her teeth chattered as she ordered the matron beside her, “Go seal the gates of the Western Courtyard immediately! No one is allowed to enter or leave! Also, send someone to the garrison office… ask the master to return to the estate at once!”
“Yes,” the matron hurriedly acknowledged and withdrew.
Su Mingyue watched the bloodshot veins rising in Liu Lingyi’s eyes and suddenly chuckled softly. “What’s the matter? Has the First Madam grown so accustomed to using my belongings that she truly considers them her own—and can’t bear to part with them?”
Liu Lingyi’s face stiffened, her voice suddenly sharp and shrill. “You’re slandering me!”
“My father is the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy! I was raised with proper upbringing since childhood—how could I possibly covet such worldly possessions!?”
Finally releasing the pent-up frustration in her chest, she gradually regained her composure—this wretched woman had no one to rely on in the capital, with only two maids by her side… Why should she fear her?
“Su Mingyue, you haven’t even married into the Pingyang Marquisate yet!” Liu Lingyi lifted her chin, a fierce glint flashing in her eyes. “Trespassing into a private residence and forcibly seizing property—by law, you could be handed over to the authorities!”
She sneered coldly, each word falling like a hammer. “In short, unless you have irrefutable proof that the items you speak of are yours… you won’t take a single piece of the furnishings from this Western Courtyard!”
Once something enters her courtyard, did she think she could take it back?
Dream on!