Standing at the edge of the kitchen, Xia Zhiwan glared at the young woman with the short skirt and hair piled on her head, radiating arrogance.
This person hadn’t just called her crazy and insulted Aunt Wang—she seemed to have some other thoughts about Li Xiaohan as well.
Xia Zhiwan had known something was off ever since the day Aunt Wang had been hurt.
But she hadn’t expected that the one bullying others was just a girl barely in her twenties.
She had thought it would be someone much more troublesome.
Hearing Zhu Lili’s stream of abuse in the kitchen, Xia Zhiwan cleared her throat lightly to make her presence known.
“Madam.” Both women turned to look at her. Aunt Wang lowered herself in panic.
But Zhu Lili looked at her with disdain. “Miss Xia, I heard the master let you out. Don’t start causing trouble again this time.”
The tone was commanding, and she deliberately called her “Miss Xia” instead of “Madam.”
Xia Zhiwan couldn’t help but laugh at that.
She smiled lightly at Zhu Lili, her eyes full of puzzlement and disbelief.
“I may have been sleeping a lot these past few days and my mind is a little foggy, but judging from your tone, Miss Zhu, could it be that you’re the master of Wanhan Courtyard?”
Telling her not to cause trouble—what authority did she even have?
Xia Zhiwan deliberately questioned her status to make Zhu Lili recognize who she really was.
And Zhu Lili, fully aware of her own position, was clearly embarrassed and furious at this.
“Don’t be shameless! You even have the nerve to let people call you Madam? I spit on you! The master will kick you out of Wanhan Courtyard sooner or later!”
She glared at Xia Zhiwan in anger, but Xia Zhiwan simply shrugged.
“I may get kicked out someday, but you…”
She gave Zhu Lili a contemptuous smile. “Aunt Wang, have someone throw this Zhu… out.”
Laughter rippled through the kitchen. This Miss Xia could scold someone without ever using a curse word.
Hearing the whispered amusement around her, Zhu Lili froze for a moment before realizing what everyone was laughing at.
Flushed with shame and anger, she lashed out verbally at Xia Zhiwan—but Xia Zhiwan simply stared at her as if she were a fool.
Poor thing. So young, yet such a stupid girl.
Xia Zhiwan thought this, but didn’t get angry. After all, it was normal for her Ah Han to have a crazy woman around him.
But Xia Zhiwan’s calm, amused expression looked like the ultimate insult to Zhu Lili.
The girl was screaming wildly, yet Xia Zhiwan just watched and smiled.
With a vicious glare, Zhu Lili grabbed half of the clay pot Aunt Wang was holding and flung it toward Xia Zhiwan.
“Madam, watch out!”
Aunt Wang’s hands were empty. Seeing Zhu Lili’s actions, she hurriedly warned Xia Zhiwan while rushing toward her.
Seeing Zhu Lili’s impatient outburst, Xia Zhiwan smiled slightly.
She was about to sidestep the pot when a sudden force grabbed her waist, pulling her aside.
Then—splash!—the steaming soup spilled all over the floor in front of them.
Aunt Wang skidded to the kitchen’s edge and stopped abruptly, frozen in place.
Outside the kitchen, Xia Zhiwan’s heart warmed as she leapt into the arms of the person who had caught her.
“Ah Han, I’m so scared.”
The familiar scent on his chest told her immediately who it was without looking.
“Wanwan, are you hurt?” His voice was anxious and full of concern.
Xia Zhiwan shook her head, though her voice was muffled, as if she might cry.
“No, luckily Ah Han is here. Otherwise, I really wouldn’t have known what to do.”
Li Xiaohan spun her gently in his arms, and after confirming she wasn’t hurt, a cold, fierce energy radiated from him.
“Who did this?!”
He demanded sharply. Zhu Lili didn’t step forward immediately.
She trembled in place, still clutching the clay pot as if terrified.
Seeing no one confess, Li Xiaohan’s expression darkened further.
“Sir, what’s going on?” the butler asked, rushing into the kitchen.
He had been outside and immediately heard Li Xiaohan’s cold, cutting question as he entered.
Hearing the butler, Zhu Lili panicked and dropped the pot, running out.
“Dad, dad, I didn’t mean it!”
She ran behind the butler, stammering.
Seeing his daughter rush out of the kitchen, Zhu Gongjia felt a bad premonition.
Hearing her words, his legs went weak, and he nearly collapsed.
He fell to his knees with a thud, begging for Li Xiaohan’s forgiveness. “Sir, you…”
“Who is this?” Li Xiaohan cut off the butler, frowning at the girl in the short skirt.
“Sir… this is my daughter, Lili. She recently… came to serve in Wanhan Courtyard.”
“Serve?”
“Coming here dressed like this to ‘serve’? Zhu Gongjia, do you think this is some kind of place!”
The butler, already terrified, could barely speak—he knew well the master’s methods.
But Zhu Lili didn’t care. Sniffling, she approached Li Xiaohan, trying to tug at his clothes.
“Get lost.”
Li Xiaohan smelled the cheap perfume and, disgusted, kicked her away.
Zhu Lili fell to the ground, clutching her stomach and screaming.
“Sir, I’m just standing up for fairness! You are Master Li, the famous master of the whole of City A!”
She glared at Xia Zhiwan in Li Xiaohan’s arms with resentment.
“You’re good to her, but how can this crazy woman treat you so badly? How dare she!”
Li Xiaohan frowned at her shouting, but when she called Xia Zhiwan a “crazy woman,” his anger flared again instantly.
“She’s mine.”
“You… have a problem?” Li Xiaohan glared coldly at Zhu Lili on the floor.
If he hadn’t worried about scaring the woman in his arms, Zhu Lili would have been dead a thousand times over.
But she, brainless as ever, struggled to get up and continue her antics.
“Sir, I could be yours too! I promise to serve you comfortably, care for you ten thousand times better than that crazy woman!”
The butler reached to restrain his frenzied daughter, only to be thrown off balance.
“You? Deserve that?!”
Li Xiaohan turned away in disgust. “Since your mouth is so dirty, don’t speak again!”
Calling Xia Zhiwan a crazy woman was practically signing her own death warrant!