"If you were put in the sa spot, I think you’d do the sa," Shentu Chu yawned.
Shentu Jing was still ignoring them, so Shentu Mingye could only glare daggers helplessly at them.
"Don’t forget, brother. You’ll be in the sa state as I am. Your wedding is two months away. Heh, an illegitimate son marrying the daughter of the principal wife. Too good to be true!" Shentu Mingye taunted his elder brother.
Shentu Chu froze and shot him a deadly stare. It seed like hundreds of knives were pointing at each brother.
Shentu Mingye was in a bad mood, so he continued to annoy and spread negative energy.
"What I said was true. Look at you—a good-for-nothing. You might not even be his son!" He pointed at Shentu Dong.
"You don’t even know who your mother is. Sending you to marry the precious daughter of the Qiao family is sending you into the lion’s den. Or should I say, you’re a bargaining chip used against the Qiao family!"
PAH!
Shentu Mingye held his cheek, red and swollen. His face was whipped to the side from the impact of the slap, his hair ssy and falling across his face.
Shentu Jing’s fingers froze above the tablet.
Qin Zhuzhu ca down the stairs, surprised. She rushed over to Mingye’s side. This was too much!
Shentu Mingye turned to look at the person who had slapped him.
"Mingye! Don’t go overboard! Believe it or not, I’ll kick you out!" Shentu Dong thundered, his hand red from slapping his son so hard.
"Uncle Dong, why did you hit your son? He’s done nothing wrong other than miss his mother. Do you know what you’re doing?" Qin Zhuzhu spoke up loudly, charging head-on into the argunt with Shentu Dong.
"His mother is a bitch. She cheated on and betrayed !" Shentu Dong huffed angrily. He looked like he was close to having a heart attack from the shock of discovering his beloved wife had been having affairs with other n.
"That doesn’t have anything to do with Mingye. He’s innocent," Qin Zhuzhu stood up for Shentu Mingye, who was teary-eyed.
"Who knows if he’s really my son?!"
This ti, Shentu Jing put his tablet down and ca to take her away.
"You shouldn’t be here. Don’t get involved in this. Let’s go," he whispered. But she pushed his hand away.
"Ah Jing, what are you doing? They’re fighting right in front of you! Uncle Dong is hitting his own son!"
"Little Pearl, things aren’t what they seem. Don’t interfere. Listen to ," Shentu Jing whispered softly, as if he didn’t want anyone to hear him.
But Qin Zhuzhu didn’t understand. She couldn’t grasp why a happy family would suddenly break up and fight among themselves.
It was at this mont she realized that the family wasn’t as harmonious as it had seed when she first stayed here. They had all been pretending to be cordial and friendly, hadn’t they?
Now they were showing their true colors, hating and stepping on one another. In the end, they were like any other rich family out there, fighting for power, wealth, and status.
Did all of this really matter that much?
Qin Zhuzhu had grown up happily with her grandfather and mother, so naturally, she craved the warmth of a full family—a family with a father and brothers, even cute cousins and pets. But now, everything seed to be falling apart.
When she first visited this family, the joy she felt was beyond anything else when Old Master Shentu and Shentu Dong treated her as if she were their own. She had lost her grandfather, and Old Master Shentu reminded her of the kind and loving old man.
And she understood why Shentu Jing’s sister, Shentu Ling, treated her coldly and with disdain. That was the real feeling Shentu Ling had toward her. So, was all of this a pretense too? The love, care, warmth, friendliness, and playful bickering—were they all fake?
The more she thought about it, the more she felt like she had been cheated and lied to, and that she had stepped into sothing very dangerous without realizing it.
Shentu Chu seed to enjoy watching his younger brother get slapped and insulted. He was watching his revenge for those hurtful insults take place right in front of his eyes.
She pushed Shentu Jing’s chest away from her. From the corner of her eye, she saw Jiang Zhaoling and Shentu Ling enter the room.
"Ah Jing, he’s your brother. His mother is nowhere to be found. Why aren’t you helping him? He doesn’t deserve to be hit for his mother’s mistakes. Why aren’t you...?" Her voice trailed off when she saw his gaze darken, his expression fierce and oppressive.
Did I touch a soft spot? she wondered. Or was it because I said sothing wrong... or truthful?
"He’s not my brother. And neither is he," Shentu Jing pointed at Shentu Chu.
She saw the fire in Shentu Jing’s eyes. No doubt, he was angry with her. However, it only made her mood worsen to match his.
"I should have known you lied to ," Qin Zhuzhu suddenly said, her voice breaking as if sothing was stuck in her throat and she had to force it out.
She realized that she was an outsider, and soone like her wasn’t fit to interfere in their family matters.
Shentu Jing silently clenched his fists, watching the hurt expression on her face.
"Little Pearl..."
He was about to say sothing, but she interrupted him.
"Fine, then I’ll tell them the truth, Ah Jing," she said, then turned around to face the whole family, especially Shentu Ling—the one who hated her.
"Qin Zhuzhu, don’t—"
But it was too late. She strode to the center of the room, the tall ceilings seeming to be her sky, helping her angry emotions soar to greater heights. The luxurious furniture revolving around her made her previous thoughts of this family dizzy. The four grand pillars carved with spectacular dragon emblems seed to be laughing at her.
She needed money, but not through lying or hurting soone. She inhaled deeply...
"We are not engaged at all. It was fake. An agreent signed privately between him and , just a trick to please the old master and you, Uncle Dong."
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