Whispers and murmurs persisted unceasingly.
Fortunately, the person was saved and brought back. But the wedding banquet turned into an utter farce.
Mr. Ming’s face was stormy as he sat by the bed, his rough fingertips touching the marks left by the noose around Ming Yuan’s neck, which then turned into pinching.
Pinch her to death!
He thought that Ming Yuan was being far too inconsiderate of him.
After all the efforts he made for her and their child.
The girl on the cot breathed faintly, as if with one more bit of force from him, her breath would be cut off. The maids in the room, frightened, dared not breathe, yet none dared to stop him.
Mr. Ming abruptly withdrew his hand: "Watch her closely; if there’s any slip-up, you needn’t bother living either."
With a flick of his sleeve, he strode out, fury burning within him. As he passed the tea table, he smashed the entire tea set to vent his anger.
Just as he stepped out of the courtyard, he t the house steward coming to greet him.
He asked coldly, "What’s the situation in the front courtyard?"
The steward braced himself: "It hasn’t dispersed yet."
"What is Madam doing!"
"Quite a few ruffians from Hui State ca this ti, saying that since they’ve co, the Ming Family has to provide food; they can’t be sent away hungry."
The clan elders and other seniors of the Ming Family had co by carriage for several days; they simply couldn’t be sent away directly.
Mr. Ming was overwheld with anger. Upon reaching the front courtyard, he said coldly, "Where are they!"
The steward naturally knew who the master was asking about and imdiately pointed in one direction.
The girl sat at the seat of honor, holding a chopstick in one hand, with seven or eight porcelain bowls in front of her, all filled with water, tapping them to produce a tinkling sound.
That! Was the main seat.
Seated at the table were the scowling clan elders from the Ming Family.
Before Shen Hua took her seat, they had already spoken out to stop her.
——You unreasonable girl. This is not where you belong!
As if she hadn’t heard, the girl directly sat down at Mr. Ming’s place.
——Now I’m seated.
She grinned cheerily.
——Co and beat if you can.
They were all people who valued their pride; how could they quibble with a young girl like Shen Hua?
Madam Ming intended to drive people away.
And yet Shen Hua haughtily lifted her chin.
——You took away the embroidered ball without reason, and the Miss Ming is not allowed to visit . Next, you inform that the marriage is not valid; since that is so, this is not a wedding banquet, and now while the guests are still here, most of them not of the Ming Family, it of course doesn’t count as a family banquet. Being from a rchant background and not a noble family, we don’t have so many strict rules. Since that is the case, why can’t I sit here?
——That’s the seat of our master; if you sit there, where can he sit?
——The Miss Ming just had an incident; can her father still have the heart to eat? How broad-minded he must be.
Madam Ming’s hands were trembling with anger.
If the master won’t sit, her son could still take the seat!
——There are plenty of empty seats elsewhere.
——I just like sitting with the elders.
The girl, triumphant, curled her lips.
It wasn’t that she could win the favor of the older generations.
Rather.
——They can’t out-compete for food!
Lady Ming Qi was furious: "Impudent!"
Shen Hua spoke a single sentence, which caused her anger to turn into panic.
——I heard everything you and your dear brother said just 15 minutes ago.
How could Lady Ming Qi dare to act brazenly? She feared that a madwoman like Shen Hua might blow the whole thing open.
Madam Ming let Shen Hua off for that reason, and naturally, the elders would no longer nitpick. But they couldn’t help muttering among themselves. What exactly did Shen Hua hear?
Shen Hua randomly tapped on the porcelain bowls, as Mr. Ming ca rushing over.
"Today’s incident inevitably involves you. Considering your youth, I don’t wish to bla you, but the embroidered ball was taken by you, and Yuan only felt such sha upon hearing about it. Does your family have any brothers? If so, the Ming Family might grudgingly acknowledge them."
As he said this, he pompously stroked his beard.
Shen Hua glanced at him indifferently.
"You can even say such things?"
"You—"
She struggled to find the right words.
"Old and undead."
The clan elders present: ...Not surprised, really not surprised.
Mr. Ming’s index finger pointed at Shen Hua, suddenly his eyes bulging: "You!"
Yingwu had matured.
Knowing the girl dislikes odd numbers, he imdiately stepped forward and crisply pressed two acupoints.
Mr. Ming’s middle finger involuntarily sprang out, his forearm bent, and his fingertip finally level with his nose.
Like giving a thumbs up!
Utter humiliation.
The atmosphere turned bizarrely weird. No one knew who couldn’t hold it in and snickered, quickly setting off a chain reaction. The elders’ mouths also twitched.
Shen Hua, however, rare in her pragmatism, stood up: "It’s clear Mr. Ming can really not stomach , only resorting to harsh words and coercive temptations. I am faint-hearted and cannot afford to offend. If that’s the case, there’s no need for you to push , I can leave on my own."
"Lest I beco an unwelco presence."
Seeing her talk of leaving and leave without a backward glance, heartlessly, everyone: ...
They haven’t had their fill of the spectacle yet.
A year’s worth of entertainnt!
In full view of everyone, Shen Hua left the Ming Mansion.
————
Ming Yuan was fed dicine, her consciousness gradually becoming clearer. The surroundings were not the familiar ’cage’.
How did she not manage to die again.
She closed her eyes in disgust, trapping herself in darkness.
"Awake?"
A strange female voice ca through.
The coldness in the girl’s eyes and brows was not befitting of her age.
"When I was trapped, resistance was futile, and compliance was unwilling. I thought about ending it all. I wasn’t the one in the wrong, yet innocent, why should I die? I spent my days hoping soone would lend a hand."
"I’ve been luckier than you."
Ming Yuan abruptly looked towards the speaker. Her face was deathly white, overwheld with embarrassnt.
"You..."
Shen Hua was eating dried at. eting her gaze, the girl simply tilted her head.
"You have two choices."
Shen Hua didn’t waste words: "I’ll give you so money, and after sending you out of Hui State you can go on your own."
"The second option is to co with , it so happens I’m short of an accountant. I saw the tavern’s ledgers in your room; such tasks should not be difficult for you."
Outside, the skies were dim, inside light from lamps shone, the girl casually slumped in an armchair, radiant and striking.
Ming Yuan couldn’t tell if this was a dream or reality.
"I do not know why you saved , Madam. We should be strangers."
Shen Hua finished her dried at, clapped her hands.
"I am not so saint."
"But you are not afraid of death, so living should hold no fear. In an unknown place, one can always start anew."
Ming Yuan was stunned. The bruises on her neck were glaring under the light.
"Start anew?"
Shen Hua didn’t look at Ming Yuan, just spoke in a calm and ordinary tone.
"There’s a bowl of dicine on the table. It contains a sufficient amount of red flowers, whether to drink it is up to you."
Leaving these words behind, Shen Hua exited the room.
She blew on the cool breeze for a while. Those complicated emotions, upon seeing Cui Yun handling official business before the desk, were cast aside.
"Stepping out for a bit and I brought back two people."
Cui Yun’s tone was indifferent: "Today, my aunt hastily returned from the tea house to find , chiding for neglecting you. In a huff, you turned your head and eloped with soone else."
Shen Hua still rembered her promise to cajole him before she left.
The girl trotted over, sat on his lap, and went to hug his neck, coquettishly mimicking what she learned.
"Big brother won’t bla , right?"
Cui Yun’s sarcastic tone stopped in his throat.
Which ended up as a sentence.
"So experience is also good."
(Go to Xiao Xiang Academy to see updates)
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