Chapter 37 Grand General Xie’s Granddaughter
The Imperial Preceptor’s residence was only two streets away from the Prime Minister’s residence.
The silent study.
Wenren Yi stood by the window, hands clasped behind his back. After removing his mask, his face was exquisitely handsome, with eyebrows like ink drawings.
He quietly observed the ink bamboo forest under the moonlight, his cold eyes filled with an unspoken sharpness and indifference.
On the desk behind him lay a small portrait.
Anyone who had seen him would be astonished by the artist’s extraordinary skill.
With just a few strokes of ink, the artist had captured his mysterious and profound aura vividly.
But what made this painting most interesting was the miniature figure standing on one side.
It was like a miniature Wen Xueling.
Holding a candy meant for a three-year-old, she was on tiptoes, trying to hand it to him, looking both eager and comical.
Coincidentally, on the painting, there was also a candy that Wen Xueling had sent along.
It was as if......the person in the painting had broken free from the confines of the paper, leaping before one's eyes, trying to coax a smile with a sweet treat.
Wenren Yi’s thin lips curved slightly, letting out a soft chuckle, then he turned and left the study.
The next day.
Soft light bathed the small courtyard, and Wen Xueling received Steward Xu’s pledge of allegiance.
It was indeed as she had guessed......
After Xie Siyu took charge of the Prime Minister’s residence’s finances, she had acquired many street-side shops in the capital. However, she had no business acumen and suffered continuous losses. Now, those shops had become hot potatoes, unable to even cover their expenses.
Yet, Wen Jin’An insisted on competing with the capital’s noble ladies in everything, causing monthly expenses to remain prohibitively high.
If not for her scoundrel father’s dislike of attending banquets, the Prime Minister’s residence might not even be able to produce a single gift for polite exchanges.
And now, the Prime Minister’s residence’s accounts were even more chaotic.
Her scoundrel father knew nothing of these.
No wonder that woman had been hoarding the rewards given to her by the Empress Dowager; it was to fill the empty coffers of the residence.
Wen Xueling’s gaze fell on the flourishing white camellia in the courtyard, her eyes filled with anticipation. She wondered how awful her scoundrel father’s face would be when he found out the truth about the treasury.
If this matter were to be known by his colleagues......
That would be quite a show.
“Tang Chun.”
She handed over a common medicinal bottle, containing a month’s worth of medicine for Xu Fu’s daughter.
Hearing Tang Chun return with Steward Xu’s pledge of unwavering loyalty, Wen Xueling smiled idly.
She rested her chin on her hand, pondering: What kind of small portrait should I draw for him tonight?
In her previous life, Wen Xueling had never had a beloved.
But those seven years of torment, despite her aversion, made her adept at manipulating men’s hearts.
And those storybooks she was made to read, they were all about the tangled, on-again, off-again relationships of lovesick men and women.
Things like, if the man was inexperienced, give him gold and silver, and take him to see the unprecedented splendor of the world.
And if he was already worldly and held a high position, then take him back to his childlike innocence......
Wen Xueling followed the methods in the storybooks. For three consecutive nights, at sunset, she had her hidden guards deliver small portraits to the Imperial Preceptor's residence.
And the Prime Minister’s residence was not peaceful these past few days either.
The Imperial Preceptor’s divination, that there was an evil spirit reincarnated in the Prime Minister’s residence, spread from the palace to the common people, and rumors ran rampant.
During the day, her scoundrel father dealt with the rumors spreading through the capital and responded to the probing of his colleagues. At night, he returned to the Prime Minister’s residence to comfort his crying stepmother and his daughter, who was on the verge of a breakdown.
The stepmother also stayed in Wen Jin’An’s room, unable to be distracted, and thus had no time to cause trouble for them.
When Wen Jin’An woke up, she found a large bald patch on her head where the Scourge Butterfly had bitten her, and her face was burned by the golden dust from its wings, leaving pockmarked scars that were difficult to heal.
Her formerly fair skin had also become dark and rough, and these changes made her emotions exceptionally unstable.
Even though they lived in the furthest the Small Building in the North Courtyard, they could still hear the painful wails from the Qin Xin Courtyard.
But these......still didn’t amount to a thousandth of Wen Xueling’s pain in her previous life.
Her fair, flawless face was brutally whipped by those wicked people with whips dipped in salt, for a full twenty-seven lashes!
Her flesh was mangled, not a single piece of good skin.
Even her eyeballs were severely injured, making it difficult to see during the day, and she was practically blind at night.
How could these deeply ingrained pains be comparable to her current minor injuries?
“Ling’er.” Mu Qingyu’s voice came from outside the study.
Wen Xueling quickly covered the half-finished portrait on the desk, got up, and greeted her with a smile, “Mother, why are you up so early today?”
While she was diligently planning her revenge, Mu Qingyu was also busy. Although she was frail, she possessed extraordinary medical skills.
Medical and poisoning arts belonged to the same lineage, mutually generating and countering each other. After her health improved, she began to prepare for revenge against her scoundrel husband.
“This is Ant Heart Pill. It is colorless and odorless. Upon consumption, it feels like thousands of ants gnawing at one’s bones. Only by removing the bones can the torment be eliminated.”
Wen Xueling blinked. Can a person live without bones?
“Soul-Calming Pellet. One drop can take a life, leaving no time for a last will.”
“This bottle contains corpse-dissolving water.”
Mu Qingyu took out various bottles and jars from a wooden box. These were all poisons she had meticulously researched in the past few days.
“…...For some difficult people, use this. In a quarter of an hour, they will disappear without a trace.”
Her mother, who used to be unable to even bear to step on an ant, now, for her sake, had concocted so many deadly poisons.
Wen Xueling was touched, but also a little worried. She didn't want her mother to change her inherently kind nature because of her.
“Mother, Ling’er doesn't want you to......”
“Silly child.” Mu Qingyu gently stroked her hair, knowing what she was about to say.
“If he dares to bully you today, he will do the same to me tomorrow.”
On her beautiful face, her eyes were resolute. She was comforting her daughter, but also warning herself.
“Good people are bullied. To avoid being bullied by them, we must strike first.”
After the mother and daughter formed a united front, they developed a strong understanding.
That day, as they were about to have dinner, Wen Jinli, who had returned from his academy holiday, stormed into the Small Building in the North Courtyard in a rage.
He kicked open the door to Wen Xueling’s room, pointed his sword at her face, and said viciously, “Wen Xueling, it’s all because of you that Jin’An has become this way!”
“If you don’t go kowtow and apologize today, and beg for Jin’An’s forgiveness, don’t even think about leaving this door alive!”
Threatening words, who couldn’t speak them?
Wen Xueling didn’t even lift an eyelid. She called out Yan Ze’s name and continued to serve soup to Mu Qingyu.
“Mother, try this. I specifically told Granny Su to simmer this nourishing chicken soup. It’s good for our health.”
“Good, Ling’er, you drink too.”
Mu Qingyu merely glanced at her youngest son, who was being beaten back by Yan Ze. Her heart was chilled by his actions of protecting his stepmother and stepsister, and she no longer spared him a glance.
As for Wen Jinli, seeing his biological mother and sister’s coldness towards him, an irrepressible sense of grievance surged within him.
How could they ignore him like this?
“Mother, why have you become so cold too!”
“You've been in the northern region for so many years, haven’t you heard of the heroic deeds of the Xie family army?”
His voice was too noisy. Wen Xueling furrowed her brow and turned to offer Mu Qingyu a piece of fish with her chopsticks.
“Mother, try this.”
“Ling’er, these bamboo shoots are also good, try them.”
The mother and daughter continued to serve each other dishes as if no one else was there, completely ignoring Wen Jinli, who was about to be beaten out of the Small Building in the North Courtyard by Yan Ze.
“Jin’An is the only granddaughter of General Xie!”
“We’ve been able to live peacefully for so many years thanks to their desperate fight back then. How can you treat them like this?”
Wen Xueling’s gaze suddenly turned cold. She turned to look at the young man in the courtyard, her voice tinged with a chilling coldness.
“Because......the Son of Heaven breaking the law is subject to the same punishment as a commoner!”
0 Comments