Yu Xiang has always been proud of her appearance. Hearing this, she hooked her hands around the neck of the Ninth Princess and shook with laughter, “Good Qiu’er, truly my good little Qiu’er. You are so right. I too think that there must be a mistake somewhere, otherwise how can we become siblings.” Once the last word faltered, the bright smile was replaced by profound contempt.
Only after the center of Yu Miao Qi’s palms bled out that she managed to suppress the monstrous hatred she felt in the heart and pretended not to hear her provocation.
As the most dotted younger sister of the Crown Prince, Yu Miao Qi would naturally inquire all the information clearly about the Ninth Princess. Knowing she is a little slow-witted, her speech is therefore downright direct. Hence, those remarks were not aimed at her intentionally but rather just voicing her thoughts out.
It’s evident that she is the real lineage of the Marquis manor yet unavoidably, there are countless people out there keep questioning her identity when she is brought out. The feeling of being stifled until her heart and lungs almost ruptured is not something any ordinary people can endure.
If not for the fact that Yu Miao Qi and Lin Shi look extremely alike, not knowing what the outsiders are coming up with. It is said there’s no lack of strange things in the world. The looks of these genuine and sham siblings are also regarded as bizarre. The blood related siblings do not look alike at all, while the pair who are not related are alike in all aspects. When three of them stood together, Yu Miao Qi instead became the one who seemingly was picked back from outside.
The Ninth Princess does not understand the aggrieved felt by Yu Miao Qi. Seeing that Yu Xiang was happy, she became happy too. With one hand, she returned her best friend’s embrace while spontaneously grabbed the pastries with the other. Yu Miao Qi hastily moved the plate towards her when she saw this, causing her to smile sweetly.
The happy look on Yu Xiang’s face disappeared immediately and with a flick of her sleeve, she swept the plates off the stone tables and spoke solemnly, “You can’t eat that.”
The crashing and clanging sound stunned the Ninth Princess, who haltingly spoke, “Why~why not? It smells so good.”
Prying her fingers open, Yu Xiang took and threw the last piece of pastry away then cast a sidelong glance at Yu Miao Qi before she slowly spoke word by word, “Something may look nice and smell very good but it’s actually poisonous. Just like some people who look gentle and amiable but in reality, they can turn their back then shove their sisters down the abyss and cause the cruelest death. It’s impossible to judge one’s true nature from one’s look, so you must never indiscriminately eat what the outsiders brought to you.”
The Ninth Princess looked towards the shaky Yu Miao Qi with a panic-stricken gaze. Both her main court ladies were first-rated astute people in the Imperial Palace who immediately linked the incident of the other day when Yu Si Yu’s reputation was ruined and their impression of Yu Miao Qi instantly dropped to the bottom of a valley.
Although Miss Yu is eccentric and unreasonable, she never speaks carelessly and ten out of ten words that come out of her mouth are true. The character of the Ninth Princess is so simple that she will never know when she is schemed until not even a crumb of bones left should she befriend a person who harbors unfathomable evil designs such as Yu Miao Qi. Thinking of this, both of them took a few steps forward to separate Yu Miao Qi from their master.
Feigning terrified, Yu Miao Qi stepped back with tears soon gathered in her eyes that the original emaciated and wan appearance of hers seemingly became more delicate and pitiable.
Just at this moment, Ah Lu (parrot) that was released for a stroll fluttered down from midair and picked up the pastries crumbs on the ground then ate it with a smack.
“Ah Lu, you can’t eat something that’s poisonous. Spit it out for me.” Yu Xiang threw a melon seed that happened to hit Ah Lu’s head.
Ah Lu was unable to make sense of what was said but its eyeballs rolled before it eventually spat out the crumbs and picked the melon seed that was fed by its master. Wielding its wings, it then flew a distance away. Seeing this, the Ninth Princess chuckled out loud.
There were all kinds of resentment in Yu Miao Qi’s heart yet none was revealed on her face. Eyes brimming with tears, she expounded, “Why does Younger Sister make things difficult for me? I have said long ago that I will never vie for Elder Brother and Grandmother’s favor, so you don’t have to be overly guarded against me. Mother, however, is seriously ill and gave me the reins of the household management, so I too have to do my duties. The Ninth Princess is an honored guest of our Marquis manor and I, as the host, am offering a plate of pastries as a basic courtesy, so please don’t put too much thought over it. Whether these pastries are poisonous or not, Younger Sister will know once you find someone to test it, so why contradict the black and white to slander me?” Before hardly finishing the sentence, her eyes were already flooded with tears.
How could Yu Xiang go for her ruse, she, hence, sneered immediately, “Find someone to test? Why bother? It will do if Elder Sister picks one up and takes a bite to show me. You’ll have only yourself to blame if it’s poisonous and if it’s harmless, I will apologize to you right away.”
The Ninth Princess applauded, “Good idea! Lotus seed cake is always smart!”
Yu Xiang glanced at her with satisfaction.
Making herself eat the pastries that were on the ground? What do these two people think she is? A Pig or a dog? There must be a limit to how much one can humiliate people! At this moment, Yu Miao Qi truly has no desire to please the Ninth Princess. She just wished she could pounce forward and strangle them to death. Just as enmity appeared in her eyes, she saw both the court ladies stepping forward and glared intently at her.
Startled with terror, she immediately restrained and concealed her hatred then covered her face and started to cry.
On the contrary, Yu Xiang laughed and snorted, “I just knew you would cry. You cry every time you get caught up in the shit, can’t you find a new trick? I’m short-tempered and these crying hurts my brain. Do you believe I’ll smack you all over the face? Why would you think that I like to set myself against you? If you hadn’t repeatedly planted evidence to frame me and poured dirty water over my head one tub after another, I would be unlikely to guard against you like this. You are precisely a venomous snake that will bite once gotten close. It’s my negligence to be bitten by you once but I will be stupid to let you bite me again.”
She raised her horse whip and ruthlessly lashed the stone table where dull noise resounded as the leather hit the hard object.
Trembling, Yu Miao Qi eventually did not bother to ask for forgiveness as she covered her face and fled, lest Yu Xiang exposed all her wrongdoings should she stayed any longer.
Nine out of ten noble ladies covered their faces and fled like this once Yu Xiang was provoked, while one passed out afflicted with anger. The Ninth Princess has obviously seen a lot of such scenes yet she still never tired of seeing it and is beside herself with delight as she claps her small hands.
Rubbing her head, Yu Xiang admonished earnestly, “Did you see it. It’s best to stay away from women who easily wailed and whined like this. They will create havoc without cause! It’s alright if only you are dragged down, but it certainly won’t be good if His Highness Crown Prince is involved through you.”
The Ninth Princess nodded repeatedly. Since both the court ladies had long speculated over Yu Miao Qi’s purpose, their impression of hers naturally became worse and they would do without saying a word or two in front of the Empress when they returned.