“Mother, listen to me!” Sheng Weiqiao, who had never seen Madam Feng put on such a face, got daunted and wasted no time to explain, “It was the son of a mistress….”

“Shut up!!!” Madam Feng was actually a gentle type, and she was especially patient with her only daughter, but recently, Sheng Family, especially the back yard, had never been free of troubles!

As the hostess of Sheng Family, since Madam Bai"s death yesterday, she had got even more occupied. What was worse, her parents-in-law, brother-in-law, and nieces kept causing her troubles one after another!

However patient she was, Madam Feng somewhat reached her limit!

Having reported Sheng Weirao"s pregnancy to her mother-in-law Old Madam Ming, with Old Madam Ming"s order, she came to Zhuying Mini Villa for Sheng Weirao. She spent much time talking with her, but the niece just remained stubborn!

Being weary and stressed, Madam Feng struggled to refrain her temper. When she exited from the door and heard her daughter chatting with Sheng Shuihe in the back yard, she thought Sheng Weiqiao was already persuaded by Sheng Shuihe, and they came along again like when they just returned from Daimao Island. That was why they had sustained a conversation for so long!

So, hoping to comfort herself with the scene where the brother and sister were in harmony, she quietly came to the back yard with Xiquan, but what awaited her was her innocent, cute, meek and sensible daughter, who had dumped all the refined manners of a young lady and strangled Sheng Shuihe"s neck, groveling on the stone table!!!

Such a surprise was completely unbearable for Madam Feng!

It was the first time that she had scolded her daughter, “Look at yourself just now! And look at your appearance now! You"re a girl! You"re supposed to be a sister for him!”

Sheng Weiqiao was stunned by her mother"s reproach!

Factually, it was made by that annoying son of a mistress, but now everything was her fault?!

Sheng Weiqiao got deeper in sorrow as she thought about it, and her eyes were brimmed over with tears.

But Madam Feng hadn"t yet vented all her fury, “You"re thirteen already! Your aunt always suggests I discipline you more, but I think you"re sensible all the time, and it"s unnecessary to restrain you with those regulations and standards! Because in my and your father"s eyes, you"re a good girl who knows about right and wrong! But based on reality, I know I was overconfident in you!”

She made the decision imperiously, “I"ll hire two governesses to teach you all the manners. If you don"t put in the effort to follow the cla.s.ses, you will see the outcome!!!”

“Is he your and father"s child, or actually I am?!” Hearing that, Sheng Weiqiao finally failed to contain her temper, stomped, and cried loudly, “It"s his fault. Why do you blame all this on me?! I won"t learn the manners, and I"ll throw him out!”

“Mother, it"s a misunderstanding!” As she cried and clamored, Sheng Shuihe came over to greet Madam Feng with his hand pressing against the gorge and said sincerely, “I really did wrong by saying something offensive to sister, so she lost her composure.”

Sheng Weiqiao, who wasn"t aware of the strategy called “retreat to advance”, wiped her tears and growled at Madam Feng, “You hear that? You hear that? He confessed! It was all his fault! He deserved it!”

“Even though your brother said something indiscreet, how could you just resort to violence?!” Madam Feng snarled back, “Let alone climb onto the table. Even for Lvjin and Lvqi, as maids, they wouldn"t be so crude! Do you have any ladylike demeanor?!”

“Since this son of a mistress came back, you have been praising him for everything, while I have been blamed for everything!” Sheng Weiqiao felt as if falling through the ice!

Her blurry watery eyes alternated between Madam Feng and Sheng Shuihe, and she muttered, “Might what grandmother said at that time was true?! Before my mother got married, my parents felt so much attachment to each other. And this son of a mistress… No! Sheng Shuihe is actually your son, who had been born before your marriage?! Like Sister Rao"s plan, for the sake of your and father"s reputation, you had settled him outside, and you got him back then as the son of a mistress?!”

As she thought about it further, she got surer about its authenticity, “That"s why you and father praise him by all means! That"s why since he came back, you and father have shown less love for me! Because he"s your favorite. As a daughter who isn"t allowed to inherit the family property, I"m actually nothing! Right?!”

Sheng Shuihe drooped his head as if being guilty. What to do? The girl became even funnier than before. If he hadn"t reacted quickly by forcing himself to recall those miserable memories, he would have burst into laughter on the spot!

“…!!!” Madam Feng"s face went green and pale. She repet.i.tively reached out her hand and withdrew for several times. In the end, she still couldn"t make up her mind to beat her and only ordered Xiquan as she gritted her teeth, “Lock her into the ancestral hall and let her reflect her deeds there!”

“No objection!” All Sheng Weiqiao thought was that “since my parents got a son, they obviously have loved me less. I will surely keep losing their affection, and one day completely will be neglected and abandoned. Then I"ll end my life in a melancholy night with thunder and wind”. She could by no means recall her last eery night when locked in the ancestral hall. Though with her current mood, even if she had remembered, she wouldn"t have been more submissive. Wouldn"t it be such a shame?

So, hearing that, she instantly snarled, stomping, “Even if you didn"t send me to the ancestral hall, I wouldn"t stay at this distressing place any longer!”

Madam Feng, who was initially exasperated by her senseless doubts, almost burst into laughter when hearing those words and calmed down a little, “Alright. Go to pack up your things. I won"t delay your departure from this distressing place. As usual, you"re not allowed to bring a maid!”

Hence, after no more than two months, the sweetheart went back again to the stack of straw in the bedroom of the ancestral hall!

With her elbows against the knees, she supported her head, furrowed her brows and thought resentfully, “I heard that parents always prefer a son, but I didn"t take it seriously. My parents loved me so much! Now Sheng Shuihe"s here, and as said, instead of me, they give all their love to Sheng Shuihe!!!”

When she rejected Sheng Shuihe"s existence before, she once hoped that if only she had had a blood brother. So, how could the son of a mistress from the outside have been admitted?!

Her aunt Mrs. Feng had banished her husband"s sons with the mistress and concubines, also his several daughters from home after her husband"s death because of her resourcefulness and the support of Feng Family and Sheng Family, to some extent. But at the bottom, it was because she had given birth to Xuanyu She, Xuanyu Le"s legitimate son.

Otherwise, no matter how astute Mrs. Feng was, how could she have erased those people"s desire for Xuanyu Family"s property?

But at the moment, convinced that Sheng Shuihe was authentically her brother, Sheng Weiqiao found that… she wasn"t happy with it at all!

The worst thing a son of a mistress could do was to compete for the property with her, and perhaps to share Sheng Lanci"s love and care. Anyway, her mother would only be hers. But her own brother would certainly have his share in everything she possessed!

Having been the apple of her parents" eye for twelve years as the only child, Sheng Weiqiao felt, with so much pain, the disappointment of not being unique.

As she regretted and felt hopeless, in the hallway outside the room, rose a string of regular footsteps.

“Is it father or mother?” Sheng Weiqiao p.r.i.c.ked up her ears and thought as she listened, “Huh, huh, after all, I am their daughter who"s been raised up by themselves. However they care about Sheng Shuihe, they surely wouldn"t abandon me at present…. But whoever comes, I won"t go back to Zhuying Mini Villa for just a little persuasion!”

She had said that Zhuying Mini Villa was a distressing place. How could she leave a distressing place and go back within just two hours?!

She had to stay here for a few days and make her parents regretful. They would take Sheng Shuihe here to apologize time after time, and then she would deign to go back!

“Liu Bei once paid three visits to Zhuge Liang. Alright! So I won"t think about going back until Sheng Shuihe has come here thrice and apologized!”

As Sheng Weiqiao contemplated, the footstep finally reached the door. She raised her head, hoping to greet her parents with an arrogant face. Unexpectedly, the voice, tinged with joy, which came along with the knock at the door, was Sheng Shuihe"s, “Sister? Are you asleep? I"m here to send you some late snacks.”

“Go away!” Sheng Weiqiao felt heartbroken!

She was her parents" sweetheart!

In the past, to say eight times a day that “I love my sweetheart best” wouldn"t have been enough for her father!

On Daimao Island, her father had even suggested her not being too kind to Sheng Shuihe. And he had said that Sheng Shuihe"s status wasn"t comparable to hers!

It had only been a few days, and she had been locked in the bedroom of the ancestral hall for over two hours, but her father never showed up!!!

“Aunt was right!!!” Sheng Weiqiao was grieved, “You could listen to a man, but you should never believe in a man! Father is also a man! I shouldn"t take his words seriously!”

“You won"t have it?” But was it easy to rush away Sheng Shuihe? He totally ignored Sheng Weiqiao"s hostility, stepped into the room composedly, and pulled out a three-layer box lined with gold as if playing a trick, “Today our chef worked so hard. He cooked many of your favorite dishes, which could fill the whole table. We have Wuhou Fish, slices of tripe, mussel sauce, roast poultry meat, honey roast fish, Tartar-style mutton, goose baked within a whole lamb, turtle on colorful silk, lamb"s and deer"s tongues, pork and egg b.a.l.l.s, scallion vinegar chicken, sweet and sour aubergines, mutton soup, mutton sticks, lotus chicken, wine-stewed fish, honey crab, shrimp sticks….”

As he said, he walked to the long table nearby and took out the dishes from the box one by one. Sheng Weiqiao had only taken some tea after lunch. In an age of physical growth, having made a scene with Sheng Shuihe, gathered her belongings, and come to the ancestral hall directly, she was already starving after so many twists.

With the temptation of the scrumptious aromas and scents, though she still wore an annoyed face, when Sheng Shuihe got absent, she swallowed unconsciously.

Thus, she disliked Sheng Shuihe even more, “I have said go away. Didn"t you get it?! I know that you have surely spit saliva, added sand, put c.o.c.kroaches, or laxatives into the dishes covertly. I"m never falling for that!”

“So, you doubt that I did something to your dishes? It makes me sad!” Sheng Shuihe affected to wipe his tears and heaved a sigh, “How about I test all the food here for you? Will you believe me? After all, adding saliva, sand, c.o.c.kroaches, or laxatives to my own dishes isn"t one of my hobbies!”

Sheng Weiqiao glimpsed at him dismissively. With her head up, she turned away her face and totally ignored him.

Sheng Shuihe wasn"t embarra.s.sed by her reaction. He drew a pair of chopsticks from the box and tried every dish, as he said before. In the end, he put the chopsticks aside, pulled out a handkerchief from his sleeve to wipe his mouth, and smiled, “See? Do you believe me now?”

“Why do I have to eat just because you told me to?!” Sheng Weiqiao was actually observing him out of the corner of her eyes. Seeing that he really had tried every dish, she believed that the food was safe. But as a backboned person, was she so easy to court?!

So hearing that, she darkened her face and held her head even higher. With her eyes almost resting on the roof beams above, she provoked him, “Did you beg me? Without a beg, I see no reason to answer your request!”

“I beg you, sweetheart. Please have some!” She presumed that Sheng Shuihe would be mad at her words. And as long as this son of a mistress, no, this brother went mad, she would be delighted!

But without batting an eye, Sheng Shuihe said joyfully, “Be merciful, please. Mm, to show my sincerity, do you want me to kneel down? With my head touching the ground?”

Sheng Weiqiao, “!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Why didn"t he go mad?!

How could he not go mad!

He stayed surprisingly calm!!

While she was fuming!