Guarding the Stepmother? My Mom and I Don’t Need You Chapter 43
Chapter 43 Making the Scoundrel Father Indisputable
Upon learning that the Crown Prince had rewarded Wen Xueling with a hundred taels of gold, Wen Jin’an was so enraged that she swept all the dinner dishes onto the floor.
“I am the legitimate eldest daughter of the Prime Minister’s Estate! She’s just a wild country girl, why does she get to enjoy the Crown Prince’s favor?!”
Entering from outside, Xie Siyu’s face darkened at the sight of the mess on the floor. “Wen Jin’an, where are the manners I taught you?”
“A low-class country bumpkin is making you lose your temper? How will you ever secure your position as the Marquis’s primary wife in the future?!”
Her words made Wen Jin’an’s face change. She pulled off her veil, revealing a pockmarked face. “Mother, with this face of mine, how can I marry into the Ding’an Marquis Estate?”
Not to mention the Emperor’s imperial decree of house arrest had completely shamed her among the noble young ladies.
As long as the house arrest wasn’t lifted, she wouldn’t be able to hold her head high!
“What’s the rush? Didn’t you say the Sacred Mountain Spring water and secret ointment can cure it? Your father is already figuring out a way. For these next few days, you should behave yourself and don’t provoke that crazy girl in the North Courtyard.”
Recalling the face she had seen in the shadows, Xie Siyu’s eyes were filled with gloom: It really was her! She truly let her live!
Since her name is Mu Qingyu now, then until her death, she can only be Mu Qingyu!
Wen Jin’an immediately knew her mother had a plan.
They discussed sinister ways to deal with Wen Xueling and her mother inside the room.
On the other side, Wen Xueling was also contemplating how to kill her scoundrel father, along with Xie Siyu and her daughter.
She looked at the white paper spread before her, the coldness in her brows like dew drops on tree branches in the morning, gradually congealing into freezing frost.
Her scoundrel father’s opportunities for imperial favor in the previous life had already been cut off by her and Liang Jue working together in this life.
And the Emperor’s suspicion, which had already begun to show signs in the imperial study, would not lead to him being heavily favored as he was in the previous life.
No matter how high the palace walls, they couldn’t hold back the wind.
The news that Wen Jin’an was divined by the Grand Preceptor to be an evil entity had already spread to the Ding’an Marquis Estate.
Just the fact that the Marquis’s wife forbade her son from meeting her, destined that her life in this world would not be as smooth as in the previous one.
As for Xie Siyu......
Her only “death-exempting golden plaque” had already been used.
In the previous life, Wen Jinli later became a confidant of the Crown Prince, and also one of the biggest backers for Xie Siyu and Wen Jin’an.
Judging by the Crown Prince’s attendant’s attitude today, that opportunity was likely gone.
Wen Xueling’s beautiful almond eyes gleamed with a chilling coldness as she repeatedly sorted through recent events in her mind.
It wasn't enough......
This blizzard at the Prime Minister’s Estate wasn’t big enough.
Thinking of her and her mother’s fates in both past and present lives, Wen Xueling slowly picked up the wolf-hair brush on the desk, using her right hand, which she hadn’t used for writing since arriving in the capital.
On the paper, stroke by stroke, she meticulously wrote down evidence of her scoundrel father’s treason and betrayal of the nation.
It was time to let the high and mighty Prime Minister taste......
The feeling of being utterly unable to explain himself.
Outside, it started snowing again.
Wen Xueling stood silently by the window, watching the snow accumulate deeper and deeper on the ground. When she woke up tomorrow, it would probably be a vast expanse of white again.
She remembered that man, as cold as snow.
These past few days, her attempts to show him goodwill. He didn’t stop her, nor did he accept, just indifferently watched her bustling about.
It left her somewhat unable to gauge his preferences, nor did she know if this gradual approach would be effective in winning him over as her backing.
As she pondered what she might have overlooked in her memories, she suddenly recalled the roasted sweet potato he brought when she was shivering in the dungeon in her previous life.
If his actions in her previous life were all meant to make her willingly produce those weapons for him......
In his heart, a roasted sweet potato was a special food?
Her eyes narrowed: She’d find out by trying.
An incense stick’s worth of time later.
Wen Xueling, clutching a piping hot roasted sweet potato to her chest, ran directly towards Wenren Yi’s Moju Courtyard.
Inside the study, Wenren Yi, Liang Jue, and his red-robed friend, who were discussing matters, all frowned simultaneously upon hearing the voice.
“Why is there a woman’s voice here?”
The red-robed friend asked in surprise, “You haven’t taken a woman, have you?!”
Liang Jue: “That voice sounds a bit familiar, like......”
The secret door of the study had already been opened by Wenren Yi, his meaning clear: for them to quickly hide.
“I also think that voice sounds familiar.” The red-robed friend was about to say something more when he was pushed away by Liang Jue, who had recognized Wen Xueling’s voice.
“Hurry, hurry, don’t delay.”
Wen Xueling leaned on the half-open study window, slowly poking her head in.
Seeing the man sitting calmly at the desk reading, her eyes curved, and she gave him a bright smile.
“Grand Preceptor, it’s snowing outside.”
In her sight, Wenren Yi’s profile was exquisite, his thin lips tightly pressed under a high nose bridge, showing no reaction to her words.
Wen Xueling wasn’t annoyed by his indifference. She pulled out the still-warm roasted sweet potato from her embrace.
The scent of food filled the study, covering the cool scent of pine from the table. Wenren Yi’s brows subtly furrowed.
He turned to meet her smiling eyes, his gaze falling on the sweet potato wrapped in a cloth in her palm. He was momentarily stunned, then quickly regained his composure.
Wen Xueling didn’t miss the fleeting oddity in his eyes, secretly thinking: I bet right.
Her bright eyes sparkled as she smiled, “I specifically roasted this for you. Want to try?”
His dark, profound eyes met hers, but he did not reply.
The thin cloth couldn’t completely block the heat from the freshly roasted sweet potato; Wen Xueling’s palm and fingertips were already red.
A long silence permeated the air.
Until Wenren Yi put down the book in his hand, rose, and walked towards the window, his expression cold, making his emotions inscrutable.
“Grand......” Wen Xueling raised a smile, but the next second, her smile froze on her lips.
Huh? He just closed the window like that?
“Grand Preceptor, this is the best one I’ve ever roasted! My hand is all red from the heat, are you really not going to try it?”
Thump. Thump, thump, thump.
“I held it in my arms and ran all the way here, so please just try a bite.”
Wen Xueling tapped on the window every now and then, making it impossible for the person inside to read in peace.
The window was opened, but the girl’s shadow was no longer outside.
The roasted sweet potato, wrapped in a silk cloth, emitted a fragrant aroma, quietly placed on the windowsill.
Beside it was a humorous drawing she had just made.
Under her nimble brushstrokes, Wenren Yi was miniaturized, his mask painted black, while the small figure beside him had its hands crossed in front, one leg stretched out long, looking angry.
【Since you dislike me, then I won’t come again in the future.】
A smaller line followed: My roasted sweet potato really is fragrant!
It exuded an air of indignation mixed with a touch of arrogance.
Wenren Yi’s slender, well-defined fingers slowly picked up the roasted sweet potato from the windowsill.
The thin lips beneath the mask subtly curved upwards.
As he turned, he met his red-robed friend's raised eyebrows, his face conveying the message, “You’re acting strange.”
“You and her, you two......”
Back at the Prime Minister’s Estate.
As Wen Xueling pushed open the courtyard gate of the Small Building in the North Courtyard, she saw her scoundrel father, who hadn’t appeared for a long time.
To lift Wen Jin’an’s house arrest, Wen Jingshu had been working tirelessly these past few days, leaving early and returning late, more dedicated to his official duties than anyone.
“Rebellious daughter, kneel!”