Dare to call me a shrew?

This old lady will be shrewish for you to see!

Ning-shi sprang up with a “whoosh,” her voice sharp and piercing.

“When he reaches the underworld, Eldest Master should ask the old lady properly—with so many young ladies from great houses in the capital, why marry me, this shrew?

“Could it be she had her eye on my Ning family’s vast wealth? Or was she blinded by lard, her eyes went blind!”

“Third Aunt!” Pei Xiao truly wanted to go cover that foul mouth.

“What is it, Eldest Nephew?”

Ning-shi put a hand on her hip, that mole at her brow raising upward.

“People have a mouth—if not for eating, then for speaking. If you don’t let people speak, what’s the mouth for? Everyone might as well be mute!”

Pei Xiao thought: I’ll call you Ancestor and be done with it.

“Third Aunt, can’t you speak one sentence less?”

“Eldest Nephew, can’t you live one day less?”

“You…”

“Crack—”

An embroidered shoe stepped on a flagstone, then lifted. In the very center of the flagstone, a thin crack split open.

The owner of the embroidered shoe smiled faintly. “Whoever keeps disturbing my young miss’s investigation—this flagstone will be her skull.”

With this, Ning-shi’s face turned deathly pale, looking at Yan Sanhe with lingering fear.

Ji Lingchuan’s chest heaved in and out, stiffly turning his head aside.

Master Pei’s hand stealthily touched the back of his own head, thinking: If that kick had landed on my head, my little life…

Would be finished!

In the flower hall, quiet could finally be achieved.

But Yan Sanhe was in no hurry to speak. Her gaze fell on Ning-shi, her dark pupils unmoving.

By rights, a wealthy merchant family’s eldest daughter being somewhat spoiled and willful was understandable. But speaking so sharply and bitterly was rare—already comparable to a marketplace shrew.

The old lady couldn’t make decisions about her first two sons’ marriage matters. For this third son’s wife, she would definitely carefully select. Could she really have gone blind?

Moreover, this Ning-shi gave her a very strange feeling.

Perhaps Yan Sanhe’s examination lasted too long. Ning-shi grew very impatient with this kind of gaze, laughing coldly.

“What is Miss Yan looking at me for? Did I perhaps say something wrong just now? Then I’m sorry—I’m just a woman with long hair and short sight. You’ll have to be more tolerant.”

Yan Sanhe’s eyes narrowed. She finally understood where this strange feeling came from.

This Third Madam was like an aggressive porcupine. Other porcupines only raise their quills when encountering danger.

Not her!

Regardless of whether there was danger or not, she kept all her quills raised. And if she didn’t stab someone, she felt terribly uncomfortable.

Why?

Why would a person grow so many quills?

Yan Sanhe breathed deeply, forcing herself to calm down.

“You’re right. Raising someone else’s children indeed can’t be trusted—after all, the heart is separated by the belly.”

“…”

Ning-shi stared at Yan Sanhe dazedly, seemingly unable to believe her words were actually validated.

“Ning-shi, I’ll continue questioning.”

Yan Sanhe: “Third Master’s three concubines were taken in at the old lady’s decision, correct?”

Ning-shi still hadn’t recovered from those earlier words, dazedly nodding her head.

Yan Sanhe: “You were unwilling in your heart but had to agree. Am I right?”

Ning-shi’s gaze gradually focused, the corner of her mouth revealing mockery.

“What willing or unwilling? Of the three forms of unfilial conduct, having no heir is the greatest. Am I the kind of person who can’t tolerate others?”

“But these words carry great resentment.”

“What—should I have beaten drums and gongs to welcome them?”

Ning-shi said coldly, “Bah, just lowly concubines. Who do they think they are!”

Look!

These quills started stabbing again!

“The old lady rose from concubine to legitimate wife. With these words, you’ve cursed the old lady along with them.”

Yan Sanhe: “So you resent the old lady because of the concubine matter?”

Ning-shi sneered. “Miss Yan, food can be eaten carelessly, but words can’t be spoken carelessly. I’m a daughter-in-law—how would I dare?”

Yan Sanhe looked at her, lightly uttering two words: “Is that so?”

“Of course!”

Ning-shi touched the pearl hairpin by her ear, her lips cold.

“I already can’t bear sons. To add on a charge of great unfilial conduct—among the seven grounds for divorce, I’ve committed two. Miss Yan, think for me—would the Ji family still have room for me?”

Having spoken to this point, Yan Sanhe suddenly stood up and walked before Ning-shi.

Ning-shi didn’t know what she intended. Her body instinctively leaned back.

Yan Sanhe looked down at her from above, her voice very heavy: “Do you know what case the Military Commissioner is investigating?”

“What?”

“The old lady’s grave was dug up the night before last.”

“Ahhh…”

Ning-shi shrieked. The handkerchief in her hand soundlessly fell to the floor. Her entire person was like someone whose acupuncture points were sealed—she didn’t even blink.

“Tell me, who would hate her so much?”

“…”

“Not wanting to let her rest easy even after death?”

Ning-shi’s two eyes widened, round and large. Her lips trembled several times. “You, you, you—are you suspecting me?”

Yan Sanhe curved her lips. “Yesterday there was some commotion in the old lady’s courtyard. You probably heard about it. Know what we were doing?”

Ning-shi shook her head in panic.

“I was interrogating the servants in the old lady’s courtyard one by one.”

Yan Sanhe’s brows pressed down, her gaze suddenly becoming severe. “Want to know… what I learned?”

Ning-shi’s heart pounded wildly. “What?”

Yan Sanhe looked down at her, using the slowest, coldest voice: “They all said you did it.”

“Bullshit!”

Ning-shi was struck as if by lightning, her whole body trembling fiercely. She cried out miserably, “Which damned bastard is spreading rumors, throwing dirty water on me?”

“If one person says so, that’s throwing dirty water. But when all eleven people say so in unison…”

Yan Sanhe reached out her hand, pressing on Ning-shi’s shoulder.

Her palm’s temperature was lower than normal people’s. Ning-shi immediately shuddered, even her pupils beginning to tremble.

“Then! It! Really! Was! You! Who! Did! It!”

“I didn’t… it wasn’t me, I didn’t do it.”

Ning-shi’s voice was shrill like a ghost. “I do hate her, but I wouldn’t dig up her grave. What kind of person would do that? That’s an animal!”

Yan Sanhe bent down, picked up the handkerchief from the floor, and tucked it back into Ning-shi’s hand, word by word.

“Then honestly tell me, not mixing in a single false word—why do you hate her?”

Why the hate?

Tears flowed from Ning-shi’s eyes.

After a long while, she smiled bitterly.

“If I tell you, will you believe it?”

“Why wouldn’t I believe?” Yan Sanhe countered.

Ning-shi’s gaze swept over Ji Lingchuan, swept over Pei Xiao. “They don’t believe. Not a single person believes!”

“They are them, I am me. I’m different from them.”

Yan Sanhe bent down, her voice suddenly becoming soft and gentle. “Third Madam, have you ever seen a wild wolf?”

Ning-shi shook her head.

Yan Sanhe: “Do you know how wild wolves heal their wounds?”

Ning-shi shook her head again.

“Wild wolves only dare to silently lick their wounds when there’s no one around. But whenever anyone approaches, their bared fangs are sharper than anyone’s.”

Yan Sanhe’s voice approached seduction.

“Third Madam, you are that wild wolf. You bare your fangs because you don’t want others to see your wounds. Isn’t that right?”