The Birth of a Villainess

When Qu Xing Xu got out of the secret room, one of his subordinates was waiting to welcome him. The subordinate's hands were folded in front of him and had his head lowered as a sign of respect.

Screams of agony could still be heard coming from the room's interior. However, his subordinate didn't show any particular reaction towards the screaming; he simply looked blank as if hearing someone howling in pain was a normal occurrence to him.

"You're saying that the Fourth Miss of the Lin family went out and met another lady?" Qu Xing Xu asked his subordinate as he held another clean handkerchief to wipe his hands.

Unlike the first time, when he only let someone follow Lin Xiaofei, Qu Xing Xu became shameless.

He decided to assign one of his men to monitor Lin Xiaofei's movements and report everything to him.

Sha Yi nodded his head and continued his report.

After hearing Sha Yi's report regarding the events that have transpired earlier, Qu Xing Xu's mouth slightly curved as he raised his eyebrow, seemingly amused.

He was a tad surprised that Lin Xiaofei invited a woman from Hua Pei Lou to ride her carriage. It even took a while before they separated. He couldn't help but think that the fourth Lin young lady must have changed her preferences after having her engagement broken.

"Did you hear what they were discussing inside the carriage?" He asked Sha Yi with blatant interest.

However, Sha Yi shook his head and said, "The young lady found a guard with great skills. For fear of being discovered, this lowly one had to stay away from them."

Qu Xing Xu nodded as he joined his hands behind his back. He proceeded to walk with a smile on his face. His thoughts were hidden away from anybody's scrutiny; it seemed to be utterly deep that his subordinates couldn't even guess what he was thinking.

As for what will happen to the imperial family, Sha Yi dared not to think about it and just silently followed his master.

Hailing from the greatest family in the entire Zheng empire, their master, Qu Xing Xu, was indeed a fine man. Utterly fine that he was definitely on the radar of officials alike and every mother who wanted their daughters to marry well.

Owing to his late grandfather's prestige and the reputation that he earned during the war a few years ago, the Duke of Xin was on par with any princes from the four empires. With his handsome face and unbelievably perfect body, any person would go crazy merely from the sight of him; even his subordinates couldn't help but stare.

Unfortunately, they couldn't stare all they want in fear of having their eyes plucked out by Qu Xing Xu.

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Coming out of her courtyard, Wu Jing Yan took her servants with her to a smaller, but extravagantly styled courtyard. She saw the servants in front of the courtyard respectfully bowing to her, knowing that she was the mother of the person living in that place.

As she entered the room, Wu Jing Yan saw her daughter by the side of the window with her head lowered while reading a book; her hand was jotting down every bit of information she needed on a paper.

"It is still too early, but my Lou'er is diligently studying.", Wu Jing Yan said as she sat next to Lin Hua Lou "Now, I feel like I have nothing to teach to her anymore."

Laughing softly, Lin Hua Lou put down her brush and looked at her mother, "Mother is being silly. The book will never be able to compete with mother's intelligence. I am most glad to have you here to teach me."

Wu Jin Yan gently smiled at her daughter's words as she held her hand out of affection.

Lin Hua Lou tilted her head, feeling that something must have happened for her mother to come visit her, so she asked, "Did father and mother quarrel again?"

Wu Jin Yan was startledat first but shook her head immediately and said, "Why did Lou'er think that? Your father and I treat each other well."

"Mother…" Lin Hua Lou was conflicted if she should tell her mother to simply be honest.

In the Lin residence, there was nobody who doesn't know that Lin Feng and Wu Jin Yan had been in a cold war with each other ever since the concubines in the first branch doubled.

Although the two didn't let it show on the surface, the people surrounding them could easily notice and feel how lukewarm they treated each other, unlike how they acted in the past.

As their daughter, Lin Hua Lou was not a fool to ignore the signs of her parents' failing marriage.

However, as a young lady from a prestigious family, she couldn't make a fuss over her parent's relationship, else people will target her for being too biased.

Known as the perfect and gentle young lady, Lin Hua Lou couldn't risk her image being dragged into the mud just because of her parents. Thus, she may look like she was concerned regarding her mother's condition, but in truth, she was more concerned with her image. She just wanted to get things over with.

Wu Jin Yan didn't see how many times the emotions in her daughter's eyes changed because her head was bowed while she stared at her own hands in shame.

The fact that her daughter noticed the problem that caused her endless headaches made her feel even more miserable. These days, the concubines in the first branch were getting more and more demanding. As if they had eaten a leopard's guts, they keep on butting heads with Wu Jin Yan. It was known to be the battle between the legal wife and the concubines.

Feeling bitter, Wu Jin Yan decided to change their topic and said, "Lou'er, that cousin of yours is really something."

"What does mother mean by that?" Lin Hua Lou's ears perked up. Whenever Lin Xiaofei was being mentioned, it was most often about her causing trouble or being a pain in the ass.

"I can't point out where, but I think she's changed a lot."

"People always change mother."

"But not like that." Wu Jin Yan shook her head and warned her, "Anyway, don't try to get close to her."

Lin Hua Lou sighed and didn't oppose her mother since she was also adamantly against the idea of getting closer to her stupid and wasteful cousin.