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Lin Yuan became increasingly frightened as she thought about it and ran to the teahouse with even quicker steps.

However, just as she arrived at the entrance of the teahouse, she encountered an all too familiar silhouette.

Yaner approached her with a sinister smile, raising an eyebrow, "Miss Lin, you finally arrived. My Miss has been waiting for you for quite a while, and it’s been tough on her!"

Was it her?!

Lin Yuan’s eyes narrowed slightly, "Was it you who took away my little sister?"

Yaner scoffed coldly, "Who else? Miss Lin, you’d better hurry upstairs. Your little sister hasn’t eaten breakfast, and she’s been waiting for you for so long. Who knows if she has starved to death yet?"

Slap!

Just as the word "death" escaped Yaner’s lips, her face was harshly struck by a slap!

"You!" Yaner covered her painfully stricken cheek, glaring furiously at Lin Yuan as if she was about to breathe fire.

Hmph.

Lin Yuan snorted coldly, "A mere maid dares to threaten me? You should look at yourself and see what you’re worth! You had better treat my little sister well. If I find out you mistreated her, it won’t just be you, even your Miss will not escape my wrath!"

Having said that, she ignored Yaner’s powerless gaze completely and, pushing past her, went straight up the stairs to the second floor of the teahouse.

Yaner bit her lip, but was helpless, because she knew that even if Lin Yuan slapped her in front of Su Qiuyu, Su Qiuyu wouldn’t seek justice for her. At most, she would just be annoyed that Lin Yuan didn’t give her face. She knew her Miss all too well; she had never taken their servants seriously.

Guided by Yaner, Lin Yuan quickly saw Xiao Linshuang.

"Mmm, mmm!" Upon seeing Lin Yuan, Xiao Linshuang began to rejoice excitedly, it was just unfortunate that her hands and feet were tied with ribbons, preventing her from standing up from the stool.

And her mouth was stuffed with a cloth, so even though she was making excited noises, it was difficult for anyone to decipher exactly what she was saying.

Upon seeing her little sister in this condition, Lin Yuan’s expression turned instantly darker, as if whirlpools were brewing in her profound eyes.

The culprit, Su Qiuyu, was sitting leisurely by the window, despite the cold winter outside. The window in front of Su Qiuyu was open. She turned her head to look outside, and, coincidentally, she was looking in the direction Lin Yuan had taken when searching for others.

Lin Yuan bit her lip, realizing that Su Qiuyu had evidently witnessed her searching for others with such urgency, yet she had stubbornly refrained from telling Lin Yuan about Xiao Linshuang’s whereabouts. She only sent Yaner down to fetch her after Lin Yuan had found the teahouse.

If Lin Yuan thought that Su Qiuyu hadn’t done it on purpose, she might as well take off her head and kick it like a ball!

"Miss Su is really in the mood, huh? Done playing the fragile woman, now switched to playing the kidnapper," Lin Yuan scoffed coldly, mocking with a smile.

Now that she had found her little sister, and since she had quickly checked and found that aside from Xiao Linshuang’s hands, feet, and mouth being bound, there were no other injuries on her, Lin Yuan finally felt relieved and didn’t hurry to untie her.

Watching Lin Yuan suddenly calm down, Su Qiuyu was slightly stunned.

She had expected this despicable woman to cry out in agony and beg her to release her little sister immediately upon seeing her, but now that they had met, she was completely taken aback.

To her surprise, the woman had calmed down and even, even had the audacity to sit down on a stool to the side!

"Insolence! Did my mistress allow you to sit?" Having just endured a slap in the face at the doorway, Yaner’s anger had not subsided. She immediately let out a cold shout, hoping that this village girl would slap her again. Even if Su Qiuyu didn’t care about her, she wouldn’t let it go easily considering face-saving issues.

But this time, Lin Yuan left her disappointed again.

With a tilt of her head, Lin Yuan coldly glanced at Yaner and, with a slight hook of her lips, mocked, "What? You think that slap just now was too light? If it was, that’s easy to fix. After we’re done here, I’ll give you a few more!"

Yaner was taken aback, as she didn’t expect this woman to admit it but not lift a finger against her. Her little scheme had fallen through once again.

At this moment, Su Qiuyu also understood and asked Yaner, "Did she slap you just now?"

Yaner nodded eagerly, looking at Su Qiuyu with hope, wishing for her to seek justice on her behalf.

But.

Su Qiuyu merely gave Lin Yuan a cool stare, "Lin Yuan, you really are bold, daring to hit my servant girl! Do you really think that because Brother Zheng has got your back, you can run rampant in the Capital city?"

Hearing Su Qiuyu’s words, Yaner felt disappointed. She had not guessed wrong; her mistress didn’t take her seriously at all. Being slapped this time, her mistress didn’t even want to save her face, and since she hadn’t struck her in her presence, of course, she didn’t care.

Run rampant? Lin Yuan sneered, "Su Qiuyu, who is truly lawless? Abducting my sister on the street, isn’t that worse than me slapping your servant girl in public? Ridiculous!"

Su Qiuyu choked on her words and swiftly changed the subject, shifting the blame onto Lin Yuan, "Isn’t this all your own fault? If you hadn’t avoided meeting me when I visited your mansion that day, would I have had to resort to this method to force a meeting?"

Lin Yuan furrowed her brows, speechless; it turned out that Su Qiuyu had abducted Xiao Linshuang just to force her to meet.

Su Qiuyu’s words were indeed true; actually, the idea to abduct Xiao Linshuang had been a spur of the moment thing.

These past few days, troubled by matters between Lin Yuan and Xia Zheng, Su Qiuyu had been constantly upset.

Today, taking the chance to come out and relax, she had not expected to run into the hopping Xiao Linshuang alone at the tea house.

Alone would have been fine, but to make matters worse, she was dressed in dirty, wrinkled clothes. If it weren’t for her face and the way her eyes sparkled when she spoke, looking as if she were cut from the same mold as her nemesis Lin Yuan, Su Qiuyu would have had trouble recognizing her!

Once she was sure, Su Qiuyu had Yaner and another maid carrying her things grab Xiao Linshuang and drag her over.

Truth be told, Xiao Linshuang had become guarded the moment she saw Yaner, but unfortunately, she was facing two women much stronger than herself. Even with her struggling, she was still pulled inside by the two.

It was also in part due to the Su Mansion’s coachmen. If he hadn’t covered Xiao Linshuang’s mouth immediately, people would have become suspicious much sooner.

Regrettably, at the time, nobody had noticed what was happening here. Moreover, since Xiao Linshuang was young and had entered the neighboring tea house, nobody paid any attention.

Lin Yuan glanced at Xiao Linshuang and saw her bright eyes clear and shiny; even with her face deliberately made up to look dirty, there was not a single trace of her having cried.

She gave her little sister a slight smile. Xiao Linshuang understood and, raising her eyebrows, laughed without a care in the world.

"I’m already here, so may I know what business Miss Su has with me?"

As for the purpose of Su Qiuyu seeking her out, Lin Yuan was naturally aware. It was nothing more than a matter concerning Xia Zheng.