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Su Qiuyu didn’t waste any words, and bluntly said, "Do you pretend not to know why you’re here? Hmph, it’s truly unexpected— you actually persuaded Brother Zheng to bring you to the Capital city. You really have some skills; I certainly underestimated you before!"

Because of her profound hatred for Lin Yuan, Su Qiuyu’s tone changed as she spoke. Now that only their servants and the Lin Yuan sisters were in the room, she didn’t bother to feign weakness, revealing her true nature.

Seeing this undisguised contempt and hostility, Lin Yuan didn’t care at all and casually shrugged, "Ah, there was no other way. Xia Zheng begged me for a long time, insisting desperately that I come to the Capital city, or else he would death in front of me!"

Lying through her teeth was something Lin Yuan did easily, especially since she had long figured out Su Qiuyu’s weakness. As long as she talked about how good Xia Zheng was to her, she could easily defeat her!

Lin Yuan paused for a moment, and indeed, she saw Su Qiuyu’s face turn increasingly pale.

She chuckled with satisfaction and exaggerated further, "Not just Xia Zheng— even the princess sent me three letters, urging me to hurry to the Capital, saying that she couldn’t sleep at night thinking about me!"

"Shut up! Don’t say another word!" Su Qiuyu slapped the table so hard that the teacups on it rattled.

Not only was Xia Zheng Su Qiuyu’s weakness, but Princess Anle was also a thorn in her side.

She would go to the Military Mansion every two or three days to chat with Princess Anle, but she had never said such things.

Just meeting Lin Yuan once and she couldn’t bear to part—how could that not anger her?

Lin Yuan pursed her lips, picked at her fingernails nonchalantly, and rolled her eyes, "Fine, I won’t talk. But what’s with the table slamming? It’s as if you’re the only one who can slam the table and no one else can!"

And with that, she too slapped the table loudly, much louder than when Su Qiuyu did.

Lin Yuan snorted disdainfully, "You can’t even slam the table as well as I do, yet you dare to compete with me for a man? Do you really think you’re up to it? Huh?"

Choked by Lin Yuan’s words, Su Qiuyu’s face began to twitch, and her hand clutching the table clenched in anger.

Yaner stood very cleverly to the side, quietly shifting a bit further away.

After slamming the table, Lin Yuan still felt that her anger wasn’t fully vented, so she spoke her mind directly, coldly addressing Su Qiuyu, "Miss Su, I used to respect you as the daughter of Prime Minister Su.

I thought that in both cultivation and character, you must be a paragon among people, and I really admired you.

But when I saw you deliberately acting weak in front of Xia Zheng to gain sympathy, and even purposely belittling others to leave a good impression on him, I knew then that you are truly despicable! "

Despicable?

Su Qiuyu looked up in surprise, "You’re despicable!

What right does a little village girl have to judge me?

I, Su Qiuyu, come from a distinguished family, proficient in music, chess, literature, and painting.

If not the best in the Capital, I’m among the top few.

And you, a country bumpkin, dare to call me despicable? Ha, what a huge joke!"

Lin Yuan shook her head, "Whether it’s a joke or not, I don’t know, but there’s one thing I do know— Xia Zheng doesn’t like you, he has only seen you as a sister from the start.

Yet you, lacking in self-awareness, have slowly worn away even that fraternal affection he had for you.

Qiuyu, do you know what Xia Zheng did after he heard how you tried to sow discord between us outside the ancestral hall? "

Su Qiuyu’s eyes flickered; she didn’t know the specifics but she guessed as much — Xia Zheng definitely didn’t believe it, otherwise he wouldn’t be accompanying Lin Yuan today to find her sister.

All Lin Yuan had to say was, "He was very angry!"

Su Qiuyu’s expression brightened momentarily, but it was quickly overshadowed again by Lin Yuan’s words.

"It’s not that he is angry because I betrayed him, because he never believed I would do such a thing.

What makes him angry is that you actually tried to drive a wedge between us, even though he knew you disliked me, he never thought you would go to such lengths.

Su Qiuyu, he said he is very disappointed in you. "

Disappointed? Su Qiuyu’s gaze turned frantic, "No, it can’t be. Brother Zheng has always treated me differently from the other young ladies since we were children, he likes me, how could he be disappointed in me? No, it can’t be, you must be spouting nonsense!"

"Believe it or not, that’s up to you; I’ve already said what I needed to say, and I believe Xia Zheng has told you before as well."

Lin Yuan stood up, shrugged her shoulders, and said, "Su Qiuyu, there’s a saying I really like, what belongs to you cannot be stolen by others, and what doesn’t, you can’t seize no matter how hard you try. Now, I’m giving this saying to you."

After speaking, she walked over to Xiao Linshuang, picked out the cloth gagging her mouth, threw it away, and then proceeded to untie the cloth around her wrists. But the cloth was tied with a dead knot, which she couldn’t unravel no matter how hard she tried.

Stunned by Lin Yuan’s last remark, Su Qiuyu stood frozen in place, while Yaner watched the scene with amusement, unable to contain a cold, mocking laugh.

Hearing Yaner’s mocking laughter, Lin Yuan’s lips curled up, and she walked over to the table in front of Su Qiuyu, picked up a teacup, and fiercely tossed it to the ground!

Crash!

The teacup shattered into several pieces, its shards scattering everywhere.

Yaner screamed in alarm, shielding Su Qiuyu and said with forced composure, "What, what do you want to do? I must warn you, this place is full of people, if you plan any misconduct, I will call, call for help!"

Lin Yuan sneered, turning away, bent down, and picked a relatively large shard from the broken pieces, using it to saw through the cloth on Xiao Linshuang’s wrists.

The shard was indeed sharp, and with just a few strokes, the cloth was severed.

The sisters then cut the cloth around their ankles, and walked out cheerfully.

As they reached the door, Lin Yuan turned back, looked at Su Qiuyu’s hands, and warned with a smirk, "Miss Su, as the daughter of Prime Minister Su, I trust you should have some pride, and I hope you won’t resort to these petty tricks in the future.

Oh and, you needn’t look at the shards on the ground; considering how many people come and go here, everyone will know I left you unharmed.

If you try to slash your wrist and frame me, hmm, it seems that would hardly work. "

Hearing Lin Yuan say this, Yaner was stunned and then understanding dawned on her as she turned back and indeed saw Su Qiuyu half-kneeling on the ground, holding a shard, about to cut her own wrist.

The shard was dangerously sharp; if she indeed made that cut, wouldn’t it spell death?

"Miss!"

Yaner snatched the shard from her hand, indifferent to the cut it made on her own palm, wiped her hand casually on herself, struggled to help Su Qiuyu up from the ground, and gently led her to a chair far from the broken pieces, soothing her.