"Father, the guests are almost all here. Shall I take the ladies to the back courtyard first?"
Jiang Yufei greeted Jiang Shanyi and led the ladies into the back courtyard.
Today was the County Princess's birthday banquet, and there were naturally more female guests than male guests. As the children followed the ladies away, only a few male guests remained in the main courtyard.
Su Qingtian, with his high official position, was particularly prominent among this group of gentlemen.
Su Yunmo did not wish to stand among these people with her, so she requested to go to the back courtyard as well.
Su Qingtian agreed.
A maid led Su Yunmo to follow. As they passed the back courtyard, they happened to encounter Lin Chenxi under the corridor.
Lin Chenxi's gaze lingered on her for a moment before he stepped forward and dismissed the maid. "I'll escort the young lady of the General's manor. You may go and attend to your duties."
The maid bowed and withdrew.
"Lord Junma is truly impressive. It must have taken you considerable effort to secure such a good marriage as a concubine-born."
Lin Chenxi furrowed his brows. "I am no longer of concubine birth."
Su Yunmo sneered.
Indeed, she had forgotten.
Upon her death, he and Lin Yuning would naturally enjoy the treatment of legitimate children.
However…
"How long do you think you can remain in that position?"
Lin Chenxi sighed and crouched down to meet her gaze. "Niange, we are siblings after all. Even if elder brother did something wrong, that was in the past."
"Now that elder brother's illness has fully recovered, can you truly bear to ruin his future? Didn't you often say that you were willing to pay any price for me and Yuning to live a good life?"
Hatred surged within Su Yunmo, and she spoke each word distinctly. "I am not Lin Niange. I am Su Yunmo, the legitimate daughter of the General's manor!"
"You are not my elder brother either. My elder brother is the eldest legitimate son of the General's manor, Su Sizhuo!"
She turned and left.
Lin Chenxi watched her retreating back, his eyes gradually darkening.
It seemed she truly held no regard for their kinship now. If that was the case, he had no need to continue playing the role of a good brother.
When Su Yunmo arrived at the back courtyard, the guests were gathered in small groups, chatting.
Jiang Yufei approached her, her opening remark being, "The Prince of Yu will not be protecting you today."
Su Yunmo frowned. "Why do you assume I need his protection?"
Could it not be that she and Ye Jingyu were colluding to bully her alone?
Jiang Yufei sneered. "You? Born of a lowly woman, a wild foal, can you really turn the world upside down?"
Su Yunmo pondered for a moment.
Turning the world upside down might be difficult, but demolishing the roof of the Marquis's mansion was certainly achievable.
"You few, seize this little slut and lock her in the woodshed. I'll deal with her slowly later. If anyone from the Su family asks, say she left the manor on her own."
Today was her long-awaited birthday banquet, and she would not let this dead girl ruin it.
Two maids stepped forward to seize Su Yunmo.
'Bang!'
At the same moment, the sound of a heavy object falling echoed from not far away, even causing the ground to tremble.
Jiang Yufei exclaimed in shock, "What's going on?"
A servant ran over. "Eldest Miss, the roof of the banquet hall has been blown off!"
"What did you say?" Jiang Yufei was stunned, then turned to look at Su Yunmo. "You did this, didn't you? You little bastard!"
She raised her hand to slap Su Yunmo across the face.
Ziyuan appeared in a flash, grabbed Jiang Yufei's hand, and flung her to the ground.
The surrounding people, hearing the commotion, all gathered around.
Jiang Yufei's hair had come undone from the fall, and she looked like a madwoman, completely devoid of her usual noble demeanor.
Aware of her embarrassment, she was filled with rage and gritted her teeth, raising her voice. "Guards, quickly! Seize her! This County Princess will kill her!"
At her command, all the household servants were summoned.
Lin Chenxi, hearing the commotion, also entered the back courtyard.
As the servants moved to seize Su Yunmo, Ziyuan, holding her sword sheath, swept it across, preventing anyone from approaching Su Yunmo.
Jiang Yufei, enraged, ordered the servants to use arrows to kill her.
"Wait!" Lin Chenxi stepped into the courtyard, narrowly intervening.
At this moment, the front courtyard had already heard the news, and Su Qingtian would arrive soon. If she shot Su Yunmo in full view of everyone, the Marquis's mansion and the General's manor would surely become enemies!
Furthermore, it would escalate to the Emperor.
The servants stopped, all looking at Jiang Yufei.
Jiang Yufei was consumed by anger at this moment and could not afford to consider so much. "What are you waiting for! This is the Jiang Marquis's manor, my territory!"
"Do you think you can give orders here just because we are betrothed? You're just a useless fellow who climbed to power by relying on women. Stop trying to boss me around!"
The guests began to whisper amongst themselves upon hearing this.
Su Yunmo's lips curved into a mocking smile.
So, the marriage she had secured at the cost of her own life, the marriage that propelled him to a position of power, was merely this pathetic and lowly.
Thinking back to the moment she first met him, he had always maintained an air of refined elegance in front of her.
Now, recalling it, it all seemed incredibly amusing.
Lin Chenxi's expression turned somewhat grim, but he quickly regained his composure, grabbed her wrist, and softly advised, "Today is your special day. I'm just afraid you'll be made a spectacle of."
Moreover, knowing Su Yunmo's temperament, he believed she wouldn't seek trouble without reason.
If she had a contingency plan and was deliberately causing this chaos in the manor, he couldn't indulge her any further.
"Don't forget what Father-in-law told you earlier. Today's birthday banquet is very important."
Prince Cheng now had too few people around him, and they needed an opportunity to find more ministers to assist Prince Cheng.
Jiang Yufei gritted her teeth, recalling her parents' earnest instructions before the birthday banquet, and resentfully swallowed her anger.
Su Yunmo raised her eyebrows and pursed her lips.
Lin Chenxi wished to de-escalate the situation, but it seemed unlikely.
"Since the banquet hall is unusable, why don't everyone have a casual feast here? It will be more convenient for everyone to converse and compose poetry."
Lin Chenxi methodically instructed the servants, his face showing no sign of the embarrassment from being berated by Jiang Yufei moments ago.
The guests marveled, thinking this Young Master Lin was truly adaptable.
Desserts were served.
A young maid wearing a hood carried a tray among the guests.
"This is a secret sauce carefully concocted by the manor. You can dip any fruit candies or other edible items into it for an incredibly delicious taste."
Upon hearing the announcement, the guests eagerly reached for the sauce.
Lin Chenxi was also drawn by the sound, his brow furrowing slightly.
He didn't recall the manor preparing such a thing.
"This is disgusting! What is this?"
"Damn it! It's dog shit! Who the hell said this was secret sauce!"
"Ugh!!!"
The guests immediately began to vomit.
Jiang Yufei was unaware of what had happened.
When she looked up and saw the maid with the tray escaping in the distance, she recognized her as Su Youqing by her figure and could no longer tolerate it.
"Guards, quick, guards! Kill her! You, kill her for me!"
The household servants who had not fully retreated returned.
However, before the servants could even act, a piece of pastry flew from afar and hit Jiang Yufei.
The guests were furious.
"We came with good intentions to offer congratulations, and this is the hospitality of your Marquis's manor?"
"What kind of deliciousness is this? Keep it for yourself!"
Someone even threw the plate of sauce, which landed squarely on Jiang Yufei, smearing her entire face.