Leng Ningyue did not directly answer Lin Qingge’s question, but instead frowned and chided,
“Are you not being foolish?
Knowing your actual situation, yet you eagerly followed us here.
Do you really intend to share the same herbal bath as them?”
“It does sound rather nice… No, no, no, I mean, how is that even possible?”
Quickly retracting her words, Lin Qingge linked her arm with Leng Ningyue’s, plaintively complaining,
“Sister Ningyue, I was forced into this like a duck being driven onto a shelf. I had no choice.
You have no idea how detestable Murong Bai and Lin Moyuan are. One deliberately misinterpreted my words, and the other shamelessly used provocation against me!
And then there’s Yan Tinghao, that bigmouth, spreading gossip everywhere, while Hua Jinrong, ignoring my opinion entirely, directly ordered the carriage driver to bring us here.
So, I was truly left with no other option!
But don’t worry, I have it all planned out.
Once inside, I’ll use stomach pain as an excuse to escape.
If that doesn’t work, I’ll sprinkle the ‘Hundred Ugliness Powder’ Murong Bai gave me onto their clothes.
By then, their faces and bodies will be swollen and itchy, and they certainly won’t have the mood to continue soaking in the herbal bath.”
Seeing the charming and spoiled demeanor, yet with a shrewd glint in her eyes, Leng Ningyue couldn’t help but be reminded of Lin Zimo, who, after causing trouble, would shamelessly beg her for sugar figures.
Could it be that Lin Zimo’s impetuous nature and shameless rogue-like behavior were actually influenced by someone?
Reaching this conclusion, Leng Ningyue rubbed her forehead with a touch of annoyance.
Feeling that the immediate danger had passed, Lin Qingge looked around, “Sister Ningyue, are we really going to soak in the herbal bath here?”
“The poor fool you tricked has already spent all the money. What do you think?”
Hearing Leng Ningyue’s retort, Lin Qingge let out a yelp,
“Sister Ningyue, you don’t perhaps have some unusual feelings for that Lin Moyuan, do you?
I’m telling you, Lin Moyuan is married!
You must not be deceived by his sweet talk and his false front of spending lavishly!”
Unable to listen any longer, Leng Ningyue flicked her finger against the talkative girl’s forehead, “What nonsense are you spouting?”
Despite the sting, Lin Qingge continued to mumble,
“Sister Ningyue, toads with three legs are hard to find, but there are plenty of two-legged men!
Don’t you go making a rash decision and be charmed by that ill-intentioned fellow!”
“You should worry about yourself first!”
Saying this, Leng Ningyue, whose ears were buzzing from the chatter, turned and walked out.
Soon, maids from the herbal bathhouse filed in. They first tidied up the changing room and then added herbs and warm water to the inner bath pool.
Finally, they did not forget to sprinkle a layer of pink petals.
After all the maids had left, Leng Ningyue, carrying two sets of clothes, casually bolted the door from the inside.
As if the bolt was not enough to ensure complete peace of mind, Leng Ningyue then used a wooden basin and a towel to create a simple trap.
This way, anyone trying to force their way in would be drenched like a drowned rat.
Lin Qingge, surprised, casually asked,
“Sister Ningyue, have you ever been a hunter? Otherwise, how can you set traps so effortlessly?”
“You could say that.”
Upon receiving an affirmative answer, Lin Qingge became even more astonished, “I always thought you, Sister Ningyue, with your refined bearing, must be the daughter of a prominent family!
Perhaps due to the decline of your family or being wronged by villains, you were forced to wander alone in a foreign land.”
Upon hearing this, Leng Ningyue raised her hand and tapped Lin Qingge on the head, “You’re so good at making up stories, why don’t you become a storyteller?
If you must know, I’m just an ordinary orphan.”
Although she felt that the other person could hardly be described as ‘ordinary,’ Lin Qingge, however, pouted in dissatisfaction at the word ‘orphan,’
“Sister Ningyue, how can you call yourself an orphan? Aren’t you still me and Mo’er?”
Leng Ningyue’s cool, beautiful eyes softened with a hint of a smile, and she nodded in agreement, “Yes, I am not alone now; I still have you and Mo’er, two burdens.”
Upon hearing this, Lin Qingge took offense, “What do you mean two burdens? I can understand you calling Mo’er a burden, but how can you lump me and Mo’er together?”
“Indeed, Mo’er is still young and can be disciplined by me, unlike someone who always turns a deaf ear to my words.”
Sensing that the temperature around them had dropped slightly, Lin Qingge chuckled sheepishly. She walked around the entire bath and changing room, ensuring there were no peepholes or hidden compartments.
She then quickly stripped herself completely and leaped into the warm herbal bath.
Leng Ningyue looked down at her damp skirt hem, splashed by the overflowing herbal bath, and said with a hint of a headache,
“I’m also quite curious, what kind of family could raise someone like you, who can masquerade as a boy with absolutely no incongruity?”
“Sister Ningyue, isn’t that called fitting into the role? I’m being a perfect mimic, aren’t I?”
Lin Qingge imagined herself as those overly delicate and artificial young ladies, and a wave of disgust washed over her.
Rubbing the goosebumps on her arms, she changed the subject,
“By the way, Sister Ningyue, you still haven’t told me what you were saying to those women earlier?”
“Nothing much, I just told them that the men standing outside are not only fond of men but also like to peep at other people’s husbands’ bodies, so they should pay close attention.”
“And then they rushed to inform their own husbands?”
“Not entirely. I also said that the most muscular one among them has exhibitionist tendencies and would barge into the women’s herbal bath area naked.”
“The most muscular one?”
Lin Qingge mentally reviewed the men and finally offered a silent, sympathetic tear for Yan Tinghao.
Feeling the ripples spreading through the herbal bath, Lin Qingge, who was enjoying the schadenfreude, turned to look and was immediately stunned.
Then, she couldn’t help but let out a flirty whistle,
“Whew—!”
A string of familiar and unfamiliar beautiful words like skin like condensed fat, bones like ice, delicate enough to break with a puff, and plump, elegant bones, sprang into her mind.
Looking at the two towering peaks opposite her, then looking down at her own flat chest.
Lin Qingge felt that her body must belong to the type that develops late.
Yes, that’s right!
After her self-hypnosis, Lin Qingge’s gaze fell upon the grotesque, centipede-like scars on the other person’s face, and she asked the question that had been lingering in her heart,
“Sister Ningyue, who exactly inflicted such a cruel hand upon you?”
“An irrelevant person.”
“Huh?”
Unexpectedly receiving such an answer, Lin Qingge blinked. Before she could react, Leng Ningyue commanded,
“Turn around.”
???
“Scrub my back.”
“Oh, okay.”
Lin Qingge obediently turned around, her hands clasped and resting on the edge of the bath.
The moderate strength made her eyes squint in comfort. At the same time, she asked another question hidden in her heart:
“Sister Ningyue, why are you so good to me?”