"Don't say a word about what happens in the West Courtyard."

Li Shiyue, still uneasy, instructed, "If I find out you're being nosy, don't blame me for being ruthless."

"yes."

Li Shiyue was thinking about how her second uncle and his wife were teaching her daughter. As a junior, she shouldn't interfere in other people's affairs because of the generational gap.

Xu Yunyang blocked her and said something that, when it got out, made people think that she was dissatisfied with the teachings of her elders, which successfully increased her dislike for the West Courtyard.

.

Night fell, and a bright moon hung high in the sky.

Li Shiyue pushed open the door of the ancestral hall and whispered to Chunling, "Wait for me here."

Having said that, he wrapped his cloak tighter and went into the ancestral hall.

The ancestral tablets of the Xu family are enshrined above, and the candlesticks are burning with dim light.

Li Shiyue walked in unhurriedly and happened to see Xu Lingwan nodding off.

She didn't rush to speak, calmly watching Xu Lingwan kneeling on the prayer mat. Overcome with drowsiness, Xu Lingwan was now pecking at rice like a chick.

With a "thud," Xu Lingwan fell face-first onto the prayer mat, perhaps having bumped herself. She muttered something in dissatisfaction before sitting up again.

"ah--!"

"What are you doing here? Did you come to laugh at me? Now that you've seen me, you can leave."

Xu Lingwan saw Li Shiyue standing to one side and screamed in fright, tears of sleepiness clinging to the corners of her eyes.

Their faces, which were initially quite cute, suddenly turned mean. Li Shiyue sighed helplessly; did both siblings wear masks?

Seeing that Li Shiyue didn't reply, Xu Lingwan said angrily, "Go away, I don't want to see you."

“If you don’t want to see me, I’ll come to see you.” Li Shiyue took two steps forward, her gaze falling on Xu Lingwan’s swollen palms.

Xu Lingwan said angrily, "Why do you need to come see me? You're just pretending to be kind! Your Chengyu Pavilion is so close, you just hold a grudge against me. You're the one who threw that stone, aren't you?"

Li Shiyue smiled slightly: "If you say so, then so be it."

Xu Lingwan's eyes lit up, and she said smugly, "I knew it was you! Just you wait, I'm going to expose you to my second brother."

Li Shiyue remained expressionless, standing there with a calm gaze fixed on Xu Lingwan.

But then she said in a gentle tone, "Do you think your cousin will believe you? Or will your uncle, aunt, and grandmother believe you?"

"I'm telling you, what can you do if I did it? An eye for an eye. If you don't provoke me, I naturally won't provoke you either."

"Logically speaking, this is my first time entering the manor, yet you have targeted me at every turn and even tried to kill me. I am returning this to you today to show you that I am not one to be bullied."

"If you're not satisfied, then give it a try."

Xu Lingwan clasped her hands together, forced to admit that Li Shiyue was right.

Even if she had said it, no one in the Xu family would have believed her. So, was Li Shiyue's grand entrance into the ancestral hall just a way to show off and intimidate her?

But she was the daughter of the Duke's mansion, and her surname was Xu. Li Shiyue was just a cousin; even before she arrived, her grandmother had mentioned that she was, after all, her grandmother's granddaughter.

She was a woman from another family, and she just wanted to teach her a lesson.

Who knew that Li Shiyue was so vindictive? Instead of being taught a lesson, she ended up with many wounds.

But Xu Lingwan didn't want to show weakness, and she looked just like a stubborn child: "At worst, I won't bother you anymore, okay?"

A faint smile played on Li Shiyue's lips. Xu Lingwan was still young, but she had been spoiled rotten and knew right from wrong very well.

"You said that yourself."

Li Shiyue took out a bulging oil paper package from her cloak. She walked to another futon, opened it, and found a package of chestnut cakes inside.

The sweet aroma of chestnut cake wafted through the air, and Xu Lingwan, despite being hungry, couldn't help but swallow her saliva.

However, he looked incredulous: "You're being so kind to me?"

Li Shiyue placed the chestnut cake on the cushion and stood up straight: "I got this from my maternal grandmother."

The implication was clear: it's up to you whether you eat it or not, but if you use the pastries to frame me, just thinking about what will happen to them after they leave Shou Song Tang makes my swollen palms ache.

Xu Lingwan pouted and angrily stuffed the chestnut cake into her mouth.

What? She was just asking, but she's making it sound like she's some kind of bad person.

Although Xu Lingwan ate quickly, she maintained proper etiquette, and soon only clean oil paper remained.

Li Shiyue put it away and prepared to leave, but then stopped: "You think I'm being kind? I just don't want to become your mortal enemy."

“I will be living in the Xu family from now on, and we will see each other all the time. If you really don’t like me, then we should avoid each other as much as possible.”

“If our family is in turmoil because of you and me, even if I defeat you, it will only cause trouble for my grandmother.”

"If you take these words to heart, then they haven't been said in vain. If you can't listen, then today's chestnut cake is as if I didn't take it from Shousongtang."

As soon as she finished speaking, Li Shiyue stepped out of the ancestral hall.

As soon as Chunling, who was waiting outside, saw Li Shiyue come out, glanced in the direction of the ancestral hall, and hurriedly followed her.

In her opinion, the girl was too kind; it was late at night and so cold, yet she insisted on coming.

“Miss, why are you doing this? Ever since you entered the manor, the Tenth Miss has been targeting you, and yet you still made a special trip.”

Li Shiyue could easily hear the dissatisfaction in Chunling's words, but she didn't take it to heart.

Chunling had been with her since childhood. Through her experiences in the Earl's mansion, Chunling only knew that those who treated her well were good people, and those who treated her badly were like Aunt Meng.

"To us, it's just a bag of chestnut cakes. If she has no conscience, she can just consider it as if I never took it."

“Chunling, my mother and grandmother are gone, I can’t let my maternal grandmother worry too much about me.”

Chunling asked, "If what you say is true, Miss, you want to shake hands and make peace with the Tenth Miss?"

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