Chapter 22

Xiao Jingai didn’t notice anything, but Xiao Baoxin could see that she was distracted. She started to doubt her motives.

What exactly was this Yang Shao?

“Jingai.”

Xiao Baoxin didn’t want to waste time thinking about it, so she cut straight to the chase. There was nothing that the two sisters couldn’t talk about— of course, she really couldn’t talk about her special skill.

She didn’t even dare to reveal it to her own mother. It would be really frightening to say it out loud.

It was terrifying to hear that she could know what others were thinking just by touching them. Even she herself would be afraid. After all, the human heart was hard to predict. It was possible to think of anything, but whether they acted on it or not, it was under the control of the morals and all sorts of rules in the world.

If her original thoughts could be heard by others, she would not have the guts to be friends with such a person.

Ever since she had this skill when she was seven or eight years old, she had never revealed it to anyone. It was said that children were pure-hearted, but she still had this slightly scheming side of her.

Except for Xiao Baoshu, who was used for experimentation and had called her a demon a few times, no one else knew.

And Xiao Baoshu was still young at that time, so he was probably scared for two days before he forgot all about it.

“Jingai?”

Xiao Baoxin saw Xiao Jingai’s misty eyes and wondered what she was thinking about. Xiao Baoxin shouted again. Before Xiao Jingai could react, they heard a strange cry from behind the carriage.

“Miss! Stop the carriage! Miss, Young Master is fighting with someone!”

Needless to say, it must be Xiao Baoshu again. Xiao Baoxin just knew.

“Stop the carriage.”

The carriage was slow to begin with, and the person who shouted ran as if his life depended on it. Before Xiao Baoxin could finish her sentence, he had already run past them, and he could only turn back.

Xiao Baoxin lifted the curtain and saw Papaya panting heavily—

Him again.

He was always the informant. Was it because he had long legs and could run fast?

“What’s wrong now?” Xiao Baoxin automatically exuded an aura that was as huge as someone who was 2.8 meters tall.

Papaya couldn’t stop his legs from trembling and he fell to his knees.

“Miss, save me— Young Master, when he heard someone talking bad about you at Little Changgan, he immediately went up and fought with them—”

“Was he injured?” Xiao Baoxin was furious. Her younger brother should only be beaten up by her, and no one else should bully him. Moreover, even though her younger brother always fooled around, he would never bully others.

It was obvious that the other party had malicious intent to speak ill of her.

If it was her, she would beat them up too!

“…I don’t know.”

Papaya held it in for a long time before saying, “Today, Young Master was playing with his schoolmate. There were many people around him. When I saw that the situation wasn’t good, I didn’t wait for them to really fight and immediately ran back to look for Eldest Miss, as I was afraid that Young Master would be at a disadvantage.”

He knew that Miss had martial arts skills.

As for Young Master, other than his ability to cause trouble, he only had the advantage of being resistant to beatings. And this advantage was something that Miss had trained him over time.

“I returned to the residence and heard that Miss had come here, so I chased all the way here. Miss, you should go and take a look. Young Master only has a heart that is concerned about you, but he really does not have the ability to fight.”

‘Your honest words would probably hurt his heart,’ Xiao Baoxin thought in her heart. Her younger brother’s manservant had not followed him for nothing all these years. He had been influenced by him over the years and had even learned how to curry favor from her younger brother.

“Did you ask the guards to protect Young Master first?”

Papaya was dumbfounded. Did he have such authority?

“I was afraid that Madam would scold Young Master, and I was also afraid that there wouldn’t be enough time, so I didn’t tell Madam. I can’t give orders to the guards either.”

“You are still afraid of a scolding at a time like this? How are you afraid of Young Master being scolded? You’re clearly afraid that you’ll be punished. If there’s a next time, no matter how big the matter is, report it to Madam first!” Xiao Baoxin shouted.

“Now, run back to the residence to deploy some guards to protect Young Master. Let them know what’s important and what’s not. Don’t let anyone die. I’ll take care of the rest.”

It wasn’t because she was acting high and mighty, but their carriage would probably be too slow to rush over. They might not even be as fast as Papaya’s running, even after the dishes had turned cold.

When Papaya heard the order, he didn’t dare to delay any longer and immediately ran back like a dog. In the blink of an eye, Xiao Baoxin saw yellow soil being swept up and Papaya’s figure had disappeared.

It turned out that it was because Xiao Baoshu had caused trouble outside that led Xiao Baoxin to the Little Changgan!

Xiao Jingai was filled with hatred. In her previous life, she was suffering from a severe cold and had been unconscious for a few days during this time. When she awoke, she heard that Xiao Baoshu had caused trouble. Xiao Family was implicated by him and was ridiculed by the masses in Jiankang City. She was so embarrassed that she didn’t dare to leave the Xiao Residence for the next two months.

When she thought that she had avoided the storm and that everything was calm, news of Xiao Baoxin’s marriage annulment came. Xiao Yun returned victorious and hurriedly married Xiao Baoxin off.

As she was marrying someone of lower status, the Xiao Family was once again being ridiculed by the masses.

During that time, Xiao Jingai fell into such an awkward position. She had an engagement since she was in Princess Fuyang’s womb with the second son of the main branch of the He family in Lujiang Province. Although it was not to the extent that the engagement would be called off, the incident caused her to be looked down upon by her in-laws. When she married into the He family, she would be mocked by them.

At that time, when Taizu founded the country, there were endless wars, and the previous dynasty was torn apart. In the end, they still couldn’t recover the original rivers and mountains.

He had no choice but to rule the country, which was separated from the north by a river.

The northern region was full of nomadic tribes with formidable combat power. It was just that they had always been despised by the Central Plains, who regarded it as an uncivilized land, calling it a barbaric land. It was also when the previous dynasty fell apart that the tribe leader, Yan Daying, fought everywhere, unifying the chaotic northern region and establishing the Wu Kingdom. By then, it was already nineteen years after the Liang Kingdom was established.

And now was the time when the Liang Kingdom’s third emperor was in power.

The aristocratic families of the previous dynasty could not bear the chaos in the north and followed Taizu across the river to the south to establish a new dynasty. To differentiate themselves from the aristocratic families who had been rooted in the south for hundreds of years, they were called the Diaspora families.

The person who had arranged a marriage engagement with Princess Fuyang was from the He Family, one of the Diaspora families. At that time, it was still the late emperor who was in power, and Xiao Yun had already achieved great accomplishments and was placed in an important position. However, Xiao Yun had already married twice, so the late emperor set his sights on Xiao Yun’s second brother. Even though he was not as valiant as his older brother in battle, his looks were outstanding, so the late emperor married Princess Fuyang, who was not very favored, to the Xiao Family. It could be considered as roping him in and also rewarding the Xiao Family.

This was because the royal family was born in a humble family and could not even be considered as a concubine family. On the one hand, they felt inferior, and on the other hand, they admired the aristocratic families.

Princess Fuyang wasn’t favored and couldn’t marry into an aristocratic family. As a result, when she was pregnant, she searched everywhere for a suitable family. In the end, because of the crown prince consort, she managed to pull some strings and arranged a betrothal of her child into the He Family.

Xiao Jingai had always been proud of this marriage.

No matter how careful she was in the Xiao Residence, afraid that she would make a mistake, these experiences would disappear in the blink of an eye. When she was married out, she would always be a status higher than the ladies in the Xiao Residence.

None of the Missus in the Xiao family would marry better than her. This was why she was able to hold her head high.

However, after living for a lifetime, she realized that the He family was a trap.

There were all kinds of scandalous relationships inside. Even the stone lions at the entrance of the He Residence were not clean. Second Young Master He had an ambiguous relationship with his cousins. The most tragic thing was that he died from an unclean illness two years after she married him.

She became the most disliked person in the He Residence.

Fortunately, the Xiao family was still alright at that time. Although the He Clan was an aristocratic clan, there was no one who was able to provide support to the clan. They were already getting worse with each generation and didn’t dare to be too harsh on her, the Miss of the Xiao Clan.

Later on, Xiao Yun died in battle and Yang Shao’s name rose to fame. Then, he received an official title in Jiankang. Xiao Baoxin couldn’t bear to hear her cries, so she brought her into Yang Shao’s residence.