Chapter 285: Chapter 228: Furious and Flustered

He opened the envelope with suspicion, and suddenly, a few Copper Coins unexpectedly fell out, clattering onto the ground.

The clear sound was like a heavy hammer, pounding on his heart repeatedly.

He stood frozen, while Xia Lian stood expressionlessly beside him.

“Young General Xiao, you better read the letter quickly! My Princess Consort said to make things clear. It won’t be good if she has to verify it tomorrow.”

Her tone was calm, yet it hid a hint of sarcasm.

Xiao Chengyi’s face instantly turned extremely unpleasant, but in the end, he lowered his head and looked at the letter.

As his gaze moved over the letter, his expression grew even darker, like the sky before a storm, ominous and frightening.

His fingers clenched the paper tightly, knuckles whitening, as if he wanted to tear it to pieces.

Xueyan, that bitch, dared to speak of him like this!

“Did Xueyan really say these words?” Xiao Chengyi’s demeanor was terrifying, his voice squeezed through clenched teeth.

He had gone through countless bloody battles on the battlefield; his fierce aura was enough to make ordinary men weak at the knees.

But Xia Lian was not raised to be frightened, especially since Xueyan had almost lost her life because of this scumbag.

She curled her lips into a mocking smile, speaking in a sarcastic tone, “Sister Xueyan said it, my Princess Consort wrote it. Young General Xiao, give a straightforward answer, can you settle it? If the price is not right?”

“Shut up!” Xiao Chengyi roared, his fingers trembling uncontrollably, his face turning an ashen blue with rage.

The Copper Coins on the ground seemed to have come to life, grinning as if mocking his worthlessness.

“Looks like you still think the money isn’t enough. Well, my sister Xueyan said, this is all you’re worth!”

Xia Lian was relentless, stabbing viciously at Xiao Chengyi once more.

“You’re courting death!” Xiao Chengyi shouted in rage.

As a military general, he instantly pounced, grabbing Xia Lian’s neck tightly, his grip growing ever tighter.

Xia Lian, just an ordinary maid, was choked by him until her face flushed, struggling to breathe.

Yet her eyes shone with unyielding determination, thinking he’d better kill her, so her mistress could tear him to pieces. Why hasn’t this scumbag died yet!

Sister Xueyan had finally come out of her pain, yet he continued to humiliate her by taunting her chastity, utterly shameless.

At this moment, Xiao Chengyi truly wanted to strangle Xia Lian—this brazen maid dared to provoke him like this, clearly courting death.

He held a third-rank official rank and was now favored by the Emperor; even officials ranked higher than him would try to curry favor, yet this tiny maid dared treat him with such disrespect.

However, just as Xia Lian’s face began to turn blue, her gaze full of hatred made his heart skip a beat.

Even if he hadn’t been with Shen Ruoxi at the Xiao Mansion those two years since their marriage, he knew well how deeply her maids felt for her.

If he killed Xia Lian, Shen Ruoxi would certainly not let it go, and might really fight to the death with him.

His heart panicked all of a sudden, and in an instant, he released his grip.

Xia Lian’s chest sucked in a flood of air like a breached dam.

The suffocating feeling immediately dissipated, yet she couldn’t control the intense coughing that erupted.

After a long while, she finally cleared the dull pain in her chest.

Looking up, her face was full of sarcastic expression, “Young General Xiao is truly majestic! I see your skills are used against such weak women like me; truly an eye-opener for this maid.

May I ask if Young General Xiao can give this maid a straight answer? Can you settle things with Sister Xueyan?”

Xiao Chengyi, seething with anger, kicked the Copper Coins on the ground with all his strength.

His face was as dark as the sky before a storm, extremely unpleasant.

He pointed at Xia Lian, gritting his teeth, and shouted, “Fine, you have guts! Since she dares say she slept with another man, she shouldn’t expect peace. Settle? Dream on! Tell Xueyan to wait for this Young General!”

Hearing this, Xia Lian lightly chuckled, “Alright, this maid will definitely convey Young General Xiao’s words to the Princess Consort. This maid takes her leave.”

“Don’t try to scare this Young General with Shen Ruoxi, get lost!” Xiao Chengyi roared angrily.

Xia Lian shrugged her shoulders and turned away without hesitation.

A loud “crash” sounded behind her, but she didn’t care what was broken this time.

The corners of her mouth curled up slightly as she thought to herself: That scumbag, just wait for it! Thinks they’re scared of him? Not angering him to death would be strange!

Xiao Chengyi smashed everything in the room to pieces, yet despite this, his chest still felt heavily clogged.

He never expected that girl, Xueyan, would dare speak to him like that.

However, when he calmed down to think carefully, Xueyan had never had the boldness or cunning to come up with those words.

These words must have been written by Shen Ruoxi to deliberately anger him.

Thinking of this, a sense of powerlessness surged in his heart.

He had hoped to gain the upper hand in this struggle, but he never expected their counterattack to be so deadly.

He was a dignified third-rank court official, having lived through life and death on the battlefield, and now he’s being despised by a concubine and criticized for being lackluster and quick, worth only four copper coins, which was an unbearable humiliation!

The commotion was so loud it quickly alerted Mrs. Xiao and Old Mrs. Xiao.

The two hurried over with the maids, and upon seeing the mess inside the room, they were all stunned.

“Chengyi, what… what happened here?” Old Mrs. Xiao was so shocked she nearly fainted.

The household’s expenses had always been tight and barely manageable.

Finally, Xiao Chengyi returned this time, made merits, and was promoted, allowing the debts to be gradually paid off, and the family’s situation to slightly improve.

The antique vases, painstakingly acquired after overcoming countless hardships, were now smashed to pieces by him; it was all just white silver wasted!

“Chengyi, what exactly happened here?” Old Mrs. Xiao exclaimed in anguish, her voice full of anger and confusion.

The little servant beside timidly whispered, “It seems Princess Consort Zhan sent a letter to the Young General.”

Old Mrs. Xiao struck the ground with her cane in anger, cursing, “Shen Ruoxi, what does she want? This bringer of doom, she won’t rest until she destroys our Xiao Family!”

Mrs. Zhou slightly frowned, she knew Shen Ruoxi, knew this child was kind-hearted and would never come to provoke unless forced.

“Chengyi, what did you do to Ruoxi?” Mrs. Zhou asked sternly, her eyes fixed intently on Xiao Chengyi.

Old Mrs. Xiao was so angry she cursed aloud, “Chengyi’s mother, how can you side with outsiders now? It’s Shen Ruoxi, that disgraceful woman, causing trouble, making Chengyi this angry.”

Mrs. Zhou ignored her and went to get the letter from the table, determined to see what exactly Shen Ruoxi wrote to her son!

Xiao Chengyi wasn’t going to let Mrs. Zhou see what Xueyan had told him, so he coldly tore the letter to pieces without hesitation.

Mrs. Zhou only saw another letter in which Shen Ruoxi informed Xiao Chengyi that she would visit Xiao Mansion tomorrow during the Si hour, and he was not to go anywhere and wait for her at the mansion.

Since Shen Ruoxi got married, she had never troubled the Xiao Mansion.

Now, suddenly planning to visit, it was certainly because her son had done something excessive, making her unable to bear it any longer.

“Chengyi, tell me the truth, what exactly did you do?” Mrs. Zhou’s voice was filled with urgency and accusation.

Xiao Chengyi replied indifferently, “Xueyan is getting married today, I just sent her the red cloth and undergarment from her first night along with the silver hairpin I gave her. She was my concubine; if she thinks she can get married that easily, she’s dreaming!”

Mrs. Zhou trembled at the words, looking at her son in disbelief.

She never expected her son to be so vicious. Back then, she chose Xueyan, and even though Xiao Chengyi had been with her, they hadn’t developed feelings, but the girl had always been well-behaved and never caused trouble in the Xiao Mansion.

Later, Xueyan was sold off by Ning Zhen’er, yet Xiao Chengyi knew about it and remained indifferent.

Fortunately, Shen Ruoxi, being kind-hearted, saw her plight and redeemed her, giving her freedom.

Now, Xueyan finally could marry and find happiness, yet her own son acted so deplorably, it completely let her down.

Mrs. Zhou always thought her son was merely unfaithful in relationships, blinded by the outside world’s allure, not that his character was flawed.

But at this moment, she realized her son’s behavior was utterly vile, far beyond what a normal person could do.

Mrs. Zhou felt her anger rising, her vision blackening, and her fingers trembling with rage.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep