Madam Xiao's eyes lit up, and she hurriedly said, "Quick! Go and invite Mr. Qi here!"
"Yes, Madam," the servant got the order and rushed out again.
Not long after, a middle - aged man in a black long gown with a long beard walked in. He was tall and thin, and there was an air of refinement as he walked in the wind.
Mr. Qi walked into the main hall. Just as he was about to salute Madam Xiao, he suddenly saw Sheng Yuzhen standing aside.
The moment he saw Sheng Yuzhen, Mr. Qi's face changed drastically. His dry, slender fingers began to make calculations under his sleeves. He squinted at Sheng Yuzhen and mumbled something under his breath.
Seeing this, Madam Xiao nervously pinched the handkerchief in her hand and stared at Mr. Qi without blinking.
Sheng Yuzhen didn't know who Mr. Qi was. But seeing Madam Xiao looking at him seriously, she guessed that he must be an important person. However, she felt annoyed when Mr. Qi stared at her as if chanting spells as soon as he entered the door.
So she paced to Madam Xiao's side and coquettishly tugged at her sleeve. "Mother~"
But Madam Xiao was nervously waiting for the result and ignored Sheng Yuzhen beside her. Seeing that Madam Xiao didn't respond, Sheng Yuzhen's eyes dimmed, and she didn't say anything else.
After Mr. Qi finished his calculations, he shook his head. Madam Xiao immediately understood and asked everyone present to go outside the main hall.
Seeing Xiao Bao'er walking out, Sheng Yuzhen curled her lips into a sneering smile. "You imposter. Did you see how Mother behaved just now? You'll be kicked out of the Xiao Mansion sooner or later. You'll go back to that beggar's den and live your miserable life as before."
She stepped closer to Xiao Bao'er. Looking at the exquisite fully - embroidered ruqun on Xiao Bao'er, compared with her own coarse cloth clothes, it was like a white swan and an ugly duckling.
Xiao Bao'er was wearing a shining gem hairpin on her head. In the past, such a hairpin would have seemed like a divine object to Sheng Yuzhen. The jealousy in her heart welled up more and more. Then she unceremoniously reached out and forcefully pulled the hairpin from Xiao Bao'er's head.
After getting the hairpin, Sheng Yuzhen greedily looked at it in her hand, constantly calculating its value.
Ling Chu quickly stood in front of Xiao Bao'er. "What are you doing? How dare you be so rude and rob our young lady's things!"
Sheng Yuzhen sneered and looked haughtily at Ling Chu, who was protecting her master.
"Rob your young lady's things?
"You stupid maid, get it straight. It's this imposter who took my things. I'm your real young lady. When I come back, this little bitch has to pack up her things and get out of the Xiao Mansion quickly."
After saying that, Sheng Yuzhen walked around Xiao Bao'er and her maid. She sized up Xiao Bao'er up and down maliciously.
"You stupid maid are quite loyal. Come to this young lady's side later. This young lady will be kind - hearted and give you a job of emptying the night pot. As for your current master, since our Xiao family has raised her for so long, this young lady will ask our parents to marry her off as a concubine to some small official. Then she doesn't have to go back to that beggar's den to suffer."
Xiao Bao'er rubbed her scalp that was hurt by the tugging. Looking at Sheng Yuzhen, who looked so smug, she imitated her tone and said, "Then this young lady will thank you first. But it also depends on whether you have the ability."
Seeing that Xiao Bao'er was still so sharp - tongued at this moment, Sheng Yuzhen got angry. So she shouted at the servants around, "Come here! Come here! These two stupid maids offended this young lady. Quickly tie these two stupid maids up for this young lady!! Hurry up!"
The servants around looked at each other. Not many people had seen Madam Xiao hugging Sheng Yuzhen just now. And since Madam Xiao hadn't said anything yet, they weren't sure about her attitude. For a moment, they didn't dare to step forward.
Seeing that the servants around didn't dare to touch Xiao Bao'er and that Xiao Bao'er was looking at her half - smilingly as if mocking her impotent rage, Sheng Yuzhen felt that her self - esteem was being trampled underfoot. So she threatened loudly, almost out of control.
"You stupid maids, hurry up and do it. I'm going to be the eldest young lady of the Xiao Mansion. If you don't listen to this young lady now, this young lady will remember your faces. In the future, I'll torture you slowly."
Hearing this, the servants around were a little scared. They shrank their necks and looked at Xiao Bao'er in a dilemma.
Xiao Bao'er couldn't help but find it a bit funny. She had seen Sheng Yuzhen's cute and obedient appearance in her dreams and had imagined that she would be raised to be a gentle and humble person by the Sheng family.
Before this moment, Xiao Bao'er always thought that Sheng Yuzhen was a person who was in the same boat as her. They both, due to their fates, had accidentally lived lives that didn't originally belong to them.
So Xiao Bao'er had thought that when Sheng Yuzhen came back, they might be able to talk calmly. But now, looking at Sheng Yuzhen's haughty appearance, Xiao Bao'er just couldn't feel any sense of being in the same boat.
Sheng Yuzhen didn't know the truth about their fates. She didn't know that because of her ill - fated star sign, the people of the Xiao Mansion had abandoned her to another family without hesitation when she was just a month old.
Xiao Bao'er believed that the people of the Sheng family would never raise such a child. Perhaps Sheng Yuzhen was born with the selfishness and cold - bloodedness of the Xiao family. Xiao Bao'er laughed self - deprecatingly and was extremely glad that she wasn't really a member of the Xiao family.
Seeing that the servants around still didn't move, Sheng Yuzhen was so angry that she decided to teach Xiao Bao'er a lesson herself.
But just as Sheng Yuzhen reached out her hand, the door of the main hall suddenly opened, and Madam Xiao and Mr. Qi walked out.
Xiao Bao'er politely saluted Madam Xiao and Mr. Qi first. Seeing Xiao Bao'er's pretentious gesture, Sheng Yuzhen rolled her eyes in dissatisfaction and then complained to Madam Xiao.
"Mother, this Xiao Bao'er herself said that she didn't want to stay in the Xiao Mansion. Why don't we just kick her out? Or, since she's almost of marriageable age, why don't we marry her off to some nobleman's mansion to win over some ministers for our Xiao family..."
"No!"
Madam Xiao interrupted Sheng Yuzhen's fantasy sternly. Then she put on a kind - mother look again. "We'll talk about Bao'er's matter later. As for you, Mr. Qi said that returning to one's ancestral family is a major event. There will be an excellent day after your coming - of - age ceremony. Before that, you should go back to the Sheng family first. After your coming - of - age ceremony..."
"Why?!! I don't want to go back!"
Sheng Yuzhen stared at her in disbelief with wide - open eyes. Why was it that although she was the real daughter of the Xiao family, it was she who was being sent away now? She didn't understand and could only show her strong resistance.
Madam Xiao looked at Sheng Yuzhen with a headache. She also wanted to keep Sheng Yuzhen. But Mr. Qi had said that their fates could only be successfully exchanged after their coming - of - age ceremony. If they brought her back now, all their efforts would be in vain.
So Madam Xiao patiently said, "Zhen'er, don't be naughty. Mr. Qi is excellent at divination. Even your father trusts him very much. You should just follow our arrangement first. After your coming - of - age ceremony, we'll surely welcome you back in a grand way."