Dōngfāng Lì Zhū's face was stiff. She came with the intention on criticizing her, but the words of Dōngfāng Mínghuì reminded her that she was always seen as a gentle and virtuous lady. How could she act so stern?

"Ninth sister, you've misunderstood, rus.h.i.+ng out and not greeting the servants like that was very dangerous. Fortunately, those dog-like servants knew you were their master. If they were short-sighted, they would've hurt you by mistake, □□, what should we do now? What's more, fourth elder sister doesn't understand, why did you stand up for her?"

Dōngfāng Mínghuì snorted very disdainfully, "Me, stand up for that person? That whole incident was accidental."

In spite of her excuse, Dōngfāng Mínghuì knew it wouldn't erase the suspicion in Dōngfāng Lì Zhū's heart.

Mínghuì suddenly had a thought, she should find a way and push all the stupid misdeeds she made towards the female protagonist onto this scorpion woman. Let her have a taste of being blamed for someone else's crimes.

This lady always used her to progress her agenda, why not do the same to her?

"Fourth sister, this was my fault, let that b.i.t.c.h go for now, we'll think of another way to destroy her."

When Lì Zhū saw her like this, her suspicion slightly eased, "There are many opportunities, I'm just unsure if ninth sister would be willing to do it."

Dōngfāng Mínghuì listened with a delighted look on her face, she enthusiastically grasped Lì Zhū's hands and spoiledly said, "My dear fourth elder sister, come quickly and listen. You must also know my hatred with me and that b.i.t.c.h will never die, daring to steal this lady's man, watch me torment her to near-death."

Please don't take offense, female protagonist. I'm trying to misguide and reduce this opponent's vigilance.

Dōngfāng Lì Zhū thought she was finally starting to revert back to her old self, waving her hand, she whispered, "When I saw the young master meeting her last time, it seemed he liked her. Why don't we match them together, isn't that a good idea?"

Mínghuì was surprised, "You mean cousin?"

Lì Zhū nodded, "He listens to you the most. If you talk to him, he'll definitely agree."

"No problem fourth sister, be patient and wait for my good news.

After happily sending off Lì Zhū, Dōngfāng Mínghuì placed a hand on her hand with a sad look on her face, she knew this poisonous woman was up to no good. Did she end up bearing all her sins? It was no wonder the fourth lady escaped with a proper marriage, while she ended up with a miserable fate.

"Miss, your head injury hasn't healed, you need to rest." Cui'er reminded on the sidelines.

Dōngfāng Mínghuì shook her head and gestured dismissively, "How can my cousin come here at this time?"

Was he related to the Lord?

"Miss, you forget, in a few days it will be the lord's birthday, the young master is naturally coming to celebrate." The lord who was her father? Birthday?

There did seem to be a paragraph in the book that mentioned this, but it was a mere pa.s.sage, so it provided minor details. Still, it was his birthday, it would be tough for seventh sister.

After two days pa.s.sed, Dōngfāng Mínghuì was walking in the gardens when she met an unexpected guest, her cousin, Qin Mu.

Qin Mu was a talented, elegant, and smart youth, everything was good about him. His only major flaw was his lasciviousness towards females, just seeing a beautiful woman walk by would cause him to fawn. His mother believed he would one day receive a hard-earned lesson with them.

"Why would cousin be here?"

Qin Mu was still young, a third-tier soldier. In the future, it would be difficult to find someone that could rival him in the whole county. If he cultivated well enough, he would find success.

Looking at him, Dōngfāng Mínghuì abandoned the plan at first sight, "Cousin, it's been a long time, you look even more handsome than before. Have you seen my mother?"

"My cousin's words have grown even sweeter, I haven't seen my aunt yet, I was getting ready, want to together?"

"Sure, I heard my mother talk about your experiences, my cousin should tell me the interesting things that happened on your journey."

The two talked happily, it was only until they arrived at the door of Second lady Qin Qin did they finally stop.

When Qin Qin saw their good relations.h.i.+p, she joked, "Hui'er, what did your cousin say to you to make you so happy, I want to know as well."

Dōngfāng Mínghuì rushed into her mother's arms and was shy, "Mother wants to tease me, but cousin has experienced so much fun things on his journey, I also want to experience it as well."

"Hui'er, don't be foolish, you're still young."

Dōngfāng Mínghuì stuck out her tongue. She sat aside and watched as Qin Mu and her mother chat.

On the day of the lord's birthday, the Dōngfāng family home was brightly lit and full of joy, decorated with a festive red. At the dinner party, Dōngfāng Mínghuì invited Qin Mu and Dōngfāng Wǎn Yù to sit on the side the table.

Dōngfāng Wǎn Yù ignored her, she and Mínghuì's relations.h.i.+p were like fire and water, unable to form a river. If she wasn't in the woods with her a few days ago, her impression towards Mínghuì would be even worse.

How could they stand each other, both were unrelenting to the point that everyone's attention was focused on them.

"What do you want?" Dōngfāng Wǎn Yù gnashed her teeth in irritation.

Dōngfāng Wǎn Yù's angry voice made the bones in her legs melt, gulping, "Seventh—— seventh elder sister, don't be annoyed, I just want to invite you to a show."

Show?

Dōngfāng Wǎn Yù laughed with a sneer when she saw Dōngfāng Mínghuì's pleasing look on her face, a sloppy attempt. She didn't think she had any new tricks, so she decided to wait and see this good show.

When Qin Mu saw Dōngfāng Wǎn Yù, his eyes brightened his smile was akin to a spring's breeze. He wanted to say h.e.l.lo to her, but there was a certain female cousin between them and Wǎn Yù didn't even spare him a look.

Dōngfāng Mínghuì took a sip from her cup and peeked at the two. It was as Dōngfāng Lì Zhū said, Qin Mu had a crush towards her.

Dōngfāng Mínghuì thought Qin Mu would be useless to her, the female protagonist was too strong.

But from another perspective, those who'd seen this strange scene would have a different thought.

Especially Dōngfāng Lì Zhū, who saw and thought that Mínghuì really did deceive and lure Wǎn Yù, while also arranging Qin Mu to sit near her, knowing the plan was in progress.

She didn't need to do anything but wait quietly.

Thinking the plan was finally going to succeed, Dōngfāng Lì Zhū made a beautiful and enchanting laugh, not realizing that everything was falling into place from another party.

After the banquet, everyone left one by one.

Dōngfāng Mínghuì sent Qin Mu off, then dragged Dōngfāng Wǎn Yù to the courtyards, waiting quietly for something.

"What trick are you playing?"

Dōngfāng Mínghuì directly covered her mouth, "Seventh sister, be quiet or we'll be discovered, the show is about to start."

She had Cui'er send a letter to Lì Zhū and asked her not to let anyone else see it.

Dōngfāng Lì Zhū was resting, her heart was filled with delight and was waiting for good news to come, but she didn't expect Cui'er to send a note.

It said —— change of plans, quick consultation.

So she followed Cui'er immediately, entering a room Mínghuì had specifically prepared for her. It was pitch-black inside, dark enough that her fingers were practically out of her sight.

"Miss said, let the fourth Miss sit for a while, wait for her to send the young master, then she will hurry over swiftly." Cui'er kindly lit for her, readying the drug in the sandalwood. A fragrant scent spread over the room.

"Lady four, I'll check and see if she arrived yet."

"Go ahead."

Dōngfāng Lì Zhū had already seen Cui'er's little movements with her eyes, but her face remained motionless. She leisurely poured a cup of cool water for herself, smiling wickedly before taking a sip. After a while, she leaned over, unconscious.

After waiting a long time outside, Cui'er pushed open the door to find Dōngfāng Lì Zhū lying on the table. Shaking to wake her, she spoke, "Lady four, wake up, Miss has arrived."

Seeing no response, Cui'er swiftly ran outside and whispered, "Miss, Miss."

At this point, Dōngfāng Mínghuì let out a relieved sigh and ran out from the bushes, responding,  "Don't shout, let's go, quickly."

Dōngfāng Wǎn Yù also followed out, curious to see what the lady had in mind.

The two of them carried the unconscious Lì Zhū into another room. Cui'er placed her on the bed, while Mínghuì rudely stripped off her clothes and made her lie in the bed naked.

"Okay, Cui'er, you go talk to that young master." Dōngfāng Mínghuì wiped off the sweat on her forehead, doing bad things was really challenging, her heart was about to leap out of her throat.

"You——"

Before she could say anything, Dōngfāng Wǎn Yù was pulled out of the door by Mínghuì. They crouched behind the bushes, waiting until a drunk man who smoked entered the room.

Soon there were heavy gasping in the room……

"So this is what you call a good show? You really are birds of a feather." The indifferent eyes of Wǎn Yù briefly flashed in disgust, standing up to walk away.

Dōngfāng Mínghuì was dumbfounded, did everything she do end up in vain? She took a small step towards her, "Seventh sister, seventh sister, listen to me, it's not like that, fourth sister wanted to scheme against you, I——"

Dōngfāng Wǎn Yù abruptly turned around and laughed, causing Mínghuì to barely avoid cras.h.i.+ng into her. Her giggling made hair stand on edge, it was, eh, really too terrible.

"So you said she wanted to scheme against me, then you schemed against her, all for my sake?" Wǎn Yù's smile flipped, the change was aggressively quick.

Dōngfāng Mínghuì took several steps back and thought the protagonist was being way too vigilant, making this difficult. If she said yes, it would be too unrealistic, arousing the protagonist's suspicions.

Thinking of this, Mínghuì shook her head and firmly replied, "No, it's all for my sake. I didn't want to listen her so stupidly anymore."

The two quietly looked face to face at each other for a while. Then, Wǎn Yù nodded and chuckled, "Indeed, she is so stupid."

Mínghuì was stunned, "……"

Protagonist, what did you mean?

TN*

“□□” …. what does this mean?

When I put in “the lord,” I am unsure of how to exactly word the position of Minghui's father. In literal terms he is the grandpa elder of some sort, and apparently this sort of position was never given an english name to perfectly describe it.