Chapter 46: The Secret is Discovered

Shi Yuke was so shocked that she couldn't even speak.

She was unwilling to leave just like that, so she hurriedly tried to retract what she had said: "A Ning, that's not what I meant. I was saying that since I've only just met Achou and am not familiar with her yet, it's normal to have some friction."

"She is your friend... I am willing to stay and keep Achou company. Of course, if Achou doesn't like me, I will leave."

Through this incident, Jian Yining's impression of Shi Yuke had changed significantly.

This woman said one thing to your face and did another behind your back; if Shi Yuke stayed, he was worried Yingzi would be taken advantage of!

However, Yingzi agreed: "Fine, let her stay."

Sheng Hanyu had been standing by the window for two hours already.

The small boat on the lake in front had been rowing for even longer; it was clear that Shi Yuke was exhausted, but that ugly woman still had one hand on her hip and the other pointing toward the far end of the lake!

Consequently, the small boat struggled to row in the direction Achou was pointing...

They were picking lotus seed pods in the lake.

At breakfast, the housekeeper had told him about this as a joke, and after the meal, he had stood there watching ever since; his legs had gone numb, yet he had no desire to move.

This year's spring had come a bit earlier than in previous years, but that didn't mean one could pick lotus seed pods in March!

That wasn't the part that Sheng Hanyu found strange; what he couldn't understand was: how did Shi Yuke end up living across the way, and why was she so obedient to Achou?

He dialed Jian Yining's phone: "Why is Shi Yuke in your Villa?"

"None of your business."

"Beep, beep, beep..."

The call was hung up.

Ever since Jian Yining was released from home by his parents, his attitude toward Sheng Hanyu had done a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn.

When they met, there were no pleasant looks, and when they spoke on the phone, there was no pleasant tone.

Sheng Hanyu just assumed he was still angry about the coffin-opening incident and didn't want to lower himself to his level, but the things that needed to be reminded still had to be said.

So he called again; the little brat, if he didn't answer the phone again, he would go to the Villa to catch him!

It was close by anyway, very convenient.

Jian Yining answered: "What is it? Did you take a fancy to Shi Yuke again? Oh, she didn't like you during the matchmaking, and you've been unable to forget her ever since, right..."

Jian Yining rambled on to his heart's content; just thinking about what he might have done to Yingzi made his heart ache like it was being pricked by needles.

"Beep, beep, beep—"

This time, it was Sheng Hanyu who hung up the phone.

It was too infuriating; like a dog biting Lü Dongbin, he didn't recognize a good person.

Sheng Hanyu sulked in the Study for a while, then grabbed his coat from the sofa; he still had to go see Jian Yining.

"Why did you come?"

Jian Yining was lying on the sofa in the living room playing a game; seeing Sheng Hanyu enter, he immediately sat up, his face full of vigilance.

"Stay away from that woman Shi Yuke; she's no good." His tone was the same as Yingzi's; Yingzi had said the exact same thing back then.

It was fine when Yingzi said it, but when Sheng Hanyu said it, he felt annoyed.

"Hanyu Ge, when did you become so narrow-minded? Just because she doesn't like you and doesn't want to marry you, you spread rumors to slander a good girl. Is this really okay?"

Sheng Hanyu was almost angered into leaving again.

He wasn't good at arguing with people, nor did he want to waste words, so he told Jian Yining directly what his subordinates had investigated: "Yesterday, after Shi Yuke parted ways with you, she went straight to see Sheng Yukai. It was only after the two of them had a falling out that she sought you out again."

"Shi Yuke is playing both sides, with you on one hand and Sheng Yukai on the other, just waiting to see which one of you takes the bait first, understand?"

Jian Yining looked at him with suspicious eyes for a long while before asking: "How do you know everything, yet you can't find your own wife? Was she really harmed by you?"

He had also heard some of the gossip outside.

Sheng Hanyu admitted it quite readily: "I sent people to tail you, so I know everywhere you went and who you met."

"Hey, that's going too far. What right do you have to send people to tail me without even telling me... what right?" Jian Yining clung to the argument endlessly; when Sheng Hanyu tried to leave, he wouldn't let him.

"Let go."

"I won't let go. If you don't explain yourself clearly today, we'll have a fight right here. If I win, you have to explain it to me. Anyway, you aren't really blind, so fighting you doesn't count as me bullying you..."

Shi Yuke had just reached the doorway; hearing this, she immediately hid in the corner of the wall.

"Speak louder, so the people picking lotus seed pods in the lake can hear and go tell Sheng Yukai," Sheng Hanyu mocked.

Jian Yining also realized he had been too quick-tongued and careless, but he still remained stubborn: "They're too far away to hear. Fine, let's call it even."

"Hmph!"

Sheng Hanyu pushed the door open and walked out.

Passing by the artificial lake, he saw only the small boat and no people; there was still a large fruit orchard behind the Villa, so they had probably run into the woods.

Shi Yuke clutched her heart tightly; it was beating too violently, and she could hear the "thump-thump" sound herself.

"Anyway, you aren't really blind, anyway, you aren't really blind..."

These words echoed repeatedly in her ears.

After the shock came regret; she regretted why she hadn't seen it back then.

If she had seen it, how could it have been the fool's turn to marry Sheng Hanyu? If she had married him, she would be living in luxury, having whatever she wanted!

Just as Shi Yuke was lost in thought, Achou's raspy voice rang out in the house: "Shi Yuke, where the hell did you die to?"

Jian Yining also shouted: "Shi Yuke, Shi Yuke!" very anxiously.

Fearing she would be discovered, she hurriedly crouched down and ran a dozen steps along the side of the window before turning around and standing up, pretending she had come around from the back: "Hey, I'm here!"

Only then were the two of them relieved. Jian Yining asked: "You came from the back? How come Achou didn't see you?"

Shi Yuke explained, "I wasn't with Achou. I saw a very beautiful butterfly, so I went to chase it, but I didn't catch it and almost fell."

"Weren't you going to the restroom?" Achou stared at her suspiciously, wanting to see if she was lying.

Shi Yuke hurried upstairs: "Right, I forgot all about it when I saw the butterfly."

After she went upstairs, Jian Yining asked in a low voice, "Do you think she looks like she's lying?"

"Doesn't look like it."

Just now, Shi Youxuan saw Sheng Hanyu enter the Villa, so she had no heart to continue boating on the lake.

She wanted to go to the peach forest behind the Villa to pick peach blossoms, but Shi Yuke said she wanted to go to the restroom, so she went to the peach forest alone and picked a few peach branches with flower buds.

She watched Sheng Hanyu leave, then entered the Villa through the back door; Jian Yining asked her why Shi Yuke wasn't with her, and told her about the slip of the tongue, asking if Shi Yuke might have already heard it.

Shi Yuke successfully deceived the two of them; after closing her room door, she still couldn't suppress her heart, which was beating violently.

That dead woman Achou is using Jian Yining's influence to act arrogant in front of her; if she had married Sheng Hanyu back then, then Achou wouldn't even be fit to carry her Spring Shoes!

Shi Yuke didn't want to stay here anymore, not even for a minute.

She wanted to go to the Villa opposite immediately to get close to Sheng Hanyu!

Originally, when the fool went missing, she had complained and disliked that Shi Youxuan was troublesome; since she was married, wouldn't it be better to just be a proper wealthy socialite?

Even if she was kicked out by her mother-in-law, she should have gone back; now, being neither seen alive nor dead, she often gets scolded by her father because of it.

But now she feels that the fool going missing was very timely, as it just happened to clear the way for her.

It's just that she needs an excuse to go find Sheng Hanyu; if she goes over rashly and gets kicked out, she would lose face!

At noon, Shi Yuke took the initiative to cook, and Achou mocked: "You requested this yourself, and the young master heard it too. Don't go badmouthing me behind my back later, saying I bullied you."

Shi Yuke had indeed intended to badmouth her behind her back, but Achou had ruined it before she could even start.

Now Achou had struck first and played the villain by accusing her first!

She forced herself to swallow this anger and said with a fawning smile: "No, no, Achou, I genuinely want to be friends with you. Can you please stop always thinking the worst of me?"