Chapter 394: You Have That Jade Pendant, Too?
The black cat had been about to charge menacingly into the sedan chair, but froze when a massive beast leaped out.
It let out a terrified yowl and turned, its four paws scrambling as it fled.
The lynx gave chase, relentlessly pursuing the black cat. It leaped high and low, causing passing Palace Attendants to cry out in alarm.
Shen Ningning had the Palace Attendants stop the sedan chair, and she stepped out unhurriedly.
"Hmph. So what if you have a cat? I have one too!" ’I was originally going to bring the Black Wolf King today.’
’But on second thought, why bring a wolf to deal with a cat?’
’So I just grabbed a cute little thing from the woods that caught my eye.’
The lynx was just a few steps from catching the black cat when their figures disappeared over a garden wall.
Suddenly!
Shen Ningning heard a woman’s piercing scream from the adjacent garden.
It was accompanied by the shouts of Palace Attendants: "This is terrible! Help! Princess Consort Qi has fallen into the lake!"
Hearing this, the sedan bearers beside Shen Ningning grew frightened.
"We’re doomed. Did the lynx scare Princess Consort Qi into the water?"
"Will the Emperor punish us...?"
After all, the Emperor and the Crown Prince would never bear to scold the Princess.
But the same couldn’t be said for them.
A calm composure settled in Shen Ningning’s large, dark, limpid eyes.
"What’s there to be afraid of? Let’s go take a look. The weather is warm today; she’s not going to drown."
’Besides,’ she thought, ’even if she does drown, a wicked person like Princess Consort Qi would be getting what she deserves!’
Shen Ningning pattered on her little feet through the ornamental gate up ahead.
Her lynx already had the cat, Black Raccoon, in its mouth. Fresh blood trickled down its sharp fangs.
The lynx wasn’t eating it, merely toying with it. Upon seeing Shen Ningning, it trotted over decisively, still carrying the black cat.
As if seeking praise, it placed its "trophy" before her little feet.
The black cat no longer dared to move. Two shallow, bloody punctures on its belly made it tremble all over in pain.
When its eerie green eyes landed on Shen Ningning, they held none of their previous defiance.
Instead, they trembled with fear.
"Good boy." Shen Ningning raised her small hand and rubbed the lynx’s large, round head.
She peered ahead. Not far away, by the shore of Qinxin Lake, a sopping-wet Princess Consort Qi was being hauled out of the water by Palace Attendants.
A sedan bearer, having gathered the details, ran over to report in a low voice.
"Princess, a moment ago, Princess Consort Qi was strolling by the lake. The black cat suddenly leaped into her arms, and with the lynx in hot pursuit, it frightened Princess Consort Qi so badly that she jumped into the lake herself."
Shen Ningning pursed her delicate pink lips and let out a soft "Hmph."
’Scared already?’
’And I haven’t even mentioned how Princess Consort Qi’s black cat has tried to hurt me multiple times!’
Over there, Princess Consort Qi was drenched, her usual dignified composure completely gone.
"My pendant? Where’s my pendant? It fell into the lake!" Her hand flew to her now-bare neck, her face frantic.
In Shen Ningning’s memory, Princess Consort Qi had always been meticulous and deeply calculating. She had never seen her so distraught.
She had been about to leave with her lynx, but upon seeing this, she decided to stay. ’What kind of pendant could make Princess Consort Qi lose her composure like this?’
Princess Consort Qi ordered all the Palace Attendants to jump into the water and find her pendant.
She even shoved a palace maid who couldn’t swim into the lake.
"Find it! You must find it! Otherwise, I will report this to the Emperor and have you all sentenced to death!"
The Palace Attendants trembled as they submerged themselves, fumbling around in the water.
Just then.
A little eunuch broke the surface, holding a necklace high.
"Your Highness, I found it!"
Shen Ningning fixed her gaze on it.
In the brilliant sunlight, the silver pendant was dazzling.
In a flash, the little girl saw it clearly—it was a Jade Rabbit pendant.
And she had seen that Jade Rabbit’s design before!
Shen Ningning’s large, sparkling eyes grew wide.
Back then, when Wanchun was sorting through the deceased maid Wenxiu’s belongings, she had found a Jade Rabbit pendant gifted by her mother, Shen Siyi. It was engraved with the two words "Moon Landing."
Now, the Jade Rabbit on the pendant that Princess Consort Qi treasured so dearly looked exactly the same as the one Shen Siyi had given to Wenxiu!
Shen Ningning took two steps forward, but before she could get a closer look, Princess Consort Qi had already rushed to hang it back around her neck and tuck it inside her robes.
She clutched her chest, her eyes closed as she murmured, "Thank goodness. Thank goodness it wasn’t lost."
A suspicious glint appeared in Shen Ningning’s eyes.
’Could it be that Mother also gave her this Jade Rabbit back when she and Princess Consort Qi were on good terms?’
In the moment the little girl hesitated, Princess Consort Qi had already composed herself. The expression on her face returned to its usual mask of calm gentleness.
She took a handkerchief from a Palace Attendant to wipe the lake water from her face, then walked over to Shen Ningning.
The little girl looked up at her. With the sun backlighting Princess Consort Qi, her eyes looked dark and sinister, and a barely perceptible sneer played on her lips.
"Princess, how can you condone a wild beast running rampant through the palace?"
She glanced down at the injured, panting black cat. A flash of pain crossed her eyes before she bent down and scooped it into her arms.
"Black Raccoon has been praised by the Emperor many times for keeping the palace free of vermin. Now that the Princess’s beast has injured him, how am I to answer to the Emperor if he dies?"
The clear blue sky was reflected in Shen Ningning’s dark, round eyes.
"Yours isn’t the only cat in the world. Besides, if it hadn’t tried to hurt me first, I wouldn’t have let my big cat attack it."
"My brother can vouch for me. If you don’t believe it, feel free to go and complain to Uncle Emperor."
With that, Shen Ningning crooked her little finger. "Big cat, let’s go."
The lynx licked its sharp teeth, casting a greedy glance at the black cat on the ground.
’Too bad my little master won’t let me eat it.’
’Otherwise, I would have chewed this black cat to pieces, bones and all.’
As she watched Shen Ningning’s small figure retreat into the distance, Princess Consort Qi’s dark hair clung to her forehead, her eyes filled with an icy coldness.
...
Everyone in the Li Family’s Quan Mansion was executed, with not a single person left alive.
But until the moment of her death, Li Yuyi furiously cursed Xie Yuanjiu’s name, damning her to a miserable end and vowing that even as a ghost, she would never forgive her for harming her entire family.
Word of this spread through the Capital, and everyone began to speculate on what exactly Xie Yuanjiu had done to the Li Family.
Xie Suzhi and Second Master Xie both heard the rumors.
They guessed that Li Yuyi’s resentment likely stemmed from the incident where Xie Yuanjiu had brought her and Mr. Li to the Xie Mansion, only for them to inadvertently offend the Emperor.
The noble families in the city had their criticisms of Xie Yuanjiu’s actions.
Families of high nobility with daughters all privately warned their girls to limit their contact with Xie Yuanjiu.
Lest they be used by her.
Xie Yuanjiu went to the Xie Mansion multiple times, wanting to cry to Second Master Xie about her current predicament and how ostracized she felt.
However, Second Master Xie refused to see her, turning her away from his study every single time.
Xie Yuanjiu was utterly disheartened.
She found everything disagreeable, especially after moving into a separate villa.
Compared to the Xie Mansion, her current residence was just too small.
「One day.」
To earn some silver, Xu Jingxi took on a private lacquering job that a neighbor had recommended, working on it when he wasn’t studying.
He arrived at the secluded residence with his tools, mixed the lacquer, and had just climbed the ladder to begin his work.
That was when he heard a cold sneer from behind him.
"The great child prodigy Xu Jingxi, who tested into the National Academy with the second-highest score, has to rely on this sort of manual labor to earn silver?"
Xu Jingxi turned to see Xie Yuanjiu standing under the covered walkway. Her smile was innocent, but her tone dripped with mockery.
He furrowed his brows slightly.
Xu Jingxi hadn’t expected the owner of this residence to be Xie Yuanjiu.
Not wanting to start a conflict, he turned back to his work, painting in stony silence.
Xie Yuanjiu was relentless. She slowly walked over to the ladder. "Are you that short on money? Why not borrow from the Princess? I recall you two have a rather good relationship."
Xu Jingxi’s jaw tightened. "The Princess was merely being kind at the time. If I were to ask her for help every time I needed it, how would I be any different from a beggar?"
Xie Yuanjiu let out a cold laugh.
’Useless pride,’ she thought.
Knowing of the grudge between her and Shen Ningning, Xu Jingxi wanted to put down his materials and leave immediately.
But Grandpa Xu was in poor health, and money was needed for many things.
He also had to buy himself ink and brushes for his studies.
So, he endured it.
Xie Yuanjiu looked up at him for a moment, her voice soft as a serpent’s hiss.
"That hand you use for writing... I imagine it’s quite important, isn’t it?"
Before Xu Jingxi could even process the meaning of her words, he felt the ladder being shoved violently.
His body swayed violently. He tried to grab onto something, but his hands met only air.
CRASH!
Xu Jingxi fell right off the ladder. His right arm was pinned beneath him on the hard ground, and the pain forced a muffled groan from him.