Chapter 58 Jiang Lingyao, Who Said I Don't Want to Marry You

"Gone mad?"

Jiang Lingyao let out a cold laugh, and without a moment's hesitation, delivered another hard slap. "Yes, I've gone mad! Why are you running? I've only given you two slaps, don't run yet!"

Song Lian'er tumbled and scrambled as she fled. Her pristine white dress, usually so ethereal and graceful, had now become a liability, and before she could take a few steps, she tripped and fell heavily.

Ignoring her completely, Jiang Lingyao headed straight for the front hall, her mind heavy with racing thoughts.

A massive trouble was waiting to be resolved shortly. She wondered if those people had been careful enough when making a scene, and whether her grandmother was aware of what was happening.

As she stepped across the threshold of the front hall, the expressions of everyone inside changed drastically.

"Lian'er, why are you covered in mud?" Jiang Xiushu asked in astonishment, hurrying forward. "And your face! Did Jiang Lingyao hit you?!"

Following behind with a pitiful expression, Song Lian'er broke into tears and scurried over at Jiang Xiushu's words, wiping her tears as she whimpered, "Third Brother, it hurts so much."

As she spoke, she cast a fearful glance toward Jiang Lingyao, as if terrified of her.

Seized with fury, Jiang Xiushu marched right up, pointed a finger at the bridge of Jiang Lingyao's nose, and cursed, "You shameless wretch, the moment you return..."

Without a second thought, Jiang Lingyao slapped him across the face as well. "Get lost!"

Jiang Xiushu tried to kick up a fuss again, but the attendants of the Duke of Zhenguo's estate pinned him down and forced him into a seat. He could only continue hurling dirty insults under his breath, his face contorted with frustration and grievance.

Jiang Lingyao raised her eyes. "Father, what do you have to say?"

Before the Duke could speak, Jiang Xiumo, who had been silent off to the side, suddenly cried out, "Mingzhu! Your leg!"

Instinctively, Jiang Lingyao looked down. The wound on her leg had split open along the way, and blood had quietly begun to seep through, staining her turquoise dress a vivid crimson.

Numb from the pain, she hadn't noticed it at all until now.

Jiang Xiushu instantly regained his arrogance and shrieked, "Did you go out and hook up with some wild man, and catch some foul disease?! Aren't you disgusting? You're a young woman, do you have no self-respect at all?"

Jiang Lingyao felt like laughing; she simply couldn't be bothered to explain herself to someone whose brain seemed entirely ornamental.

Pei Xingzhi's voice was cold. "That is an injury she sustained while protecting herself. My maid applied medicine to it earlier, it must have torn open again."

"What?!"

The smug look on Jiang Xiushu's face froze. He stood rooted to the spot, utterly mortified and in disbelief.

What did he mean by an injury sustained while protecting herself?

Hadn't he only arranged for someone to drug Jiang Lingyao so she would fall asleep in the teahouse? Could it be that she had run into bad people during that time?

The color drained entirely from his face in an instant, and he collapsed back into his chair, lowering his head in a mute panic.

How could this be?

When he went to the teahouse, Jiang Lingyao was still fast asleep. If she had truly encountered a man with evil intentions while unconscious, then wouldn't that mean...

But this was supposed to be just a minor accident! How could he have anticipated that something like this would actually happen?

Taking in every change in his expression, Jiang Lingyao grew slightly colder, a seed of suspicion taking root in her heart.

Except... she didn't believe Jiang Xiushu had the guts to go this far. In this household, he was the one most terrified of driving her out of her mind, especially since her leverage over him was still in her hands. He enjoyed petty, malicious pranks to disgust her, but he lacked the courage to commit a ruthless act.

Then who on earth...

"Lord Pei."

The Duke of Zhenguo spoke first, looking at Jiang Lingyao with a complex expression. "Today's commotion was hardly small. It will likely be the talk of the town by tomorrow. I wonder what your thoughts are regarding my younger daughter?"

Pei Xingzhi paused. "I..."

"Elder Brother Pei."

Song Lian'er burst into tears. "Do you really intend to marry Younger Sister? Are you being manipulated into this? Elder Brother Pei, Lian'er cannot bear to see you forced into this. You are the finest man in the entire world, how can you treat marriage so carelessly?"

Her tears brought an abrupt silence to the room, and the atmosphere instantly grew tense and stifling.

Jiang Lingyao found the scene rather amusing. The lot of them had left her standing off to the side as if she were invisible, yet they were discussing her most crucial life matters with gusto. She hadn't said a single word, and yet they had managed to set up a stage and put on a whole play by themselves.

Without any hesitation, she turned around and walked away.

The Duke of Zhenguo started in alarm. "Jiang Lingyao, where do you think you are going?!"

"This has nothing to do with me anymore, so naturally I am going back to rest."

"What do you mean it has nothing to do with you?! Your reputation has been ruined today! If... if Lord Pei refuses to marry you, you will have no choice but to spend the rest of your life locked away in a nunnery!" The Duke slammed his hand heavily onto the table. "What kind of attitude is this? All of us are worrying over your affairs, and you just walk away without a single word? Unfilial wretch!"

Jiang Lingyao let out a scoff. "My affairs? It sounds far more like the affairs of Song Lian'er and Pei Xingzhi. Since you are all busy discussing their marriage, why drag me into it? Every second sentence out of your mouths is about how you can't bear for Pei Xingzhi's reputation to be tainted by me—doesn't that simply mean you don't want him to marry me at all?"

Pei Xingzhi's gaze turned chillingly sharp. "Jiang Lingyao, who said I don't want to marry you?"

As soon as the words left his lips, everyone in the room froze in place, staring at him in stunned silence.

What did he just say?