“Not finished yet?”
Ye Li’s body was already stiff from sitting for so long without moving.
“Almost, almost!”
Shen Jing picked up the charcoal stick in his hand, took aim, and said, “Hold that pose, don’t move.”
“Hurry up!”
Ye Li urged, trying her best to suppress the urge to move.
Just as Shen Jing was putting on the finishing touches, a “thump-thump” knocking sound came from outside.
Su Yourong opened the door and saw Chi Chi standing at the entrance: “What is it?”
Chi Chi bit her thin lip lightly and said with a strange expression, “Zhao Jianzhi has come with Song Lianxin… to offer condolences to Young Master.”
“What did you say?”
Su Yourong and Ye Li both cried out in astonishment at the same time.
Offer condolences to Shen Jing?
Shen Jing was alive and well, what were they coming to offer condolences for?
They must wish Shen Jing were dead!
Shen Jing was momentarily distracted, a mischievous smile subtly flickered at the corner of his mouth, and he deliberately skewed the charcoal stick in his hand, drawing a line directly through the middle of the painting.
“Zhao Jianzhi has come with Song Lianxin to offer condolences to Young Master.”
Chi Chi spoke again, her expression still strange.
“What nonsense!”
Su Yourong was both annoyed and amused, her gaze falling back onto the painting on the easel.
Seeing the stroke that ran through the painting, Su Yourong couldn’t help but smile bitterly, “All that effort was for nothing now.”
A perfectly good painting was ruined by that single stroke.
“What happened?”
Ye Li suddenly stood up and quickly walked to the easel.
The painting was very well done, almost as if it had been carved from the same mold as her.
But that one stroke, running through the entire painting, seemed to have directly torn the painting in half.
“What did you do?”
Ye Li glared angrily at Shen Jing.
“This… this can’t be my fault!”
Shen Jing looked at Ye Li with an innocent expression, “I was almost finished! But who wouldn’t be startled to hear someone coming to offer condolences to themselves? If anyone’s to blame, it’s those two disgusting things…”
“You…”
Ye Li was furious, yet she asked with anticipation, “Can it still be fixed?”
“I’m afraid this can’t be fixed!”
Shen Jing frowned, then tentatively asked, “How about we just leave it like this? Or, just cut off half…”
“No!”
Ye Li refused without hesitation, saying decisively, “Redraw it!”
She could not tolerate a nearly perfect portrait being ruined by this one stroke.
“My hand is almost numb from drawing!”
Shen Jing rubbed his wrist, saying with a pained expression, “And, if we redraw it, the Princess will have to sit still for a long time again…”
Listening to Shen Jing’s words, Ye Li couldn’t help but feel a surge of frustration.
Those two people came to cause trouble on purpose, didn’t they?
It was almost finished, so why did these two things suddenly appear?
A perfectly good painting turned out like this, wasn’t all her suffering for nothing?
The more Ye Li thought about it, the angrier she got, and her expression became increasingly ugly.
Shen Jing looked helpless, then angrily said to Su Yourong, “You chat with the Princess first! I’m going to play dead and scare those two troublemakers!”
With that, Shen Jing was about to leave.
“Stop!”
Ye Li suddenly raised her voice and called out to Shen Jing, “You stay here and redraw it for this Princess!”
“Really redraw it?”
Shen Jing complained, “I say, Princess, aren’t you tired of sitting there all this time?”
It would have been fine if he hadn’t said anything, but as soon as he did, Ye Li’s anger flared up again.
Not tired?
Maintaining that one posture without moving, how could she not be tired?
It was all the fault of those two disgusting things!
“Lin Qi!”
Ye Li called out sweetly.
“Your subordinate is here!”
Lin Qi, who was guarding outside, quickly came to the door.
Ye Li gritted her silver teeth, angrily ordering, “Go, make those two damned idiots slap themselves twenty times each, then kick them out for this Princess! If they can’t bring themselves to do it, then you do it for them!”
“Yes!”
Lin Qi took the order and left.
“Draw! Redraw!”
Ye Li glared fiercely at Shen Jing, then angrily ordered Chi Chi, “Close the door tightly! No one is to disturb us without this Princess’s command!”
“Yes!”
Chi Chi quickly closed the door for them, afraid that Ye Li’s anger would turn on her.
At the same time, Lin Qi strode out of the main gate of the Su Family and came before Zhao Jianzhi and Song Lianxin, who were respectfully waiting aside, “The Princess has ordered you two to slap yourselves twenty times each!”
“Ah?”
The two looked at Lin Qi, dumbfounded.
Slap themselves twenty times?
They came with good intentions to offer condolences, why should they have to slap themselves twenty times?
“Is there some misunderstanding here?”
Zhao Jianzhi recovered his senses and looked at Lin Qi suspiciously, emphasizing, “We are here to offer condolences to Young Master Shen Jing.”
“Whether there’s a misunderstanding or not, that’s none of my business!”
Lin Qi looked at the two expressionlessly, “The Princess has instructed that if you cannot bring yourselves to do it, I shall do it on your behalf!”
“This…”
The two were completely stunned.
What on earth was going on?
You don’t hit a smiling face!
They came with good intentions to offer condolences, and Princess Qinghe wanted them to slap themselves without asking any questions?
What kind of logic was that in the world?
Zhao Jianzhi was extremely indignant, “Someone must be causing trouble here! I want to see the Princess!”
“I will count to three. If you don’t do it yourselves, I will carry out the order on your behalf!”
Lin Qi remained expressionless, coldly beginning to count: “One!”
“Two!”
“Three!”
As the word “three” was uttered, Lin Qi suddenly raised his hand.
Slap!
Lin Qi slapped Song Lianxin heavily across the face.
Zhao Jianzhi was an official of the imperial court; it was best not to personally lay a hand on him if possible.
But slapping Song Lianxin, he felt no pressure at all.
Song Lianxin couldn’t withstand his slap at all and was directly knocked to the ground, a visible palm print appearing on her face.
A trace of blood overflowed from the corner of Song Lianxin’s mouth, and tears welled up in her eyes, but she dared not cry out loud.
Seeing Lin Qi getting serious, Zhao Jianzhi’s heart immediately trembled, “We… we’ll do it ourselves!”
Slap!
Saying that, Zhao Jianzhi slapped himself hard across the face.
Song Lianxin gritted her teeth and was also forced to raise her hand to slap her own face.
Slap, slap…
For a moment, the sound of slaps echoed one after another at the entrance of the Su Manor.
When twenty slaps were finished, Zhao Jianzhi and Song Lianxin’s faces were both red and swollen, with blood at the corners of their mouths.
“Get out of here!”
Lin Qi snorted coldly, expressionlessly, and turned to walk into the Su Manor.
Song Lianxin struggled to get up from the ground, looked at the entrance of the Su Manor with hatred, and then lowered her head, walking towards the carriage.
She had never suffered so much humiliation in her life as she had these past few days.
She wanted revenge, but thinking of Ye Li’s identity as a Princess, a strong sense of powerlessness welled up in her heart.
Zhao Jianzhi also remained silent, his heart filled with grief and indignation.
Bitch!
Princess Qinghe, you bitch!
You just wait for me!
When my plans succeed, let’s see if you can still be so high and mighty!
The two, filled with anger, rode back in the carriage.
They had just left the Su Manor by less than three li when a servant from the Zhao Family rushed over, “Master, there’s been a mistake! Shen Jing isn’t dead…”
What?
Listening to the servant’s words, Zhao Jianzhi and Song Lianxin froze simultaneously.
Not dead?
How could Shen Jing not be dead?
Didn’t Feng Min already come with people to offer condolences?
“Tell me, what exactly happened?”
The angry Zhao Jianzhi suddenly lifted the curtain of the carriage.
Looking at Zhao Jianzhi’s swollen cheeks, the servant was startled.
After recovering, the servant stammered, “It… it was Lord Feng and them who made a mistake! Shen Jing isn’t dead, the Princess went to retrieve an important item left at the Su Family, not to offer condolences…”
Made… made a mistake?
Zhao Jianzhi’s face twitched, and he roared with grief and indignation in his heart.
Meng Tong, you son of a bitch!
I’m not done with you!