Chapter 287: Beauty Like a Flower (24)
The death of the scholar caused a huge uproar on the Star Network.
Viewers who enjoyed tragedies were naturally ecstatic, especially a tragedy displayed so brutally, as vibrant as spring flowers withering and rotting in the ground.
However, romantic comedy lovers were displeased. They had hoped to see Xiao Xiao and the scholar meet, know each other, and stay together, preferably having a son and a daughter. Instead, their fate was abruptly and rudely severed, which everyone found very unsatisfactory.
The host, Pan CAKE, tried to calm everyone down, saying that it was already difficult for the previous person to be together due to family background differences, and it was a good thing for him to become Xiao Xiao's eternal white moonlight. The production team would soon arrange an official partner for Xiao Xiao, and using this white moonlight to create more anguish would make it even more exciting.
But everyone's emotions were already high, and the bullet comments were flying, with all sorts of insults directed at the production team.
These wonderful insults made Snake Taoist very happy to watch.
But what made him even happier was that the fleshy host smiled very reluctantly, and when explaining, his words were stiff and hesitant, no longer as fluent and confident as before.
Things that are not believed are naturally spoken without confidence.
Clearly, the scholar's death was not what they had anticipated.
At least his death should not have been at this moment, and perhaps not in this manner.
But what was done could not be undone, and this person could not be revived. They could not admit that their story had spiraled out of control, so they could only bite the bullet and continue writing.
Thus, as the production team said, they accelerated their pace and quickly arranged another match for Xiao Xiao.
To create a contrast with the previous one and avoid character repetition, this time it was a rich, handsome, and powerful man.
A Young Master from an influential family, handsome and enchanting, passionate like fire.
Xiao Xiao quickly found herself unable to resist this passionate pursuit, but due to the scholar's death, she constantly felt guilty for her growing affection, thus keeping him at arm's length.
The Young Master from the influential family suffered many hurts because of this, earning many tears from the audience.
Sure enough, the production team's arrangement was correct. The audience was forgetful and quickly forgot their indignation over the scholar, now widely supporting the deeply affectionate rich, handsome, and powerful man.
When the Young Master from the influential family saw that Xiao Xiao had been avoiding him recently, in a fit of anger, he directly brought cart after cart of generous betrothal gifts and proposed marriage.
There were many who proposed, but Song Gongzi had the best family background and was the most generous, so the Lu family naturally accepted without hesitation.
And so, Lu Siniang, whose beauty had captivated the entire city, was finally engaged.
This news broke countless hearts and soaked many pillows with tears.
The engagement was set, and soon, the wedding took place.
On that day, Lu Siniang brought a dowry of ten li of red makeup, most of which was said to have been supplemented by the Song family. The gazes of longing, regret, and envy from the streets followed Lu Siniang, adorned in a Phoenix coronet and robes, as she rode in an eight-bearer sedan chair wrapped in colorful silk, marrying into the Song mansion.
When Snake Taoist saw this, it was as if he had seen the male and female protagonists of a love story finally get together, with only the mundane daily life of oil, salt, sauce, and vinegar to follow.
However, after the marriage, the two were sickeningly sweet and cloying.
"Miss, these are your favorite green plum cakes from Meili Zhai. The Young Master ordered me to buy them early this morning." Tao Er excitedly ran back into the room, holding up a paper-wrapped package and presenting it to Xiao Xiao.
Xiao Xiao curved her lips, opened the paper, picked up a piece, and took a bite.
"This taste is a bit different. It's clearly a sour pastry, but why does it taste sweet?" Xiao Xiao asked, puzzled.
"Miss Liu said that it's normal for pregnant people's tastes to change a bit."
"Oh, right, Liu Sheng Jie did say that." Xiao Xiao gently placed her hand on her still-flat lower abdomen, her face radiating a gentle, maternal glow.
At this moment, her heart was very peaceful, and the chaotic threads within her mind were suddenly straightened out.
Quiet and serene, she picked up her needlework and began embroidering a bellyband.
Although she didn't know the gender, the color didn't matter.
The maidservants knew that Young Miss disliked being disturbed at this time, so they all withdrew.
The warm sunlight fell on Xiao Xiao, who was sitting on the soft couch by the window. The faint scent of flowers was carried into the room by the wind, along with the sound of the maidservants chatting outside the window.
"Just now... I heard outside that the villain who kills people and steals internal organs seems to have disappeared."
"You mean, that killer... Young Master Zhao? And Master's?"
"Yes, I heard he hasn't committed any crimes for quite some time."
"It's best if he left here. It's really scary."
"Yes... Many of the corpses had missing internal organs, and they were all different parts. Everyone says that the murderer is perhaps trying to piece together a set of internal organs himself?"
"Oh, don't talk about it, it's terrifying..."
"That's right, what are you talking about here? Aren't you afraid of scaring your Young Miss? Hurry up and get to work!" A stern male voice interjected, rebuking them sharply.
"Yes!" The maidservants were startled and quickly dispersed.
Following the sound of footsteps, the man walked in from outside. He saw Xiao Xiao embroidering by the casement window, her expression calm, as if she hadn't heard any of those messy words.
He felt relieved, walked over, and put his hand on his wife's shoulder, saying, "Why don't you rest? Don't tire out my son, and my son's beautiful mother."
Xiao Xiao was stunned for a moment, then playfully chided, "I've slept enough. If I sleep any more, I'll get fat."
"It doesn't matter, you'll be cute when you're fat, you're still my little piggy..."
The screen went black, and only darkness remained in the living room.
The hand holding the remote control slowly lowered. Snake Taoist's face was expressionless, as if he had just killed a fish.
These mushy things were meaningless; it was better to sleep.
So he said goodnight to the darkness and went to bed.
The next day, when he woke up to watch the live stream, he realized that he had slept at just the right time, completely missing the sweet period of their marriage.
The bullet comments said that however sweet it was before, it was now equally tragic.
Some even said that the sweet drama they had diligently followed all night suddenly turned into a realistic drama about family trivialities.
At this point, Xiao Xiao had already become a mother, having given birth to a daughter.
At the same time, Song Gongzi, who had promised to be with Xiao Xiao for life, had already taken a concubine.
"Why?" Seeing her husband's greater joy with the newcomer, Xiao Xiao finally couldn't hold back and stopped him, asking.
Her delicate brows were slightly furrowed, and her beautiful eyes were filled with emotion, still so heart-wrenching.
"Because Mother said that she had consulted a Great Master, and your belly is no good; you can't give birth to a son."
After saying this, Song Gongzi, with a face full of coldness, was about to turn and leave.
He didn't know that on Xiao Xiao's face behind him, all expressions conforming to human emotion were gradually withdrawn, leaving only a face as cold as ice.
At a glance, although still breathtakingly beautiful, she was no different from the AI beauties on the Star Network.
A flawless face, fabricated emotions, making one feel as if they were separated by clouds, a false entity that couldn't be touched.
Everyone was still feeling sorry for Xiao Xiao, thinking her heart was broken, but in the next second, everyone was stunned.
Song Gongzi's face was also filled with shock, but it was frozen there forever, then buried in the soil of the garden flowerbed.
Face down, he lay on the ground.
In his back was a dagger, precisely piercing through his back into his heart.
Killed with one blow.