The Ace Bigshot Becomes A Farmgirl

After a long moment, Wu Ling finally came back to her senses. She lifted her head to look at the person in front of her, disbelief in her eyes, and shrieked, ”What are you doing?!”

Shu Yu set the teacup down with a heavy thud, her gaze icy. ”I’m washing your mouth for you. How can there be a girl as foul-mouthed as you in this world?”

She knew everyone else was watching her, and she didn’t bother lowering her voice. ”Weren’t you just here to watch a joke? I think you’re the real joke. At least I know the most basic standards of being a decent person. And you? Whispering behind people’s backs, sowing discord, unable to stand seeing others do well, is that it?”

”I...”

”What about you? I know perfectly well what kind of person Cen Yi is—better than you do. She’s been married for years, living her life just fine. Yet you insist on cooking up these groundless stories to ruin her reputation. What good does that do you? Don’t tell me you’ve taken a fancy to Cen Yi’s husband, so you’re going all out to smear her.”

Wu Ling’s eyes went wide. She shot to her feet with a swish. ”I haven’t! How could I possibly like her husband?”

”If it’s not Young Master Zhou you have your eye on, then it must be my fiancé, hm? Otherwise why are you so intent on driving a wedge between me and my fiancé—planning to make me break off the engagement so you can swoop in?”

Shu Yu remained seated where she was, but every word she spoke was razor-sharp.

Wu Ling was so furious she was practically shaking, her face flushing bright red. ”I did not. I’ve never even met Meng Yunzheng, how could I possibly like him?”

”If it’s neither, then what are you saying all this for? Oh, does spreading these rumors give you a thrill?”

”No, no, I didn’t.”

When Shu Yu spoke, she always liked to keep the initiative firmly in her own hands. ”So it’s not that either? You don’t fancy Young Master Zhou or my fiancé, and spreading rumors doesn’t get you excited. That only leaves one possibility: you’re both stupid and malicious. You see Cen Yi’s maiden family isn’t as glorious as before, you see I’m just a county magistrate from Dongan Province, with no backing and no one to stand up for me, and you figure we’re easy targets you can bully to your heart’s content, isn’t that right?”

As she said this, she just happened to tilt her head slightly, smiling as she looked at the others in the flower hall.

The other young ladies all felt their hearts give a jolt. The sharper ones even had the corners of their mouths twitch. What this county magistrate meant was: anyone who gossiped about Cen Yi and Meng Yunzheng either fancied one of those two men, or got off on spreading rumors, or else was both stupid and malicious?

This county magistrate from Dongan Province... how is she in any way easy to bully?

As Shu Yu’s words fell, Wu Ling was already stamping her feet in rage. She had originally wanted to make a fuss over Shu Yu splashing that cup of tea on her; now she herself had clearly become everyone’s laughingstock. Seeing the others pointing and whispering about her, she couldn’t endure it any longer, turned on her heel, and ran off.

The girl beside her let out an awkward laugh, nodded slightly to Shu Yu, and hurried after her.

Shu Yu simply watched them leave. Only when they had completely vanished from sight did she stand up and look at the others in the flower hall, smiling as she said, ”Sorry to disturb you all. I am Wen’an County Lord, and I came over from Dongan Province some time ago. This shop has already been bought by me and will be renovated starting tomorrow. It will reopen for business in a while—please do come by.”

Everyone immediately smiled politely. ”We will, we will.”

They did not say much more to Shu Yu. Though they said they would definitely come, whether they actually would or not was another matter.

Still, after this incident, they would certainly make inquiries about Shu Yu once they went back.

All the better if they did—in fact, it would serve as free publicity for her family’s shop.