Chapter 206 Feeling Like a Manipulative Person

Chapter 206 Feeling Like a Manipulative Person

"Xiner!"

Ayú scolded her sternly, "Who told you this is your home? This is the Duke's home."

"What have I always taught you? It's just a room—what's the big deal about letting your sister stay for a while?"

You must know, this child's life was essentially saved by the princess.

If it weren't for Her Highness's intervention, allowing her to hear that her daughter had been thrown into the Abandoned Baby Tower by her beastly father,

this child would have turned to dust in some forgotten corner without her knowledge.

Even now, being able to secure a teaching position in the County Clerk's residence and having her current status is entirely due to the princess's favor.

We can't be ungrateful.

Xiner bit her lip, her face full of grievance, "Mom, you don't love me anymore!"

"You actually scolded me for an outsider!"

Bei Jingchu rubbed her temples, feeling a headache coming.

She tugged at Ayú's hand and advised, "Auntie Ayú, don't make Xiner suffer because of me."

"It doesn't matter where I stay."

After saying this, Ayú looked at her with tender affection, then scolded Xiner again, "Look how mature your sister is, and then look at you!"

Bei Jingchu: ...This atmosphere isn't right.

Why does it feel like I'm the manipulative one here?

I swear, that's not what I meant!

Xiner glared fiercely at Bei Jingchu, pouted, and then ran out crying.

As she passed Bei Jingchu, she bumped into her hard.

Though it didn't budge Bei Jingchu an inch, Xiner stumbled from the recoil.

Facing this awkward situation, Bei Jingchu didn't think there was anything worth fighting over about a room.

After all, for her, it was all a downgrade in living standards, and whether it was a big or small downgrade didn't make much difference.

She consoled Ayú, "Auntie Ayú, the room Xiner is staying in must be the best in the courtyard, which is why you wanted to give it to me."

"But if I take her room as soon as I arrive, it's normal for Xiner to feel hostile towards me."

"For me, whether I live in a better or worse place, it's all the same."

"So don't make Xiner suffer, she's still a child, she doesn't need to be too sensible."

Bei Jingchu thought her consolation was spot on, but Ayú's eyes grew more and more heartbroken, and she finally let out a long sigh, "But you're just a child too!"

"You don't need to be so sensible either."

Bei Jingchu: "No, how did this come back to me again?"

The voice came with a familiar sense of haziness, and after many years, Nurse Yu once again heard the little princess's thoughts.

It felt like a peace from another era.

Nurse Yu followed her wishes and moved her to the best available room in the house.

She instructed, "Yang Yang, hang tight for a couple of days. I'll go find a broker to hire two maids for you."

"I am the tutor at the County Clerk's residence, not the lady of the house."

"There are cleaning servants in the courtyard, but no personal attendants."

"But Nurse Yu will make sure you're well taken care of, so you won't be too uncomfortable."

Bei Jingchu shook her head and refused, "Right now, it's not about having servants or not."

"Just having a place to stay is good enough."

"Besides, Xiner, as Nurse Yu's daughter, doesn't have any personal servants."

"And yet, as a distant relative, you're setting them up for me. It just doesn't feel right."

"Nurse Yu, I can take care of myself."

Both thought the matter was over, but as soon as they settled in, Xiner showed up.

"What kind of magic have you worked on my mom?"

"She never cared more for a relative's child than for me before."

"Where did you crawl out from, some poor, rundown corner?"

"With your petty ways, have you never lived in a decent place? Even trying to snatch someone else's bedroom."

Her gaze swept over Bei Jingchu, revealing the most straightforward disdain.

"Country folks are always so tacky."

Bei Jingchu felt she had grown; such verbal attacks no longer stirred any ripples in her heart.

Waiting for reinforcements was boring, but here came some entertainment delivered right to her door.

Bei Jingchu decided to relax for once.

So she went along with it, "Yeah, yeah, you're right."

Xiner: ...

Why does it feel like I'm being mocked?

She paused, then rallied her spirits.

"Don't you have your own mother? Why are you trying to steal mine?"

This mouth is truly annoying.

Bei Jingchu couldn't understand how Nurse Yu, such a gentle and generous person, could have such a spoiled and overbearing daughter.

But she seriously thought about her own mother, and the difference between having one and not having one really wasn't that big.

So she nodded and admitted frankly, "I don't have a mom."

Xiner choked.

But after a few moments, her expression turned to mockery: "So you really are a motherless brat."

"No wonder you cling to other people's moms like a leech."

"Let me tell you, although Mom says you are our relative."

"She just feels sorry for you."

"I am her biological daughter, and you can never outdo me!"

After saying this, she waited for Bei Jingchu's reaction.

Bei Jingchu just nodded and agreed, "Makes sense."

Xiner: ... How anticlimactic.

She looked at the girl's face wrapped in gauze and found another point of attack: "Ugly monster."

"A pitiful, scarred mess."

This time, the person opposite finally lost her calm demeanor; she had succeeded.

With a crisp "crack," the teacup shattered at Xiner's feet, shards flying everywhere.

Bei Jingchu squatted down, picked up a shard of porcelain, and with one hand, grabbed Xiner's collar, pulling her close.

The shard dug into Xiner's cheek.

Xiner trembled in fear.

"You, you, what are you doing!"

"Let me go!"

Bei Jingchu showed a playful smile, looking particularly sinister.

"You despise ugly freaks, don't you?"

"Then let's be ugly freaks together."

"Look at your face, so smooth and delicate."

"Making a few cuts on it should be pretty fun~"

The pressure of the shard against her face gradually increased.

Xiner screamed, struggling wildly, but couldn't break free at all.

A calm voice came: "If you move again, I might slip, and your face will have another scar~"

Xiner immediately stopped moving.

"I was wrong, I was wrong!"

"Please, please don't hurt my face, wuwuwu—"

But the tormentor did not let her go, instead asking with a smile, "So, tell me, what did you do wrong?"

"I, I shouldn't have called you ugly."

"And what else?"

"I shouldn't have called you a motherless brat."

Bei Jingchu sneered, "If you knew it was wrong, why did you keep doing it?"

"You don't really know you're wrong, you're just scared because you're threatened."

Bei Jingchu, bored, released her grip, and Xiner was thrown to the ground.

"Get out."

Too scared to speak, fearing the tormentor might return to scar her face, Xiner got up and ran.

She moved so fast, it was like a demon was hot on her heels.

Xiner ran crying to her mother, Ayú, who was sitting in the yard crafting tassels.

Tearfully, she went to complain, "Mother, that Yang Yang bullied me."

"She threatened to cut my face, to make me as ugly as she is."

She had expected comfort, but to her surprise, her normally doting mother frowned and asked, "Who are you calling ugly?"