Chapter 257: Provocation Reduced to a Joke

Chapter 257: The Provocation Turns into a Joke

Wang Mo strode cheerfully across the meadow, his clear young voice shattering the tranquility of the woods with an eager, ingratiating tone: "Brother-in-law! Brother-in-law!"

Xiao Lingchuan, who had been leaning in to whisper to Jiang Shuning, was interrupted by the sound. The rare softness on his face instantly froze into ice.

He turned his head, his unfathomably deep eyes fixed on the somewhat unfamiliar youth before him, carrying a mixture of scrutiny and displeasure.

That gaze was like a tangible blade of frost, scraping against Wang Mo's heart and making it jump.

"And who are you?" Xiao Lingchuan's voice was flat, yet it exuded a coldness that pushed people away.

Wang Mo felt a twinge of fear under that stare, but recalling what Jiang Yaozhen had said about his sister being so favored, he straightened his back and plastered a warm smile on his face. "Brother-in-law, don't you remember me? I'm Wang Mo! My sister, Wang Bishan, is your Secondary Consort!"

As he spoke, his curious gaze drifted past Xiao Lingchuan to the slender figure before him.

The woman wore a white gauze veil, her figure graceful and her face indistinct, but her entire bearing stirred a sense of longing in him.

He naturally assumed this was his sister, tilting his head and asking affectionately, "Sister, is that you?"

Under the veil, Jiang Shuning stiffened, unsure how to respond.

Xiao Lingchuan's expression darkened completely. He stared at Wang Mo, his voice laced with undisguised disgust. "From now on, you are not to call me brother-in-law. Address me only as 'Your Highness' or 'Prince Jing'!"

"And another thing," his gaze grew as cold as ice, "This is not your sister!"

"Not my sister?" Wang Mo's smile froze on his face, a mix of disappointment and irritation welling up inside.

He muttered under his breath, refusing to give up. "Then is she... Your Highness's other secondary consort? Could you tell me which one?"

In his mind, even if it wasn't his own sister Wang Bishan, knowing which woman the Prince Jing currently favored was still valuable information. It would be a huge piece of news to take back to his father and mother, letting them know which daughter of the Aristocratic Clans was his sister's biggest rival right now, so they could prepare in advance.

This reckless questioning ignited Xiao Lingchuan's fury.

His eyes churned with malevolence, like a beast whose territory had been invaded, and he barked, "What business is it of yours? Get lost now!"

The word "get lost," laced with internal energy, rang in Wang Mo's ears like thunder.

His face turned pale, and he instinctively took two steps back.

"Your Highness."

Just then, a soft hand gently covered Xiao Lingchuan's clenched fist.

Through her veil, Jiang Shuning saw how frightened Wang Mo looked and couldn't help but feel a pang of pity.

She spoke in a warm, gentle voice, "Don't scare him; he's just a child."

Wang Mo watched as the Prince Jing, who had seemed like a ferocious beast ready to tear him apart, instantly softened like a tamed lion the moment the woman touched the back of his hand. The murderous aura visibly dissipated.

Though his face remained cold, the lethal edge had completely subsided.

Wang Mo was stunned.

What kind of woman could so thoroughly control this Prince Jing, notorious throughout the capital for his sinister cruelty?

The more he thought about it, the more unwilling he felt. A bold idea surfaced in his mind.

He pretended to turn around, making as if to leave, but his steps were deliberately slow.

Just as Xiao Lingchuan's attention returned to Jiang Shuning, Wang Mo suddenly crouched down, picked up a pebble the size of a fingernail from the grass, and with all his strength, viciously threw it at Jiang Shuning's veil!

He wanted to see exactly what kind of breathtaking face lay behind the gauze!

The stone had barely left his hand, the sound of its flight not yet arisen, when Xiao Lingchuan, without even turning his head, flicked his hand like lightning!

He used the black jade thumb ring as a projectile, sending it whistling through the air with a sharp "swish!"

"Ah—!"

Wang Mo let out a heartrending scream.

The black jade ring struck his knee with unerring precision!

His leg gave way, and he uncontrollably fell forward with a "plop," landing on his knees.

And in that exact spot, hidden beneath the grass, lay a sharp-edged rock.

His knee slammed into it, soaking the fabric with blood as warm liquid gushed out.

Excruciating pain exploded from his knee, spreading rapidly through his entire body.

Wang Mo's vision went dark, and his bloodcurdling scream echoed across the entire lakeside, startling the birds from the trees.

His cry alerted the Wang family members, who were sipping tea in a pavilion not far away.

"Mo'er!"

A woman in luxurious brocade, lifting her skirts, stumbled over, followed by several grim-faced men of the Wang family.

They immediately saw Wang Mo kneeling on the ground, clutching his knee and weeping in agony.

The bright red blood streamed down his pant leg, dyeing the green grass beneath him in a shocking sight.

"My son!" Wang Er's wife threw herself beside her son, and upon seeing the ghastly wound, her vision dimmed, and she nearly fainted.

Her lips trembling, she raised her head to glare at Xiao Lingchuan, who still sat on his horse with an aloof expression. "Prince Jing! What is the meaning of this? Why have you dealt such a cruel blow to my son!"

Wang Qi, the eldest son of the General of State Stabilization, who had followed, also had a grim look on his face.

Though he looked down on this worthless cousin from the second branch, Wang Mo was still a Wang. Being so severely injured by the prince in front of so many people was a direct slap to the entire General's Mansion's face.

"Your Highness," he suppressed his anger and cupped his hands, "My cousin is ignorant. If he has offended, please, for the sake of my sister Bishan, show some mercy. May I ask what crime Mo'er has committed to deserve such severe punishment?"

Xiao Lingchuan snorted coldly, not even deigning to spare them a sidelong glance.

His voice was like ice, devoid of warmth: "He violated the hierarchy and intended to offend me. I merely gave him a mild lesson. Not taking his life is already out of respect for the Wang family's face."

"Offend?" Wang Mo cried out like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, "I only saw you and came forward to call you brother-in-law. How is that an offense? Your Highness, who is this woman hiding her face beside you? Is it for her that you treat your own brother-in-law like this?"

Hearing this, Wang Er's wife's gaze sharpened like a poisoned needle, boring into Jiang Shuning under her veil, as if she wanted to burn through the gauze with her eyes and see which vixen had stolen Prince Jing's heart.

Just then, Jiang Yaozhen "coincidentally" arrived. With a perfectly calibrated expression of panic and distress, she hurried to Wang Mo's side, pulling out her own handkerchief to press against his bleeding wound.

"Oh, Cousin Mo, how are you?" Her eyes full of concern, she looked up at Xiao Lingchuan with a tearful face. "Your Highness, there must be some misunderstanding! Cousin Mo is simple-minded. When he saw you and this lady acting so intimately from afar, he thought it was his own sister and only wanted to pay his respects... He meant no offense! Could it be... that you have wronged him?"

Her words were impeccably delivered, both "explaining" Wang Mo's motives and subtly casting a shadow of blame onto Jiang Shuning.

——See that? It's all because of this woman from nowhere that Prince Jing was so ruthless to his own wife's younger brother.

Sure enough, after hearing her words, the Wang family's expressions turned even darker.

The second Madam Wang's wailing rose by an octave: "Did you hear that! My son meant well! You, whose heart is blinded by greed, would trample on the Wang family for the sake of a woman! My poor Bishan! Is she also being bullied by this woman in the prince's mansion? I'm going to the palace right now to seek justice from His Majesty!"

"Your Highness."

Jiang Shuning, who had remained silent all along, finally spoke.

Through her veil, she saw Wang Mo's young face twisted in agony, and in her heart, she could not help but feel a twinge of sympathy.

She gently tugged at Xiao Lingchuan's sleeve and whispered, "Stop arguing with them. He's badly injured; it's more important to find a doctor first."

As soon as she spoke, the murderous aura that had been practically cutting everyone to pieces around Xiao Lingchuan miraculously subsided once again.

He adjusted his horse's position, pulling Jiang Shuning into his embrace, shielding her from all curious and hateful looks.

Then, his icy gaze swept over the wailing Wang Mo on the ground and the shouting second Madam Wang, and a sardonic smile curled his lips.

"Seek justice? Very well." He leisurely brushed the non-existent dust off his sleeves. "And as it happens, I also want to ask the General of State Defense how he brought up such a creature who does not know his place and dares to lay hands on me. Offending a member of the imperial family—what is the punishment according to law? How about I send someone now to invite the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to have a serious talk with you?"

The mere mention of "Supreme Court" was like an invisible seal, instantly silencing every member of the Wang family.

None of them had forgotten how Xiao Xiuzhan ended up in prison.

The Prince Jing before them had even sent Prince Rui to the Supreme Court, let alone their declining Wang family.

Xiao Lingchuan, however, couldn't be bothered to spare even an extra glance at these clowns.

He turned around, and all the fierce killing intent instantly transformed into tenderness the moment it touched Jiang Shuning.

He took her cool fingertips in his hand, his voice, gentle in a way it rarely was: "Let's go. Don't let these filthy things dirty your eyes."

With that, he led her through the Wang family, whose faces were full of humiliation and resentment, as if no one else was there. From start to finish, he never once looked back at the boy trembling on the ground from blood loss and fear.

A meticulously planned provocation thus turned into a complete farce.