CH 83

Chapter 83: Baiting

Xiao Susu was already aware of what Xiao En was trying to warn her about. She didn’t like Hua Qianzi in the first place, so there was no way she was going to side with her.

If she didn’t try to ruin Hua Qianzi’s plans, it would already be a great grace.

However, in this lifetime, Xiao Susu no longer wanted to be benevolent.

Being benevolent towards enemies was simply being merciless towards oneself.

“Young Miss Xiao, there’s no need to be so humble. What plans you have for the future? Will you be entering a school and participating in the imperial exams to obtain scholarly honor? Based on your qualifications, you will definitely be the top scorer.” Hua Qianzi didn’t miss a single bit of Xiao Susu’s expression changes. She stared fixedly at Xiao Susu’s eyes as she said these words slowly.

Xiao Susu smiled, tugging the corners of her lips up, but her expression was still unconcerned and indifferent. “I haven’t really thought about this. I only woke up not long ago after all, so I don’t understand this world too well and don’t want to rush too much.”

“Your talents don’t seem to have just woken up.” A trace of sharpness flashed through Hua Qianzi’s eyes and her expression was now more hostile as she looked towards Xiao Susu. She had already humbled herself a lot.

However, this woman seemed to insist on refusing the toast and drinking the punishment wine instead.

The sentence was Hua Qianzi’s hidden trump, and also a threat.

She naturally wasn’t as naïve as to believe like the others that Xiao Susu was a celestial that had descended to the mortal realm.

She felt that there was definitely a secret here. As of now, since her attempts to rope her in had failed, she was prepared to simply become enemies.

She couldn’t allow a talent like this to fall into Hua Qianye’s hands.

As of now, she had already lost everything. Since she had returned to this Hundred Flowers Nation, then she was going to take back everything that was rightfully hers. There was no way she’d let anyone else have them.

Even if the emperor was simply using her as a chess piece to stabilize the popular sentiment.

She was definitely going to turn her situation around, definitely.

Hence, the only power she could rope in was the Xiao family since the Xiao family was the only power that was neutral. Furthermore, only the Xiao family had the power to help her fight against Hua Qianye.

Although Hua Qianye was male, the power he had accumulated all these past years in Hundred Flowers Nation was too great.

It was to the point that no one knew exactly how much power he had.

Even so, Hua Qianzi still insisted on making this gamble.

She had never been someone who was content with her lot.

When Xiao Susu heard what Hua Qianzi said, her facial color also darkened. The smile at the corners of her lips gradually turn cold as she met Hua Qianzi’s gaze directly.

“So what?”

Xiao En asked mildly with a faint unconcerned smile.

He had noticed that when Hua Qianzi said those words, Xiao Susu’s shoulders had abruptly trembled for a moment.

It seemed to have hit a sore spot.

In reality, Xiao Susu wouldn’t have minded if these words came from anyone else, but this person was Hua Qianzi. She was worried that Hua Qianzi had already noticed something.

After all, Hua Qianzi knew Su Qiqi quite well.

Moreover, her soul had taken over this body. It was highly possible for someone to destroy her soul.

In the past she hadn’t believed in reincarnation, but right now she didn’t have a choice except to believe.

She had died, then experienced a rebirth. This had already thrown everything into chaos.

Everything that couldn’t be explained were once again pushed towards chaos.

If the Xiao family found out that she wasn’t Xiao Susu at all, but a different person, what would they do? What would happen if the people of Hundred Flowers Nation found out?

She knew that the outcome definitely would not be good.

That was why, she was now a bit scared.

Originally, Hua Qianzi already saw that Xiao Susu was uneasy, but after hearing Xiao En’s remark, her facial color worsened again. It was clear that the Xiao family now treated Xiao Susu as a pearl in their palm.

She was the center of the entire family.

And now, Xiao En actually dared to speak to her this way. A man dared to speak to her, a noble princess, this way? Her eyes flashed cold as she glowered at Xiao En, “So what? Would your Xiao family be able to endure the consequences?”

Xiao En’s lips lifted in a cold smile. He wasn’t scared of this woman. The Xiao family understood the current situation of the imperial court the best and they also understood what Hua Ruxue was planning, so he was naturally unconcerned. “Of course.”

His tone was firm.

He wouldn’t allow anyone to bully Xiao Susu.

Absolutely not.

As of now, Xiao Susu’s facial color was improving. She knew that it wasn’t good to provoke Hua Qianzi. If they provoked her, it would be hard to get free from her. However, right now was no longer a question of whether she was going to provoke Hua Qianzi or now.

Hua Qianzi had already come to block them at their residence doors.

So she had to express her stance, otherwise the ones that would be implicated was the Xiao family.

Even if Hua Ruxue only thought of Hua Qianzi as a chess piece, Hua Qianzi was still her daughter. There was no way she’d completely sacrifice Hua Qianzi. If the Xiao family wasn’t strong enough, Hua Ruxue would abandon the Xiao family, but she wouldn’t abandon her own daughter.

“Big Brother,” called Xiao Susu after all these thoughts flashed through her head.

She shot Xiao En a meaningful look.

The Xiao family treated her so well, so she definitely couldn’t allow the Xiao family to fall into a predicament.

She had to do everything within her abilities to protect these people.

She looked towards Hua Qianzi and did her best to soften her expression a little. “Princess, you can be direct with your words.”

She didn’t want to continue secretly clashing any longer.

“If I say it, would you do as I say?” Hua Qianzi also noticed Xiao Susu’s change and she became more confident. Just as she thought, Xiao Susu’s sudden awakening wasn’t a simple matter.

Originally, she had just been probing, but now it seemed that her judgement had been very accurate.

She hadn’t made the wrong bet.

That meant that there was no way she would let go of the Xiao family.

“As long as it’s something within this humble citizen’s means. This humble citizen will naturally not hesitate to carry out Princess’s commands.”

Originally Xiao En still wanted to say something, but Xiao Susu pressed her hand on his to indicate for him not to make a rash move. Even if Old Madame Xiao possessed military power, there was still no way she would be able to protect the Xiao family for a lifetime.

Meanwhile, the imperial household would never die out.

At the very least, based on Hua Ruxue’s abilities, nothing would happen within the next hundred years.

The only exception would be if her ambition was too great and she provoked a fire she couldn’t contain.

Xiao En who was about to speak abruptly froze and he stared blankly at the slender hand that was pressing on top of this.

He seemed a bit dumbfounded and couldn’t say a word.

“Alright, this sentence from Young Miss Xiao is all I want.” Hua Qianzi smiled smugly.

Her goal this time had been achieved.

Meanwhile, Xu Weiran who was surrounded by girls still couldn’t get free. It seemed that all he could do today was to entertain these daughters of nobility.

Hua Qianye had already gotten free from the crowd a while earlier and was currently sitting quietly nearby, watching Xiao Susu and Hua Qianzi talk. He could sense the turbulent undercurrent of the conversation.

However, the only thing he paid attention to was Xiao Susu’s attitude.

He was fighting for Xiao Susu not only because she was beautiful as a celestial and overflowing with talent, but more importantly because her surname was Xiao.

He had been trying to win over the Xiao family but he hadn’t been able to find suitable means. In the past, Xiao Susu was a fool and was also the fiancée of Unyielding Clouds Nation’s ninth prince. Even if he tried to win her over for the sake of power, it wasn’t possible.

However, things were different now. He was very willing to marry a woman like Xiao Susu.

It was only when he saw Xiao Susu and Hua Qianzi share a smile that his brows finally furrowed. He finally took a close look at this long-lost younger sister of his with a faint smile.

However, this smile was very dark and cold.

It caused people to involuntarily shiver.

He wasn’t very concerned about Hua Qianzi. The ones he was paying close attention to were Baili Mo and Xu Weiran.

In reality, he was aware of Xu Weiran’s itinerary today. The reason he brought along Xiao Susu and the rest was simply to kill two birds with one stone.

This was because he knew that Xiao Susu would be able to lure over the people he wanted.

As of now, the big fish had already fallen for bait, so he just had to slowly pull in the net.

As for Hua Qianzi, in his eyes, she was nothing but a jumping clown. At most she would serve as a flavoring agent. He wasn’t concerned about what Xiao Susu had agreed to, everything was within his control!

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Credits: Translated by Chiyomira