Chapter 411: Eavesdropping

Lyca expected a lot of things in this meeting. She expected her uncle would ask Shen Qui for a fight in the ring. She expected her uncle Wai to ask Shen Qui to try out his new designs. She also expected Uncle Wai's daughter would flirt with Shen Qui.

Lyca's expectations didn't end there. She also expected her grandfather to at least show a little doubt towards Shen Qui.

Oh well! She was wrong.

First and foremost, her grandfather liked her husband. He was laughing with him and seemed to forget that Lyca was still there, dozing off. The older man was in an excellent mood even when they were already eating. In fact, he insisted that Shen Qui sit next to him. Of course, Lyca had to sit next to her husband too.

Then after dinner, the old man asked Shen Qui to play chess against him. The two continued playing chess and ignored everyone else, including Lyca.

Well, they didn't really ignore her as she also went to her grandfather's study to take a nap while the two were enjoying their tea.

"This tea is excellent!" Old Man Tang nodded. "I didn't know that you could brew a tea like this." He stared at Shen Qui before bringing his eyes back to the Chess Board. "May I know who taught you this kind of brewing?"

Shen Qui smiled. "It's my… late uncle."

"Late uncle… I heard he was with you on the streets before Old Man Huang found you?"

Shen Qui nodded. "We were on the streets for a few years." But that was only because his uncle was injured. He was wounded for a few years and was unable to find a decent job.

"Hmmm. I understand."

Since the old man didn't ask any other questions, Shen Qui just continued playing without saying anything. Seeing the boring game, Lyca yawned. She was trying to sleep, but she found the couch too uncomfortable. "Grandfather, I will go out for a while."

"Hmmm."

Lyca leaned and kissed Shen Qui on the cheeks before leaving without saying anything else. She slowly closed the door and turned around.

*CRASH*

The loud sound of glass breaking interrupted the silence outside of Old Man Tang's office.

"Jesus Christ! Why do you have a dagger in your hand?"  Lyca's cousin, Tang Fangmei, exclaimed.

"Why are you eavesdropping outside of grandfather's office?" Lyca asked.

"I was about to knock on the door!"

"You have been standing there for more than three minutes." Lyca squinted.

"I— "Tang Fangmei gulped her fear away. "I was just trying to see… if… if grandfather would say something."

"Something?" Lyca lifted an eyebrow.

"Well… I… I wanted to know if he would talk to you about my engagement."

"Engagement?" Lyca lifted an eyebrow. "Someone agreed to marry you?"

"You—  You are so rude! That's why I never liked you!"

"Hmmm. So? Who agreed to marry you?" Lyca's curiosity spiked. "Not all people in the Tang Clan liked her, and she was very aware of that. One of them is Tang Wai and Major An's daughter Tang Fangmei. Growing up, the two never liked each other. Since Tang Fangmei was older than Lyca, she wanted to boss Lyca around but never succeeded and would end up getting in trouble instead.

This woman liked to scheme and would do her best to get Lyca in trouble, but Lyca recorded most of their conversation, and sometimes, Lyca would actually bring a video recorder with her. This ruined all the plans that the child Tang Fangmei tried to framed Lyca.

Moreover, because of the proof, many people her age never liked Tang Fangmei. In fact, most of her cousins ignored her and were very rude, calling her a scheming concubine and other nasty names. This made Tang Fangmei hate Lyca to the point of using her image as a target board for her darts!

"Why would I tell you?"

"Oh? You think I will snatch him?" Lyca chuckled as she slowly withdrew the dagger from her cousin's neck. "Do you want me to tell grandfather not to make this engagement?" Judging from Tang Fangmei's words, it was evident that Old Man Tang had the last say about this marriage.

"What? Why would you do that? Can you just mind your own business?"

"I'm too free and bored. I need to do something. Why don't you let me meet this man? Hm?"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Lyca smirked. "You were already sleeping with him, right? Hehe… are you pregnant?"

"You— "Tang Fangmei's face reddened. Seeing this, Lyca snorted.

"Why don't you just tell your mother that you already love this guy?" Lyca asked. Tang Fangmei grew up in a very different household. Her mother had a very dominant attitude, while her father was the other way around. Moreover, her mother used to punish her the military way when she was still a kid.

Lyca recalled that Major An used to let her daughter run miles every time she makes mistakes. Not only this, she would let her do challenging exercises to the point of fainting. While her father tried to stop this, Tang Wai is very helpless in front of his wife. In the end, he would cower and just let his wife do everything that she wanted.

One time, Lyca remembered Tang Ruyi gossiping that Major An made her daughter roll like a barrel right after eating because of her grades. In the end, she vomited all the food that she just ate before fainting.

It was a pretty harsh punishment.

"Why— why would I tell her that?" Tang Fangmei asked.

"I don't know," Lyca shrugged. "Just saying."

"You— You are really shameless!" Tang Fangmei hissed. "You just want to get me in trouble!"

Lyca laughed. Every time her mother punished Tang Fangmei because of her schemes, she would always blame Lyca. Instead of thinking about why Major An punished her, she would feel that it was all Lyca's fault.

Lyca thought that this thinking is quite abnormal and was too lazy to interact with her. This woman doesn't need any advice. She needed therapy!

Lyca walked away from Tang Fangmei. A smirk was plastered on her face.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Tang Fangmei followed her towards the stairs.

"Food," Lyca answered.

"You are still as greedy as ever!"

"I don't get fat." Lyca's answer only made Tang Fangmei more irritated. Everyone in the Tang Family knew that she was someone who quickly earned kilograms of weight just from one party. Lyca's words felt like she was mocking her!

"Hmph!" Tang Fangmei's face was already dark, but she still decided to follow Lyca.

"Stay away from me," Lyca said.

"Why should I?"

"People might think we are friends."

"You— "

Lyca continued walking. Her destination was, of course, the kitchen. Everyone in the living room was doing their own things. Some were talking. Some were laughing, and some were playing board games. Her father and her Uncle Second were drinking by the bar, and her mother was talking to one of her cousins.

"I want to ask you something."

"Hm?" Lyca looked at Tang Fangmei.

"You and the Xu Family… are still enemies?"

"Why do you want to know?" Lyca said as she opened one of the two-door fridge. After grabbing a few fruits, she looked at Tang Fangmei, who was just staring at her, her face unreadable.

"I— I just… I am curious."

"I don't understand what you are talking about." Lyca started eating the grapes.

"Can you stop treating me like a fool?"

"You are a fool. Don't need to treat you like one."

"You — hoh!" Tang Fangmei closed her eyes and took a deep— deep breath. She needed to cleanse herself from too much irritation. She always knew that Lyca is this type of woman! Spending a lot of time with Lyca would kill someone earlier! "Can you just answer my question?"

"I already answered your question."

"Lyca, can you just— "

"I said I don't understand."  Wasn't that a precise answer? Why was this woman so angry? "Too much anger can kill people," Lyca added.

"I really hate you. Do you know that?"

"Know," Lyca chuckled.

"Then can you tell me if you are still enemies with them?"

"The Xu Family and I don't know each other."

"Stop lying! I heard my father asked my mother's help to save aunt Nini from Long Family. And I heard my mother said that it's difficult since Xu Family backs long Family. She said that the Tang Family is a military family, and one mishap could kill or imprison the whole Family. Being in the military means it would be very easy to label you us traitor!"

"Oh, you were eavesdropping?"

"That's not my point!" Tang Fangmei eyed the knife to Lyca's left. For a few seconds, she was tempted to stab Lyca's languid gaze. However, she knew that she wouldn't be able to beat Lyca. She would only end up in the hospital if she fight against her. "Can you just tell me the truth?"

Lyca stared at her and blinked. She already answered Tang Fangmei's question, ah.