The sun was setting, casting a golden hue across the marble courtyard, but the warmth in the air was a lie. Under the ornate pavilion, tension simmered like boiling tea.
Lu Jingyan sat with a book open but unread, her posture elegant, face expressionless. A breeze fluttered the pages, but she didn't look up. She had already heard the sharp stiletto heels echoing off the tiles long before they reached her.
Leng Meixuan stormed into view, with Ning Ruomo following, her designer shawl barely hiding the disdain etched into every line of her face.
"Well, if it isn't our porcelain princess, lounging while others actually carry the Leng name with pride," Meixuan sneered, folding her arms.
Lu Jingyan didn't flinch. She turned a page. "I wasn't aware existing in this house required performance."
"You exist like a stain," Ning Ruomo spat. "No matter how much silk you wear, you don't belong here"
"Mm." Jingyan finally glanced up. "And yet here I am, still married to your son, still bearing the Leng name. The name you polish so desperately."
Meixuan stepped forward, her voice rising. "You walk around like you're untouchable. You think your cold little stares and cryptic silences make you powerful? They make you pathetic. A dog behaving like the owner"
Lu Jingyan stood slowly, calm as ever. "Funny. I was just thinking the same thing about your entire personality."
"You wretched—!" Ruomo snapped, eyes blazing. "You think you're clever with your passive arrogance, but you're just a parasite. Crawling your way into the Leng family—"
"Correction," Jingyan cut in, her voice like glass, "I was chosen. Something you two clearly resent."
Silence.
Meixuan's lips curled. "No one chose you. Xuanmo was just too blinded by your tragic little sob story to see what you are. Nothing, just little nothing."
"And yet I'm still here," Jingyan said softly, stepping close enough for her voice to land like a blade. "Is that what bothers you most? That no matter how much poison you spit, I don't shatter?"
Ning Ruomo's hand twitched, itching to slap. "Watch your tongue."
"Or what?" Jingyan tilted her head. "You'll throw another tantrum in front of the staff and pretend it's authority? Or better still. Give Yumo what he was allergic to and claim I did it?"
Meixuan lunged. "I'm warning you—!"
But Lu Jingyan didn't move. She stared them both down, unmoving, unbending. "You've both spent years in this house whispering, scheming, circling like vultures. But let me remind you of something."
Her voice dropped.
"I'm not prey."
And with that, she turned, leaving only the echo of her heels and the scent of jasmine.
Behind her, Ning Ruomo's fingers clenched around the edge of the table, knuckles white. Meixuan's breath came fast, fury trembling in her limbs.
"She needs to be put in her place," Meixuan hissed.
Ning Ruomo's eyes narrowed. "Then maybe it's time we stop playing polite."
"Let's show her who the boss is auntie. Because if her we were stripped of our titles and we were made fun of" Leng Meixuan said
"True. Now that you've said it. Let go attack her" Ning Ruomo said