Cold-faced Empress

Hu Lingjing was the second daughter of the emperor's aunt, Princess Sumin, and was the emperor's cousin. Her elder sister had entered the palace and was named Consort De, one of the four imperial concubines, and was greatly favored by the emperor. Therefore, Hu Lingjing was also enjoying great prestige under the emperor's nose.

Hu Lingjing wasn't afraid at all of slapping Wei Lanling.

"Where is Fu Siying?" Hu Lingjing asked Wei Lanling angrily.

Stunned and dumbfounded, Wei Lanling was completely dumbfounded. She never imagined that her first appearance in front of all the young masters and ladies of the capital would be such a humiliating experience!

She was just following Fu Siying's orders to deliver a message, so why was she hit?

As the situation reached a stalemate, the crowd suddenly parted to make way, and Fu Siying, who had been watching the play from the carriage, finally appeared. Upon seeing Fu Siying, Hu Lingjing's anger intensified.

The admiring comments from others reached their ears: "It seems that Fu Siying has become even more beautiful in just a few days!"

Watching Fu Siying gracefully approach with light, delicate steps, Hu Lingjing gritted her teeth in jealousy: "Fu Siying, how dare you show your face!"

Fu Siying walked straight to Hu Lingjing, not even glancing at Wei Lanling lying on the ground: "I have done nothing wrong and have nothing to fear anywhere in the world. Do I need you to question me?"

"Why did you lie to me and say my son was dead?" Hu Lingjing raised her chin and approached Fu Siying. "Do you believe I'll have my father impeach Prime Minister Fu for failing to properly discipline his daughter?"

Fu Siying was not threatened at all, and feigned surprise, saying, "Huh? It's called 'deception' to pass off something as true. My cousin was just saying it casually. You actually believed such a obviously false statement? Could it be that..."

Fu Siying raised an eyebrow with a half-smile: "You really do have a son?"

Instantly, the onlookers' curiosity exploded, and they all stared at Hu Lingjing.

Hu Lingjing was so annoyed that she reached out to grab Fu Siying's collar: "Stop pretending! Your cousin said it was 'double happiness'!"

Fu Siying slapped Hu Lingjing's hand away without any politeness, feigning ignorance and asking, "Who is Shuangxi?"

"It's my dog!" Hu Lingjing shouted without thinking.

Upon hearing this, the bystanders were stunned for a moment, then burst into snickers. It turned out that Miss Hu's so-called son was just a dog!

"What? So your son is a dog!" Fu Siying suddenly realized, raising her hand and gently waving her handkerchief. "Oh my, what a strange sight today, the second young lady of the Hu family has a dog son."

Her almond-shaped eyes widened in surprise, but she couldn't hide her cunning and mockery, causing everyone to burst into laughter.

Standing behind Fu Siying, Fu Yunzhi chuckled and said in a show of force, "Miss Hu, you kept it a secret so well! I only found out today!"

Realizing she had been tricked by Fu Siying, Hu Lingjing flew into a rage and raised her hand to pinch Fu Siying: "I'll tear your mouth apart so you can stop talking nonsense!"

Fu Siying immediately stepped aside and hid behind Wei Lanling, who was still lying on the ground: "There are grievances and debts, what do you want with me?"

Seeing that Wei Lanling was in the way and couldn't hit Fu Siying, Hu Lingjing thought that Wei Lanling was Fu Siying's cousin, so she kicked Wei Lanling again and again.

He kicked and cursed, "You bastard! You bastard! I'll teach you to talk nonsense and spread rumors!"

Wei Lanling was shocked: "No, no!"

Wei Lanling remained standing, hoping to elicit pity from the crowd, but Fu Siying shifted the blame, and she was beaten again by Miss Hu.

Upon seeing this, Fu Siying looked terrified and hurriedly pulled Yunzhi back, exclaiming to those around her, "This vixen is hitting people! Someone, please save my cousin!"

Upon hearing that it was Fu Siying who was asking for help, the young masters rushed forward to mediate the fight. Fu Siying, on the other hand, took the opportunity to distance herself further and further from Hu Lingjing and Wei Lanling.

Seeing Hu Lingjing venting all her anger on Wei Lanling, Fu Siying sneered inwardly. Ha, when two spirits fight, one is bound to be injured. She'll just watch from the sidelines.

Fu Siying learned about Hu Lingjing's treatment of dogs like sons from Wei Lanling in her previous life. In that life, Wei Lanling and Hu Lingjing had a good relationship; it was uncertain whether their relationship would remain good after this first encounter.

Faced with Hu Lingjing's beating, Wei Lanling initially tried to grit her teeth and endure it, thinking that if Fu Siying didn't save her, others would say that Fu Siying didn't care about her sister. However, Fu Siying didn't care about her life or death at all. She kept saying "Who will save my cousin?" but her actions were getting further and further away from her!

Out of consideration for Miss Hu's family background, bystanders tried to intervene but only superficially, and were unable to stop the fight at all.

Unable to bear the physical and mental pain any longer, Wei Lanling grabbed Hu Lingjing's leg and took the opportunity to get up from the ground. By this time, her hair, which had been neatly arranged when she left home, was a complete mess.

Wei Lanling cried out, "Miss Hu, please have mercy! I was only following my cousin's orders and had absolutely no intention of offending you!"

Hu Lingjing was panting heavily from hitting Wei Lanling, and her anger had dissipated, so she didn't bother with her anymore.

"Pah, you vile woman, you're all a den of snakes and rats!"

After cursing, he kicked Wei Lanling again before pulling his leg back and turning to leave.

Fu Siying gave Qingyin a wink, signaling Qingyin to help Wei Lanling up from the ground.

Seeing Hu Lingjing angrily turn around to board the ship again, Fu Siying shouted, "Stop!"

Hearing her shout, Hu Lingjing turned around angrily: "Fu Siying, are you ever going to stop?!"

"This isn't over!" Fu Siying stepped forward coldly. "You publicly humiliated and abused my cousin, and you expect me to swallow my anger?"

With Qingyin's help, Wei Lanling got up in a disheveled state. Upon hearing Fu Siying's words, she was at a loss as to whether to be angry or resentful.

Why is it that she is the one who loses face, gets scolded and beaten, while Fu Siying is the one who is arrogant and regains face?

Wei Lanling wasn't moved at all by Fu Siying standing up for her. In her opinion, the matter was already over, but Fu Siying was still holding onto it, making her lose face in front of everyone's mocking gazes!

Faced with Fu Siying's retaliatory retaliation, Hu Lingjing sneered: "Fu Siying, you are not the same person you used to be. I've already scolded you and hit you, what can you do to me?"

Seeing Hu Lingjing's arrogant and smug look, Fu Siying smiled faintly: "Things are different now..."

Perhaps it's because Mo Canglan is too terrifying, but now everyone in the capital is convinced that the Fu family is doomed.

Fu Siying stared at Hu Lingjing's smug expression, her smile deepening.

Seeing that Fu Siying only smiled and remained silent, Hu Lingjing assumed that she had nothing to say and was just putting on a brave front. She snorted and turned to leave, but then heard Fu Siying say, "His Majesty recently issued an edict to the ladies of the court to prohibit extravagance and emphasize frugality. I wonder if the Grand Princess's residence has received it?"

Hu Lingjing was startled and subconsciously looked down at the gold and silver jewelry on her body. She knew that Fu Siying was trying to find something to use against her, and she felt a surge of anger.

"All the jewelry I'm wearing is mine. Don't try to smear my mother!"

Upon hearing this, Fu Siying chuckled: "You are not yet married. What on you wasn't given to you by Grand Princess Sumin? Even the Grand Princess has to obey the imperial decree. How dare you disregard it?"

After saying that, Fu Siying strolled around Hu Lingjing in a leisurely manner, clicking her tongue in amazement: "Look at these gold hairpins, silver ornaments, jade bracelets, and emerald ornaments, they are truly exquisite. From a distance, you look like a benevolent child."

Upon hearing this, Hu Lingjing quickly took off all the gold, silver, and jade ornaments from her head, and then said to Fu Siying in an annoyed tone, "You're mistaken, I'm not wearing any!"

As the daughter of the Grand Princess, Hu Lingjing was well aware of the Emperor's majesty. If Prime Minister Fu or anyone present were to impeach the Grand Princess's household, the Emperor, to establish the strictness of his new decree, might very well target the Grand Princess's family. This could potentially implicate Hu Lingjing's elder sister, Consort De, and even affect the Emperor's favor towards Consort De!

With such serious implications, Hu Lingjing dared not take any risks.

Seeing that Hu Lingjing was immediately taken advantage of, Fu Siying lazily stretched out her hand to Hu Lingjing: "Since these gold, silver and jade are not yours, then consider them as things I found and take them back to treat my cousin's injuries."

"you……"

Seeing Fu Siying's icy expression and Wei Lanling standing behind her, who was being beaten so badly she could barely stand, Hu Lingjing knew she couldn't let the matter go easily today and would have to pay to avoid further trouble. She was both angry and frustrated.

Glaring at Fu Siying, Hu Lingjing handed over the gold, silver, and jade in her hand, gritting her teeth and saying, "Take good care of your cousin. These things are enough to buy ten of her lives!"

Fu Siying neither agreed nor disagreed, but smiled and instructed Qingyin to accept the valuables.

Wei Lanling stared at the exquisite jewelry that Qingyin was holding, and forgot the pain in her body.

After giving away all her jewelry, Hu Lingjing looked like a bald chicken, extremely strange. Her face slightly contorted, she asked Fu Siying, "Is there nothing else going on now?"

Fu Siying smiled and nodded: "But there's one last thing I want to say to Miss Hu Er."

"Speak your mind, or shut up!" Hu Lingjing lost her temper and couldn't help but utter vulgarities.

After scoffing a few times, Fu Siying suddenly stopped laughing, her face turning serious as she said in a low voice, "You vixen, remember this: you can't bully a girl from the Fu family as you please. We haven't seen each other for many days, so I'm giving you some face. If I find out again that you've embarrassed my sister, I will repay you tenfold!"

After saying that, she curled her lips into a sinister smile: "Aren't you certain that Prince Mu will punish my Fu family? What do you think would happen if I implicated the Grand Princess's mansion?"

In an instant, Hu Lingjing's face stiffened. She stared at Fu Siying as if she had a thousand words to say, but she couldn't utter a single word.

Upon seeing this, Fu Siying scoffed and turned to leave.

Fu Siying's voice was relatively soft when she warned Hu Lingjing. Apart from a few people around her, others could only tell from Hu Lingjing's unpleasant expression that Fu Siying had once again gained the upper hand.

This has greatly reduced the speculation that the Fu family is doomed.

Since Fu Siying is still so defiant, it seems the Fu family is probably alright.

Now that they were at Wangyue Lake, it wasn't possible to just have a fight with Hu Lingjing and leave. After having Yunzhi call a few of her close female friends to accompany them, Fu Siying directly took over Hu Lingjing's boat.

"Thank you, Miss Hu, for preparing the boat for my sister and me."