Une aura glaçante

Chapitre 25

Xiao Dao secretly curled his lip—that old bastard Cai Bian is truly shameless.

The seventh concubine slowly walked to Cai Bian's side, and sat down next to him with a frail and boneless gait. Rather than sitting down, she seemed to "wriggle" down like a snake. "Master, is this the benefactor who saved Yun Ting?"

“Yes.” Cai Bian nodded. The seventh concubine reached out and picked up the wine glass on the table, toasting Xiao Dao and Xue Beifan. “Thank you both for your great kindness. Ping’er will toast you on behalf of Yun Ting.”

Xiao Dao and Xue Beifan had no choice but to raise their glasses in return.

Xiao Dao noticed that Seventh Concubine's eyes were as if they had been trained, so alluring, staring straight at Xue Beifan, as if... wasn't she afraid that Cai Bian would be jealous?

He quickly looked at Cai Bian and saw him casually picking up food. Xiao Dao's mind raced—could it be some kind of scheme?

Looking at Xue Beifan again, he simply held his wine cup, smiling as he drank, his eyes meeting those of the seventh concubine without flinching. Xiao Dao curled his lip—that lecherous scoundrel! Thinking this, he secretly pinched Xue Beifan under the table.

Xue Beifan put down his cup as if nothing had happened, secretly rubbing his thigh, thinking to himself, "That brat really hit hard."

Then, the seventh concubine started urging Xue Beifan to drink, one cup after another. Xiao Dao roughly understood that the seventh concubine and Cai Bian were working together to get Xue Beifan drunk.

Xue Beifan was also somewhat surprised. This seventh concubine was quite something. Cai Bian got himself drunk, his purpose was nothing more than to be alone with Xiao Dao, and she not only wasn't jealous but was actually "aiding and abetting" him? Women are truly all kinds of strange.

As we were eating, we heard hurried footsteps outside.

Xiao Dao noticed Cai Bian frown, and at the same time, Cai Yunting rushed into the courtyard. Upon seeing everyone drinking, her expression changed, and she stepped forward, glaring at Xiao Dao, "You vixen, coming here to flaunt your charms!"

Xiao Dao really wanted to hit her with a cup; here she goes again!

"Yun Ting!" Cai Bian slammed the cup on the table, glaring at her angrily. "No manners! How can you treat your savior like this?"

"I didn't ask them to save me, it was pointless!" Cai Yunting snapped, grabbing Xiaodao's arm. "Get out of here!"

"Yunting, don't be rude." The seventh concubine stood up, reached out and pulled Cai Yunting, and whispered, "Be good, go to sleep early."

"Pah! Stop pretending." Cai Yunting not only ignored her, but also slapped the Seventh Concubine across the face. "What are you? You're just a concubine. My mother is the legal wife..."

Before she could finish venting her anger, Cai Bian slammed his hand on the table, stood up abruptly, and slapped her hard across the face, yelling, "You worthless wretch!"

Cai Yunting staggered from the blow, but Cai Bian showed no pity. He called over a servant and ordered, "Take her away! Lock her in a room, and don't let her out until she gets married!"

Xiao Dao thought to himself, "Really? With her temper, her family will probably have a hard time too. What if she can't get married? Will she be locked up for life?"

Before long, Cai Yunting was taken away. She was agitated and seemed to be throwing a tantrum, which aroused Xiao Dao's suspicions. Having studied medicine since childhood, she could tell that Cai Yunting had some issues.

"Oh dear, how could that brat hit so hard!" Cai Bian looked at the Seventh Concubine with heartache. Blood was flowing from the left corner of the Seventh Concubine's mouth, and she covered her face, looking pitiful.

"Master, I'm going to wash my face." After saying that, the seventh concubine was about to walk out, but after taking just one step, she swayed as if she had twisted her ankle.

Xiao Dao reached out and helped you up, laughing, "Let me help you."

"Thank you, Miss Hao." Seventh Concubine walked out beside Xiao Dao, not forgetting to wink at Cai Bian as she left.

Cai Bian smiled knowingly, looking quite satisfied.

Xue Beifan naturally saw through this trick.

For some reason, this was indeed a good way to test the Cai family, but he was inexplicably reluctant to use a knife to test Cai Bian, and he couldn't figure out why.

"Hehe, please excuse my rudeness, Young Master Xue." Cai Bian continued drinking with Xue Beifan, but he was clearly distracted.

"Lord Cai, if I may ask a question," Xue Beifan inquired, "why did Miss Cai call my wife a vixen the first time they met?"

“Uh…oh.” Cai Bian chuckled dryly. “Young Master Xue, you may not know this, but my daughter has a problem. She can’t stand beautiful women. She gets angry easily when she sees a young and pretty woman.”

Xue Beifan knew he was talking nonsense, so he didn't press the matter further. He was worried about Xiaodao—that girl was incredibly clever, she shouldn't be at a disadvantage, right?

At this moment, Xiao Dao helped the seventh concubine towards her courtyard. The courtyard was empty and deserted. Xiao Dao wondered, "Aren't there any maids serving her?"

"Sigh..." Seventh Concubine sighed deeply, "We concubines have no family background, and even the maids don't really care about us."

Xiao Dao smiled and helped her sit down.

"Miss Hao, there's my medicine box on the cabinet, could you please get it for me?"

"Okay." Xiao Dao stood up, went to the table, and found the medicine box in a half-open drawer.

Xiao Dao saw through it at a glance; it was a simple mechanism. Opening the drawer would cause powder to spill out, probably some kind of sleeping powder.

Xiao Dao remained calm and held his breath as he casually opened the drawer, seemingly without any warning.

Sure enough, with a "poof," a cloud of sleeping powder was released.

Xiao Dao was holding his breath, so he wasn't hit, but he still pretended to be dizzy for a moment, then swayed and fell to the ground.

Then, the seventh concubine let out a "sneer".

Xiao Dao's heart stirred slightly—oh, this cold laugh is quite different from that pitiful look just now.

The seventh concubine slowly walked over, her leg completely unharmed. She reached out and put the mechanism back in place, then squatted down, pinching Xiao Dao's chin as she examined him. After a long while, she coldly snorted again, then reached out and ripped out several strands of Xiao Dao's hair. Xiao Dao jolted in pain, thinking—"Ouch, crazy woman! That hurts so much!"

"You wretched slut!" the seventh concubine cursed viciously, "You little bitch!"

Xiao Dao muttered to himself, "Are all the women in the Cai household sick? Why do they love to curse so much?"

The Seventh Concubine dragged Xiaodao onto the bed and threw her heavily at him. Luckily, Xiaodao was light-footed and didn't get hurt. However, she finally understood that the Seventh Concubine must hate her to death. She was still putting on a brave face and helping Cai Bian to make connections, but it was probably all an act.

"Don't think you won't grow old just because you're young and beautiful. One day, you'll grow old too!" Seventh Concubine said, gently stroking the skin on Xiao Dao's cheek with her fingers. "So smooth. It's so good to be young... Back in the day, I was just this young!"

Xiao Dao was getting really nervous, thinking to himself, "Watch your nails, or you'll scratch me!"

"Hmph, once the master is done with you, I'll tear your tendons out, skin you alive, drink your blood, and rip your face to shreds!" Seventh Concubine gritted her teeth. "So what if you have a young and handsome husband? Who knows, he might be playing with other women behind your back!"