Han Shiyi showed a disdainful expression: "Don't even mention it. Those guys from the Lin family were afraid that my mother would hold them accountable, so after that fire, they directly announced that Lin An was expelled from the Lin family, and they also forbade Lin An's parents, brothers and sisters from supporting him!"
It was opportunistic, but also pragmatic. Avoiding offending the Han and Shui families, kicking Lin An out immediately was indeed the best solution at the time. Besides, no matter what, wasn't this Lin An reaping what he sowed?
Hehe~~!
Shi Tou shuddered violently and looked up shakily at Han Shiyi: "Why are you smiling so lewdly?"
"You pervert my foot! Look where you are outside!" Han Shiyi squinted and happily opened a crack in the car window.
Shi Tou looked over in surprise, and almost tripped and fell flat on his face: "Han Shiyi! You bastard! Waaaaah, you're going to kill me!"
What's outside? The Huo family's residence!!!
When exactly did that bastard Han Shiyi order the driver to change course? Thinking about how she absolutely refused to open the window just now, Shi Tou felt that she had been tricked again!
Han Shiyi, you're such a jerk!!!
☆, Chapter 259 The Unsolved Mystery of That Year
"Are you kidding me? I'm not going in!" Knowing that the entrance to the Huo family's residence was outside, Shi Tou clung to the seat in the carriage, refusing to get off. If before this, she might have thought her disguise was quite effective, but after being mercilessly shattered by Han Shiyi, she would never be so confident again.
Cough cough, even someone as clueless as Han Shiyi knows who she is. With Huo Xiaoxiao's shrewdness to the point of being insane, and knowing her so well, if she really enters the Huo family, Shi Tou thinks she'll definitely suffer a terrible fate!!!
"Alright, if you don't want to, that's fine. I won't force you." To Shi Tou's surprise, Han Shiyi nodded understandingly: "In that case, then forget it."
Stone stared at her dumbfounded: "Are you...are you alright?"
"Nonsense!" Han Shiyi rolled her eyes at Shi Tou, then yelled towards the car door, "Call Huo Xiaoxiao out for me!"
puff!
Shi Tou collapsed to the ground, realizing she had truly been wrong. How could she have thought Han Shiyi was so understanding?! But then she thought again that Han Shiyi might not be able to summon Huo Xiaoxiao. After all, although both were legitimate daughters of the six great families of the East, their social standing was vastly different.
Among the six great families of the East, the highest-ranking legitimate daughter is not from the Qin family, but from the Shui family. This is because the Shui family has always had its eldest daughter marry into the family through a marriage alliance. The Qin family comes next, with most of the Qin daughters marrying into noble families or even the royal family. Next is the Chu family.
The Chu family has always been small, making each child precious. The Huo family is somewhat unique in this generation, having only one daughter, Huo Xiaoxiao (Shitou was adopted!). The Lin and Han families have the lowest-ranking daughters. The Lin family's preference for sons is no secret; their daughters, whether born of the principal wife or a concubine, are used for political marriages. The Han family, however, has so many children that even their young master isn't highly valued.
In this way, Han Shiyi, the eleventh young lady of the Han family, is completely inferior to Huo Xiaoxiao. If Han Shiyi were to come to her door requesting to see her, perhaps Huo Xiaoxiao would be willing to grant her an audience. However, given that she herself doesn't dismount from the carriage, but the coachman shouts at her from outside, Shi Tou suspects that Huo Xiaoxiao will not come out.
Sure enough, after a while, the gatekeeper of the Huo family came out and whispered a few words to the coachman. Shi Tou, who was secretly peeking out of the carriage, confirmed that Huo Xiaoxiao wasn't behind him. The coachman then reported back to Han Shiyi that Huo Xiaoxiao wasn't at the Huo family's residence.
"What! Miss Huo has quite the airs!" Han Shiyi pouted, glaring at Shi Tou with displeasure. "Don't be so smug. As long as you stay in the capital, I don't believe you won't run into Huo Xiaoxiao!"
"So what?" Shi Tou rolled her eyes, indicating that Han Shiyi was just worrying about things that weren't her concern. She already had the self-awareness to know better; even if she saw Huo Xiaoxiao in the future, she could just avoid her, right? Huo Xiaoxiao was too proud to fawn over her!
"To Ironforge!" Han Shiyi hesitated for a moment, then immediately thought of another destination.
Stone was practically kneeling before her: "Han Shiyi! What exactly do you want?"
"I'll take you to see that Grand Steward Hua Wushuang!" Han Shiyi nodded naturally. "I haven't properly thanked him since the incident!"
"Then what were you doing all this time?" Shi Tou glared at her angrily. Honestly, Han Shiyi was just looking for a chance to make a fool of herself!
Unexpectedly, Han Shiyi suddenly changed her expression, looking at Shi Tou innocently: "Do you really think that after I beat Lin An to the point of paralysis and disfigured Han Shier, I won't be punished at all? I'm not the eldest daughter of the Huo family!"
"I don't see any sign that you've been punished!"
"Solitary confinement! Except for the few days I was out when I got engaged, I've been in solitary confinement the rest of the time! This time, my brother only let me out because the elders in the family were all out of sight." Han Shiyi muttered, looking very dissatisfied.
Suddenly, a thought struck Shi Tou. Although the Han family ranked last among the six major families of the East, they would definitely be involved if any of the Eastern families made any unusual moves. With this in mind, Shi Tou could no longer blame Han Shiyi for acting on her own initiative.
"Poetic, let me ask you, has the capital been acting strangely lately?"
Hearing this, Han Shiyi looked completely bewildered: "What's so strange? I haven't left the house for almost a year."
"Then... to put it another way, has the Han family been acting a bit strange lately?"
Han Shiyi scratched her head: "No, it's just that the elders are very busy, and I guess I've been in solitary confinement for a long time, so they've become too lazy to care about me."
Intuition told Shi Tou that the truth was definitely not that simple. Otherwise, Han San wouldn't have been so interested in her when she appeared at the gates of the capital.
"By the way, I saw Han San with Lin An's sister, Lin Lan, yesterday."
Han Shiyi blinked, her face showing no sign of surprise: "Is it strange?"
"Isn't that strange?" Shi Tou felt she was about to be defeated by Han Shiyi: "Are Lin Lan and Han San very familiar with each other?"
"We're not exactly close, but you know my brother. He changes women every few days. Lin Lan may not be of high status, but she's not bad looking, right? Given my brother's character, it's not impossible for him to seduce her, is it?"
Stone was truly helpless: "Your brother..."
"My brother is a womanizer, you don't need to worry about him!" Han Shiyi had no qualms about talking badly about him behind her brother's back: "Oh right! I just remembered, it seems like something happened at home."
"Huh? What's up?"
Han Shiyi frowned as she pondered for a moment before speaking, "Now that you mention it, I do remember. Actually, after that incident, I got engaged to a young master from the Terunsu family. The wedding was originally scheduled for three months ago, but it was suddenly postponed."
"Really? Did someone dump you?"
Han Shiyi looked at Shi Tou's gloating expression with a black line on her face: "I say, Miss Huo, what did I do to offend you? Why are you so happy?"
Shi Tou chuckled. She recalled the half-true, half-false information about Yi Siyue and made a firm decision in her heart that Yi Siyue was definitely not a good person!
"Although I don't consider myself as beautiful as Han Shi'er before she was disfigured, you should know that although our Han family's status is not as high as your Huo family's, we would never dare to break off the engagement with the already fallen Terunsu family. Moreover, these Western nobles don't care much about my reputation."
When it came to reputation, Shi Tou fell silent. Although the Eastern families in this other world weren't as extravagant as the feudal society of Shi Tou's previous life, they still valued etiquette. A woman like Han Shiyi, who, while not necessarily defiled, had been touched or seen by other men, would absolutely not find a suitable marriage in an Eastern family. Fortunately, the Westerners here didn't seem to care much about this. Besides, Han Shiyi hadn't truly lost her virginity.
"What happened?" Stone finally stopped laughing and asked seriously.
Han Shiyi reached out and slapped Shi Tou on the forehead: "What are you pretending for? Do you think you're Huo Xiaoxiao?"
Stone felt a mouthful of blood choke in his throat. What kind of person was this? It wasn't about laughing at her, nor was it about being completely serious. Had she gone through early menopause?!
"At first I was a little surprised, but then I heard that Huo Xiaoxiao's wedding was also delayed, and so was my other cousin's. Later my brother told me that ever since the eldest daughter of the Qin family married Lin Yao, the Dongfang family has never held a wedding banquet again."
Shi Tou stared at Han Shiyi with a mosquito coil-like gaze. Although it was indeed very strange, he just couldn't figure out why. Could it be that the six major families of the East wanted to avoid suspicion? But that didn't make sense either, because for hundreds of years, the six major families of the East had already been intermarrying, so what would avoiding suspicion mean now?
After pondering for a while, Shi Tou still couldn't figure it out, but Han Shiyi remembered something else: "You know, I don't have a high status in the Han family, and family matters are kept from me, but there is one exception. I remember that when my brother released me this morning, he specifically told me not to have any dealings with the Qin family."
"Hmm?" Shi Tou raised an eyebrow. If she remembered correctly, the current Queen, the biological mother of this body, was the eldest daughter of the previous generation of the Qin family and the biological daughter of the current head of the Qin family. "Could it be that the Qin family has colluded with the royal family?"
Han Shiyi's eyes widened: "What? What do you mean by that? Are you colluding with the royal family?"
Shi Tou broke out in a cold sweat; she seemed to have said something she shouldn't have.
"Huo Yi, tell me, what exactly happened? Why did you suddenly leave the capital back then? Do you know how frantically Huo Xiaoxiao searched for you back then? And why did you suddenly come back this time? What happened?"
Seeing Han Shiyi's unusually serious expression, Shi Tou didn't know how to talk to her. After hesitating for a while, she could only briefly recount what happened when she left the capital. But this would involve Princess Doragar.
Han Shiyi wasn't stupid; she quickly realized that Shi Tou wasn't the real second young lady of the Huo family. However, since Huo Xiaoxiao had admitted it, she didn't want to spell it out: "If it really was Huo Xiaoxiao who made you leave, then the way she acted back then was just an act?"
But isn't this just putting on a show too convincingly?
Shi Tou lowered her head, remembering the simple communication tool Huo Xiaoxiao had given her. Actually, back then, Huo Xiaoxiao must have realized it wouldn't implicate her, which is why she was allowed to return, right?
So it turns out she really misunderstood.
Chapter 260: The Real and Fake Miss Huo
"What's wrong with you? Is that look of guilt on your face?" Han Shiyi asked, looking at Shi Tou's expression with great confusion. "You can feel guilty?"
Damn it! Why can't she feel guilty?
"Han Shiyi!"
"Oh dear, we've arrived! Let's get off the bus quickly!" Han Shiyi grabbed Shi Tou's hand and started to walk outside. Shi Tou didn't want to get off the bus at first, but then he thought that if it were Yi Siyue, she would never expect her to come back to Ironforge, so he wasn't so panicked anymore.
"Alright, alright, stop arguing, I can walk by myself!" Shi Tou felt that today was definitely an unlucky day for her, but fortunately Huo Xiaoxiao did not come out to see her.
But Shi Tou's relief was short-lived. Han Shiyi dragged her into Ironforge, demanding to see Grand Steward Hua Wushuang directly. Considering Han Shiyi was the eleventh young lady of the Han family and a friend of the former master of Ironforge, Hua Wushuang readily agreed to meet her, but…
"Aghhhhh!" The moment Shi Tou saw the person behind Hua Wushuang, she let out a blood-curdling scream. Han Shiyi, who was closest to her, was so frightened that her legs almost gave way and she fainted.
Caught off guard, Steward Hua was also startled and instinctively looked back: "Wh-whether we are scarier or not?"
Standing behind Steward Hua, Huo Xiaoxiao, who was about to leave Ironforge, suddenly narrowed her eyes dangerously, and her whole body began to exude a terrifying aura.
Head Steward Hua hesitated for a moment: "Um, it should be me, I'm the scary one." Waaaaah, this is the first time I've realized how ferocious Miss Huo can be when she's angry!
However, Steward Hua quickly realized his mistake. Miss Huo could indeed be ruthless when angry, but she wasn't angry at all just now; she was merely brewing an impending storm: "Steward Hua, please take both of them to the special lounge. I have something I want to discuss with them."
"Huh?" Steward Hua looked at Huo Xiaoxiao with great surprise, because just now, Huo Xiaoxiao had told him that she had a very important matter to attend to later, but... "Alright, ladies, please!"
Shi Tou huddled trembling behind Han Shiyi. Why did Huo Xiaoxiao's appearance give her the illusion that things had been exposed? Waaah! I'm so scared!
After being forced into the special rest room, Shi Tou's premonition grew stronger, but because of everyone's gaze, she dared not directly enter her spatial ring. However, she figured that if Huo Xiaoxiao really recognized her, she would hide in her spatial ring and refuse to come out!
"Chief Steward Hua, leave things here to me. You can go ahead and get busy." Huo Xiaoxiao's tone was quite calm, at least on the surface.
Manager Hua looked at Huo Xiaoxiao with a puzzled expression, but then obediently left.
Stone roared inwardly, "You bastard, you've never listened to me like this before! I'm so angry!"
“Miss Han?” Huo Xiaoxiao walked up to Han Shiyi: “Please sit down with your friend.”
Han Shiyi glanced back at Shi Tou. She didn't think Huo Xiaoxiao would target her. Firstly, although the Han family's status within the Dongfang family was low, the two families weren't enemies. Secondly, Han Shiyi felt that someone's identity was most likely about to be exposed.
"Miss Han, may I ask what brings you to Ironforge?" Huo Xiaoxiao asked elegantly, pouring a cup of tea for each of the two people in front of her.
While Han Shiyi and Huo Xiaoxiao were exchanging greetings, Shi Tou secretly observed Huo Xiaoxiao. Two years had passed, and although Huo Xiaoxiao was only fifteen years old, she looked remarkably mature. Perhaps it was because she was of mixed race; her body appeared very well-developed, with a slender waist, shapely hips, and a full, rounded figure—she looked every bit the mature and alluring woman.
Seeing this, Shi Tou suddenly felt depressed. Even though she had used time magic to grow up, her figure wasn't even as good as Huo Xiaoxiao's, who was younger than her. Sigh, how sad!
"Is this Miss Shi?"
Just as he was feeling sorry for himself, Huo Xiaoxiao suddenly spoke to him, which startled Shi Tou: "Ahem, yes, I am Shi Tou."
"This name... well, it's very creative."
Stone was speechless. Was she being praised or insulted? "Ahem, her parents aren't very educated."
"Really? I think it's quite nice." Huo Xiaoxiao said casually, "By the way, is Miss Shi also of East Asian descent?"