Xiao Fenghua was, after all, the eldest legitimate daughter of Jing Prince's Estate, the "Rouge Tiger" who could contend with men in the Imperial Court and on the battlefield. Her strength of character far surpassed what most people could imagine.
She ignored the strange looks from Xiao Yun and Xiao Sheng. She didn't even let her gaze linger for a second on Xiao Sheng's twisted, laughter-stifling face, but looked straight at Zhang Yu on the daybed.
"Young Master Zhang."
Xiao Fenghua's voice had returned to its usual coolness.
"I didn't come today solely on official business."
She spoke with sincerity. "Yesterday... my two good-for-nothing younger brothers, Xiao Sheng and Xiao Yun, offended you quite a bit and showed you disrespect."
Beside her, Xiao Sheng pointed at himself, his face full of disbelief.
What did I do? Yesterday, Xiao Yun was the one who started trouble.
Xiao Yun, meanwhile, reacted calmly this time, because he had heard Xiao Xuan's warning: he wasn't to say another word, much less burst out laughing.
Ignoring the two of them, Xiao Fenghua continued, "Xiao Sheng in particular has been spoiled by me. He acts recklessly and speaks without thinking. And Xiao Yun..."
"One is my younger brother, the other my cousin. If they've done wrong, then it's because I, as their older sister, have failed to discipline them."
Xiao Fenghua looked back at Zhang Yu, struggling to squeeze a trace of "guilt" onto her face. Unfortunately, it looked rather stiff.
"So I've come today to apologize to you on their behalf. I hope you'll... be magnanimous and not hold it against them."
Her words were impeccably proper, cleverly disguising the motive behind this "beauty scheme" as an apology on behalf of her younger brothers.
Leaning against the daybed, Zhang Yu regarded her with an amused smile. "County Princess, you really are like a mother to your younger brothers, sparing no effort for them. Still, I'd say your younger brother Xiao Sheng seems to have... settled in quite well here."
Xiao Sheng nodded frantically beside her, indicating that he was very well settled indeed, and even enjoying himself.
The corner of Xiao Fenghua's mouth twitched slightly, but she ignored Xiao Sheng's hints.
She took a deep breath and decided to follow the next step Concubine Liu had taught her—showing "shyness" and "fragility."
She turned slightly to avoid Zhang Yu's piercing gaze, then raised a hand and pretended to casually tuck a lock of hair behind her ear.
Concubine Liu had carefully taught her this gesture, claiming it would show off the graceful curve of a woman's neck and an alluring, unspoken charm.
However, because the gesture was so deliberate, and because she was actually nervous out of her mind, it looked more like she was... shooing away a fly.
"Young Master Zhang, you jest..."
She tried to make her voice sound gentler. "Xiao Sheng is... just an immature child. As his older sister, I'm at my wits' end with him. He often makes me so angry I could cry."
As she spoke, she secretly raised her eyelids and stole a quick glance at Zhang Yu.
Then she lowered her head again at once, like a startled fawn. Two red patches bloomed on her face... well, they looked more like the flush of embarrassment and barely contained frustration.
"Pfft—cough, cough, cough!"
Xiao Sheng beside her could no longer hold it in. He burst into a fit of violent coughing, his entire face turning red.
He clamped both hands over his mouth, his shoulders shaking wildly like a goose having a seizure.
His older sister, who usually beat or scolded him at the drop of a hat and could grab him with one hand and toss him ten meters away, was pretending to be fragile.
That was a thousand times more horrifying than seeing the sun rise in the west.
Xiao Sheng felt like he was about to laugh himself to death. But every time he met Xiao Fenghua's knife-sharp glance, the laugh that was about to burst from his throat was scared into a silent spasm.
For the sake of his life, he could only pinch his own thigh as hard as he could, using the pain to keep himself sane. His face twisted into an abstract sculpture.
Xiao Yun was about to lose it too. He exchanged a glance with Xiao Sheng, and they both looked up at the sky at the same time.
These two fellow sufferers really didn't dare look at Xiao Fenghua again, afraid they'd burst out laughing.
Zhang Yu wasn't very familiar with Xiao Fenghua. He assumed this was simply what she was like and thought nothing of it.
"County Princess, you're too kind."
Zhang Yu decided to play along. "I get along well enough with your younger brothers. There's no need to apologize."
Xiao Fenghua was secretly delighted to hear this, thinking her "performance" had worked and made Zhang Yu take a liking to her.
Remembering Concubine Liu's advice that "men like to be admired and relied upon," she decided to turn up the heat.
She took half a step forward and lifted her chin slightly, making her voice even softer.
"Young Master Zhang is so magnanimous. Fenghua... is deeply grateful.
"Truthfully, Fenghua has always... always admired your talent and bearing. To remain so composed in a situation like this is beyond the reach of ordinary people."
As she spoke, she inwardly railed against the nauseating lines Concubine Liu had taught her. The "flush" on her face deepened, making her look genuinely sincere.
Xiao Sheng and Xiao Yun watched from the side, their stomachs churning. They could only bury their faces in their sleeves, their bodies shaking like sieves.
Watching this woman before him struggle to appear "shy" and "admiring," Zhang Yu finally couldn't help but chuckle.
"Heh, County Princess, you flatter me."
He shook his head, his tone touched with amusement. "I'm no more than a prisoner. I hardly deserve your admiration. Still, you seem rather different today from the decisive, ruthless woman of the rumors."
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