Keep Stirring Up Trouble

Xia Jingcheng saw Hua Yichen return, and his eyes remained fixed on him.

Seeing this scene, Qin Xiaoran despised himself for having been so blind before. It was not the first time he had seen the two of them, yet he had failed to notice the hidden affection between them.

Bing Ling wanted to watch the excitement, but she was hungry. Rubbing her stomach, she said to them, "Didn't we come here to eat? If we don't eat soon, my stomach will be flattened from hunger!"

Seeing how serious she sounded, Feng Wuhen chuckled. "Didn't you just eat a few buns? How are you still this hungry?"

"How could those few buns possibly fill my stomach? They only laid the tiniest foundation. I'm still hungry."

Feng Wuhen had only been teasing her. Seeing that she truly could not endure her hunger any longer, he said to Qin Xiaoran, "Senior Brother, let's order. We really are hungry."

Hearing this, Hua Yichen stopped Qin Xiaoran's hand as he was about to call the waiter over. "I already said I would treat you all to this meal. Waiter, clear these things off the table. Then bring out all your signature dishes, and cook two basins of Jade-Stem Rice. Pick out a few spiritual dishes as you see fit, and prepare two pots of good wine as well."

Hua Yichen had stayed here for two days, so everyone in the inn knew that he was someone who did not lack money. Hearing him order so many dishes in one breath, the waiter's grin nearly split to his ears.

The more the guests ordered, the more silver they would receive at the end of the month. At this thought, the waiter eagerly agreed, flung the towel on his shoulder, and hurried into the kitchen to urge the cooks to get moving.

Feng Wuhen and the others found seats and sat down. With red ears, Hua Yichen took the initiative to invite Xia Jingcheng. "Senior Brother, you didn't eat your fill just now either, did you? If you don't mind, sit and eat with us!"

Naturally, Xia Jingcheng did not mind. He leisurely walked over and sat beside Hua Yichen. From the corner of his eye, he noticed Hua Yichen's ears reddening because of his approach, and the corners of his lips could not help but curl upward slightly.

As soon as Feng Wuhen sat down and poured each of them a cup of tea, he saw someone he did not particularly like sitting across from him.

Some people truly had skin thicker than city walls. No one had invited her, yet Xu Niannian found herself a seat and sat down.

Hua Yichen considered her his junior sister. Even if he disliked her, he could not chase her away with words after she had already sat down.

Meng Hongying, however, was not so good-tempered. She had always been blunt and said whatever was on her mind. "Some people really have no shame. They just ruined someone else's image in front of others, yet they still have the nerve to mooch off that person's table. They have truly displayed the four words 'brazen and shameless' in all their glory!"

Xu Niannian knew Meng Hongying was talking about her, but since she had neither named nor pointed at her, arguing would only make her look guilty. She could only pretend that she understood nothing.

Seeing Xu Niannian's awful expression, Qin Leyan gently tugged at Meng Hongying's sleeve beneath the table, telling her to stop talking.

Then she whispered, "I heard that eating while looking at someone with a bad complexion causes indigestion. So stop talking and spare her. Let us eat in peace too."

Meng Hongying had originally thought Qin Leyan was telling her to stop because she pitied Xu Niannian. She had not expected her senior sister to be even more ruthless.

Was Qin Leyan not telling Xu Niannian that if she wanted to eat, she should put on a pleasant face, and if she did not, she should get lost, lest she stay here and ruin everyone's appetite?

Xu Niannian's already ugly expression became even uglier after hearing this. Not only did she bear a grudge against Meng Hongying, who had always opposed her, but Qin Leyan was now added to that list as well.

Qin Leyan hated people like this most of all—those who knew perfectly well that someone else already had someone they liked, yet still insisted on throwing themselves at them. Thus, she thoroughly disliked Xu Niannian.

Qin Xiaoran knew why his younger sister disliked Xu Niannian. Feeling sorry for her, he reached out and rubbed her head. Qin Leyan turned and smiled at him, indicating that she was fine.

Xu Niannian looked toward Hua Yichen, hoping that he would protect her, but she had forgotten what she had done earlier. How could Hua Yichen possibly defend her now?

Seeing Hua Yichen avoid her gaze, Xu Niannian's hand beneath the table could not help clenching tightly. Her nails left crescent-shaped marks in her palm.

Feng Wuhen watched the show with great delight, muttering inwardly, I never expected my two senior sisters to be this formidable. They turned Xu Niannian's face from green to red, her lethality completely maxed out.

But Xu Niannian is no good person. She has borne a grudge against both senior sisters and is plotting how to make them lose face later!

Oh, so she wants to pour wine for them, then take the chance to slip itching powder into it and make my two senior sisters embarrass themselves in public.

Heh, with me here, it is still uncertain who will be the one losing face!

Hearing an unfamiliar voice ring by his ear, Xia Jingcheng saw that Feng Wuhen and the others had not moved their lips. Just as he was wondering whether to ask if anyone else had heard it, Hua Yichen's voice transmission sounded in his mind.

"Senior Brother, do not make a sound. This is the inner voice of Junior Brother Feng from Mount Grand Mystery. For some unknown reason, we can hear it, but everything he says is true.

Senior Brother Qin said we must not let Junior Brother Feng know that we can hear his inner voice, so Senior Brother, you absolutely must not give anything away."

After hearing his inner voice, Xia Jingcheng turned his head to look at Hua Yichen's bright, animated eyes and gave a gentle nod.

Hua Yichen's face instantly turned red. He turned away, not daring to look at him, while an intense rumbling sounded by his ears. Only belatedly did he realize that it was the sound of his own heartbeat.

Very soon, the dishes they had ordered arrived. Xu Niannian was the first to take the wine cups and one of the wine pots. As she poured, one hand covered the cup while the other, hidden in a blind spot, flicked the powder concealed beneath her fingernail into the wine cup.

The moment the powder entered the wine, it vanished without a trace, leaving behind not the slightest evidence.

Xu Niannian poured two cups. She drugged the latter cup using the same method as the first, then placed the two drugged cups before Meng Hongying and Qin Leyan.

She poured herself a cup as well. Naturally, her own cup had not been drugged.

Xu Niannian raised her wine cup and cupped her hands toward Meng Hongying and Qin Leyan. "Only after seeing you two junior sisters today did I understand what heavenly beauty truly meant. I like and admire you both very much. I wonder if I might become friends with you?"

As she spoke, she wore a gentle, appreciative gaze. If they had not learned of what she had done from Feng Wuhen, who would have thought that someone like this was a bad person?

Feng Wuhen felt it was time to make his move. He snapped the bracelet he had prepared beforehand, and the beads fell to the floor with tinkling sounds, rolling everywhere.

Feng Wuhen smiled apologetically at everyone. "I'm truly sorry. This bracelet is very old. I had always wanted to restring it with something sturdier, but never got around to it.

Who would have thought it would come loose this time? Could I trouble you all to help me find the beads? They are very important to me."

Shen Ziheng and Bing Ling were the first to lower their heads and search. Seeing this, everyone else hurriedly looked down as well. In order not to appear like an odd one out, Xu Niannian also put down her cup, bent over, and peered beneath the table.

The moment she lowered her head, Feng Wuhen swapped her wine with Qin Leyan's. He then directly put away Meng Hongying's wine cup and replaced it with a new one.

When the waiter had delivered the wine earlier, Feng Wuhen had specifically asked him to bring several extra cups. This was exactly why.

By the time Xu Niannian raised her head empty-handed, Feng Wuhen had already finished switching them.

Xu Niannian did not notice anything amiss. Instead, she continued to toast Meng Hongying and Qin Leyan, and the two of them drank openly and generously.

They knew that Feng Wuhen had deliberately caused that little commotion just now in order to switch the wine.

The wine they drank now was certainly safe, but as for what Xu Niannian was drinking, well...