Gossip Delivered to Their Door

An Yan was so shocked by Jiang Nuan's thoughts that she forgot to respond.

Seeing An Yan ignore him, a flicker of impatience crossed Mao Yonghong's eyes. With his status, he was always surrounded like the moon among a host of stars wherever he went. He knew all the Capital City's prominent young noblewomen, and neither of these two was on the list of people he could not afford to provoke.

Besides, they were plainly dressed, and this was hardly an upscale establishment. One look told him they were nobodies.

Little did Jiang Nuan know that the understated outfit she had chosen would become someone's excuse to look down on her.

"Do you know who I am? How dare you ignore me! Looks like you don't want to survive in the Capital City anymore!"

He would not let her stay in the Capital City? How interesting!

"So who are you, then? What makes you think you can talk so big?"

Jiang Nuan looked at them, speechless.

Naturally, she knew who they were. She simply wanted to hear them say it themselves.

Just as Mao Yonghong was about to announce his identity, his elder brother, Mao Yi, stopped him.

"Miss, my younger brother was a little rash. He simply fell for you at first sight. May I ask which family you belong to?"

Mao Yi seemed perfectly courteous at first, yet he made no attempt to conceal his probing into An Yan's and Jiang Nuan's family backgrounds.

Deep down, he too believed they were not daughters of the rich and powerful, and his words carried plenty of contempt.

"No family in particular. If there's nothing else, gentlemen, I'll be leaving."

An Yan had no intention of getting entangled with them and turned to leave.

From Jiang Nuan's thoughts, she already knew who these two were. Illegitimate sons and all that—she had no idea what Great General Mao was thinking. Better one less problem than one more. It was best to keep her distance.

"Hey, miss, don't be in such a hurry to leave! Why not have a cup of tea at the General's Residence first?"

Mao Yonghong blocked their path, invoking the name of the General's Residence.

That made An Yan hesitate, and she instinctively looked at Jiang Nuan.

Although Jiang Nuan looked angry on the surface, inwardly she was positively blooming with delight.

[Go, go, go! Say yes, sister! This is juicy gossip delivered right to our door! We'd be fools not to dig in! Besides, even if their father comes, he can't touch a single hair on our heads!]

Just who was her little sister? She was not even afraid of Great General Mao. A few suspicions began to stir in An Yan's mind.

But since her little sister wanted to feast on gossip, she certainly had to support her as her older sister!

And so An Yan put on her act, gritting her teeth as though caught in a painful dilemma before finally yielding helplessly.

"All right, I'll go. Please lead the way!"

Satisfied by An Yan's compliance, the brothers nodded. Sure enough, these women changed their tune the moment they heard the name of the General's Residence. Every last one wanted to climb onto a higher branch, without stopping to consider whether she deserved it.

Jiang Nuan, however, thought An Yan was genuinely frightened. Unable to tell her outright that she had nothing to worry about, she could only squeeze her hand, hoping to ease her nerves.

*[Don't be scared, sister! My scumbag dad assigned Shadow Wei to me, and someone among the guards nearby must have already gone to notify my scumbag dad and my brother. They'll definitely come.

Sigh, if only my sister could hear my thoughts.]*

Jiang Nuan sighed inwardly, then saw An Yan wink at her where the brothers could not see. In an instant, she realized her sister had only been acting.

Once they went outside, the brothers glanced back to check whether the girls were following and caught their little exchange. Only then did their attention settle on Jiang Nuan.

They had no interest in a little squirt. Bringing her along would only get in the way, so they tried to send Jiang Nuan off.

[No! How can I let my sister go alone? These two have bad intentions toward her. Absolutely not!]

Jiang Nuan resisted fiercely.

An Yan immediately hugged Jiang Nuan and said, "If you won't let my little sister come, I'm not going either!"

Mao Yonghong frowned. A mere woman dared to defy him? If his brother had not told him to behave himself lately, he would never have wasted so much time on her. He would have simply tied her up and taken her to the General's Residence. It was not as though he had never done it before.

"Forget it. Just let them both come. Once they're at the General's Residence, won't they have to do whatever we say?"

Mao Yi whispered this beside Mao Yonghong.

Mao Yonghong thought that made sense and agreed.

They soon arrived at the General's Residence.

"Steward Zhang, why did my father summon us back in such a hurry? Didn't my mother arrive before us? Where is she now?"

Mao Yonghong asked the moment he saw Steward Zhang.

At the sight of the two brothers, Steward Zhang's expression was anything but friendly. He did not even answer.

The two seemed long accustomed to this. Although their fists clenched tightly beneath their sleeves, smiles remained on their faces.

Once they reached their courtyard, the brothers smashed the teacups on the table in fury.

"What does he think he is? He's just a servant, yet he dares give us that attitude! In his eyes, Mao Zhonglin is the only young master of the General's Residence. Once this place falls into our hands, I'll make him see a few colors!"

After venting his temper, Mao Yonghong turned his attention straight to An Yan.

"Heh, little beauty, I was going to give you some tender loving care today. Unfortunately, I'm in a bad mood, so you'll just have to suffer a little."

After he spoke, two maids came forward to throw An Yan out, but she nimbly dodged them.

An Yan hated being stared at with that disgusting, slimy gaze more than anything. She grabbed Mao Yonghong with one hand and kicked him right in his most vulnerable spot.

Mao Yonghong was merely a frail scholar. How could he compare with An Yan, who had spent years doing physical labor? One kick sent him rolling frantically across the ground in agony.

Mao Yi's expression changed at once. "Guards! Tie these two up!"

The moment he spoke, more than a dozen maids and manservants rushed out from all around them.

Supported by a maid, Mao Yonghong staggered to his feet, his face contorted.

"You filthy bitch! I've given you far too much face! Neither of you is leaving the General's Residence alive today! And if anything happens to my manhood, I'll send all nine branches of your families to hell!"

[Send all nine branches of my family to hell? What an interesting thing to say. If my scumbag dad hears about this, there's no telling whose nine family branches will end up in hell!]

Jiang Nuan was not frightened in the slightest by Mao Yonghong's words.

As for An Yan, if he really could send her biased parents to hell, she might even have to thank him.

Neither of them feared their threats at all.

The people around them immediately moved in to pin Jiang Nuan and An Yan down.

Faced with so many people, Jiang Nuan had no intention of putting on a brave front. She was about to call out the Shadow Guards her father had arranged for her to save the situation when Guagua stopped her.

[Host, Great General Mao will arrive on the battlefield in five seconds. There's no need to call in the Shadow Guards.]