Rebirth: After Becoming the Villainess-Chapter 268: Granny Will Never Break Her Word
Song Lianhe had run into the first career bottleneck since transmigrating into the book.
Someone had stolen her villainess schtick!
Not only had they stolen it, but they’d also hit her!
Staring at the now-corrupted heroine across from her, she wanted to cry but had no tears. How could things be this frustrating?!
Since everyone had laid their cards on the table, there was no longer any need to pretend. Song Lianhe reached up, pulled off the pile of assorted ornaments from her head, and dumped them all into Da Xi’s arms.
Wearing all those hairpins was making her neck ache.
"Well, well, you figured it out, huh?" Song Lianhe took out a silk handkerchief and slowly wiped away her lip rouge. "The Sun Shangxiang part was fake, but I really am Jintang’s Granny."
"Nonsense! I grew up with you in the General Mansion. How could I not know you have a grand-nephew? And one who just so happens to be the son of a deceased, disgraced official? Song Lianhe, don’t think I don’t know what you’re scheming!"
The two words "disgraced official" enraged E Jintang once more. He instantly raised his thousand-pound hammer, only to be forcefully held back by Xuan Mei.
’I’d love to run this woman through with my sword, too, but she’s Zhou Junlin’s consort. If anything happened to her, the blame would fall on our Lord’s head.’
If even Song Lianhe could see that, how could Xuan Mei not know?
"Stop calling him a ’disgraced official’ over and over. Are you just bullying my grand-nephew because his father is dead and can’t prove his own innocence?" Song Lianhe’s intention to protect the E Family was perfectly clear.
This confirmed Song Xilan’s earlier suspicions. ’She has ulterior motives. She’s trying to meddle in my affairs to stand out in front of Zhou Junlin!’
’She’s never given up on Zhou Junlin!’
’Otherwise, why would she disguise herself and try to seduce him?’
’Zhou Cangqing must know about all this. He might have even arranged it!’
’That ridiculous fool, Song Lianhe, is being used by someone else again.’
"’Grew up together’?" Song Lianhe sneered. "You and your mother were kept in the outer courtyard. It was only after my mother passed away that Song Xingfeng dared to bring your mother into the main family. So how can you claim we grew up together? How much do you really know about the Lin family’s affairs? Pathetic!"
Song Xilan’s face darkened, and the cloud of mist above her head grew thicker. It was clear from her mood that she wanted nothing more than to rip Song Lianhe to shreds.
Song Lianhe strode over to E Jintang. "Squat down a little."
Although E Jintang didn’t understand what she was planning, he obediently assumed a horse stance.
Song Lianhe stepped directly onto his knee and stood on his thigh, throwing an arm around his shoulder. From her high perch, she looked down at Song Xilan. "You listen to me and you listen good. E Xianwang was my distant nephew, which makes E Jintang my distant grand-nephew! Right now, my niece-in-law is a widow with an orphaned son. Anyone who dares to give their family trouble is making an enemy of me! And I will not let it slide!"
E Jintang lifted his seemingly dark and simple-minded face and stared at her blankly. A golden light gradually filled his vacant eyes.
In his eyes, Song Lianhe was surrounded by brilliant golden sunlight, like an inextinguishable beacon that lit up this moment and would light up the rest of his life...
After speaking, Song Lianhe jumped down from E Jintang’s leg and lifted her chin. "Grand-nephew, let’s go."
She then led her small group right past Song Xilan.
Song Xilan slowly clenched her jaw, staring in the direction Song Lianhe had left. "Man Yue."
Man Yue scrambled up from the ground and limped over.
"Keep an eye on her."
Man Yue was also grinding her teeth, her eyes filled with hatred. "Yes!"
—
E Jintang led Song Lianhe and the others to the courtyard where he lived. In the entire E Mansion, it was the only place that was quiet.
Because no one dared to approach it.
They had just stepped inside when they heard the sound of dogs barking. WOOF WOOF WOOF.
As he pushed open the courtyard gate, seven or eight giant dogs immediately lunged forward. When they reared up on their hind legs, they were as tall as a person.
Da Xi screamed and hid behind the gate in fright.
E Jintang immediately barked, "Back!"
The seven or eight dogs obediently retreated to their kennels and lay down one by one. Despite their huge size, they now just panted with their tongues out, wagging their tails, and didn’t come any closer.
After scolding them, E Jintang turned his head and looked at Da Xi with a slightly apologetic expression, at a loss for how to comfort her.
Song Lianhe wasn’t afraid of dogs. In fact, she quite liked these furry friends. It was just that modern life was so stressful and fast-paced that she had a hard enough time taking care of herself, let alone a pet.
Seeing so many dogs at once today actually made her quite excited.
"You raised all of these?"
Seeing that she wasn’t disgusted or fearful like most women, E Jintang’s eyes lit up, and he nodded eagerly. "Mhm!" Then he pointed to them one by one and introduced them. "Big Tiger, Er Hu, Three Tiger, Four Tiger, Five Tiger..."
Song Lianhe nodded.
’I get it.’
’So "Tiger" is the unit of measurement here.’
She couldn’t help but laugh. "No wonder no one dares to come close. Even if they weren’t scared to death, the noise alone would kill them."
Seeing that she wasn’t afraid, Da Xi also plucked up her courage and drew closer.
Song Lianhe laughed at her. "You’re from Sui Bei, and you’re still afraid of a few furry creatures?"
"I was bitten when I was little, so I’m scared."
"Ah, I see."
Song Lianhe immediately had E Jintang tie up the big dogs for the time being.
Seeing them being tied up one by one, Da Xi felt a little sorry for them.
Just then, Xuan Mei, who had been silent the whole time, spoke in a cold voice, "Are you just going to let her off the hook like that?"
The others turned to look at her, all of them knowing exactly who she meant.
Xuan Mei said, word by word, "Song Xilan is a Princess Consort, but so are you. She slapped you in public. You may be able to swallow that insult, but I can’t."
"Me neither!" Da Xi was also fuming. "I used to hear the madam talk about her, and seeing her today, she’s really a piece of work! Ptooey!"
"Mhm!" E Jintang also nodded emphatically.
Song Lianhe, in contrast, was perfectly calm and composed. While playing with the giant dogs, she said unhurriedly, "Who said I was going to swallow it? A face as pretty as mine isn’t something she can just touch whenever she feels like it. It’s just that revenge is a dish best served cold, you know?"
Xuan Mei narrowed her eyes suspiciously and then suddenly asked, "What did you do?"
The young woman looked up and winked at her. "You’ll find out soon enough."
At that, she stood up. "Grand-nephew, take me to see my niece-in-law."
E Jintang immediately and respectfully led the way, not feeling in the least that she was taking advantage of him and his mother by calling them family.
It was the same side courtyard as before.
But this time, they didn’t see anyone.
"Mom! Mom! Where’s my mom?!"
Unable to see his mother, E Jintang panicked and began rampaging around like a furious bull.
The butler hurried over and explained that the madam was feeling unwell and had been moved to the south courtyard to be personally cared for by Princess Consort Ling, so they should all rest assured.
E Jintang was in no state to listen to all that. He immediately tried to head for the south courtyard to find his mother, but Song Lianhe pulled him back.
"Grand-nephew, Granny has a few questions for you."
E Jintang grew anxious. "But my mom..."
"Don’t you worry. Granny will definitely save your mother. I’ll make sure you and she are both safe and sound!" Song Lianhe said, enunciating every word.
E Jintang looked at her, and his hands slowly dropped to his sides. "Jintang trusts Granny."
That single word, "trusts," actually moved Song Lianhe.
She looked at him and smiled. "Granny will never break her promise!"
