How dare you scratch her face!

Yu Shengsheng pointed at the chest.

"If General Su does not believe me, please take a close look. There is a ledger at the very bottom of the chest."

Of course, Su Huaishan did not believe her, yet he indeed found a ledger at the bottom of the chest.

He flipped it open, and Yu Shengsheng said calmly, "The dates and items recorded in this ledger all match the contents inside this chest, with the exception of a white jade rabbit previously smashed by the second young master."

Su Huaishan turned the pages one by one. The dates were continuous, every entry clear, with no traces of tearing or alteration.

It continued all the way until the trip to the hunting grounds a year ago, where it abruptly stopped.

There were two pairs of shoes personally made by Madam Su, three pairs of shoe insoles, two brocade pouches;

several rabbit trinkets, a few brushes, and two inkstones given by Su Yanshu;

a crossbow and a slingshot given by Su Dingqin...

All of these were inside the chest.

Upon seeing them, Su Huaishan felt a secret disgust; what kind of trashy junk was this? Nobody would even bother to pick them up if thrown onto the main street.

When Su Dingqin looked at the items in the chest, he found it equally unbelievable. He had thought he was making amends for familial bonds, believing these objects were priceless in sentiment, but how could... his mother and second brother have given these as well?

Was there not a single valuable thing among them?

How had Shengsheng survived those two years in the estate? Did she live entirely on her monthly allowance?

The matriarch demanded diligence and frugality in managing the household, so the monthly allowances were never high. The servants were one thing, but Shengsheng was a mistress. How could anyone survive on just those few taels of silver? It was not even enough to tip the servants for their errands.

A sharp, fine pain rippled through Su Dingqin's heart, weaving a tight net that made breathing somewhat difficult.

"Shengsheng..."

Just as he was about to speak, Su Zhiyi gently chimed in, "So younger sister has always looked down upon these things after all. It seems we were just making a fool of ourselves with unrequited sentiment, foolishly thinking that family bonds mattered more than anything else and far surpassed worldly wealth."

"Since... since you deem these things unimportant, I shall take them on your behalf. Rujian, take them back and keep them safe."

"Yes."

Hearing this, Su Dingqin's thoughts shifted. Indeed, with a family sharing blood, having missed out on a dozen years of flesh-and-blood affection, they naturally had to make up for it with emotional devotion. Could such things ever be bought with money?

Besides, with Yu Shengsheng living in the estate, could she possibly be short of food and clothing? Back in the countryside, she had struggled just to stay alive; returning home, she lacked neither food nor clothing, and even received a monthly allowance. Although small, she probably had never even laid eyes on a single coin back in the countryside!

What on earth was there to feel wronged about? To bring these things out in front of so many people just to let others judge and gossip.

"Shengsheng, Zhiyi will take good care of the items. Now that you've returned them, you may go back to your courtyard!" Su Dingqin said coldly.

Yu Shengsheng said nothing more, turned around, and walked away.

Behind her, Su Zhiyi's voice was full of brimming excitement, "First brother, I will draw the bow. Let's see if it's just like before... Ah!"

Before her excitement could fade, a piercing scream rang out, followed by the gasps of the surrounding crowd.

"Zhiyi!" Su Dingqin was terror-stricken. He leaned over to check on Su Zhiyi. "How are you?"

"Yu Shengsheng, you stop right there!"

He roared in fury. Before Yu Shengsheng could even turn around, Su Huaishan had already made his move, his hand curling into a hard claw as he viciously grabbed toward Yu Shengsheng's shoulder.

Before Yu Shengsheng could react, Jin Baobao stepped forward to shield her, meeting Su Huaishan's onslaught head-on.

"Crack!" With the impact of the two forces, Jin Baobao staggered back two steps, her palm tingling with numbness.

Yu Shengsheng quickly asked in a low voice, "Are you alright? Were you hurt?"

Jin Baobao shook her head.

Seeing that Su Huaishan's attack had been blocked—already furious and caught off guard—and then watching Yu Shengsheng show concern for Jin Baobao first, his anger flared to a towering height.

She truly was an ungrateful, unlovable wolf with white-rimmed eyes!

Su Huaishan pointed angrily at Jin Baobao, "You wretched little wench, how dare you fight back against me? Have you completely lost your mind!"

Jin Baobao scoffed, "You struck with murderous intent to hurt my young lady, of course I have to protect her!"

Su Dingqin's eyes turned crimson as he glared fiercely at Yu Shengsheng, "I never imagined you could be so vicious, daring to disfigure Zhiyi's face!"

Yu Shengsheng looked at Su Zhiyi in astonishment. Zhiyi's hands were trembling slightly, appearing thoroughly terrified. A shallow bloody scratch marred her face, and a tiny droplet of crimson rolled down, contrasting sharply against her pale complexion, making the sight all the more startling.

The Crescent bow had snapped into two pieces; one half lay on the ground, while the other rested across her lap.

The skirt made of twilight brocade was also snagged and frayed by the jagged edge of the broken bow.

Su Zhiyi looked like a shattered porcelain doll—innocent and pitiful.

Yu Shengsheng's pupils contracted slightly. The Crescent bow was broken? How could that be!

Gritting his teeth, Su Dingqin charged forward wrapped in a wave of hot wind, as if ignited by pure rage.

Jin Baobao stepped forward to intercept him, but was brushed aside by a wave of his palm. With his other hand, he swung his arm and delivered a resounding slap across Yu Shengsheng's face.

A burning sensation bloomed on Yu Shengsheng's cheek, her ears rang with a loud hum, and the taste of blood flooded her mouth.

The force of the blow tilted her body sideways, and she instinctively grabbed a pillar to steady herself; had the pillar not been there, she would have been sent flying.

"How can you be so malicious? Not only do you fail to cherish the Crescent bow, but you deliberately broke it just to hurt Zhiyi's face! Now that her face is ruined, are you happy?!"

Steam and fire seemed to billow from the top of Su Dingqin's head, yet his anger remained unassuaged, and he raised his hand to strike her again.

"Dingqin, stop!"

With a sharp cry, Madam Su hurried over in quick strides.

She had been leading the female guests to the rear garden; having just settled the first batch, she came over to check if Su Zhiyi had arrived, only to find Su Dingqin about to strike Yu Shengsheng the moment she stepped through the moon gate.

"How can you hit someone? And your own younger sister, no less!"

Madam Su already felt guilty due to the previous incident where she had forced Yu Shengsheng to go to the Zhenling Tower, and upon returning to discover that even a few maidservants dared to bully Yu Shengsheng, her shame had only deepened.

She had only begun to recover her composure over the past two days.

Hurry to the scene, she said with a heart full of distress, "Shengsheng, does it hurt? Let auntie look."

A flicker of mockery crossed Yu Shengsheng's eyes; no matter how panicked Madam Su was, she would never slip up on her address in public.

"Thank you, Auntie, I am fine." She turned her face slightly, dodging Madam Su's hand.

Madam Su's expression froze slightly. Before the guilt could even surface, Su Dingqin blurted out anxiously, "Mother, she hurt Zhiyi's face."

Madam Su's eyes widened instantly as she whipped around to look at Su Zhiyi, who was surrounded by several people.

"Zhiyi!"

"My daughter!"

Pushing the others aside, Madam Su rushed to kneel before Su Zhiyi. Seeing the shallow bloody scratch on her face, tears streamed down her cheeks like beads.

"Heavens, what happened here? How did this happen? Someone come quickly, fetch the estate physician, hurry!"

Her voice shook with agitation, and her hands trembled faintly.

She turned her head and glared murderously at Yu Shengsheng, her gaze a complete transformation from a moment ago.

"How could you do such a thing?"

Yu Shengsheng said coldly and indifferently, "I did nothing of the sort."

Su Dingqin let out a short, harsh laugh. "You did nothing? How resilient the Crescent bow is, how could I not know? If it wasn't deliberately sabotaged, how could it snap the moment it was drawn?"

"It must have been you!" Su Huaishan raged. "Because Zhiyi mentioned the Crescent bow to you earlier and wanted to try drawing it once more, you intentionally ruined the bow to hurt her face and destroy her beauty!"

Suddenly lunging forward, Madam Su sprang up and dealt Yu Shengsheng another vicious slap across the face.

"How could you? How dare you!"

"If you harbor any resentment, direct it at me! Why hurt my face, why harm my daughter?"

"This is not the first time she has pulled such a stunt," a male voice chimed in. "If Madam Su is incapable of disciplining her properly, perhaps you should let me do it instead."