Chapter 20: Who Touched My Flowers?

Her eyes were so transparent you could see straight to the bottom. She wasn't lying. She wasn't spinning sweet, coaxing

words. She genuinely meant it-as though whatever she had in her hands, she'd hand over the very best of it to him

without a second thought.

She watched him nervously, as if the slightest movement from him could set her heart racing, as if he were her entire

world.

Bai Hedu's gaze was unfathomably deep, fixed on her.

Yun Manxia suddenly felt a sense of danger closing in, the hairs on her arms nearly standing on end.

The man gave a soft, barely audible laugh and said in a rough voice, "Alright. I accept."

Yun Manxia's brain short-circuited.

In both her lifetimes combined, she could count on one hand the number of times she'd seen Bai Hedu smile. Caught

completely off guard, she stared, dazed.

"What is it?" the man asked, his tone seemingly softer than before.

Yun Manxia snapped back to reality. "Nothing!" Her face flushed hot. She hastily tore her gaze away, turning her head

aside, mortified.

She couldn't help thinking to herself: her husband was really, ridiculously good-looking...

At Imperial Garden Villa.

"Why isn't the Ninth Master back yet?" Wu Xiaoya craned her neck toward the entrance for what had to be the dozenth

time.

Xiaomei polished a vase as she offered, "Maybe something held him up..."

The words had barely left her mouth when Bai Hedu's car pulled to a stop.

Wu Xiaoya was about to bound outside excitedly when the door opened and the first person to step out was-Yun Manxia!

She gathered her elaborate, beautiful skirt in her hands, looking like a princess stepped out of a fairy tale.

"So the Ninth Master went to pick her up," Xiaomei said. "The route back from wherever he was isn't even in the same

direction as the hotel where her banquet was. He must have gone out of his way specially to get her."

"And that dress of hers-the Ninth Master had it custom-made for her. One of a kind..."

Wu Xiaoya ground her teeth. "Stop talking!"

Her eyes darkened. "Let her be smug for a couple more days. Just wait. In two days, I'll have her thrown out of Imperial

Garden Villa!"

Yun Manxia sensed a malicious gaze and turned instinctively, catching a glimpse of Wu Xiaoya's retreating figure. She

narrowed her eyes.

Setting the matter aside for now, she walked around to the other side of the car just as Lin Shen was unfolding the

wheelchair.

"Hubby, let me help you out!" She ran over cheerfully and pulled open the door.

Bai Hedu said with a hint of indulgence, "Alright."

Lin Shen, who had been about to step forward, silently retracted his leg.

Supporting Bai Hedu into the wheelchair, Yun Manxia naturally took the handles and pushed him inside.

Lin Shen: "..."

Why did he feel like he was about to be replaced?

At the study, Bai Hedu said, "Go rest."

Yun Manxia replied, "I'm not tired!"

Bai Hedu was helpless. "Your feet don't hurt?"

Yun Manxia blinked. She was wearing heels, and her feet did ache a little after walking in them for so long. She hadn't

expected him to notice.

A wave of sweetness welled up in her heart. She said obediently, "Oh, I'll go change out of them right now!"

Her skirt fluttered past his vision, and as the faint fragrance drifted away, the girl left the study.

Bai Hedu withdrew his gaze and took out the documents from the box.

The transferor field already bore Xia Lian's name. The transferee field was still blank. All he needed to do was sign

his name there, and those shares would be his.

Lin Shen, seeing the Ninth Master sit motionless for a long moment, assumed he didn't intend to accept the gift. Which

made sense-this was hardly anything significant to a man like him...

"Pen." Bai Hedu suddenly spoke, extending his long, elegant hand.

Lin Shen was surprised, but his movements weren't slow in the slightest. He immediately retrieved the Ninth Master's

usual signing pen from the desk and presented it with both hands.

Bai Hedu took the pen and, unhurried, signed his name on the document. Whether it was an illusion or not, there seemed

to be a certain earnestness and solemnity to it.

As though he'd taken every word Yun Manxia had said to heart.

Lin Shen opened his mouth, wanting to say that young women these days were remarkably skilled-that their coaxing words

came in polished, irresistible sets, and one shouldn't believe them so easily!

But seeing the rare good mood the Ninth Master was in, he ultimately kept his mouth shut.

In her room, Yun Manxia first kicked off her heels, then changed out of her gown.

Thinking of Bai Hedu's thoughtfulness, the corners of her lips refused to come down.

Freshened up, she took the now-nearly-wilting bouquet from the vase, planning to press the flowers into bookmarks.

These were the first flowers Bai Hedu had ever given her. They held enormous significance. She absolutely wasn't going

to just throw them away!

But soon, her good mood evaporated.

There had been ninety-nine roses in total. She'd counted them when they arrived.

There were still ninety-nine-but nearly half of them had been swapped out!

The replacements were all ordinary roses in similar colors!

Yun Manxia's face darkened. She gathered the bouquet and marched out of her room at once.

Downstairs, she called all the surrounding maids together and demanded in a low voice-

"Who touched my flowers?"

The maids exchanged bewildered looks. "Madam, we didn't touch them. Is something wrong with the flowers?"

Yun Manxia didn't answer. Her cold gaze swept across the maids, then stopped.

"Xiaomei."

Everyone turned to look at Xiaomei.

Xiaomei kept her head down, her complexion shifting slightly. She stepped forward. "Madam, I didn't touch your flowers!"

"You're the one assigned to clean my room, aren't you?" Yun Manxia asked.

Xiaomei twisted the hem of her uniform. "Yes."
"Then explain to me how this happened." Yun Manxia pointed at the bouquet. The rare cultivars and ordinary ones looked

similar at a glance, but upon closer inspection, the difference was unmistakable.

Xiaomei: "I don't know anything about it. It has nothing to do with me-"

"Other than you, who else has been in my room?"

Xiaomei fell silent, her face draining of color.

She'd thought swapping a few flowers would go unnoticed. Besides, the bouquet was half-wilted anyway-wasn't it destined

for the trash? Who could have imagined that Yun Manxia would care this much about a bunch of flowers?

"Where did you take the flowers?" Yun Manxia's mood was foul. Such an important gift, ruined like this.

Wu Xiaoya happened to walk by. Xiaomei instinctively glanced in her direction.

Wu Xiaoya urgently shot her a look.

Xiaomei gritted her teeth and mumbled vaguely, "I gave them away..."

"Gave them away?" Yun Manxia laughed coldly. "Who gave you the right to touch my things, let alone give them away?"

Wu Xiaoya stepped forward. "Madam, they're just a few flowers. You weren't even paying attention to them. Is it really

necessary to be this aggressive?"

Yun Manxia settled unhurriedly onto the sofa nearby and looked up at her. "Has Auntie Wu still not taught you how to

speak to me?"

Wu Xiaoya's expression stiffened.

"I am the Madam. Those were my things that were tampered with. How I choose to handle it is my business. It's not your

place to have an opinion." She didn't give Wu Xiaoya an inch of face.

Without sparing Wu Xiaoya another glance, Yun Manxia turned to Auntie Wu, who had come over, and asked, "Is there a rule

in Imperial Garden Villa for how this sort of situation is handled?"