Chapter 30: Ninth Master: My Xiaxia Is So Kind

“What would make you stop being angry?”

Bai Hedu asked indulgently, his eyes holding a tenderness even he had not noticed.

Yun Manxia glanced back at Bai Chengxuan, who was close to passing out from the heat, and smiled.

Her voice was soft and pleasant.

“It’s such a hot day. Why don’t we let those women get into the pool and cool off too?”

A faint smile flashed through Bai Hedu’s eyes.

He gazed at the young woman before him and said warmly, “My Xiaxia is very kind.”

Kind?!

That single word made Madam Liu and the others wonder whether they had misunderstood the meaning of kindness!

Look at their soaked clothes and hair.

Look at Bai Chengxuan’s miserable state in the pool.

Then listen to the vicious suggestion Yun Manxia had just made!

How was Yun Manxia related to the word “kind” in any way?

“No! I don’t want to!”

Miss Liu glanced at the steaming pool and screamed as she backed away.

Then, with reddened eyes, she turned toward the incomparably noble and handsome man.

“Ninth Master, we truly didn’t insult you! Yun Manxia is lying and falsely accusing innocent people!”

Yun Manxia had no evidence, so Miss Liu boldly twisted the truth.

“Yun Manxia simply dislikes me. She’s deliberately framing me! Why should I be punished for something I never did?”

“Ninth Master, I don’t want to go into the pool…”

She began sobbing pitifully.

Her delicate, helpless appearance immediately made several men in the room feel sorry for her.

Yun Manxia was furious.

This woman had insulted her husband moments ago, but now that she had discovered how handsome he was, she was trying to seduce him?

Yun Manxia gave a cold snort and prepared to speak, but Bai Hedu beat her to it.

“She dislikes you. That alone is reason enough to punish you.”

His voice was commanding, indifferent, and utterly beyond dispute.

Miss Liu’s sobbing stopped abruptly.

“N-Ninth Master?”

She stared at him in shock, wondering whether she had heard him correctly.

Bai Hedu ignored her and turned to Yun Manxia.

“What do you want to do?”

His voice was several degrees gentler than when he spoke to Miss Liu.

Yun Manxia instantly recovered.

She gazed at him with sparkling eyes, her delight impossible to hide.

His undisguised indulgence and favoritism made her incredibly happy.

She no longer cared that Miss Liu had tried to seduce him.

What good would seduction do?

Hadn’t everyone heard what her husband just said?

Hmph!

“I originally wanted to throw them in myself, but there are too many of them. Forget it. Let Lin Shen handle it!”

She swept her gaze over the pale-faced ladies and their daughters, looking almost disappointed that she could not do it personally.

“Ninth Master…!”

Miss Liu tried to make one final appeal.

Bai Hedu did not even glance at her.

“Lin Shen.”

“Yes, Ninth Master!”

Lin Shen quickly brought several men forward.

The first person thrown into the pool was Elder Madam Bai.

She had assumed that her age and status would force Yun Manxia to spare her. To her disbelief, Yun Manxia specifically pointed her out and reminded Lin Shen not to forget her!

“Ninth Master! I didn’t insult you! I didn’t say anything about you!”

Elder Madam Bai was stunned as the guards dragged her toward the pool. She hurriedly shouted an explanation.

She was the Bai family’s matriarch!

If they threw her into the pool in front of all these guests, how could she ever show her face again?

“Weren’t you enjoying yourself when you insulted me earlier?”

Yun Manxia leisurely returned the older woman’s own argument.

“Ninth Master is my husband. What’s the difference between looking down on me and looking down on him?”

After Elder Madam Bai came the others.

“This one, this one, and that one!”

Yun Manxia’s gaze was sharp and precise. Without the slightest hesitation, she picked each culprit out of the crowd.

Anyone who had insulted her husband could forget about escaping!

One splash followed another.

Before long, Bai Chengxuan was no longer alone in the pool. Several new companions had joined him.

Yun Manxia stood prettily beside Bai Hedu, her beautiful eyes slowly searching the crowd to ensure she had not missed anyone.

Suddenly, she narrowed her eyes.

She spotted Yun Yiyi trying to hide behind another guest.

Yun Yiyi had not personally insulted Bai Hedu, but Yun Manxia had not forgotten the things she deliberately said to Elder Madam Bai.

Yun Manxia immediately gave Lin Shen a meaningful look.

Lin Shen paused.

The new Madam had not been at Yujing Garden for long, yet somehow they had already developed an uncanny level of silent understanding.

Just like now—she had only glanced at him, but he immediately understood what she wanted.

With that thought, Lin Shen walked over without hesitation and pulled Yun Yiyi out of the crowd.

“Ah! What are you doing?”

Yun Yiyi cried out in alarm.

“Assistant Lin, you have the wrong person! I’m Manxia’s older sister— Ah!”

Before she could finish, Lin Shen threw her into the pool with a loud splash.

His expression remained perfectly composed.

“My apologies. My hand slipped.”

Well done!

Yun Manxia’s lips curved upward. She whispered, “Honey, remember to give Lin Shen a raise when we get home.”

Bai Hedu lowered his eyelids, a dark glimmer flashing through his eyes.

“You like him?”

Without thinking, Yun Manxia replied, “Who wouldn’t like such a capable and useful assistant?”

Only after the words left her mouth did she sense the danger hidden in his question.

She blinked rapidly and hurriedly added, “Of course, no one could ever compare to my husband! You’re the best!”

Only then did Bai Hedu’s faintly furrowed brows relax.

Yun Manxia secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Lin Shen returned and bowed respectfully.

“Ninth Master. Madam.”

“Is it done?” Yun Manxia asked, glancing toward the pool.

One look nearly made her laugh aloud.

Lin Shen had stationed a ring of bodyguards around the pool, preventing anyone from climbing out.

Yun Yiyi kept shouting that she was Yun Manxia’s sister and that Lin Shen had made a mistake. She tried to climb onto the edge, only for a bodyguard to kick her straight back into the water.

The pool was unbearably torturous.

The water was so hot that it made people scream. After only two minutes inside, it felt as though they were being boiled alive.

How could these pampered women possibly endure something like that?

Some begged for mercy while others cried. Their voices successfully drowned out most of Yun Yiyi’s attempts to explain.

Yun Manxia withdrew her gaze leisurely, thoroughly pleased.

Had she heard anything?

Of course not.

She had not heard a single word!

“Ninth Master! Chengxuan knows he was wrong. Please forgive him this once!”

Someone suddenly rushed forward.

It was Bai Chengxuan’s mother, Liu Wei.

Seeing her son looking pitiful and disheveled in the pool, seemingly on the verge of losing consciousness, Liu Wei nearly burst into tears.

“Ninth Master, Chengxuan can’t endure much more. Please let him come out!”

Bai Hedu’s tone remained indifferent.

“Xiaxia, do you agree to let him out?”

Yun Manxia huffed.

“No. Let him stay in there!”

Liu Wei snapped angrily, “Yun Manxia, you—”

“What is it?”

Yun Manxia smiled without the slightest courtesy.

“If you’re going to speak to me in that tone, would you like to join your son?”

Liu Wei’s expression changed instantly.

Only then did she remember that things were no longer what they used to be.

Yun Manxia was not the same young girl Liu Wei could insult whenever she pleased.

She was now Ninth Master Bai’s wife!

Who could have imagined that the woman Liu Wei once despised and considered unworthy of her son would one day marry into Yujing Garden—and rise so far above her?