Chapter 6: So you do know I’m the mistress of this house?

The door panel trembled.

Standing outside, Yun Manxia’s face turned so red it looked like it might drip blood. Heat seemed to rise from the top of her head, and her mind went completely blank.

Silence filled both sides of the door.

After a moment, the man’s low, unhurried voice sounded.

“I only knocked over the body wash by accident.”

“Mm... I-I saw.”

Yun Manxia stammered her reply.

“...Why did you come over?”

“Oh! I-I wanted to tell you something. It’s just... if my dad comes to you for help...”

Inside, Bai Hedu paused.

The corners of his lips pressed downward.

For some reason, disappointment stirred in his heart, and that tiny flicker of emotion from earlier disappeared without a trace.

Everyone outside said he was dying.

They also said he was a madman, violent, cruel, and cold-blooded.

Under circumstances like that, if she was still willing to marry into this place, it would not be surprising if she wanted something from him.

But what disappointed him was...

It was only the first day.

“...Then you absolutely must not agree to help him!”

“...Hm?”

Thinking he had not heard clearly, Yun Manxia hurriedly emphasized, “I mean, if he uses me as an excuse and asks you for help, like investing money into my family’s company or something, don’t pay him any attention!”

Bai Hedu took two seconds to confirm that he had not heard wrong.

“Why?”

Why?

Yun Manxia’s eyes darted, and she said, “Why? Of course it’s because I married you. I didn’t sell myself to you. Since I married you, I can spend your money, but why should my family get to make you spend money too?”

Bai Hedu had not expected the little girl to say something like that.

After a long silence, he slowly answered, “All right.”

For some reason, hearing his deep, magnetic voice made Yun Manxia nervous.

Especially when she thought of the glimpse she had just seen...

Her face heated again.

“Then I’m going back. Rest early. Good night!”

After saying that, she quickly fled.

She did not hear the low murmur that sounded from the bathroom the moment she closed the door.

“Good night.”

After running back to her own room, Yun Manxia’s cheeks burned all over again.

In her previous life, although she had married him and had once been with Bai Chengxuan, she had never done anything truly intimate with either of them.

That scene just now had been far too shocking for her...

The next morning, Yun Manxia woke up early.

Thinking that she could have breakfast with Bai Hedu, she went downstairs full of anticipation.

But at the breakfast table, she was the only one there.

“Where is Ninth Master?” she could not help asking.

Had he gone out this early?

Aunt Wu said flatly, “Ninth Master is not used to eating with other people.”

Yun Manxia froze.

So he had a habit like that?

In her previous life, she had always wanted to stay as far away from him as possible, so she had not even known this.

She had to admit, she felt a little disappointed.

She had been given a second chance.

Was she still not doing well enough?

He was not even willing to eat with her...

The food tasted like wax. After only a few bites, she stood up.

“Where is Ninth Master?”

“Ninth Master is very busy, and when there’s nothing important, he prefers to be alone.” Aunt Wu’s face was stern. “If Madam has nothing urgent, please don’t disturb Ninth Master.”

Yun Manxia stopped walking.

“Aunt Wu, what did you just call me?”

“Madam.”

Yun Manxia smiled, but there was no warmth in her eyes.

“So you do know that I’m Ninth Master’s wife, the lady of this house. Then whatever I choose to do, is it really anyone else’s place to comment? Whether Ninth Master likes being disturbed or not, he will tell me himself. There’s no need for anyone else to worry on his behalf. Don’t you agree, Aunt Wu?”

Aunt Wu’s face instantly turned livid.

Without waiting for her response, Yun Manxia walked away.

She was wary of Aunt Wu’s position and did not intend to rashly clash with her.

But that did not mean she would keep tolerating it when someone had already stepped on her head.

She went upstairs but did not find Bai Hedu.

Instead, she saw Lin Shen standing guard outside the study.

“Is Ninth Master inside?” she asked as she walked over.

“Ninth Master is busy.”

Lin Shen was rather respectful toward her.

“Oh.”

Unable to see Bai Hedu in person, Yun Manxia felt a little disappointed.

“I need to go back home for a while. Please let Ninth Master know for me.”

That morning, she had received a call from her stepmother, Xia Lian, asking her to return home.

She originally had not wanted to bother, but then she remembered that there was something important at the Yun residence. It was not safe to leave it there.

So she decided to make the trip.

Lin Shen agreed.

At the Yun residence.

The moment Yun Manxia entered, a graceful middle-aged woman with a gentle temperament came forward to greet her. Her brows and eyes were smiling, and her voice was soft.

“Manxia, you’re back?”

This was her stepmother, Xia Lian.

Looking at the woman’s smile, a shadow flashed quickly through Yun Manxia’s eyes.

How many years had she been deceived by this face?

At one point, she had even treated Xia Lian like a real mother and respected her from the heart.

How ridiculous.

Yun Manxia pulled out a smile with little warmth in it.

“Yes. I’m back.”

Xia Lian paused.

For a split second, she felt that her stepdaughter’s tone was strange. It made her feel uneasy, as if the person in front of her had been replaced by someone else.

But when she looked carefully, the girl before her was clearly still that foolish, easy-to-control Yun Manxia.

She must have been overthinking it.

So Xia Lian pointed toward Yun Hong, who was sitting nearby with a dark expression, and said in a lightly reproachful tone,

“Why are you throwing a tantrum with your father? Go and apologize to him properly.”

Apologize?

Yun Manxia did not think she had anything to apologize for.

For refusing Yun Hong’s request?

Or for hanging up on him first?

She had to admit, not a single sentence from Xia Lian was without calculation.

If Xia Lian had phrased it any other way, the Yun Manxia from her previous life, who had once longed desperately for her father’s love, might have gone over on her own and lowered her head to Yun Hong.

But Xia Lian had deliberately used the word “apologize,” as if afraid she would not trigger Yun Manxia’s rebelliousness.

Thinking about it carefully, why had her relationship with Yun Hong become so terrible?

Xia Lian had contributed plenty over the years.

But forget it.

Now that she had been reborn, she had no intention of wanting this father anymore anyway.

So she did not take even half a step toward Yun Hong.

“I’m going back to my room to get something.”

After saying that, she walked straight toward her room.

Xia Lian sighed helplessly.

“Manxia is still angry. Don’t hold it against her.”

That one sentence only made Yun Hong even angrier.

Xia Lian’s lips curved almost imperceptibly.

But neither of them noticed anything unusual about Yun Manxia.

After all, the father and daughter had never had a good relationship. Yun Manxia disobeying her father was nothing new.

Yun Manxia stood at the door of her room and looked at the familiar yet strangely distant furnishings inside. For a moment, indescribable emotions rose in her chest.

Following her memory, she began searching through the cabinet where she often hid things.

She had left something very important here.

Her mother’s medical notes.

That was the reason she had come back today.

Her mother had once been a legendary miracle doctor, famous throughout the country. The notes she left behind were priceless, coveted by countless people.

Bai Chengxuan had deliberately approached Yun Manxia for the things her mother had left behind.

And these notes were one of his targets.

A moment later, Yun Manxia’s expression changed.

The notes were gone!