Volume One, Chapter Seventeen: Casting Someone Out

When Song Shuning was brought to the Starfall Pavilion, the word “disheveled” barely captured her state. After all, she had been pinned down and beaten by three people. Yet Lin Shaoyan was no better off—although she was held down by three of them, she stubbornly clung to Lin Shaoxuan, focusing her attacks on him alone.

When Shen Qiyuan saw Song Shuning, he almost thought one of his men had brought back a beggar from the street.

He scrutinized her from head to toe—dirty, disheveled, bruised—and furrowed his brow, his voice low and grave. “What happened?”

The nanny quickly explained the scene she had witnessed when fetching Song Shuning.

Song Shuning felt a bit embarrassed. “They ganged up on me. It’s all my fault for not checking the almanac before going out today.”

Then she recounted her encounter with the siblings Lin Shaoxuan and Lin Shaoyan.

Shen Qiyuan looked at her with a hint of disbelief. “You knew you couldn’t win and you still didn’t run?”

“Lin Shaoyan was pulling my hair; I couldn’t escape,” Song Shuning replied, wincing in pain from the many bruises covering her body.

Shen Qiyuan glanced to the nanny. “Jinhua, take Miss Song and tend to her injuries.”

Jinhua respectfully acknowledged the order and led Song Shuning inside the Starfall Pavilion.

After they left, Shen Qiyuan’s expression darkened completely. He turned to Mo Feng. “Throw them out of Youyuan Garden. Make it clear: from now on, Youyuan will no longer entertain anyone from the Lin or Jiang families!”

Meanwhile, Lin Shaoyan sat scowling in the courtyard they had claimed, her face full of hatred. “I never imagined Song Shuning had actually managed to get connected to the Starfall Pavilion! If not for their protection today, she wouldn’t have survived!”

Lin Shaoxuan shot his sister a displeased look. “Don’t bring this up in front of Qingya later.”

“What about the wounds on me?” Lin Shaoyan rubbed her cheek, frowning in pain. “That wretched Song Shuning—if she ever falls into my hands again, I’ll make her pay!”

Her hands clenched tightly together. “I swear I’ll have her tortured to death!”

“Enough,” Lin Shaoxuan said disdainfully. “Go inside and change your clothes. Fix yourself up; Qingya is arriving soon.”

Lin Shaoyan hummed in acknowledgment and stood to head indoors.

At that moment, the courtyard door was pushed open, and a group of guards flooded inside.

Lin Shaoxuan rose, glare sharp and severe as he confronted them. “What are you doing? This courtyard is reserved for us!”

Lin Shaoyan halted at the doorway.

The lead guard looked at Lin Shaoxuan expressionlessly. “Son of the Marquis of Dingyuan?”

“Since you know who I am, you’d better leave. Don’t ruin my mood!” Lin Shaoxuan lifted his chin arrogantly.

The guard snorted coldly and waved to his men. “Throw them out!”

The other guards surged forward, quickly lifting Lin Shaoxuan off the ground, while others hoisted Lin Shaoyan. They carried the siblings out through the main gate, followed by their personal servants.

Jiang Qingya, who had just arrived at Youyuan Garden, was speechless at the scene.

Lin Shaoxuan, accustomed to wielding power and receiving flattery since childhood, had never been treated this way. He scrambled to his feet and pointed angrily at the guards blocking the entrance. “Do you know what consequences you face for provoking me?”

The lead guard crossed his arms, expression unmoved. “We act only on our master’s orders. Consequences are not our concern.”

He raised his hand, and immediately a guard approached carrying a large notice printed in bold black characters.

“Post it,” he ordered in a deep voice.

The young guard promptly pasted the notice on the nearby wall. It read: “Members of the Lin family of the Marquis of Dingyuan and the Jiang family of the Ministry of Personnel, along with their beasts, are prohibited from entering.”

Lin Shaoxuan stared at the humiliating sign with bloodshot eyes, furious to the point of bursting. He lunged forward to tear it down but was restrained.

“Are you really going to oppose our two families over a mere country girl?” Lin Shaoxuan’s eyes flashed coldly. “Aren’t you afraid of—”

“Master Lin seems to have forgotten that Youyuan Garden is subordinate to the Starfall Pavilion,” the lead guard interjected. He turned to his subordinates. “Guard that notice well. If even a corner goes missing, none of you are to continue your duties!”

“Yes, sir!” the guards answered in unison.

Jiang Qingya was still trying to process what had just happened. She frowned deeply as she supported the clearly injured Lin Shaoyan. “What’s going on? Did you have trouble with Youyuan Garden?”

But why drag the Ministry of Personnel’s Jiang family into this quarrel?

Lin Shaoyan gritted her teeth, eyes full of hatred as she looked at the gate of Youyuan Garden. “It’s all because of that wretched Song Shuning! I ran into her inside Youyuan Garden. She insulted us, and I couldn’t just let it go, so I confronted her!”

“Unexpectedly, that vile servant girl, relying on her connections to the Starfall Pavilion, even managed to twist the blame onto us!”

Jiang Qingya’s expression darkened. “The Starfall Pavilion would go so far as to offend both the Lin and Jiang families for Song Shuning?”

“Who knows what the people in the Starfall Pavilion are thinking!” Lin Shaoyan covered her face, seething. “I heard Zhao Linyu has returned to the capital. I’ll have her ask her grandmother about this soon!”

Lin Shaoxuan straightened his clothes and approached Jiang Qingya, regaining his usual poised charm. He looked apologetic. “I didn’t expect things to escalate like this. I had intended to have a proper conversation with you at Youyuan Garden, but it seems we must change the venue.”

Jiang Qingya returned to her gentle, intellectual self, smiling as she nodded. “Meeting you matters more than where.”

Lin Shaoyan listened to their exchange and sneered, teasing, “Oh? Lovebirds, huh? Anywhere is beautiful when you’re in love.”

Inside Starfall Pavilion, Song Shuning was cleaned up, and the nanny took the initiative to dress her wounds. Seeing the numerous bruises and contusions covering her, the nanny frowned slightly. “The Marquis of Dingyuan’s household reputation precedes them. It’s surprising their children are so poorly brought up.”

Song Shuning curled her lips; they were far from merely ill-mannered—they were downright vicious!

At first, they tried to ruin her reputation; when that failed, they framed her. Now, they even hated her enough to want to kill her to vent their anger!

Absolutely despicable!

“Ouch...” The nanny immediately softened her touch. “The wounds on your waist are quite serious. Applying the medicine will sting more, Miss Song. Please bear with it.”

Song Shuning nodded.

It was they who had beaten her!

She vowed that if she didn’t avenge today’s grievance, she would no longer be Song Shuning.

Half an hour later, after the treatment, Song Shuning, dressed in new clothes provided by the nanny, went to see Shen Qiyuan.

Seeing her face mottled with purples and blues, his expression stiffened with displeasure.

He recalled how, whenever Song Shuning had met him before, her expressions were vivid and lively, like a wild fawn.

Now, she was stiff and expressionless, almost like a lifeless doll.

He wondered if simply throwing out the Lin siblings had been too lenient.

At that moment, Jinhua walked in and whispered a few words into Shen Qiyuan’s ear, then straightened and said, “Miss Song’s injuries are severe enough that she can only study by reading for now. Other lessons must wait.”

Shen Qiyuan nodded. “No rush. First, tell her the study plan.”

He summoned a chair and gestured toward it. “Sit.”

Song Shuning was sore all over and did not want to stand. She took the seat beside him without hesitation, tugging at the slightly swollen corner of her mouth. “Thank you.”

Shen Qiyuan glanced at Jinhua, who clapped her hands, summoning several maids to enter.