V2: Chapter 25: Trying to Sabotage Me? Still Too Green

"No, no, no... Sister, I, I didn't mean that."

Ahhh!!

"If you say something like that to me again, don't blame me for being rude." Liang Lin was saying those utterly ineffective words again.

Liang Di slunk out the door.

She couldn't understand why her status had become so low. Saying the wrong thing now made her tremble with fear.

Is this road to winning my wife back really going to be too long?

Liang Di was right. After nearly ten days, Lionel and Gardner hadn't made a move. After a relatively peaceful ten days, Liang Di suddenly said to her one day:

"Sister, you need to be careful these next few days. They're going to make their move on you."

"Okay."

"Sister Liang Lin, remember to follow our plan." Liang Di repeatedly reminded her.

"Ugh, I know, I know, that's so obvious," Liang Lin said impatiently. "I'm not a three-year-old anymore. I remember everything you say, okay?"

"Mmm, I know, Sister Liang Lin is very smart."

Hmm.

Wait, why does that tone make me feel like a child?

These past few days, Liang Di has been running to Liang Lin's room every day, just to catch a glimpse of Carol. She hasn't made any unreasonable requests, like wanting to hug Carol. But every time Carol sees Liang Di, she reaches out for a hug and calls Liang Di "Mama." Every time Liang Lin sees this, she feels a lump in her throat.

As for the plan...

One evening a week later.

"Uh, she just died like that?"

Lionel and Gardner stared at the two corpses on the ground, falling silent.

Wait a minute, if this guy died so easily, how did Springhall get killed?

"Don't just stand there, hurry up and take off her mask so we can see if she's someone we know."

Lionel reached out and yanked the mask off the corpse's face.

It was a completely unfamiliar face, with a gruesome scar, like a deep knife cut.

"Do you recognize her?" Gardner asked.

Lionel shook his head, indicating he didn't know her.

Gardner said, "Me neither."

Then, they removed the mask from another corpse. The mask on her face was also completely unfamiliar. This girl was quite pretty. The two looked at each other, still indicating they didn't recognize her.

"Huh—? This is strange, isn't it? Why? We could kill her so easily, yet Duke Springhall was killed instead. Something feels off. Something's not right," Gardner muttered.

Lionel waved his hand dismissively. “Even the best can make mistakes. Besides, don’t you believe in the effectiveness of our incense? Let alone a person, even a cow that takes a puff will collapse to the ground, unable to get up.”

“Hmm…you’re right,” Gardner’s brow relaxed. “Maybe I’m just overthinking it. I hope so, I hope so.”

These two corpses were conjured by Liang Di using magic; they were scarecrows.

She had already predicted that the two dukes wouldn't bring their heads back. There were still fifteen days until they reached the capital, and it was still the height of summer. If they put the heads in a bag, they would definitely rot and stink. Even if they reached the palace, the rotten faces wouldn't be recognizable.

Besides, these two were the king's confidants, his dogs. They had witnessed it themselves; if they told the king, he would surely believe them.

Sure enough, just as she predicted, after confirming "their" deaths, the two dukes simply set "their" bodies on fire, burning them completely.

This was Liang Lin's first time seeing a magic crystal sphere. Like a curious child, she looked left and right, observing the scene inside the magic crystal sphere from various angles, and then exclaimed sincerely, "Wow...it's really amazing! You can see it from every angle!"

"Yes, that's magic."

Liang Di put away the magic crystal ball and extended her hand to Liang Lin.

Liang Lin didn't understand what the other wanted. She looked wary, hugged her "weak" self tightly, took two steps back, and looked Liang Di up and down, asking, "What do you want?"

"Ah? Well, let's go, Sister Liang Lin, we'll use the teleportation circle magic to go back." Liang Di pointed to the teleportation circle on the wall, which she had just drawn while Liang Lin was watching the magic crystal ball.

Liang Lin looked at the complex teleportation circle on the wall, feeling her worldview being refreshed once again.

Now they weren't too far from the imperial city, Liang Di could use the teleportation circle several times a day, and it would only take three days to get back. The two noble Dukes, however, would have to wait half a month to reach the imperial city.

"Do I... do I have to hold your hand?"

Liang Di sighed, "Yes, after all, you don't know magic. Even if I tell you how to use this magic, you don't have magic power, so you can't activate this circle."

"Moreover, only the one who drew the magic circle can activate it. So, Sister Liang Lin, give me your hand. I'm not trying to take advantage of you; I have no other choice, am I?"

"Tsk, what kind of talk is that, all out of necessity..."

Liang Lin awkwardly extended her hand and grasped Liang Di's icy little hand. Liang Lin shivered from the cold; despite it being the sweltering summer heat, Liang Di was unbelievably cold, making her look like a ghost.

And so, Liang Di, holding Liang Lin's hand, with Carol in her arms, the three of them stood on the opposite side of the wall.

Liang Di muttered something under her breath, but Liang Lin couldn't understand a word.

Wow~

She's really showing off.

Liang Lin thought, genuinely impressed, even starting to envy her.

If I could do magic, how cool would I be! I know swordsmanship and magic, wouldn't I be able to charm countless girls?

Before she could even finish her daydream, a dazzling white light flashed.

"Ugh..."

Liang Lin nearly collapsed to her knees.

This wave of dizziness felt like being swept into the ocean and brutally ravaged. Her stomach felt like it had been pressed hard, and she almost vomited up everything she'd eaten yesterday.

Liang Lin struggled to suppress her urge to vomit, dry heaving for a long time. Carol, on the other hand, showed no reaction whatsoever, even looking at her mother with curious eyes.

Liang Di, observing Carol's reaction, nodded in satisfaction.

No wonder she is my daughter; she clearly had a talent for magic. A promising student indeed.

"Ugh..."

"Sister Liang Lin, should we rest a bit before continuing, or should we continue right now? I can draw the magic circle now," Liang Di asked with concern.

A true woman never admits she can't do something, so Liang Lin immediately raised her hand.

“Draw it now, right now! Don't underestimate me!”

“You wait until I draw it a second time…”

“Ugh…”

“A third time…”

“Ugh…”

“A fourth time…”

“Ugh…”

“A fifth time…”

Liang Di supported Liang Lin, whose body was trembling, and said worriedly, “Sister Liang Lin, why don’t we rest for a while? There’s still a long day ahead. Let’s not push yourself too hard.”

“Push myself too hard?” Liang Lin’s voice was hoarse. She was weak, as if she had just finished a marathon. “How could I push myself too hard? I’m just not used to it yet. You wait until I get used to it, you wait until I get used to it, and then I won’t vomit… vomit… vomit.... ughh!”

“.....” 

"Sister Liang Lin, I don't feel too well either. Maybe we should wait a bit; I used too much magic."

Liang Di lied, a white lie, knowing that if she didn't show weakness, Liang Lin, with her stubborn temper and fear of being looked down upon, would definitely continue the fight.

Liang Lin, hearing this, readily agreed, "Okay, since you're feeling unwell, let's rest for a while. We'll continue after you feel better."

"Pfft~"

Liang Di, looking at Liang Lin in her arms, couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"What are you laughing at?"

Liang Lin was completely embarrassed and angry.

Only then did she notice that Liang Di's hand was on her waist.

"Hey! Watch your hands! What are you doing?!"

Liang Lin broke free from the other's embrace, staggering forward a couple of steps, almost falling to the ground.

Sigh…

Liang Di facepalmed.

After a day of arduous travel, Liang Lin felt more exhausted than if she had traveled for ten days straight. She remained nauseous and hadn't fully recovered, so she wasn't sure if she had adjusted to the subsequent teleportations.

On the third day, as they neared the capital, Liang Di suddenly decided to stay in the city to check on her family's shops.

It was here that Miranda and Edwin had sabotaged the family business.

Those two were truly incredibly stupid; in their quest for the family headship, they had smeared shops under the Langwendi family's name—shops owned by Liang Di, of course.

Whether it's "their dessert shop has rats, it's very unclean, and they use inferior ingredients, yet they sell it for so high prices," or "their noble tailor shop uses the same fabric as the commoner tailor shop, but sells it to nobles for several times the price—isn't that treating people like fools?" they spread whatever nonsense they could think of, even spending a lot of gold coins on advertising.

Previously, Liang Di had already dealt with the rumors within the capital city, but rumors were still spreading elsewhere, even showing a tendency to grow larger. The only place unaffected by the rumors was the chess arena. Perhaps it was because Edwin and Miranda didn't know how to sabotage the chess arena.

"How did you solve it?" Liang Lin asked.

Liang Di replied, "Back in the capital, I had many connections. The nobles, both high and low, naturally helped me out. But it's different here. I know fewer people, so I have to rely on my own brains."

"So what do you plan to do?"

"It's simple. First, we need to divert people's attention. Right now, everyone's attention is focused on my shop because we're the only one being targeted. So, if other shops are targeted even more severely, everyone's attention will naturally be diverted."

"Of course, this isn't a long-term solution, just a temporary diversion to shift people's focus away from our shop and their attempts to find fault with it. Then, we can hire some well-known local figures and nobles to do publicity and clarify the situation."

"By then, people had a more compelling target to criticize, and then we took the opportunity to clear our name. Most of the attention was focused on that smeared shop, so they weren't as concerned about our sudden whitewashing, and they weren't as suspicious. If someone said we were good, they'd just blindly believe it, their judgment clouded."

"People, to a large extent, need an outlet. Just shift the focus to someone else." Liang Di's words were dripping with malice.

Hiss

You know what, I actually have to admit, there's a grain of truth to it.

"So, the shop you would shift the target is..."

Liang Di laughed.

"Need you even ask? It's definitely, Edwin and Miranda's shop! They started these dirty tricks, so what I did was just self-defense."

Liang Lin gave a thumbs up.

Good, good, good, that's Liang Di's personality. I like it; she's vengeful, just like me.

Liang Di went even further.

If Edwin and Miranda just spent money on advertising, then Liang Di directly spent money, hired people, to cause damage.

"Hey, what is this?!"

"Aaaaaah! A rat's tail! It's a rat's tail! *Gah* (rolls eyes and faints)~"

"Ugh—"

The scene was complete chaos.

How to describe this chaotic scene?

A nobleman, utterly horrified, threw the cake to the ground. His wife, clutching her head, rolled her eyes and fainted. Their daughter knelt on the floor, vomiting uncontrollably.

The scene was chaotic; the smell of vomit permeated every corner of the dessert shop, completely masking the sweet aroma of the cake.

Yes, Liang Di had someone stuff a piece of rat's tail into the cake.

Then, trouble struck the tailor shop.

A noblewoman's clothes ripped open in the street. Luckily, she reacted quickly, opening a folding fan to cover her private parts, utterly humiliated in front of so many commoners and nobles. This woman, truly unlucky, blushed with shame and fainted.

This, of course, was also Liang Di's doing.

Then there was Edwin's restaurant.

And then came the even more ruthless act.

"Aaaaah! What is this?! I ordered noodles, right?! How come there are white maggots in here?!"

"Ugh! Ugh!"

"Who can tell the difference? They're all the same color! How much did I just eat?! Oh my god! Oh my god, oh my god! Doctor! Doctor!"

People were running and vomiting.

Soon, everyone's attention shifted to Edwin's shop.

"What's going on with your Langwendi family?! I trusted you, that's why I ate at your restaurant! How come you and your sibling, one after the other, both got into trouble?"

Some even wrote letters directly to Edwin.

Edwin was only fourteen years old; he had never seen anything like this before. He was immediately terrified, clinging to his mother Miranda, crying and asking what to do, saying he would listen to his mother—a complete mama's boy.

Miranda, a maid who had risen to her position, didn't know much. She didn't know what to do either, but the only thing she knew was—this was definitely Liang Di's doing.

"Damn it! That bitch!"

Miranda, unaware that Liang Di was gone, assumed that Liang Di had been out causing trouble for so long. Lifting her skirt, she stormed to Liang Di's door.

Knock, knock, knock!

"Open the door!"

"Liang Di!"

"I know you're there!"

What a coincidence, Liang Di wasn't there.

Since Liang Di was gone, Bellica had moved to Liang Di's study to sleep. Liang Di's study was not far from her bedroom. Miranda's loud banging woke Bellica, who was taking a nap.

"Madam, Miss isn't here. She's been out for the past two days," Bellica said respectfully as she approached.

Seeing Bellica only fueled Miranda's anger.

"Get out of my way! Did I ask you to talk to me? A lowly servant dares to speak to me so close?! Do you even deserve it?" Miranda took a step back in disdain.

Bellica lowered her head, her eyes darkening.

"I apologize, madam, I was too close to you."

Having endured so many years of this, Bellica certainly wouldn't explode over a single insult.

However, Miranda wouldn't let it go. Since she couldn't find Liang Di, she naturally needed another scapegoat. So, she glared fiercely at Bellica and began a verbal assault.

"I never would have guessed, Bellica, that you'd actually be willing to be Liang Di's dog! You used to be my and my husband's dog, didn't you? How can a dog change masters? You're despicable to the core! You're even more despicable than the lowest of the low!"

This remark stung Bellica.

She suddenly looked up, staring at Miranda with a strange, terrifying gaze that made Miranda take another step back.

"Excuse me, Mrs. Miranda," Bellica's voice remained calm, as calm as a still lake. She stood there gracefully, hands clasped in front of her, "I am indeed a dog, but from beginning to end, I have always been Mrs. Meredith's dog alone. I have never been your dog, so please don't insult me ​​with such words."

Huh?!

This made Miranda's face flush red with anger.

Bellica's meaning was that she was happy to be a dog, but being Miranda's dog was an insult, a disgrace.

"You…!"

Miranda raised her hand to slap her.

Bellica didn't intend to dodge; she didn't want to cause any further trouble.

Slap!

A crisp sound echoed throughout the corridor.

Just then, Miranda's personal maid rushed over, panting heavily.

"Huff...huff..."

"Madam, we've finally found you! Miss, Miss Liang Lin, and Miss Liang Di are back!"