Empress’ Game: Make-up Master Chapter 21 - Dragging Everyone In

“Shut up!” Wu Hantian barked. He was so angry he wanted to slap Wu Lixiang across the face.

Only today did he feel that these daughters of his had all been sent to collect debts from him. The second girl had publicly admitted to abusing her sister. The third girl had bent back a prince’s finger. The fourth girl was now meddling with no sense of propriety at all. They were all calamities.

Madam Liu cursed inwardly and hurriedly pulled Wu Lixiang behind her, glaring hard at her.

Wu Lixiang felt terribly wronged. She lowered her head and twisted her handkerchief hard. She felt she had done nothing wrong. This was Wu Sheyue’s fault to begin with. Since she was a fool anyway, why not send her to the Eighth Prince and let him deal with her himself? Had she not been trying to help the family find a solution? Father truly did not know how to appreciate goodwill.

Looking at Wu Lixiang, Wu Sheyue felt that if things dragged on like this, there was no telling what this group of people might do. This was her first time meeting these so-called family members, and none of them looked easy to handle. Every one of them was sly and strange. Unfortunately, she still could not figure out their little schemes, so she could not make use of them. She had to ease this situation quickly.

Wu Sheyue quietly looked around the room and saw Wu Liuyun sitting to the side, gracefully drinking tea. From beginning to end, this eldest sister of hers had not said a single word. Wu Liuyun was indeed strikingly beautiful. With her eyes lowered and a faint smile at her lips, she looked elegant. She lightly sipped her tea, leisurely as if she were listening to a play.

Wu Sheyue frowned. Even if I can’t get out of this cleanly, that doesn’t mean anyone else is allowed to watch from the sidelines. She made up her mind not to let a single person remain uninvolved. She and the original Third Miss were both innocent. For no reason, they had been engaged to someone, then subjected to this treatment. Why should this family toy with the two of them like monkeys?

Besides, she remembered Ning’er saying that Xin Zhi’s true affection was for Wu Liuyun. Thinking about how she had inexplicably been engaged to him, Wu Liuyun could not be free of blame either. So Wu Sheyue immediately began accusing them with tears in her voice. “Today, it was the Eighth Prince who wanted to break the engagement. His hand injury was also from the Eighth Prince stabbing himself on the sword. It has nothing to do with me. Besides, isn’t the Eighth Prince most fond of my eldest sister? Now he insists on taking me away. What does that make my eldest sister? My eldest sister is a legitimate daughter. Is the Eighth Prince mocking her?”

“What? You—” Wu Liuyun, suddenly called out, was very surprised. She had never expected this fool Wu Sheyue to dare drag her into the water.

“I… what did I say?” Xin Zhi had indeed been tempted by Wu Sheyue’s beauty, but Wu Liuyun was still the goddess he had adored for years, and her position in his heart was unshakable. “You think this prince has taken a liking to you? This prince only wants to teach you, an ill-bred woman, a lesson. Liuyun is gentle and virtuous. She is not the same as a lowly person like you.”

Wu Hantian was so angry at Xin Zhi’s words that he nearly fainted. He was a chancellor. In all of Longfu Kingdom, how many people had the right to point at him and speak this way? Yet Xin Zhi had taken two of his daughters and judged them openly, especially using his legitimate daughter as the topic. If he really agreed today to send a daughter over as compensation, it would be the same as letting someone climb onto his head and defecate.

The Old Madam understood this as well, of course, but Wu Sheyue had reminded her of something more important. The Eighth Prince had always admired Wu Liuyun. In such an awkward situation, even Wu Lixiang, a concubine-born daughter, knew to help. Yet her eldest granddaughter had not come forward to say a word? With that thought, her cold gaze slid toward Wu Liuyun.

The First Madam saw the Old Madam looking irritably at her daughter, and her heart gave a thump. She immediately understood what the old lady was planning. Although she was unwilling, she still nudged Wu Liuyun’s arm. “Liuyun…”

Wu Liuyun was already angry and embarrassed because Wu Sheyue had caused trouble for her. She was even more surprised by her mother’s action. “Mother, what now?”

The First Madam signaled with her eyes and urged quietly, “Go.”

Wu Liuyun’s delicate brows furrowed, but she rose slowly. “If the Eighth Prince wants compensation, why not first nurse your hands back to health? If they truly cannot recover, then asking for too little today would be a loss, would it not?”

“Liuyun makes sense.” Xin Zhi was flattered beyond measure and cheerfully shuffled two steps toward Wu Liuyun. “Liuyun, quickly look at my hands—”

Wu Liuyun stepped back and kept a polite distance, gentle and proper. “Well… Eighth Prince, the house physician made it sound quite serious. Please go have it treated properly. If it is truly delayed, then… Liuyun would worry.”

Seeing that Xin Zhi accepted Wu Liuyun’s words, Wu Hantian’s expression finally eased a little.

Xin Zhi genuinely cared about Wu Liuyun, and he immediately promised anxiously, “Liuyun, don’t worry. This prince will definitely be fine. I won’t become disabled.”

“Then Your Highness should go apply medicine quickly, and summon an imperial physician to examine it carefully.” Wu Liuyun repeated the same excuse again and again.

But Xin Zhi felt that anything Wu Liuyun said must be good, so he immediately walked out. “All right, all right. I’ll go now. After I go, I’ll come back and tell you.”

Halfway out, he seemed to remember something and threatened Wu Hantian again. “Chancellor Wu, I will still tell my imperial father about this. If you cannot teach your daughter properly, why not let this prince teach her for you? My residence is large enough. I can make room for Third Miss.”

(To be continued)