HBWMA -Chapter 132 Overstepping One’s Bounds

The side hall and the main hall were separated only by a central courtyard garden. Fu Sui’er pulled Jiang Huashan along, cutting straight across the garden. The moment they stepped into the side hall, they heard Yao Ge’s arrogant command—

“Kneel.”

Jiang Huashan and Fu Sui’er both froze, exchanging a glance.

Shen Guiling didn’t move at all. He didn’t even bother to look at Yao Ge directly.

“Aunt, is he deaf? Or… does he simply not take you seriously at all?”

Leaning back against the sofa with one leg crossed over the other, Yao Ge’s resentful gaze lingered on Shen Guiling. “What’s wrong? The other day in the main hall, weren’t you eagerly kneeling one by one to serve tea? Why is it that when I tell you to kneel today, you don’t react at all?”

Shen Guiling lowered his eyes, his face still expressionless.

Yao Ge scrutinized him. “I really don’t know what Old Master sees in you. There’s not a single thing about you that resembles him—”

Shen Guiling’s ink-dark eyes flickered ever so slightly, a faint glint passing through them.

The maids nearby were anxious. They wanted to intervene, but didn’t dare due to their status. When they turned and saw the two girls at the entrance, their eyes lit up immediately.

“Miss Jiang, Miss Sui’er, you’re here?”

That call instantly diverted Yao Ge’s attention.

Shen Guiling lowered his gaze slightly, the emotions in his eyes fading.

Yao Ge raised a brow and looked the two girls up and down. Fu Sui’er was much darker than before, and her hairstyle had changed—at first glance, she looked like a boy. By contrast, the girl beside her looked like a delicately colored fairy straight out of a comic.

The woman paused. “You’re Sui’er?”

Fu Sui’er nodded and greeted reluctantly, “Aunt.”

Yao Ge’s expression wasn’t great, but she still forced a perfunctory smile.

“And what are you doing here?”

Anyone could hear the underlying meaning, but Fu Sui’er showed no reaction at all and simply went along with it.
“Oh, Huashan and I were just heading to school. The maid said you wanted to ask her something, Aunt, so I came along to take a look. What, did I come at a bad time?”

Yao Ge smiled without answering, then turned to Jiang Huashan. “So it was you stirring things up at school yesterday? You don’t look like much, but you’ve got quite the ability.”

Jiang Huashan waved her hand with a smile. “Not at all, not at all. Mainly my classmates gave me face. But the key was Young Master Yao’s performance—I’ve never seen everyone dislike someone so unanimously before. That’s probably what you call the will of the people. If it were anyone else, you definitely wouldn’t get this effect.”

Yao Ge froze, staring at her in disbelief. “What did you say?”

Yao Zilei snapped back to his senses and exploded instantly. “You little bitch, what did you say?!”

Jiang Huashan shot back without hesitation, “Who are you calling a little bitch?”

“I’m calling you! Calling you—” Yao Zilei lagged half a beat again, so furious he nearly jumped out of his wheelchair. “You dare mess with me?!”

Smack—

Yao Ge slammed her hand on the table, her face full of fury. “Shut up, all of you!” Then she pointed at Jiang Huashan. “You. Come here.”

Fu Sui’er tried to step forward but was held back by Jiang Huashan. Without another word, Jiang Huashan walked up, stopping half a step away from Shen Guiling.

“Madam.”

Yao Ge said coldly, “You—and you! If you still want to stay in the Shen family, then right now, immediately, apologize to me!”

Shen Guiling was silent for a moment, then slowly raised his eyes. “Madam, I—”

Jiang Huashan stepped forward, cutting him off and blocking him. “Madam, aren’t you misunderstanding something?”

Yao Ge had never really confronted Jiang Huashan before. In her impression, Jiang Huashan was just a pitiful girl hiding behind Fang Mei, too timid to even raise her head. She never expected someone so insignificant to dare challenge her.

When anger reaches its peak, it often turns into calm.

Yao Ge raised a brow, composed and ready. “Oh? Then tell me—what exactly am I misunderstanding?”

Jiang Huashan gestured toward Shen Guiling. He looked down at her, and she shot him a glance—no pity, just the kind of disdain that said she couldn’t even be bothered to expose him.

She was looking down on him.

Shen Guiling: “……”

Jiang Huashan turned back to Yao Ge and tapped her own nose.

“Madam, this is the Shen family. Shen Guiling’s surname is Shen, and sooner or later, I’ll be written into the Shen family genealogy by Grandfather—so rounding it up, I’m Shen too. Meanwhile, you and that cripple over there are surnamed Yao. So to the Shen family, you’re the outsiders. Whether Shen Guiling and I stay here isn’t something an outsider like you gets to decide.”

The contempt in Yao Ge’s eyes shattered instantly. She slammed the table and stood up. “What are you supposed to be? Your mother has to kneel before me when she sees me—how dare you speak to me like that?!”

Before Jiang Huashan could respond, Fu Sui’er jumped in. “Her mother is my mother now. Aunt, you’ve got quite the authority—should I call my mom over to kneel for you?”

One after another, they were rebelling. Was she disciplining juniors today, or were the juniors disciplining her?

Yao Ge, furious, turned and lashed out at Fu Sui’er. “You ill-mannered brat! You think bringing up your mother will scare me? Can’t manage your husband, can’t raise your daughter!”

In the eyes of these elders, Fu Sui’er had always been nothing more than a delinquent. They never gave her a second glance. Though she was young, she understood that early on.

So her rebelliousness back then had really just been a way to put on armor.

Yao Ge had made a grave mistake bringing Shen Jiao into this now. Fu Sui’er ignited like a firecracker, completely letting loose: “Of course I can’t compare to your excellent upbringing, Aunt. My cousin is really something—out of all the kids in the Shen residence, he’s the only one who got kicked out by Grandfather the moment he came of age. Tsk, tsk… wonder if he’ll be allowed back this New Year?”

“You—!”

Shen Nian was the thorn in Yao Ge’s heart. The main reason she had become so irritable and volatile was because her son, whom she had raised for eighteen years, was forcibly separated from her. Bringing it up in public was like stabbing a knife straight into her chest.

Yao Zilei also knew the inside story. Seeing Fu Sui’er act so arrogantly, he grabbed a glass from the table and hurled it at her.

“Who do you think you are, talking to my aunt like that?!”

Everyone’s attention had been on the argument—no one expected Yao Zilei to suddenly attack. Fortunately, Jiang Huashan reacted quickly, shoving Fu Sui’er onto the sofa. The glass missed and shattered loudly.

Everyone froze.

Even the maids.

Jiang Huashan instantly exploded in rage. She leapt up and kicked straight at Yao Zilei—