Chapter 8 These Guys Really Kicked the Iron Plate

"..."

Heh! She all but outright said that Sinian wouldn't even buy a ring to marry her.

Whether in her past life or now, Xiao Jinglan's methods were the same: pretending to casually demean others to elevate herself.

She used to care about Sinian's attitude, but now she knew, Sinian's cold demeanor wasn't because of her actions.

So now, even if Xiao Jinglan spoke flowers, she no longer believed her.

Lu Zhaozhao feigned innocence and nodded repeatedly, "Don't worry, Auntie. I won't take it to heart. I know that Sinian and I are in an arranged marriage and I'm just a nominal wife. It's already a blessing that Mr. Song is willing to marry me. I will definitely listen to Mr. Song and not provoke him to anger."

"..."

Lu Zhaozhao using the strategy to PUA herself left Xiao Jinglan completely unable to deal with her.

She thought that by marrying Sinian, Zhaozhao wanted either money or status.

What is this tactic?

Not desiring anything? A salted-fish-style marriage?

Xiao Jinglan felt slightly agitated and pinched her brow, trying to flip this "salted fish" over, "You... you're at the age where you should be yearning for love, and Sinian has a decent appearance. Haven't you thought about making him fall in love with you?"

"I also think Mr. Song looks good," Lu Zhaozhao shrugged and turned the blame to Mr. and Mrs. Lu, "but my mom said that there's no love in business marriages and told me not to harbor any delusions."

Xiao Jinglan felt somewhat suffocated and forced a smile, asking again, "Have you ever thought about having Sinian help develop the Lu Family's business?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Zhaozhao innocently smiled at Xiao Jinglan, "My dad said girls don't have the right to inquire about family business, and told me that it's enough to marry over and obediently listen to my husband."

"..."

Even with Xiao Jinglan's good pretense, at this moment, she wanted to curse.

She guessed that Mr. and Mrs. Lu didn't value Zhaozhao much, but from these words, it wasn't as simple as not valuing her.

They were outright ignoring Zhaozhao's existence, raising her to be a pretty wastrel!

All her calculated methods now faced her with absolutely no room to maneuver!

Xiao Jinglan sighed powerlessly, it looked like she could only make long-term plans.

She slowly stood up, "I have some matters to attend to and must leave now. In a couple of days, you and Sinian come to the house for a visit, to meet the old master."

"Okay, Auntie, if Mr. Song takes me, I will definitely be obedient."

"..."

Hearing Lu Zhaozhao's words, Xiao Jinglan stumbled and almost twisted her ankle.

Her mood worsened!

Watching Xiao Jinglan leaving like a defeated rooster, Zhaozhao was already inwardly jubilant.

Her act of playing the lady had firmly stood its ground against Xiao Jinglan, and she doubted she would be bothered by her anytime soon.

She needed to hurry and take advantage while Xiao Jinglan wasn't focusing on her, and pull her trump cards out one by one!

She must protect Sinian this time!

What Lu Zhaozhao didn't know was that not only did her act convince Xiao Jinglan, but even the butler Qian Hong believed it.

She even went so far as to exaggerate the situation to Zhao Xi out of sympathy for Zhaozhao.

"Ding—"

"Ding—""Ding—"

...

A series of notification sounds started going off in a quiet office.

Zhao Xi initially didn't want to bother, but the frequency of the messages was too high.

He couldn't help feeling a bit anxious.

Not many knew this number, and those linked to it were all connected to Lu Zhaozhao.

Zhao Xi glanced at the sender of the message, his eyes nearly popping out—was it actually Qian Hong?

Could something have happened to Lu Zhaozhao?

Qian Hong was an old servant from the side of the deceased lady, composed and steady, he could hardly imagine what would make her send messages frantically.

Song Sinian noticed Zhao Xi's unusual behavior as well.

His deep voice slowly rose in the quiet office, "What has happened?"

Zhao Xi shifted his gaze away from his phone, summarizing briefly, "Uh... Lady Xiao went to see the lady and asked why she dismissed the servants. She said the servants bullied her and even gave her quite a lot of jewelry to comfort her."

Song Sinian caught the main point immediately, "She was bullied by the servants?"

He had only heard her mention driving the servants away yesterday and assumed she simply disliked those people, so he hadn't asked further.

He thought if she didn't like them, then they should all be replaced.

He hadn't expected that the servants would actually bully her.

The atmosphere in the office abruptly dropped, becoming coldly sinister, condensing in the air.

Zhao Xi coughed lightly, steeling himself before continuing, "It's said they made her sleep in the guest room, threw away her luggage, and tore up her clothes..."

It had to be said that these people really dared to do anything.

Zhao Xi sighed softly, figuring these servants must have taken advantage of their master's usual disregard for household matters to become so audacious.

"Sir, I think…"

Just as he began to speak, he heard Song Sinian's voice rise again in the office, "Since they as servants have not fulfilled their duties, there's no need to keep those hands and feet of theirs, right?"

His tone was chilling, carrying a stifling ruthlessness.

"Uh..."

Song Sinian's eyelids dropped as he added another comment, "Don't let any of them appear before my wife again."

"Yes, sir."

Zhao Xi had expected his master to be furious, but hadn't anticipated it would be this severe.

These fellows really had kicked an iron plate this time.

He sighed lightly, remembering another message he had just seen, hesitated for a moment, but then spoke up again.

"Sir, the message you asked me to investigate yesterday, I now have some leads." As Zhao Xi spoke, he placed the document in Song Sinian's hand.

"From childhood, the lady never associated romantically with anyone, though many have pursued her. Among the men who have been associated with her, here are the names of those who are deceased or nearing death."

"…"

Seeing the list of names before him, Song Sinian fell into deep thought.

She had never been involved with anyone?

Then why did she cry so fiercely?

Could that person have been someone she secretly loved?

Seeing that Song Sinian had not responded, Zhao Xi handed him another document, "Sir, this is a personal investigation of the lady—emmm, it seems she is not as favored as the outside world believes."

Song Sinian glanced at the hesitant Zhao Xi and opened the file.

"There are also messages from Qian Hong that I think it's necessary for you to know." Zhao Xi placed the mobile phone in front of him.

The messages on the phone contained the latter half of a conversation between Xiao Jinglan and Lu Zhaozhao.

He had always thought that Lu Zhaozhao was a spoiled young miss; now, it seemed she was just a pitiful soul PUAed by her parents since childhood.

No wonder even the servants dared to bully her.

Zhao Xi quietly looked at Song Sinian, thinking that with Lu Zhaozhao being subjected to chronic emotional abuse by Mr. and Mrs. Lu, she needed a more considerate husband, yet their master...