Becoming a literary master starting from the story of Minglan

Chapter 447 "Accidental Injury"

Inside Zeyu Hall, Sheng Changquan suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze clear as a cold pool reflecting the moon, showing no trace of sleepiness.

Xu Changqing appeared at the door like a shadow, nodded silently to him, and their eyes met, everything was understood without words.

In response, Sheng Changquan's lips curled up almost imperceptibly, forming a faint, quick, yet profoundly meaningful arc, before swiftly returning to a calm, still state.

……

"Ah—!!! Feng'er! My Feng'er—!!!"

Lin Qinshuang's heart-wrenching screams, like a poisoned blade, suddenly ripped through the oppressive night sky of the Sheng Mansion!

When the servants rushed in, scrambling and rambling, reporting that thieves had broken into the mansion and that someone was seriously injured, Lin Qinshuang's face was filled with panic, and she even shed a few tears in a convincing manner. In reality, her heart was already surging with wild joy, like boiling water!

"Finally... finally... that thorn in my side has been dealt with!"

She could hardly contain her joy, feeling all the pent-up frustration and fear that had been building up over the years vanish, as if she could already see Sheng Changquan's right hand crippled and his future ruined.

However, when she heard the servant finally utter the name "Young Master Changfeng" in a hesitant, tearful voice...

"Buzz!"

Lin Qinshuang felt as if ten thousand thunderbolts were exploding in her mind at the same time!

In an instant, the world spun before my eyes, and golden flowers burst forth!
The ecstasy just now was like being doused with ice water, freezing instantly, and then turning into a bone-chilling, all-consuming cold despair!

The sky has fallen! The earth has collapsed!
The light in her entire world went out!

"Feng'er?! No—!!!" She let out a shrill scream that was not human, and rushed into her son's room like an arrow released from a bow.

When the flickering candlelight clearly revealed the gruesome sight of her right arm—limp, twisted, deformed, with white bone fragments piercing through her skin and sleeves—the string of reason in Lin Qinshuang's mind snapped completely!

As if all her bones had been removed, she suddenly collapsed onto her unconscious son, her hands trembling as they hovered above the terrible wound, wanting to touch it yet daring not to. In the end, she could only clutch her son's clothes tightly, letting out a wild, dying howl.

"Who?! Which heartless scoundrel injured my Feng'er?!"

"My son's hands! My son's future!! Heaven! Why are you so unjust! Why not strike down that scourge instead of ruining my Feng'er!!"

Tears streamed down her face, her makeup was ruined, and she looked like a madwoman. The despair and resentment in her cries were enough to terrify anyone who heard them.

"..."

Zhou Xueniang was already terrified, her face pale, and she collapsed to the ground, her hands and feet ice-cold as if she were immersed in an ice cave.

Looking at Young Master Changfeng's gruesome severed arm, and then at Madam's utterly deranged and insane state, a terrible thought gnawed at her heart like a venomous snake: It's over! It's all over! (Guoshanfeng...)

"The mountain wind actually crippled the Third Young Master?! This...this is an absolute irony!"

"It's retribution! Linxi Pavilion... is finished!"
Zhou Xueniang knew Lin Qinshuang's personality very well. She knew that Sheng Changfeng's injury basically meant that Lin Qinshuang's future hopes were gone, which meant...

Upon thinking of this, Zhou Xueniang shuddered and began to feel uneasy!
……

When the steward dragged the physician over again, even though he was used to seeing injuries and illnesses, he still gasped when he saw the terrible state of Sheng Changfeng's arm.

He forced himself to endure the discomfort and examined the body carefully, his face growing increasingly grave and ashen.

He glanced sympathetically at the despairing Lin Qinshuang and the unconscious Sheng Changfeng, then closed his eyes heavily, shaking his head at Sheng Hong and Sheng Changbai who had rushed over upon hearing the news, his voice dry and strained.

"Master Sheng... Madam Lin... the Third Young Master's right arm... the bone is shattered to pieces... the tendons are broken inch by inch... even if a divine physician were to be reborn... there would be no way to save him..."

This final medical order, like a cold judge's pen, brought Sheng Changfeng's years of arduous study for the imperial examinations, a path that carried all of Lin Xige's hopes, to a complete end.

His future is ruined!

There is absolutely no room for maneuver!

This devastating news spread rapidly through the deathly silent Sheng Mansion like the deadliest plague, filling every corner with oppressive fear and whispers.

When Sheng Hong and Sheng Changbai dragged their weary bodies home from the government office, they were struck by this bolt from the blue, as if struck by lightning!

Sheng Hong, in particular, felt a surge of blood rushing to his head! His vision blurred, his face instantly turned from ashen to deathly pale, and his whole body began to tremble uncontrollably!

Outrage! An overwhelming rage against that unknown "thief"!

Heartbreaking! The excruciating pain of seeing my beloved son suffer such an undeserved calamity and have his future ruined!

All the pent-up emotions surged and roared in his chest like a volcano, almost completely overwhelming him!
His eyes were bloodshot, like a trapped beast ready to devour its prey, as he recalled the chaotic scene he had hastily swept over earlier.

My heart is filled with sorrow!

"This……"

Especially when his gaze swept over Lin Qinshuang, who was wailing like a madwoman, and Sheng Changquan, who was pale-faced with his arm wrapped in gauze but had a calm look in his eyes as if he was enduring pain, his gaze finally fixed on Sheng Changfeng's twisted, severed arm, which proclaimed the shattering of all hope...

Sheng Hong's temples throbbed violently, his chest heaving. He suppressed the rage that threatened to erupt and the mouthful of blood that surged within him, and roared hoarsely like a wounded beast: "Misfortune for my family! Misfortune for my family... to suffer such a calamity!"

"Father, please take care of yourself!"

Sheng Changbai, who was behind him, reacted quickly and supported his swaying father. His voice was steady but carried an undeniable strength: "Father, please calm down! The most important thing right now is your health and Third Brother's injuries!"

"My third brother is so seriously injured. The most urgent thing is to call for renowned doctors and do everything we can to save him. We cannot give up even if there is only a sliver of hope! As for these audacious thieves..." He paused, his gaze sweeping across the chaotic scene like cold stars. His voice suddenly turned cold, carrying a chilling official's authority, "They dared to break into the residence of a high-ranking official at night and seriously injure his family and children. This is contempt for the law and their crimes are unforgivable!"

"They must be vicious and desperate criminals, either for revenge or robbery! The guards in the manor are so lax in their duties and negligent; they cannot escape blame! This matter..." His gaze swept heavily towards the direction of Linxi Pavilion, "It also shows that there is unrest in our Sheng family and the problem of lax security. We must strictly rectify this situation afterward and show no leniency!"

Seeing his father still immersed in immense grief and anger, he continued in a deep voice, "Moreover, the most important thing right now is to immediately report to the Prefect of Kaifeng! Request the imperial court to thoroughly investigate this case!"

"Under the very nose of the emperor, in broad daylight, such a horrifying atrocity has occurred! If the perpetrators are not severely punished, how can the law be upheld and the people's hearts at ease?"

"We must dig three feet into the ground and bring these lawless thieves to justice!"

"Correct!"

"Yes! Changbai is right!"

As if awakened by his son's words, Sheng Hong regained a sliver of reason from his immense grief and indignation. He abruptly looked up, his bloodshot eyes wide: "Investigate! Report to the Prefect! Report immediately!"

"Dongrong! Go quickly! Take my visiting card and report this to the Kaifeng Prefecture immediately!"

"We must dig three feet into the ground and drag those thieves out! If we don't catch these lawless scoundrels, how can my Sheng family stand in the court? How can we call ourselves an official family!"

Sheng Hong's rage at this moment stemmed more from a father's heartache over his son's tragic misfortune and a patriarch's anger at the trampling of his family's dignity.

"What? No! We can't report this to the authorities!"

Lin Qinshuang, who was immersed in the immense grief of Sheng Changfeng's ruined future and was crying so hard that she almost passed out, suddenly heard the conversation between Sheng Hong and his son, and felt as if she had been stung by a venomous scorpion!
My scalp exploded instantly!

An overwhelming fear gripped her!

Almost instinctively, she screamed in a panic!

"Um?!"

That abrupt, fear-filled "No!" was like cold water poured into boiling oil!

This instantly silenced Sheng Hong's roar!

He turned his head sharply, his bloodshot eyes fixed on Lin Qinshuang, the rage in his gaze like a tangible flame, almost burning her through!

He slowly, with an unprecedented gaze, filled with deep detachment, cold scrutiny, and even containing overwhelming anger and disgust, locked onto Lin Qinshuang as if she were a stranger or an enemy.

"What...are you...saying...?"

Sheng Hong spoke slowly and deliberately, his voice as cold as ice shards in the dead of winter, each word carrying a chilling edge and an immense sense of oppression.

The usually soft-spoken "Honglang" is now unusually ferocious and terrifying!
"Honglang..."

Lin Qinshuang wanted to use her voice to awaken the "Honglang" she knew so well...

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