Becoming a literary master starting from the story of Minglan

Chapter 450 Showdown
Mo Lan was so frightened that she collapsed onto the prayer mat, her hands tightly covering her ears, her face pale, her whole body trembling like a leaf in the autumn wind, her stomach churning, and she almost vomited.

Seeing her usually gentle and refined father now as cold as a demon, and witnessing her stepmother's desperate cries, she felt dizzy and as if the world had completely collapsed.

Lin Qinshuang collapsed to the ground, listening to the sounds of blows from the cane that seemed to be hitting her, and Zhou Xueniang's increasingly painful wails. Her face turned from pale to ashen.

She was ice-cold, her teeth chattering, and a wave of immense fear washed over her like an icy tide.

She knew that Sheng Hong was truly enraged and was willing to use Zhou Xueniang's life to pry open her mouth!
Time seemed to become incomparably long.

The sound of the cane striking outside the door did not stop, but Zhou Xueniang's screams gradually weakened, turning into intermittent, weak moans.

Finally, after about twenty strokes, Dong Rong's low voice came from outside the door: "Master, Zhou Xueniang has fainted!"

"Wake him up with cold water!"

Sheng Hong's eyes were icy cold and completely expressionless: "Let her speak!"

"If you don't talk, we'll keep hitting you!"

"Wow!!"

A basin of icy cold water was poured over her head, and under the dual stimulation of excruciating pain and cold, Zhou Xueniang let out a weak and miserable groan and slowly woke up.

The fear of death completely shattered her will. Before she could even see the despair in Lin Qinshuang's eyes in the ancestral hall, she used her last bit of strength to scream, "Confess...I confess...It was...it was Xiaoniang! It was Xiaoniang Lin who ordered it!"

"It was she who made me... made me bribe Zhang Laosi... it was 'Over the Mountain Wind' she hired..."

Zhou Xueniang's voice was hoarse, like a moldy, rotting mushroom: "Lin Xiaoniang... she... she's going to cripple Seventh Young Master's hand... spare me... spare me..."

Before she could finish speaking, she fainted again.

The ancestral hall was deathly silent.

Sheng Hong abruptly closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and when he opened them again, all that remained in his eyes were cold, burnt-out ashes.

"Bring it in."

Dong Rong directed the old women to drag Zhou Xueniang, who was like a rag doll, with her lower body covered in blood and flesh and barely breathing, into the room and throw her next to Lin Qinshuang.

"boom!"

Lin Qinshuang felt as if the last string in her mind had snapped completely!

It’s over! It's all over!

Snow Maiden... Snow Maiden sold her!
"No! She's lying! She's making false accusations! Honglang! She was tortured into confessing! I'm innocent!"

Lin Qinshuang let out a desperate scream, trying to make a final struggle, and lunged at Sheng Hong's feet.

"roll!"

Sheng Hong suddenly kicked her away!

The force was so great that Lin Qinshuang tumbled out, her hair disheveled, looking utterly pathetic.

He walked step by step to Lin Qinshuang, squatted down, grabbed her collar, and lifted her up from the ground!
The two faced each other, Sheng Hong's eyes blazing with rage and deep-seated hatred, yet his voice was as cold as the depths of hell: "Innocent? Lin Qinshuang! Even now, you still want to deny it?!"

"Zhou Xueniang is your woman!" Sheng Hong looked at the woman in front of him with sarcasm, his words full of hatred: "Her confession, obtained with half her life, was it tortured into submission?! What about Zhang Laosi's death?"

"How do you explain sending Zhou Xueniang to have a private talk with him the other day? What about Feng'er's injury?! Are you being framed for all of this?!"

He shook Lin Qinshuang violently, as if shaking a rag doll, his voice distorted with extreme anger and heartache: "How cruel you are! How vicious your methods are!"

"For your own shady schemes, you bribed the doorman and hired someone to kill you!"

"You wanted to harm the elder's power! And what was the result?"

"In the end, you harmed your own son! You harmed Feng'er! You ruined his life!"

"Are you satisfied?! Huh?! Tell me! Are you satisfied?!"

The immense fear and despair completely overwhelmed Lin Qinshuang.

Seeing the undisguised murderous intent and disgust in Sheng Hong's eyes, feeling the force with which he gripped her clothes, almost crushing her bones, and hearing Zhou Xueniang's faint, dying breaths beside her... all her excuses and pretenses crumbled.

She knew that if she continued to deny it, Sheng Hong would really kill her!

"It was...it was me..." Lin Qinshuang collapsed as if all her strength had been drained away, tears mixed with snot smeared all over her face, her voice hoarse and desperate, with a kind of desperate madness, "It was me who did it...it was Zhang Laosi who I bribed...it was Guoshanfeng I hired...but...but I did it all for Mo'er!"

"...For Feng'er! Honglang!"

She abruptly raised her head, a twisted, resentful light flashing in her eyes, her voice rising sharply, filled with a hysterical accusation: "Why?!"

"Why does Sheng Changquan get the old lady's favor?! Why does he always outshine my Feng'er?!"

"Honglang, Feng'er is also your son!"

Having reached this point, Lin Qinshuang decided to stop pretending. She widened her eyes and shouted hoarsely, "Feng'er is struggling with the imperial examinations, so why can Sheng Changquan prepare for them with peace of mind?! If he loses his hand and can't take the imperial examinations, then my Feng'er... my Feng'er will have a chance, won't he?!"

Even now, Lin Qinshuang still chooses to hide the fundamental reason for her revenge against Sheng Changquan.

After all, no one brought Wei Shuyi's affair to the forefront back then.

"It was wrong of Mo'er to hurt him, but what does that little injury matter?!"

"Why did he gain the old lady's and mistress's pity because of this? Why?! I'm not convinced! I'm not convinced, Honglang! I just... I just wanted to fight for my children's survival!"

"What's wrong with me fighting for a better future?! The world is wrong! You're all biased!!"

She became increasingly agitated as she spoke, tears streaming down her face, appearing almost mad, as she unleashed years of pent-up resentment, jealousy, and bitterness, like venom.

"Snapped!"

A resounding slap landed hard on Lin Qinshuang's face!

The force was so great that her head tilted to the side, and blood instantly seeped from the corner of her mouth!
Sheng Hong trembled with rage, pointing at her with his fingers shaking: "You wicked woman! You...you are utterly depraved! For your filthy desires, you dared to hire thugs to harm your own brother! You've ruined Feng'er's life by harming others!"

"Is this the future you've fought for?! Is this the path to survival you've secured for your children?! You...you..."

Sheng Hong was so angry that he could barely speak. He felt a sharp pain in his chest and his vision blurred.

Mo Lan, who was standing to the side, was already dumbfounded, as if she were a clay sculpture!
She finally understands!

No wonder I was faced with such an embarrassing scene.

but……

Mo Lan was heartbroken. She never expected that her mother's miscalculation would result in her own brother injuring his right arm and losing his future!
A tremendous sense of shock, fear, resentment, and an indescribable feeling of absurdity overwhelmed her in an instant!

Looking at her mother, who was acting like a madwoman and spewing vile words, and then at her father, who was furious and had icy eyes, she felt a chill run from her feet to the top of her head. She felt as if she had fallen into an ice cave, and she even forgot to cry. All that remained was boundless confusion and despair.

"Get out! Get out of here!"

Looking at Lin Qinshuang's unrepentant, twisted, and ugly appearance, Sheng Hong felt waves of nausea and vomiting, and all his strength was drained away.

He dejectedly released his grip, staggered back a step, as if he had aged ten years in an instant. His voice was tired and hoarse, filled with deep disgust and despair: "Dong Rong... lock Lin Qinshuang in the woodshed! Keep a close watch on her!"

"No one is allowed to visit without my order! And also!"

Sheng Hong glanced at Zhou Xueniang, his eyes filled with barely suppressed hatred: "Drag Zhou Xueniang away too, find a doctor, and keep her alive. I still have questions to ask! Mo Lan... get back to Linxi Pavilion and kneel down! Don't get up without my permission!"

"Get out! Get out of here!"

He turned his back, no longer looking at the master and servant on the ground and their distraught daughter. He waved his hand wearily and heavily, his figure appearing incredibly lonely and desolate in the flickering candlelight.

Dong Rong immediately led his men forward, roughly lifted the limp Lin Qinshuang and dragged her away, and then carried out Zhou Xueniang, who was barely breathing.

Inside the ancestral hall, only Sheng Hong remained, silently shedding tears.

"What a misfortune for our family... what a misfortune for our family..."

Sheng Hong muttered to himself, emanating an aura of suffocating despair that lingered around him.