Becoming a literary master starting from the story of Minglan

Chapter 455 Instructions
However, Minglan's trembling was not due to Sheng Changfeng's injury, nor even the fate of her elder sister Hualan.

What she was truly afraid of was...

Minglan lowered her eyes, her long eyelashes trembling violently like the wings of a wounded butterfly, concealing the turbulent waves surging in her eyes!

She never imagined that Lin Qinshuang's cruelty and stupidity could reach such an outrageous level!
Hiring someone to ruin their future is no ordinary private affair; it is a heinous crime worthy of confiscation of property and extermination of the entire family!
Its heart is awkward!

At the same time, a chilling fear instantly gripped her—Xiao Qi!
Her intelligent, reserved, and promising younger brother had a brush with death!
If it weren't for a twist of fate, he would be the one whose life has been ruined and who is now wailing in pain!

The thought sent shivers down her spine.

As for Sheng Changfeng… Minglan felt a complex and indescribable pity.

Although this third brother was not close to her and Xiao Qi because of Lin Qinshuang, he was not a bad person at heart, and even had some scholarly naivety and cowardice.

Unlike Mo Lan, he was not full of malicious scheming. Although he could not treat his family members equally, he did not have any real intention to harm them.

In Minglan's plan to avenge her birth mother, Lin Qinshuang and Molan were the targets, but she never intended to involve Sheng Changfeng.

Unexpectedly, Lin Qinshuang's crazy and foolish scheme backfired first on her son, whom she had never considered an enemy!
A bright future ruined by his own mother—how ironic, how tragic!

Thinking of this, Minglan's hand clenched into a fist involuntarily, her nails digging deep into her palm, bringing a sharp stinging pain.

The pain forced her chaotic and fearful mind to focus.

"This Lin Qinshuang... has gone completely mad! We can't wait any longer..."

A cold voice cried out in her heart.

Lin Qinshuang's existence is like a poisoned blade hanging over the Sheng family and over Xiao Qi's head!

Her plan... must be accelerated! This cancer must be eradicated completely before she stirs up trouble again!

Thinking of her revenge plan, Minglan suddenly raised her head. Her gaze first fell on her grandmother, who sat in the main seat with a solemn expression, then swept over her father, who looked pained and exhausted and seemed to have aged ten years in an instant, and finally stopped on her eldest daughter-in-law, who was so grief-stricken that she was crying so hard that she almost passed out.

Finally, her gaze seemed to pierce through the thick walls of Shou'an Hall and reach towards Zeyu Hall.

There, was her younger brother, whom she needed to protect the most and who needed her to clear away obstacles.

A complex look flashed in her eyes—a mixture of worry, lingering fear, relief that Xiao Qi was safe, and a resolute determination to burn her bridges!

"Little Seven... your older sister will do her best to eliminate this last danger for you and the Sheng family..."

From the main seat, Old Madam Sheng took in the sight of her two granddaughters, especially Minglan, whose faces instantly drained of color, the deep fear hidden in their eyes, and the wisdom beyond their years.

She sighed silently to herself, knowing that this matter could no longer be kept from her two intelligent children, especially Minglan.

Old Madam Sheng spoke in a deep voice, not loud, but carrying a chilling, menacing tone: "Rulan, be quiet! Stop this nonsense!"

Her sharp gaze instantly suppressed Rulan's agitation.

"Minglan, come here."

She beckoned Minglan closer, and looking at her granddaughter, who was the most meticulous and calm, yet was now suppressing a storm of emotions, she softened her voice.

The old lady assumed her granddaughter was inexperienced and was terrified when she heard this, as there was no one behind her.

She took Minglan's hands, patted them gently, and then said sternly, "What you heard today is a terrible disaster, a shameful family scandal! You must keep it all buried deep inside!"

"From this moment on, keep your mouths shut! You are not to utter a single word to the servants in the manor or to anyone outside, including your closest friends!"

"If you dare to leak even a whisper of this, it will ruin the Sheng family's reputation and affect the future of you sisters, and even Bai-ge and Quan-ge..."

"Family discipline is ruthless! Don't say you weren't warned!"

The last sentence carried a chilling undertone.

Of course, the old lady was quite at ease with Minglan; her main concern was with Rulan, that little gossip.

"Yes, Grandmother. I will remember it and never forget it." Minglan lowered her head, her voice clear and firm. Rulan also nodded hurriedly, her face pale.

However, Rulan couldn't hold back any longer and cried out urgently, "Grandmother! That eldest sister..."

"Your elder sister's matter will be handled by the elders with all their might!"

Old Mrs. Sheng interrupted her, her tone filled with deep weariness, yet containing an undeniable decisiveness, like a pillar of strength: "What you sisters need to do now is to keep to your duties, behave yourselves, take good care of yourselves, and keep the servants in your rooms in check, so as not to cause any more trouble!"

"And this is the greatest help you can give to your eldest sister!"

"Alright, it's late, everyone go back and rest!"

“But…” Rulan wanted to argue, but Minglan gently but firmly tugged at her sleeve.

Rulan looked at her younger sister, Minglan, and saw that Minglan's pale face had unusually calm eyes, even with a hint of reassurance, as if to say, "Trust Grandmother."

Rulan's anger and impulsiveness seemed to be extinguished by that calm gaze, and she could only shut her mouth in frustration.

Like two small boats adrift in a raging storm, the two sisters silently withdrew from the suffocating Shou'an Hall, carrying with them a heart full of turmoil and heavy fear and worry.

Outside, the night was as dark as ink that could not be dissolved, and the cold wind howled through the corridors, as if foreshadowing something.

……

Inside Zeyu Hall, a celadon oil lamp flickered with a tiny flame, casting sharp, knife-like shadows of bamboo on the window lattice.

Sheng Changquan sat alone at the chessboard, which was made of a single piece of Torreya wood, its grain as deep and dark as the night tide.

The chessboard is framed with ebony and inlaid with a whole piece of white marble. Black and white pieces each occupy their own territory, standing still like hidden soldiers.

The piece he was playing with between his fingers was not a chess piece, but a white piece that had not yet been placed. It was made of mutton fat jade and showed very faint blood-red patterns in the lamplight, as if it had long been soaked into someone's lifeline.

"Third brother is crippled."

The boy's voice was extremely soft, like snow falling on a sword's edge, melting away in an instant, yet leaving an invisible wound.

He lowered his eyes, his dark eyelashes casting a cold shadow on his jade-like face. His fingertips caressed the white chess piece, as if weighing the weight of a human life.

On the chessboard, the black pieces originally occupied all the edges and corners, but the white pieces forced two cuts at strange angles, as if they had been cut in half by a thin blade.

The black dragon charged left and right, each time landing precisely in a trap set by the white pieces, as if fate had already written the script.

Sheng Changquan suddenly raised his hand and tossed the white piece between his fingers into the air.

Before the chess piece was even placed, it created an extremely subtle sound of wind breaking through the air!

"Ding--"

The jade-like object struck the plate with a crisp sound like breaking ice.

In an instant, the situation on the chessboard changed dramatically—

The white piece flew diagonally from the center point, using the isolated piece as a blade to pierce the throat of the black piece. The seemingly loose external forces tightened at the same time, turning into a net.

The black dragon was cut in half, unable to support itself, and its dozens of pieces instantly became a dead dragon.

The boy reached out and picked up the string of black pieces that had been discarded, placing them one by one back into the chess jar.

Each drop of the can is like driving a coffin nail into someone's heart; the sound is soft, yet its weight is chilling.

"The next move..."

He spoke in a low voice, his eyes as deep as a moonless, starless night pool, reflecting no trace of human light.

"—It's fourth sister's turn."

Suddenly, the wick popped and a spark ignited, illuminating a faint curve at the corner of his lips, cold as the back of a knife.