Becoming a literary master starting from the story of Minglan

Chapter 479 Cover-up
She rolled on the ground, like a ferocious crocodile, and pounced on Minglan, stretching out her hands like a madwoman, her ten fingers like hooks, as if she wanted to tear Minglan to pieces!
However, Lin Qinshuang was already exhausted. She had only made it halfway when she fell heavily to the ground again. Her forehead hit the cold, hard floor tiles hard, making a dull thud that made your teeth ache. Blood gushed out instantly, staining her temples and the floor tiles red.

She struggled to lift her head, her hair disheveled, blood streaming from her forehead, her eyes unfocused and crazed. She muttered incoherent curses and wails, her body convulsing violently. Unable to withstand the successive fatal blows, she lost her breath, her eyes rolled back, and she fainted, unconscious.

Looking at Lin Qinshuang lying on the ground like a broken doll, covered in blood, Minglan felt a surge of vengeful pleasure in her heart!

However, amidst this exhilaration, there was also a sense of exhaustion and chill after everything had settled down.

She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down, and leaned down to check Lin Qinshuang's breath—it was still warm, but she had fainted.

Confirming that the man wouldn't die anytime soon, she didn't look at him again, resolutely turned around, and quickly left the woodshed filled with the stench of blood and madness.

At this moment, she had only one thought in her mind: this matter must be done by her alone, and she must not involve others, especially... she must not let her clear-headed and promising younger brother, Sheng Changquan, know that she also had blood on her hands from scheming.

Her younger brother should walk a clean and upright path to success.

Outside the courtyard gate, Wang Mama, who was guarding the gate, was being pulled along by Xiao Tao, who was rambling on about how sweet and juicy the new batch of seasonal fruits that had arrived in the mansion were, trying to fill Wang Mama's ears with these mundane family matters.

The desperate screams and the muffled thud from inside the house were like a heavy hammer blow to Wang's mother's heart. She was so frightened that she almost dropped her keys. Just as she was about to push the door open to see if someone had died inside, Xiao Tao exclaimed "Ouch!" and used the excuse of "asking for a recipe for pickled vegetables" to trip her up.

Seeing Minglan emerge, her face paler than when she went in, but her eyes calm and her steps steady, Wang Mama's pounding heart finally calmed down a bit. She quickly put on an extremely obsequious smile and went to greet her: "Sixth Miss is out? Inside... Lin Xiaoniang, she..."

“It’s nothing.” Minglan interrupted her, her voice carrying a barely perceptible tension. Her sharp gaze swept over Wang Mama and Xiao Tao. “Lin Xiaoniang fell down and bumped herself, then fainted. Go in and check on her, treat her wounds, and make sure she doesn’t die. Don’t mention today’s events to anyone, especially not to Father! If even a whisper of it gets out…”

She didn't finish speaking, but the coldness in her eyes made Wang's mother's heart skip a beat. She quickly bowed and replied, "Yes, yes, yes, this old woman understands!"

"Sixth Miss, you can rest assured! This old woman's mouth will be sewn shut today! I won't utter a single extra word!"

Wang's mother bowed and scraped, as if she wanted to tear her heart out to show her loyalty, and Xiao Tao also nodded quickly like a chick pecking at rice.

Minglan said no more, and with Xiaotao in tow, her figure quickly disappeared into the twilight leading to Mucangzhai, her steps hurried, as if trying to shake off the invisible stench of blood behind her.

After watching them walk away, Wang's mother finally breathed a long sigh of relief, her back feeling cool from the sweat.

"My God..." she muttered to herself, "Normally, Sixth Miss seems like a daffodil, so pure and serene, but when she gets angry, her eyes can kill!"

She shook her head, turned around, took out the heavy bunch of keys, and prepared to open the door and go in to see what was going on inside.

“Mother Wang”.

Just as Wang's mother's icy fingertips touched the cold, hard brass lock, a gentle, clear voice, with the clean quality unique to young people, rang out unexpectedly from the shadows a few steps behind her.

The sound wasn't loud, but it was like a small pebble precisely thrown into Wang's mother's calmed heart, startling her so much that her hand trembled and the key almost slipped from her grasp with a "clatter".

She turned around abruptly, her heart nearly leaping out of her throat!
Sheng Changquan had quietly appeared in the shade of the old plum tree.

He wore the slightly oversized indigo scholar's robe he wore during the daytime wedding procession, which made his figure appear even thinner and more frail. The wide sleeves neatly covered his right arm, which was said to be "severely injured." Perhaps due to the dim light, or perhaps due to the "injury," his handsome face had a just-right, pitiful, and pale look.

However, when he raised his eyes, they were calm and deep, like two bottomless ancient pools, looking at her without any ripples, as if he had already seen through everything.

Although Sheng Changquan had already recovered using his supernatural abilities, he still pretended to be "weak and frail" in order to maintain his persona.

"Oh my! My Seventh Young Master!" The fear on Madam Wang's face was instantly replaced by an even deeper, almost overflowing, fawning. She bent over so low her waist was almost touching her knees, and her voice was sickeningly sweet. "You...you've condescended to come here?"

"This place is dirty and unlucky. What if it offends you, the God of Literature! Quick, stand back, or you'll get your shoes dirty!"

As the most shrewd and calculating person in the household, she knew all too well the weight of this young master in front of her—the master's darling, the old lady's apple, and a future official who was a sure thing!

If you take good care of her, even a little bit of money that slips through her fingers will be enough for her to live on in her old
Sheng Changquan seemed not to hear her exaggerated flattery, and slowly approached, his steps carrying the composure unique to a scholar.

His gaze casually swept over the tightly closed woodshed door, which exuded an ominous aura, before settling back on Wang Mama's face, which was filled with fear and ingratiation. A gentle, harmless smile played on his lips as if he were chatting casually: "I was passing by just now and saw Sixth Sister seem to be coming this way? Did she... go in to visit Lin Xiaoniang?"

His tone was so flat, it was as if he were asking, "The weather is nice today."

The little drum that had just stopped beating in Wang's mother's heart started pounding wildly again!
The sixth young lady's warning was still ringing in her ears, but the young master's gaze was so calm that it made her uneasy.

She dared not lie, much less reveal herself, so she could only speak vaguely, shifting the blame to an "accident": "Yes...yes, she came. Sixth Miss is the most compassionate, thinking of Lin Xiaoniang being locked up and suffering, she went in and said a few words of comfort...perhaps...perhaps Lin Xiaoniang couldn't think straight during the conversation and got a little emotional, causing a commotion inside...This old woman is just about to go check on her! You know what a mess this is..."

"Oh? You fell down by yourself?" Sheng Changquan nodded slightly, a perfectly measured, scholarly worry on his face, as if he completely believed the explanation. "Lin Xiaoniang is really... incompetent."

He took two more steps forward, getting closer to the door, his gaze seemingly trying to pierce through the door to see what was inside. Wang's mother felt an invisible pressure descend upon her as he approached, making her even hold her breath.

Sheng Changquan seemingly turned his body slightly, as if to feel the cool breeze in the twilight, but in reality, his spiritual senses had already thoroughly investigated the situation inside the woodshed—Lin Qinshuang's breathing was weak but steady, and she was not in immediate danger.

He felt a slight sense of relief: thankfully, he wasn't completely dead.

Sheng Changquan absolutely did not want his sister to have any lives on her hands, so he naturally had to take care of the dirty work.

“Mama Wang,” Sheng Changquan’s voice remained gentle, yet like ice slowly seeping into warm water, it carried an undeniable force, “Father’s anger has not yet subsided, and Lin’s guilt is grave.” “Sixth Sister’s visit was out of kindness, a gesture of sisterly affection. But if Father finds out she came, and ‘coincidentally’ happened to arrive just as Lin had ‘fallen and injured herself,’ given Father’s temperament…” He paused, leaving just the right amount of space, letting Mama Wang imagine the scene of Sheng Hong’s furious outburst, “I’m afraid Sixth Sister will receive a severe scolding.”

"At that time, if Father asks who let Sixth Sister in, and who failed to supervise her properly, causing Lin's 'accidental' injury..."

"Aunt Wang, tell me, who should bear this responsibility?"

Upon hearing this, Wang's mother broke out in a cold sweat, which streamed down the back of her neck, instantly soaking her undergarments.

She could almost see Sheng Hong's furious face and the excruciating pain of the paddle hitting her. Her legs went weak, and her voice trembled with tears: "Seventh...Seventh Young Master, please understand! This old woman was foolish! I almost ruined everything! I would never dare to say anything! I would rather die than implicate Sixth Miss!"

She wished she could point to the heavens and the earth, and lay out her heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys to show her loyalty.

"Yes, Granny Wang is an old servant in the household, so she naturally understands the importance of things." Sheng Changquan nodded in satisfaction, but the worry on his face only increased, like a bookish scholar genuinely concerned about family harmony. "However!"

"After all, Lin is still being held in the Sheng family. If something were to happen to her, it wouldn't sound good and would damage Father's reputation. How about this, I'll go in with you to take a look, so you can feel at ease. We need to see it with our own eyes so we can report back to Grandmother and put her mind at ease."

He brought up the old lady, and his reasoning was impeccable.

Madam Wang dared not utter a single word of "no," feeling that this seventh young master was frighteningly meticulous. She hurriedly took out the key with trembling hands and opened the heavy lock with a shake.

"Squeak-"

The door to the woodshed was pushed open, and a strong, foul stench, a mixture of blood, mold, and dust, hit the person, making them wrinkle their nose.

In the dim light, Lin Qinshuang lay sprawled on the cold, dirty floor tiles like a rag doll. Where her forehead touched the ground, dark red blood smeared everywhere, sticky with a few strands of messy hair and dust. Scattered around her were a few broken blades of grass and scattered pebbles. The whole scene exuded a sense of tragedy and wretchedness.

Sheng Changquan stepped inside with an unperturbed expression, his gaze sharp as a hawk's, instantly scanning every corner of the cramped cage: the bloodstains on the floor winding like small snakes, Lin Qinshuang's fingers stained with dirt and blood, the rough edge of the small table she had scratched in her panic before collapsing, and the edge of the floor tile stained the deepest with blood.

His face remained calm, as if what appeared before him was not a bloody scene, but a book.

Sheng Changquan did not immediately check Lin Qinshuang's "injuries." Instead, as if his attention was drawn to a corner, he went straight to the dusty, dilapidated washbasin stand.

The basin was half full of murky, foamy leftover water. He casually picked up a fairly thick piece of coarse cloth hanging on the shelf, dipped it into the sewage, and then skillfully wrung it out halfway with a flick of his wrist.

Just as Madam Wang was about to step forward to help Lin Qinshuang up and examine her frightening wound, Sheng Changquan gently stopped her, his tone carrying the rigor of a physician's son: "Madam Wang, wait a moment. Don't move her yet. Carefully examine where the wound is, how deep it is, and whether any debris is embedded in it, to avoid further damage."

Just as Wang Mama bent down as instructed, approaching Lin Qinshuang's blood-stained forehead and intently examining the hideous wound—Sheng Changquan's figure turned to the side with remarkable ease, perfectly blocking all of Wang Mama's gaze from Lin Qinshuang's hand with his slender frame!
The opportunity is fleeting!
He swiftly crouched down beside Lin Qinshuang, his left hand quickly, accurately, and steadily lifting her right hand, which was stained with blood and dust.

Her right hand gripped the wet, coarse cloth, her movements so fast they almost left afterimages, yet so precise they were like those of the most skilled coroner. The cloth, like a nimble rag, swept across Lin Qinshuang's five fingers with unimaginable speed and efficiency—the dirt embedded in her fingernails.
erase!

Dust rubbed off your knuckles?

Wipe it clean!

Tiny blood spots, almost invisible to the naked eye, on the edge of the palm?
Completely eradicate it!

The whole process was smooth and seamless, completed in the blink of an eye.

After wiping with a cloth, those originally dirty fingers miraculously returned to their original pale color, and there was no trace of scratching, struggling, or foreign matter left on them, as if the fierce conflict had never left any evidence on these hands.

"Pfft!"

After doing all this, Sheng Changquan casually tossed the cloth stained with blood and grime back into the murky basin, making a dull splash that perfectly masked his swift and silent actions.

"Aunt Wang, is Lin Xiaoniang's forehead injury... serious?" He stood up casually, his tone carrying just the right amount of concern, as if nothing had just happened.

"Oh dear! This is terrible!" Mrs. Wang looked up, her face filled with lingering fear. "It was a really bad fall! The skin was torn open, and the blood was all over it! It's terrifying to look at! What should we do?" She found the wounds shocking.

"It looks scary, but it's probably just a superficial injury, not to the bone or muscles," Sheng Changquan said confidently, like a doctor who was used to seeing patients.

He walked to the spot where Lin Qinshuang had collapsed, his gaze falling on the dark red bloodstain, his brows furrowing slightly as if he were deep in thought.

He casually nudged a loose, dusty, and hay-covered pebble at the edge of the bloodstain with his toe. With a barely perceptible flick and push, the pebble rolled "naturally" to the center of the bloodstain, settling perfectly still, as if it had always been there, the "culprit" that caused it all.

“Look,” he pointed to the “evidence” with his toe and said to Mama Wang, “It must have been that Lin Xiaoniang was in a moment of emotional turmoil and lost her footing, falling and hitting her forehead hard on this protruding pebble. This woodshed has been in disrepair for years, with an uneven floor and lots of clutter, which is a real hazard. We must inform the steward later and have it properly repaired.”

His explanation was reasonable and logically sound, instantly characterizing Lin Qinshuang's injuries as a purely "accidental fall and bump," completely erasing any possible clues pointing to "intense physical conflict."

Looking at the "culprit" lying in a pool of blood, Madam Wang suddenly realized and slapped her thigh, saying, "Yes, yes, yes! Seventh Young Master, you have such keen eyes! You saw it clearly! It's definitely this broken stone that caused the trouble! This lousy place should have been repaired long ago! Even rats digging holes here are flatter!"

She was completely led astray by Sheng Changquan and felt that it made perfect sense.

Thank you so much for your support, 8 strokes in total 1981, and sighing for Xiangyu in Dream of the Red Chamber!