Chapter 35 – A Slip of the Tongue: Just One Moment of Misspeaking
“This is my long-lost younger brother.”
When Miss Yan Ran smiled as she made the announcement, even though Mu Qing had mentally prepared herself, her expression still cracked ever so slightly at the moment she heard it.
However, she quickly regained control. Her expression management had always been top-tier—just that brief flicker, then calm once more. After all, she understood perfectly well that the daughter of a foster mother could still count as a sister. That made sense. It was just that…
Seeing this soft, gentle, and charming Miss Yan Ran sweetly call her husband “younger brother” felt just a little bit weird.
Mu Qing maintained her smile and offered her congratulations. Her husband, for some reason, gave her a long, searching look, making her feel like even her smile might be too much—too exaggerated, too fake?
Uneasy, she glanced toward Miss Yan Ran again, only to find that elder sister smiling with an expression full of deeper meaning. That made her work even harder to appear natural and composed.
Well, in situations like this, as long as she wasn’t the one feeling awkward, the awkwardness belonged to someone else.
Compared to her relatively composed demeanor, Liu Feng was doing a terrible job with his emotional control.
At first, he hadn’t taken the situation seriously at all.
It wasn’t until Miss Yan Ran’s tone turned solemn, and her husband nodded to confirm, and Mu Qing didn’t object—in fact, she tacitly agreed—that he finally realized… it was real.
And then, his entire mental state collapsed.
His face was a picture of disbelief as he suddenly burst out: “No, this can’t be true! This isn’t real! It’s impossible!”
But no matter how loudly he protested, it didn’t change a thing. Miss Yan Ran, with her usual emotional intelligence, handled the outburst with practiced ease—or rather, she didn’t even bother this time. She didn’t soothe or coax him like before.
It was like now that she had a “real younger brother,” this one from the neighborhood just didn’t seem to measure up anymore.
This was a textbook example of how comparison could lead to emotional damage.
Mu Qing watched all this and thought that, honestly, Liu Feng on his own didn’t seem that bad. Good-looking, witty—on the surface, at least, he was quite the charmer.
No wonder he’d become a sensation among all those young women.
Of course, some of that had to be the “protagonist aura,” but he also did a decent job of highlighting his own strengths.
Still, now Mu Qing was beginning to consider another possibility—maybe the reason her husband hadn’t shown up in the original storyline was precisely because of this. Without someone better to compare him to, everyone just assumed Liu Feng was incredible.
That actually made sense.
Which meant, all her struggles these past days hadn’t been in vain. They had made a difference.
Even the flap of a butterfly’s wings could shift the winds of fate.
And that was enough.
Her mood lifted again. Ever since she met her husband, everything had started to fall into place.
She had only just been wondering how to steal Miss Yan Ran away from Liu Feng when this convenient “long-lost sibling” twist fell into her lap—her husband truly was a gem.
Maybe this marriage contract… shouldn’t be dissolved just yet.
There were still six months left. With her husband by her side, she could probably derail a good number of Liu Feng’s budding romances.
Besides, since Liu Feng had already married her cousin, even without her interference, her cousin’s fighting spirit alone would be enough to keep him on his toes.
That thought helped her shake off the earlier discomfort, and now she was genuinely happy that her husband had gained another “sister.”
Liu Feng sulked for a while but eventually gave in to Miss Yan Ran’s gentle coaxing.
And so, this “accidental encounter” at Xinghua Pavilion ended on that note.
As they were preparing to leave, Mu Qing noticed Miss Yan Ran pulling her husband aside to whisper something—very intimate-looking. What she said didn’t matter—what mattered was that her husband didn’t flinch or pull away.
You had to know, she’d put in so much effort trying to help him overcome his discomfort with physical contact.
And it hadn’t really worked.
Now it seemed like maybe she had just been the wrong person…
The moment this elder sister showed up, everything magically clicked into place.
Sigh… well, she supposed that wasn’t a bad thing after all.
Mu Qing was already considering whether she should bring up dissolving the contract ahead of schedule when Liu Feng, beside her, suddenly said with a sneer, “What’s the matter? Jealous?”
He said it loudly, in that deliberately mocking tone meant to get under someone’s skin.
Mu Qing had been a little distracted, but the moment he opened his mouth, she snapped back to the present.
Seeing her turn around, Liu Feng grew even more pleased with himself and continued provoking: “Well, no surprise. Our Sister Yan Ran is famous for being beautiful, gentle, and graceful. Not just anyone can compare to her.”
He was clearly insinuating there was something going on between the two.
Mu Qing merely looked at him, unfazed.
And that, in turn, encouraged Liu Feng.
Growing bolder, he started to speak even more offensively—“You don’t know, do you? That Sister Yan Ran may look demure and lovely, but she’s actually a former Yangzhou courtesan. When it comes to men, she really knows her stuff. If she set her sights on your husband, he probably—”
“Probably what?” a voice suddenly asked behind him.
“Probably…” Liu Feng was just about to finish his sentence when he sensed something was wrong.
He turned and froze.
Unbeknownst to him, Miss Yan Ran had come up right behind him.
Because he’d been facing away, he hadn’t seen her approach. But Mu Qing had.
And that was why she hadn’t said a word, simply letting him dig his own grave.
Gossiping behind someone’s back always deserved a good comeuppance.
Even Liu Feng, shameless as he was, wasn’t immune to the sting of public embarrassment.
Staring at Miss Yan Ran’s serene, elegant face, he suddenly found himself tongue-tied. After stammering for a while, he finally lowered his head and muttered, “…I’m sorry, Sister Yan Ran. I didn’t mean it…”
Miss Yan Ran just gave him a quiet look, said nothing, and turned to Mu Qing with a curt farewell before walking off.
Mu Qing returned the gesture and watched her go.
Even though she felt nothing but contempt for Liu Feng’s despicable behavior, she couldn’t help feeling a little sympathetic toward Miss Yan Ran.
Fate really was cruel. Her mother had come from a brothel, and she surely never wanted her daughter to follow in her footsteps.
Yet by some cruel twist of fate, she’d ended up on the same path.
And despite her talent, beauty, and noble heart, though she had carved out her own success, her name was still stained by the times she lived in.
No wonder, in the end, she had no choice but to become Liu Feng’s mistress.
Such a waste.
Miss Yan Ran had suddenly walked off. Liu Feng stood frozen in place for a while, then turned and shot a venomous glare at Mu Qing and her husband before storming after her.
Whether his damage control would work, Mu Qing didn’t know. But with that elder sister’s personality, she doubted there was much hope.
She was still mulling it all over when her husband sighed beside her and asked:
“Aren’t you going to ask what Miss Yan Ran said to me just now?”
