chapter 13
Cheng Yu’s heart bled with rage; a monstrous fury devoured her last shred of reason.
Her eyes burned red, and her vicious gaze could have skinned the young girl alive.
“Gu. Qing. Ning!”
Gu Qingning lazily lifted her eyelids, her tone cool and calm, carrying an indescribable chill.
“You get angry that easily?”
Having lost two of her most precious treasures, Cheng Yu wanted nothing more than to kill her in a fit of rage.
She turned to the guards and barked, “What are you standing there for? Grab her!”
“Yes, ma’am!”
Snapping out of their daze from Gu Qingning’s reckless act, the guards rushed toward her.
But before they could reach her, the girl sitting calmly on the sofa suddenly moved.
A blur flashed past them, lightning-fast.
The guards froze, staring wide-eyed at the figure now standing outside the floor-to-ceiling window.
An illusion.
It had to be an illusion. No human could move that fast.
The only one still relatively calm was the butler.
Looking at the girl standing outside the window, countless questions churned in his mind.
Had Miss Qingning been hiding her strength all along, pretending to be weak?
Even so, no one could change this much in just three days.
Meanwhile, Cheng Yu was so furious she was practically steaming when she saw the now-empty jewelry box.
Pushing aside the guards in front of her, her eyes locked on the jewels clutched in Gu Qingning’s hand—and she stopped dead in her tracks.
She screamed hysterically, “Gu Qingning, are you insane?!”
“Insane?”
Backlit by sunlight, Gu Qingning’s lips curved into a faint smile, her tone indifferent.
“There’s something even crazier. Do you want to see it?”
As soon as the words fell,
she raised her hand.
The luxurious jewelry caught the sunlight, scattering dazzling flashes of brilliance.
These jewels were Cheng Yu’s pride and joy—she cared for them meticulously.
Now, watching Gu Qingning handle them so roughly was like having her own flesh carved off.
She shrieked, half-mad, “Gu Qingning, if you dare—if you dare—I swear I’ll never forgive you!”
Gu Qingning glanced down. Below, the gardener was pruning and fertilizing.
She looked back up, raising an eyebrow at Cheng Yu, her expression cold and cocky.
The next second, she loosened her grip.
The expensive jewelry fell, tumbling through the air.
“No!”
Cheng Yu’s eyes widened in horror as she bolted forward, nearly tripping over herself.
Grabbing the railing, she watched helplessly as her jewels dropped straight into the stinking pile of fertilizer below.
Her whole body trembled, fury clogging her throat.
“Heh.”
A low laugh escaped—muffled yet defiant.
Cheng Yu whipped her head around, glaring daggers at Gu Qingning.
“Grab that wretched girl! Dead or alive, I don’t care!”
She had destroyed her jewels—and still had the nerve to laugh!
Cheng Yu would not rest until she’d flayed her alive.
The guards surrounded Gu Qingning, blocking the window.
But Gu Qingning only sneered, her next move stunning everyone.
She grabbed the railing, stepped up lightly, and—
Leaped.
A clean, effortless motion.
The butler’s eyes widened as he rushed forward.
“Miss Qingning—!”
He had already informed Third Young Master.
If something happened to her, how would he ever explain?
Peering down, he saw the girl land gracefully on the ground below, using the railing to slow her fall.
No injuries. No harm.
He exhaled deeply and wiped the sweat from his brow.
She’d scared him half to death.
Everyone else looked at each other, utterly shocked.
It might only have been the second floor, but that was still quite a drop—
and she’d jumped without a scratch.
Unbelievable.
Gu Qingning bent down, picked up her fallen cap, and brushed off a few blades of grass.
Sensing the furious gaze from above, she looked up and gave Cheng Yu a lazy wave with her hat—carefree, arrogant, and untamed.
Cheng Yu nearly spat blood.
“Go after her!” she screamed. “Alert the guards at the gate! Lock down the whole house! If anyone lets her out, they’ll answer to me!”
She wanted to see just how long this girl could stay so cocky—
how many arms she thought she had to fight them all.
“Yes, ma’am!”
The guards scattered in panic. Fearing worse trouble, the butler hurried after them.
Once she’d caught her breath, Aunt Lin hobbled over to Cheng Yu.
“Madam,” she fumed, “that wretched girl Gu Qingning is completely out of control. You mustn’t let her off easy!”
“As if I would,” Cheng Yu growled, her eyes full of venom.
“How did she suddenly start talking again?”
“I don’t know,” Aunt Lin replied. “She’s been able to speak ever since she came back. I was shocked too.
If you ask me, she must’ve been pretending all along. This is her true nature!”
“How did she open the safe?”
“When we got there, the jewelry box was already in her hands.” Aunt Lin lowered her head quickly, terrified of getting caught in Cheng Yu’s rage.
Hearing that, Cheng Yu stormed out of the room in fury.
In the courtyard, chaos reigned.
Guards lay groaning on the ground, all sporting bruises and scrapes.
A closer look showed that none of the injuries were serious—just superficial wounds.
Gu Qingning scanned the few still standing, calm as ever.
“Move, or get beaten. Your choice.”
Silence.
The guards exchanged nervous glances.
Move and die; stay and die.
Life was hard.
The butler stood stiffly to the side, trying to make himself as invisible as possible.
Then Cheng Yu arrived, seeing Gu Qingning standing victorious. Her face twisted with rage.
“You useless trash! So many of you, and you can’t even handle one little girl?”
“Get her—now!”
The guards looked resigned, ready to charge again—
when a roaring engine suddenly broke the tension.
The butler turned toward the sound and saw a blue sports car speeding toward them. Relief flooded his face.
Like seeing salvation, he ran toward it at once.
“Oh no,” Aunt Lin muttered beside Cheng Yu. “Madam, Third Young Master is back.”
Cheng Yu recognized the car too and scoffed.
“So what if Gu Zhao’s back? Gu Qingning caused this disaster—nothing can save her now.”
It wasn’t her who’d made the mess.
What was there to be afraid of?
Gu Zhao wouldn’t dare play favorites that blatantly.
The car door opened, and the butler hurried up.
“Third Young Master, thank goodness you’re here!”
As soon as Gu Zhao stepped out, he saw the mess in the courtyard—guards injured, chaos everywhere. His dark eyes flickered with surprise.
“Did we get robbed?”
“What happened here?”
The butler gathered himself and lowered his voice.
“Miss Qingning had a dispute with Madam. These men were all injured… by her.”
Gu Zhao frowned.
“You mean all of them were taken down by her?”
According to the reports, Qingning was supposed to be a fragile, quiet girl—someone who wouldn’t even hurt a chicken.
The butler nodded, knowing how unbelievable it sounded, and pointed toward a figure not far away.
“She’s right there, sir. You can ask her yourself.”
Following his gaze, Gu Zhao’s eyes landed on the girl’s tall, slender back.
All black.
Her baseball cap tilted slightly to one side.
Even from behind, she radiated a wild, untamed pride.
