CHAPTER 279: CHAPTER 279: FALSE MONEY, REAL CONTRACT 1_1

She sat. She stood.

She looked up. She looked down.

Yan Xixi possessed only one talent: the ability to read people’s expressions and gauge their moods.

Liu Daqing had no intention of letting her sit down. Yan Xixi understood this was a form of psychological intimidation. A person forced to stand is always nervous and might even ramble, making them seem inferior. It was akin to ancient courtroom scenes where the accused was made to kneel or stand, never permitted to sit calmly. Conversely, presiding officials would sit high and lofty, exuding authority. At this sight, the faint-hearted would immediately falter, not daring to resist.

In this strictly hierarchical nation, Empress Dowager Liu was clearly well-versed in this tactic—or perhaps, this was simply how she normally lived.

Yan Xixi understood this perfectly, so she decided to just stand upright.

Liu Daqing stared intently at the bandage on Yan Xixi’s forehead. Slowly, word by word, she asked, "What happened to your head?"

That was the purpose of her visit today—Zhou Ting was the vanguard, and Liu Daqing was commanding the main army. It was clearly a joint effort by the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law to drive out the mistress.

"I... I accidentally fell..."

She lowered her head, subtly reaching out to sweep away a stray hair obstructing her vision, allowing Liu Daqing a clear view of the scattered bruises on her wrists.

The elderly lady’s brows furrowed even deeper. "Really an accident? One that serious? And the wounds on your hands, also from a fall? Where did you fall?"

She stammered, "I... I..."

She lowered her head, not daring to say anything.

Liu Daqing already had an idea and then asked, "Why did Donglin sponsor your university education?"

She didn’t hide anything. She briefly and clearly recounted her past with Wan Donglin. This included how they met, how he helped bury her mother, and how he sponsored her studies. She even detailed the jewelry and checks he had given her. She spoke without a single lie.

Liu Daqing silently nodded; Yan Xixi’s account hardly differed from what she already knew.

It always starts this way. A young, beautiful girl, and a man being very generous with his money. A transaction of beauty for wealth, a natural course of events.

She didn’t mince words. "Donglin was obviously very good to you. You should know, he has never treated any other woman so well, and he was even willing to break off his engagement for you. But why didn’t you fall in love with him?"

That was the core question—the killing intent and confusion the Empress Dowager had carried with her from the moment she entered: Yan Xixi, what makes you so special that you didn’t fall in love with my son?

Yan Xixi remained surprisingly calm, her voice very clear, "No, he never loved me!"

Liu Daqing was startled. She said, ’He never loved me’—not ’I never loved him.’ The words were the same, but the order and meaning were worlds apart.

"On what grounds do you say that?"

Yan Xixi’s gaze once again drifted, as if unintentionally, to the bruises on her own arm. Liu Daqing’s eyes followed hers, then shifted back to her forehead.

Would you beat someone you genuinely love like this? The question hung in the air, unspoken.

"Our relationship was a transaction from the beginning..."

Yan Xixi lowered her head completely. "From the very beginning, he told me he would soon grow tired of me. Once he was bored, he would let me go. I also knew my place; I understood I could never be his equal, that a crow could not transform into a phoenix. He had already grown tired of me before I graduated from university; by then, he was rarely home. In the more than half a year after I left, we never had any contact. I don’t know who he was with during this period, nor was I aware that he had called off his engagement to Zhou Ting..."