Deceive Me, Marry Me

Xu Baomo was unhappy, but Sheng Weiqiao knew nothing about it.

She woke up the next day and found herself feeling much better than before so that she could hopefully totally recover before Sheng Lanci arrived at Daimao Island. But by thinking about Sheng Lanci, she inevitably remembered Sheng Shuihe. Because she found herself in the lair of pirates when she woke up, and even got a niece, with a restless mind, she didn"t pay much attention to it.

But now she realized that, according to the description of Gongsun Yingjiang, Sea Master Gongsun Su was beset with internal and external problems, so how could he spare the time to look after his foster brother? It should be Sheng Shuihe"s situation and injuries that occupied him most, right?

At that thought, her mind was weighed down.

When the thought just came to her mind that she should go to see Sheng Shuihe, she pondered, “I"m not a doctor anyway. What"s the sense of going to see him? He wouldn"t feel happy to see me, would he?”

She hesitated for a while. When she was feeling awkward, she looked up and noticed a tan maid staring at her curiously, so she asked casually, “What"s your name? Where is your lady?”

“My name is Yushan.” Hearing the questions, the little maid looked away and said, “My lady is now recuperating!”

“Recuperating?” Sheng Weiqiao was a bit stunned and asked eagerly, “Did she get that from me?”

“No.” Yushan shook her head with a complicated expression. She hesitated for a moment and said, “My lady got ill because she fell into the sea at night.”

Sheng Weiqiao was surprised, “Why did she fall into the sea at night?”

She thought that the girl looked so timid that she couldn"t dare to enter the yard at night. Even the yard was near the sea, she couldn"t fall into the sea, could she?

Yushan stayed silent for quite a time before she finally uttered, “I don"t know, either.”

“Where is she now?” Sheng Weiqiao noticed that she was concealing something, so she got skeptical that Gongsun Yingjiang was involved in the infighting.

Pondering, Sheng Weiqiao asked tentatively, “May I go to see her?”

Yushan hesitated awhile and said, “Since you haven"t totally recovered yet, I need to ask about my lady"s opinion!”

“I"ll go with you!” Remembering Gongsun Yingjiang"s timid face, Sheng Weiqiao worried that after being informed by Yushan, Yingjiang would prepare herself in advance, so she would not tell the truth. She rose instantly, fastened the wrap, and said, “Show me the way!”

Seeing Yushan"s hesitant expression, she said, “What are you afraid of? You can enter first and ask your lady if she would like to see me, and I"ll wait outside. If the answer is no, I won"t go to disturb her. Alright?”

She knew that Gongsun Yingjiang wasn"t the type that would say no, or dared to say no. If she learned that Sheng Weiqiao was already at the door, she wouldn"t let her come all the way for nothing in any case!

Unexpectedly, after a while, she was led to a nearby yard by Yushan. She hadn"t stepped in when a voice half boyish and half adolescent was sneering inside, “… It won"t be too bad if he just threw you into the sea. But he forced you to soak there and didn"t allow you to go ash.o.r.e until half a night later. Obviously, he was mad! Because of the threat of Han and Pan outside, also the scheme of the uncles inside, neither father nor he would spare the time to punish you. However, when everything comes to an end, you"ll be done!”

Sheng Weiqiao frowned at hearing it and thought that as expected, Gongsun Yingjiang didn"t fell into the sea by accident but was threw there and forced to soak for half a night. It went too far to treat a girl around thirteen in that way, didn"t it?

She was vexed when Gongsun Yingjiang"s voice came from inside, with snuffles which indicated that she caught a cold, “Who knew that he was so narrow-minded?”

The voice half boyish and half adolescent said, “Dare you to say that in front of him?”

At the time, Yushan knocked at the door with an awkward face. The sister and brother inside asked in sync, “Who"s it?”

“Miss Sheng is here!” Yushan said directly. The people inside fell silent. After a pause, they heard a flurry of activities, and then the door was wrenched open. With a blushed face and long hair let down onto the shoulders, Gongsun Yingjiang appeared at the door. Seeing Sheng Weiqiao, she said anxiously, “Aunt, you"re not recovered yet, so what"s the bother to come all the way here? I have a cold, and I don"t want to get it into you!”

Though Sheng Weiqiao didn"t find her ident.i.ty as a daughter of a Sea Master adorable, she was grateful for her kindness to her and said gently, “I heard that you"re ill, so I come here to see you. If it weren"t for your considerate care, I wouldn"t be able to get up and walk around so soon.”

Gongsun Yingjiang smiled dryly and said, “Ah, I just stayed there and kept an eye on you. Basically, everything was done by Yushan….”

As she said, a flurry of footsteps rose inside, and a head stretched out from behind Gongsun Yingjiang"s shoulder. It was a boy of about eleven or twelve who looked like Gongsun Yingjiang. With a pair of bright black eyes, he seemed pretty smart.

He first studied Sheng Weiqiao curiously and then said sweetly, “Is this Aunt Sheng? You"re so pretty! By the way, my name is Gongsun Yingdun. Also, my father is Gongsun Su!”

“So, they"re siblings?” Hearing that, Sheng Weiqiao cast a look at him and thought, “I heard that he didn"t sympathize with Gongsun Yingjiang who fell into the sea and fell ill, on the contrary, he gloated enough over this. Meanwhile, he let Gongsun Yingjiang, the patient, come to open the door, so I supposed that he was a son of her uncle!”

After all, the infighting that Gongsun Yingjiang had told her was mainly about the conflicts between Gongsun Su and her uncles.

“Nice to see you.” Surprised that Gongsun Yingdun was Gongsun Yingjiang"s half-brother, though, Sheng Weiqiao didn"t like his heartless behaviors as a brother, so she just nodded flatly, “Seems like it"s not a right time for me to be here. I"m sorry to disturb you two!”

“Not at all!” Gongsun Yingdun acted as if he hadn"t seen her distance, pulled her sister"s sleeves with a grin, and reminded her, “Sister, since Aunt Sheng hasn"t recovered yet, how could we keep her talking with us outside. Hasn"t our teacher told us? We should invite her inside and serve her with some tea in this case!”

Honestly, Gongsun Yingjiang didn"t want to invite Sheng Weiqiao inside. Above all, she thought that the indulged ladies like Sheng Weiqiao were mainly weak and vulnerable. Or how could she be into a coma for four days just because she killed a man and caught a cold on the sea, which frightened so many people?

So, she really meant it when she said she feared to get the cold into Sheng Weiqiao. But since her brother noted that and Sheng Weiqiao didn"t seem to reject, she had to speak with her nose and mouth covered by a handkerchief, “If you don"t mind, will you come in and have a seat?”

They entered the room and sat down. Yushan prepared the tea for them considerately. Sheng Weiqiao had a sip out of politeness and then began to ask after Gongsun Yingjiang"s cold, “You were well yesterday when I saw you. Why are you ill today?”

Though she had heard the truth at the door, she still wanted to learn Gongsun Yingjiang"s version for her.

“I went for a stroll at night, and then I fell into the sea by accident.” As expected, Gongsun Yingjiang said, “Don"t worry, aunt! We"re already used to the life on the sea, so it"s just a trifle. I took medicine in the morning, and I sweated. I supposed I"d be recovered this afternoon!”

Sheng Weiqiao pondered for a while and decided not to expose her lie. Instead, she said, “Luckily, you"re fine. But even if you"re used to the life on the sea, you"re still a girl, so you"d better not go out when it"s dark outside, in case something similar happens again.”

Gongsun Yingjiang said with a stiff smile, “You"re right!”

And then she was trying to change the topic, “We don"t have many resources on the island. You must have suffered in the past few days, haven"t you? Do the dishes today suit your taste？If not, feel free to tell me! I"ll let the cook prepare the food according to your taste!”

“The fish used in the soup was very fresh. It was refreshing compared to what I had on the land.” Sheng Weiqiao discerned her intention, grinned, and said cooperatively, “The shrimps in the porridge were also fantastic….”

After some conversations over the food, noticing Gongsun Yingjiang"s tired face, Sheng Weiqiao said good-bye thoughtfully, with one request added, “I want to visit your little uncle. Is it convenient for him?”

“No!!!” She had thought such a request would surely be accepted. After all, Gongsun siblings called her “aunt” all for Sheng Shuihe"s sake, who was their uncle. So, wasn"t it natural that she hoped to visit Sheng Shuihe?

Even she was rejected, it could only be for a timing problem. For example, Sheng Shuihe had just taken his medicine. Therefore, she shouldn"t disturb him. But her voice hadn"t faded away when Gongsun Yingjiang changed her face, acted like a cat whose tail was trampled, and almost jumped into the air, “You can"t!!!”

Gongsun Yingjiang wasn"t conscious of her dramatic behaviors until she saw Sheng Weiqiao"s astounded expression. She clenched the fists, tried to alleviate the impact with a cough, and said, “You"re not recovered yet! It will be alright if you"d like to have a walk in the neighborhood. But Little Uncle lives far away. What if you catch a cold on your way? Besides, it"s our father who"s now taking care of him. So, the people around there are all crude. You"re graceful and delicate. I don"t want you to be offended by them!”

As she said, Gongsun Yingdun stayed aside with a smirk, which was caught by Sheng Weiqiao. She found it weird and said, “It won"t be a problem if you worry that I would catch a cold. I saw a cloak in the room right now, which could belong to you? Could you lend it to me? As for the people at your father"s place, since I don"t know the way, I won"t go there alone and will ask one of you to accompany me. As long as those people see my companion, they will know how to treat me properly, won"t they?”

Gongsun Yingjiang froze for an instant, and when she was about to resume thinking about the excuse to reject, Gongsun Yingdun smiled maliciously and said, “What aunt said was all logical! In my view, there"s no need to find someone else to guide you. We sure can do that. Since I"m planning to drop by my father"s place, I"ll show you the way. How about that?”

Gongsun Yingjiang instantly glared at him!

“No worries, sister. I"ll bring aunt to Little Uncle safe and sound!” Gongsun Yingdun pretended that he didn"t notice her anxiety. He turned his wrist and pulled out a burnished dagger. He said with a grin, spinning the blade skillfully with his fingers, “For anyone who dares to offend the aunt on the way, I"ll teach him a good lesson. My dagger skill was taught by Little Uncle personally, so don"t worry about us!”

Sheng Weiqiao realized that he was intended to contradict Gongsun Yingjiang. But knowing that Daimao Island didn"t dare to make things difficult for her at the moment, she wasn"t afraid that Gongsun Yingdun"s scheme might do her any harm. So, she ignored it, fastened the cloak for herself, went out, and asked Gongsun Yingdun to show her the way.

“Because Gongsun Yingjiang once looked after me for a whole day, and she called me "aunt" so eagerly, how could I sit by when she"s now bullied by others?” On her way, Sheng Weiqiao told herself, “But it"s the first time that I"ve come to Daimao Island, for more, I"m an outsider. I don"t know the proper means to revenge her, so I have to ask Sheng Shuihe about it! I"m not worried about him, and I"m not meant to see him!”

Holding such faith in the bosom, presently, she stepped into Sheng Shuihe"s room, very calm.