Li An felt a pang of dread.

Sure enough, the next instant, Jingjing’s dagger was back at that wound. “Forget it—since you’ve already drawn your weapon, you’d better see it through. Otherwise, what kind of impression would that make?”

“Please… please… I’m begging you…” Li Ci burst into tears.

Her voice was still soft, but far more agitated than her earlier tears.

Yet Jingjing paid no heed.

With a swift, decisive motion, she slashed repeatedly across Li Ci’s chest, each cut drawing a sharp, gushing sound. Only when she had finished did Jingjing finally stroke her chin, then wiped the blood from the dagger clean on Li Ci’s face. “Hey, you little bitch—do you know what character I wrote?”

Li Ci dared not speak, nor cry out in pain, much less move a muscle.

Jingjing had already sheathed the dagger, pulled out a small vial, unscrewed the cap, and dripped its contents onto Li Ci’s wounds.

When the dagger first sliced through her skin, the pain hadn’t been so bad, but as the liquid from the vial splashed onto the cuts, the agony made Li Ci clench her teeth.

By now Jingjing had finished dripping the entire contents of the vial. She tucked the bottle away, then flicked a drop onto Li Ci’s forehead and snapped irritably, “You fool! It’s the character ‘jian’—the ‘jian’ in ‘jianhuo’! How could you not even think of something so simple? How dare you stay by our Da Shaoye’s side?”

Li Ci didn’t dare utter a single word of resistance; she could only endure it in silence.

This was precisely what Jingjing hated most about her.

She slapped Li Ci hard across the cheek—the half of her face that was still free of blood. “Why can’t you stop crying? Are you crying for your father or your mother? Has your father died, or your mother? Why are you wailing like this? Hurry up and give your aunt a smile!”

How could Li Ci possibly manage a smile?

On the contrary, she cried even harder, and in no time her once-beautiful face was all streaked with tears.

Jingjing’s head began to ache; she was afraid that another few slaps would soil her hands, so she simply turned over and sat down in the very spot she had just occupied upon entering—the head of Li Ci’s bed.

Leaning against the bed, she idly picked up the dagger again and began to toy with it. “Hey, you little bitch—shut your mouth and stop crying! If you keep it up, you’ll really piss me off, and I’ll put an end to you with a single slash!”

Though she seemed to be bluffing, the dagger was already poised at Li Ci’s throat.

Instantly, Li Ci’s sobs ceased.

Only then did Jingjing satisfy herself by sheathing the dagger, let out a scornful laugh, and say, “What a spineless, weakling bitch—you don’t have the guts to stand up to the strong, yet you dare to act so recklessly time and again? You’re only getting away with it because our Da Shaoye used to dote on you. If it were anyone else, they’d have killed you long ago!”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk—what a truly despicable bitch. Even after all this, you still don’t know how to be grateful, how to rein yourself in, or how to cherish the blessings you’ve been given. Instead, you just keep on acting up, keep on running wild. Do you really think our Da Shaoye is some kind of bodhisattva?

Try acting up two more times and see what happens. By then, don’t even dream that our Da Shaoye will personally deal with you—even I, as a mere bystander, won’t be able to stand by and watch anymore. Sooner or later, I’ll have to step in and teach you a lesson!”

Li Ci didn’t dare cry or speak, but in her mind kept replaying the woman’s words just now: “You’re only getting away with it because our Da Shaoye used to dote on you.”

So that’s how it is!

So that’s really how it is!

It turns out she truly is a bully who preys on the weak and cowers before the strong.

She dares not cross the Liu clan or the Ming clan, yet she has the audacity to betray Ming Kai—because she knows that even if she does, Ming Kai will never kill her.

But the Liu and Ming clans are different.

If she refuses them at the time, her family will soon suffer all sorts of mishaps. Under those circumstances, what choice does she have but to submit to the strong and cower before the weak?

End of Chapter 179: Counterattack 105