"Zi girl, you are truly wicked! This time, the patriarch of the Imperial Zi family will be tormented to death or at least gasp for air!"
Situ Jinglei gave a thumbs-up, praising her without reservation.
Situ Yunfeng chimed in, "Isn't that right! Who else could the Imperial Zi family have provoked but Zi girl, a master so cunning that it's beyond comparison? It would be unnatural if there wasn't a funeral!"
When it came to flattery, the Young Valley Master Situ was truly unique!
Zi Lingling's face darkened.
Wicked?
Cunning beyond comparison?
Were these father and son praising her or scolding her?
The smile in Ye Lingyuan's eyes bloomed like a flower.
It wasn't that he wasn't protectively doting on his wife, but the Situ father and son were indeed sincere. They just didn't have the knack for speaking, their flattery landing on the wrong side of the horse.
Of course, Zi Lingling also knew that the Situ father and son didn't treat her as an outsider, which was why they spoke so casually.
Therefore, she wasn't truly angry. On the contrary, she enjoyed this feeling of kinship.
However, enjoyment was enjoyment, and letting insults slide without retort was not her style.
Naturally, Zi Lingling wouldn't direct her anger at Situ Jinglei.
After all, Situ Jinglei was an elder and hadn't meant any harm.
But Situ Yunfeng could be teased.
So, she raised an eyebrow and looked playfully at Situ Yunfeng, saying, "Brother Situ, am I truly cunning?"
Her words carried a dangerous undertone.
But the thick-skinned Situ Yunfeng was currently reveling in Zi Lingling's scheme.
Thus, he casually replied, "In this world, besides Ah Yuan, there's no one more cunning than you!"
The moment he said that, he had inadvertently included Ye Lingyuan in the insult.
Ye Lingyuan's lips curved upwards as he coldly said, "Oh, is that so?"
As that signature voice emerged, the distracted Situ Yunfeng immediately snapped back to reality.
Recalling his previous statement, his face turned ashen with fear.
To call the two cunning people in front of him cunning, wasn't that asking for trouble?
Situ Yunfeng was filled with regret, silently blaming himself for speaking too quickly.
But now that it had happened, regret was useless. He could only shamelessly try to argue... no, explain.
He put on a smile that was more like a grimace and said, "Ah Yuan, Zi girl, I didn't mean it that way, I..."
"If you didn't mean it that way, then what did you mean?" Zi Lingling gently rubbed her temples and smiled faintly.
Yet, her smile was a little chilling.
Ye Lingyuan seemed to tacitly approve of Zi Lingling's question, so he remained silent.
"I meant that... I meant... I meant..."
Situ Yunfeng was flustered, and the lie behind his words couldn't be completed.
Zi Lingling waited with amusement for his answer, inwardly blooming with laughter.
Ye Lingyuan knew his Lin'er was in a playful mood and let her have her way.
Situ Yunfeng's eyes darted around, and he said, "Right! I meant that the people of the Imperial Zi family are simply despicable. If you weren't a bit cunning, you'd definitely be devoured by them, leaving no scraps behind!"
Situ Jinglei could not bear to watch and covered his eyes, worrying about his son's intelligence.
Even though he often scolded and hit Situ Yunfeng, if any outsider dared to harm him, Situ Jinglei would fight to the death.
But these outsiders did not include Ye Lingyuan and Zi Lingling, as he simply didn't regard them as outsiders.
"Oh? Is that so?"
Each word, the tone unchanged, but the speaker had changed—from Ye Lingyuan to Zi Lingling.
Situ Yunfeng suddenly felt a shiver down his spine.
Indeed: like father, like son. Or rather, like husband, like wife.
These two not only matched each other in their cunning, but their oppressive aura was also comparable.
Under this oppressive aura, Situ Yunfeng lost all desire to argue.
He dejectedly begged for mercy, "Ah Yuan, Zi girl, I was just speaking rashly. Please spare me!"
Zi Lingling remained silent, gazing at Situ Yunfeng.
As for Ye Lingyuan, he had become a devoted husband, leaving all matters to Zi Lingling's full discretion.
Situ Yunfeng's scalp tingled, and he fawned, "Zi girl, please let me off! I was wrong! You are not cunning at all, you are the most innocent girl in the world, you are gentle, generous, understanding, peerless, and stunningly beautiful..."
The flattery poured from his mouth like a never-ending river.
"Pfft!"
Zi Lingling laughed and said, "Situ, your plea for mercy is too shameless!"
Situ Yunfeng awkwardly brushed his hair from his forehead and said, "Shameless or not, I just beg you to let me off!"
Zi Lingling's body trembled slightly, and she said, "Why should I spare you?"
Situ Yunfeng looked bitter, thinking, "It's over! She's not going to let me off."
Before his thought could even finish, Zi Lingling's voice rang out again, "Did you do anything to wrong me?"
Situ Yunfeng was stunned, not understanding what Zi Lingling meant.
Seeing his intelligence drop due to fear, Zi Lingling couldn't help but laugh.
"I was just called cunning, what's the big deal? Besides, I... am indeed cunning!"
She would never admit that she had deliberately used Ye Lingyuan's imposing aura to scare Situ Yunfeng earlier.
"I am cunning, and I am proud of it! If I weren't cunning, I would have been eaten long ago, leaving no scraps..."
Situ Jinglei: "..."
Situ Yunfeng: "..."
This was the first time they had ever heard someone say, "I am cunning, and I am proud of it!"
Zi Lingling said this, then looked at Ye Lingyuan beside her and continued, "So, you weren't wrong."
Ye Lingyuan's lips curved into a doting smile, "I wish I could consume and finish everything, but I fear the Consort would not consent!"
This display of affection came out of nowhere.
Situ Jinglei: "..."
Situ Yunfeng: "..."
Zi Lingling pinched Ye Lingyuan's waist, then smiled and said to Situ Yunfeng, "You said one thing correctly: when it comes to cunning, I truly cannot compare to Ye Lingyuan!"
Ye Lingyuan appropriately responded, "Not at all! It is all due to the Consort's deliberate yielding."
Situ Jinglei: "..."
Situ Yunfeng: "..."
Were they not afraid of being struck by lightning for such blatant public displays of affection?
Little did they know, one of these two treated heavenly tribulations as a meal, and the other scared heavenly tribulations into fleeing.
"You are too kind, too kind!"
Zi Lingling shamelessly accepted Ye Lingyuan's humble words.
"Lin'er, it's time for serious matters!" Ye Lingyuan placed a hand around her waist and said with a smile.
Zi Lingling patted his hand and said to Situ Yunfeng, "Alright, stop pretending. Let's get back to serious matters."
Situ Yunfeng: "..."
He was truly scared by Ye Lingyuan and Zi Lingling, not pretending.
Never mind! If they called him a pretender, then so be it!
As long as these two cunning masters didn't make things difficult for him, he'd go along with whatever they said!