Chapter 62: The Vixen Keeps a Pretty Husband at Home (10)

After bidding farewell to the two from Qingzheng Hall, Su Tang turned her gaze to the two apprentices from Shangji Hall. "I wonder if the two junior apprentices have some issue with me? Why are you looking at me with such venomous gazes?"

Realizing they had been exposed, the two men dropped all pretense. They glared furiously at Su Tang. "Did you play us for fools on purpose?"

Su Tang looked back at them with an innocent expression. "Whatever makes the two junior apprentices say that? How could I possibly do such a thing?"

That's right. She had simply played all four of them for fools together.

She had merely held a silent auction for them; was there anything wrong with that? Business was all about competition, after all.

"Stop acting, you disgusting woman. Do you think we couldn't see through you?" One of the apprentices from Shangji Hall shouted angrily at Su Tang.

Hearing this, the two apprentices from Qingzheng Hall, who had already reached the doorway, stopped in their tracks and turned back to watch with curious eyes.

Song Qing, who had been busy preparing lunch nearby, also walked over. He stood quietly behind Su Tang. At eighteen, he had already grown quite tall.

He looked down at the two apprentices from his height, instantly filling the surrounding air with a heavy sense of oppression.

Both apprentices involuntarily shrank their necks under Song Qing's gaze, though they still looked somewhat unconvinced.

"I told Master a long time ago not to buy this woman's herbs. What kind of good herbs could a pest like her possibly have? Those medicinal ingredients were harvested from the depths of the forest; how could she possibly have picked them herself?"

"Exactly! Brother, are you unaware of this woman's true nature? Did you happen to be the one who collected those precious herbs? I advise you not to be bewitched by this woman. She looks weak and gentle, but her core is pitch black. She is just using you!"

"That's right, brother, run away quickly! Sooner or later, she'll use you up and you'll end up dead by her hands."

The two apprentices from Shangji Hall chattered away, their initial fear gradually dissipating, leaving only looks of pity as they stared at Song Qing.

Listening to their words, Su Tang remained unbothered and unangered, merely continuing to look at the two with a beaming smile.

Unlike Su Tang, however, Song Qing's expression grew steadily darker until the ugly look on his face could no longer be concealed.

The two apprentices from Shangji Hall exchanged a bewildered glance, unable to understand why this young man was getting angry when they were clearly looking out for his best interests.

"Go on, then? Why aren't you talking anymore?" Su Tang asked with a smile.

The two men still glared angrily at Su Tang. "You b—"

Before the word could leave his mouth, that apprentice was grabbed by the neck and lifted straight into the air by Song Qing. The second apprentice, who had been about to join in and curse Su Tang as well, snapped his mouth shut and instantly fell silent.

"You..." The first apprentice's face turned red, and he frantically batted at Song Qing's arm, but to no avail. "Why did you stop? Keep talking."

The suspended apprentice cast a pleading look at his companion, but the other apprentice was clearly frightened out of his wits and could only stand frozen in place, staring blankly.

"Alright, that's enough." In the end, it was Su Tang who stepped forward to rescue him. She gently patted Song Qing's arm. "Let him go."

Only then did Song Qing release the man, though he still looked thoroughly displeased.

Su Tang let out a long, helpless sigh. "Look at you two—so young, yet your mouths have no filter. If I weren't such a kind-hearted person, you'd have already gone off to meet the King of Hell."

She deliberately bit down hard on the last few words.

By this point, the two apprentices no longer dared to utter a peep. They stood with their heads bowed, and a closer look revealed that both were trembling slightly.

Seeing this, Su Tang began to laugh gleefully in her heart. She took a step forward and patted both of them on the shoulder.

To their horror, this single, simple gesture made both apprentices violently flinch.

Suppressing her mirth, Su Tang gave a light cough. "Remember to watch what you say when you're out and about from now on, understand?"

Too terrified to speak, the two men could only nod repeatedly.

Su Tang continued, "I won't hold it against you today, but the next time you see your great-aunt—that's me—remember to show some respect, got it?"

Again, the two frantically nodded their heads.

Su Tang could barely keep the smile off her face. "And from now on, every time you see me, you must address me as your great-aunt, understand? Otherwise, the older brother standing behind me might just decide to caress you a bit more."

At Su Tang's words, the two men looked momentarily rebellious and started to look up at her, but the latter half of her sentence terrified them back into absolute stillness.

Seeing that they were frozen, Su Tang asked, "Did you hear me?"

The two nodded frantically, terrified of provoking Su Tang's anger.

"Very well," Su Tang patted their shoulders once more. "Off you go, I won't see you out."

Turning around, Su Tang spotted the two Qingzheng Hall apprentices still lingering by the door for a good show. She offered them a gentle smile. "Do the two little brothers still have business here? Would you like to come in for a meal?"

The two apprentices shook their heads vigorously. "No, no, no, we're leaving right now!" The moment the words left their mouths, the pair vanished from sight.

The two apprentices from Shangji Hall looked up at Song Qing, and upon receiving a slight nod from him, they bolted as fast as their legs could carry them.

Naturally, Su Tang had no intention of letting them off too easily. Just as the pair were about to clear the threshold, Su Tang flicked her wrist behind her back. Both apprentices were sent flying through the air, crashing hard into the muddy ground outside the front gate.

Even so, they didn't dare to pause. Scrambling up in a blind panic, they scrambled forward and fled at top speed.

"Hahahahahahaha..." Su Tang laughed so hard she was doubled over. She patted Song Qing's shoulder and pointed at the fleeing figures. "Look at them, hahahaha..."

Song Qing watched them go with a faint smile, then turned his gaze back to Su Tang, taking in her radiant, beaming expression.

"Oh, right," Su Tang suddenly remembered something. She spun around and grabbed the arm of the hand Song Qing had used to lift the apprentice earlier. "Quick, roll up your sleeve and let me see your wound."

Song Qing tried to pull his hand back behind him. "It's nothing."

However, his hand was held too tightly in Su Tang's grip to be withdrawn. Unwilling to use force for fear of hurting her, he had no choice but to let her roll up his sleeve.

Su Tang frowned deeply as she looked at Song Qing's arm. Because of the strain and the apprentice's frantic blows earlier, blood was already seeping through the bandages wrapped around his arm.

Gritting her teeth with bitter resentment, Su Tang muttered, "That damned little brat—if I see him again, I'll never let him off. I'm going to teach him a harsh lesson about the real world!!"

Watching Su Tang's fiercely indignant expression, Song Qing couldn't help finding her amusing. "It's truly nothing..." he said softly.