Ye Xi felt a sharp pain in her thigh, and the skirt on her body instantly stuck to her skin. She quickly reached out to grab the dry part of the fabric and lifted the heavy, wet hem away from her skin.
Behind her, Sai Xing and Jiang Ning were only splashed with a few drops. After the initial panic, they rushed forward together to check on Ye Xi.
Yan Gui was at the back. When he saw what had happened up ahead and Ye Xi's skirt was soaked over a large area, outlining the slender and rounded lines of her legs, his face instantly darkened. He quickly stepped forward to protect Ye Xi and retreated back to the private room they had just left.
Ling Yan followed closely behind and grabbed the culprit who was still giggling merrily and dragged him in. It was none other than that rascally Luo Xiaobao!
After handing the boy over to Yan Gui, Ling Yan followed Ye Xi into the small partition in the private room that was originally used for drunk guests to rest.
Jiang Ning quickly helped to lower the curtains on both sides. Everyone quickly lifted the clothes that were sticking to their skin, only to see a patch of crimson, with wisps of heat still faintly visible.
Fortunately, Luo Linrui was short for his age and couldn't carry truly boiling water. When he tried his best to splash it upwards, it only reached below Ling Yan's chest, so neither of them had any injuries on their faces. But Ye Xi and the others were still blowing on their burns in pain. The tender parts of their skin were probably going to blister.
Sai Xing was both angry and anxious. She quickly rushed off to find ice.
Seeing Ye Xi and Ling Yan's painful expressions when they were scalded, Luo Linrui burst out laughing. He gloated and said, "Hahaha... Serves you right for helping that mute! You got scalded!"
Everyone was extremely angry. They had already known that this kid was probably no good, but they never expected him to be so vicious. They couldn't help but wonder how much cruel torture Lian Yi had endured from him in the Luo Mansion.
Ye Xi was usually very tolerant of children, especially after getting along with Yi Yaofeng every day. At first, she thought this child was just spoiled by his family, which was why he was so arrogant and domineering. But now it seemed that this child was probably inherently evil.
A child like this would never change without a painful lesson.
Ye Xi's eyes were cold and sharp. She said coldly, "Yan Gui, check how much of the lotus leaf tea the shopkeeper sent just now. Pour it all over him."
"Yes, miss."
Yan Gui had long wanted to teach Luo Linrui a lesson, but he was afraid of being too heavy - handed and causing trouble for Ye Xi. Now that he had received the signal, he grabbed Luo Linrui with one hand and picked up the teapot with the other, then poured the tea all over the boy's face.
It was summer, and the lotus leaf tea wasn't very hot when it was served. After so much time had passed, it was just lukewarm and wouldn't scald anyone.
But Luo Linrui had never suffered any grievances in his life. Even if he ate two mouthfuls less of rice on a normal day, his family would be very worried. Now, being stared at by Yan Gui's cold gaze and having the tea poured over his head, he immediately let out a pig - like wail.
"Ah - ah! How dare you treat me like this!"
While crying, he grabbed all the bowls and dishes around him and threw them at Yan Gui.
"I'm going to tell mother! I'm going to tell grandmother! Wah - ah! I'll make grandmother beat you with a cane and kill you all!"
Everyone's expressions turned cold.
Yan Gui was right beside Luo Linrui and could clearly see the boy's venomous and resentful expression. It was obvious that he wasn't just talking nonsense; he must have really experienced such things. They just didn't know who had been beaten or killed.
Yan Gui's face looked ugly. He and his elder brother had been bullied and abused by such wealthy and spoiled children when they were young, so he knew how cruel such children could be.
They knew what evil was, knew they had someone to back them up, and knew that because of their young age, especially when facing older people, no matter how big the matter was, others couldn't really argue with them.
Yan Gui's fists gradually tightened, and the killing intent in his eyes grew.
"Miss, Ling Yan, hurry! The ice is here..."
Suddenly, the door was opened. Sai Xing rushed back in a hurry with the ice and the burn ointment from the shopkeeper, accompanied by Zhou Qingqing's anxious shouts getting closer.
Yan Gui suddenly came back to his senses.
Sai Xing had already rushed over like a gust of wind. Luo Linrui was still crying and throwing things at Yan Gui.
Outside the private room, the voices of Zhou Qingqing and Zhou Zhanlan had reached the door. Without a trace, Yan Gui waved his hand, and the bowl that Luo Linrui had thrown instantly bounced back and hit him right on the forehead. Luo Linrui let out a cry of pain, covered his head, and sat down on the ground with a thud.
When Zhou Qingqing pushed open the door, she saw her precious son sitting on the ground with his head in his hands, crying heart - rendingly.
"Oh, Xiaobao! My son, what's going on?"
As she spoke, she rushed forward to hug her son and check on him.
She saw that Luo Linrui's forehead was red and was already starting to turn blue. She was immediately furious and shouted, "What's wrong with you people!? A few adults ganging up to bully a child! Have you no shame?"
"I'm telling you, if anything happens to my son here today, none of you will get away!"
"Hey, do you have eyes at all?"
Sai Xing couldn't tolerate her talking nonsense like this. She immediately retorted, "What do you mean something happened to him here? It was clearly your son who held a grudge against us for exposing his bullying of his elder sister. He secretly carried boiling water and hid around the corner to scald our miss and Ling Yan. The evidence is still here!"
"Our miss and the others were scalded like this, and we haven't even found fault with you yet, but you're already slandering us!"
"You're lying!"
Luo Linrui kicked his chubby legs on the ground and wailed, "It was clearly you who weren't looking where you were going. You bumped into me and knocked over the hot soup and scalded yourselves. And you even splashed water on me and hit me... Wah - wah... Mother, grandmother, Xiaobao hurts so much..."
Seeing her precious grandson, who was used to being pampered, suffering such great grievances, Zhou Zhanlan felt as if her heart was being cut with a knife. She glared angrily at the figures behind the curtain and said coldly, "Did you hear that? My grandson is always well - behaved and sensible. You bumped into someone and then shamelessly shifted all the blame onto a child."
"What? Do you think my precious grandson is just a child and will let you slander and bully him?"
"Madam," seeing that Sai Xing was so angry that she wanted to rush out to argue, Jiang Ning quickly grabbed her and said, "You know what your grandson is like. If it was a head - on collision, why is there not a single drop of soup on your grandson? According to your grandson's height, how could the soup be knocked over to a position as high as his head?
"Did he carry the soup on his head?"
"You..."
After carefully examining her grandson who was throwing a tantrum on the ground, Zhou Zhanlan knew that what the two girls said was true. But her grandson was so young. So what if he splashed them as a joke?
Zhou Zhanlan thought she was in the right and argued, "He's just a child. How hot of water could his delicate skin carry?
"All kids are naughty. Even if he accidentally spilled a little hot water on you, he was just having fun and joking around."
Then she looked at the people behind the curtain and said, "But you! You're so narrow - minded. You actually have the nerve to argue with such a small child! You make a big fuss just because you got a little bit of warm water on you, and you even dared to hurt someone!"
"Mother Wang,"
Zhou Zhanlan said sternly, "Immediately have them tied up and sent to the government!"