Chapter 144: Initial Show of Force

Words : 1106 Updated : Sep 30th, 2025

This thoughtful gesture made Clara Bennett’s mood even more pleasant.So, she walked with a lively step, through the garden, to the place where her elderly relatives stayed. She arrived very early, just as the dawn was breaking, and the three elders were still sound asleep upstairs, showing no signs of waking up. She quietly entered the living room, instructed the servants to leave the things they brought, and then dismissed them all. The large living room was left with only her, so quiet that even the sound of breathing could be heard clearly. The three elders were still sleeping soundly upstairs, the entire house submerged in a tranquil silence. She took out a flute and began to play slowly. It was a jade flute carved with intricate patterns, appearing exceptionally elegant in her hands. With her fingers gently dancing, the melodious and magical tune flowed out into the silent night. As the melodious sound of the flute echoed, certain "inhabitants" in the three bedrooms gradually awoke and moved toward the beds. The small creatures, originally dormant in dark corners, seemed to receive some kind of guidance, crawling slowly yet without hesitation toward the beds of the three elders, completing their mysterious convergence in silence. The flute’s sound was not low, clear and penetrating, causing the three elders, who were always light sleepers, to hazily open their eyes almost the moment the first note touched their eardrums. In the misty night, they sensed something unusual happening around them but were temporarily unable to discern what it was. Mr. Foster happened to be lying facing outward, and in his half-asleep, half-awake state, through the window’s faint moonlight, he glimpsed a distorted, blurry figure slowly standing up. At first, he thought it was just a delusion or merely clothes draped over a chair causing a misunderstanding, but as the figure became clearer... He rubbed his eyes, shook his head vigorously trying to make himself wake up, then mustered the courage to look again, and immediately widened his eyes—My God, there was indeed a large, thick snake coiling there! The scales reflected faint light, making the unexpected visitor appear even more hideous and terrifying. "Waaahhh!" Mr. Foster let out a scream, his voice filled with undeniable terror and panic. Without any time to think of a response strategy, almost instinctively, he rolled off the bed as fast as he could, nearly tripping over his pajama. After stumbling for several seconds, he finally found the direction of the door and sprinted out with all his might. "Someone come! There’s a snake! And also, mous-mous-mice!" Mr. Foster shouted hysterically while running out, fearing that more horrific things would catch up and attack him the next second. His fear made his words sound exceedingly tremulous. No sooner had he finished speaking than a loud bang was heard from the door next to his room, followed by the sound of two people crashing into each other violently. Because Mr. Foster rushed out too quickly, he directly ran into Mr. Foster, who was also looking panic-stricken and running out. The collision between the two not only failed to relieve their internal fright but instead intensified the chaos. "Run! There’s a snake! Lots of snakes!" Mr. Foster had evidently endured an extremely terrifying nightmare, his face devoid of any color, his tone filled with a strong sense of desperation and will to survive. No need to say more, everyone clearly knew that everything that had happened in Mr. Foster’s room was also being replicated in the other two rooms, including the yet-to-appear third elder. So, the three of them tumbled and crawled down the stairs, and when they reached the living room and saw the girl smiling innocently as if nothing had happened, "Good morning to the three uncles." Clara Bennett’s voice was warm and pleasant, as if nothing had happened. This contrast made their heartbeats race once again. Seeing Clara sitting there quietly, the three were once more greatly shocked. Especially Mr. Foster, who had just experienced a life-and-death run, his heart nearly jumping out of his chest, "You, how are you here? Was all this your doing?" His words carried disbelief and a desire to seek answers. Clara tilted her head, feigning innocence, "Huh? I just wanted to make a pot of fragrant tea for you uncles as usual. Since you all weren’t awake, I provided a bit of early morning wake-up service." At this point, she deliberately blinked, trying to make her words sound reasonable and flawless. Mr. Foster shivered involuntarily: "You brought those things in... you mean the snakes and mice in the room were also part of your arrangement?" "Oh dear," Clara maintained her pure and harmless expression, "Mice? I wouldn’t put mice in to scare you. As for snakes... oh yes, those were three very cute and harmless little friends, they especially like doing fun things to the sound of the flute, like spinning around and dancing. Consider it a special performance prepared for the uncles and aunts. And as for mice... maybe they were hungry and followed the snakes in to see if there were any snacks." Mr. Foster listening to such incredulous words felt the blood rush to his head, nearly fainting from anger. Food reserves? Food reserves? Such large food reserves? Even the mice would probably faint from ire hearing that! Mr. Foster exclaimed, "New sister-in-law, are you scaring us old guys? It’s simply outrageous!" Clara blinked her pretty eyes, feigning surprise, "Am I being disrespectful? I just wanted to prepare a little surprise for the elders. William told me that he often received ’little gifts’ from you elders too, like being locked in the ancestral hall to reflect, confined to his room, deprived of meals, and even whipped." As she spoke, her tone grew colder, while the three uncles collectively fell silent. Clara thought they had nothing left to say, and truly, they had nothing left to say. After all, these were all lies made up by William Foster, how could they respond? Mr. Foster finally understood. This Clara Bennet was here to avenge William Foster. They say a new official always fires three shots, who knew the new daughter-in-law would be no exception. What’s done is done, what could they do? To keep up William Foster’s fabrications, the three grudgingly continued to play the villain. Mr. Foster just wanted to end this headache of a morning tea ceremony, so he waved and said, "Alright, we won’t argue with you. You wanted to serve tea? We’ll drink it, alright." Clara smiled slightly, "Of course." After all, it was a "special drink" she personally prepared.

Chapter 144: Initial Show of Force

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