"Don't meddle with this affair, you're just a kid..." Qin Huaiyong said as he frowned and waved his hand as if to dismiss what Qin Wanru said.
"Asking a kid not to meddle with this affair. How about me? Am I too old to meddle with this?" Old grandma cut in.
Qin Wanru indicated for Qing Yue to help old grandma to the chair to sit down.
"Mother, something did not add up here..." Qin Huaiyong tried to explain when he heard old grandma's angry tone of voice.
"What are you doubting? As a father, would you rather believe the words of an old maid or your own daughter?" said Qin Wanru as she looked up at Qin Huaiyong with a pair of bright eyes.
Mammy Fang followed Mrs. Qin when she married into the Qin family. Qin Wanru would like Mammy Fang's arm to be severed by Mrs. Qin personally. She wanted to see how many maids would remain faithful to their mistress if the mistress could not even protect her own henchmen.
Matters concerning life and death was not easily explained using a few words.
"Beat the old maid to death with the rod!" old grandma said coldly before Qin Huaiyong could say anything. Old grandma had always doted on Qin Wanru so one could imagine her fury when the mother and daughter pair set Qin Wanru up which nearly cost her life.
Why would someone keep an old maid who implicated the mistress whom she served?
"Mother... this involves a person's life after all. Moreover, it was an accident..." Mrs. Qin said quickly when she heard old grandma's words. Mrs. Qin would not bear to let this punishment befall Mammy Fang since she was Mrs. Qin's henchman after all.
"Is Mother saying that if I had died, it was an accident?" Qin Wanru said coldly with a serious expression.
There was no way Mammy Fang could defend herself since only Qin Wanru, Qing Yue and Mammy Fang was present at the incident.
Mrs. Qin was struck dumb by Qin Wanru's question. Suddenly Mrs. Qin had a feeling that Qin Wanru had turned into a totally different person. If it were in the past, Qin Wanru would never have talked to her in this manner. With a little coaxing from her mother, Qin Wanru would usually be submissive to her.
"Why are you talking to mother like this, Second Sister!" by now, Qin Yuru had stopped crying and began to speak up for her mother.
"Grandma, since Mammy Fang refused to own up, let's bring this up to the judge and let them proceed with the investigation to find out who was trying to bring harm to me and why. Why would anyone want me dead even if I refused to accept the engagement which is a fraud?" said Qin Wanru, ignoring Qin Yuru's words. She seemed to have expected Qin Yuru's reaction and was totally calm about it.
Sending to the judge?
Not only did the mother and daughter pair shiver at the thought, but even Qin Huaiyong was also beginning to feel uneasy.
This matter was blown out of proportion by now. Earlier on, Qin Huaiyong had make a visit to the Qis to apologize to them profusely and made serious promises in exchange for them to keep quiet about Qin Yuru's infidelity. They had settled breaking the engagement with the reason of incompatibility in their horoscopes. However, to bring this matter to the judge in public would implicate his prospect as an official.
The ambitious Qin Huaiyong would never agree to this.
"Deal with the old maid as you see fit!" Qin Huaiyong directed his words at his wife.
"General!" Mrs. Qin cried out in shock.
"Mother couldn't bear to punish her? I guess as much since she had followed mother here when you got married. What if I have really wronged her? Wouldn't it be better to bring this whole matter to the judge?" Qin Wanru said with a calm expression.
"Send her to the judge now. We will not wrongly judge her in our house!" old grandma snorted as she sided with Qin Wanru's suggestion, then she called for some men to come over to handle the matter.
"Are you not going to take action right now?" Qin Huaiyong panicked when he saw that that old grandma was serious about sending the old maid to the judge. He gave his wife a kick with his leg and cried out with a severe voice.
Although the kick was not meant to hurt his wife and therefore was not done with much force, Mrs. Qin was snapped to her sense and she nodded and said, "I will punish this maid who tried to bring harm to her mistress."
Thereafter, she turned to the other maids and ordered them, saying, "Drag her out and beat her with a rod!"
The few maids standing behind Mrs. Qin sneaked a fearful look at Qin Wanru, then forcefully dragged Mammy Chen out of the room.
A look of disdain appeared on the face of Qin Wanru, who was still sitting on the bed. She supposed these maids also had a hand in Mrs. Qin's evil plan. Qin Wanru was interested to see if they would continue to assist Mrs. Qin in her evil ways.
"Go back to your rooms!" old grandma said as she waved them away.
"Mother, what about Yuru? What happens to her now?" Mrs. Qin and Qin Yuru were welling up in tears again.
"I don't understand Huaiyong and your thinking. You should never have resorted to this in the first place!" old grandma said, looking tired and disappointed. She did not expect them to have kept her in the dark with regards to this important matter. She could only conclude that the couple had been treating her like an outsider.
Thinking that she and Zhuozhuo were the only people being kept in the dark, old grandma was utterly disappointed with Qin Huaiyong. All of a sudden, she was reminded of the fact that she was only Qin Huaiyong's adoptive mother, not his real mother.
Qin Huaiyong's real mother had passed away since he was very young and it was old grandma who had raised him. In his younger days, he used to have a close relationship with her. However, ever since he married Mrs. Qin, they had grown further apart.
Nevertheless, the incident today had caused her to be utterly disappointed. She closed her eyes after speaking those last words.
Seeing the disappointment in old grandma's face, Qin Huaiyong knew he was guilty. After he stole a glance at his youngest daughter, he sigh helplessly and led his wife and eldest daughter to leave old grandma's room.
Qin Wanru got up from the bed and walked to her grandma. "Grandma, are you sure you're not going to help Big Sister?" Qin Wanru asked gently after her father and the rest left old grandma's room, while gently massaging her grandma's forehead.
"I'm getting old, so I can't really do much! Nowadays your father has his own thinking and he could not be bothered about my opinions!" old grandma said laboriously with a hint of frustration.
"Grandma, would you help Aunt Shui to get out from the temple in the house?" Qin Wanru said as a reminder to her grandma.
Aunt Shui was none other than Shui Ruolan, Qin Huaiyong's cousin, the daughter of old grandma's younger sister. She had come to take shelter under the Qins from a young age when old grandma's younger sister passed away. When she came of age, she got married, but her husband passed away later on before they bore any children. For this reason, old grandma brought her back to the Ningyuan Army General's house to be with her. Shui Ruolan was a woman with a gentle spirit who had never said a word of complaint even though she had a sad life. Qin Huaiyong had always had a soft spot for this cousin of his. Unfortunately, they each had their prearranged marriages respectively since young for this reason, they kept their distance in honor of their commitments. When Shui Ruolan returned to Qin Huaiyong's house as a widow, they continued to treat each other honorably. In fact, they did not see each other much within the manor grounds. Even when the need arose, they a
"You want that Fenghua glass light?" marveled Mrs. Qin. "Yes!" Qin Wan blinked and nodded. "You really want it?" Mrs. Qin asked again. "I really want it!" Qin Wanru said with resignation. Actually, it was not what she wanted, but Prince Chen who wanted it. Even if she did not ride on his coattail, she dared to offend him. Since a Fenghua glass light could satisfy him, why not giving it to him! "Why does Prince Chen want the Fenghua glass light? His role is so extravagant. He must have seen all the good products, so why does he want my Fenghua glass light? There must be something to do with it." "Fenghua glass light is certainly precious. As a prince, what treasures cannot he own?" Now look at grandmother's behavior, Qin Wanru gained a deep understanding that this Fenghua glass light was probably not simple. But she did not want to ask! "Grandmother did not have the Fenghua
"Qin Wanru, you want to go out to fetch Fenghua glass light?" Prince Chen said in a mild tone and raised his black eyes with his customary elegance. He turned over and coughed weakly and sickly. One day was enough for him to know Qin Wanru. Of course, Qin Wanru knew that the so-called gentleness was actually an illusion. "Yes, I hope that the prince can help!" Qin Wanru requested sincerely though she was nervous. If there is anyone in the house who can persuade father to let me go, he must be prince Chen in front of me. "Is this related to me?" The young man raised his beautiful eyes and looked at her with his head tilted. His smile was still elegant but his tone was a bit of ironic. "It is the Fenghua glass light that the prince wants." Qin Wanru said respectfully with her fist clenched. It seemed that she did not see the irony in his eyes. "I wanna see whether you can go out on your own or not!" Pr
Qin Wanru stood on the swing and felt it safe by pulling the ropes of the swing. "Old grandma ordered people to fasten the ropes in case of my playing it secretly. Since the swing was safe, Qin Wanru sat on it. However, she hesitated after sitting on it." She touched the place where her arm was injured, not knowing whether she would misplay. Looking up at the tall courtyard wall, she found when the swing swayed, it was likely to hit the courtyard wall. "Anyway, I have to try it." She held the ropes on both sides with her feet slammed back. Then the swing swayed, slipped down later and was about to hit the trunk behind it. When Qin Wanru felt right, she kicked the trunk behind. Then, the swing went out again. Then the swing came back again. She kicked it again. She was familiar with the swing, so she kicked almost at the same position. As the swing was getting higher and higher, she was closer and clo
Seeing that the prince also jumped into the wall, Xiao Xuanzi was scared. "Fortunately, my master did not like lady Wanru who was lying on the wall. He was standing still and seemed to be stable." Chu Liuchen stood on the wall of the courtyard, seeing a drop of blood on the wall with his eyebrows wrinkled and then seeing a drop of blood outside the courtyard. From the wall to the tree was a trail of blood which could be seen until somewhere along the trunk. Over there was a rut so it was possible that she left by carriage. Prince raised his eyes and looked ahead, only to see the back of a carriage. She was a clever little girl who left through this method. Then there was nothing interesting to see. He had his feet diverted and fell from the wall. Xiao Xuanzi was scared when he saw his master falling from the wall, reaching for the high wall on one side and coughing up with sharp pain in his chest. "P
"Where did this medicine powder come from?" the master of the Jingxin monastery asked casually as he took a clean cloth and wiped away the powder mixed with blood on Qin Wanru's wound. No one noticed darkness flickered over her eyes and eyebrows. Her hands trembled a little. But soon she held one hand tightly. When her hands were raised again, they were not trembling at all. "Is it the man's medicine? After all these years, did he finally show up?" "It must be the medicine from the doctor who was called by grandma!" Qin Wanru looked at the wound on her arm with a little confusion since she really didn't know. "Please ask old Mrs. Qin, which doctor gave her the medicine powder after going back." The voice of the master of the Jingxin monastery was soft, but there was a kind of heaviness which could be heard by Qin Wanru in her voice. Qin Wanru titled to look and thought, "Does the medicine have a problem?" "OK, I w
Qin Wanru had entered the room directly this time. The guards at the gates must have wondered how she got out in the first place. Nevertheless, since the general and wife only instructed them not to let her out, but did not say not to let her in, so they did not dare to stop her. Although Second Miss was never the mistress's favored daughter, Qin Wanru had always been the one old grandma doted on, and so no one in the Ningyuan Army General's house dared to be rude to her. Qin Wanru headed straight to the house where Prince Chen was. She was soon summoned into the house after waiting for a bit outside. Qin Wanru realized that Prince Chen seemed to have changed into a new of clothes within since the last time she saw him. He was currently clad in a bright red robe, which no man would have carried with grace. Only Prince Chen would have looked so stunningly handsome in such apparel. However, she also no
"Can I request that the prince help me get hold of an item?" Qin Wanru said softly, testing the water. She was certain that he had brought with him many men on this trip, given his status. Although there were only a few men here with them, Qin Wanru these were but some of the many men who showed themselves openly. There was bound to be many other men who were secretly watching over the prince. "What item is that?" said Chu Liuchen, smiling slightly with grace. It looked as if he was not the devil who provoked Qin Wanru to the point of gnashing her teeth. "A seal." Even Qin Wanru did not fully understand the use and purpose of this seal. What she knew was that Qin Yuru had used this seal to obtain favor from the Old Ladyship of Xing Kingdom, and was subsequently taken into the royal family to be taken care of as an adopted daughter for a period of time. For this reason, Qin Yuru had used her status to trample Qin Wanru underfoot and even thei