“Father, don’t beat my mother. For this matter, I am not wrong, my mother is not, either!” Di Yan was stunned and said anxiously.
As Qin Huaiyong left, the two guards had already released his hands. When he saw that his mother was slapped, he was stunned and also ran over to her instantly.
“Smack!” Another slap sounded, but it fell on Di Yan’s face this time. Duke Yong looked vicious, walked over, and kicked Di Yan hard, making him shake and kneel on the ground with a heavy thud. His foot bumped into the bluestone slate in front, and so he screamed out of the pain and could not stand up any longer.
“Duke, what are you doing?” Countess Yong regained consciousness at this time. Regardless of the palm print on her face, she pounced over to protect Di Yan, preventing Duke Yong from beating him again.
“Let him kneel until our brother-in-law forgives him!” Duke Yong said ruthlessly.
“Duke, why are you so cruel? Yan’er is your son!” Countess Yong felt the pain and screamed. When she saw that Di Yan could not stand up because of the pain, her eye sockets turned red.
“My son? Does he look like a man with responsibilities now? His eyes were blindfolded by that woman and he could not see through her evil intentions, and he still hasn’t seen that even until now. That woman, all the evidence, and the testimony said by the man whom she asked to hurt Yuru have been prepared and placed in the government. Do you still want to save her? To get the woman, will your son not be an official in the imperial court in the future and be a punk forever?”
Duke Yong felt disappointed and shouted angrily.
Concrete evidence and facts also provided one of the reasons why Qin Huaiyong was so determined. No matter what Ning Caixian’s intention was, she could do nothing when facing such facts.
Or you could say that Ning Caixian’s opinionated backyard strategies, including playing the wretched one, winning others’ sympathy, and her wishes of creating public opinion, were useless in front of Qin Huaiyong, who took iron-fisted action.
This was also one of the important reasons why Ning Caixian was taken away.
This situation proves the Chinese saying: Sheer force destroys all strategies.
Qin Wanru smiled coldly and continued observing Di Yan’s reaction. Now, he seemed to be a fool. Not only did his uncle beat him, but his father also kicked him and made him kneel. Hearing the surrounding buzzes, he felt the pain, was also ashamed, and couldn’t help hating Ning Caixian silently.
Di Yan’s so-called deep love was but a passion. Now, he became clear-headed due to the pain. Thinking that he nearly ditched his real business because of a woman, he didn’t struggle anymore.
Initially, he only went to see Ning Caixian and remind her to run away soon, but he never thought that Ning Caixian would complain tearfully to him that she knew nothing. Later, they asked the supervisor to come, and the supervisor also admitted that he had trapped the First Miss of Qin’s Mansion because he was angry that the First Miss of Qin’s Mansion bullied their miss.
Later, Ning Caixian spoke of the past stories between them in a wronged, vulnerable tone, and also claimed that if she could not marry him, she would rather die, and she only loved him in her entire life. Then, Di Yan turned silly and promised inexplicably to run away with her. His servant persuaded him along the way, but was also driven away.
But he never thought that before they reached the city gate, they would get caught and taken back!
Countess Yong was also shocked by Duke Yong’s words, turning pale instantly. After all, her niece was but a distant relative, and she was not happy to sacrifice her son’s prospect for her. Besides that, she also hated deeply that Ning Caixian dared take her son to run away.
“Kneel here until your uncle forgives you. How can the betrothal between our two mansions be broken by your being taken away by a woman? This is an event settled down by our two families’ parents.” Duke Yong finished his talk and turned coldly, leaving Di Yan there alone.
“Yan’er…” Countess Yong took a look at Duke Yong, who was walking away, and also her son, feeling sorry for him.
“Mother… you… you leave first, I will beg my uncle and cousin to forgive me!” Di Yan felt ashamed and guilty, blushing.
He was astonished by Duke Yong’s meaning. At his age, he could become an official. Now, if something terrible happened and he was impeached by the imperial censors, his entire life would probably become hopeless.
Previously, he had been thinking about protecting Ning Caixian, only feeling that she was the kindest and gentlest girl, but now he found that he had nearly been destroyed. Immediately, cold sweat flooded down.
In the past, he had been preparing to be an official, and Duke Yong also invited some special masters to teach him some things about the officialdom. Formerly, he didn’t think about such things, but now when he thought it through, his romantic feelings vanished.
Without these feelings, Di Yan became clear-headed, knowing now he should beg for Qin’s Mansion’s forgiveness, making this big trouble become small and disappear to cover up his scandal.
“You… Alas… Okay!” Since Di Yan himself said so, Countess Yong felt sorry for him but was helpless, left a servant to take care of him, and had to leave with her face covered.
As for how to handle the current problem, she had to go home and discuss it. At the gate of Qin’s Mansion, it was unsuitable to speak more, with so many people around. Although Countess Yong thought that Ning Caixian was once gentle and obedient, she hated her so much now and would never wish to save her.
Like Di Yan, now Countess Yong also hated Ning Caixian deeply, thinking that everything that happened this moment was her fault, but she forgot that she had been indicating that Ning Caixian could marry into Duke Yong’s Mansion. Besides that, she had been allowing them to remain quite ambiguous, and she even knew the two had long passed by a pure, romantic relationship.
After seeing Countess Yong and Duke Yong leave, Qin Wanru left.
First, she went to Madam Dowager’s Xinning Pavilion to feel her pulse by herself and was relieved as she found her pulse was steady. “Fortunately, grandma accepted my suggestion and also faked fainting like Ning Caixian, or something terrible would have happened.
“Grandma is unhealthy and cannot stand the means of faking a fool or being the vulnerable one that Ning Caixian used. By then, if grandma is angered, that will be terrible, and her condition won’t be better than today’s.”
Others in the room had already left. Seeing that Madam Dowager woke up and was well, Qin Huaiyong left with Madam Di and her daughter.
“Zhuozhuo, will your father break the betrothal with Duke Yong’s Mansion?” Madam Dowager sat, leaning. Qin Wanru looked at her position and fetched her another cushion to make a more comfortable leaning.
After asking, she also smiled. “Such a little child, how can she know such things? I am too anxious and asked the wrong person!”
“Grandma, don’t worry, my father won’t!” Qin Wanru smiled and said.
“Oh, why?” Madam Dowager became curious, asking confusedly, “The thing has gone so bad. Childe Di also wants to protect that woman, and it is clear their relationship is not pure. How can Madam Di keep silent and allow that lady to marry into the mansion?”
“She won’t, and my father does have evidence about that lady!” Qin Wanru smiled and said, “If my father decides to take action, that lady won’t have a good result!”
Qin Wanru was clear about Qin Huaiyong’s character. He usually didn’t care about the backyard matters, but if he did meddle in them, he would be very prudent and never only talk. Especially when he spoke in front of so many people at the gate, every word should have proof.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have slapped Di Yan or countered Duke Yong. Without concrete evidence and with his disposition, Qin Huaiyong wouldn’t have done it so thoroughly.
“In fact, it is better to break… this betrothal. At that time, Madam Di was also blindfolded. How could she think that Di Yan was better than Qi Tianyu? Apart from his family background, Di Yan has nothing better than Qi Tianyu!” Madam Dowager heaved a sigh and thought Madam Di was blind.
Qi Tianyu looked more handsome than Di Yan, had superb habits, behavior, and scholarly attainments, far better than Di Yan, who only had a good family.
Recalling that Qin Wanru was nearly destroyed by this betrothal at that time, Madam Dowager disliked the betrothal even more. If they had had a prediction, they should have let Qin Yuru and Qi Tianyu get married a long time before, and there wouldn’t have been so much following trouble.
“Grandma, don’t worry about such things, let my father deal with them. You had better take care of your health, or if something bad happens, you will take responsibility and become unwell!” Qin Wanru patted Madam Dowager on the back to make her breath smooth and spoke as she grinned.
What she said made Madam Dowager silent for a while. No doubt, she knew what Qin Wanru meant. Since she knew it, her smile was bitter for an instant. Anyway, she was not Qin Huaiyong’s biological mother, and Qin Yuru was not her real blood. Some things she could not meddle in because she was one generation removed.
She would be disliked and wouldn’t be appreciated in the end.
This was also the most important reason why she accepted Qin Wanru’s suggestion just now and passed out decisively after saying those words.
Her position sounded the most respectable in the mansion, but it would be worth it only with others’ sincere respect.
Madam Dowager patted Qin Wanru’s hands and nodded. “Zhuozhuo, don’t worry, I won’t meddle in your Big Sister’s matter. I will need to take care of you and Ruolan and won’t get ill and pass away!”
This was a joke, but it made Qin Wanru’s eye sockets red. In her previous life, her grandmother was ill and passed away!
“Grandma, I don’t allow you to speak so, you will live up to 100 years old and always protect me,” Qin Wanru lowered her head, buried her little face in Madam Dowager’s palms, and said with her eye sockets slightly red. This life was different from her previous one, and she would stop her grandmother from dying early.
Coming out of Madam Dowager’s courtyard, Qin Wanru thought and turned to go to another direction, not to her Zhifang Pavilion, but straight to Qin Huaiyong’s study.
As soon as she arrived at the study door, she saw Qin Yuru kneeling under the tree at the yard’s entrance, weeping miserably. She stood there for a while, her eyes turning a little deep, but she didn’t stop, walking to the door of the study…
Behind her, Qin Yuru raised her head, her swollen eyes looking at Qin Wanru’s back with venomous hatred…