Amidst the howling wind and Zhou Ranfang’s screams, Chen Wanqing seized the descending cane, yanked it forcefully, and snatched it away before tossing it aside with a loud thud.
Old Madame Chen’s face turned deathly pale, her body trembling uncontrollably.
“Grandmother, you are getting on in years. It would be best for you to avoid such fits of anger!”
“Otherwise, if you were to die of rage or from a fall, wouldn’t you miss seeing your grandsons marry and have children?”
“You unfilial wretch!” Old Madame Chen’s face flushed from white, trembling as she collapsed into her chair, slapping the table loudly. “Unfilial! Truly unfilial!”
“Someone, bring the rod!”
“Today, I must rid us of this calamity that is Wanqing!”
Zhou Ranfang pushed Chen Wanqing, urging her repeatedly, “Hurry and leave!”
“The old madame is determined to beat you to death!”
She lowered her voice, whispering into Chen Wanqing’s ear, “I’ll hold them off. You must go to the Liang family!”
“Once you enter the Liang household, both you and the child will be safe!”
“The old madame will have no way to touch you then!”
Urging her to go to the Liang family?
A woman who is properly betrothed becomes a wife; one who elopes becomes a concubine!
Chen Wanqing felt nothing but contempt. Zhou Ranfang was truly exhausting every means to push her into the Liang family. If she was so fond of Liang Tingjian, why didn’t she marry him herself?
As they spoke, someone brought the rod.
Chen Wanqing stared directly at the old madame, her eyes cold as frost. “May I ask, Grandmother, which law states that a woman who loses her chastity deserves death?”
“As an elder, do I need a reason to discipline my descendants?” Old Madame Chen, having caught her breath, spoke with righteous indignation, pointing at the maids and servants. “Why aren’t you moving?”
“If you refuse to obey, I’ll have you sold off immediately!”
The maids and servants had no choice but to step forward again, attempting to seize and restrain Chen Wanqing.
Zhou Ranfang threw herself forward, crashing into the crowd and spreading her arms to shield Chen Wanqing behind her. “Don’t touch her!”
While blocking them, she turned to look at Chen Wanqing. “Wanqing, go quickly!”
“I’ll hold them off!”
“You and the child in your womb must not come to harm!”
Chen Wanqing sneered inwardly. So concerned about the child in her womb?
Very well!
Once I’ve dealt with Grandmother and the third branch using you, we’ll settle our accounts in detail!
“Grandmother!” Chen Wanqing stood her ground, her voice resolute and stern. “Before coming to your courtyard, I gave orders: if I did not return within half an hour, my maid was to go outside the Meridian Gate and strike the Dengwen Drum!”
“Now, more than half an hour has passed. My maid should have left a quarter of an hour ago!”
The courtyard fell into dead silence. Old Madame Chen and the others were horrified.
“Wanqing, why would you have someone strike the Dengwen Drum?”
“To ask His Majesty what crime a grandmother commits when she beats her granddaughter to death!”
Old Madame Chen’s wrinkled face trembled, her expression a spectacle of emotions. Her hands shook violently, yet she remained defiant. “His Majesty has countless important matters to attend to. Why would he concern himself with the affairs of his subjects’ households?”
“Household affairs?” Chen Wanqing glared coldly at Old Madame Chen. “Taking a life recklessly—is that merely a household affair?”
“Has Grandmother never heard the saying: ‘If a prince violates the law, he shall be punished the same as a commoner’?”
“Moreover, the law states: ‘If grandparents intentionally beat their grandchildren to death, they shall receive sixty strokes of the rod and one year of penal servitude!’”
“Grandmother, you are so intent on my death that you would forsake your position as the matriarch of Guogongfu. I wonder if you could withstand sixty strokes of the rod?”
“You!” Old Madame Chen was both furious and enraged, glaring at Chen Wanqing as she gasped for breath.
Chen Wanqing declared with unwavering resolve, “If Grandmother leaves me no path to survival, you shall not live in peace as the matriarch of Guogongfu either!”
Seeing Chen Wanqing determined to fight to the death, Old Madame Chen grew alarmed and suspicious, hastily waving for someone to go and investigate.
In no time at all, a matron came scurrying back, her fleshy face trembling as she nodded repeatedly: “…She went toward the Meridian Gate…”
“Hurry!” Old Madame Chen pressed her hands on the table, shakily rising to her feet as she urgently directed others: “Send someone on horseback to chase her down and bring her back!”
“Whatever you do, do not alarm His Majesty!”
Chen Wanqing looked down upon the crowd with disdain: “A servant killing their master has always been a capital crime punishable by beheading. Do you dare kill me now?”
With several thuds, the wooden boards in the hands of the maidservants fell to the ground one after another, each of them looking terrified as they knelt and kowtowed repeatedly, begging for mercy.
Old Madame Chen’s expression shifted uncertainly as she suppressed her anger and forced out a smile: “Wanqing, my child, you’ve gone too far. Your grandmother was only joking with you. How could you take this all the way to His Majesty?”
Shaking off Zhou Ranfang, who was chasing after her with something to say, Chen Wanqing strode quickly toward Ning’an Yuan.
From afar, beyond the flowering trees, a group of people hurried toward the old madame’s courtyard.
With a quick glance, she saw it was Madam Song of the third branch, surrounded by maidservants. Chen Wanqing’s gaze turned icy.
“Miss…” The maid Lü’e hurried forward to support Chen Qiongzhi, whispering: “Are you all right?”
“I followed your orders and went to the Lin family at Yingguogongfu, but as soon as I entered the area near the Meridian Gate, people from the third branch chased me back!”
Chen Qiongzhi clenched her fists tightly, her nails digging deep into her palms, her back soaked in cold sweat.
On this very day in her previous life, she had been diagnosed with pregnancy by a physician. Coincidentally, her mother, along with her eldest aunt and fourth aunt, had gone to Panlong Temple on Panlong Mountain outside the city to pray for her father, fourth uncle, and others who were on a military campaign. They were also performing a water-and-land ceremony and would not return for half a month!
When the maidservants from her grandmother’s courtyard came to summon her, she immediately sensed something was wrong and ordered Lü’e to go to the Lin family to see if her aunt had returned to the capital. If she had, she was to ask her to come back.
Yingguogongfu was located near the Meridian Gate. Earlier, when her grandmother had wanted to have her beaten to death, she had lied that Lü’e had gone to strike the Dengwen Drum, which had frightened her grandmother into backing down.
But since her grandmother had already conceived the intent to kill her, she would not easily give up!
Chen Qiongzhi took a deep breath and strode inside.
Yudie, who was guarding the courtyard, looked pale and flustered as she approached the two: “Miss, you’re back?”
Chen Qiongzhi glanced around, her brow slightly furrowed: “Where are Zhusha and Gongfen?”
Yudie picked up a kettle to pour water and handed it to Chen Qiongzhi: “Zhusha went to Panlong Temple outside the city to fetch Madam!”
“Gongfen went to the Jinchuanmen Qianhu Office to find the young master!”
Seeing the worry in Lü’e and Yudie’s eyes, Chen Qiongzhi felt a mix of bitterness and sorrow, her eyes growing warm.
In her previous life, the four maidservants by her side had been disposed of by her grandmother under various pretexts—some died, others were sold. Otherwise, she would not have been unaware that her child had been switched right under her nose.
In this life, everyone by her side must be safe and sound—not a single one could be lost.
Her mother and eldest aunt had gone to Panlong Temple. Even if Zhusha went to fetch them, distant water could not quench a nearby fire.
Her stepbrother, Chen Wu, currently held the position of a seventh-rank Baihu at the Jinchuanmen Qianhu Office, far outside Jinchuanmen. It was uncertain whether he could return within three days.
With the night growing long and dreams many, if her grandmother were to strike again, she would surely choose tonight.
Isolated and without support, was she to simply surrender without a fight?
Chen Wanqing gave a deep, cold laugh—better to be a shattered piece of jade than an intact tile!
Had her grandmother not used reputation as a shackle to try to have her beaten to death?
Then let everyone see for themselves her grandmother’s fine reputation!
“Go and bring all the lamps from around the courtyard into the hall, and fill them to the brim with oil!”
“Prepare a bucket of water, then go to the kitchen and fetch a jar of strong liquor!”
“What is this for?” Lü’e and Yudie were burning with curiosity.
But Chen Wanqing offered no explanation to either of them.
Keeping everyone outside, Madam Song eagerly asked Old Madame Chen, “Mother, since today’s plan failed, what will become of Keying’s future?”
“The second branch only has Wanqing as their sole daughter. Could it be that Second Brother intends to let the stepchild brought by Second Sister-in-law inherit the second branch?”
“It’s one thing for an adopted son to take the Chen surname, but Second Brother actually had him join the Jinchuanmen Qianhu Office as a Baihu. Our Keying is his own flesh-and-blood nephew, yet he’s treated worse than an outsider!”
“Nonsense!” Madam Song’s words struck a chord with Old Madame Chen, who scolded her, “How could Second Brother favor outsiders over his own family?”
“My grandson holds a sixth-rank official position, and his duties are quite lucrative!”
Madam Song curled her lip. “A sixth-rank civil official can’t compare to a military officer inheriting the second branch’s official position—that would be legitimate and proper!”
“Second Brother must have no intention of letting Keying inherit the second branch!”
Seeing Old Madame Chen’s face darken, Madam Song added fuel to the fire: “If it weren’t for the servant woman, Granny Liang, who manages Ning’an Yuan secretly reporting that Wanqing hasn’t had her monthly courses this month, we wouldn’t have known she’d been secretly involved with someone and even conceived a child!”
“Mother, didn’t you also say this was a good opportunity? That’s why we sent Sister-in-law and Second Sister-in-law to the temple outside the city to pray, and coincidentally, Keying and his father are away on official business and not at home. We only have half a month. If we don’t succeed, Keying won’t inherit the second branch, and that excellent marriage prospect will be lost!”
“The matchmaker said the daughter of the Vice Minister of Revenue is highly sought after. Even the wife of Marquis Changyuan has taken a liking to her and wants to arrange a marriage for her second son!”
Old Madame Chen was startled and immediately exclaimed, “Is that true?”
Madam Song nodded repeatedly.
“Killing Wanqing outright won’t work!” Old Madame Chen made a decisive judgment. “There’s another way!”
Madam Song was overjoyed and quickly stood up. “Mother, what way?”
Old Madame Chen’s eyes were filled with malice. “Wanqing has been frail since childhood. Go find a doctor and prepare a dose of Tiger-Wolf Medicine. Just say it’s to induce an abortion and trick Wanqing into drinking it!”
“When the medicine takes effect, Wanqing and the child will both die, and we’ll be rid of the trouble!”