“I never knew that my wife could be bullied by even a servant in your Xu family. Today has truly been an eye-opener for me!” Pei Jingchuan sneered, then crouched down and scooped Xu Qingyan into his arms.
Xu Qingyue and the others caught up one after another, but when they saw Pei Jingchuan holding Xu Qingyan in his arms with fury written across his face, their pupils constricted in shock—they all knew the matter had been botched.
“Sister, what happened to you? Mother and I were only gone for a moment. What on earth occurred here?” Xu Qingyue pretended to be ignorant and stepped forward with feigned concern.
“Hmph! What happened? Don’t you already know perfectly well what happened? Always putting on that innocent act—you people really are masterful performers!” Xu Qingyan said nothing, merely venting her thoughts inwardly.
Pei Jingchuan’s brow furrowed slightly as he cast a pointed look at Xu Qingyue. “Even a mere servant of the Xu family dares to try and kill the Consort of the Heir Apparent. I wonder who could have put her up to it.”
Xu Qingyue and Pei Jingyuan’s hearts both skipped a beat at his words. Pei Jingyuan said awkwardly, “Elder Brother, could there be some misunderstanding here?”
“A misunderstanding? Are you suggesting my ears are deaf?” Pei Jingchuan scoffed.
Lord Xu, who had been standing off to the side, was frightened out of his wits upon hearing Pei Jingchuan’s words. He quickly stepped forward to berate the old woman: “What audacity! Guards, drag her away and sell her off!”
He absolutely could not afford to offend the Heir Apparent over an old servant. Though he had no particular affection for Xu Qingyan, the Heir Apparent was clearly furious right now, so he had to do something.
Madam Xu did not object to Lord Xu’s order either. Though she grieved at losing one of her trusted confidantes, it was that little wretch Xu Qingyan’s misfortune to have such good luck as to be encountered by the Heir Apparent. If they didn’t dispose of this old woman quickly, she would surely drag Madam Xu into it later—and that would spell real trouble.
Did Pei Jingchuan really intend to let this go so easily? Just as the surrounding servants were about to drag the old woman away, Pei Jingchuan let out a cold laugh. “The matter hasn’t even been fully clarified yet, and Lord Xu is already so eager to sell her off? Regardless of anything else, my wife is still a daughter of the Xu household. Whether she is a legitimate daughter or a shu-daughter, she is not someone a mere servant may bully. If even the servants here are this arrogant, I am rather curious about what lies behind it.”
“Young Lord, this…” Lord Xu felt cold sweat break out on his back at these words, momentarily at a loss for how to explain himself.
Madam Xu, both angry and afraid, put on a shameless smile and said nervously, “You must forgive us, Young Lord. This old woman was a longtime servant of the household who had grown arrogant from years of indulgence. Before the Consort of the Heir Apparent was married, she was quiet and timid at home, so this old woman often took advantage of her. This time, seeing her return for the Bridal Return Visit, she must have thought she could still push the Consort around as before and tried to extort her! We truly knew nothing of this—had we known, we would have disciplined her severely!”
“Is that so?” Pei Jingchuan asked in a low, skeptical tone, disbelief written plainly across his face.
“If the Young Lord does not believe it, then let this insolent servant confess herself! If she dares utter a single falsehood, I will sell off her entire family along with her!” Madam Xu gave an awkward smile while shooting a warning glance at the old woman.
At the mention of her family, the old woman’s heart died on the spot. She knew that no matter what, she was doomed today—but if she dared to expose the mistress, her children would be sold off as well.
Suddenly, as if possessed by madness, she began cursing at Xu Qingyan: “I just can’t stand her! A shu-daughter like her actually dared to steal the eldest young lady’s marriage! She used to be so meek and timid, always kowtowing to me and giving me silver. Now that she’s become the Consort of the Heir Apparent, she must be even richer—of course I wanted to squeeze a good sum out of her! But who could have guessed this little wretch wouldn’t listen—ah!”
Before the old woman could finish her words, blood began to trickle from the corner of her mouth—Pei Jingchuan had flicked a stone that struck her square in the face.
Having just heard Madam Xu’s words, he could naturally discern the threat hidden within them. The old woman’s entire family’s lives were held in Madam Xu’s hands, so she would certainly take the blame alone for today’s affair. Since he couldn’t do anything to Madam Xu anyway, he saw no point in wasting more time.
And so, Pei Jingchuan sneered, “When even a servant of the Xu residence dares to act so arrogantly and show such disrespect to the Consort of the Heir Apparent, it seems we won’t dare visit the Xu family again anytime soon!”
“Young Lord!” Lord Xu called out in panic, wanting to continue with his fawning explanations, but Pei Jingchuan had already swept Xu Qingyan up and was striding swiftly toward the exit.
“What exactly did the two of you do?” Pei Jingyuan demanded, unable to keep the anger from his voice as he turned to Xu Qingyue, seeing how badly things had turned out.
Xu Qingyue bit her lip, refusing to accept it. “We were only asking her for the dowry, but who would have thought that now that she’s married to the Young Lord, she wouldn’t even give us a second glance!”
This was indeed something they hadn’t anticipated. After all, before she was married off, the Xu Qingyan they knew was clearly that timid, cowardly sort.
They thought that as long as they pressured her a bit, she would obediently hand over the dowry. Who would have imagined she would turn into this!
“You’re saying she still refuses? She’s not even afraid of your mother now?” Pei Jingyuan asked, puzzled.
Not getting the dowry back was indeed a loss for him, and the Xu Qingyan he had known before—how could she have suddenly become so difficult to deal with? That was also something he couldn’t understand.
“Yes, she doesn’t give us a second thought at all now. Mother was almost angered to death by her just now.” Xu Qingyue said huffily.
“Forget it, let’s head back first. We’ll deal with this later. For now, let’s just hope that eldest brother hasn’t become suspicious of anything because of this.” Pei Jingyuan sighed and pulled Xu Qingyue along as he hurried to catch up.
Meanwhile, on the other side.
Pei Jingchuan carried Xu Qingyan onto the carriage. Gently lifting aside her skirt, he saw the bruise on her ankle. He retrieved a medicine bottle from a hidden compartment in the carriage and reached out to apply the ointment for her.
[Sob sob… the Young Lord is so good to me! What kind of divine husband is this? Not only did he save me from danger, but he’s even applying medicine for me so gently! This is so much better than those two maidservants of mine. It’s just a pity that such a wonderful Young Lord only has two years left. No! I must find that Mystic Divine Physician and make sure the Young Lord survives!] Xu Qingyan was deeply moved by Pei Jingchuan’s actions, almost on the verge of tears.
Since she had transmigrated into this book, this was the first time she had felt what it was like to be cared for.
Pei Jingchuan heard her inner cheering and couldn’t help but curl the corners of his lips slightly. Then he remembered the maidservants she had just mentioned and suddenly realized something.
“By the way, what about those two maidservants of yours just now? Why weren’t they by your side, protecting you?”
“Their deeds of indenture are still held at the Xu residence.” Xu Qingyan pouted.
Hearing this, Pei Jingchuan’s expression darkened. “Our Duke’s Estate doesn’t keep outside maidservants. Since they’re so disloyal, then there’s no need for them to go back either.”
He had thought that her maidservants’ deeds were in her own hands, and hadn’t expected it to be like this. Now that such an incident had occurred, those two maidservants naturally couldn’t be kept.
Just at that moment, the two maidservants sent by the Xu family to attend to Xu Qingyan came running back. They were about to step forward to attend to her when they were suddenly kicked flying.
“People of the Xu residence should stay at the Xu residence. Our Duke’s Estate is not short of servants!” Pei Jingchuan said sternly.