When Su Ruolang arrived at Qin Manor, it was already late in the evening.
A maid opened the side door and respectfully ushered her into the wing room of the villa: "This room was prepared according to Old Madam's instructions. If anything is not to your liking, Miss Su, please let me know."
The wing room was quite elegant, furnished with all necessities. Even cosmetics had been placed on the dressing table.
Su Ruolang never had particular preferences about accommodations, but she was not accustomed to having servants around her: "You may leave first. I will call you if needed."
"Yes." The maid nodded and withdrew.
Su Ruolang glanced around the room. Just as she set down the medicinal herbs she had brought from the dilapidated temple, she heard stealthy footsteps approaching outside the window.
Her expression tightened. Holding her breath, she moved to the window, a silver needle poised in her hand.
The window creaked open, and a head peeked in.
Qin Yansong, who was not yet skilled at climbing through windows for the first time, found himself in an awkward posture, face-to-face with Su Ruolang.
After a moment of awkwardness, he stared at Su Ruolang dressed in a plain skirt, somewhat surprised: "You… are you a new maid?"
He knew all the maids in the manor well. Since they were personally selected by Old Madam, they were uniformly graceful and dignified, but none were as ethereal and refined as this.
Qin Yansong naturally did not expect that this was the "toad" he intended to deal with.
After all, in his view, a toad that had climbed onto a branch to become a phoenix would surely flaunt itself with lavish adornments, not appear so plain and elegant.
"Who are you?" Su Ruolang asked.
Climbing through a window late at night—it didn’t seem like an assassin, more like a spoiled young noble from some family.
"You don’t even recognize me?" Qin Yansong jumped down from the window and steadied himself, dusting off the hem of his clothes with his left hand while holding a bulging small cloth bag with his right. "I’m the cousin of this manor, Qin Yansong!"
Cousin?
She hadn’t heard of him.
Su Ruolang calmly replied, "Oh. What business does Cousin have here late at night?"
"I’ll give you ten silver coins—put this bag into Su Ruolang’s bedding!" Qin Yansong said, tossing the cloth bag onto the pearwood table.
The bag clearly contained a living creature, twisting and turning restlessly.
"One hundred coins." Su Ruolang raised her eyebrows and quoted her price.
Qin Yansong: "…"
Is this a maid or a bandit?
"No, twenty coins at most…"
"One hundred ten coins." Su Ruolang calmly increased the price.
"One hundred ten coins? Why don’t you just rob someone?" Qin Yansong was so angry his temples twitched.
"One hundred twenty coins, for my silence. Otherwise, Old Madam will immediately know about your little scheme." Su Ruolang’s expression remained unusually calm.
Qin Yansong, a young gentleman who had never bargained with anyone before, experienced for the first time in his life what it meant to be—defeated.
"O… one hundred twenty coins then, one hundred twenty coins!" He angrily pulled out several silver notes. "If you dare to reveal this, I’ll get your deed of sale from the steward and make sure you have no peace from now on!"
Then he stormed away.
This time, however, he went through the door, not the window.
Su Ruolang watched his stiff, retreating figure, pursed her lips, and a faint dimple appeared on her chin.
He wanted her to put a snake into her own bedding and pay her for it?
Such generosity—she almost felt embarrassed about putting that snake into his sleeve…
When Qin Yansong left, he hadn’t noticed at all that the cloth bag on the table had already flattened.
A short while later, a pig-slaughter-like scream echoed from somewhere in the estate.
Early the next morning, after washing up, Su Ruolang had just pushed open the door and stretched when she caught sight of a face so resentful it seemed to be emitting green smoke.
Last night, the snake had bitten Qin Yansong on the arm. Fortunately, it was non-venomous, and aside from the pain, there were no serious consequences.
"So you're Su Ruolang?" Qin Yansong stared at Su Ruolang's harmless-looking face, grinding his teeth in hatred.
It was all his fault for not clarifying this woman's appearance, leading to such a ridiculous blunder!
"That's right." Su Ruolang raised an eyebrow in reply.
"You… just you wait!" Qin Yansong spat out these words before storming off in a huff.
Next came a maid, who addressed her respectfully, "Miss Su, Old Madam requests your presence…"
Naturally, coming here meant meeting the old lady. Su Ruolang remembered she still needed to examine Old Madam and nodded, saying, "Lead the way."
The residence was tranquil, with winding corridors that twisted and turned.
Su Ruolang followed the maid for quite some time before arriving at the main hall.
Even before entering, she could hear Qin Yansong tattling: "Grandmother, that woman actually set a snake on me… Cousin could marry even royalty—how could he marry such an untamed woman?"
Marry even royalty?
A flicker of suspicion arose in Su Ruolang's mind, though she didn't dwell on it.
Given Qin Yansong's loose tongue, he was capable of saying anything exaggerated.
"She must be coveting my cousin's immense wealth, which is why she tried to seduce him!" Qin Yansong continued, righteous indignation still burning.
Immense wealth?
So, Qin Moqing was a merchant?
Having just arrived, Su Ruolang was still unfamiliar with the ways of Li Kingdom. After some thought, she couldn't recall any wealthy merchant surnamed Qin at the moment.
"This woman has ill intentions—she absolutely cannot be allowed into the family…" Qin Yansong hadn't noticed at all that Su Ruolang had already entered and was standing right behind him.
"Silence!" Old Madam, seated in the main chair, was furious with him. "What nonsense are you spouting?"
"This is no nonsense…" Qin Yansong remained unyielding. "Grandmother, Cousin is already betrothed—how can he just marry someone else on a whim?"
Qin Moqing was already betrothed?
This was news to Su Ruolang.
She spoke calmly, "If that's the case, then this marriage arrangement need not be honored."
"Right? That's exactly what I think…" Qin Yansong, finally hearing someone agree, raised his eyebrows smugly, only to turn and see it was Su Ruolang.
He looked as if he'd seen a ghost.
Su Ruolang thought for a moment and asked seriously, "So, if the marriage arrangement is voided, does that consultation fee need to be refunded?"
Qin Yansong: "…"
This woman was concerned about that!
"Silly child, how could the marriage arrangement not be honored? Wasn't that betrothal made with you all those years ago?" Old Madam hurriedly explained to Su Ruolang.
Su Ruolang finally understood: Old Madam had mistaken her for Qin Moqing's missing child bride from the start and had never gotten it right.
A child bride naturally counted as being betrothed.
As she pondered how to broach the subject, Qin Yansong cut in: "Grandmother, you've got it wrong. This Su Ruolang is the daughter of a mountain hunter—how could she be my brother's fiancée?"
What noble status did his brother's intended wife hold?
How could a mountain village girl compare!
"You little monkey!" Old Madam could not tolerate this spoiled brat disparaging the granddaughter-in-law she had chosen. She stood up and heavily thumped the dragon-headed cane in her hand. "If you dare to recklessly comment on your brother and sister-in-law's status again, go kneel in the ancestral hall!"
Kneeling in the ancestral hall meant he could not leave the house.
Not being able to leave the house was practically Qin Yansong's death sentence!
He instantly wilted like a defeated rooster, yet still muttered unwillingly, "Grandmother, if you continue to be so muddled, in a few days you might even mistake which grandson I am…"
"You… you…" Old Madam clearly heard his muttering. In her anger, her breath became uneven, and she clutched her chest as she slumped back into her seat, her lips slightly turning pale.