Qinghe raised a panicked, helpless face.
The moment she saw Qin Xiao, she thought she caught a trace of approval in the glance he cast her way.
It vanished so quickly that she could barely be sure it had been there at all.
The next moment, he lowered his eyes and turned a cold gaze toward Madam Qin.
Releasing his grip on her wrist, he said, “Mother, if you have something to say, say it properly. Why are you hitting people?”
She was covered in injuries. Last night, even though he had nearly driven himself mad holding back, he had still been unwilling to touch her.
Yet his mother had come looking for trouble.
The instant Madam Qin saw her son, she immediately began complaining.
Pointing at Qinghe, she said, “This is the woman you bought? I told her I’m your mother. Not only did she refuse to invite me in, she didn’t even kneel and serve me tea. Instead, she treated me like a thief!”
“You should beat her. Beat her hard so she knows her place!”
Qin Xiao remained expressionless.
Without drawing attention to it, he stepped in front of Qinghe and completely shielded her from view.
“She only arrived yesterday and doesn’t know you. If she let just anyone walk into the house, then I might as well have bought a guard dog instead.”
“As for serving tea, that’s a custom for daughters-in-law. Mother, have you prepared the red envelope and the change of address that come with accepting one?”
Madam Qin froze.
Her mind went blank for a moment.
What was going on?
Her eldest son had always tried to please her. The colder she treated him, the more eagerly he sought her approval.
Yes, they had spent all the money he sent home.
Yes, they had built a new house without leaving him a room.
But whenever they soothed him with promises that once his younger brother became a scholar they would build him a new house and find him a wife, he accepted it without complaint and moved to the back hill.
After returning from the army, he rushed to do farm work and regularly brought game home for the family.
So why was he suddenly standing up to his own mother for the sake of an outsider?
Her eyes landed on the woman behind him, and she immediately understood.
This woman had the face of a temptress.
How capable she was, turning her son around in a single night.
Changing tactics, Madam Qin began speaking earnestly.
“Eldest Son, listen to your mother. This woman is clearly not the sort to build a household with.”
“Look at her. Soft skin, delicate hands. What work can she do?”
“We’re farmers. A wife should be virtuous, able to work the fields, and respectful to her mother-in-law.”
“You’re still unmarried. Keeping her around for a while isn’t impossible. But when the time comes to arrange a proper marriage, you should sell her.”
“With her here, what respectable girl would marry you?”
“Especially your younger brother. Once he becomes a scholar, he’ll be an official. There’s no place in our family for a convicted slave.”
“What if she’s carrying some kind of criminal record? Wouldn’t that drag your brother down?”
Younger brother.
Younger brother.
Always the younger brother.
His mother thought of him in every situation.
Why should he have to consider his younger brother even when choosing a woman?
Though he had long since stopped expecting anything from his mother, hearing her speak with nothing but concern for his brother still felt like a stone dropping into his chest.
It made it hard to breathe.
His tone grew colder, carrying a trace of bitterness.
“Who I marry is none of Mother’s concern.”
“If you dislike it and fear I’ll tarnish my brother’s reputation, then we can simply split the household.”
“In the future, when my brother becomes wealthy and successful, whether he becomes an official or a minister, I, Qin Xiao, won’t take a single benefit from him.”
In truth, they were already living separately.
The paperwork simply had not been finalized.
As long as it wasn’t, filial obligations still bound him, allowing the Qin family to take from him whenever they pleased.
This was the first time Qin Xiao had openly spoken of dividing the family.
Madam Qin stared at him in disbelief.
Separate the family?
Absolutely not.
So she chose to avoid the topic.
Remembering why she had come, she softened her tone.
“Eldest Son, Mother is only worried you’ll be deceived by a pretty woman.”
“I’m looking out for you.”
“About what I mentioned last night, do you remember?”
“Your younger brother’s tuition…”
“And do you remember what I told you last night?” Qin Xiao interrupted coldly.
“If you can’t afford to support him, then stop supporting him.”
“I’ve seen plenty of poor scholars while I was away. Some had no parents at all. They copied books and wrote stories to support themselves, and eventually made it all the way to the imperial court.”
“My brother is nineteen years old. If he can’t even support himself, then there’s no point in him studying.”
For the second time, Madam Qin found herself shut out.
As she watched Qin Xiao take Qinghe’s hand and lead her home, the courtyard gate closing behind them, she cursed inwardly.
So he really isn’t one of us.
A little wolf cub. We raised him for nothing.
Back at the Qin family’s new house.
During lunch, Madam Qin angrily recounted what had happened, adding plenty of embellishments.
“Old man, do you think he’s found out something?”
Master Qin continued eating and shook his head.
“No.”
“It’s been so many years. No one has ever come looking.”
“Besides, when we brought him home, he had only just been born. There’s no way he remembers anything.”
That reassured Madam Qin.
She became even more convinced that Qinghe was the one corrupting Qin Xiao.
In front of her husband, she spent quite some time describing Qinghe as a scheming fox spirit, a woman skilled at seducing men.
“With that woman around, Qin Xiao will never pay your younger son’s tuition again.”
“He even talked about dividing the family today.”
“Old man, we can’t keep that woman around.”
Neither of them wanted a family split.
Qin Xiao owned four mu of paddy fields and two mu of dry land.
Because of military merit earned during his service, the court had exempted his land from taxes.
After returning home, he was entitled to ten years of tax exemption.
The two mu of dry land had already been planted with fruit trees.
In another two years, they would begin producing fruit.
If the family split, all of it would go back to Qin Xiao.
The younger son’s education was already expensive.
Without those fields, they truly could not afford it.
Thinking of this, Madam Qin’s resentment grew.
Her younger son really was disappointing.
It had been six years since he passed the county-level examination and became a Tongsheng.
Why had he still not become a Xiucai?
If he earned that title, he could register thirty mu of tax-exempt land and would also be exempt from military conscription.
When war had broken out before, Qin Xiao had conveniently taken his place.
The border had been peaceful these last two years.
But if another war came and the court called for soldiers again, it would be the younger son’s turn.
Master Qin pondered for a long while before speaking.
“Let’s discuss it when the younger one returns.”
“He’s educated. He has more ideas than we do.”
Meanwhile, at Qin Xiao’s house on the back hill.
After hearing the entire confrontation between mother and son, Qinghe finally relaxed.
She had gambled correctly.
Qin Xiao’s attitude had clearly changed.
His words carried every intention of eventually marrying her.
She had to become his wife.
Only then could she escape her slave status.
After spending a day with him, she had discovered something.
Although Qin Xiao looked fierce, his heart was actually soft.
She knew all the tricks servant girls used in wealthy households to seduce powerful men.
She had simply never used them herself.
Since he seemed to dislike overly direct physical advances, she lightly tugged at his sleeve.
“I’m sorry.”
“I upset your mother and caused an argument between you.”
The moment the words left her mouth, Qinghe inwardly despised herself.
Qin Xiao was only an ordinary commoner.
Yet right now, he held power over her life and death.
She had to treat him with the same care and attention one would give a prince.
She needed to discover where his boundaries lay.
The young woman’s voice was soft and gentle.
When she lowered herself and tried to please someone, the end of her sentences naturally dipped, carrying a hint of submission.
The timid glance she cast his way flowed from the corner of her upturned eyes.
She was not acting.
Yet somehow, it was deeply alluring.
Qin Xiao’s throat bobbed.
“There’s no need to mind her. What you did today was exactly right.”
From the moment Madam Qin called out to her, he had already been listening nearby.
Otherwise, he could not have appeared in time to stop that slap.
Her actions suited his wishes perfectly.
Why would he blame her?
“Here.”
“I caught these mountain pheasants this morning.”
“Stew them and nourish yourself.”
He untied two beautiful pheasants from his belt.
Their colorful tail feathers shimmered beneath the sunlight.
Qinghe also presented the herbs she had gathered.
“I picked Frostheart Grass for you.”
“The rash on your back has small blisters. You were probably scratched by fire hemp vines.”
“This herb is cooling and detoxifying. It’s exactly what you need.”
“Do we have a mortar at home? I can prepare the medicine for you.”
“Stop calling yourself ‘this servant’ all the time.”
Qin Xiao carried the pheasants toward the kitchen.
“This isn’t the Prince’s Manor.”
“Oh…”
Smiling faintly, Qinghe followed behind him.