After thinking it through, Su Qingran immediately stopped dwelling on it.
Now that she had wealth in hand, she refused to believe she couldn’t survive in this ancient world.
Sure, this place wasn’t particularly kind to women, but she had survived ten years in the apocalypse.
Compared to that, what was there to fear here?
Still, despite all her calculations and preparations in her previous life, she had failed to account for one thing:
The human heart.
In the end, she had been betrayed and killed by her own people.
Just as she was thinking about it, hurried footsteps sounded from outside the door.
Su Qingran looked toward the entrance.
The first person to enter was naturally the current Third-Ranked Scholar, her bargain-bin fiancé, Pei Xingzhou.
When he saw the servants lying unconscious all over the ground, even he was shocked.
“Su Qingran, what have you done this time?” Pei Xingzhou demanded.
This blind fool.
He was always like this, as if he had no brain.
Whenever the original Su Qingran had been framed by his mother and cousin, he would question her the same way, looking at her with the same disappointed expression.
Blind in both eyes and heart.
And he claimed he was protecting her?
What nonsense.
If he had ever actually harmed the original owner, Su Qingran would have suspected that all of this was intentional.
“Xingzhou, let me tell you this—I absolutely will not allow you to marry this woman! Just look at her! She nearly killed so many people at once. Report her to the authorities immediately!”
Li Qiuju shouted furiously.
Su Qingran let out a cold laugh.
“Sure, go ahead and report it. In fact, I want to sue you people too. I’m the daughter of the Pingyang Marquis’s household. No matter how far I’ve fallen, I shouldn’t be treated like this. You actually ordered servants to hold me down and slap me? Am I not allowed to fight back? Besides, have you even checked whether they’re dead or alive? Not only that, I want to accuse your son, Pei Xingzhou, as well. He promised my grandfather he’d take good care of me, yet I’ve ended up in this residence where even servants can bully me. My grandfather may be gone, but he still had many friends. If I ask them to spread word of this, do you think your son’s official career will continue smoothly?”
The moment she finished speaking, even Pei Xingzhou was stunned.
A man who could become a Third-Ranked Scholar was naturally handsome and refined.
But Su Qingran had spent too long living wild in the apocalypse.
Back then, men like Pei Xingzhou often approached her seeking protection and hoping to become her favored companion. As a result, she instinctively treated him like a pretty boy.
And the more she looked at him, the more he reminded her of those opportunistic men who climbed the social ladder through others.
“Su Qingran, how dare you!” Li Qiuju cried out. “What good will it do you to ruin Xingzhou’s reputation? Don’t forget that you’ll still have to rely on the Pei family to survive in the future!”
Previously, although Su Qingran had been spoiled and arrogant, she had never threatened to damage her son’s reputation.
After all, women in this era depended on their husbands’ families.
What benefit could she possibly gain by ruining her future husband’s name?
“Yes, Miss Su,” Wen Yuyan added softly. “You and Cousin Pei are destined to marry sooner or later. Don’t worry. I will never interfere between the two of you.”
After speaking, she cast a sorrowful glance at Pei Xingzhou.
The more unreasonable Su Qingran appeared, the more gentle and virtuous Wen Yuyan seemed by comparison.
Thinking this, a faint smile curved her lips.
Su Qingran couldn’t be bothered with a woman who woke up every day obsessed with competing with other women over a man.
Building her entire life around a single man and scheming endlessly for him?
How boring.
“Who said I’ll be relying on the Pei family in the future?”
Su Qingran smiled faintly and looked coldly at everyone present.
Li Qiuju immediately sneered.
“Oh? You think you can still return to the Marquis’s estate? Do you still not understand your situation? All those relatives in the Marquis household treat you like a disaster star. Xingzhou is only helping you out of gratitude toward your grandfather. You should be thankful you were born into a good family.”
At that moment, even Pei Xingzhou frowned.
“Su Qingran, stop making trouble.”
There it was again.
The same sentence.
Su Qingran felt sorry for the original owner.
She had thought she found someone to rely on.
Instead, she had simply traded one pit of misery for another.
“Who says I’m making trouble? Pei Xingzhou, didn’t you tell me before that you wanted to break off our engagement? Fine. Let’s do it today. You’ve seen how your mother treats me. And look at what your household has become lately—chaos every single day. I don’t need your protection. Whether I live or die from now on has nothing to do with you.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Su Qingran pulled out the engagement contract that she had carefully protected inside her pouch.
Then everyone heard a loud—
Rip!
She tore the marriage contract cleanly in half.
Then she tore it again.
And again.
Until the parchment was shredded into pieces.
Finally, she tossed the scraps into the air.
Seeing this, Pei Xingzhou’s expression darkened further.
“Su Qingran, stop being so childish.”
“Pei Xingzhou,” Su Qingran said with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile, “take out your copy of the marriage contract.”
“What? You want to tear mine up too?” he asked coldly.
Su Qingran waved her hand dismissively.
“That’s your choice. But a marriage agreement requires both parties. I’ve already decided I’m not marrying you.”
Looking at her resolute attitude, Pei Xingzhou let out a cold laugh.
“As you wish. But after leaving the Pei residence, where exactly can you go?”
He had never liked Su Qingran.
He only agreed to the engagement because of his late mentor’s request and to repay a debt of gratitude.
Yet after Su Qingran entered the Pei household, one incident after another had erupted in the inner residence.
Clearly, Pei Xingzhou blamed all of the household’s conflicts on her.
“That won’t be a concern of the Third-Ranked Scholar anymore. Wherever I go, it has nothing to do with the Pei family.”
Third-Ranked Scholar.
It was the first time Su Qingran had addressed him that way.
Her sudden change made Pei Xingzhou frown.
It felt as though something had slipped beyond his control.
“Anyway, since the engagement is void, return the dowry my grandfather prepared for me.”
Her words left everyone speechless.
Li Qiuju practically exploded.
She had long regarded that dowry as property of the Pei family.
How could she possibly return it?
“What? Absolutely not!” she blurted out.
Ignoring her, Su Qingran looked directly at Pei Xingzhou.
“What? Did my grandfather also instruct you that even if I don’t marry you, the dowry still belongs to the Pei family? Surely not. I’ve already decided not to marry. Naturally, I’ll be taking my dowry with me.”
Every member of the Pei family seemed obsessed with the fortune belonging to an orphaned girl.
None of them were good people.
As for this supposedly honorable scholar who claimed to be repaying a debt of gratitude?
Who knew whether he truly intended to repay a favor—or simply coveted the dowry?
She glanced at Li Qiuju again.
Treating the original owner terribly while simultaneously coveting her inheritance.
What a joke.
For some reason, Li Qiuju felt a chill run down her spine.
The way Su Qingran looked at her seemed dark and sinister.
Thinking of the strange weapon Su Qingran had used earlier against the servants, Li Qiuju instinctively avoided her gaze.
“Xingzhou, that girl has some kind of strange object in her hands. Look what she did to the servants!”
Only then did Li Qiuju remember to mention it.
Pei Xingzhou had already noticed something unusual.
The servants’ hair was standing on end, and their faces bore faint scorch marks.
He looked up at Su Qingran and asked seriously,
“Su Qingran, what exactly is that thing you’re holding?”
Since she had openly used a stun baton in front of so many people, Su Qingran had already prepared an explanation.
Her grandfather, the Marquis of Pingyang, had always enjoyed traveling the world and collecting all sorts of strange and unusual items.
That fact was common knowledge in the capital.
It made the perfect excuse.
“This? Naturally, it’s something my grandfather left behind to protect me. As for what it’s called, I have no idea. Surely you don’t think my grandfather trusted you enough to place my life entirely in your hands? Fortunately, he left me a backup plan. Otherwise, those maids and old women would have pinned me down and slapped me across the face just now.”
Her words left Pei Xingzhou speechless.