… After hearing the words reported by Qiu Jinzhu reluctantly, Qiu Mengmin and Princess Yang looked at each other, puzzled.
After a moment, Qiu Mengmin turned to his daughter, looking at her with a complicated expression, “Did Kuang Qingwu ever ask about our family when you were dating him?”
“He asked once or twice, but he did not ask about details…” Qiu Jinzhu felt dismal, “I must have been angry about him if he kept asking about it.”
Princess Yang said coldly, “With your brain, you might not realize it even if he was doing it!”
Qiu Jinzhu said, “Mother, why do you believe Qiu Yelan but not your daughter? She just wants to revenge on us, not helps us at all.”
“You retreat!” Qiu Mengmin beckoned to stop Princess Yang who just wanted to continue saying something. He became serious and cottoned on to the fact that his daughter had been overwhelmed by the words Qing Qingwu said to her. He said to her something like he would be responsible for her future. She would argue with anyone who railed against Kuang Qingwu!
Against the backdrop, even if Qiu Jinzhu stayed here for answering questions, she would not tell the truth but for speaking for her lover.
Hence, Qiu Mengmin might as well send her out. And then he turned to Princess Yang, saying coldly, “You stay with her in the next days. As long as what she requires isn’t too much, you oblige her. After all, she is our daughter!”
Princess Yang suddenly understood that the implication of Qiu Mengmin’s words. It implicated that Qiu Jinzhu was facing severe trouble. Actually, she was thinking the same as him. But the trouble was caused by her daughter. As a mother, she could not sit by and watch her die. She replied coldly, “Do you think that her death could appease Empress Dowager?”
She had married Qiu Mengmin for a couple of years. She knew him very well. In nature, Qiu Mengmin valued boys over girls. And her daughter now made such severe trouble for the family. Fortunately, she asked Qiu Jinzhu to go out before Qiu Mengmin entered the room. If he had saw her, he might have killed her accidentally!
Presumably, they knew Qiu Jinzhu would die because of the trouble. The grief in Qiu Mengmin’s heart was probably not as much as the annoyance of being implicated by her daughter!
So, Princess Yang did not mention the father-daughter bond. Instead, she reminded, “Kuang Qingwu and Jinzhu have been dating for one year. Do you think that Empress Dowager will believe we don’t know about it?”
Qiu Mengmin’s face fell, gritting, “What a daughter you gave to me! Huh?”
He felt furious, “Jinzhu is so shameless, causing us all in trouble! Yinzhi, a bullying, rude and shallow boy! The reason I married you was that I thought you were born and raised in an official family. In terms of teaching kids, you must be better than ordinary women! But finally, you see, Hongzhi and Maozhi, both are better than Yinzhi in learning. In my opinion, you should give Feng to Ding Qinghong, preventing him from being taught like Yinzhi or Jinzhu. It is okay whether or not they have big ambition. But at least, they should not make trouble for the family!”
Princess Yang was becoming furious immediately after hearing her husband’s words. She said in a husky whisper, “Now you are regretting who you married? Back then, when two families were discussing our marriage, you promised my brother that you would treat me like an angel. And my son would be the Young Prince. But now, Yinzhi is 12 years old. You tell me, when do you plan to grant him as the Young Prince of the Prince’s Mansion of Xihe? You blamed me for their misconduct. You should look at yourself. You always spent most of your time with bitch Bian. You care little about our two kids.”
She was feeling sad for her two kids. As trueborn offspring, Qiu Jinzhu and Qiu Yinzhi did not enjoy any privileges than their half-brothers and sisters. They even were denounced from time to time for their misconduct! One thing led to another. It was reasonable for Princess Yang to speak for her two kids.
Her tolerance for her kids became an obstacle for her to discipline them. She did not discipline them, but, in sharp contrast, she lavished most of her attention on the kids. The spoiled kids were the outcome of her past tolerance!
Princess Yang felt regretful now too. But in terms of disciplining kids, she reckoned that Qiu Mengmin was the first one who should be blamed, “Long ago when Qiu Hongzhi got the title of Xiucai, you were so happy about it that you thought that he was a talented boy given by God! But when Yinzhi began to learn, you were disappointed as he just behaved like an ordinary boy. Hence, you put all your efforts and hope on Qiu Hongzhi! But now, you see, until now, he is just a Xiucai. No more. If you were patient with Yinzhi, teaching him with your heart, and not condemning or judging him from time to time, he would put his heart in books. But your actions frightened him so much that he was scared of books finally.”
Qiu Mengmin gave her a cold smile, “Why did I put my efforts into Hongzhi? Why? That was because of you. Because you were jealous. You were jealous of Baozhu, my first wife’s daughter, let alone a concubine’s son. I just worried that you might kill her because of nothing. So, I put most of my efforts into him to protect him from you. That was the reason why I did not have much time for Yinzhi!”
His comeback was true. When Qiu Hongzhi got the title of Xiucai, he was young. At that time, he was perceived to have a promising future. But Qiu Mengmin also paid close attention to his trueborn son’s first lesson. He invited a prestigious teacher and planned to teach and monitor the son in person. But before Qiu Yinzhi met his teacher, Qiu Hongzhi had some accidents, such as he fell into water or his head was hit by a falling tilt, which distracted his attention. There were accidents in a matter of days. Qiu Mengmin knew well that they were the accidents Princess Yang made intentionally, aiming to pave the way for his son, Qiu Yinzhi.
At that time, the Yang Family was yet not in trouble. Qiu Mengmin, although he was the Duke of Xihe, he did not have rights or an official title. He needed the help of the Yang Family in many respects. Considering the reasons, he was afraid that he might put Qiu Hongzhi in a worse condition if he had a contradiction with her openly.
With limited energy, Qiu Mengmin had to tackle countless tricks played by Princess Yang on Qiu Hongzhi. He, at last, had little effort to manage and take care of Qiu Yinzhi. Hence, he asked the teacher to take care of Qiu Yinzhi in all respects!
As the old story had been revealed, Princess Yang was stunned but without guilt. She said coldly, “You believed what the cheap woman said entirely. Think. Am I so stupid to make a couple of accidents on the same person in a short time frequently? Even two or three accidents in one day? Anyone who is not stupid would understand what was going on! As his official mother, I have plenty of means to deal with that cheap woman and her son. Why did I do such stupid accidents, which were obvious evidence for you? It was that cheap woman who knew that Yinzhi began to go to school. She used her brain and make trouble for you. So you can spare no effort to take care of her son! What she did was kill two birds with one stone. She got your love and ruined Yinzhi’s future at the same time!”
Seeing she was trying to defend herself with sophistry, Qiu Mengmin was furious that he jumped up and kicked her. Her head immediately hit a corner of the table not far away. The stopped nosebleed began to flow down again. “You are so vicious! At that time, Hongzhi was just a child. You even bribed his maids to poison him! He must have died hundreds of times if I did not stand in the way and arranged the maids for him in person. But now, you blamed her and her son? About Yinzhi, I have invited a good teacher for him. But look at you and your son. He did not study hard. Whose fault was it? Why are you so shameless to blame Hongzhi!”
Princess Yang felt light-headed. She tried to stand up. Noticing the blood on her clothes, she jumped at Qiu Mengmin hysterically, “You have beaten me in front of Bian and daughters-in-law to embarrass me! Now you beat me again. Are you planning to beat me to death and let Bian bitch replace me? Right? You are wrong. All wrong. Although my brother was delegated outside of the capital, you still have no chance to treat me like your first wife…”
“Shut up!” Qiu Mengmin hated this step-wife the hell now. In terms of softness and obedience, she was much worse than his first wife although she was born and raised in an ordinary family. His first wife’s daughter Qiu Baozhu, despite the fact she must hate him deeply, she never made trouble for the family! But this wife’s daughter, Qiu Jinzhu, made such big trouble for the family, but she still thought she would be Kuang Qingwu’s wife.
However, Princess Yang was not in the mood to hear his rebuke. She cried, shouted, scratched and waved her fist, “How can I live longer like this? We are not over unless you beat me to death today.”
… At last, the servants outside heard the noise in the room. They took their nerve and opened the door to see what was going on inside. Finding out that the couple was wrestling with each other, they separated them and took them into different rooms. The yard became quiet then.
After knowing the fight, Senior Concubine Bian and Qiu Hongzhi, of course, would rush to comfort Qiu Mengmin.
Ding Qinghong seized the chance, taking Qiu Feng to Qiu Mengmin and saying, “Father, I think mother would be busy in Jinzhu’s business recently. If we leave Feng to Mother, she may have no time and extra efforts to take care of him. So, I want…”
“Do what you want. Take him home and raise him yourself!” Qiu Mengmin was still angry. He replied to her with a serious face. “From now on, you take care of him. Don’t give back him to her! Look at what kinds of kids she raised!”
“Father, thank you!” said Ding Qinghong, happily. She even kneed on the floor, kowtowing to him. And then she held Feng tightly in her arms. She might be afraid that Qiu Mengmin would break his words in the next second. Seeing what was going on, Senior Concubine Bian knew that Qiu Mengmin and Prince Yang had become foes since then. She was so hilarious that she almost laughed loudly in front of Qiu Mengmin!
It was a good chance to rub salt on the wounds. Senior Concubine Bian would not let it go. Gesturing with her eyes for Ding Qinghong and his husband to leave, she walked closer to Qiu Mengmin and comforted him softly, trying to fuel the hatred flames Qiu Mengmin had for Princess Yang…
On Qiu Mengmin’s side, he was hugged and comforted by his senior concubine. At the same time, his son and daughters-in-law were standing beside him. In sharp contrast, Princess Yang got nothing but her maids Xiuyan and Xiu Rong. They were applying herbs on her wounds with tearing in their eyes. Princess Yang was lying on the bed, groaning slightly due to hurt. They were comforting her discreetly, “Princess, do you want us to invite the sixth Commandery Princess and Young Master Qiu Yinzhi over here?”
“No need!” said Princess Yang with closed eyes. She shook her head with tears falling along her cheeks. “Jinzhu must be exhausted as she just arrived at the Summer Palace. Yinzhi is still a kid. He can do nothing helpful now. You two stay here with me. That’s enough!”
She knew her kids well. If Qiu Jinzhu came over and saw her wounds, she would go and fight with Qiu Mengmin. It could help nothing but to make Qiu Mengmin hate her more. Qiu Yinzhi was fearful of his father. Even he saw her wounds. He would say nothing!
Kids could not assist. What was worse, the mother’s family was far away from here. Princess Yang felt dismal. She was tired but she still said a few words to win her maids. And then she fell asleep…
When the love affair between Kuang Qingwu and Qiu Jinzhu was exposed, their side yards were naturally in the spotlight.
The news concerning Qiu Mengmin and Prince Yang’s fight in the Duke of Xihe due to their troublemaking daughter was spread to every corner of the city before the next morning.
Qiu Yelan was reported the news by Su He while she was washing up. She frowned, “Princess Yang was beaten to bed? What about Qiu Jinzhu?”
“I did not hear that Commandery Princess Ningtai was beaten,” said Su He. She added after a while, “We know that Kuang Qingwu once said he would marry her. I think as Commandery Princess Ningtai had been dating Kuang Qingwu since long ago, Prince might not dare do something severe to her.”
“He may not do things severe, but he still can do things to her!” said Qiu Yelan. Back then, Qiu Mengmin even sacrificed his mother to save his title of the Prince, let alone a daughter.
Jiang Yashuang, standing on her back, had been dressed. He was playing with Nianxue and Whitey with dried fish in his hand. He said after hearing their dialogue, “Kuang Qingwu has sufficient confidence to enable the couple to kill their daughter as Yang was long coveting the position of old Princess and Qiu Mengmin for the power.”
Hence, the marriage promise that Kuang Qingwu made to Qiu Jinzhu was a lie from the very beginning. Only Qiu Jinzhu believed his promise and immersed herself in the illusory happiness, without doubts or unwillingness to doubt it.
“We just sit by and watch the fire?” asked Qiu Yelan, looking in the brazen mirror and turning her head. Xiaran was putting the last pearl hairpin into her hair.
Noticing she had dressed up already, Jiang Yashuang threw the dried fish out of the window. The two Persian cats immediately jumped out of the window after the food. Jiang Yashuang clapped his hands and smiled, “Of course not!”