Chapter 170 What Didn’t Matter in the Past Has Become Crucial Now
“What are you fussing about now?” Qin Huaiyong gave Madam Di a cold look.
“I… How am I fussing? I’m already ill! Who would’ve expected those girls to spill the medicine all over me? General, I’m the injured one!” Madam Di started sobbing. She reached out to show her bandaged hand as she swept.
Quite a large patch of her skin was scalded. The cloth that bandaged her hand was quite long as well.
Qin Huaiyong’s gaze traveled to her face and landed on the ointment-coated scar on it. A flicker of resentment flashed in his eyes. He was getting increasingly sick of Madam Di.
“Get Yuru to serve you when you’re ill next time. Don’t try anything with Wanru!” Qin Huaiyong said callously.
“General, I’ve raised her for so many years and I’m a senior in life too. Shouldn’t she care for me when I’m ill?” Madam Di said in dissatisfaction, wiping her tears. She couldn’t accept failing to torment Qin Wanru this time. How could she let such a good chance go to waste? It wasn’t easy for her to get her brother’s support. She didn’t want this to slip out of her hands.
“You know very well what you’ve done!” Qin Huaiyong’s anger surged when he saw how persistent Madam Di was. With a sharp glint in his eyes, he walked over to her with large strides and dragged her out of the house. He used so much strength that she nearly fell.
Sensing that things were going south, Madam Di hastily grabbed a nearby pillar and asked in a panic, “General, what are you doing?”
“I’m taking you back to Duke Yong’s Mansion. Qin’s Mansion is too small for such an ambitious person like you!” Qin Huaiyong tugged with force, causing Madam Di to loosen her hold over the pillar. She was so frightened that she cried out and immediately threw herself at him. She hugged his leg, refusing to let go.
“General, how am I ambitious? I’m just ill and wants my daughters to dote on me. Who knew Qi Rongzhi would be so insensible as to join us and even make a mess out of the house?” Madam Di knew from Qin Huaiyong’s stern expression that things were dire. Thus, she instantly pushed all the blame on Qi Rongzhi.
She never imagined that Duke Yong’s Mansion, typically Qin Huaiyong’s taboo, was no longer as effective a deterrent as it used to be.
It was useful for giving Qin Huaiyong a scare, but she never thought of leaving Qin’s Mansion.
Qin Huaiyong looked coldly at her with an unfathomable gaze. He pressed his lips tightly together and remained quiet.
Madam Di became terrified when his bad mood and silence persisted. She hugged his leg and wept sorrowfully, “General, I’m not trying anything. It was just an accident. I was just mad because of my injury!”
Qin Huaiyong’s expression remained cold. He pulled his leg away with force, kicking Madam Di in the process and causing her to fall. A loud creak rang out when her elbow hit the ground.
She could hardly worry about the pain in her elbow now. She turned her hand over to hoist herself upward and swiftly embraced Qin Huaiyong. She pleaded, “General, I, I won’t do this again. I still want to see our daughter marry into a good household and watch her enjoy a splendid life!”
She had never seen him this furious in their many years of marriage. She didn’t dare to go against him anymore and started placating him.
“You want to watch your daughter enjoy a splendid life?” Qin Huaiyong grabbed Madam Di by the collar and lifted her to her feet. His gaze was still cold.
Madam Di was truly panicking. She subconsciously tugged at Qin Huaiyong’s hand, trying her best to make him let go of her. His tight hold over her collar smothered her. Even breathing felt difficult. Her face reddened but no words would come. Right now, she felt as if she could see the murderous intent in his eyes.
She tried her best to voice out, but the tugging at her collar made it impossible. The only thing she could do was struggle like a shored-up fish that couldn’t reach the waters no matter how it jumped.
Madam Di’s face was beet-red and her eyes were bulging. Cold sweat covered her forehead. Her two legs tried their best to support her weight. She pulled Qin Huaiyong’s hand with as much strength she could muster. Her vision began to cloud.
Suddenly, the force on her neck eased and her throat area immediately found relief. Madam Di fell hard on the ground. Holding onto her stomach, she started coughing as if she was trying to cough her lungs out.
The air that she inhaled through her mouth made her feel like she had come back to life, even as it gave her a bad cough, drenched her face with tears, and reopened her bandage. Brown ointment slid down her face, forming a trail of what seemed like brown-colored tears. She looked both strange and pitiful.
“Hire an etiquette instructor from the palace for Yuru. If she keeps behaving like you, what would I need her for?” His cold voice filled her ears. This coldness didn’t belong to Qin Huaiyong’s voice that she remembered. She was truly terrified this time. Shivering, she staggered backward with her hand clasped over her stomach and distanced herself from him.
“Hadn’t I told you that in the past?” Qin Huaiyong lowered his head to look at Madam Di.
Memories of the past filled Madam Di’s mind. The redness of her face faded, leaving a deathlike pallor. Even her hands were trembling.
“I, I understand…”
“Remember your words!” Qin Huaiyong scoffed. He gave her another look before turning around and walking away with large strides.
Qin Yuru was still waiting outside. She wanted to rush in after hearing all the strange noises, but the older female servant with her refused to let her. When the doors opened, she ran over and saw a grim-faced Qin Huaiyong. She was so surprised that she stopped in her tracks.
Qin Huaiyong didn’t even spare her a glance as he walked out of the courtyard.
Seeing that he had left, Qin Yuru ran inside the house and saw a panicking Madam Di on the floor. She looked pale and pathetic as she stared dazedly in the sky, trembling.
Qin Yuru immediately went over to help her get up. Worried, she asked, “Mother, what’s wrong?”
Madam Di turned her head and fixed her lifeless gaze on her. It was as if she could only recognize Qin Yuru after a moment. She hugged Qin Yuru and started weeping loudly. Right now, she felt like she had just been revived.
“Mother, what’s wrong? Are you alright?” Qin Yuru was beginning to panic. She had never seen her mother act like this. The rim of her eyes reddened as well. She felt both furious and resentful at this moment.
Nanny Zhou stepped in right then. Together, they hoisted Madam Di upward and helped her walk to the bed. Nanny Zhou got someone to change Madam Di’s clothes. It wasn’t until Madam Di was presentable again that she recovered her senses. She leaned sideways on the bed, holding tight on Qin Yuru’s hand, refusing to let go.
Qin Yuru handed a wet handkerchief to Nanny Zhou before looking at her mother and asking, “Mother… are you alright?”
“I’m fine now.” With a cold expression, Madam Di closed her eyes and slowly let go of her daughter’s hand. “Go back. I have something to discuss with Nanny Zhou.”
“Mother, I’m still worried. I don’t want to go!” Qin Yuru remained by the bed.
“Go. I’m alright now. I’ll get you an etiquette instructor from the palace in a few days. She’ll teach you the etiquette of the capital,” Madam Di said slowly.
“Mother…” Qin Yuru was startled. She didn’t know why her mother would bring this up right now.
“Nanny Zhou, please see First Miss off,” Madam Di said weakly as she closed her eyes. What happened earlier replayed in her mind over and over, provoking memories she had nearly forgotten.
“First Miss, please go back for now. Madam isn’t in the mood to talk to you right now. Rest assured, I’ll be here to lend her a sympathetic ear,” Nanny Zhou told Qin Yuru in a gentle voice. She knew what Madam Di meant.
“But Mother’s current state…” Qin Yuru said, still ill at ease.
“First Miss, don’t worry. I’m here,” Nanny Zhou said. Since Nanny Zhou had said so, and Madam Di was keeping her eyes shut as if she didn’t want to speak to her, Qin Yuru helplessly stood up. She bit her lip and glanced at Madam Di before deciding to leave.
“Yuru, stop causing trouble anymore. Don’t provoke Shui Ruolan or Qin Wanru,” Madam Di suddenly said.
Qin Yuru had no plans of letting Qin Wanru off. She flung off Madam Di’s hand and asked, “So what if Mother knows? Qin Wanru, you don’t want to care for her, do you?”
“You may leave.” Madam Di waved her hand. Qin Yuru had no choice but to leave. Her mother’s words were all over the place today, making it difficult for her to grasp the main point. She stood in the corridor in contemplation but understanding eluded her. Clenching her teeth, she directed all of her fury and resentment to Qin Wanru. Once an opportunity arises, she swore that she would repay that lowly wench a hundredfold, even a thousandfold!
“Where is the Prince?” she asked, suddenly remembering Di Yan.
“The Prince left with you. Hasn’t he been out all this while?” Meiyan stammered.
Seeing that it was Meiyan who answered her, Qin Yuru immediately slapped her on the face. She pointed to the young maid lying motionless in the courtyard that no one dared to pay attention to. “See that? That’ll be your outcome if you do this again!”
Her voice, twisted with maliciousness and ruthlessness, was cold. It scared Meiyan so much that she fell noisily to her knees. Trembling, she knocked her head hard on the ground. “First Miss, I dare not anymore, I dare not anymore!”
Qin Yuru scoffed, ignoring her pleas. She stepped on Meiyan’s hand and spun around to leave the courtyard.
The pain shot straight into Meiyan’s heart but she dared not say anything even as she heard a loud creak coming from her fingers. It hurt so much that she nearly screeched but she tried her best to suppress it…
Inside the house, Madam Di slowly opened her eyes after Qin Yuru had left and revealed a pair of gloomy eyes. “Nanny Zhou, have you found the seal?”
Nanny Zhou had been looking for it in quite a few places but found nothing. Now that Madam Di was asking her about it, she replied helplessly, “Madam, I haven’t found it. What, what should we do?”
“Forget it! Just make a new one for a replacement,” Madam Di said coldly. A trace of bloodthirstiness flitted across her eyes—the same kind of bloodthirstiness that she saw when Qin Huaiyong nearly strangled her to death.
“Madam, what do we need it for? You didn’t really want it before,” Nanny Zhou whispered, inhaling a mouthful of cold air. She truly had no idea what use her mistress had for the seal. Madam Di had never cared for it before or she wouldn’t have nonchalantly toss it away.
“What didn’t matter in the past has become crucial now!” Madam Di lowered her head and clenched her hands. That sensation of struggling for her life seemed so vivid to her!
In the past, it was just an insignificant chess piece to her…