Chapter 57 Step by Step
The panic on Qin Linfeng’s face only lasted for a moment. He tried to replace it with disdain, but Qin Yunuan’s words were like needles piercing through his defence, “If brother had just said it by mistake, then why was the seventh black pearl of the Big Dipper pattern on your belt gone as well? Or was it that brother did not say it by mistake, but was guilty instead?”
The word “guilty” spoken by Qin Yunuan at this moment was rather meaningful. Those who could get it got it immediately, such as Qin Zhi.
Qin Zhi was looking at Qin Linfeng as if he had been looked at an enemy. His tone did not soften at all, “Why are you still covering it? I’ll say it one last time, move away your sleeve.”
Qin Linfeng reluctantly moved his wide sleeves sideways. There were only exposed thread ends on the end of the Big Dipper Belt. It looked very apparent without the black pearl decoration.
Qin Linfeng was panicked. Qin Yunzhuang was panicked, and even Dou Qing’e, who had always been calm and elegant, became pale. She could never imagine that her son would make such a low-level mistake. Her heart was uncomfortable as if it had been thrown into the fire, burning and crackling.
“Maybe, maybe my brother’s black pearl just happened to fall off?” Qin Yunzhuang tried to intercede for Qin Linfeng.
“Then it just happened to fall into Tinghe’s hands?” Qin Yunuan’s glance was full of sarcasm, but she was facing away from Qin Zhi. Only Qin Yunzhuang and Qin Linfeng could see her ruthlessness.
Qin Yunuan at this moment had no room for softness and mercy.
Ever since she made Tong keep an eye on Tinghe, she discovered that Tinghe poisoned Baochuan’s breakfast. Luckily she had discovered it in advance then changed it and added a note to the Thousand-Character Classic recited by Baochuan every day, telling him to pretend to have a stomachache when eating the crab bun.
Just when Qin Yunuan deliberately sent Tinghe off to find nurse Liao, she broke the dog’s blood bag that she had hidden in her cuff. She had already tested the poison. It was the fatal gelsemium. The person who poisoned the food had never thought of letting Baochuan live.
Baochuan was the precious of Qin Yunuan. Qin Yunuan would not show the slightest mercy to whomever dared to harm Qin Baochuan.
After letting Maner follow Tinghe out, she found that the actual culprit was Qin Linfeng. Unfortunately, Tinghe never returned after entering the rockery. When Maner realized that something was wrong, Tinghe was already dead.
She expected that Qin Linfeng must have thought that she would really send Baochuan out for medical treatment in a carriage. So he would send additional people to guard the back door. Therefore, she had already sent nurse Liao to wait by the back door. On the other hand, it was an open secret that Qin Yuwan wanted to see Shangguan Rang. With just a bit of leading, and sending nurse Liao to lead Shangguan Rang to a certain place. Qin Yunuan had everything under control. Shangguan Rang was a luxurious young master, while Qin Linfeng’s men were all arrogant from years of achievements. They would have a conflict when they encountered each other.
And for the wordless book in Qin Yunzhuang’s hands, it was also derived from the scriptures that Dou Qing’e asked Qin Yunuan to help her copy. There were only two scriptures, but she gave Qin Yunuan a large piece of good pine oil ink stick. Even if she liked this ink so much, it shouldn’t have bothered her so much. Moreover, it was to her natural enemy Qin Yunuan. The more Qin Yunuan thought about it, the more wrong she felt it was. Sure enough, she discovered the secret of the ink stick in a day.
It turned out that the ink grinded out of the ink stick would disappear a while later after written on paper, as if it had never been stained with ink. This was a common trick used by those women in the country who pretended to be witches. They use the disappearable red ink to draw on a yellow rune paper, and use a catalyst to accelerate the disappearance of the ink, blinding people to achieve the look of driving away ghosts and evil spirits, as well as converging money. It was because that Biddy Zhao had reminded Qin Yunuan last time that she knew about the trick.
Dou Qing’e’s trick was wonderful. It could make the copies of the scriptures that Qin Yunuan worked so hard on disappear. So that she could have the excuse of scolding her. Perhaps she would do another trick in series and defeat Qin Yunuan once and for all. Qin Yunuan would not let go of the opportunity to get back at her with her exactly same way.
That day, she and Maner deliberately told Tinghe outside the window that she hid something on the bookshelf. Tinghe couldn’t wait any longer to steal the “contract” Qin Yunuan left, written by the disappearing ink, while cleaning the house and handed it over. What Qin Yunuan didn’t expect was that the person behind Tinghe was not Dou Qing’e, but Qin Yunzhuang. It appeared that her sister was much smarter than in her past life.
As for this black pearl in the hands of Tinghe, Qin Yunuan looked at Qin Linfeng playfully, and in the chaos of life in an admiring manner. They wouldn’t know that all their struggles, arguments and resistance were in vain. They couldn’t escape the trap Qin Yunuan set. A trap nicely set by her to revenge for the injustice on Baochuan in the past life and in this life.
“Father, don’t you believe in your own son?” Qin Linfeng remarked, “What’s more, I have just returned from a long journey. How could I have a relationship with the servant girl in third sister’s yard, and even try to murder her? Father always told me that a gentleman should know what to do and what not to. I have been strictly following your teaching and never forget it for one day.”
Such a rebuttal was pale, but the balance in Qin Zhi’s heart was always on the side of his eldest son. Moreover, if Qin Linfeng were involved in a murder, the news would be in the streets sooner or later. It would harm his fame. However, the servant girl was a human being after all, someone had to be responsible for it eventually.
But after Butler Xie carefully compared the black pearls found from Tinghe’s hands with the pearls on Qin Linfeng’s belt, the conclusion made Qin Zhi’s heart tremble again.
“Master, the comparison is correct. It really fell from the Grand Young Master.”
Qin Zhi squinted his eyes. Qin Linfeng was already guilty. He was too careless to let Tinghe tear off the pearl on his belt. When he clasped her neck tightly, he didn’t feel anything. Sure enough, a wrong step taken would lead him into the abyss.
“How do you explain this?” For the first time, Qin Zhi’s eyes were filled with fierce resolve and hostility when he looked at Qin Linfeng.
After being silent for a long time, Qin Linfeng suddenly said, “Yes, I have seen Tinghe.” Qin Linfeng suddenly looked up and said eagerly, “But it was this girl who didn’t know what she should do. I have only met her several times, but she wanted to marry me as a concubine. She was refused many times. Yet she still came to me to harass me before the banquet and even threatened to frame me of taking her virginity. While she ran away madly, I was afraid that she would talk nonsense on such a jubilant day, so I sent a servant to follow her. However, he didn’t return after that, and I heard the news of Tinghe died behind the rockery. I guess that it was my servant who had an argument with her, so… so….”
Qin Linfeng had denied the responsibility completely this time. He did not only explain the cause of death of Tinghe, but also explained why the black pearl on his belt was in Tinghe’s hands. However Qin Yunuan would not let him off easily.
“What brother meant was that it was very possible that your men killed Tinghe?” Qin Yunuan turned to look at Qin Zhi, “Why didn’t you say such important news immediately?”
Qin Zhi’s glance became sharper and sharper, but he saw Qin Linfeng suddenly knelt to the ground and said, “It’s my fault that my people were too indulgent. This time they had not only offended young master Shangguan, but also killed a servant girl. Father, I know I was wrong. I would find the missing servant as soon as possible.”
Qin Yunzhuang immediately followed and knelt, pleading, “Father, the person who did that has to be naturally bad. It has nothing to do with brother.”
Even Dou Qing’e, who had not spoken, couldn’t hold herself back any more. She said, “Master, Linfeng is your biological son. Don’t you believe in his nature? Think about it, killing someone in the mansion. That wasn’t something that Linfeng would do. He always has a kind heart. When he was a kid, he went hunting and he couldn’t even kill a mother rabbit with a bunny. Master, you have to trust Linfeng this time.”
“Seven days,” Qin Zhi paused on each word, as if he had said the most solemn declaration in the world, “I’ll give you seven days to find the missing servant. However, since you can’t even control your own people, you can’t keep them anymore. Dismiss all your servants.”
The seventeen servants brought back by Qin Linfeng from the long journey each have their own skills, and many of them were secretly arranged by the Dou Family to escort Qin Linfeng. Now Qin Zhi made the order to dismiss them. It was the same as breaking Qin Linfeng’s both arms. It would be utterly difficult for Qin Linfeng to have an influence in the Qin Family, not to mention the Royal City.
Qin Linfeng looked at the faint smile that appeared at the corner of Qin Yunuan’s mouth, and looked at the implying look on Dou Qing’e face. He gritted his teeth, and buried his head even lower, “As you have said, father.”
Qin Zhi took a deep breath, “Now the reason of Tinghe’s death is still unknown, while your words are just words. Before the truth is completely revealed, you shall not leave the yard.”
Qin Linfeng paused for a moment. Now that his mother would be sent to a temple outside, and he would be under house arrest. He looked at Qin Yunzhuang who burst into tears, delicate as a flower budded with tender petals. His glance towards Qin Yunuan got more and more vicious.
That’s right! It was all because of this woman! This lowly daughter of a concubine was pushing the three of them step by step into desperation. The steps were calm and unhurried. Each time, they were left with a chance to regain their breath, but what awaited for them were more and more vicious traps.
If Qin Yunuan had been able to interpret Qin Linfeng’s thoughts, she would have definitely laughed at him. She set the traps? She was vicious? Who were the ones who set traps and started troubles every time? She was merely returning them what they tried to do to her without counting an interest.
“Understood, father.” Qin Linfeng lowered his head and reluctantly accepted such a cruel reality.