Chapter 032: Encountering a conspiracy

Qin Xue and Ruan Ruyi had rested and drunk enough in the box. When they were packing up to leave, a familiar voice came from the tea room next door, "Didn't you say that you wouldn't meet again before the wedding? Why are you asking me out again?" It was Ruan Ruyi's suspicious voice.

As soon as she heard her words, Qin Xue knew that the person who asked her out must be Xingsheng.

Thinking of the two people's private plot against her earlier, Qin Xue subconsciously stopped packing and whispered to Fang, "Grandma, there's someone next door who I don't want to meet or deal with. Let's sit for a while and wait for them to leave before we leave."

Fang thought to herself that these tea rooms were partitioned off, and even if they left now, the people in the next tea room wouldn't be able to see them.

But she felt that Qin Xue must have her reasons for doing this, so she agreed readily.

Anyway, she has nothing to do, so she can just continue sitting there, it won’t affect anything.

The two of them returned to their seats, and Fang heard a weak male voice, "I don't think that seeing each other more before marriage will be beneficial to our life after marriage?!"

Hearing his words, Ruan Ruyi felt as if she had just heard a huge joke. She couldn't help but sneer, "It's hard for someone who revels every night and is attacked from all sides to remember me, his unwelcome fiancée."

She thought that by getting entangled with the only son of the Wang family, she could escape from the fire pit her father had dug for her.

But after the engagement, this man seemed to no longer care about his reputation. He would accept anyone, regardless of gender, as long as he liked them.

This made her feel like she had jumped into a bigger pit than the one her father had dug for her.

But she had already broken off an engagement once, so unless she wanted to be a nun in a temple for the rest of her life, she would have to marry Wang Xingsheng no matter how bad he was.

Wang Xingsheng seemed oblivious to his fiancée's sarcasm and said nonchalantly, "I'm just thinking of practicing my skills on those people first. Once you come in, our married life will be more fulfilling!"

The Ruan family has a head of household who is out of tune and brings in some beautiful girls every now and then. How could Ruan Ruyi not understand the deeper meaning behind Wang Xingsheng's words?

Perhaps because she had seen and heard too many disgusting things, she was not as shy or embarrassed as other girls when hearing Wang Xingsheng say this. Instead, she could answer his words without changing her expression, "If your indulgence is for this purpose, then it is unnecessary."

However, she was still a girl, so she didn't say more. "If you asked me to meet you just to tell me this, now that I know, can I go?"

"Don't be anxious?!" Wang Xingsheng's hands tapped rhythmically on the tea table. "Find a chance to invite Qin Xue to Guanyin Temple. Tell me the specific time after you make the appointment."

Ever since Qin Xue stopped participating in their ladies' party, Ruan Ruyi paid little attention to her affairs.

The last time they met was after I had plotted against her and wanted to persuade her to become his sister-in-law in the Ruan family.

Since that unpleasant parting, she only knew that he rarely left the house, and she didn't know anything more.

If she were to say who she envied the most among all the ladies they had played with, it would definitely be Qin Xue.

After all, no one has a father who loves her wholeheartedly like she does.

She originally wanted to persuade her to be her sister-in-law so that her brother could enjoy her father's love, but she didn't expect the other party to reject her.

If she didn't have a father who treasured her, she would be a useless fool, so why would she be so proud?

Thinking of this, Ruan Ruyi gnashed her teeth in hatred, "What do you want to do now?"

"You don't need to know what I want to do." Having been used by this woman last time, Wang Xingsheng didn't intend to tell Ruan Ruyi the whole plan this time. "You just need to find a way to get her out."

"We are engaged, and I invited her, but she didn't want to come over. I can't think of a better excuse to ask her out." Ruan Ruyi said.

When Ruan Ruyi heard that she wasn't coming to her engagement party, she knew she had no intention of seeing her again. "If nothing unexpected happens, she probably knows about our plot against her last time."

"Knowing that I have plotted against her, no matter how stupid she is, she will not give me a second chance to do the same to her."

What's more, she is not stupid actually, she is just a little naive because of being spoiled by her family.

"What if you use her mother's immortality card as an excuse?" Wang Xingsheng was obviously well prepared.

Hearing him mention the immortality card of Qin Xue's mother, Ruan Ruyi was shocked.

She didn't expect that this man would actually use a person who had passed away more than ten years ago to plot against others.

That was a lack of virtue, and Ruan Ruyi didn't want to cooperate. "It would damage someone's virtue and cut off their lineage. The Wang family already has a bad reputation. If they do something like this again, I'm afraid that by the time our family comes around, we might not even be able to have a daughter, let alone a son."

"Otherwise, considering your recent absurdity, those girls in your yard should have good news in their bellies, right? But think about it, do they have anything in their bellies right now?"

Now that she has stepped into the quagmire of the Wang family, Ruan Ruyi does not want the quagmire to get deeper and deeper and eventually drown her.

"I understand now. Instead of scheming against others, it is better to work hard to live a good life under the existing conditions." If she had understood this truth before falling into the quagmire of the Wang family, she would have listened to her father's arrangements, married the man who was worthy of being her father, and then given birth to a child and raised him up well.

Wang Xingsheng was impatient to hear her talk, so he offered an attractive condition, "As long as you handle this matter well, after you get married, I will hand over all the people and affairs in my courtyard to you to take care of, including those beautiful women."

Because her biological mother worshipped Buddha all year round and didn't care about worldly affairs, Ruan Ruyi understood very well that a woman in the backyard who did not have the power to manage the household would not only live a hard life, just like her biological mother, but her children would also have a hard life, just like her and her brother, who were obviously the legitimate children of the family, but lived worse than the children born to the favored concubine.

Wang Xingsheng's condition hit her sore spot, leaving Ruan Ruyi in a dilemma.

She was also afraid that using the person's mother who had passed away many years ago to plot against him would damage her karma and prevent her from having a son in the future. She also thought about the tempting conditions proposed by Wang Xingsheng, and Ruan Ruyi was very conflicted.

After hesitating for a long time, she chose a compromise. "Let's not bring up her mother's longevity tablet. I'll ask my mother to organize a ritual with the abbot of Guanyin Zen Temple, and then have the temple invite pilgrims from all over to participate."

"As long as you can invite people, you can use any method you want." As long as he can achieve his desired goal, he doesn't care about the process.

"Let me make it clear first. I'm only responsible for inviting people to the temple. I won't be involved in anything else." Although the man didn't tell him the detailed plan, he definitely wouldn't bring up someone's longevity card for no reason. Ruan Ruyi was really averse to this, and she didn't want to get involved at all. "When I get in, if you don't give me the power of the household as you wish, I'll tell Qin Laicai everything you've done."

"You know, Qin Xue is the one he cherishes most in his heart. If he knew you were plotting against her like this, he wouldn't hesitate even if he had to use all his strength to deal with you."

Ruan Ruyi sometimes feels that her life is quite sad.

Although her biological parents are both there, no one can give her support or confidence.

If she wants to control this man, she has to rely on Qin Laicai's love for his daughter.

Wang Xingsheng thought that since his beloved child would be in his hands, he would have no say. "Okay, it's settled then."

Perhaps she had already decided in her heart that marrying this man was not as good as she had imagined. Ruan Ruyi no longer had the desire to cultivate a relationship with him. Seeing that the matter was settled, she stood up and said goodbye, "If there is nothing else, I will go back and discuss this with my mother."

"Go back, go back. I'm going back too." Wang Xingsheng also stood up, stretching out his hand and snoring at his mouth as he spoke. "I'm sleepy. I'm going home to get some sleep."

Next door, Qin Xue, who had been clasping her hands together, suppressing her emotions, finally calmed down and told Fang, "This girl grew up with me, and the boy is the adopted concubine of the salt merchant Wang family."

"They had plotted against me once before, but luckily Zhiyan found out and their plan failed. In the end, they even got engaged."

After a brief explanation, Qin Xue briefly talked about the Wang family men's unrefined manners in matters between men and women. "My father warned me since I was a child that if I met a Wang family man, no matter how old or young, I must stay away from him. I have always done so, but I didn't expect that he would still be remembered."

Thinking of her youngest daughter's troubled marriage, Fang knew better than anyone that no matter how careful she was, she couldn't escape someone else's schemes. She couldn't help but reassure him, "You can only thieves for a thousand days, but you can't be on guard against thieves for a thousand days."

"The ones who are at fault in this kind of thing are those with bad intentions. You don't need to dwell on it too much."

"Actually, when Zhiyan asked for marriage, Dad didn't agree. He was afraid that the Wang family would become obsessed with the Qin family, so he suggested a marriage with such a weak family background that would implicate Zhiyan."

"It was only after he said he wanted to take part in this year's provincial examination that Dad agreed."

Liu Zhiyan had already said that he wanted to take part in the provincial examination, but he did not give the detailed reasons.

Now, after hearing Qin Xue's explanation, her somewhat numb heart once again felt that this little grandson was indeed the real Qin family. However, compared to his previous lack of desire to get married and his lack of thoughts of becoming an official, this little grandson was more reassuring.

Seeing this, Fang was sincerely grateful to Qin Xue. "A real man should provide for his wife and children. This is what he should do. You should just accept it with peace of mind and don't think too much about it."

"It is my great blessing to have met you, him, and Sister Ye, and I cherish it very much. Therefore, I will also try my best to do what I can. I don't ask to be like Lord Ye and Lord Liu, who can serve in the same court. At least, when he tells me about things outside, I can chat with him for a few words."

Qin Xue had heard about a family incident and felt helpless and at a loss for what to do. She didn't want to experience that again. So, in addition to studying foreign languages, she also kept an eye on what was happening outside.