Upon hearing what Qin Wan had said to her parents, Qin Yuan guessed what it was all about and said with a forced smile, "I don't know what you're talking about, Mother. I am a daughter of the Qin family and a daughter-in-law of the Gu family. I have never done anything to wrong either the Qin or Gu families. Why don't you just tell me directly, Mother, so that I can defend myself a bit?"
After a long pause, Madam Cui managed to say, "Get up. You're getting on in years. Don't kneel all the time. What will it look like if others see you like that?"
Qin Yuan then got up.
Madam Cui took two more sips of tea, opened her mouth to speak, sighed, took another sip of tea, and then asked with a flushed face, "Wan'er said... the head of the Imperial Hospital examined the Marquis and said that the Marquis is impotent. Is that true? You... you... did you consummate your marriage? Is your son-in-law even capable?"
Qin Yuan's face flushed red, and she cursed Qin Wan in her heart.
"Mother, those are just rumors from outside. Didn't I tell you last time not to believe those rumors?"
Hearing this, Cui's anger flared up again. She angrily put down her teacup and said, "At a time like this, you still want to cover things up? Don't you even consider us your parents? How can you fool your family like this when it's such a big thing?"
Qin Yuan looked puzzled: "Mother, I have never lied to anyone in the family. What makes you say that? I am truly unworthy of such praise."
Enraged, Madam Cui blurted out, "Your second brother-in-law is close to Xu Tang, that guy from the Xu family who plays football in the palace. He says Xu Tang is a great football player and is favored by the Emperor, so he knows a lot about palace affairs. Xu Tang told your second brother-in-law that the Emperor knows about the Marquis's affair, and that the rumors spread because the Chief Physician himself made the diagnosis. You...you, are you just being naive and being deceived by the Marquis...or are you determined to keep it from your family?"
Upon hearing this, Qin Yuan realized that Xu Tang was involved, and sneered, "It's fine if Mother doesn't know what's going on outside while she's in the inner quarters, but I already sent word home to tell everyone to stay away from Xu Tang. However, everyone ignored it. Heng-ge'er is hanging out with that Xu Tang, and my second sister's husband believes everything he says. My second sister then relays everything home. Everyone would rather believe a penniless football player than believe me or the Marquis."
Cui knew that Qin Heng and Xu Tang were playing football together.
Now my mind was in complete turmoil.
Qin Yuan added, "Mother probably doesn't know yet, but yesterday the Xu family went to cause trouble for my cousin Siyuan. If my sister-in-law hadn't happened to run into them, who knows how those dozen or so people would have bullied my cousin."
Neither Qin Heng nor Qin Siyuan mentioned this matter after they returned.
Shocked, Madam Cui looked up at Qin Yuan: "Such a thing actually happened?"
Qin Yuan nodded emphatically and said, "If Mother doesn't believe me, she can go back and ask Heng-ge. If Heng-ge tries to cover it up, there's also Cousin Si-yuan. He's an upright gentleman and would never lie to her."
Madam Cui was furious: "You, Xu Tang, have a grudge against the Gu family, yet you come to cause trouble for my Qin family. You're just picking on the weak. What an unscrupulous and degenerate family!"
Qin Yuan seized the opportunity to say, "When I received Mother's invitation today, I thought Mother had come to express her gratitude. I was just about to tell Mother that Cousin Siyuan and Brother Heng had already visited the old lady yesterday and had invited her to stay for a meal. They are all relatives by marriage, so there was no need for such formalities. I did not expect that Mother had come because of these gossips."
Cui was quite embarrassed and stammered, "It's all because your father didn't sleep all night last night. He was worried that you were too young and naive to be fooled by the Gu family. He was also worried that you would suffer a loss but not know to come back to your parents' home to tell them. I was also anxious and couldn't help but lose my temper."
Qin Yuan sighed: "Actually, the Marquis has some hidden ailments. He was injured on the battlefield in the north, and his body is somewhat weakened..."
Cui's heart sank again, and she looked nervously at Qin Yuan.
Qin Yuan then said, "Li, the doctor from Renhetang, came and prescribed some medicine for him to soak in, saying that he can have sex only after he has recovered."
Cui's heart settled down again, and she let out a long breath, murmuring, "Amitabha Buddha, Guanyin Bodhisattva who saves us from suffering..."
This is truly a case of grasping at straws when one is desperate.
As long as the gods and bodhisattvas' methods work, that's fine.
Qin Yuan suppressed a laugh and said, "We know about these rumors circulating outside, but we didn't expect our family to believe them."
"It's all because of that Xu Tang! He can't stand seeing the Gu family doing well, and he can't stand seeing the Qin family doing well!" Madam Cui couldn't bear to blame her own two children, so she put all the blame on Xu Tang.
Qin Yuan sighed, "Mother has also seen how despicable Xu Tang's actions are, yet my second sister's husband seems to be bewitched by him, getting extremely close to him. I'm truly worried..."
What are you worried about?
Cui was startled.
“I’m really worried that Xu Tang will use someone else to harm my cousin Siyuan. As the saying goes, it’s not the thief you should fear, but the one who has his eye on you. Xu Tang is harboring evil intentions and is close to my second sister’s husband and Heng’er. What if he sees an opportunity to do something bad? Heng’er is not doing well in his studies, and I’m afraid he will have to rely heavily on my cousin Siyuan in the future. If I ruin my cousin Siyuan’s future, it will be the same as ruining Heng’er’s support and destroying the Qin family’s foundation.”
Madam Cui suddenly stood up and said, "I'll go back right now and have someone bring Heng'er home and give him a good beating so he won't learn bad things from bad people. Siyuan has studied so hard for so many years, he can't afford to make any mistakes. Your father said that Siyuan's reputation is good now, and he's caught the Emperor's eye. If he passes the imperial examination this time, he'll have a bright future. I'm not saying anything, but Lin Gongye... sigh, your father is extremely dissatisfied with him now, and he's had quite a few arguments with your sister."
Qin Yuan lowered her head and remained silent.
As for Lin Ziqi, it's not her place to speak. Cui Shi also thought of this, and looked at Qin Yuan with a sad expression, sighing, "Don't blame your sister for being talkative. She came to the house yesterday and talked about this because she was worried about you. Who could have imagined that Xu Tang had ulterior motives?"
Qin Yuan twitched the corner of her lips and said, "There are more rumors circulating about the Marquis than just this one. Before, there was also a lot of nonsense about that Zhao woman, with some even saying that the twins were the Marquis's children. Mother knows the truth. We can't refute them one by one. Spreading rumors only takes a few words, but refuting them is much more difficult."
Madam Cui was even more convinced and breathed a sigh of relief, saying, "That's good. That's good. Oh, you don't know how worried your father and I were last night, we didn't sleep well at all."
She got up to leave, but Qin Yuan stopped her, saying, "Mother has come all this way, won't you sit down for a while before going back?"
Cui shook her head.
"I'll go back and have someone go to the Imperial Academy to arrest Qin Heng and give him a beating. Anyway, he's just wasting his time at class."
Qin Yuan was happy to see this happen, to prevent Qin Heng and Gu Baozhu from getting together and causing a huge mess. She didn't try to dissuade them, but just smiled and said, "Mother, there's no rush. Didn't you say you were going to visit the old lady?"
(End of this chapter)
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