Chapter 5 "Superficial Schemes" "You......"
"You..." The First Madam slammed the teacup on the table, her beautiful eyes glaring at her niece who was spouting nonsense but whose face showed magnanimity and forbearance as if she had suffered a great injustice. She wanted nothing more than to slap her across the face.
Although she had indeed intended to arrange a marriage between her daughter and the Qin family, she would never have done so in the way she is doing now.
At this moment, the First Madam had no intention of getting married at all; she only wanted to expose this matter completely, otherwise that vicious maid from the Second Branch could use this matter to suppress her daughter for the rest of her life.
The First Madam intended to reveal the garden manager's identity, but Xiao Yan spoke up first: "Father, I don't know what Second Aunt's so-called witness said, but are you going to question my character based on the words of a servant?"
Her tone wasn't harsh, but she expressed her grievances without reservation. She didn't cry, but her eyes were filled with tears. In her memory, her adoptive father was quite susceptible to this kind of behavior. Being under someone else's roof, Xiao Yan Hui had no choice but to pinch her thigh under the covers and put on a tearful act.
She ignored the Second Madam, who was sobbing while holding Xiao Quexian, and treated the Second Madam's words, such as, "My poor Xian'er, you're going to suffer a great loss by being so considerate. I know you understand Father's predicament, but you shouldn't wrong yourself like this..." as just background noise.
She simply asked Xiao Fuyan the question directly.
Despite the lively arguments and cries, tears, grievances, pity, and anger that filled the morning, the only one with real authority was the patriarch of the Xiao family, who sat silently drinking tea.
Just as the original owner remembered, the cheap father was extremely emotionally stable. Whether facing the power struggle between his two wives or his daughter's suspected attempt to climb into his bed and compete for marriage, his emotions did not fluctuate much.
Xiao Yan Hui even thought that he only regarded everything in front of him as a grand show, and that he was just bored, so he was willing to accompany him to pass the time early in the morning. As for the result?
He's the one in charge at home, so naturally he can have whatever outcome he wants.
However, based on the original owner's memories and her own observations, Xiao Yan Hui still tends to believe that her adoptive father will speak up for her in this matter.
Firstly, if the marriage were to be changed as Xiao Quexian hoped, a reasonable and respectable reason would need to be found, and negotiations with the Qin family would need to be renewed, which would create a lot of unnecessary trouble.
Secondly, Xiao Quexian's actions were far from perfect, leaving many loopholes. If we investigate carefully, we can definitely find some clues. Since her adoptive father has been balancing the two families for so many years, he probably won't rashly break the balance and favor the second family this time.
As expected, Xiao Fuyan's answer to Xiao Yan Hui's question was very positive: "Of course I believe you, Yan Hui, but..."
His words took another unexpected turn.
Xiao Fuyan gestured with feigned reluctance towards the three small golden swallows on the table.
“After all, this thing was sent out by your head maid. The servant also said with certainty that he was instructed by the Third Miss to take the drunk Qin family's eldest son to the inner courtyard water pavilion. Qin family's eldest son is also your second sister's fiancé. This matter involves both of you. You are both my children, so I have to ask you about it in detail.”
While he said he was in a difficult position, his eyes held a more inquisitive look than the superficial warmth he had shown earlier.
Xiao Fuyan looked at his third daughter, who was still pale and sickly. She looked at him with a wronged and longing gaze, hoping that he would uphold justice for her.
But if it were according to her usual temperament, Yan Hui would probably already be arguing with her second sister by now, and wouldn't be lying so peacefully in bed.
Her gaze shifted slightly, landing on her other daughter, who sat silently weeping to one side. This daughter's temperament seemed to have changed somewhat as well.
Thinking back on this trip to open up the key points in the capital, I was away for nearly half a year. I never expected that when I returned home, my two daughters would no longer be the boisterous and innocent girls they used to be.
They just have a little bit of shallow cunning and they start showing off, thinking they're clever. But sometimes, a little bit of half-baked cunning is worse than being a little foolish.
Xiao Fuyan stopped drinking his tea and remained silent, his eyes sweeping over his two daughters. He wanted to see just how much they had changed.
Faced with Xiao Fuyan's sudden sharp gaze, Xiao Yanhui and Xiao Quexian lowered their heads slightly at almost the same time. One coughed lightly with a handkerchief, while the other gently pressed the corners of her eyes, which were covered with tears, with a handkerchief.
Xiao Yanhui, who was coughing lightly, saw Xiao Quexian lower her head to wipe away her tears, and her heart was suddenly startled.
It's so similar...it's uncanny!
She could tell from Xiao Quexian's excessive little gestures that she was clearly guilty, and her own reaction just now was almost exactly the same as Xiao Quexian's.
After realizing what had happened, Xiao Yan couldn't help but smile bitterly to herself. She had really underestimated this cheap father.
He didn't even say anything harsh; just one intimidating, probing look from him was enough to make both Xiao Quexian and him reveal their true colors.
This kind of cunning old fox who can support such a large family business on his own is indeed not easy to deal with; his eyes are also very sharp.
At this point, Xiao Yan thought that the subsequent defense would just be a formality. Since her adoptive father was so perceptive, he couldn't possibly be unaware of the second wife's false accusations.
But Xiao Fuyan's next move was completely unexpected by Xiao Yanhui.
He seemed oblivious to the falsity in the witnesses and evidence, and began his questioning: "Yan Hui, what explanation do you have for these few gold coins and the maid who relayed the message?"
Hearing the questioning tone in that voice, Xiao Yan Hui suddenly felt a real surge of injustice and grievance welling up inside her, an emotion that shouldn't be her own.
He reached out and pressed his hand against his chest, which felt heavy; perhaps the lingering emotions of the original owner were still brewing there.
But at this very moment, the Second Madam still had to seize the opportunity to kick her while she was down: "In our Xiao family, the only person we reward with a swallow-shaped gold barley is the Third Miss. The appearance of the head maid that the servant mentioned matches that of Liuying in your room, Third Miss."
The first wife couldn't stand her daughter being bullied, and was about to step forward and start another fight with the second wife.
But Xiao Fuyan beat the First Madam to it, lightly tapping the table with his fingers and glancing at the Second Madam with a hint of warning in his eyes: "Zhao, have some tea."
Although not explicitly stated, it was clear that he was dissatisfied with Zhao, who had been sobbing and making a fuss all morning.
Xiao Quexian immediately tugged at her mother's sleeve, signaling her to stop talking.
She actually held a great deal of awe for her father, who seemed to have a good temper most of the time. After all, she had personally experienced how terrifying her father could be when he was truly enraged in her previous life.
Seeing that the second wife had been warned, the first wife had no choice but to remain silent for the time being.
Xiao Yan took a deep breath to calm herself before slowly speaking.
"Since Father has come to ask, and Second Aunt has specially brought these gold barns as evidence, may I ask Aunt, is it really that difficult to find a goldsmith to make a few swallow-shaped gold barns in the market?"
Besides, who does bad things so blatantly, using their own head maid to relay messages and using their own private gold ingots to bribe people? Surely I, the third young lady of the Xiao family, am not so poor that I can't afford a few gold and silver ingots.
"Isn't this more like someone deliberately trying to frame me than bribing someone?" After saying that, he looked directly at the second wife with an almost explicit gaze.
The second wife's heart skipped a beat at that look, and she couldn't help but secretly complain that her daughter was really reckless, unable to even figure out how to scheme against people, leaving her, as her mother, to make up for all the mistakes she made.
Xiao Quexian naturally noticed the exchange of glances between them, and she could roughly guess that her mother was blaming herself for not planning things properly.
But this complaint was completely insignificant compared to her plan. They were mother and daughter; how could they possibly become estranged over such a small matter?
As for those flaws that seem so crude as to be almost foolish?
The extra ten years she lived after being reborn were not wasted. She could naturally do things flawlessly, but the oversights she deliberately left were precisely her backup plan.
If the matter at the Water Pavilion had gone through yesterday, this backup plan would have been unnecessary. Not only could I have cleanly passed the Qin family's marriage to Xiao Yan, but the eldest branch of the family would have even had to pay her a sum of money.
Unfortunately, an accident occurred, so she had no choice but to play the role of a cunning and scheming person in front of her father, someone who wanted to plot against others but lacked common sense. Later, she would find an excuse to cry and make a scene in private, which would be enough to shake her father's opinion on her chosen marriage partner.
After all, this marriage alliance between the Xiao and Qin families is very important. If a daughter who lacks the wisdom to manage a household and is also shallow and foolish is married into the Qin family, the father would not be at ease.
Thinking of this, Xiao Quexian gripped the teacup so tightly that her fingertips turned white, her heart churning with resentment and hatred: in her past life, her father had scolded her in the same way.
Since that's the case, then let his clever third daughter marry him in this life, and see if she can live a respectful and harmonious life with that hypocritical and heartless Qin Ji, see if she can endure the life of a widow, and see if she can unite the Xiao and Qin families.
A cold smile flashed across Xiao Quexian's lips. She glanced at Xiao Yanhui, who was still arguing his point, with the look in her eyes that of someone looking at a pitiful mouse being toyed with by a cat.
She was still too young; her third sister didn't understand. Home wasn't a courtroom; it wasn't a place where things could be clearly divided. The better she performed now, the easier it would be for her plan to succeed.
As for what would happen if she made a bad impression on her father, Xiao Quexian wasn't worried about that. After all, she had Liang Erlang. If she could marry into the Liang family, her father would surely provide her with ample support and a comfortable dowry.
In her past life, Liang Erlang fell in love with her at first sight... It's just a pity that they didn't meet before she was married. She thought that this regret could be made up for in this life. Thinking of this, Xiao Quexian couldn't help but feel a little sweet.
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