Qiaoxian was surprised that Lanqin was not only not angered by her words, but also immediately revealed her true intentions. Her face turned red and she said, "Well, you eat, drink, and stay at my aunt's place for free, and you not only feel no guilt, but you even dare to bully me!"
Qiaoxian immediately threw the chili peppers from the basket onto the ground, crying out, "Auntie, Auntie, not only did she not help, she also knocked over the chili peppers!"
Lanqin watched as Qiaoxian burst into tears, her mouth agape. She was already frantic, desperately trying to figure out how to rescue those captured by the Taoist priests. Now, seeing Qiaoxian so blatantly accusing her, her anger flared. Actually, her stay these past few days hadn't been in vain. She had secretly offered the old woman some of her gold and silver jewelry, but the kind-hearted woman refused. So, Lanqin gave it to Dong Erkui, telling him to pawn it outside the mountains and buy some grain. The mountain people lived a hard life; due to a poor harvest, they didn't have enough to eat. During Lanqin's stay, she noticed that the old woman usually cooked sweet potatoes and sorghum, rarely rice. Therefore, she immediately took off all her valuable gold and silver jewelry and had Dong Erkui pawn it. Today, Dong Erkui had taken a gold hairpin that Lanqin had given him to the city.
Upon hearing Qiaoxian's cry, Aunt Dong quickly wiped her hands, rushed out of the kitchen, and arrived at the house where Lanqin lived.
Qiaoxian was squatting on the ground picking chili peppers into her basket, while Lanqin stood not far away watching. Lanqin immediately assumed that Lanqin was unwilling to help and even threw the contents of Qiaoxian's basket away.
"Lanqin, it's one thing if you don't want to help Qiaoxian pick chili peppers, but why did you have to smash her vegetables?" Aunt Dong angrily questioned, while helping Qiaoxian pick up the chili peppers. In their rural family, grain was the most precious thing, and seeing vegetables thrown to the ground like that immediately worsened Aunt Dong's impression of Lanqin.
"Aunt, look at her! She's not the kind of person who does anything. Not only does she not help, but she also throws vegetables all over the ground," Qiaoxian said, twisting the truth.
“Auntie, I didn’t touch that basket. It was all Qiaoxian’s own doing. She’s deliberately picking on me because Brother Dong isn’t paying much attention to her,” Lanqin quickly said.
“No, Aunt, is that the kind of person Qiaoxian is? Qiaoxian and my cousin have been engaged since childhood, and my cousin is an honest and kind man. How could he treat Qiaoxian like this? It was clearly her, I don’t know where she came from, but she’s still refusing to leave.” Qiaoxian quickly pulled at Aunt Dong and said.
"You!" Lanqin was so angry at Qiaoxian's slander that she wanted to slap her. She and Brother Dong were clearly innocent, yet Qiaoxian had made her sound so filthy. Lanqin was furious.
Aunt Dong was already biased towards her uncle and niece. When she heard that Er Kui was ignoring Qiao Xian, she felt even more resentful that Lan Qin was interfering with them. She couldn't help but say, "Miss Lan Qin, my Er Kui and Qiao Xian are still betrothed as children, and that is absolutely unchangeable. Even if Er Kui has any other ideas, this old woman will never agree to it."
Lanqin was both amused and exasperated. She finally understood that both the old man and the young girl regarded her as a wicked woman who had seduced Er Kui.
"Auntie, you've misunderstood. My relationship with Brother Dong is definitely not what you think," Lanqin had no choice but to explain.
"Then why are you staying at my aunt's house? You're a young lady, and if you always stay at my aunt's house, people will think you're my cousin Er Kui's lover!" Qiao Xian said quickly.
Lanqin didn't want to talk to her, but seeing that she had brought this up, she had no choice but to say, "I have an agreement with Brother Dong, but it is definitely not about men and women. Besides, I already have a husband, so how could I possibly have feelings for someone else? Aunt Dong, you have really misunderstood."
Just as Aunt Dong was about to believe Lanqin after hearing her words, Qiaoxian said, "Then you must tell us what kind of agreement you made with your cousin!"
Lanqin firmly said, "I can't tell you about this agreement, but there must be an agreement."
“Aunt, look, she’s clearly lying without any evidence. She’s obviously just hanging around here trying to seduce my cousin!” Qiaoxian shouted when Lanqin remained silent.
Lanqin wanted nothing more than to walk over and kick him, but she held back. If this were in later generations, Lanqin would definitely have grabbed his hair. In the Fourth Master's inner quarters, no one would dare to frame her like this.
"Miss Lanqin, what exactly did you agree to with Er Kui? Why can't you tell me?" Aunt Dong had no choice but to ask after Qiaoxian's nagging.
Lanqin and Dong Erkui had agreed not to tell Aunt Dong about this matter, as it would be useless and would only cause her worry. So, she said to Aunt Dong, "Aunt, I can't tell you about the agreement I made with Brother Dong. Please trust me and trust your son."
"You're talking nonsense! You clearly can't say it out loud, so you're just making things up here," Qiaoxian said loudly, hands on her hips. She was determined to get rid of Lanqin today.
Lanqin stared at her and said angrily, "What's wrong with you? You're not liked by your cousin, but you insist on blaming others. I never intended to interfere in your childhood betrothal, you can rest assured about that. As for whether your cousin will marry you in the end, that depends on your abilities, not on whether I interfere or not."
Lanqin was so angry that she suddenly transformed back into the tough, tomboyish Lin Mengyao. When dealing with a brainless and domineering woman like Qiaoxian, she could only resort to force.
Sure enough, Lanqin's words left Qiaoxian speechless, but she still wouldn't let Lanqin go. She rushed up and grabbed Lanqin's wrist, about to hit her.
Perhaps Lanqin had hit the nail on the head, because Qiaoxian's exasperated appearance was truly frightening.
Lanqin saw that Qiaoxian was even more shrewish than she had imagined, so she didn't hold back and started wrestling with her.
"You, you two, let go of each other!" Aunt Dong hurriedly tried to break them up as they were about to fight.
However, Lanqin and Qiaoxian wouldn't listen to any advice. One wanted to knock the other to the ground, and the other's temper was also ignited, so they decided to fight each other to the death.
"Stop!" Just then, a deep, gruff voice rang out from the doorway.
Upon hearing that it was her cousin, Qiaoxian quickly withdrew her hand. However, Lanqin seemed to see through her intention to put on an act and refused to let her go over and accuse the villain first.
"You, release our master right now, or don't blame me for being impolite!" Ling Feng said hastily when he saw that Lan Qin's hair had been pulled haphazardly by a woman. If their master saw this, this woman would definitely be dead.
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