Chapter Eleven: Qin Zhining Kicks Down Her Scumbag Sister
Qin Zhiyu was both angry and anxious. "Qin Zhining, you're talking nonsense. I'm dressed respectably to give my parents and the Qin family face."
"But you, instead of serving your grandparents in your ancestral home, you ran back here without permission. That's utterly unfilial and shows a complete lack of manners. You act like a beggar, truly shameful."
It turned out that when Qin Zhiyu arrived, she recognized her sister at a glance, but pretended not to recognize her, just to humiliate her and give her a hard time.
Qin Zhining stood at the gate of the mansion, her thin old cotton-padded coat shielding her from the biting cold wind, but unable to conceal the raging anger in her eyes.
She had just returned from her ancestral home in a harsh and cold place, and before she could even catch her breath, she was disgusted by the faces of this father and daughter.
"Oh? You've brought honor to the county magistrate's office?" Qin Zhining was furious.
She sneered, her fingertips pointing like icicles directly at the shimmering hairpin near Qin Zhiyu's temple.
"You think you can bring honor to the county magistrate's office and your father just because of a few stolen silks and satins? How can you be so shameless as to spout such arrogant nonsense?"
When the word "steal" came up, Qin Zhining suddenly raised her voice, her clear voice piercing through the wind and snow, exploding in the quiet courtyard, "Master Qin might as well take a closer look at this hairpin."
My mother Xie Mingyuan's dowry list clearly states "Moonlight Pearl Hairpin", each pearl being a perfectly round pearl from the South China Sea.
The hairpin is inlaid with a pigeon blood ruby. Would you like to take out the account book now and check it? Who exactly is supporting you and keeping this family afloat?
Master Qin, why are you glaring at me like that? Did I say something wrong? When the manor was struggling to make ends meet, so poor we were practically urinating blood, which of you didn't shamelessly squander my mother's dowry, openly or secretly?
So, my mother has been gone for nine years. In these nine years, she has never stopped helping you with your food, clothing, shelter and transportation. It is because of her that the county magistrate's office has been able to support itself until now.
Meanwhile, my mother's own daughter, the legitimate daughter of the county magistrate's family, suffered hardship, abuse, and mistreatment in the countryside.
"Lord Qin, Magistrate Qin, looking at me now, ragged, emaciated, and covered in wounds, do you ever think of my mother at midnight? Hmm?"
As she spoke, Qin Zhining only revealed her two wrists, and what was suddenly presented to everyone were the scars on her wrists, one after another, old and new, with not a single piece of good flesh.
"Hiss—" Upon seeing such a tragic scene, the surrounding maids all gasped in shock, their eyes fixed on Qin Youming.
And also the pearl hairpin in Qin Zhiyu's hair.
Under the sunlight, the pearls on Qin Zhiyu's hairpin gleamed with a warm luster, while the red of the gemstones was dazzling and eye-catching; it was a priceless treasure that anyone could see.
Aunt An's face instantly drained of color, the handkerchief in her hand was clenched so tightly it became deformed, her knuckles turned white, and the fingernails hidden in her sleeve dug into her palms, leaving several deep crescent-shaped marks.
She never expected that this girl would remember the dowry list so clearly. What should she do?
As Qin Youming listened to Qin Zhining's cold and accusatory questions, and then looked at the pearl hairpin in his eldest daughter's hair, and noticed the increasingly numerous servants gathering at the courtyard gate casting probing glances at him, he felt dizzy and disoriented.
That brat, she really did come back with her dowry ledger to settle accounts.
Back then, when he secretly misappropriated Xie Mingyuan's dowry, he only thought that it would be a waste to leave her things unused, which was just a woman's. How could he forget that there was such an eye-catching hairpin?
The wind and snow, carrying Qin Zhining's laughter, crashed against the pillars of the corridor, shattering into icy fragments that lingered in the courtyard for a long time.
"Why are they all mute? Why isn't anyone saying anything?"
She glanced around at the group of people with different expressions, a mocking smile playing on her lips. "Aren't you the most disciplined and polite people?"
She kept saying she wanted to be filial to her elders. But now…” She suddenly turned to Qin Zhiyu, her eyes turning icy cold.
"Sister, although you are older, you are still born out of wedlock. You flaunt your power in front of me, the eldest legitimate daughter. Is this the kind of rule the Qin family taught us?"
"After pretending to be virtuous for over a decade, she now relies on stolen gold, silver, jewelry, and silks, thinking herself glamorous. If she had any shame left, she probably couldn't keep up the act anymore."
Before Qin Zhiyu could refute, she pressed on, "And Qin Zhiyu, what did you mean by saying 'no one in the old house fulfills their filial duties'?"
"Are you cursing your grandparents to die young, cursing all the filial sons and grandsons of the Qin family to perish, that's why you're making a five-year-old child perform filial duties? Master Qin, how do you intend to punish such blasphemous words?"
"Enough!"
Stung by the words "utterly dead," Qin Youming's temples throbbed and veins bulged on his forehead. He roared, his chest heaving violently, "Go back to your courtyard!"
My heart is bleeding.
How can this wretched child say anything?
If word gets out that the county magistrate's illegitimate daughter cursed her elders, what will become of his reputation, which he has painstakingly built up over the years? How will he maintain his position in the officialdom afterward?
Aunt An clutched her chest, feeling a sharp, throbbing pain in her heart.
She was only one step away from becoming the principal wife. The dowry she had painstakingly acquired over the years was about to be unearthed. At that point, it would be hard to say whether she could even keep her current position, let alone become the principal wife.
Her nails dug deep into her flesh as she secretly vowed to find a chance to kill this little bitch.
Qin Zhiyu blushed red when questioned, like a boiled shrimp. She stubbornly retorted, "Qin Zhining, you're talking nonsense. That's not what I meant at all."
Don't stir up trouble here. Besides, I'm seventeen already. Can't my dad buy me some decent clothes and jewelry? What's there to complain about?"
"Oh?" Qin Zhining suddenly turned to Qin Youming, her eyes sharp as knives and her voice cold as if it were poisoned.
"Master Qin is truly a good father who dotes on his illegitimate daughter. While his eldest legitimate daughter was eating tree bark in their ancestral home and almost froze to death in the ancestral graves on the back mountain, his illegitimate daughter is here enjoying herself in fine silks and satins."
Mr. Qin, would you like to try guarding the ancestral graves in the dead of winter wearing only thin, tattered clothes, leaving your life and death to fate?
"I'll take you there. Don't worry, I have experience guarding the ancestral graves alone. I guarantee I'll teach you how to 'fulfill your filial duties' without being gossiped about or called disobedient and unfilial."
Qin Youming felt as if his chest was about to explode from being choked, and let out a low growl like a trapped beast, "I've said enough."
Qin Zhining, don't push your luck. Go back to your courtyard first, and don't come out without my permission.
He was so angry he was about to vomit blood, his head was throbbing, and he wished he could kick this troublemaker to death.
This wretched child is truly lawless; he dares to utter any kind of insult.
When Aunt An saw that the man was finally angry with Qin Zhining, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief. A smug smile appeared on her mean face, as if she could already see Qin Zhining being punished miserably.
Qin Zhiyu, like a peacock spreading its tail feathers, smugly provoked, "You little bitch, you jinx, you dare to go against me? You're really overestimating yourself, don't you even know your own worth!"
"Bang--"
Before she could finish speaking, a blur flashed by, and Qin Zhining darted out like a cheetah, kicking Qin Zhiyu hard in the chest.
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