Chapter Fifteen: You're a complete coward.
"How dare you destroy my jade?" Qin Chengxuan's eyes turned red with anxiety. He reached out to snatch it, but she nimbly dodged him and stumbled, missing his target.
Seeing this, the servants swarmed around, each rolling up their sleeves and rubbing their hands together, shouting, "How dare she lay a hand on the young master! Seize this crazy girl!"
This is the perfect moment for Qin Zhining and others to launch a powerful counterattack!
With a flick of her toe, she lifted the long bench, then with a flick of her wrist, she swept it horizontally, smashing the two servants at the front with a "bang".
The rope he used for hanging himself had already darted out like a nimble snake, wrapping around Qin Chengxuan's neck with a "whoosh," and then being pulled back sharply—
"Who dares to move?" Qin Zhining stepped on the stool leg, tightening the hemp rope, her eyes as fierce as a poisoned blade.
"Your master's life is in my hands. Do you want to try and see if this rope can break his neck?"
Qin Xiaoxiao didn't hesitate either. She pulled a wooden pole as thick as a child's arm from the fence and held it across her chest, glaring menacingly.
The burrs at the top of the wooden pole gleamed coldly in the sunlight, looking as if anyone who dared to approach would be pierced right through.
"Cough...cough cough!"
Qin Chengxuan was so tightly bound that he stood on tiptoe, the veins on his neck bulging, and his knuckles, gripping the rope, turned white like ghost claws.
"Qin Zhining! I am your own brother! How dare you kill your own brother? Aren't you afraid of being punished by the authorities and condemned by our ancestors?"
"Brother murder?" Qin Zhining sneered, loosening the rope slightly to let him catch his breath, but her knuckles still gripped the end of the rope, ready to strike.
"What kind of brother are you? Where were you when I was suffering from cold and hunger in our ancestral home? Where were you when Aunt An withheld my monthly allowance?"
"I've barely stepped into the manor gates, and you've already brought people to ambush and beat me. Is this how you, as an elder brother, should act?"
She suddenly leaned closer, her voice low but each word icy, "Tell me, who sent you?"
I hadn't even had a sip of water since I entered the manor when you arrived with your men, acting like you wanted to die. If you weren't acting under someone's orders, are you simply tired of living?
Qin Chengxuan stiffened his neck and closed his eyes, displaying a defiant attitude of preferring death to submission.
He considered himself a man of integrity, how could he betray the person behind him?
Tch—who do you think you are?
In Lincheng County, Qin Chengxuan had a group of brothers under his command. Who didn't praise him as a good leader and a good brother?
He had done so many things before, endured whippings and beatings, but he had never betrayed anyone.
He's very loyal and righteous.
"Refusing to talk? Pretending to be tough?"
Qin Zhining gently twisted her fingertips around the knot, and the rope instantly tightened by half an inch. "Then I'll say it for you—"
Is it your Aunt An, who's so eager to become the mistress of the house, or your pretentious good sister, Qin Zhiyu?
Didn't they tell you? I'm no longer the pushover I used to be when I came back from my ancestral home. When I get angry, I'm terrifying.
"Let...let me go, let me go!" Qin Chengxuan struggled wildly, feeling a pain in his throat that made it hard to breathe.
Qin Zhining certainly wouldn't cause anyone's death, but she suddenly increased the force, and Qin Chengxuan let out a "hoarse" gasp, saying coldly,
"If you mess with me, don't even mention Qin Chengxuan, I can turn the entire Qin family upside down."
Besides, I'm all alone now, with no ties whatsoever. Killing you all to pay with my life would be a pretty good deal, wouldn't it?
"Ah—I'll talk, I'll talk." The feeling of suffocation gripped his heart again, and Qin Chengxuan trembled with fear, no longer caring about his pride.
"It's...it's Chun Tao, who's by my sister's side. She said you're ruining my sister's reputation, and she made me...made me kick you out to get revenge for my sister."
"To avenge your sister?" Qin Zhining sneered, deliberately slowing her speech to provoke, "She wants to be a virtuous and kind saintess, so she makes you her dirty henchman."
Qin Chengxuan, have you lost your mind? Do you even know how pathetic she looked in front of me just now?
"You're talking nonsense!" Qin Chengxuan retorted urgently, but he had lost his previous confidence. "I'm protecting my sister voluntarily, why would I be instigated by others?"
"Voluntary?" Qin Zhining suddenly loosened the rope and kicked the jade stone that had fallen to the ground to his feet.
"Then tell me, if you cripple me, will she cry and beg her father to forgive you? If you kill me, will she hold your memorial tablet and worship it like a Bodhisattva?"
"When you're in jail or facing death, Qin Zhiyu will get all the benefits from the Qin family. What a shrewd deal!"
Qin Chengxuan's struggle abruptly froze, and the color drained from his purplish face in an instant.
He looked at the chipped jade at his feet and recalled the words Chuntao had said when she came.
"My younger sister is being disobedient and needs to be disciplined."
"How can a younger brother sit idly by and watch his older sister suffer injustice?"
A sudden chill ran through my heart—
Isn't that right?
My sister has always cherished her reputation and never gets involved in dirty business herself. Isn't she just waiting to see him and Qin Zhining both suffer?
"Let me go first..."
His voice trembled, filled with a fear he himself was unaware of.
It turns out that the "deep sibling bond" he desperately tried to protect was actually a carefully calculated move by someone else, and he—he was just a pawn in his sister's hands.
Qin Zhining released his grip but didn't take a step back. She looked down at him and said, "A grown man like you, being sold out and still helping to count the money."
You think you're impressive enough in front of He Qilin? In your sister's eyes, you're nothing more than a knife that's used and then thrown away!
These words struck Qin Chengxuan's heart like a heavy hammer.
He recalled that a few years ago, He Qilin, for the sake of her sister, bought him a piece of jade without hesitation, seeing that he liked jade.
At the time, he was so moved and excited that he thought the jade was of the highest quality and treated it like a treasure all the time.
Looking back now, I realize that in my sister's eyes and those of others, I was probably just a clown!
"Stop trying to sow discord!" he roared, his voice trembling with fear, but he didn't even have the courage to look up at her.
He was heartbroken to be deceived by his sister, but he wouldn't easily admit it.
He's a man, he has his pride too, you know?
"Provocation?" Qin Zhining suddenly leaned down and grabbed his collar. "Then tell me, last winter when I caught a cold in my ancestral home, who withheld the money my father gave me to save my life?"
Who told my father that I was "of lowly fate and little fortune, not worth worrying about"? And who was it that came to our ancestral home to pay respects to our ancestors, standing on the veranda laughing and saying, "My little sister is tough and can take a fall," when my cousin was shoving me?
Her voice was as cold as ice, "It was your 'kind' sister, Qin Zhiyu. It was your 'brother' who watched me almost die in a foreign land, and did nothing, even gloating."
Now you dare to talk to me about sibling affection? Qin Chengxuan, do you even deserve it?
Do you think your actions deserve the title of "brother"?
Don't you dare insult the word "elder brother," it's disgusting.
Qin Chengxuan was speechless, his face turning red and white in turns.
When those old stories were laid bare, he was shocked to realize how cruel he had been to his sister all these years.
"I..." He opened his mouth to try to explain, but Qin Zhining shoved him away abruptly. "You're a coward with a chamber pot on your head."
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