Chapter Seven: Father and Daughter Break Apart
The cold wind lifted the hem of her tattered clothes, revealing her thin but straight legs, and the hatred in her eyes burned like wildfire.
"If I don't explain myself clearly today, I'll hang myself right here at the Qin mansion gate! Let everyone in Lincheng County see how Magistrate Qin mistreats his legitimate daughter and favors his concubine over his wife."
As soon as she finished speaking, she actually pushed her neck half an inch further into the noose.
"Second Miss—" The gatekeeper Zhang Er was so frightened that he fell to his knees with a thud and screamed, "You can't do that! Please don't do anything foolish. Second Miss, get down quickly."
Qin Xiaoxiao clung to Qin Zhining's legs, looked up at the sky and wailed, crying so hard it was terrifying to hear.
Upon witnessing this tragic scene, the crowd erupted in chaos. Screams and whispers mingled with the wind and snow, turning the area in front of the county magistrate's residence into a boiling cauldron.
Looking at the fearless face trapped in the noose, Qin Youming felt a chill run down his spine for the first time.
This daughter has returned to claim his life; like her mother, she is a calamity in his destiny.
Snowflakes landed on Qin Zhining's dry, yellow hair, instantly melting into water droplets that slid down her cheekbones like silent tears.
The alley suddenly fell into dead silence, with only the sound of the wind howling, as if weeping for the suffering this body had endured.
Qin Youming glanced at the hemp rope on the lintel, then at the pointing and whispering expressions of the onlookers, and finally relented, his voice trembling, "You... what exactly do you want?"
Qin Zhining stood on the wooden stool, looking down at him with a cold smile on her lips.
What do you want?
It's very simple.
She will reclaim everything that belonged to the original owner and make everyone who wronged her pay the price.
"I just want to know why Father abandoned me in our ancestral home and never looked back?" Her voice suddenly rose, mocking, "I am your eldest daughter. Do you know how heartbroken Mother would be if she knew how mistreated I was?"
The last question was delivered with resounding force, and Qin Youming's old face immediately turned purple, like a discolored pig's liver.
If a county magistrate allows his relatives to mistreat his legitimate daughter, once this reputation of "vicious and cruel" is confirmed, he may not even be able to keep his official robes.
Aunt An was terrified. She hurriedly stole glances at Qin Youming's face, while her nails dug tightly into her palms.
This little bitch dared to publicly reveal her ancestral history; she's definitely not going to shake off the label of "bitter and vicious" now.
The words "eldest daughter" in particular felt like poisoned needles piercing my ears.
If Qin Zhining is the eldest legitimate daughter, then what about her Ayu?
Ayu was born three years earlier than this little wretch, so she should be the most noble young lady in the manor.
The more she thought about it, the more she hated it, her teeth clenched so tightly they clattered, but she could only suppress it and dared not lash out in public.
The murmurs of the onlookers had already stirred up the alleyway.
"No wonder this girl spoke so pitifully; it turns out she really has been tormented for nine years—"
"Does a father abandon his five-year-old child in the old house and not care for him? Is his heart made of stone?"
"Didn't you see that concubine's face turned pale? She must have been behind it all."
Qin Youming felt like he was being pricked by everyone's gazes. His hypocritical, refined mask shattered with a "crack," and he roared angrily, "Come in and we'll talk."
Seeing that the atmosphere was just right and that she had firmly grasped the initiative, Qin Zhining sneered and jumped off the stool.
The first step was successful.
But this is just the beginning.
She will reclaim everything the original owner lost and the suffering she endured, bit by bit, with interest.
“If Master Qin wants me to enter the manor, then of course I will.” Her voice wasn’t loud, but each word was as clear as if it were striking snow. “It’s just that I still can’t understand—”
When I was young, I lost my mother, and you told me to go to our ancestral home to fulfill my filial duties in your stead. But what could a five-year-old child like me do? What was I capable of?
"Does this mean my grandparents will have no one to care for them without me? Or are all the filial sons and grandsons of the Qin family dead, leaving me, a mere child, to take the blame?"
Her tone abruptly changed, her gaze sweeping over Aunt An with a chilling intensity, "Even if it's just to fulfill my filial duty, I accept it."
Why did my uncle's family dare to mistreat me? Why did my grandparents turn a blind eye when my cousin pushed me into the river and I was on the verge of death in the winter, and even called me a "cheapskate"?
Why did my aunt kick and beat me after I was bitten by a poisonous snake, and why did my uncle lock me up in solitary confinement, trying to starve me to death?
"Is this your intention, or is someone sabotaging things behind the scenes, trying to kill me out there so that some people can move in, take over my mother's dowry, and seize it?"
The final question was like a thunderclap, completely exposing the truth behind Qin Youming and Aunt An's malicious intentions.
They both felt a buzzing in their heads and their vision went black.
It turns out that their thoughts were completely in the hands of this little beast—don't underestimate her because of her age, she understands everything clearly.
Aunt Liu, who was standing to the side, wanted to defend Aunt An, but she was so frightened by the tense atmosphere that her throat tightened and she dared not utter a word.
Over the years, she had only managed to maintain some semblance of dignity by relying on Aunt An, but now that the eldest daughter had returned, she had a vague premonition that her good days were probably over.
Qin Youming's face flushed red and then turned pale. Being questioned about family matters in public by his daughter, especially with his subordinates' spies possibly mixed in with the crowd, was like rubbing his face into the ground.
He gritted his teeth and growled, "You wretched child, stop talking nonsense. Come inside and we'll talk about it there."
"Let's talk about it when we get back to the manor?" Qin Zhining raised an eyebrow, suddenly raising the piece of hemp rope that had been worn smooth, her eyes resolute as if she were going to her death.
"If I don't make things clear now, I won't have another chance to speak once I get back to the manor. After all, this manor is a place where people can take their lives at any time."
Back then, all Zhou Mama did was speak up for me, and the next day, Aunt An found a pretext to sell her to a remote mining area; her fate remains unknown to this day.
Upon hearing the sudden mention of Granny Zhou, both Aunt An and Aunt Liu secretly shuddered.
Qin Zhining didn't know where Granny Zhou had gone, but the two of them knew very well.
They found a pretext to have Granny Zhou beaten to death.
Qin Zhining suddenly tightened the hemp rope around the lintel, and the cold wind whipped up snowflakes that lashed against her thin clothes, making a rustling sound.
"I'm putting this out there today—either Father gives me an explanation in front of everyone, guarantees my and my sworn sister's safety in the manor, and severely punishes those who mistreated me back then."
"Either I die right here in front of this mansion, so everyone in Lincheng County can see how Magistrate Qin forced his own eldest daughter to her death."
Her gaze was colder than the wind and snow, harder than a rock. The confrontation between father and daughter was like this cold, snowy day, chilling one to the bone.
Looking into his daughter's icy eyes, Qin Youming suddenly felt a sense of unfamiliarity and fear—this daughter, whom he had abandoned in his ancestral home for nine years, was no longer the little girl who could be manipulated by anyone.
The crowd grew larger and larger, and even the manager of the silk shop next door and the waiter of the restaurant across the street came over. The pointing and whispering made him feel uncomfortable all over.
He knew that if this matter was not resolved properly as soon as possible, losing face would be a minor matter; the real disaster would be the impact on his career.
Moreover, if something were to happen to his county magistrate's office, the marriage between the prefectural prefect's family and Ayu would also fall through, and his wishful thinking would be completely ruined.
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