Chapter Seventeen: This Fool Ruined His Plan
Upon seeing this, Qin Chengxuan froze.
The older sister's eyes were red and swollen, and her hair was slightly disheveled, clearly indicating that she had just been crying. Coupled with her plain white clothes, she looked somewhat distressed and helpless, which made Qin Zhining's words seem even more like malicious slander.
Qin Zhining suddenly smiled, raised her hand and took out a piece of jade from her sleeve. The white jade surface was carved with a lotus pattern.
It was exactly the same as the one in Qin Chengxuan's hand.
"Sister, you've come at the right time. Is this what the real jade pendant you hid looks like?"
Qin Zhiyu's face turned deathly pale, her knuckles turning blue as she gripped the handkerchief. "Sister... what nonsense are you talking about? I don't understand..."
"Don't understand?" Qin Zhining played with the jade pendant and suddenly raised her voice towards the artificial hill, "Young Master He has been hiding there listening for a long time, why don't you come out and judge the matter?"
Is the jade you gave Qin Chengxuan a treasure, or is it a stepping stone for Qin Zhiyu?
There was a commotion behind the artificial hill, and He Qilin actually came out, his long gray-blue robe covered with moss.
His gaze swept over the red marks on Qin Chengxuan's neck, then fell on Qin Zhiyu's pale face, and finally settled on the jade in Qin Zhining's hand. He raised an eyebrow slightly and asked, "A-Ning, what do you mean by this?"
This sudden turn of events stunned everyone.
Qin Chengxuan's heart pounded.
Is He Qilin really here?
Qin Zhiyu hurriedly stepped forward to explain, but He Qilin stopped her with a raised hand.
He looked at Qin Chengxuan, his tone calm, "Chengxuan, I heard everything A-Ning said. I think you should have your own judgment on who is right and who is wrong between her and A-Yu, right?"
He Qilin's words were perfectly timed, making full use of Qin Chengxuan, this fool.
Qin Chengxuan's face instantly turned a deep purplish-red. Just as he was about to say something, he heard Qin Zhining coldly say to He Qilin, "Young Master He, please don't call me by my name."
We're not acquainted. How dare a man like you casually address me as "Miss Qin"? You may be shameless, but I care about my reputation. So, I warn you, call me Miss Qin.
He Qilin's expression hardened, and his gaze lingered on Qin Zhining's face for a moment before he finally said nothing.
The wind under the eaves carried the fragrance of flowers, but it could not dispel the sudden tension in the air.
Qin Zhiyu could no longer contain herself; He Qilin's casual "A Ning" just now felt like a needle piercing her heart.
She suppressed her surging sourness, secretly moved closer to He Qilin, and glared at Qin Zhining with resentment in her eyes, her gaze clearly saying, "Don't be delusional."
"Brother Qilin, don't be fooled by this bitch. She's a master at playing the victim to gain sympathy."
Chengxuan had only argued with her a few words, and she had already killed him with a deadly attack; it shows how vicious she is.
Before she finished speaking, she deliberately raised her hand and grabbed He Qilin's sleeve, her posture so intimate it was glaring.
Before He Qilin could react, Aunt An's shrill cries rang out from afar, "My son, Chengxuan, how did you also fall victim to that little bitch Qin Zhining's poisonous hand?"
It turned out that when the servants saw that their master had stumbled, they had already run off to report the news in a panic.
When Aunt An heard that her son had been beaten and almost strangled, she immediately rushed over, crying and wailing.
But when she got closer and glanced at the broken jade in Qin Chengxuan's hand, her crying rose eight octaves, and her fingernails almost poked his face.
"Oh my god! How old are you? Why are you still so clumsy? How are your father and I supposed to explain this to the He family?"
If the He family holds you accountable, your sister's marriage will be off, and you'll never amount to anything in your life.
He Qilin stood to the side, and Aunt An's "jade is more precious than her son's life" attitude was like a resounding slap in Qin Chengxuan's face.
The purplish-blue marks on his neck still stung, but the chill in his heart was more piercing than the pain in his throat.
This is the mother he always talks about as "the one who loves me the most"? She didn't even glance at the wound on his neck, her mind only occupied with whether the He family would be unhappy.
Qin Zhining's words suddenly rang in my ears.
It turns out my sister wasn't lying. In our parents' eyes, his love was less precious than a stone.
"mother."
His Adam's apple bobbed, and his voice, now in puberty, was even more unpleasant. His fingertips gripped the sharp edge of the broken jade, stinging his palms. "I...I just tripped and the jade broke."
I didn't mean to, really, it was an accident. Young Master He is very magnanimous, he won't blame me, you...you're in a hurry."
He deliberately concealed the truth about the broken jade, just wanting to see what his mother really cared about.
Aunt An wouldn't listen to his explanation at all. She angrily pushed his hand away and slapped her thigh in complaint.
"You tripped and fell? Why didn't you just fall and kill yourself? Huh? Madam He values these things most. If she knew you broke the jade that Qilin gave you, she would definitely think that our Qin family doesn't respect the He family."
"If Ayu's marriage falls through, your father won't get promoted, and my daughter and I will starve."
She screamed until she was hoarse, but her eyes revealed her fear of Madam He. As a concubine, she dared not even breathe loudly in front of the legitimate wife. What did her son's injury matter compared to the He family's attitude?
Seeing his mother's disgraceful state, Qin Chengxuan's pent-up anger surged up, and he smashed the broken jade at Qin Zhiyu's feet, roaring, "Enough, stop acting!"
The jade piece shattered with a "crack" as it hit the bluestone slab, the crisp sound silencing the surroundings.
Aunt An was startled by him and stood there stunned for a long time before shrieking, "What...what are you doing? Have you gone mad?"
Qin Chengxuan pointed at Qin Zhiyu, his fingers trembling uncontrollably, his voice a mixture of sobs and rage, "The jade you gave me was fake, I knew that a long time ago."
But I still kept it close to my heart and played with it all day long, pretending it was a treasure—but it was just self-deception, wanting others to think that He Qilin valued me a lot.
Hahaha... I'm such a fucking idiot. Chun Tao told me long ago that the jade Young Master He gave me was a fake; the real jade was switched and hidden away by you, my dear sister."
These words struck Qin Zhiyu like a thunderbolt. Her face turned deathly pale, and she staggered backward, only managing to regain her balance after bumping into a pillar.
Chun Tao knelt down with a thud. "It was the young master who forced me to tell him. This servant dared not hide anything." She buried her head on the ground, trembling, and dared not look at anyone.
He Qilin's face darkened instantly, and her gaze towards Qin Chengxuan was filled not only with disgust but also with a hint of irritation.
That idiot ruined his plan.
He had originally intended to use the gift of the jade to make Qin Zhiyu more devoted to him, and then subtly find out the whereabouts of the Xie family's jade seal. But now, the matter has become common knowledge.
His father had decided to annul his marriage to Qin Zhining because he believed that with Xie Shi dead, five-year-old Qin Zhining was too young to understand anything about the Xie family's jade seal.
Therefore, his father firmly believed that Qin Zhining was only five years old at the time and knew nothing about her mother's affairs.
It would be better to annul her engagement, marry Qin Zhiyu in the future, and cultivate a good relationship with County Magistrate Qin Youming, becoming in-laws. In that case, Xie's jade seal might be obtained quietly.
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