Chapter Fourteen Provoking Trouble
The banquet ended very late in the dead of winter, and even the servants who were just guarding Chen Qing outside the door were exhausted.
For some reason, Pei Xuan became on good terms with the head of the Liu family's kitchen and moved the good wine and dishes that had been cleared from the banquet to Chen Qing's courtyard.
He was good-looking and eloquent, and he wanted to invite a few maids to the warm room for wine and food.
The old women hesitated, "Our master instructed us to keep a close eye on the young lady, this..."
Pei Xuan noticed their hesitation and said with heartache, "Aunt Zhang only talks the talk. She wants to lock up the young lady for three days. Does she expect you to go without food and drink for three days? We finally made it into the city and we have plenty of food and drink. In this cold weather, we still make you do this hard work. It's really suffering!"
“Two matrons, how about this? You two can be lenient and not always stand guard. If Aunt Zhang comes to visit, then you can stand at the door and keep watch. If she doesn’t come, you can go to your rooms to warm up and have some wine. Some of the best hot dishes there were taken from the banquets of nobles, and they’re all very oily…”
The two maids couldn't resist his tempting words, and soon they pushed and shoved each other to go to the warm room to drink and eat meat.
Pei Xuan quickly knocked on the door, "Sister Qing, are you asleep? I brought you some food!"
Inside the room, Chen Qing was instructing Li Yi to run errands for her, to continue inquiring about Liu Shoubei in the city.
Suddenly hearing Pei Xuan knock on the door, he gave Li Yi a wink, signaling him to hide behind the screen.
"Come in."
"Sister Qing!" Pei Xuan rushed in like a puppy, heading straight for Chen Qing. "Why is this room so cold?"
He looked around and there wasn't even a charcoal fire. He immediately understood that it was that Aunt Zhang's doing again!
"Sister Qing, wait for me!" Before Chen Qing could say anything, Pei Xuan hurriedly ran away again.
Chen Qing told Li Yi to come out, "Alright, you can go now. Just do as I say and be careful."
Li Yi left.
Pei Xuan came again, and Xiao Wu came with him.
They brought Chen Qing charcoal and food, making the room very warm. Pei Xuan proudly recounted how he had dealt with the Liu family's kitchen, and mentioned that the two old women were probably drunk by now.
Chen Qing looked at Pei Xuan and patted his head with satisfaction, "Well done."
Then he instructed Xiao Wu, "When he's not around, you have to listen to him, understand?"
Xiao Wu nodded obediently, "I understand, Miss."
"Alright, you two go back and rest too, don't worry about me."
It's almost midnight, and the system is about to update the weight loss points.
Chen Qing yawned, pretending to be very sleepy, and shooed the two people away.
The system refreshes immediately after midnight.
From pushing the cart yesterday to not sleeping all night and going to Qibao Town to see Commander Liu, to clashing with Liu Wei, and then so many other things happened...
Chen Qing didn't rest at all, only ate two pieces of beef, drank plenty of water, and insisted on jogging to burn off energy no matter how tired she was.
The system refreshed, and the result did not disappoint her; she lost two pounds and three ounces.
Converted into weight loss points, that's 1300 points. Adding that to her original 3208 points, she now has a total of 4508 weight loss points.
Survival ability greatly increased.
Exchanging for the antidote requires 8,000 weight loss points, which is Chen Qing's primary goal. However, if any other unexpected events occur, she will definitely prioritize using the weight loss points to exchange for life-saving items.
Therefore, the more weight loss points you have, the better.
Chen Qing currently lacks the ability to protect herself, and the system is her only safeguard.
It's just that this body's constitution is too poor, and its metabolism has been damaged by the poison. Otherwise, given Chen Qing's activity level and food intake, with such a large weight base, he should have lost at least three or four pounds, right?
...
"Mother! I won't marry him! I won't marry that young master Liu! Who knows who he is? I've never even heard of him. Mother, didn't you say you wanted me to marry young master Zhao? Waaah..."
"Mother, please go and talk to Father! Your daughter doesn't want to get married!"
Late at night, Chen Jiao wept uncontrollably. She never imagined that after a banquet, she would be betrothed to someone. She didn't even know what this young master Liu looked like; how could she marry just anyone?
Zhang felt sorry for her daughter and held her, lamenting her miserable life. But she was just a woman, and even Chen Zhenyan couldn't refuse Liu Shoubei. What could she do?
"Little girl, stop crying. I'll go and beg your father right away."
Zhang left her daughter's room and went directly to Chen Zhenyan. Not long after, Chen Jiao heard the sound of her father smashing things and her mother crying from next door.
Chen Jiao gritted her teeth, unable to understand why she was so unlucky.
If Chen Qing hadn't been locked up today and had been at the banquet, would she have been the one to be betrothed?
Why is Chen Qing so lucky?!
No, she has to think of a way!
Chen Qing slept soundly through the night. Early the next morning, she got up, washed up, exchanged a piece of whole-grain bread from the system shop, and had two eggs boiled for her. She ate a simple breakfast like that.
Pei Xuan successfully turned the two nannies who were responsible for guarding her against her, and she was able to walk around the courtyard and stretch her legs.
At her current rate of weight loss, she will be able to redeem the antidote in four or five days. Then she can start improving her physique and lose weight faster to earn more weight loss points.
However, before she could be happy for long, a series of hurried footsteps and suppressed sobs suddenly broke the morning's tranquility outside.
Immediately afterwards, her room door was banged on loudly.
"Qing'er! Qing'er! Open the door! Open the door quickly!" It was Zhang's voice, filled with unprecedented panic and sobs.
Chen Qing frowned, slowly straightened her clothes, and did not respond immediately.
"Qing'er! Open the door quickly! Save your sister! Master... Master is going to send Jiao'er to the garrison commander's mansion!"
Seeing no movement inside, Zhang cried out even more shrilly, almost banging her head against the door.
A cold smile curled at the corner of Chen Qing's lips. Now you've remembered her?
It's too late!
Seeing that no one answered from inside the room, a fierce glint flashed in Zhang's eyes. This damned woman, she actually didn't say a word!
Zhang's mind raced, and she immediately began wailing, "Qing'er! Jiao'er is your own sister! Are you just going to watch Jiao'er suffer? Are you really that heartless?"
"Qing'er! Mother knows you have grievances in your heart, but Jiao'er is still your own sister. You can't just stand by and watch her die!"
Zhang was wailing and crying outside the door, as if Chen Qing had committed some heinous crime.
This is clearly moral blackmail.
Chen Qing wanted to see what she would do if he kept refusing to respond.
A short while later, Chen Jiao arrived. She saw Zhang Shi kneeling and begging at the door of Chen Qing's room, her forehead bruised and red from kowtowing. She immediately cried out, "Mother! Get up! It's not worth it for your daughter!"
"What are you doing?!" Chen Zhenyan rushed over upon hearing the noise and was filled with guilt upon seeing the pitiful sight of Zhang and her daughter weeping in each other's arms.
When Chen Zhenyan arrived, Zhang's cries became even more heart-wrenching.
"Master, I only want to ask Miss to help Jiao'er. Jiao'er is innocent. She is Miss's own sister. No matter how much Miss hates me, how can she just stand by and watch Jiao'er die?"
Chen Qing then walked to the door, but did not open it. He coldly said through the door, "Aunt Zhang, what are you doing? You haven't said what happened so early in the morning. I am just a daughter who is confined to my home, and I can't help you. You should ask Father."
"No! No! Qing'er, only you can save Jiao'er!" Madam Zhang cried incoherently. "That Commander Liu's son is no good! He... he's already had several concubines die in his household! If Jiao'er marries him, it'll be all over! Qing'er, I know I was wrong before, I've kowtowed to you! Please, for the sake of our family, save your sister!"
As he spoke, a series of thumping sounds of kowtowing actually came from outside the door.
Chen Qing's lips curled into a mocking smile. Now you realize you're family? When you poured cold water on her, locked her up, and tried to freeze her to death, why didn't you think about being family then?
She remained silent, letting Zhang cry and kowtow outside.
Chen Zhenyan roared in exasperation, "Chen Qing! Come out here!"
Chen Qing sat calmly in his armchair, admiring his own hands.
“Father, it’s not that I don’t want to go out, but you personally ordered me to be confined yesterday. I’m just listening to you.”
Chen Zhenyan then realized that Chen Qing was still under his house arrest.
"Open the door! Let the young lady out!" He immediately ordered someone to open Chen Qing's door.
As soon as the door opened, Zhang immediately lunged at Chen Qing, but fortunately Chen Qing reacted quickly and dodged.
"Ouch!"
Zhang fell to the ground, her face contorted in pain.
Chen Qing pretended to be serious and said, "Oh, Aunt Zhang, what are you doing? Although you are just a concubine, you are still my father's wife. There is no need to be so polite and give me such a big bow."
She was extremely generous and kindly helped Zhang up.
"You!" Zhang was so angry she almost lost her temper. She looked up at Chen Qing—
Wait a minute? Has Chen Qing lost some weight?
Originally, Chen Qing looked swollen, as if she had been soaking in the Giant View for days and nights, but when Zhang looked at her now, she seemed to have lost a lot of weight and her skin looked better.
She looked like a clear and clean piece of jade.
Chen Qing looked down at Zhang Shi with a disdainful gaze, as if he were looking at a clown who was making people laugh.
She did laugh.
"Aunt Zhang, the ground is cold, why aren't you getting up?"
Zhang scrambled to her feet, then suddenly remembered what she had come for. She quickly put on a whimpering voice and pleaded, "Qing'er, please save Jiao'er!"
"How can I save her? What does Auntie want me to do?" Chen Qing asked, his eagerness to help confusing Zhang Shi.
Thinking that Chen Qingzhen was about to do good deeds, she quickly recounted what had happened at the banquet the previous night.
"Now that Commander Liu won't act until he sees a benefit, he insists on marrying Jiao'er to his son. How can this be allowed!"
“Auntie, what do you think? Why don’t you marry Young Master Liu in place of Jiao’er…” Zhang said cautiously, glancing at Chen Qing’s expression as she spoke.
Chen Qing remained expressionless, seemingly showing no reluctance.
“I’m marrying in place of my sister, but I’m already engaged to the Zhao family. Do you think they’d be happy about that?”
Seeing that she seemed to be persuaded, Zhang was overjoyed and immediately said, "Don't worry! Commander Liu promised your father that as long as you marry Young Master Liu, we can leave Qibao Town. At that time, your father will immediately send someone to Cangcheng to find someone to rescue you!"
Chen Qing sneered inwardly. What a clever scheme! Were they taking her for a fool?
“Auntie, by then my engagement with Young Master Liu will be a fait accompli. Even if you save me, my engagement with the Zhao family will probably be null and void.”
"What...what does this have to do with anything!" Zhang's eyes darted around. She grabbed Chen Qing's hand and said, "You're not as pretty as your sister. Men all like pretty girls. Young Master Liu definitely won't touch you. You'll still be a virgin then, so why would the Zhao family look down on you?"
She herself didn't believe what she said!
This was a brilliant plan that Zhang had racked her brains to devise, killing two birds with one stone: to ask Chen Qing to marry Young Master Liu in place of Jiao'er, so that her Jiao'er could marry into the Zhao family.
Chen Qing chuckled and looked at Chen Zhenyan: "What does Father think?"
Chen Zhenyan looked troubled; he felt that Commander Liu was no fool.
But seeing the pleading looks on Zhang's face, Chen Zhenyan softened again.
“Your aunt is right. Why don’t you marry in place of Jiao’er? You’re smarter than Jiao’er and know better how to protect yourself,” Chen Zhenyan seemed to realize that he had been too biased. He didn’t forget to comfort Chen Qing, “Don’t worry, as soon as your father comes home, he will immediately send someone to Cangcheng to ask for help and find someone to rescue you.”
Chen Qing stared expressionlessly at the shameless trio, feeling sorry for the original owner of this body for the first time.
When she first transmigrated, she thought, "How could the original owner, a noble lady and daughter of a prominent family, have been raised to be so fat and ugly? I simply can't believe it wasn't because of the indulgence of her stupid father, Chen Zhenyan."
Now it seems that this was indeed the case.
Since that's the case, there's no need for her to continue getting involved with these people.
Chen Qing had long wanted to part ways with them, so wasn't this the perfect opportunity?
Chen Qing raised her chin and slightly parted her red lips under the expectant gazes of Zhang and her daughter.
"Oh, is that so? I don't want to."
The mask on Zhang's face cracked inch by inch, becoming distorted: "What? Why are you unwilling?"
Chen Qing laughed and said, "Because I am the eldest daughter of the Chen family, and my betrothal is with the Zhao family of Cangcheng. Even Chen Jiao doesn't like Young Master Liu, so how could I possibly like him?"
"By the way, even if I don't like Young Master Zhao, I won't bestow him upon Chen Jiao."
Chen Qing stared at Chen Jiao's vulnerable face, feeling increasingly pleased. "Did you understand?"
Chen Jiao never expected that she would be rejected so thoroughly by Chen Qing.
Is this still her stupid, fat, pig-like older sister? Chen Jiao's doubts rose again, but then her mind was overwhelmed by the anger that surged up from the bottom of her heart. Her eyes were red, and the hatred she had been instilled with for Chen Qing since childhood made her lose her mind.
That string called reason snapped with a "crack".
Chen Jiao rolled her eyes and her body went limp like a noodle.
He was so angry with Chen Qing that he fainted.
"Ah!!! Jiao'er! Someone come quick!"
Unsurprisingly, Zhang started yelling again.
Chen Zhenyan was so angry at Chen Qing's unconventional behavior that he trembled all over. "You, you rebellious daughter!"
Chen Qing looked indifferent and scratched his earlobe. "Father, you'd better make a decision quickly. Should we send your beloved daughter to the garrison headquarters, or let her remain trapped here, like a fish on a chopping board to be slaughtered?"
She laughed like a devil.
I'm really curious to see what choice the biased Chen Zhenyan will make.
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