CH 15

Zhao Lingyun had been watching from the sidelines for a long time, so he could tell. In contrast to this young lady of the Wei family and her tears, the old madam of the Jiang family was an old human-eating demon baring her fangs and brandishing her claws. If one were to beat the old madam to death, they would be called a hero of the people. On the other hand, if one were to stand on the old madam’s side, they would be considered as being like the ghost who, after being devoured by a tiger, helped the tiger devour others. It was obvious the Wei family’s young lady would be able to win even if she were alone—what more with the old man, Su He, helping her.

Master Zhao looked at the Jiang brothers again. He couldn’t rely on them. The two brothers were just as bad as the old madam.

He then looked at Shen Qi. This man had not said much all this time. Master Zhao couldn’t see how this son-in-law of the Jiang family was of any use aside from adding to their numbers.

“What does this matter have to do with you?” Old Venerable Su said.

He could tell from the way the Boss of Delinquents suddenly spoke that had the intention of getting involved in this situation. So, Old Venerable took two steps forward, cautiously shielding Wei Lanzhi behind him.

The corner of Zhao Lingyun’s mouth twitched twice. ‘The old guy is even protecting Miss Wei physically now…? I’ve been standing on the sidelines for so long, but this old guy hasn’t blocked Miss Wei from my view. So why is the old guy only getting worried that I will besmirch Miss Wei’s reputation now, right after I spoke?’

Master Zhao took in a breath, cleared his throat, and brushed off his sleeves. He was preparing to defeat Su He before entering into a battle with Wei Lanzhi. While he was doing so, Shen Qi’s manservant ran over frantically. He forced his way through the surrounding crowd to the centre like he was using a battering ram.

The manservant rushed to Shen Qi and howled, “Second Young Master, something bad has happened. The Jiang family’s Second Miss— Second Miss killed herself!”

The boiling cauldron of voices in Feng Yang’s main street suddenly died down. Everyone present suspected they’d heard it wrong or that the manservant had made a mistake. The Jiang family’s Second Miss killed herself? How could that be? Was the situation that bad to drive her to that extent? It wasn’t!

Shen Qi was frozen with a blank stare and had yet to react. It was Old Madam Xu who took action first and grabbed hold of the manservant, Ah Yuan, with one hand.

She said loudly, “What did you say? What happened to my family’s Second Miss? Say it again! If you dare say nonsense, this old woman will rip your mouth to shreds!”

The old madam’s yell was like the ear-piercing roar of a demon.

Ah Yuan pulled his neck back and stuttered with a pained expression, “Second Miss— S-Second Miss— Second Miss, she…”

“Sister-in-Law1It actually said ‘Second Younger Sister’ in the raw, but we think it’s confusing, so we’ve put it as ‘Sister-in-Law’ instead. Anyway, there are only two sisters in the family. killed herself?” Shen Qi uttered as he regained his senses. He looked at his manservant and said in a panicked tone, “Second Younger Sister killed herself?!”

“A-At the medical shop.” Ah Yuan reached out with a shaking hand and pointed in the direction of the medical shop.

Old Madam Xu let go of Ah Yuan. With her mouth agape, her whole body shook for a moment before she finally wailed, “My second lass!”

The Old Madam wept piteously as she rushed toward the medicine shop. Jiang Yu and Jiang Xian exchanged glances and ran after their family’s matriarch. Wei Ziting meant nothing now. Their second older sister had killed herself! The grandmother and her grandsons, these three members of the Jiang family, ran so quickly that they disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Shen Qi wiped away the sweat on his forehead and told Ah Yuan, “L-Let’s go.”

“Ziquan,” Old Venerable Su called out.

Zhao Lingyun pondered for a moment before realising that Su He, this old fellow, was calling out to Shen Qi, the Shen family’s second young master whose surname was Shen, given name Qi, and courtesy name Ziquan.

Shen Qi stopped in his tracks and glanced at Su He. He wanted to say something, but ultimately no sound emerged when he opened his mouth. What was the point in saying anything right now? If something bad had truly happened to Jiang Mingyue, Wei Ziting’s whole life would be destroyed even if he managed to keep his life. Brother-in-Law Shen flung out his sleeves, and without saying a single word, he left with Ah Yuan and his other attendants.

Old Venerable Su turned around and instructed one of his attendants, “Hurry, go take a look!”

After receiving the order, the attendant took to his heels and ran toward the medicine shop.

“Wei Ziting. Oh, Wei Ziting,” Zhao Lingyun uttered as he looked at the Wei family’s third young master, who was kneeling on the ground. Shaking his head, Zhao Lingyun said, “You’re doomed.”

Old Venerable Su shifted his gaze to Zhao Lingyun.

“Listen to what I have to say first,” Master Zhao began in a thunderous voice, seizing the chance to speak before Su He did. “Additionally, Miss Wei… A mere young lady like you dared take advantage of the Jiang family’s matriarch; who gave you such audacity?”

“Do not speak such drivel!” Old Venerable Su hurriedly berated in a loud voice.

“Drivel?” Zhao Lingyun said darkly. “What did Miss Wei say to the Jiang family’s matriarch earlier? She said Wei Ziting was the nephew of the Jiang family’s matriarch. Hey, so I’m quite baffled. Just how brazen is she to say such a thing? We’re all residents of the capital, yet this is my first time hearing someone say that Wei Ziting and the Marquis of Anyuan call each other brothers, especially when they are a generation apart!

“The Jiang family’s old madam is their family’s matriarch, and she is unlike you, Miss Wei, who was born into a family with a literary reputation and has studied a lot.”

Although Old Venerable Su was standing in front of Wei Lanzhi to protect her, it didn’t stop Master Zhao from spitting out words of fury at the Wei family’s eldest daughter.

He continued, “However, this can’t possibly be how you took advantage of the Jiang family’s matriarch, right? Miss Wei, you cried so pitifully. Did your family’s Wei Ziting become disabled or die? That you had to wail here as if you were at a funeral?”

A commotion broke up amongst the crowd upon hearing what Master Zhao pointed out. ‘This wasn’t right. How could you be considered a nephew like that?’

Old Venerable Su said with some difficulty, “The mention of ‘nephew’ was merely a slip of the tongue.”

Zhao Lingyun: “Oh? This is just a slip of the tongue? In that case, this sister-brother pair is truly amazing. The younger brother is young and inexperienced, so he ended up causing a young lady who was doing just fine to commit suicide. Then with a single slip of the elder sister’s tongue, one of the members of the Jiang family has become a generation younger than his peer in the Wei family. 2江家人有一个算一个，辈份都比魏家人矮了一截  We aren’t very sure how to translate this, so we did it based on context. If you have any suggestions, do let us know! Amazing,” Master Zhao said and then applauded.

“It was t-truly because I was anxious. I-It was a s-slip of the tongue.” Wei Lanzhi’s face turned deathly pale.

“Sure, a slip of the tongue. I believe that.” Zhao Lingyun continued to clap.

The Wei family’s eldest daughter was almost angered into tears by Master Zhao. Truth be told, she was indeed very intelligent and was famous for being talented. She had even started learning at a young age from her family’s matriarch how to manage household affairs. Her scheming methods were truly not lacking in the slightest. However, the problem was that no one had ever taught Wei Lanzhi how to deal with delinquents…

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