Chapter Ninety-Three: Provoking Qi Rongzhi

"Something the matter?" Qin Wanru stopped and looked calmly at Qi Rongzhi, her large eyes carrying a chill that could not be ignored.

It was faintly distant, faintly cold.

"Qi Baiyu, step aside and go over there. I have something to say to Qin Wanru!" Before she had even finished speaking, Qi Rongzhi suddenly noticed Qi Baiyu standing nearby. Without another word, she shoved him aside and casually pointed in a direction.

She did not want Qi Baiyu lingering at her side. Compared with herself, Qi Rongzhi knew that Qi Baiyu would rather have Qin Wanru as his real sister, and if anything happened, he would surely help Qin Wanru and not her.

If her father had not insisted that someone accompany her to the Quiet Heart Nunnery, Qi Rongzhi would never have allowed Qi Baiyu to come with her.

He was not only a burden, he was an obstacle!

"I am not leaving. Otherwise, if something happens to you later, you will pin it on me again." Qi Baiyu rolled his eyes, snorted, and moved slightly aside, but showed no sign of going anywhere.

"Hey, what do you mean by that? Are you cursing me to have an accident? Fine, Qi Baiyu, I knew long ago that you had no good intentions. You have only just arrived at the Quiet Heart Nunnery and you are already cursing me. What, are you planning to scheme against me later too?" Qi Rongzhi cried shrilly, walking up and giving Qi Baiyu a vicious kick.

"Hey, why do you hit people over the slightest disagreement!" Qi Baiyu stepped back again and said angrily.

"It is your own fault for being so insensitive. We two girls are speaking. What are you listening for at the side? Move aside and go play by yourself!" Qi Rongzhi grew even more overbearing. She strode over and kicked him hard twice, each time aiming at the center of his legs, then sneered, "A concubine-born son following a legitimate daughter, and you still have the nerve!"

The words were outrageously rude. Qi Baiyu's face turned white with anger. Holding the leg that had been kicked, he said to one of the old maids beside Qi Rongzhi, "Make sure you see this clearly. It is not that I do not want to follow her; it is that her temper is simply too foul. If anything happens this time, do not come looking for me!"

With that, he snorted coldly and turned away in long strides.

Qin Wanru recognized the old maid beside Qi Rongzhi. She was Qi Rongzhi's wet nurse. What Qi Baiyu had said was certainly not only meant for this old maid; the real target was likely the Madam of the prefectural governor's residence, Lady Li, who was Qi Rongzhi's mother.

It was obvious that Qi Rongzhi had not spared the young man when it came to smearing him.

"Hmph, what a worthless concubine-born son!" Qi Rongzhi said with a mocking glance at Qi Baiyu's back. Then she turned to Qin Wanru and, pointing toward the gate of the courtyard nearby, lifted her chin. "Come, let us speak over there!"

"I will not go." Qin Wanru smiled faintly, but did not move.

"What do you mean, Qin Wanru? How dare you speak to me like that?" Qi Rongzhi was stunned for a moment, then flew into a rage at once.

"Why should I not dare? Is your prefectural governor's residence really one cut above our general's residence, or are the people of our general's residence simply born to be bullied by yours?" Qin Wanru raised her brows and looked at Qi Rongzhi with cold, piercing eyes, neither yielding nor avoiding her gaze.

There were servants from the general's residence in the courtyard, as well as servants from the prefectural governor's residence who had come with Qi Rongzhi. If these words were truly spread outside, it would not merely make things awkward between the two households. Once this sort of lofty, political matter of who was suppressing whom became public, it would be far from simple.

Though they were of the same rank, the general's residence was clearly stronger in every respect.

"Miss Qin, our young lady only wants to speak with you. Weren't the two of you on very good terms before? How has it suddenly come to this? What happened earlier was between the eldest young master and your residence's eldest young lady. It has nothing to do with the friendship between you and our young lady!" the old maid coughed lightly and took up the conversation.

She was quite skilled with words, implying on one hand that Qi Rongzhi and Qin Wanru had once been very close, and on the other that the general's residence was somehow in the wrong toward the prefectural governor's residence.

"Has Miss Qi been bullying our second young lady to the point of getting addicted to it? What do you mean, on very good terms? It has always been your young lady bullying ours. Our young lady no longer wishes to play with your young lady. Is that not allowed?" Qingyue stepped forward and stood in front of Qin Wanru, looking wary.

"Miss Qi, please go back. I do not wish to speak with you." Qin Wanru said calmly, "You may think yourself clever, but do not take others for fools."

With that, she turned as if to leave.

Qi Rongzhi's face flushed red with fury. "You... have you no manners at all, speaking to me like that?"

She had never before been refuted so openly, and especially not by Qin Wanru, whom she looked down on most of all. At this moment, with Qin Wanru and Qingyue speaking in concert, she was so angry she nearly exploded.

"Miss Qi, the entire Jiangzhou Prefecture has been saying that you have no manners. And now you dare to question whether others have any?" Qin Wanru stopped and looked at Qi Rongzhi with contempt.

At present, the whole of Jiangzhou Prefecture was full of talk that Qi Rongzhi was rude and overbearing. As for manners, she obviously had none. For such a person to mock someone else's upbringing was truly laughable.

"Qin Wanru, you wretch, just wait... I... I will never let you get away with this!" Qi Rongzhi was truly enraged, her face turning from red to green.

"And how exactly will you not let me get away with it?" Qin Wanru said coldly.

"I... I..." Qi Rongzhi was so furious she could not even speak.

"Miss Qi should please return. My grandmother is still ill. If you keep shouting here, you will disturb her again. She is old now and truly cannot endure Miss Qi's voice. I ask Miss Qi to be considerate." Qin Wanru seemed not to notice Qi Rongzhi's changing expression, her voice still calm and detached.

She pointed outside with one hand, a cold smile on her lips that held no warmth at all. "Look, the gate is right there. Please see yourself out, Miss Qi. If there is anything, do not come looking for our general's residence. My eldest sister has already gone to the capital, and the people presently in the general's residence no longer owe anything to your prefectural governor's residence. There is no need to keep harping on it."

"Wretch, how dare you... speak to me like that, Qin Wanru, just wait until I tear you apart!" If the old maid beside her had not been holding her tightly, Qi Rongzhi would have rushed forward to claw that detestable face of Qin Wanru's to pieces.

"Miss Qi, although our second young lady is young, she is still a young lady of our general's residence. You keep calling her a wretch. May I ask what sort of temper lets you curse our second young lady like this?" Granny Du came out from the room, her gaze falling coldly on Qi Rongzhi, her face icy.

Qin Wanru silently approved. Granny Du truly deserved to be the most trusted person at her grandmother's side. On one hand she said that Qi Rongzhi was using her status to bully the younger, and on the other that the prefectural governor's residence was acting arrogantly and oppressing the general's residence.

"I... she was the one who provoked me!" Seeing that it was Granny Du from Old Madam Qin's side, Qi Rongzhi was startled as well and hurried to explain.

"Our second young lady provoked you into storming at her? Miss Qi, the relationship between the two residences is clearly already strained. Why have you come looking for our second young lady? And now you even dare to curse the young ladies of our general's residence. May I ask, Miss Qi, is that the supposed upbringing you just spoke of from the prefectural governor's residence?"

Granny Du raised her voice.

"Young lady, since Miss Qin does not wish to speak with you, let us go back." The old maid who had come with Qi Rongzhi saw Granny Du emerge and knew at once that things were bad. She hurriedly tugged at Qi Rongzhi's hand, hinting at her.

Those words had already offended the general's residence badly. If the Grand General of the South truly took offense at their master because of this, it would be troublesome. From what the madam had said, the Grand General of the South had previously implied in private that after he went to the capital, he would help their master go to the capital as well, as compensation for the slight in the matter of the marriage alliance between the two families.

If this fell through, their master would surely be furious!

"Fine, let us go!" Qi Rongzhi stamped her foot in hatred.

"Good day to Miss Qi. If you are only coming here to curse our second young lady, then please do not come to our general's residence again. Our residence cannot afford to receive a great figure like you!" Granny Du called after her.

The words were merciless, but Granny Du felt thoroughly relieved, and Qin Wanru did as well.

"Many thanks, Granny." Once Qi Rongzhi had gone, Qin Wanru smiled slightly and thanked Granny Du.

"I only hope this Miss Qi never comes again. Whenever she appears, there is never anything good. If she does not stir up trouble, she refuses to leave without taking some advantage," Granny Du said, also feeling that she had vented a great deal of resentment. In the past, with Madam Di pressing down on them, they had had to yield to Qi Rongzhi at every turn. Now there was no need. In that regard alone, Granny Du thought it was a good thing.

Qin Wanru looked after Qi Rongzhi's retreating figure and smiled thoughtfully. Whatever Qi Rongzhi intended to do, she would remain unchanged and respond to all changes with stillness. With Qi Rongzhi's temperament, it would be all too easy for her to lose her head in a fit of rage.

She could refrain from doing anything to Qi Rongzhi because Qi Baiyu was present, but she could not guarantee that Qi Rongzhi herself would not go mad and do something foolish. In any case, she had already driven Qi Baiyu away!

"Granny, go back first. I will take a look at the gate. It seems there are many people watching the commotion, and I am afraid Qi Rongzhi's foul temper will soon be taken out on someone else." Qin Wanru moved her feet and instructed her.

"All right. Then Second Young Lady must be careful. Do not truly get into a fight with Miss Qi. Her reputation is already ruined, but yours is still intact. Besides, it will be hard to explain things to the general's side!" Granny Du was afraid that Qin Wanru would really end up quarreling with Qi Rongzhi at the gate, so she lowered her voice and said with concern.

"Do not worry, Granny. I will not quarrel with her." Qin Wanru nodded, a trace of cold mockery flashing in the depths of her eyes.

There would surely be a good show by the gate in a moment.

Qi Rongzhi had always believed that everyone ought to yield to her. At the gate, there were not only the families of officials watching the excitement, but also many common women. When such women started making trouble, they would not care whether you were the daughter of a prefectural governor or not.

Qi Rongzhi stormed out of the old madam's courtyard in a fury. When she reached the gate and saw that there were actually some visiting pilgrims blocking the entrance and watching the excitement, she became even angrier, almost to the point of madness. In a fit of temper, she thrust hard at the two women standing before her and shouted, "Out of the way! Move! Have you gone blind, blocking the road!"

The two women who had been watching the commotion staggered from the shove and nearly fell, bumping into several other women nearby.

"Hey, what is wrong with you? Do you have no eyes?" One of the women who had been bumped into glared back in annoyance, planting her hands on her sturdy waist and snapping back at her!