A stew of the Red Chamber

Chapter 74 One Cut in Two

The north wind howled.

The wind caused the doors in the courtyard, which Wang Qing had pushed open and closed intermittently, to make a 'bang bang' sound.

Wang Qing stepped out of the courtyard with a light heart, the sound of the door slamming shut echoing in his ears.

Although Siqi is not as charming and understanding as Sister Liu, she has the advantage of being strong-willed, young and energetic.

In addition, driven by his eagerness to save lives, he was like a wild horse, relentlessly pushing forward despite Wang Qing's relentless efforts.

Wang Qing wanted to teach her a lesson, so he put in a lot more effort.

This little brat was quite stubborn; despite being somewhat exhausted, she refused Wang Qing's offer to wait for her to recover.

About half an hour later.

With a relieved yet stubborn and aggrieved expression, Siqi pursed her lips, leaned against the wall, and slowly emerged from the courtyard with difficulty.

After taking three steps and pausing frequently, panting every five, I finally arrived at the front door of my house in the eastern wing.

She straightened up slightly, took two deep breaths of cold air, and then knocked on her own front door.

The door latch clicked to the floor, and Wang opened the door. Seeing Siqi, she exclaimed in surprise, "Oh! Why are you back at this hour?"

Upon hearing this question, Siqi felt an overwhelming sense of grievance that she couldn't vent. She almost burst into tears, but after catching her breath, she said in a trembling voice, "Mother! Father will be back tomorrow!"

"Really?" Madam Wang cried tears of joy. "Did Second Miss go to plead with Madam? I heard that the palace issued an imperial decree today, summoning Master Qing to the palace. I was worried that Madam might not be willing to get involved in this matter. Thank God!"

Siqi pondered for a moment and said, "Miss went to ask Madam for help, but Madam did not agree. It was my daughter who went to see Master Qing without Miss's knowledge."

Although Madam Wang is a good cover, if she is unaware of the truth and spreads the word, it will be easy for others to notice the problem.

"It doesn't matter who you beg for help! It's a miracle your father was even released!"

Wang Shi casually remarked, pulling Siqi towards the house, but suddenly realized something was wrong with her daughter and hurriedly asked, "What's wrong?"

"No...it's nothing! My daughter was so excited that she tripped and fell on the way!"

Seeing her mother's skepticism, she quickly said, "By the way, Mother, have you heard Grandmother mention that the Master and Madam intend to marry their daughter to Master Qing?"

Madam Xing was by nature a flatterer. When they were at Rongqing Hall, Siqi thought that it was because Wang Qing had gained the emperor's favor that she had instigated Yingchun to offer a toast.

When Wang Qing revealed the marriage details, she suddenly realized what was going on.

Asking his mother was merely a way to give himself a reason to ask Wang Qing for help and to dispel his mother's suspicions.

Sure enough, upon hearing this, Madam Wang said, "Because your maternal grandfather and father were arrested, the First Madam hasn't been very friendly to your maternal grandmother lately. However, since Master Qing agreed so readily after just one request, it can't be wrong!"

readily?

My daughter was almost killed by the ordeal.

However, on second thought, if he hadn't rescued his cousin as well, Wang Qing would have been incredibly generous, and he wouldn't have ended up in this situation...

Siqi muttered to herself, but dared not tell her mother. She could only say, "Grandpa Qing also knows that Grandpa and Father are innocent. It was just for show, and he didn't intend to keep them locked up for too long."

She revealed all the information she had gleaned from Wang Qing, and only then did Wang realize that there was another story behind Madam Xing taking the blame for Jia She.

Having dispelled her doubts, Madam Wang then asked, "How did you know that the eldest master and his wife were going to betroth the second young lady to Master Qing? Did Master Qing tell you?"

Recalling Wang Qing's playful remark about the amorous young lady and the mandarin duck quilt, Siqi felt a pang of guilt and quickly denied it, saying, "If it was what Master Qing said, would I have asked Mother to ask Grandmother? During dinner tonight, the First Madam forced Miss to toast Master Qing, and I felt something was amiss."

"It's good that you had this foresight!" Madam Wang praised, "You are the second young lady's head maid, and you will inevitably have to accompany her when she marries. You are good-looking and have a good figure. If you can win the master's favor, you might not become a concubine, but you can at least become a maid like Ping'er."

It's still in the future! It's already connected now.

Recalling her previous experiences, Siqi felt wronged, but she couldn't bear to discourage her mother's enthusiasm, so she could only lower her head.

Madam Wang assumed she was just shy and laughed, "Don't think Ping'er is being wronged. The Second Miss isn't like the Second Mistress, so she still needs your help inside and out. If you could be like Ping'er, not only would you gain respect, but your father and I would also be secure for the rest of our lives."

That's fate!

Now that things had come to this, seeing her mother's earnest expectations, Siqi felt somewhat relieved and lowered her head, saying, "Daughter understands!"

Overjoyed that her usually stubborn daughter would listen to advice, Madam Wang quickly knelt down in front of Siqi, grabbed her skirt, and said, "Quickly, let your mother see where you fell!"

"No...it's nothing, just that her knee is a little swollen. My daughter can massage it herself and it will be fine."

Siqi grimaced and turned her legs to the side, hurriedly getting up and saying, "It's getting late, Father will be back tomorrow, let's go to bed early!"

She said she wanted to go to bed early, but when Siqi returned to her room, she didn't dare to take off her clothes to check. She lay on the bed fully clothed and tossed and turned for half the night before finally falling asleep from exhaustion.

In a daze, she suddenly heard her mother's joyful voice from outside: "Husband! You're finally back! Siqi! Siqi... your father is back!"

So early?

Siqi suddenly sat up in bed with a start, glanced at the sky outside the window, and, ignoring the pain in her body, hurriedly got up and pushed open the door to go out.

Just then, Siqi saw Qin Fu and his companion enter the main room. A lump formed in her throat, and she quickly lowered her head, saying, "Your daughter is incompetent! I've caused Father so much suffering!"

Unexpectedly, Qin Fu said in a relaxed tone, "What suffering? Uncle Qing is such a good man, I'm well-fed and well-clothed inside!"

Siqi looked up in astonishment and saw that Qin Fu was radiant, showing no signs of suffering in prison. In an instant, she felt that all the grievances were worth it, and tears welled up in her eyes.

Seeing this, Wang couldn't help but punch Qin Fu and spat, "Bah! You heartless bastard! My daughter and I were living in fear, while you were enjoying yourself inside, without even a word to us!"

"Alas! You are unaware of this..."

Qin Fu hurriedly recounted the events of that day and the situation after his arrest, and then added, "After all, it concerns the master and mistress. Master Qing said that if we were to go all the way and inform the family, it wouldn't seem like the real thing. He made a special arrangement, and my father-in-law and I are being well taken care of."

Upon hearing this, Siqi's heart skipped a beat, and she quickly said, "Then my cousin..."

Qin Fu's face darkened, and he shook his head, saying, "I must have been blind! I treated him differently all this time, but when this happened, not only did he throw dirty water on me, but he was so scared that he wet his pants on the spot. The old lady had someone pour cold water on him thoroughly. If it weren't for Master Qing finding a doctor, I'm afraid I would have lost my life long ago."

Originally, Siqi was somewhat skeptical of what Wang Qing said.

But since her father, who had always favored her cousin, said so, she had no choice but to believe it.

Wang hurriedly recounted, as if presenting a treasure, the possibility of Yingchun being betrothed to Wang Qing, and the imperial decree.

Qin Fu was overjoyed and exclaimed repeatedly, "Excellent! Excellent! Master Qing is a promising young man with a bright future. If Siqi can marry into the family with the Second Miss, she will truly be blessed!"

Just then, they heard Aunt Qin's heart-wrenching wails from outside the door: "Big brother! You took You'an out, you have to take responsibility!"

Qin rushed into the house and saw Qin Fu looking radiant; her cries grew even louder.

She didn't dare approach Qin Fu and her sister-in-law, with whom she had always been at odds, but instead grabbed Siqi, who had always been quite tolerant of her, and questioned, "Siqi! You patted your chest and guaranteed that you would definitely save your cousin. Now, your elder brother and your grandfather are both perfectly fine, but he's ended up like this. You didn't do this on purpose, did you?"

"I... how could I..." Siqi was filled with grievance.

Seeing this, Qin Shi became even more agitated, grabbing her and saying, "Go and see your cousin! He's a mess now, neither human nor ghost, all because of you! I think you shouldn't go serve the Second Miss anymore, come back with me and serve him!"

"Snapped!"

Before he could finish speaking, Qin Fu slapped him across the face and shouted, "Siqi is the Second Miss's woman, what is your son to you?!"

Qin was so dizzy from the slap that she didn't dare to actually let Siqi serve her son. She just asked for an exorbitant price and then tried to negotiate it down.

Seeing that Qin Fu had caught her out of her predicament, she could only throw a tantrum, dragging Siqi outside while saying, "Go and see what you've done to You'an!"

I thought that since my niece had always taken good care of my son, and I had softened my tone, she probably wouldn't be able to refuse.

Unexpectedly, Siqi angrily flung her arm away and said, "Did I harm him? Did I make him wet his pants, or did I have the old lady pour cold water on him? You can argue all you want, but I'm afraid the old lady will think you're holding a grudge if she hears it!"

……