The title of ‘bitches’ set off the women behind her and they screeched back in protest.
The ensuing delightful cacophony of shrieked insults and high-pitched outrage didn’t irritate Pang Xiao. He rather chuckled instead.
“Has Madame Pang gotten confused in your anger? As needy or useless these women may be, they’re not General Pang’s concubines. Or are you too used to being a jealous sort and lost control of your temper again?”
“You, you vile spawn!”
“Rest well in your new home, Madame Pang. My concubines will serve you well.” Pang Xiao ordered, “Be on your way and serve the madame well.”
A din of sorrowful wails rose from the carriages, but who would dare defy Pang Xiao’s instructions? No one was able to change his mind once it was set!
Standing in front of the door with his hands behind his back, Pang Xiao laughed softly when the convoy drove off into the distance. Even the wound on his arm didn’t throb as much anymore.
Using this incident to exaggerate his reactions, he’d been able to clean out most of the irritations at home. Now that they’d left, they’d have to expend quite a bit of effort to come back. They were all part of his household at the end of the day, so it’d be up to him whether or not he let them through the front door!
This way, his darling would have fewer troubles to deal with when she joined the family later.
Chapter 375: An Unspoken Accord
The prince wasn’t worried that his darling wouldn't be able to handle someone harsh and caustic like Madame Pang. It was just that, if he could clear away annoyances with a simple bit of planning, why allow them to stay and exasperate his beloved?
Turning back happily, Pang Xiao was about to head inside when he saw Huzi winking and making faces at him.
“What is it?”
Huzi silently pointed at the alley across from them.
Flicking a sidelong glance without reaction, Pang Xiao caught sight of an unfamiliar pageboy standing at a corner of a wall.
As far as looks went, the pageboy couldn’t be any more ordinary. But while laymen wouldn’t be able to tell anything special, experts would be able to see that this was a highly skilled martial arts fighter. He kept a fixed stare on the manor doors and didn’t dodge the prince’s stare when their eyes met. He just gave a coolly composed nod.
Inspiration flashed across Pang Xiao’s mind as something occurred to him. Tamping down brimming excitement, he turned expressionlessly back into the manner.
When they reached the study and closed the door, he finally whispered, “Do you think darling Yi is here?”
“Naturally.” Huzi chuckled. “The fourth miss cares about Your Highness so much. How would she not worry when news of your fight and injury from the prince consort is the talk of town? She must’ve come to take a look for herself.”
Pang Xiao smiled tightly and nodded. He adopted a seemingly maturely demeanor with his pacing, making two circles before commenting with regret. “Too bad there’s still spies in the household. Otherwise I’d bring her in so grandfather and grandmother can have a look. Grandmother’s been talking about her nonstop in her absence.”
“The days ahead are long. Your Highness should go meet the fourth miss first and put her at ease.”
Pang Xiao nodded and went for a change of clothing, swapping out the bloodstained gauze on his arm and sneaking out the rear side door when no one was around. He had Huzi follow him from a distance, just in case the prince overlooked someone tailing him.
Before long, he made his way to Qin Yining’s carriage.
Jingzhe, Xiaoman, Xiaoxue, and Dahan were scattered around the vehicle and alley. They snapped to attention when they saw someone approach, but relaxed again when they saw who it was.
Next to the carriage, Xiaoman whispered, “Miss, the prince is here.”
Qin Yining blinked and quickly flung open the window curtains to see a beaming Pang Xiao next to the window.
Throwing a few winks at her mistress, Xianyun smartly alighted from the carriage and made a smiling curtsey at Pang Xiao. She gestured for the former Silver Masks to clear the area.
Embarrassed by her maid’s antics, Qin Yining’s discomfort transformed into sunny smile when she saw the prince deftly jump onto the carriage.
He took a seat next to her, put the curtain down, and stroked her cheek with his uninjured right hand. “What brings you here?”
“I heard about your injury and came to take a look, but actually watched a great show instead!”
Pang Xiao chuckled. “Those women were seriously too annoying to remain in the manor. They’ve already severely disturbed my grandparents and mother’s lives.”
Though what was even more important was that he didn’t want Qin Yining to suffer a single bit after she married him, but he was too embarrassed to say that in front of her. He didn’t want her to think that he was fishing for praise.
The prince’s meaningful look elicited an answering chuckle from the Qin fourth miss. She flung an arm around her man’s neck and adopted a brotherly leer. “Does Brother Beauty not have anything else to say?”
The teasing tone greatly amuses Pang Xiao, but the nickname of Brother Beauty set his heart afire. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pressed her into his embrace. “There’s not much else, but let’s hear another ‘Brother Beauty’ from you again.”
Tittering, Qin Yining complied. “Brother Beauty obviously used the excuse of the emperor’s brother-in-law injuring you to demand compensation! You sent away an official mother and swept out your concubines while you were at it. I’m sure there’s still quite a few concealed spies in their servants, right? Killing many birds with one stone has always been Brother Beauty’s style.”
She drew closer to his ears and whispered, “And I think that your biggest goal was to get rid of all the concubines. Were you worried that I’d make life hard for them in the future?”
The repeated calls of Brother Beauty utterly melted Pang Xiao’s heart. A wave of warmth rose in his body, leaving only the girl’s tender voice and hot breaths registering in his senses.
He’d never been a bashful person, so decisively flipped her down onto the carriage and bent down to the small mouth that he’d been yearning for many days.
The world spun round and round before Qin Yining had a chance to react. Her struggles futile, she decided to quietly accept the attention.
Pang Xiao didn’t rise until his darling was almost out of air. “How would I be worried for them? I was thinking of you.”
Qin Yining's beautiful eyes sparkled and she chuckled softly, “I know.”
Unable to help himself, Pang Xiao dropped another featherlight kiss on her eyelashes. “I know you know. You were just teasing me.”
The two grinned at each other.
The Qin fourth miss pushed the prince away so they could sit up straight. “Where did Prince Consort Ji injure you? I can see the bruise by your mouth. He really put his back into it.”
“It wouldn’t have been realistic otherwise.” Pang Xiao smiled. “He broke the skin on my arm, but it’s no big deal. Ah Lan knows the limits very well.”
“So you guys planned this out beforehand?” Qin Yining rifled through Pang Xiao’s sleeve. He obligingly took off his outer robe so she could take a look at his injury.
“Not at all. I dropped in for a visit and we chatted over tea. The princess came as I was about to leave. Since it was such a rare coincidence, I thought it’d be best to make full use of the opportunity. Ah Lan is in similar straits as me so he probably thought the same too. We guessed each other’s intentions after exchanging a few words, so decided to have a fight.”
“You two are really… something, to be so much on the same page when you didn’t come up with this beforehand!”
“We honed this out in the battlefield. Though our circumstances are greatly different from before and we may sometimes stand on opposing sides from each other, we still have that previous understanding of each other.�
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Qin Yining nodded understandingly and sighed. “That can’t be helped, given the times we’re in. But Prince Consort Ji has a sharp head on his shoulders and is decisive when he needs to be. He’s a good brother.”
“That’s right.” Pang Xiao agreed with emotion. “Our situation now isn’t as before. We may scheme against each other now, but we understand why the other has to do so. Sometimes, our hands really are tied behind our backs.”
Qin Yining nodded. “This must be the difference between men and women. If it was two close girlfriends having to plot against each other to keep themselves safe, they wouldn’t keep such an open mind about it all. The friendship would long since be over, but you men are different.”
“It’s not a matter of gender, but who we’re talking about. Ji Lan and I have a brotherhood forged through life and death, and I’ve always admired his character and martial arts skills. He’s an upright and straight-laced individual. I’m willing to treat him with sincerity as well. Our circumstances now are similar, so we understand each other even more so.”
The hilarity of the situation suddenly occurred to the prince. “We’re both plotting against each other now to ensure our security, but we also know full well that we’re being set up.”
“So it’s not a bad thing to have such an unspoken accord between you two. Your wound is still bleeding,” Qin Yining noted with worry when she saw blood see through the gauze around his muscled arm. “Don’t move around much over the next couple of days. Don’t get the wound wet and be careful of what you eat. Don’t think that you’re invincible. You hurt too when you get injured! Look at all those scars and marks all over your body. They’re such an ugly sight.”
“Heh, you don’t like them? That’s too bad, I’m all covered in them now. Why don’t you tell Bingtang and have her think of a way to get rid of the scars? Tell her they don’t feel good to you.”
Bingtang would laugh her head off if Qin Yining said that!
A furiously blushing Qin fourth miss glared ferociously at the prince. “Look at you, not taking things seriously!”
Pang Xiao put his shirt back on with Qin Yining’s help and whispered, “Did that Lu fellow give you a hard time?”
The girl smiled back. “Not at all. But now that I’ve caused Madame Lu to lose face, I wonder what she’ll do next.”
“Madame Lu isn’t a soft character. You must be careful. With her nature, she takes revenge for every slight. Things won’t be over this easily.”
Chapter 376: To Pull Up By the Roots (I)
“Of course I know things won’t be over that easily. It’s all because someone is just so fascinating.” Qin Yining hugged her shoulders and looked at Pang Xiao with resignation. “I was just sitting at home and didn’t offend anyone when disaster fell out of the sky and into my lap. I gained two enemies plotting after me for no reason at all, and their statuses aren’t low either!”
Pang Xiao scraped her nose with a finger, smiling at her teasing. “I’ll pretend that you’re jealous.”
“I am jealous,” responded the girl seriously.
The prince’s heart shook when he met her limpid eyes. She meant her words!
“I thought you…”
“Thought me what? That I don’t get jealous?” Qin Yining was quite very surprised. Someone as smart as Pang Xiao would think she didn’t have an envious bone in her body? “Am I really that generous in your eyes?”
Pang Xiao shook his head and enfolded her into his embrace, rubbing the top of her head with his chin. He sighed. “It’s my oversight. You’re always so dependable and mature, and smart and sharp that I defaulted to thinking you never mind anything you run into. But I forgot that you’re a girl too. That’s my fault.”
He really was a dunce! No matter how strong his darling was, she was just a sixteen-year-old girl at the end of the day. How could he have been so absentminded as to neglect her feelings? He’d taken her maturity and patience for granted!
What difference was there then, between him and those who only cared about using Qin Yining?
Sensing her man’s low spirits, the Qin fourth miss raised her head with a smile and kissed his chin. “What fault? I may be a girl, but I’m not weaker than anyone else. Look at you, a man and fretting over so much. You’re not half as open-minded as me!”
Pang Xiao didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Me, not open-minded? I just care about you.”
The warm huffs of air by her ear caused Qin Yining to quickly shift her body away. She shoved his shoulder. “Let’s chat just for a little while. I don’t want others to think random, wild thoughts.”
“I know.” Pang Xiao smiled. “I’ll sneak in to see you in the future. But you’ve gotten some experts by your side, so it won’t be easy to soundlessly jump through your window now. Won’t your guards think wild thoughts if they found out?”
A hot blush from the joking, Qin Yining snorted softly. “My father gave them to me to guard against you.”
“Is father-in-law still thinking about what happened last time?” The prince quipped.
The Qin fourth miss glared ferociously at him, annoyed whenever she thought of how Pang Xiao purposefully let her father see his shadow. She shoved his shoulder. “Go on, go on. Go back and tend to your wound.”
The prince stopped teasing his girl and pulled her soft, tender hands over for a kiss before jumping down the carriage.
Xianyun approached to curtsey when she saw her former master emerge.
“Serve your mistress well.”
“Understood. This servant will devote all of my energies to this miss.”
Pang Xiao nodded, spun on his heel, and strode off quickly in the opposite direction of the Pang Manor.
Qin Yining’s unadorned hand lifted the curtains, not giving the order to set off until the prince’s figure disappeared into the distance.
A heavy weight lifted from her heart, entertained by a good show, and most importantly, having had a conversation with Pang Xiao, Qin Yining was in exceedingly good spirits. She spent the rest of the trip home breaking out into involuntary smiles.
Xianyun knew that her mistress had a thin face and so didn’t say anything. But she too grinned all the way back to the Qin Manor.
……
Things were hopping in the capital these days. Gossip first flew fast and furious about Madame Lu purposefully giving Minister Qin’s daughter a hard time, but only reaping a public scolding from her own brother for her troubles. Then the dance between Prince Consort Ji, the Faithful Prince of the First Rank, and the Princess of Anyang became everyone’s favorite cup of tea at every meal.
By the time news of the fight between the two war gods broke out, the hubbub rose to a peak. Everyone knew about the affair.
There wasn’t much to be had in the way of entertainment and people shunned the outdoors during the harsh winters. Now that the days were turning warm again, more foot traffic in the streets meant the exchange of more news.
Seeing public opinion develop in the direction that Li Qitian wanted it to, Qin Yining knew that Pang Xiao must be giving the tides of thought a push behind the scenes.
The more time they spent together, the more Qin fourth miss realized that Pang Xiao was actually a conscientious man with devilish methods. At the very least, he wasn’t as crude and brash as he appeared on the surface.
Seeing her beloved willing to use brain over brawn put her at ease.
The fight between two war gods fully eclipsed the matter of Madame Lu. When no further action was forthcoming, it seemed to Qin Yining that previous matters were over and done with.
Thus, Lu Dehan coming to her in a panic on this day was quite a surprise.
“Benefactor, people from the Marquis of Valiant Faith Manor came to me today and said they want to buy your manor for a high price. They’ll kill me if I refuse!”
This took Qin Yining gravely back. “The marchioness sent men to you?”
“Yes.” Lu Dehan nodded. “I’m an old man and n
ot afraid of death, but I’m afraid of doing something wrong and bringing my benefactor down with me. Didn’t some people say a while ago that the woman in the marquis’s manor is making trouble for you? No wonder she’s doing all this now.”
Qin Yining furrowed her brow in deep thought. The manor they were living in now was in the process of being handed over to the Qins. Having put Lu Dehan’s name on the deed, she’d given instructions for him to transfer the deed to Qin Huaiyuan’s name without a need for silver to be exchanged.
Who would’ve thought that Madame Lu would still be obsessed about this matter after failing so many times?
“Benefactor, what should we do now?”
“Don’t be afraid, she won’t do anything to you.”
“I’m not afraid even if she really does do something. But are we just going to drag things out like this with her? She wants to buy the manor, but I won’t sell it to her. She might not kill me, but she won’t let us have an easy time of things. Why don’t we sell the manor to her at a high price? We’ll be able to buy a better one with the silver then. She can eat that loss!”
Qin Yining shook her head with amusement when she heard this. Lu Dehan had a very straightforward mind, alright.
Wouldn’t Madame Lu just do the same thing again if they tried to buy another manor?
The Lus are an aristocratic family hundreds of years old with very deep foundations. Maybe the money is just a small number to her. It’ll be more than easy for her to repeat the same actions again.
Besides, she’d be conceding defeat in a way if she lowered her head now and took the money from the marchioness.
That had never been Qin Yining’s style. She’d rather be enemies with the Lus than do anything to lose face for the Qins. If the clan’s womenfolk weren’t aboveboard in the inner residence, her father would be ridiculed in his position at court!
“Miss.” Qiulu curtsied in front of the door at this time. “Miss, we have a calling card from the Lus. The front of the house says that since all three elder masters aren’t at home, there’s no one who can make the decisions. Senior madame had us hand the card to you.”
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