kid…" Qin Huaiyong said as he frowned and waved his hand as if to dismiss what Qin Wanru said.
"Asking a kid not to meddle with this affair. How about me? Am I too old to meddle with this?" Old grandma cut in.
Qin Wanru indicated for Qing Yue to help old grandma to the chair to sit down.
"Mother, something did not add up here…" Qin Huaiyong tried to explain when he heard old grandma's angry tone of voice.
"What are you doubting? As a father, would you rather believe the words of an old maid or your own daughter?" said Qin Wanru as she looked up at Qin Huaiyong with a pair of bright eyes.
Mammy Fang followed Mrs. Qin when she married into the Qin family. Qin Wanru would like Mammy Fang's arm to be severed by Mrs. Qin personally. She wanted to see how many maids would remain faithful to their mistress if the mistress could not even protect her own henchmen.
Matters concerning life and death was not easily explained using a few words.
"Beat the old maid to death with the rod!" old grandma said coldly before Qin Huaiyong could say anything. Old grandma had always doted on Qin Wanru so one could imagine her fury when the mother and daughter pair set Qin Wanru up which nearly cost her life.
Why would someone keep an old maid who implicated the mistress whom she served?
"Mother… this involves a person's life after all. Moreover, it was an accident…" Mrs. Qin said quickly when she heard old grandma's words. Mrs. Qin would not bear to let this punishment befall Mammy Fang since she was Mrs. Qin's henchman after all.
"Is Mother saying that if I had died, it was an accident?" Qin Wanru said coldly with a serious expression.
There was no way Mammy Fang could defend herself since only Qin Wanru, Qing Yue and Mammy Fang was present at the incident.
Mrs. Qin was struck dumb by Qin Wanru's question. Suddenly Mrs. Qin had a feeling that Qin Wanru had turned into a totally different person. If it were in the past, Qin Wanru would never have talked to her in this manner. With a little coaxing from her mother, Qin Wanru would usually be submissive to her.
"Why are you talking to mother like this, Second Sister!" by now, Qin Yuru had stopped crying and began to speak up for her mother.
"Grandma, since Mammy Fang refused to own up, let's bring this up to the judge and let them proceed with the investigation to find out who was trying to bring harm to me and why. Why would anyone want me dead even if I refused to accept the engagement which is a fraud?" said Qin Wanru, ignoring Qin Yuru's words. She seemed to have expected Qin Yuru's reaction and was totally calm about it.
Sending to the judge?
Not only did the mother and daughter pair shiver at the thought, but even Qin Huaiyong was also beginning to feel uneasy.
This matter was blown out of proportion by now. Earlier on, Qin Huaiyong had make a visit to the Qis to apologize to them profusely and made serious promises in exchange for them to keep quiet about Qin Yuru's infidelity. They had settled breaking the engagement with the reason of incompatibility in their horoscopes. However, to bring this matter to the judge in public would implicate his prospect as an official.
The ambitious Qin Huaiyong would never agree to this.
"Deal with the old maid as you see fit!" Qin Huaiyong directed his words at his wife.
"General!" Mrs. Qin cried out in shock.
"Mother couldn't bear to punish her? I guess as much since she had followed mother here when you got married. What if I have really wronged her? Wouldn't it be better to bring this whole matter to the judge?" Qin Wanru said with a calm expression.
"Send her to the judge now. We will not wrongly judge her in our house!" old grandma snorted as she sided with Qin Wanru's suggestion, then she called for some men to come over to handle the matter.
"Are you not going to take action right now?" Qin Huaiyong panicked when he saw that that old grandma was serious about sending the old maid to the judge. He gave his wife a kick with his leg and cried out with a severe voice.
Although the kick was not meant to hurt his wife and therefore was not done with much force, Mrs. Qin was snapped to her sense and she nodded and said, "I will punish this maid who tried to bring harm to her mistress."
Thereafter, she turned to the other maids and ordered them, saying, "Drag her out and beat her with a rod!"
The few maids standing behind Mrs. Qin sneaked a fearful look at Qin Wanru, then forcefully dragged Mammy Chen out of the room.
A look of disdain appeared on the face of Qin Wanru, who was still sitting on the bed. She supposed these maids also had a hand in Mrs. Qin's evil plan. Qin Wanru was interested to see if they would continue to assist Mrs. Qin in her evil ways.
"Go back to your rooms!" old grandma said as she waved them away.
"Mother, what about Yuru? What happens to her now?" Mrs. Qin and Qin Yuru were welling up in tears again.
"I don't understand Huaiyong and your thinking. You should never have resorted to this in the first place!" old grandma said, looking tired and disappointed. She did not expect them to have kept her in the dark with regards to this important matter. She could only conclude that the couple had been treating her like an outsider.
Thinking that she and Zhuozhuo were the only people being kept in the dark, old grandma was utterly disappointed with Qin Huaiyong. All of a sudden, she was reminded of the fact that she was only Qin Huaiyong's adoptive mother, not his real mother.
Qin Huaiyong's real mother had passed away since he was very young and it was old grandma who had raised him. In his younger days, he used to have a close relationship with her. However, ever since he married Mrs. Qin, they had grown further apart.
Nevertheless, the incident today had caused her to be utterly disappointed. She closed her eyes after speaking those last words.
Seeing the disappointment in old grandma's face, Qin Huaiyong knew he was guilty. After he stole a glance at his youngest daughter, he sigh helplessly and led his wife and eldest daughter to leave old grandma's room.
Qin Wanru got up from the bed and walked to her grandma. "Grandma, are you sure you're not going to help Big Sister?" Qin Wanru asked gently after her father and the rest left old grandma's room, while gently massaging her grandma's forehead.
"I'm getting old, so I can't really do much! Nowadays your father has his own thinking and he could not be bothered about my opinions!" old grandma said laboriously with a hint of frustration.
"Grandma, would you help Aunt Shui to get out from the temple in the house?" Qin Wanru said as a reminder to her grandma.