Chapter 295: Consumed by Rage
Qiu Rongrong froze on the spot, completely at a loss. Wen Xiuyi hurriedly wiggled his eyes at her, but Qiu Rongrong still felt the rewards were far too scalding to handle.
Unaware of what had transpired between them, Magistrate Chen teased seeing Qiu Rongrong like this: “What is wrong with Manager Qiu? Has the joy made you lose your bearings?”
Brought back to her senses by his words, and under the hints from Wen Xiuyi’s gaze, Qiu Rongrong accepted this reality and curtsied politely: “Rongrong offers her deepest thanks to Your Lordship, and many thanks to Uncle Wen for putting in a good word for me.”
This is truly a massive pie dropping from the heavens, completely knocking her senseless.
Neither member of the Xie family mother and son had snapped back to reality yet. It wasn’t until Qiu Rongrong accepted the items that they finally reacted. Old Mistress Xie hurriedly gave her son a kick, prompting Xie Yushan to step forward and ask, “Lord Chen, is there nothing else?”
For a monumental achievement like introducing new crops, even if others didn’t understand, Xie Yushan still possessed a bit of knowledge. This was a colossal contribution to the country—how could the reward consist of merely this little? By all rights, their family ought to have been granted imperial honors and titles as well!
Xie Yushan could hardly wait to force himself to accept the fact that Qiu Rongrong had found the new crops behind their backs, precisely for the glory and status this achievement could bring to him and the Xie family.
Magistrate Chen cast a glance at Wen Xiuyi that clearly communicated as expected, then let out a cough and said coolly, “All the rewards are right here. What, could Master Xie happen to know some piece of news that this official is unaware of?”
Xie Yushan was choked for words, yet feeling unwilling to accept it, he thought for a moment, pulled out his purse, and quietly stuffed it into Magistrate Chen’s hand.
Under normal circumstances, Magistrate Chen might have smoothly accepted it along with the gesture. But today he did not; instead, he sternly barked at Xie Yushan in an exceptionally loud voice: “Master Xie, what is the meaning of this?”
Now it was Xie Yushan’s turn to be utterly dumbfounded. Standing there awkwardly, he froze as Magistrate Chen took a step back while speaking, leaving Xie Yushan’s hand holding out the money pouch stranded in midair.
Wen Xiuyi put on an exaggerated look of sheer astonishment: “My, what is Master Xie doing? Trying to bribe Lord Chen with silver?”
Magistrate Chen played along smoothly: “Lord Wen, eat whatever you like, but do not make wild accusations! This official hasn’t accepted a single copper!”
Xie Yushan: “…” If he still failed to sense that something was amiss at this point, he wouldn’t be Xie Yushan.
Since he possessed at least some knowledge of Annan Kingdom’s laws, he asked directly, “Lord Chen, this humble citizen merely wishes to ask: for such a monumental achievement as my wife discovering new crops, does the imperial court truly have no other rewards or titles for us?”
Magistrate Chen spread his hands wide: “None! Just these—all belonging to Manager Qiu.” He deliberately placed extra emphasis on the words Manager Qiu.
Only then did Xie Yushan suddenly realize that from beginning to end, Magistrate Chen and Wen Xiuyi had consistently addressed her as Manager Qiu, never once calling her Lady Xie. Realization dawned upon him in an instant, and his dark, cold gaze shot toward Qiu Rongrong like a dagger.
If Qiu Rongrong didn’t know these two were here to back her up, she would have lived her life in vain. Facing Xie Yushan’s accusatory glare, she remained completely composed.
“I must truly trouble Lord Chen and Uncle Wen to make the journey in person. I shall host a banquet at Zui Xian Tower this evening—please do me the honor of attending,” Qiu Rongrong curtsied respectfully.
Magistrate Chen let out a hearty laugh and said, “Then Lord Wen and this official shall humbly accept your kind offer! Since the items have been delivered, Manager Qiu, we shall take our leave first.”
Qiu Rongrong saw them off politely: “Take care, My Lords.”
The very moment Magistrate Chen and Wen Xiuyi stepped out of the Xie estate, before Qiu Rongrong could even react, Xie Yushan stepped forward in a fit of rage and slapped her squarely across the face.
The loud slap left everyone present stunned on the spot. Qiaoyan hurriedly stepped in front of Qiu Rongrong to shield her.
“Master, what are you doing?!”
Clutching her scalding cheek, a metallic taste of blood welled up in Qiu Rongrong’s mouth. The burning pain across her face stood as testament to the sheer force behind Xie Yushan’s slap.
Feeling no sense of wrongdoing, Xie Yushan merely roared in anger, “Qiu Rongrong, you certainly have nerve! Keeping us completely in the dark regarding such a monumental affair!”
Even Old Mistress Xie chimed in from the side: “A woman running around outside all day, flaunting herself and mingling with those shady, improper people—have you forgotten that you are still a wife of the Xie family? Without our Xie family, you are nothing!”
A cold sneer curled at the corner of Qiu Rongrong’s lips. Never mind that this was a monumental fortune bestowed upon her by Wen Yao—even if she had discovered it all on her own, she wouldn’t have shared a single shred of it with the Xie family!
While guarding against Xie Yushan flying into another frenzy, Qiaoyan looked at Qiu Rongrong’s face with deep heartache. Five massive finger prints stood out clearly on Qiu Rongrong’s cheek, causing half of her face to swell up. Tears spilled from Qiaoyan’s eyes instantly: “Madam…”
After enduring so many years of grievances, Madam’s life had finally seen the light of day. Qiaoyan wasn’t without bold thoughts of having Madam leave the Xie family—Madam could live a wonderful life on her own regardless.
Yet Qiu Rongrong had told her that certain things could not be done before she herself grew strong enough to hold her own ground. Although Xie Yushan was a useless piece of trash, he still had the Xie clan standing behind him. Even if he belonged to a side branch, the Xie clan would never allow her to actively leave the Xie family for the sake of their clan’s reputation—to the Xie family, that would be a humiliation.
Furthermore, their Qiu family was not yet strong enough to contend with the Xie clan. What’s more, for the sake of Yi’er, she had no choice but to endure all of it.
She had originally thought that as long as she maintained a peaceful, indifferent existence with Xie Yushan, handing over money to dismiss them would keep these two people quiet. Now it seemed this man would only push his luck further and take an ell when given an inch. In that case, he couldn’t blame her for what came next.
Raising her face, she looked at the mother and son with a cold, detached gaze through her swollen cheek, speaking in a chilly voice: “Qiaoyan, we’re leaving.”
As for Xie Yushan’s hideous expression, Qiu Rongrong didn’t care for it in the slightest.
Qiaoyan supported Qiu Rongrong as they turned around to leave. With a chest full of rage and nowhere to vent it, Xie Yushan could only sweep all the ornaments sitting on the side table onto the floor.
Reaching the doorway, Qiu Rongrong displayed not a shred of emotion, merely instructing the servants: “Go to the storeroom and bring out new ones to set up. Let Master smash as many as he pleases.” With that, she walked away without ever looking back.
Xie Yushan’s chest heaved up and down violently. Beside him, Old Mistress Xie continued to add fuel to the fire: “Look at her! Just look at her! She looks down on us more and more nowadays! Son, for such a major achievement, if she had told us earlier, perhaps you could have secured an official title for yourself!”
Old Mistress Xie wasn’t just adding fuel to the fire—she genuinely felt her family had suffered a massive loss.
Having vented enough of his rage, Xie Yushan sat down on a nearby chair.
Old Mistress Xie hurriedly stepped forward to ask, “Shan’er, what should we do now?”
Xie Yushan’s gaze turned dark and ominous. What could they do? The official imperial decree from the court had already arrived; even if he wanted to do something, he couldn’t change a thing. Furthermore, from Magistrate Chen’s attitude toward him just now, Xie Yushan had already realized that everyone seemed to be taking Qiu Rongrong’s side nowadays.
Reflecting carefully on the matter now, when had Qiu Rongrong begun to slip out of control? It seemed to have started right when she came into contact with that peasant girl. Before he even realized it, he had completely lost control over Qiu Rongrong.
The entire premise relied on keeping Qiu Rongrong under his thumb, yet now Qiu Rongrong was entirely out of his grasp.
Suddenly recalling something, Xie Yushan’s eyes turned icy, and he issued a cold command to the servant beside him: “Go to the academy and bring the young master back. Tell the master that there is business at home requiring the young master to return for a trip.”
Seeing the servant depart, Xie Yushan turned to his mother, speaking in a deep voice: “Mother, go make preparations. The moment Yi’er returns, take him and set off for the main clan’s estate over there. Didn’t you say you haven’t seen Jie’er in a long time? This is the perfect chance to visit him.”
