Now that she had someone to back her up, Miss Yuan looked at Chu Lian in delight, flaunting her power.
Chu Lian was too lazy to argue with this braindead pair of father and daughter. She rolled her eyes with an exaggerated motion, without any care for her image. She then snorted and said, “Daddy, why did you come to interrogate me without first making sure of the truth? Those not in the know might even think that I’m not really your daughter!”
Chu Qizheng glared at her in disbelief that she would say such words. His rage shot through the roof and he was about to vent his temper and give her a sound scolding. However, Chu Lian didn’t give him the chance.
“Next time, I hope Daddy can investigate the truth properly before coming to interrogate your daughter. Don’t just place all the blame on me without any proof. My husband isn’t around and I’m alone, so I can’t withstand your accusations. It was me who bought that golden hairpin you mentioned. One hundred and fifty taels: no more, no less. If you don’t believe me, you can ask the manager over at Jinshi Pavilion. If Eighth Sister likes it, Daddy can buy one for Eighth Sister there. I’m sure that Daddy won’t be bothered about spending such a trivial sum of money since you’re such a great and mighty man.”
Chu Lian didn’t continue any further. She boarded her carriage by herself. With a crack of the driver’s whip, Chu Lian’s carriage departed with the escort of her family servants, disappearing from Chu Qizheng’s sight.
Chu Qizheng only knew Chu Lian as the daughter who sometimes craved for his approval. He hadn’t expected her to completely abandon all consideration for his pride- she had disgraced him without a second thought! His face was as black as a pot. However, he couldn’t find anything wrong with what Chu Lian had said, either.
Finally, he could only hold back his anger and question Miss Yuan. “Is what your Sixth Sister said true?”
Miss Yuan knew that her plot had failed again, so she harrumphed and said, “Sixth Sister bought that golden hairpin, but I was clearly the one who chose it first!” As she spoke, she started to cry. She looked up at Chu Qizheng with a pitiful expression. “Daddy, I really like that golden hairpin. Maybe… Daddy can buy a hairpin for little Yuan?”
Buying a hairpin?
Chu Qizheng’s face froze. Second Madam was strictly in charge of the finances at home, and he didn’t have much squared away in his private funds. He usually went out to play, drink, and have fun. How could he possibly have a hundred taels to buy a hairpin?! What a dangerous thought that Miss Yuan had!
“Nonsense! Stop thinking about buying this and that! All you know how to do is spend money on accessories! Girls your age should be doing more productive things, like focusing on your studies.” Chu Qizheng tossed his sleeves and left. Due to Chu Lian’s words, his chest was full of rage.
When Miss Yuan saw that her plan hadn’t come to fruition, she wiped her tears with a handkerchief and looked down with reddened eyes. Her heart was full of hate for Chu Lian.
Miss Fu and Miss Su were watching from afar. Miss Fu’s lips curled up and she mocked, “Ever since Sixth Sister got married, she’s been getting more and more difficult to deal with. “
However, Miss Su didn’t share her thoughts. If only she could be as straightforward and decisive as Sixth Sister was!
On the way back to the Jing’an Estate, Chu Lian leaned against the wall and rested her eyes for a while. Wenqing and Wenlan sat to one side and carefully watched her expression. Finally, Wenqing couldn’t hold back any longer and began to try to console her. “Third Young Madam, please don’t think too much about what just happened. You’re now a member of House Jing’an. You have Third Young Master, Madam, and the matriarch!”
Hearing this, Chu Lian opened her eyes to look at Wenqing. She suddenly smiled and reached out to pinch Wenqing’s nose. “You silly girl, what are you thinking about? I’m not angry.”
Her mother-in-law and grandmother-in-law both treated her very well. Chu Lian was already satisfied. As for that crazy, absentee husband of hers, forget it. She had never thought of expecting anything from him.
When Wenqing saw that Chu Lian’s smile seemed to be genuine and she really wasn’t bothered by what happened just now, she heaved a sigh of relief together with Wenlan. Following that, she purposely tried to cheer her master up with a couple jokes.
Chu Lian rolled her eyes. “Alright, enough. Your jokes aren’t funny at all!”
Wenqing covered her smile with a hand. “If Third Young Madam has any funnier jokes, then why don’t you share them with us servants?”
Chu Lian coughed once for effect. “Then listen carefully.”
Wenqing and Wenlan nodded seriously. Chu Lian coughed again into her fist before sending a sneaky glance at Wenqing and Wenlan with wide, watery eyes. “If a fatty jumps from a nine-storey pagoda, what will he turn into?”
Wenqing and Wenlan thought long and hard, and gave all sorts of guesses. They even tried guessing ‘a god’, but Chu Lian still shook her head.
Wenqing was burning with curiosity since she couldn’t guess the answer. With a coquettish lilt, she pleaded, “Third Young Madam, please tell us the answer~! What will he turn into?”
Dead serious, Chu Lian stated the answer without a single break in her expression. “What else could it be? He’d turn into a dead fatty, of course! What kind of human can survive a fall from a nine-storey tall pagoda?”
Upon hearing the final answer, Wenqing and Wenlan looked like they just ate a mouthful of flies. Their mouths opened and closed, but in the end, they couldn’t manage to say anything. From then on, the two maidservants never asked Third Young Madam for a joke ever again. Her jokes were way too lame! They weren’t funny at all. Sob sob sob.
When she saw Wenqing and Wenlan’s expressions, Chu Lian couldn’t restrain herself any longer and fell back laughing inside the carriage.
Although her maiden family didn’t love her and her husband wasn’t interested in her, at least her handmaids were all really cute. With these sisters by her side, she didn’t feel the slightest bit lonely at all.
