“What about Qin Murong and Qin Muxiao?” Qin Muye asked another question.
Without further ado, Qin Mufeng narrated the entire story of what had happened to Qin Murong.
“Qin Muxiao was having to watch as this was happening right before her eyes. I reckon this incident has traumatized her a lot. I’m hoping that she has learned a lesson and won’t dare to fool around anymore. If she keeps up her bad behavior, Grandma has said she will marry her off to some other random family at another of our faraway borders. After all, there is already a precedent,” Qin Mufeng replied.
“Is Qin Murong…really going to be married to someone from Nacheng?” Qin Mu stammered.
Qin Muye did not sympathize with Wei Keli when she heard that he had been sent to the hospital after his punishment.
Yet she felt terrible upon hearing of Qin Murong’s fate.
Curiosity got the better of Qin Mufeng, and he asked, “You think her punishment was too tough?”
“No, it’s not that.” Qin Muye shook her head, and her melancholy expression faded after a while.
“I’m not sympathizing with her. She got what she deserved. I’m not such a saint that I would feel sorry for her about something like this.” Qin Muye grabbed a croissant and put butter on it. Then she continued, “But no matter what, she’s still our cousin, a person who we grew up with since we were very young. I just feel a little bit sad to see her end up this way.
“To be frank, being in our family would have paved the way for her if she hadn’t been so picky and greedy. Whichever career she wanted to pursue, our family would have taken care of her regardless of her accomplishments. They would have made sure that she would have at least looked honorable. After that, they would have scouted for some potential spouse and let her choose one. Even if she was overly demanding and ended up rejecting all the candidates, she could still choose to be single, and no one would have a say in her decision. She would have had a lot of freedom.
“Most women don’t have the privilege of living such a good life nowadays. Most of them succumb to the harsh realities of life and bow their heads just to survive in this judgmental society. They toil for a living and marry according to society’s standards.
“Qin Murong was blessed with the luxury of living a life as she saw fit, yet she messed it all up,” Qin Muye remarked. “She could have lived a life that would have made many people jealous.”
“Honestly, if she’s willing to turn over a new leaf and manage her assets properly, she can still live a comfortable life even though she’ll be married to a man in Nacheng. People will still be jealous of her,” Tan Mo commented. “The family that she’s supposed to be married into was carefully selected by the Qin family elders. It’ll be suitable for Qin Murong. You don’t suppose that they would leave their granddaughter to suffer, right?
“Nacheng may be a little far, but as a Qin family member who’s married to a family there, the upper class over there will still revere her and try to win her favor. To maintain a good relationship with the Qin family, the Hu family will still respect her and treat her well as long as she doesn’t look for trouble. In fact, living with a family that is in Nacheng’s tycoon class means she may very well have more power there than she had here in B City.
“Over here, even the Eight Great Clans have to be more reserved; to constrain their members from going overboard. But is there anyone who can rein them in back in Nacheng? No, they’ll live like kings and queens there,” Tan Mo added. “While it may seem to others as if the Qin family elders have banished her to a city near the border, it’s actually a better path for her.
“It actually all depends on whether she can see it through and understand the good intentions of her elders. As long as she behaves, what awaits her is basically a good life. But if she refuses to improve her attitude, as tycoons in Nacheng, the Hu family will have a way of handling her while preventing the Qin family’s interference.”
Qin Mufeng saw Tan Mo in a new light upon hearing her opinion.
He had only become acquainted with her because of Wei Zhiqian.
They hadn’t spent much time with each other. Therefore, he did not know her well.
He’d spent many hours listening to Wei Zhiqian’s adulation of her. His sister too thought highly of her.
At first, he’d thought that it was just their biased opinions due to the closeness of their relationships.
So he had not been entirely convinced about their evaluations of her.
Yet, he was taken aback after listening to her analysis of Qin Murong’s situation.
Now he had finally bought into Wei Zhiqian’s judgment about her.
Tan Mo hadn’t been at the scene the night before. Yet, by only listening to his narrative, she could thoroughly analyze the whole situation.
She was indeed a bright, observant person.
No wonder she had been able to talk Qin Muye into telling on Qin Murong and Qin Muxiao when they were young. Moreover, she had even taught Qin Muye a few tricks, so that she had stopped being bullied by the sisters.
She was sincere yet could see through every facade and bad intention.
Thus, it came as no surprise that Wei Zhiqian loved her so much.
Qin Mufeng put the remaining piece of croissant on his plate and stared at Tan Mo sternly. “Although this may look like a punishment for Qin Murong, it won’t cause any real harm to her. I know that it was tactless of my grandparents. Could you please…”
“I don’t blame them,” Tan Mo replied with a smile. “The elders only did this in order to give my family a proper explanation and declare their stand.
“Besides, I’m not close with them, unlike my relationship with the Wei family elders, who have always treated me as their younger relative. And I, too, have regarded them as my elder relatives. That’s how close we are,” Tan Mo answered plainly. “Furthermore, exiling Qin Murong to Nacheng is, in fact, a kind of punishment. I’d say your grandparents hit the bull’s-eye as they took away the thing that matters most to her.
“I may be able to see the benefits of going to Nacheng, but Qin Murong won’t. Things wouldn’t have turned out this way if she could see beyond her desires,” Tan Mo noted. “She can’t bear to leave the prosperous B City behind, away from all its pleasures, entertainments, and its spotlight. Leaving the city is equivalent to losing her place among the elites. She has always despised every city outside B City. Will she be happy knowing that she’s leaving for Nacheng, one of the small towns she looks down on?
“All the latest fashion updates and celebrity gatherings that she follows are topics that probably no one in Nacheng can relate to. After all, the fashion news circulation certainly won’t be as quick as in B City.
“Moreover, will she behave properly there when she can’t even understand her grandparents’ real intentions?” Tan Mo smirked. “She has a prejudice against Nacheng and the Hu family, thinking that the place and people there can’t match up to her. Things will only become worse at this point as she’ll be overwhelmed with all her negative emotions. Well, this is a vicious cycle.
“Nacheng is a backup plan; a means of escape that her grandparents provided for her,” Tan Mo explained. “At the end of the day, she is still their biological granddaughter. They will never truly be heartless toward her anyway.”
Nonetheless, if Qin Murong wasn’t able to see the bigger picture, this backup plan would be the end of the line for her.
Tan Mo, Qin Mufeng, and the Qin family elders knew that this punishment would be regarded as a protection for others.
Yet, it was a real punishment for Qin Murong.
Qin Muye was stunned after hearing that. Immediately, she turned to look at Qin Mufeng and then Tan Mo.
She was blown away that there was a deeper meaning behind what she had perceived.
Upon seeing Qin Muye’s innocent look, Qin Mufeng turned to stare at Ming Yeqing, who had a sly smirk on his face.
