Chapter 74: Chapter 74
Chapter 74
"Qian’er, I think you should go back. According to tradition, a husband should accompany his wife to visit her parents at their house. But since your family is far away, you never had the chance to return. So, isn’t this a good opportunity for you to take your rightful husband to visit his wife’s family?"
The face with the charm of a man made Yueqian pouted slightly. However, she didn’t want to be involved with this older brother of hers.
This man was "Qin Mazhu," the man she feared the most, and he held the role of the antagonist in the story. The villain here was someone who constantly tried to thwart the hero in every way. They never got along from the beginning; one was using combat skills, and the other using his head. Their differing natures made them dislike each other since their childhood days in school.
Growing up, Qin Mazhu developed a nature of hiding his talent under his reserved demeanor. He was meticulous and fearsome when planning to do something.
The Young General, on the other hand, was straightforward and easy to predict. Whenever there was a meeting to resolve an issue, it always ended in unresolved disagreements.
As they matured and entered civil service, their conflicting views persisted. Despite their fathers’ close friendship, the sons secretly obstructed each other.
Yet, both knew their families were allies, and despite some friction, they collaborated on many matters until the heroine’s involvement complicated things.
Qin Mazhu met the story’s heroine after she married the hero. At that time, her title was low, merely a concubine, not receiving recognition among the nobles. Naturally, Mazhu didn’t recognize her as the Young General’s lover. He encountered her while she was walking with her servant, disguised as an unmarried woman.
Thus, the half-brother of this villainess gained the honor of being another villain in the story!
The villain who tried to steal the heroine from the hero through various despicable means also secretly aided other concubines in conspiring against the heroine to make her unable to stay at the hero’s manor. However, when he saw how deeply the heroine loved the hero, he ultimately switched sides to help her.
Therefore, Mazhu became a villain with a chance of redemption in the end. Yet... to Qin Yueqian, who had lived in the Qin family for over ten years, this villain was the person she feared the most.
Just like this time, he wasn’t supposed to be here. The head of the Qin family would typically issue orders through the little servant, Xin Shen. But the one who understood Yueqian’s nature of wanting to keep her secrets appeared instead. He came to tell her to go see her parents who had come here.
He even brought up the subject of customs. Even though Yueqian refused and acted self-centered, she believed that this older brother of hers had a plan to make her comply and go back with him. Just look at that wicked smile of his!
Damn it! She never thought that even after running this far, her dear brother still comes to mess with her life!
"Little servant, go back and tell Father and Mother that Qian’er will return with me. Let us siblings talk first."
He unfurled a white fan and waving it gently, imitating a foppish gentleman, though in reality, he was merely hiding his sinister face.
Of course, Yueqian saw that sly foxy smile clearly, but the little servant did not. She thought Mazhu had come to help her, creating an image of an angel once again.
"Yes, Eldest Young Master. Then I shall take my leave," the young woman bowed before departing.
Her overly formal demeanor annoyed Yueqian greatly, but not as much as the scrutinizing gaze of her older brother.
"The nice aroma of food must be your doing, little sister, isn’t it?"
The one being glared at paid no mind, folding his fan and pretending to sniff around with his high bridged nose, even though he surely knew where the smell was coming from.
His handsome face clearly shared the same lineage as hers. He had upturned eyes, just like her, but he used his gaze skillfully to allure people, unlike her who used it as a gaze of a queen and incite dislike. He was even trying to charm Huan’er with his upturned eyes now.
"Why are you here, Big Brother?" Yueqian didn’t want to engage in an unnecessary formal talk with him. When had she ever won a verbal spar with him? He always managed to talk and talk until she was left speechless.
"Hmm? You remember me now? I thought your amnesia would last longer." Before another conversation could begin, her wicked older brother was already teasing her about her words.
"Come now, don’t act so distant. Your big brother is simply curious to see what kind of place makes his little sister want to stay so eagerly." His tall figure spoke clearly, as if he didn’t want to say much, but every word carried a truth that made Yueqian narrow her eyes.
In reality, this older brother of hers knew her desires from the start. No wonder he always let her have her way, never thinking to restrain or teach this wayward sister.
"Now that you’ve seen it, you can leave.”
"Oh? Chasing your big brother away so quickly, do you have something to hide from me? Or is it the source of that delightful smell?" The tall man swiftly moved toward it.
His demeanor was graceful, yet his rapid steps made it impossible for Yueqian to stop him in time.
"Hmm? Is this porridge? It smells delicious." He spoke before helping himself to a spoonful from the pot without asking for permission, slowly closing his eyes to savor the flavors from the seasonings she had gotten from the department store.
His eyes sparkled even more brightly as he opened his eyes to look at his younger sister.
"I was wondering why you didn’t want the food prepared by the cook. Now that I’ve tasted your cooking, I feel like giving the cook a whipping just for fun," the young man teased, his eyes sparkling like someone who was having fun.
"What exactly do you want?" Yueqian seemed unwilling to expend any more energy on this man. She waved her hand, signaling for him to speak directly rather than beating around the bush.
But Qin Mazhu didn’t seem to have had enough fun. He pointed to the large pot of porridge before glancing at the children.
"You haven’t had breakfast yet, have you? In that case, prepare some food for me too. After this, you need to meet my parents. Ah, I mean, Qian’er’s parents as well. So, you should prepare yourselves. Don’t go on an empty stomach," he said, then proceeded to walk inside the house to sit down.
Mu Heng, who had been quietly watching the sibling squabble, approached Yueqian after Mazhu went to sit and wait inside the house. His wife’s expression showed boredom and displeasure, yet Mu Heng didn’t sense any hatred from her.
Unlike with the Young General, where Yueqian instantly displayed her reluctance to engage.
Thus, he waited for her to finish the conversation, allowing the intruder to enter the house as he pleased for now, simply observing what Yueqian would decide next.
"Do you want me to chase him out?" Mu Heng asked his wife, testing the waters.
Yueqian looked at her husband and the younger siblings before sighing.
"It’s fine. Serve the food. Talking with him is a waste of time."
"So, you will meet the Qin family?" Mu Heng inquired.
"Mmm, it seems we have to. Even if we don’t go, they will come here eventually. It might be less troublesome to go there than to have them come here," Yueqian glanced at her small home.
She didn’t think the Qin family would let her live here in peace. However, with the presence of the Third and Fifth Princes, they shouldn’t go too far.
Moreover, meeting her parents today was indeed the right thing to do. In the presence of high-ranking individuals who enforce the law, even defying an order could be considered a crime.
If the Qin family used them to deal with her, simply violating social customs could lead to her and Mu Heng being forced to divorce.
Therefore, to prevent those people from saying that Mu Heng was an ignorant husband or even reporting it to the princes, she had to go see them.
Mu Heng didn’t say anything. He had already anticipated that the powerful Qin family from the capital wouldn’t let them go easily. That Young General was a scoundrel who wanted to kill him just to make his Qian’er a widow. Therefore, Mu Heng had no regard for the nobility of the people in the capital anymore.
Originally, he never thought people could be so cruel, especially those from the capital—the nobles who claimed their blood was more exalted than that of ordinary people. Mu Heng never imagined their true nature was no different from demons.
When he accidentally helped a Wang from another kingdom, Mu Heng didn’t intend to use that connection to become a noble himself. He thought just living a good life was enough. However, after many incidents, he realized that having no power at all was far more dangerous.
He had time to recall his mother’s teachings on this matter. She had said, "If you want to be happy, either live unnoticed or become someone others cannot ignore."
His mother chose to live unnoticed. She pretended to die, escaping her family, and was saved by his father. Ultimately, she passed on much knowledge to him, expecting him to take care of his younger siblings when their parents were gone. She probably never thought she would leave them so soon.
However, he didn’t have many choices. Originally, he intended to live quietly and unnoticed, but now that was impossible. Too many people didn’t want him to remain quiet, then Mu Heng chose to fear them. But if Mu Heng had to face them, he would confront them head-on without fear.
"In that case, let’s prepare ourselves. After we’ve eaten, go change our clothes. I should also prepare a gift for meeting my in-laws," Mu Heng said, his eyes hinting at a certain satisfaction.
Yueqian nodded in agreement. She knew that Mu Heng would never bring any good gifts to those people. Seeing his demeanor, as if he was having a fun idea, she hoped he might be able to make her laugh as well.
