Chapter 178 Brawl

Chapter 178: Mutual Assault

At one word from the Old Lady, Qiu Heng instantly became the center of attention in the room.

Qiu Heng lowered her gaze slightly, looking demure.

"Ahem, Heng'er is indeed outstanding, not something Fu'er and the others can compare to," First Master Qiu said, going along with the Old Lady.

He had to agree; the truth was that the Chancellor's estate was completely finished. If the Old Lady hadn't stepped in back then, the Earl's household wouldn't have gotten a thing and would've been a laughingstock over tea, with history even recording Chancellor Fang's downfall alongside a note that the Earl Yongqing mansion sold their daughter for gain.

"That's all I have to say. Everyone, leave."

Once outside the room, Madam Zhao, the eldest daughter-in-law, said to Qiu Fu, "Come to my room."

In response to her mother's demand, Qiu Fu replied expressionlessly, "I haven't been eating or sleeping well out there. I'm tired and want to rest first."

"You—"

First Master Qiu stopped Madam Zhao from blowing up: "Let it go, let Fu'er get some rest."

Back in their rooms, Madam Zhao complained, her face dark: "Did you see that, husband? Fu'er's completely turned against us."

"Mother's always spoiled her, made her hot-tempered. She'll get over it in a few days. Why pick a fight with her now? If Mother hears about it, she'll blame us."

Madam Zhao's eyes reddened: "I carried her for ten months. How can she not understand her parents' struggles..."

First Master Qiu sighed: "With the Chancellor's estate ending up like this, anyone would say we made the wrong call back then. Didn't you see Mother humiliate Father in front of everyone?"

That never would've happened before.

"I'll go see Father and tell him Fu'er's back."

With it being so cold, Earl Yongqing hadn't gone out, holed up in the front courtyard drinking alone, frustrated.

That connection through Chancellor Fang was gone. All that sucking up for nothing—pissed him off!

"Elder Earl, First Master is here."

"Show him in."

As First Master Qiu walked in, Earl Yongqing held his wine cup and asked, "What is it?"

"Father, I came to tell you Fu'er's back."

Earl Yongqing sat bolt upright: "When did she get back? Where's she been all this time?"

"She just got back..." First Master Qiu's voice dropped without him meaning it to, "Mother says she arranged for Fu'er to go..."

"I knew it all along!" Earl Yongqing slammed his cup down on the table, grabbed his heavy coat, and stormed out.

Knowing his parents were about to have a fight, First Master Qiu quietly went back to his rooms.

At Qiansong Hall, the Old Lady told her senior maid, Chun Cao: "Take my pink jade hair ornament set to Lengxiang Residence."

Chun Cao hesitated, unsure: "Your dowry pink jade hair ornament set, ma'am?"

"That's the one. The color's perfect for a young girl; it's been wasted sitting at the bottom of a trunk." The Old Lady said flatly.

But Chun Cao's mood was far from flat.

As the Old Lady's senior maid, she knew well how much the Old Lady cherished her dowry jewelry. To think the most elegant set was being given to the Sixth Girl!

"What are you standing there for? Go quickly." The Old Lady urged Chun Cao, sighing with a pang of reluctance.

That girl was wealthy, casually tossing gold beans as tips. Ordinary gifts would make her, as the grandmother, seem stingy.

But she couldn't let the rescue of the Fourth Girl go unacknowledged.

What a troublesome girl—how did she get so rich?

Chun Cao carried the jewelry box out, curtsying to Earl Yongqing as he strode over: "Elder Earl."

Earl Yongqing walked straight past, lifted the curtain, and came before the Old Lady.

"Was Fu'er really sent away by you?"

The Old Lady didn't even lift her eyes: "Yes."

"Am I the last to know?"

"Yang'er and the others didn't know either."

"That's because they never knew in the first place!" Earl Yongqing fumed, his flesh twitching with rage. "You kept it so tight-lipped. Did you feel pleased watching me fret back then?"

"Yes."

The Old Lady admitted it bluntly, leaving Earl Yongqing stunned: "What did you say?"

"I said I was happy watching you fret over failing to sell your granddaughter."

Earl Yongqing gasped sharply, pointing at the Old Lady in fury: "Have you lost your mind—"

A cup of tea splashed onto Earl Yongqing's face. The Old Lady threw the cup down: "The Fang family is ruined, and you come to pick a fight with me? Is the Earl mansion too idle for not collapsing alongside them?"

"How dare you treat me like this?" Earl Yongqing asked in disbelief, forgetting even to wipe the tea from his beard.

"Then divorce me if you want." The Old Lady looked utterly indifferent.

She feared the old thing would die and lose the title immediately; he feared she would die and hinder their sons' careers. Neither could kill the other, so there was nothing to fear.

At an age with children and grandchildren aplenty, could the old thing really divorce her?

"The older you get, the thicker your face becomes!" Earl Yongqing beat his chest and stomped his feet in fury.

The Old Lady rolled her eyes: "Not as thick as yours."

The maids outside heard a heart-stopping clatter from within the room, then silence.

The Old Lady looked down at Earl Yongqing, whom she had kicked to the floor, and steadied her breath: "Earl, you'd be better off focusing on strengthening your body, so our family's title lasts a bit longer."

Even she, an old woman with one foot in the grave, could beat him—truly worrying.

In Lengxiang Residence, Fang Zhou laid out the complete set of pink jade jewelry before Qiu Heng, marveling: "Truly beautiful."

Qiu Heng smiled: "When you marry in the future, I'll add this set to your dowry."

"How can that be? This is the Old Lady's gift to you, miss." Fang Zhou was genuinely happy for Qiu Heng. "The Old Lady truly treats you like a granddaughter. When you marry Official Xue, you can wear it then."

"Where are your thoughts drifting?" Qiu Heng, who always knew she had a thick skin, felt her heart skip a beat at this. "I was talking about you."

"Me?" Fang Zhou shook her head. "I'm not getting married."

"Why?" Qiu Heng asked curiously.

"Before, I only thought about finding the enemy. Now that the great revenge has been fulfilled, I just want to take on an apprentice who loves making pastries in a couple of years. When I'm old, I'll have the apprentice make pastries for the two of us to eat..." Fang Zhou said happily, outlining her plans.

"That sounds good. I love red bean cakes the most. Teach your apprentice to make red bean cakes first..." Qiu Heng started daydreaming too.

Fang Zhou beamed and nodded. "Sure."

"When we brought the fourth young lady back today, we saw the Fang family men being exiled. In this weather, half of 'em'll probably die on the road."

"Serves them right." Fang Zhou spat. "Wonder if Nanny Su's dead."

"She probably isn't. I'll ask Xue Han later to see where she was sold off to."

Fang Zhou suddenly burst into tears. "Miss, I really never dared to dream things would turn out this well."

Qiu Heng patted Fang Zhou, her demeanor relaxed, as if a weight had lifted. "Where there's a will, there's a way. Don't be afraid to dream. Quickly think about what kind of apprentice you'll take on—a male apprentice or a female apprentice..."

This rare moment of ease lasted only until the next day, when it was shattered by an arrival from the palace.

"Summon Qiu Heng, the sixth young lady of the Earl Yongqing's estate, to the palace for an audience."

Qiu Heng followed the eunuch into the palace, leaving the entire Earl Yongqing household in a sea of confusion.