Chapter 29 Pay with Life: Spare Me Some Dignity, Please

Chapter 29: Pay with Your Life - Spare Me Some Dignity

When Jiang Yueyi accused him, Qi Yuan was not angry; instead, the tips of his ears reddened. Realizing that his momentary lapse had caused a mistake, he suddenly felt panicked, as if countless threads were tangling around him, tightening.

Qi Yuan quickly steadied his mind and spoke up: "This was originally my oversight, having wronged my sister-in-law. Since it’s all my fault, I ask my elder brother not to blame her anymore."

Upon hearing this, Qi Hao glanced faintly at Qi Yuan but ignored him.

He continued looking at Jiang Yueyi and said, "I warned you long ago: I granted you everything you desired, but you were not to interfere in my affairs. Not only did you disobey, but you also repeatedly crossed my boundaries."

"Your bottom line? Is it Su Hengniang?" Jiang Yueyi sneered. "Yes, it was I who had her aunt and brother arrested. So what?"

"You!" Qi Hao was momentarily rendered speechless by her audacity. "Shameless!"

At this point, Zhou Congshen chimed in, "Cousin, you shouldn’t blame everything on her. The matter of Su Hengniang... it was I who told her. Yueyi had already suspected you weren’t dead, but she wasn’t sure. She asked me, and I admitted it to her. If you want to blame someone, blame me—I broke my promise."

Seeing Qi Yuan and Zhou Congshen stepping forward one after another, Qi Hao coughed into his hand and nodded. "Fine, you're all so eager to share her guilt, but she personally ordered the kidnapping. No matter what, that is a heinous act. You cannot absolve her of that."

Feng Shi, seeing the chaos, was only concerned about her son. She cried, "Enough! Hao’er has just returned—let's not talk about this anymore!"

As she spoke, she reached out to take Qi Hao’s hand, trying to pull him back to her courtyard, but Qi Hao shook her off.

Feng Shi froze, staring blankly at her son.

Qi Hao said, "If Mother had agreed to let Heng Niang and me be together from the beginning, none of this would have happened today, and innocent people wouldn’t have been dragged in."

"Then what do you want me to do?" Feng Shi nearly collapsed, her voice trembling with tears.

"Mother’s greatest mistake was misjudging people's characters and letting this venomous woman into the house. She is insatiably greedy and malicious. There were other ways to make me reveal myself, but she chose the cruelest one," Qi Hao said, and before anyone could react, he dragged Jiang Yueyi to the center of the hall. "Heng Niang and I had to rush back to the capital upon hearing this. She is seven months pregnant—how could she endure such a long journey?"

He shoved Jiang Yueyi, sending her to the ground, showing his deep resentment.

Perhaps feeling guilty, Qi Yuan instinctively moved to help Jiang Yueyi, but Zhou Congshen beat him to it.

Qi Yuan’s hand had already extended slightly, but it missed. He quickly withdrew it, feeling hollow inside.

Zhou Congshen frowned deeply and was about to speak again in Jiang Yueyi's defense when Qi Hao interrupted, "Heng Niang is now in premature labor, her life hanging in the balance. Jiang Yueyi, what do you have to say for yourself?"

"When you abandoned everything, you should have expected this day would come. How can you blame me?" Jiang Yueyi showed no fear, steeling herself. "If that’s the case, then... it’s just her bad luck!"

Qi Hao laughed incredulously. "Fine, so according to you, it's all Heng Niang's fault."

He stepped forward with a grim expression, forcing even Zhou Congshen, who was beside Jiang Yueyi, to retreat. He drew a short dagger and threw it down directly in front of Jiang Yueyi.

"If anything happens to Heng Niang, I will make you pay with your life," Qi Hao said, word by word. "Will you do it yourself, or should I end it for you?"

Snow was falling heavily in the courtyard; the hall's double doors stood wide open, and even the red brocade cotton curtain was lifted and set aside, letting the wind and snow rush in unhindered. Under the gloomy, heavy sky, the snow reflected starkly on the blade, intensifying its cold gleam.

As though bewitched, the sharp, brief clang echoed in Jiang Yueyi's ears when Qi Hao dropped the short blade. The sound inexplicably lingered around her.

Her shoulders trembled. The biting wind rushed toward her without obstruction, quickly seeping into her limbs and bones.

In an instant, Jiang Yueyi’s head throbbed with pain, yet the short blade seemed to hold her spellbound, tempting her to pick it up.

"Enough!"

Suddenly, someone spoke in a low voice. The next moment, the short blade in Jiang Yueyi’s hand was knocked away by a hand that shot out. The blade hit the brick floor again, this time with an even louder sound that nearly made everyone's ears ring.

Jiang Yueyi’s hand went numb from the blow, and she could no longer hold on, and it dropped limply. But she still lifted her head high, staring at Qi Hao.

Qi Hao now looked at Qi Yuan, for it was Qi Yuan who had knocked away the blade Jiang Yueyi had already picked up.

Before Qi Hao could speak, Qi Yuan cut in, "Since she is not dead yet, why talk about paying with life? That's preposterous."

"You don’t understand," Qi Hao rarely argued, but facing Jiang Yueyi, he could barely contain his rage. He retorted to Qi Yuan, "You have never loved anyone. If you ever saw the one you love suffering like this, you would want to tear the culprit to pieces."

Hearing this, Qi Yuan couldn’t help glancing at Jiang Yueyi, still slumped on the ground. He blurted out, "Everyone has their own selfish desires and personal feelings. But if private matters get mixed up with public justice, wouldn’t this world become a place overrun by demons and monsters?"

Qi Hao clearly dismissed Qi Yuan’s reasoning. He had always been impractical, acting solely on pure emotion. Once he set his heart on a person or a matter, he never looked back; persuasion was useless.

Jiang Yueyi's head held high, coupled with the clothes that were so glaring to Qi Hao, made him feel she was showing off.

Qi Hao suddenly asked Qi Yuan, "You already know, don’t you?"

Qi Yuan was startled, frowning. "Know what?"

Zhou Congshen was the first to react, shouting, "Qi Hao!"

But before his words faded, Jiang Yueyi had rushed over and clung to Qi Hao’s leg, pleading softly, "Master, I beg you, don’t say it. Spare me... spare me some dignity..."

She had been so stubborn, putting on a show of reaching for the blade, yet a few words from him broke her. Qi Hao looked contemptuously at Jiang Yueyi at his feet and kicked her away effortlessly.

Qi Hao continued his reply to Qi Yuan: "You speak so loftily. She even used your name to call it a necessary act. Fine, you trust her, but I don’t. She only wanted to take revenge on Heng Niang and vent her personal spite!"

"And what have you done?" Qi Yuan stepped forward, shielding Jiang Yueyi behind him. "You left without a care, abandoning your birth mother, your wife, and your daughter. You left the marquisate in a mess for them. Were you right in that? Did you ever think about what they would face after your supposed death?"

Qi Hao sneered, "A mess? I left everything in the marquisate to them. They could live comfortably for the rest of their lives. Isn’t that enough?"

"If you think that’s enough, then I have nothing more to say." Qi Yuan turned around, swiftly grabbed Jiang Yueyi’s slender arm, pulled her up, and handed her to Qing Lan.

Qi Hao did not stop him, only saying, "You are not me. You cannot understand my pain. As for this marquisate, you can leave it resolutely, but I cannot."

Qi Yuan sighed inwardly, knowing it was impossible to argue right or wrong with Qi Hao at this moment. The priority was to calm his anger, or Jiang Yueyi would suffer more. But just as Qi Yuan forced himself to speak again, Qi Hao had already turned and left.

Feng Shi was the first to notice, nearly lunging forward and falling to the ground in panic, crying mournfully as she was held back. "Hao’er, where are you going? Don’t leave your mother again. Everything before was my fault—just come back!"

Qi Hao still felt some guilt toward his mother. He only turned his head slightly and said, "I must go to accompany Heng Niang. Mother, do as you wish."

With that, he walked away without looking back, disappearing into the wind and snow. Even his thin footprints on the ground were soon covered.

Feng Shi cried heartbreakingly.

Qi Yuan and Zhou Congshen remained for a moment. After Qi Hao left, Zhou Congshen lowered the cotton curtain and said to Qing Lan, "Take your mistress inside first. I’ll examine her later."

"Wait!" Feng Shi raised her face from her silk handkerchief, suddenly speaking.

Everyone looked at Feng Shi; only Jiang Yueyi smiled.

Feng Shi said, "Yueyi, come with me to see Hao’er first."

Zhou Congshen couldn’t help but object immediately. "That won’t do, Aunt. Yueyi hasn’t even finished her month of confinement. She’s already caught a chill today. How can she go out in the wind and snow again?"

"Yueyi, Yueyi—when did you start calling her so intimately?" Feng Shi clenched her teeth. "This is a household matter of the marquisate. It’s none of your concern. I haven’t even settled the matter of you and Hao’er deceiving me together!"

Zhou Congshen opened his mouth, but speaking further would only harm Jiang Yueyi. So he looked at Qi Yuan, signaling him to say something, but Qi Yuan remained silent.

Feng Shi continued tearfully, pointing at Jiang Yueyi. "I valued you so much. I entrusted you to take care of Hao’er and win his heart. And what did you do? You let him run away! I almost lost him forever! And if there was a problem, you should have come to me first. I would have thought of something together with you. How could you take it upon yourself to kidnap the Su family? Don’t you know... that drives Hao’er further and further away from us? If that Su woman really dies, and Hao’er never comes back, what then? You have a pretty face, but it’s all show—rotten to the core!"

Jiang Yueyi adjusted the jade hairpin that was about to fall from her chignon, then dabbed at her eyes—though she had no tears to wipe. She said flatly, "I never said I wouldn’t go with Mother."

Then she had her maid bring her cloak, put it on, and walked over to Feng Shi, saying, "Let's go, Mother."

Feng Shi flung her hand in irritation and stepped out of the room a few paces ahead of Jiang Yueyi. Jiang Yueyi followed behind her, looked up at the swirling snowflakes, let out a silent sigh, then lowered her eyes and walked out.

Zhou Congshen followed them to the doorway and stood there for a long time before turning back. He saw that Qi Yuan had already opened an umbrella and walked to the middle of the courtyard, apparently about to leave, and happened to be face to face with Zhou Congshen.

Zhou Congshen no longer held back and simply asked him, "Why didn't you speak up for Yueyi just now?"

Qi Yuan knew he was referring to the matter just now when Feng Shi asked Yueyi to accompany her to find Qi Hao. After a moment's thought, he said, "This is a private household matter between mother and daughter. I could prevent my elder brother from possibly carrying out private punishment against my sister-in-law, but I cannot interfere in this matter."

Zhou Congshen said nothing more at that, and the two of them went their separate ways.