Qin Yining was too close, and Yao Shi’s movement was too sudden. Though she wanted to react, she only had time to step back once.
The hand warmer crashed to the ground with a “clang” at her feet. The brass lid with openwork auspicious cloud patterns flew off, and the charcoal still glowing with orange-red sparks scattered everywhere. Several pieces splattered onto Qin Yining’s hem and cloak, and upon contact with the wind, immediately burst into flames.
“Oh no, Princess Consort!”
Ji Yun cried out in alarm and quickly stripped off Qin Yining’s cloak, throwing it far away. Disregarding her burning hands, she patted out the sparks on Qin Yining’s skirt hem. Her pale fingers instantly developed two blisters, but at least she prevented Qin Yining’s dress from catching fire.
Ji Yun glared furiously at Yao Shi.
This was only because she was the prince’s birth mother—if anyone else dared harm the princess consort like this, she would have had them seized immediately!
“Princess Consort, are you alright?”
“I’m fine.” Qin Yining shook her head, her face dark as water.
The Qin household didn’t have many servants now—those remaining were all to be taken to Xi Yue, each one absolutely loyal. Seeing their household’s young mistress treated this way at their own front door, three or four young male servants from the front courtyard gathered around, glaring menacingly at Yao Shi. If she made another move, they probably couldn’t care about much else.
A quick-thinking one ran inside to report to Sun Shi.
Qin Yining’s cloak thrown on the ground had caught fire, filling the air with the smell of burning fabric. A gatekeeper quickly brought a basin of water to extinguish it, though it was a pity about the fine material.
Looking at the mess on the ground, Qin Yining said calmly: “It seems old madam’s hand slipped.”
Yao Shi might not have intended to burn her to death, but she definitely meant to hit her with the hand warmer. Though Qin Yining was holding back her anger and didn’t want to easily forgive Yao Shi, arguing with her mother-in-law over such matters at the front gate wouldn’t look good.
In the world’s eyes, when juniors argued with elders, as long as the older person cried and played pitiful, most people would say the junior was unfilial. People sympathized with the weak, and the former emperor ruled through filial piety, so no one considered that some elderly bad people weren’t good even when young.
She was a daughter of the Qin family—she couldn’t give people grounds to point fingers and say the Qin family’s upbringing was lacking, especially now when father was about to lead the whole family far away. It really wouldn’t do to create more complications at this critical juncture.
Seeing that Qin Yining hadn’t erupted but instead found her a reasonable excuse, Yao Shi immediately laughed, putting her hands on her hips and leaning close to Qin Yining, asking smugly: “What, are you afraid?”
She had been sent by Pang Xiao to that countryside estate where, though she lacked for nothing in food and drink, she couldn’t take a single step outside. The place was extremely remote—there wasn’t even a market to visit. Over these years, when had she ever suffered such grievance?
Her son had never treated her this way before. Pang Xiao was a filial and generous good son, but ever since this vixen entered the household, there had been no peace at home!
“Let me tell you, not burning that foxy face of yours today means you’re lucky.” Yao Shi sneered: “Now that my son is willing to bring me back, you should know who’s more important in his heart, right? You Qin family daughters are poor at household management and needlework, harsh to mothers-in-law, and even openly guilty of jealousy. My son is such a heroic figure, yet he’s been bewitched by you vixen into forgetting his roots!
“Today my son brought me back right to your family’s door—perfect! I was just going to demand an explanation from your family elders! Your father is dead, but your mother isn’t. Let’s have a proper discussion about how this mother taught her daughter! Call your mother out!”
“Old madam, this is at the front gate. Making a commotion would be bad for the prince’s reputation. Moreover, did old madam really accidentally drop the hand warmer? If this matter spreads and reaches those who can hear but not speak properly, if it goes wrong, rumors might spread saying you wanted to burn me to death.”
“Nonsense! You still want to threaten me? No matter where you tell it, it was because you stood in the wind that the sparks splattered on you. It’s not like I used firewood to set you ablaze. A vixen like you isn’t worth dirtying my hands!”
During the commotion, quite a few people had stopped to watch at the mansion gate.
Seeing this unseemly situation, Qin Yining commanded in a low voice: “Enter the mansion, close the gates.” She then turned and entered through the side door.
The servant women outside also felt something was wrong and immediately supported Yao Shi on both sides, forcibly bringing her inside.
The gatekeeper immediately collected the scattered charcoal, hand warmer, and soaked cloak from outside the gate, then closed the door.
Just then, an angry roar suddenly came from the inner quarters.
“Who dares touch my daughter! Let her try!”
Immediately after, Sun Shi appeared with Nanny Jin, followed by Cao Yuqing, rushing out in a flurry.
Seeing Yao Shi dressed in bright colors at the gate, Sun Shi immediately stepped forward quickly, placing Qin Yining behind her, and angrily said: “In-law madam, what do you mean? Blocking my Qin mansion’s gate to trouble my daughter? If Yining said something wrong or did something improper, as her mother-in-law and elder, you can teach and scold her as you see fit. But how can you randomly start hitting people? Look at this—you burned her skirt like this. What if you had accidentally burned someone? How would you explain that!”
“Who hit her! She bumped into it herself!” How could Yao Shi admit it? She sneered: “Your household has no rules or propriety—is this hereditary? Seeing the in-law madam like this, I’m not surprised by your daughter’s behavior.”
“You!” Sun Shi was so angry she almost wanted to scratch her.
“Great madam, please calm your anger!” Cao Yuqing, fearing that a quarrel between in-laws would put Qin Yining in a difficult position, quickly supported Sun Shi.
Seeing Sun Shi fall silent, Yao Shi thought of the suffering she’d endured recently. Before thinking it through completely, the words in her heart spilled out.
“What kind of family tradition does your Qin family have! No wonder you raised such a shrew—it’s because the upper beam is crooked, making the lower beam slant!”
“How dare you!” Sun Shi flew into a rage, her pointing finger trembling.
Fearing Sun Shi would suffer a loss, Cao Yuqing coldly scolded: “If in-law madam is dissatisfied with her daughter-in-law, any amount of teaching wouldn’t be excessive. But even with our limited experience as servants, we’ve never seen a mother-in-law who blocks her daughter-in-law’s family gate to make trouble and curses the other party’s parents into the bargain! If we’re talking about upper beams being crooked making lower beams slant—you intended to scald our Fourth Miss and even wanted to use fire to harm our Fourth Miss’s life. Is your upper beam straight then?”
Yao Shi was left speechless by this rebuke and shrieked: “You, what are you anyway! Is it your turn to speak here!”
Cao Yuqing said: “Who I am doesn’t matter—what matters is being reasonable!”
“Exactly! You’re also someone’s mother. Even if you bore a son, other people’s daughters didn’t pop out of rocks either—they also have fathers who begot them and mothers who raised them. Being so harsh, aren’t you afraid of retribution!” Sun Shi’s voice trembled with anger.
Yao Shi put her hands on her hips: “Mrs. Qin is jealous and openly said she won’t allow my son to take concubines—that’s one of the seven grounds for divorce! Such a jealous woman who ruins families and fortunes—not divorcing her immediately is already merciful of me!”
“Moreover, she was captured by Tatars. Who knows what really happened outside? Want to make my son a living cuckold? Bah! Dream on! My son is an honest man—don’t think you can bully our family for having no clear-eyed people!”
“You! You’re the unchaste one! Slandering my daughter—I’ll fight you to the death!” Sun Shi’s eyes turned red with rage, and she clawed out to scratch Yao Shi’s face.
How could Qin Yining let her natal mother actually fight with her mother-in-law? If they really came to blows, the nature of the situation would change entirely.
“Mother, calm your anger.”
“Calm what anger?” Sun Shi, held back by her daughter and unable to break free from Qin Yining’s grasp, was so angry that tears streamed down her face: “You dead girl, usually like a tyrant, yet at your in-laws’ you’re bullied like this by that old harridan! No way—we’re not staying with Pang Zhixi anymore! Come back home, mother will support you for life! We won’t go to his family to suffer anymore!”
“Mother…”
Before Qin Yining could finish speaking, Yao Shi shouted again: “Want to return to your natal family? Forget about a divorce agreement—wait for divorce papers instead!”
Yao Shi’s truly shrew-like behavior was something the refined Qin household had never seen or heard of.
Sun Shi trembled with rage. Wanting to hit someone but held back and unable to move, she turned and ordered Cao Yuqing: “Yuqing, go have someone invite the in-law’s grandfather and grandmother to visit our mansion. If I can’t reason with this shrew, there should be someone in charge! Then go to the military camp and ask the prince to return! Whether the prince wants divorce or to cast off his wife, we in-laws have no reason to let our daughter suffer losses. We must demand an explanation no matter what!”
“Yes, madam.” Cao Yuqing turned to have people handle the matter.
Seeing this, Yao Shi became so angry her eyes turned red: “You family of vixens with ill intentions! It’s perfect that you’re calling my son—let him see clearly how your Qin family bullies me when I’m alone and helpless! Oh! How can I live like this? There’s no way to continue this life!”
Cursing and crying, Yao Shi simply sat on the ground and wailed.
Yao Shi’s shameless rolling and acting out stunned all the Qin family members. Sun Shi was ultimately a refined lady—where had she ever seen someone who stirred up trouble from nothing and made three parts out of no reason? She was truly so angry that her vision darkened and she gasped heavily.
Qin Yining quickly supported Sun Shi to sit down and ordered Ji Yun: “Why don’t you help old madam up? What does it look like sitting on the ground?”
Ji Yun obeyed and went to help, but Yao Shi started rolling on the ground, messing up her own hair and absolutely refusing to get up.
Qin Yining felt like her head was about to split.
Originally, with the whole family preparing to relocate, this was exactly when they needed to handle affairs discreetly and maintain harmony.
But Yao Shi had to cause trouble at this moment. She couldn’t blame Sun Shi for caring about her and arguing with Yao Shi. From her understanding of her mother, that Sun Shi hadn’t actually ordered people to pin Yao Shi down and beat her with fists and feet was already tremendous progress.
With the current court situation so tense, the Qin and Pang families absolutely had to unite in order for both families to survive.
Once conflicts arose between them, even after going to Xi Yue, they couldn’t guarantee each other’s safety.
Today, never mind that Yao Shi didn’t intend to burn her to death—even if she really had, Qin Yining could only suppress the matter and absolutely couldn’t let the two families tear their relationship apart at this time.
But Qin Yining was ultimately aggrieved too. She truly didn’t understand what was in Yao Shi’s head—intestines?
Why was she so determined that Zhao Ge’er and Han Ge’er weren’t Pang Zhixi’s sons? Why would she disregard face and do such degrading things in broad daylight in front of everyone? Didn’t she care about Pang Zhixi’s reputation at all?