Chapter 73: Kick Your Ass Translator: Antonia
The east of the village sent over mixed sound of gongs and drums, continuous firecrackers, and people talking and laughing…
Then Mo Qianxue recalled that it was the wedding of Li Kaishi and Fang Tanger.
Villagers valued marrying a wife to enjoy a better life. A wife and children and a warm brick bed made a perfect life.
In the month before the Spring Festival, there was at least one lucky day every seven days. Since that two people had committed the shameless thing, certainly it’d be better for them to hold the ceremony as soon as possible in case of new problems propping up unexpectedly.
So, according to sister Fang, the two families had quickly decided the date on that very night.
As expected, Li family didn’t prepare much bridal gift while Fang family offered a large amount of dowry. A woman would surely suffer a loss if such a thing happened before marriage. She should feel lucky that she wasn’t put into a case and thrown into river.
A few days ago, there were relatives of the two families coming and inviting her to attend the wedding, drink some lucky wine and warm up the site.
She turned them down with the excuse that she was too busy. To her surprise, Fang Taoer’s shameless mother showed up at the door and compelled her to attend the wedding and drink some wine.
Mo Qianxue told her that she was too busy to leave the workshop! But the shameless woman lingered at the door and wouldn’t leave. Until she heard Mo Qianxue said that sister Fang would bring over the gift-money, she finally left, satisfied and overjoyed.
At the table, only Ning Shaoqing and Mo Qianxue were having the meal. The atmosphere was nice.
When Mo Qianxue cooked, Awu forced into the kitchen and tried to help. As a result, the whole kitchen turned smoky and was almost in fire.
Mo Qianxue had wanted to reprimand him, but at the sight of this dark-faced man standing there with uneasiness and helplessness, her heart was softened, believing he must feel sorry too, so she just drove him out of the kitchen with a gentle voice.
Asan saw Awu was driven out and feared that their lady would think they were useless, so he quickly pulled Awu together to pick up a huge bunch of firewood and took them back.
When it was time for dinner, Mo Qianxue asked them to eat together with her and Ning Shaoqing, but one went to gather water while the other began to sweep the yard with a broom. Though they didn’t reply, their bodies seemed to write the sentence that they would never eat with them. Mo Qianxue got it.
Never mind. These ancient men had so many rules and weird habits, so she gave up insisting in order that less trouble would be caused.
She divided the food and preserved some for them in the kitchen before taking out their portion to the living room and serving Ning Shaoqing to have his meal. The so-called serving was accompanying in fact.
Hearing the noise over there, Mo Qianxue asked casually while picking up vegetable to him, “Shaoqing, why don’t you attend the wedding?”
“Why? Don’t you know?” Ning Shaoqing put down the chopsticks, face cold, as if the mentioning of those two people would disgust him.
With the change of Ning Shaoqing’s expression, Mo Qianxue’s heart squeezed. She was just trying to find a subject and chitchat with him! But why the topic became those two shameless people?
Alright, alright. Change another one.
Her eyes rolling as thinking, Mo Qianxue coughed a made a laughter, “Earlier today I went to Jian mansion. Jian Qingyou was a really nice person. She was pretty, kind-hearted, and held my hand and gave me a tour to their garden…”
“Held your hand? Which one?” The tone sounded chilly, and the pair of deep eyes gazed at her hands like arrows, screening from the left one to the right one and then back to the left one.
“Um…” What was wrong with her today? Every topic she came up with was a taboo. She didn’t dare to forget what had happened last time.
She rubbed her forehead.
Mama. Should she say that it was a lovely day and that look at the beautiful moon?
“This one…” The gaze turned to her left hand, and Mo Qianxue nervously continued, “no…it wasn’t…”
His face looked angry and the eyes shifted to her right hand, she wasn’t very sure and added tentatively, “This one…seemed not…too…”
“Whether she held you or not?!”
Ning Shaoqing’s face became darker and darker while Mo Qainxue volume got lower and lower, “No…I remembered it wrong…”
“Really?”
The air pressure was extremely low as the cello-voice became sharp and strong, a prelude of a violent thunderstorm.
The freezing low-pressure air made Mo Qianxue very uncomfortable and suppressed. Trying to find a way out, she somehow stood up and shouted, “Yes! She did! Both hands!”
Just let it be. So what? What could he do to her?
She just held a woman’s hand, not a man’s. Why should she lie?
The two of eyes were at daggers!
Originally, on her way back home, Mo Qianxue had planned to ask Ning Shaoqing what authentic qi was and to tell him about the weird old man…
But when she entered the yard, she was first startled by the two cold-faced door gods Asan and Awu and then distracted by this, so she totally forgot.
She had done something wrong and refused to admit it, and always had physical touch with other women! What a bad girl!
It seemed that he really needed to give her a lesion, otherwise things like this must be happening again. Ning Shaoqing hit the ceiling, lifting up Mo Qianxue, locking her hands behind her back, and putting her bodily onto his shoulder, and walked toward the well in the yard.
Asan and Awu was doing bits and pieces in the yard and shocked at the scene of their lord carrying their lady.
Lord had been a calm and self-possessed man since he was a child. Asan and Awu had never see him getting so furious. What was wrong? What made him so pissed off?
Yet, on the flip side, lord seemed more like a human when acting this way.
“Asan, your lady is washing hands. Go and get water.”
Asan was still in a shock while Awu had already gathered the water, giving it lord and running away without the courage to look up at them.
“Asan, why are you still here? Do you get enough firewood?”
“Yes, lord. I’m getting more.” Asan also slipped away and disappeared.
The shadow guard, who never knew that his lord could drink up so much vinegar, shook his head in the dark and put cotton balls in his ears.
“Ning Shaoqing, what do you want?”
“Wash your hands and make our family rules clear to you. If you dare to touch or kiss that Jian something again, I’ll…”
“You’ll what?”
“I’ll…I’ll kick your ass.”
“Dare you!”
“Let’s see”
‘Pow-Pow-Pow’. Three slaps in her bottom.
“Ah…Ah…” He actually dared to beat her?!
The slaps came with loud sound of wind, but it seemed not hurt. But it wasn’t okay even if not hurt! This was not to be forgiven! Never! “Ning Shaoqing, I’ll not let it go…”
“Pow-Pow-Pow”. Three more slaps.
“Ning Shaoqing, stop it…” Mo Qianxue desperately struggled to unlock her hand and protect her little bottom.
“Will you listen to me in the future? Tell me, do you dare next time?”
Saying that, Ning Shaoqing unconsciously made the patting even lighter.
The shadow guard in the dark opened his eyes and picked his ears. This was a loud thunder with fine rain. Could it be called heating? It was touching!
The butt-beating hand indeed turned into rubbing in the end.
Although he hadn’t beaten her heard, by the time when they went to sleep at night, he was still kicked off the bed by the vengeful woman, in the name of a bad sleeping posture.
Kicking lord Ning off the bed, the woman smiled secretly. As her wish came true, the vengeance of hitting her butts instantly disappear like dispersing clouds. She, with satisfaction, split her legs to occupy the whole bed.
Ning shaoqing somehow flushed at the sight of his girl lying all over the bed, especially at her disgraceful gait of slipping two legs. He shook head helplessly, going out to get some cool air.
*
When master and madam Jian returned to their mansion at a servant’s report, it was not early.
By then, old madam had received acupuncture by old Mr. Wang, taken medicine and a snap, restoring her consciousness and leaning on the bed.
“I want that Mrs. Ning to be my granddaughter.” Although back then old madam had a stroke and couldn’t move, her mind remained clear.
Mo Qianxue’s spoke and acted in an organized order. Even when she talked with Jian Qingyou, she didn’t display a bit of intimidation.
Her tackling of an emergency and way of getting things done also demonstrated qualities that distinguished her from an average person.
Then old madam heard that her granddaughter and Mo Qianxue regarded each other as sisters. That sentence about grandma was unintentional but contained sincerity. Therefore, old madam was motivated. Now she already had a batch of granddaughters, what bad it could bring to have one more?
Such literary talent and the first aid as well as the tasty cakes all suggested her extraordinary origin.
To take her as a granddaughter was first a way to expression gratitude and second to build connections.
“Mother, please think twice.” In ancient times, taking an outsider as a relative was a serious thing, unlike a mere word in modern times.
“Why?”
“Think of your identity and think of that Mrs. Ning’s. How could you droop down like this? Even if to thank her for saving your life, we could as well give her a lot more gifts of gratitude.”
“Blockhead!”
“Mom, I’m not being unfilial, but because of her low-ranked identity and unclear origin, which might become an apple of future discord…”
“Oh yeah? It seems that I no longer have a say in this family, huh?” This son was one-track-minded and stubborn, but he regarded himself clever. Old madam didn’t want to waste time in arguing with him, so she directly forced him with her identity as his mother.
“Mother, I don’t mean it!”
“You don’t mean it?” But for the fact that she just had a stroke, she would definitely talk to her son about the current situation. He was becoming more and more muddleheaded and increasingly liked to intervene with domestic affairs.
“…” Seeing that his mother was a little irritated, master Jian feared so much that she might fall ill again that he immediately kneeled on the ground. Madam Jian had no choice but followed him too.
How could she remain standing after her husband had kneeled down?
The next second, the house of people all got down. How could the servants remain standing after their master and madam kneeled down?
The scene made old madam close her eyes, tired, “You two are not as open-minded as Qingyou your daughter. I believe although now Mrs. Ning is a mere country woman, she must have an extraordinary origin and will become a success that we all have to depend on.”
Old madam didn’t agree on her son’s words, yet she still made a compromise, “How many years can an old woman like me live? It’s okay if you accept her or not. Anyway, I take her as my granddaughter in my own name. It has nothing to do with Jian family.”
That was to say that if there might be any pitfalls in the future due to her identity, it would be irrelevant to Jian family. What a sophisticated and cunning old madam!
“Then, mother, I’ll let my wife Jin invite guests and prepare a feast to celebrate it.”
“Unnecessary. I accept her in my own name. Why does it have anything to do with your Jian family? Retreat. I’m a little tired!”
“Yes…please take a rest. Tomorrow I’ll let Qingyou to visit Mrs. Ning and express our gratitude for saving your life and our willingness to take her as a granddaughter.”
“Let Mobai go with her to show our sincerity.” Finishing that, old madam waved her hand, “retreat. No matter how heated our discussion is, maybe she wouldn’t be willing to.”
Master and madam Jain retreated, not believing that.
On the way, the close servant and nanny told the whole story in detail. Madam Jian disdained, “Like father like son. After all, he is a son of a concubine.”
This was also a swear against master Jian.
Master Jian had swallowed anger, so he scolded at once, “You are his legal mother. Why haven’t you taught him? The entire inner court is under your control. Why should such a foul thing have happened?” That concubine Li was a thin prostitute that had been offered to him as a gift. He wasn’t tire of enjoying her because she hadn’t come for a long time.
Madam Jian didn’t take his words seriously, ridiculing, “You spoil her so much that she even didn’t come to greet me. How could I dare to teach her?”
Jian Qingyou, following behind, shook her head and stepped forward, “Father and mother, I’m tired and want to have a rest.” Then she bowed and retreated.
Every time she witnessed such a quarrel, she would have a headache. Her mother always presented herself as a graceful noble madam before others but often acted tit for tat against her father and never smiled at those concubines and their sons.
Fortunately, she had been growing up around old madam. She only hoped that her future husband wouldn’t be a cold-hearted man like her father.
She heard that Xin Yiming didn’t have any women at all. Thinking of this, Jian Qingyou couldn’t help smiling…
Behind her was the never-end bickering of her parents.
“Look at you…”
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