The Prime Minister’s Daughter and the Marquis’s Fool – Chapter 230

Extra 5

Friends

A crowd of men rushed inside, the viciousness of their pursuit still written clearly on their faces. However, upon seeing the guards standing before them, their expressions gradually faltered into bewilderment.

            

Qu Ning remained silent for a long time. Qu Sheng cast a glance at her and asked, “Have you still not made up your mind?”

Qu Ning looked up at Qu Sheng, shook her little head, and said, “Relying on strength to bully the weak is wrong. We should help the weak.”

Qu Sheng curled her lips into a smile. “Then we shall give him a hand.”

            

The moment Qu Sheng spoke, the guards stepped forward to shield the man behind them. The thugs wielding wooden clubs froze for an instant. Their leader quickly stepped up, raising his hands in a placating gesture. “Honored guests, honored guests, we aren’t here to cause trouble! This man owes us money. Debts must be repaid—it’s only right and natural. Surely you won’t stand in our way?”

“Even if he owes you money, you can’t beat him to this state! Is there no law left in this land?” Seeing that the leader did not want to escalate things, Zhao Jiayu’s tone grew less tense than before.

“You wrong us, young lady,” the leader said with a placating smile. “Who in this entire city doesn’t know that we’re the most law-abiding people around? But being law-abiding shouldn’t mean we have to play the suckers and swallow our losses, should it?”

            

“How much does he owe you?” Zhao Jiayu asked with a scoff.

“Five thousand taels.”

Zhao Jiayu’s eyes widened in instant shock at the mention of five thousand taels. “Why on earth does he owe so much?”

            

“You might not know, young lady, but this fellow’s on good terms with our master,” the leader explained. “Over the past few years, he borrowed more than ten thousand taels of silver for his business. Now that his business has folded, he keeps stalling and delaying the repayment. We took him to court, but the local yamen happens to be friendly with his family. They merely ordered him to pay it back but did nothing to enforce it. Since he refused to pay and hid from us, our master had no choice but to send us to bring Young Master Qi back so we could finally settle this matter.”

“Settle it how?” Xiao Bingying asked, having pieced together the situation. The man had borrowed money and refused to repay it, which was why these people had resorted to such desperate measures.

“Oh, don’t misunderstand, young lady. Those injuries on his body weren’t from us. He got them from scraping himself when he was running away. We haven’t laid a single finger on him.” Noticing the cold glint in Xiao Bingying’s eyes, the leader hurriedly cleared his name. He then added, “The lawsuit has already been settled, so taking him back to court is a dead end. We simply wanted to invite Young Master Qi over to properly discuss how to resolve this.”

            

Xiao Bingying looked down at the kneeling man. “Is what he said true?” she demanded in a frosty voice.

Seeing that these people were all martial artists, the man did not dare to deny it. He hung his head in silent admission.

Hearing this, Qu Ning recalled her earlier words about helping the weak against bullies. It seemed some things were not as simple as they appeared on the surface.

            

The situation was rather thorny, but the crux of the problem seemed to lie within the local administration’s handling of it.

“The yamen officers are here!” the tavern waiter panted, rushing into the room drenched in sweat to inform the innkeeper.

The moment that man had run inside, the innkeeper had quietly sent the waiter to fetch the authorities. The officers had already arrived outside.

            

“Who’s causing trouble here?” a yamen officer called out, swaggering in with his chin held high and a hand on his long saber.

“Oh, officer, no one is causing trouble. We were merely inviting Young Master Qi to our residence as a guest,” the leader of the thugs said, hurriedly slipping some silver into the officer’s hand.

Without a trace of hesitation, the officer stuffed the coins into his robes. One would have expected him to do what he was paid to do, but in the next instant, he gave the order to arrest everyone. “Arrest them all!”

            

“Take them in for a proper questioning.” The officer pointed at the group with his sheathed saber.

Seeing that the officer was plainly no good, Zhao Jiayu was about to step forward to argue when Xiao Bingying extended an arm to hold her back.

Qu Sheng did not issue any commands. She had agreed to help, but her help was meant to prevent the man from falling into the hands of the armed thugs. Now that the yamen had intervened, they could simply pay a visit to the magistrate’s court the following day.

            

The thugs were rounded up, and even the man on the ground was dragged away. The yamen officer glanced at Xiao Bingying’s group. Spotting the disguised guards and looking past them at the crowd of women and children, he questioned, “What is your business here?”

“We’re merchants passing through, resting here for the night,” Xiao Bingying replied.

The officer looked at them with suspicion. “Which merchant house?” Women traveling to conduct business had become more common in recent years—though still rare, the imperial court actively supported it. Still, a group composed entirely of women was rather peculiar.

            

“The Zhu Family Merchant House.”

“Could it be Lord Zhu’s family?” The officer’s eyes lit up instantly at the name. These days, who in all of Quzhao did not know of Zhu Ming’an? Not only was she an imperial merchant, but she had also married an alliance-marriage princess from a foreign court and held an esteemed noble title.

“Indeed,” Xiao Bingying nodded.

            

“I wonder if Lord Zhu is present?” The officer’s tone completely changed as he peered behind the guards, trying to distinguish which one was Zhu Ming’an.

“Lord Zhu isn’t here. We’re her family members,” Xiao Bingying replied, her voice tinged with impatience.

The officer looked at these women, each as beautiful as a flower, and noticed that even the clothing and adornment of the little girl in their arms was not something an ordinary family could afford. He quickly offered a servile smile. “Ah, so you are Lord Zhu’s family! Please forgive our intrusion. If you encounter any trouble during your stay, feel free to visit the yamen and look for this lowly one. I shall certainly do my utmost to assist you.”

            

“Mm,” Xiao Bingying acknowledged, refusing to engage further.

The officer stood awkwardly for a moment. Realizing Xiao Bingying and the others had no intention of making conversation, he took the hint and departed with a polite smile.

After that group of people left, Qu Sheng set Qu Ning down. The little girl kept her head lowered, deep in thought. Seeing this, Lin Xizhao looked toward Qu Sheng.

            

Qu Sheng curved her lips in a smile, sitting down with the others to continue eating.

After dinner, Lin Xizhao helped Qu Ning bathe while Qu Sheng prepared her change of clothes. Qu Sheng stood by the wooden bath, her gaze warm and incredibly gentle.

After the bath, the family lay down together on the bed with Qu Ning nestled between them, though she was pressed against Lin Xizhao’s chest.

            

Lin Xizhao cradled her daughter, gently coaxing her to sleep, while Qu Sheng lay on her side, propping her head up as she watched them. When Lin Xizhao looked up, Qu Sheng leaned closer to press a soft kiss against her tender lips.

Though Lin Xizhao gave her a mild, affectionate glare at the sudden kiss, she did not push her away. Sensing Qu Sheng’s closeness, Qu Ning, who had her eyes closed, opened them.

Lin Xizhao looked down at her daughter, her eyes softening into crescents. “Can you not sleep, Ning’er?” she asked in a gentle voice.

            

Qu Ning remained quiet for a long moment before nodding her tiny head.

“Are you thinking about what happened today?” Lin Xizhao gently prompted, coaxing her to share her thoughts.

Qu Ning looked up at her mother, pausing for a moment before nodding again.

            

“He looked so pitiful, yet he wasn’t innocent at all. And those fierce-looking men didn’t actually do anything to hurt him. When Mother Emperor asked this child to choose, this child chose wrongly.”

Lin Xizhao pondered for a moment before replying softly, “Ning’er is not wrong. Your choice was the best decision you could have made at that moment. It’s simply that some people are accustomed to putting up disguises, making it impossible for others to see the truth.”

“Had Ning’er not spoken up to save him, those men would have dragged him away. As for what would have happened once they did, nor can we entirely believe their side of the story alone,” Lin Xizhao added.

            

Qu Ning looked at her Mother Empress, her thick eyelashes fluttering. After a brief silence, she asked in her tender voice, “Then how does one tell them apart?”

“People’s disguises are mostly geared toward protecting their own interests,” Qu Sheng chimed in.

Qu Ning turned her body around to face Qu Sheng. Seeing her daughter willing to look at her, Qu Sheng began to break down the events from earlier. “To tell them apart, one must have sharp observation and experience. Ning’er, think back. What did you notice about the man who ran in first?”

            

Qu Ning lowered her eyes, recalling the scene. “He was injured…”

“And what else?” Qu Sheng asked.

After a brief hesitation, Qu Ning looked up and replied, “His right hand was missing three fingers.”

            

Qu Sheng smiled. “And what about the people who came after?”

“They had weapons in their hands, and there were many of them.”

Qu Sheng arched her eyebrows and smiled. “Ning’er observed very carefully.”

            

Upon hearing Qu Sheng’s praise, a smile appeared on Qu Ning’s little face for an instant, but she deliberately withdrew it a moment later.

Seeing her daughter not dare to smile in front of her, a trace of heartache appeared in Qu Sheng’s eyes. She gazed at her daughter’s face for a brief moment, before speaking in a gentle voice and a deep tone, “Mother Emperor’s expectations of Ning’er were too high in the past, causing you to feel fearful. It was Mother Emperor’s fault.”

Qu Ning stared at her, her gaze frozen. Though she was young, her education had begun exceptionally early. She understood the apology in Qu Sheng’s words, but she could not comprehend why her Mother Emperor would suddenly speak such words to her.

            

Instinctively, Qu Ning turned her gaze to Lin Xizhao after a brief silence. Lin Xizhao curved her eyes and slightly raised her chin, gesturing for her to continue listening to Qu Sheng.

“We are out of the palace now. Here, there are no rulers and subjects—only a mother and daughter bound by blood. But whether we are inside the imperial walls or out, Ning’er will always be Mother Emperor’s most beloved daughter.” Qu Sheng was not someone who liked to express herself; most of the time, she simply acted.

“Mother Emperor also knows that Ning’er won’t believe it right away. But we have a long journey ahead of us. You can be as free and unburdened as your younger sister Ying-meimei, and Mother Emperor will also get along with Ning’er as a friend, just like Auntie Bingying does.”

            

That precisely was how Xiao Bingying raised her child—as both a mother and a friend. Because of this, Zhao Ningying lived a very free life. Although she had demands of herself, she was never excessively demanding.

Qu Ning gazed intently at Qu Sheng, disbelief still written on her features. For as long as she could remember, this was the very first time her Mother Emperor had spoken to her like this.

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Early the next morning, the local yamen was in session. Qu Sheng carried Qu Ning to the entrance of the government office, standing in the courtyard to watch the county magistrate¹ preside over the trial of the men arrested the previous day.

            

With both her hands wrapped around Qu Sheng’s neck, Qu Ning stared unblinkingly at the people in the hall, listening to the questions the county magistrate asked.

Qu Sheng had broken down the situation of the two groups for her the previous night. The person in front indeed owed a debt, but as for what kind of debt it was, it remained to be tried.

“Mother, do people who gamble and fail to pay back their debts have their fingers cut off?” Remembering her discussion with Qu Sheng and hearing the mention of high-interest loans in court, Qu Ning asked a question about a concept she had never encountered before.

            

Qu Sheng looked down at her daughter, her lips curving slightly. “Rules are made by people, but indeed, it’s often so.”

“If he already owed so much money, why did he keep gambling?” Qu Ning’s little head couldn’t figure it out for a moment.

Qu Sheng smiled and explained, “Sometimes, people like to believe they are special, that heaven will look upon them with favor. Having lost it so easily, they think of how to get it back just as easily. That is why they try again and again, thinking that there will always be that one time where they can win everything back, capital and interest alike.”

            

Qu Ning knitted her little brows slightly. She had lived without worries for food or clothing since childhood, nor did she feel she had ever lost anything, so she did not seem to understand what kind of fluke-seeking emotion this was.

But she also learned that the vivid and dramatic words spoken by some people were untrustworthy.

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The author has something to say:

            

Qu Sheng: “My daughter takes after me—she is intelligent.”

Xiao Bingying: “So does mine.”

Zhao Jiayu: “I’d rather my daughter didn’t take after me!”

            

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