Chapter 179: Peace
Editor: Atlas Studios
Thinking that Fan Zijin had misunderstood him, Qi Haoran was furious. How could he be someone who valued a lover over his friend? No, how could he like Mu Yangling?
Fan Zijin was also very angry. He could see that his brother valued Mu Yangling more and more, but he magnanimously didn’t mind because the other party was just a young lady. However, Haoran actually flared up at him for Mu Yangling. This was absolutely unacceptable. He had never been angry with him even when it concerned his eldest cousin. How could he be so upset with him because of an outsider like Mu Yangling?
This time, Fan Zijin kept a straight face and forced himself not to give in first. Qi Haoran waited for half the night, but Fan Zijin did not come over to apologize to him. He then went to sleep angrily. When he woke up the next morning, Qi Haoran temporarily lost his memory and did not remember what happened last night. He ran into Fan Zijin’s room and went to have breakfast with him.
Fan Zijin didn’t sleep the entire night last night and was waiting for Qi Haoran to come and give in to him. Hence, his under-eyes were a little dark. Seeing that Qi Haoran had finally come, his expression improved a little and he went to have breakfast with him with a solemn expression.
After breakfast, the cousins finally reconciled. Qi Haoran wiped his mouth and said, “I’m going out for morning exercise.”
Fan Zijin nodded with a straight face and said, “I’m going back to the prefectural capital to look for Eldest Cousin later. Tomorrow, the trade caravan will start to head south. If you need anything, ask Fei Bai to make a list for me.”
“Alright, I’ll get Fei Bai to do it later.”
After Qi Haoran left, Fan Zijin ate slowly for a while before waving his hand to call for Yanmo. “Send 100 taels of silver to the Mu family and bring back the embroidery.”
Yanmo asked in confusion, “What embroidery?” He didn’t follow his master to the Mu family’s residence last night.
Fan Zijin looked at him unhappily and said, “Won’t you know when you go? Mu Yangling will give it to you.”
“Yes.” Yanmo thought for a moment and said, “Young Master, we don’t have so much silver on hand. Why don’t we take some from Fourth Young Master first?”
“Hasn’t Fourth Young Master taken the silver that I gave him?”
Yanmo smiled and said, “Fourth Young Master hasn’t gone out recently, so he hasn’t had a chance to spend this money. The money’s still with you.”
Fan Zijin pursed his lips and said, “Then don’t give it to him. Take out another 20 taels of silver from that amount and add it to the 100 taels to be sent to Mu Yangling. Just say that it’s the money for the embroidery.”
‘Didn’t you feel sorry for her? I want to see if you feel sorry for your money or for her.’
Fan Zijin thought as he gritted his teeth.
When Qi Haoran found out that he only had 50 taels left because of this matter, he wanted to die. He cried dramatically as he said, “How can you be so heartless? 30 taels isn’t even enough to fill the gaps between my teeth. How am I supposed to live?”
Fan Zijin looked at him calmly and said, “Don’t you feel sorry for Mu Yangling? I’m taking care of her for you.”
Qi Haoran was dumbfounded. “When did I feel sorry for her? I’m just saying that we shouldn’t scam her because we’re good friends.”
Fan Zijin snorted and looked at him with a faint smile. “Then how can you bear to trick Eldest Cousin when he’s your brother? Yinglian is our (female) cousin, but I’ve never seen you pity her. Don’t try to act all nonchalant. In the end, it’s because you like her.”
Qi Haoran’s face flushed red. “Nonsense. She’s not pretty. Why should I like her?”
“I find it strange too. She’s not pretty, so why are you always willing to follow behind her? Don’t you hate playing with girls the most? You despise them for being noisy and always crying. Mu Yangling is not even as gentle as a girl, let alone beautiful. I really don’t know what you like about her…” Fan Zijin became angrier and angrier as he spoke.
Listening from the side, Fei Bai could not help but defend Mu Yangling. “Young Master Zijin, actually, Miss Mu is very beautiful. It’s just that she usually wears short clothes and dresses like a boy, so her beauty is hidden. Although Miss Mu isn’t gentle enough, she’s skilled and strong. She can exchange more than 150 moves with Young Master. She’s also kind-hearted and is willing to sacrifice herself for her pals. I think there’s nothing wrong with her.”
Qi Haoran nodded repeatedly in agreement.
The corners of Fan Zijin’s mouth twitched as he asked, “Is this a girl you’re describing? Are you guys looking for a pal?”
Frowning, Qi Haoran said, “You look down on women. Be careful or I’ll tell Aunt and let her beat you up.”
Fan Zijin looked at him pitifully. “You’re the only one who believes in my mother’s strong personality. If she’s really so powerful, I wouldn’t have an eldest brother who’s two years older than me born from a concubine, and my family wouldn’t be in a mess because of the several concubines. I was even so angry with my father that I ran away from home. Mu Yangling looks tough now, but when she gets married and has children in the future, she might not be so powerful. Haoran, don’t treat girls as guys. They’re not worthy.”
Qi Haoran’s eyes were filled with confusion. “But Aunt is clearly very fierce. She even dared to chase after Uncle with a knife. Which madam in Xingzhou Prefecture dares to do this?”
Fan Zijin sneered. “So what if she chased after my father with a knife? Doesn’t stop my father from visiting the brothel and sleeping with his concubines. She couldn’t do anything about it. If other people’s wives didn’t chase after their husbands all over the house, they would at least preserve the dignity of a legitimate wife and retain the status of a legitimate son for their son.”
Qi Haoran said unhappily, “So why didn’t you help Aunt when you know everything? If my mother was still around, I definitely wouldn’t allow anyone to bully her, not even my father.”
Qi Haoran had lost his mother at a young age and had even forgotten what she looked like. However, he still yearned for his mother, so he could never understand Fan Zijin’s attitude towards his mother.
Fan Zijin naturally knew that this was one of his reverse scales, so he said seriously, “Who said I didn’t help her? If I didn’t help her, her life would only be even more difficult, but she never listened to my advice. This time, I came to the border with you to help her.”
Qi Haoran’s eyes were filled with confusion. He couldn’t understand.
Fan Zijin pushed his head away and said, “Alright, you don’t have to understand. You just have to know that I stayed outside to help her.”
Fan Zijin thought coldly that he was forcing her to make a decision. Did she want her husband or her son?
If she wanted her husband, he could only watch her continue to be entangled with her father like this. At most, he would stand up for her outside. However, if she chose her son, she would have her maternal family, schemes, methods, and him. What was there to be afraid of then?
Weren’t the concubines easy to deal with?
However, Fan Zijin was a little disappointed. Until now, other than sending some money, his mother had not said anything. The information Eldest Cousin had received was that she was still fighting with her father and arguing with him non-stop because of him.
But was it really for him?
Qi Haoran was not sensitive enough to notice what was on his brother’s mind. After Fan Zijin kept pointing out that he liked Mu Yangling, he really started to think seriously. Did he really like Mu Yangling?
Qi Haoran thought about it for a few days and finally came to the conclusion that he liked Mu Yangling, but at the thought of marrying her, he felt strange. What if he didn’t want to get married at all?
In the end, Qi Haoran came to a conclusion. “I treat Mu Yangling like a brother, really!”
Fan Zijin slapped his face before turning around to continue sleeping. He said in a muffled voice, “Why aren’t you sleeping at night??