All was quiet at the Qin family’s ancestral court.
Qin Xiruo’s position within the Qin family was far from low, she had just enough standing to be eligible to stay at the Qin ancestral court. Her qualifications weren’t bad either. After all, the Qins had high hopes for Qin Xiruo until her arm injury effectively stagnated her progress in cultivation for life, leaving the Qins stunned. Naturally, they were upset with Ling Chunxi—the supposed inadvertent cause of the injury—and imposed all sorts of demands upon the Ling family whenever they had business dealings as a result. Upon seeing the benefits of having Qin Xiruo around to guilt the Ling family, the Qins did not request that she move out of their ancestral court, thus saving Qin Xiruo’s face as well.
Qin Xiruo stood by a window, looking out across the grounds in unease. She couldn’t put her finger on why, but she’d been feeling unsettled since early this morning.
“Sister Xiruo, is something the matter?” asked Qin Yumei gently from behind her.
Qin Xiruo looked back over her shoulder at Qin Yumei with a smile. “Nothing’s wrong, Yumei. I heard First Elder say that he will match you and Elder Brother Xiaoting in marriage. Congratulations.”
Anger and hatred washed over Qin Yumei in such large waves, they almost drowned her. A sudden choke gripped her heart. ‘Was Qin Xiruo mocking her? She knows very well that Elder Brother Ling Xiaoting likes her, so such congratulatory words are meaningless. This woman. Was she being sarcastic? Was she indirectly gloating over the fact that even if Ling Xiaoting married her, he’d only have Qin Xiruo in his heart? How hateful!’ Qin Yumei thought about ruthlessly bashing up Qin Xiruo. However, she held in the impulse and exhibited her usual smile instead.
“Sister Xiruo, Elder Brother Xiaoting has always liked you. He would never agree to this marriage. Let’s not talk about this further.” Qin Yumei decided to quickly change the topic. “But how shocking was Ling Chunxi’s transformation? It really made people feel weird. Was she always hiding her true self away or did she ingest some special medication that suddenly made her a genius?” Qin Yumei frowned and continued, her voice full of doubt, “Sister Xiruo, I don’t think it could be that she has been hiding herself away so well, she must have had some special encounter to enable such a transformation like that.”
When Qin Xiruo heard Qin Yumei’s words, her tapping fingers became rigid and she felt an enlightenment dawn upon her.
‘That’s right. Ling Chunxi must have had some kind of special encounter or obtained some kind of special treasure to be able to change to this extent. In the past when Qin Yumei had bullied her to the verge of death, Ling Chunxi couldn’t even summon the courage to issue a retort. Yet, she now had such a terrifying level of innate talent. Additionally, Ling Chunxi’s face was always red, swollen and filled with ugly sores. Now, her skin was fair and supple, and her actual features hidden beneath her skin ailments had turned out to be so stunning. The metamorphosis was just too unimaginable!’ Whenever Qin Xiruo thought back to Ling Chunxi’s peerless appearance during the assessment ceremony, a surge of uncontrollable anger and jealousy arose within her.
‘I’m sure of it. Ling Chunxi must have had encountered something very special or found some treasure to change so much. If that’s the case, maybe there is some hope for my arm…’ Qin Xiruo gently caressed her injured right arm. If she could obtain this same treasure, then would her arm be able to be healed? That way, all her previous glory could be returned to her!
Qin Xiruo got more and more excited thinking about it. With a sudden jolt of movement, she whirled around and walked towards the door.
“Sister Xiruo, what’s going on?” questioned Qin Yumei in confusion.
“Nothing. I just thought of something. I’m heading out for a bit.” Qin Xiruo didn’t look back and hurried off with quickening footsteps.
Qin Yumei watched Qin Xiruo’s receding figure disappear through the doors in silence. Then she let out a cold laugh before leaving the room as well.
After Qin Xiruo left the main gate of her house behind her in rush, she ran towards Ling Chunxi’s house. She was eager to find Ling Chunxi and trap her so she could find whatever treasure it was that caused her metamorphosis and claim it for herself.
However, after running just a short while away from the Qin ancestral court, she stopped. She could see two people in the distance—Ling Xiaoting and Ling Chunxi. Ling Chunxi seem to be speaking in a frustrated manner.