Chapter 11 Knife to Neck

By the time Qin Wanru regained consciousness, it was evening. An old woman bent over the lamp, holding scissors to cut the wick.

This was her grandmother, the only member of her family who doted on her. The bandages on her arm had been rewrapped.

"Are you feeling better, Grandma?" she said, almost in a whisper. Old grandma looked up and saw that Qin Wanru had opened her eyes, her face brightened immediately and she got up to walk toward Wanru, and with a gentle voice, she said, “Zhuozhuo, you're finally awake. Quick, will someone prepare her dinner?"

Qing Yue emerged from behind the screen and came up to Qin Wanru help her sit up on her bed and slipped a cushion behind her for support. Her injured arm seemed to have been re-bandaged and so she could not see any blood soaking through the gauze, and it was not hurting as much as before.

Another maid came into the room to place a bowl of porridge and some dishes in front of Qin Wanru.

Qin Wanru was indeed hungry by now. She held up the bowl of porridge and dug in immediately, only to pause when she had downed half the bowl of porridge.

"Old grandma, the general, his wife and eldest Miss Qin is here!" an old maid came in to inform them respectfully.

"Why are they here? Throw them out and tell them not to come here ever again! I will live the rest of my life here with Zhuozhuo!" the old grandma's face fell as she snorted. She refused to believe that Qin Huaiyong was totally unaware of the matter.

"Old grandma, the general said that he is here to ask you for forgiveness, and to give you an explanation," said the old maid after some hesitation.

"Grandma, please let father come in!" Qin Wanru said gently, as she wiped the corners of her mouth with a handkerchief.

She was concerned that grandmother was getting old, even if her father was not bothered about this fact. In her previous life, her grandmother was overcome by shame could not move on from there because her, which was also the reason she passed away early. This time, she would not allow that to happen again. Not only would she try to protect herself, she would also guard over her grandmother.

Old grandma breathed a sigh when she heard what Qin Wanru said, and nodded helplessly. She had said those words in the fits of anger earlier on. She was not going to draw a clear line between her only son and herself and be so heartless.

"Is Wanru alright, mother?" inquired the Ningyuan Army General gently. He was a stout, middle-aged man. When entered the room, he first greeted the old grandma respectfully, then turned to look at Qin Wanru with concern.

Behind his were Mrs. Qin and her daughter, who apparently had been crying, because their eyes were swollen red and they both looked very pathetic.

"She's been injured so badly that she almost lost her life! How could she be alright?" Old grandma said coldly as her eyes fell on Mrs. Qin who was following behind. "What do you say you will do going forward?" old grandma snorted.

"Mother, let's send Yuru to the capital city," Qin Huaiyong said with a low voice accompanied by an uneasy cough.

"Send her into the capital city and let her marry the son of Duke Yong?" mocked the old grandma as she glared at Qin Huaiyong and the pair of mother and daughter. "How are you so sure that the Duke Yong's family is willing to take in a girl who had lost her chastity as their daughter-in-law?"

At those words, Qin Yuru covered her face with a handkerchief and began weeping pitifully.

"Mother, Yuru hadn't lost her chastity. It was all Qi Tianyu trying to malign her. How is it possible for our Yuru to be such a foolish person!" Mrs. Qin wiped her eyes with a handkerchief and said angrily.

"Are you then saying you are going to make this clear to the Qis?" old grandma questioned as she snorted.

This question shut Mrs. Qin up almost immediately. She was stupefied. The entire matter had come to this and the Ningyuan Army General was certainly the one at fault and he was too ashamed to go the Qis to explain to give them an explanation.

"Wanru, can you... can you save your sister?" asked Mrs. Qin abruptly as she turned to Qin Wanru with an imploring expression on her face.

She was going to direct everything at me again, thought Qin Wanru.

"I don't know what you mean, mother? Was what I did not enough? Will it be enough only when I sacrifice my life for Big Sister?" said Wanru in response, her eyes filled with tears of rage. At this instant, Qin Wanru took hold of the pair of sister her grandmother was just using to cut the wick of the lamp and put it to her throat, saying, "If this is what Mother wishes, then I will sacrifice my life!"

In her previous life, she only found out much later that she was not her mother's real daughter. In vain had she treated her like her own mother and was perplexed as to why she was showing such severe favoritism.

In fact, many people in the house were aware of this fact, but they kept her in the dark.

"Put it down, Zhuozhuo, lest I die from heartache!" old grandmother was alarmed by Qin Wanru's resoluteness and her face drain of colors instantly. She then turned to Qin Huaiyong and loudly rebuked him, saying, "I don't want to live if anything happens to Zhuozhuo. We'll die together and free up space for you!"

The culture of the country had always been to uphold filial piety and Qin Huaiyong would never breach this moral standard. He immediately stopped himself from suggesting anything more even if he had other thoughts and gave his wife a severe look while saying, "Put down the pair of scissors, Wanru. Don't frighten your grandmother!"

"Then tell me, Father, are you here to persuade me to share some of Big Sister's responsibilities? Are you going to accuse me of being the culprit for this messy situation?" .Qin Wanru rested her eyes on Qin Huaiyong, as if she had seen through the real reason for their visit to grandma. Her innocent eyes were filled with a mixture of sadness as well as resolution.

"Rest assured, Wanru. I know you've been wronged and father will not allow you to suffer any more than this." Looking at Qin Wanru behaving in this way, the guilt-stricken Qin Huaiyong was filled with remorse and heartache.

Qin Huaiyong's words almost made the pair of mother and daughter jump with rage. They had finally persuaded him to come to speak to grandma to let Qin Wanru bear the blame. Qin Yuru's reputation would be saved if Qin Wanru admitted that she told all these lies to frame Qin Yuru.

Little did she expect that before she could even make the request, Qin Huaiyong had changed his mind after hearing Qin Wanru's words.

Mrs. Qin was about to say something when Qin Huaiyong gave her a look to shut her up.

Old grandma played along and took over the pair of scissors from Qin Wanru.

Qin Wanru meekly let her grandmother take away the pair of scissors, then turning to her father, she said, "How would you deal with Mammy Chen, Father?" Qin Wanru looked expectantly at her father and reached out to hold on to old grandma's quivering figure. She then shifted her vision to Mammy Chen, who was trying to hide behind Mrs. Qin.

She so wished she could sever one of Mrs. Qin's arm.