Chapter Ninety-Four: Beaten Hard and Left Bruised!

Many people had come because of the commotion here.

They did not know who the people in the courtyard were, nor who this Miss Qi Rongzhi might be. But seeing that Qi Rongzhi had brought many attendants, they assumed she must be a young lady from a wealthy family. Yet for all her high birth, the way she opened her mouth to curse at people was enough to make everyone feel she did not suit her station.

And precisely because it did not suit her, even more people came to watch.

There were old women guarding the gate, so no one could draw too near. They could only listen and watch from a distance. The walls around the pilgrims’ courtyard of the Quiet Heart Nunnery were not high, and by standing on tiptoe outside, one could make out most of what was happening.

“How dare you speak to me like that? Where did this country woman come from, and you still dare insult me!” Inside, Qi Rongzhi had suffered a crushing defeat from Qin Wanru’s soft but deadly jabs. She was already seething with anger, and now that someone else had actually dared to curse her, her eyes flew wide with fury. Looking the woman over from head to toe, she exploded at once.

With a fierce shove, she pushed hard against the woman’s body. “Move aside! A good dog does not block the road. What sort of lowly trash dares stand in my way!”

Those words carried all the resentment she had just swallowed from Qin Wanru.

There were indeed quite a few people blocking her path, and the insult reached everyone alike. Many grew displeased. The hand she had thrust out was suddenly seized, and someone in the crowd pinched her viciously more than once.

No one knew where she had been pinched, but Qi Rongzhi shrieked in pain. Still screaming shrilly, she yanked her hand back and, in blind rage, flailed at the woman beside her. She had truly gone mad.

“Move! You filthy commoners, who gave you leave to come near me? Get lost, get lost, get lost!”

Had she not spoken, it might have been better. Once she did, the people around her all took offense. Whether they had been struck or not, they came forward without mercy, hitting Qi Rongzhi’s face and body.

The maids and old women who had come with her saw that things were bad and rushed in at once, trying to save Qi Rongzhi. But she had cursed and beaten too fiercely; many of those surrounding her were already inflamed with anger. How could they allow her people to take her away? Thus a great crowd came to blows.

Qi Rongzhi had brought many people today, but however many she brought, they could not outnumber the onlookers. Soon the whole place was in chaos. Someone yanked her hair, someone tore at her clothes. Street fights had no manners to speak of; they were all brute force and raw temper. At such a moment, who still cared what her status was?

Besides, no one had even known who she was to begin with, and now no one would bother to consider her either.

Qi Rongzhi was delicate, soft-skinned and tender-fleshed. After having her hair and clothes torn a few times, she cried out in pain at once. Then, in the scramble, she too learned to seize hair and claw at faces.

In an instant, it was a scene of hens and dogs in uproar, with screams rising one after another.

When Qin Wanru came out, this was the sight that met her eyes: a chaos beyond chaos. She raised a hand to stop those beside her from joining in, and even stepped back a little herself, before sending a maid to invite the abbess of the nunnery.

In a scene like this, anyone who got pulled in would be struck, seized, or scratched.

The safest course was to fetch the abbess.

Those trapped in the melee had all fought themselves into a frenzy, and there was another ugly truth to women’s fights: they pulled hair, scratched faces, and tore clothes.

The abbess arrived very quickly. Before long she was at the gate, where she ordered the nuns she had brought with her to separate the two sides.

Once the nuns appeared, everyone recognized them as people from the Quiet Heart Nunnery. Many then remembered that they had come today to attend a ritual here, and one by one they recovered their senses and stepped back, revealing the crowd in the middle.

The maids and old women from the prefect’s residence were still trying to shield their mistress. Even so, Qi Rongzhi was a wretched sight, sitting on the ground in disarray. Her clothes were in disorder, her hair hung in a tangled mess, and on her stunned, slightly raised face there was a fresh streak of blood at her forehead. At a glance it was clear that someone had clawed her.

Qin Wanru walked forward slowly while instructing people to help Qi Rongzhi to her feet. “Miss Qi, are you all right?”

Qi Rongzhi was still half dazed, her whole person wooden and vacant, as though she had gone stupid.

“Miss, Miss, what’s the matter with you? Don’t frighten this old servant!” Her wet nurse was in a panic too. She rushed over, lifting Qi Rongzhi’s face in her hands, and began crying out loudly as well.

“Whoever was the one who laid hands on our young lady, none of you are leaving today! To dare claw our young lady’s face like this—do you know who our young lady is? She is the prefect’s precious daughter! And you actually dared strike her. Are you all tired of living?” Chunyi’s face was livid with rage as she cursed at the women nearby. Her own appearance was hardly any better, no different from Qi Rongzhi’s.

“Help Miss Qi up!” the abbess of the nunnery instructed the nun beside her.

Two nuns came over and carefully lifted Qi Rongzhi to her feet. The women nearby, hearing that the one before them was the prefect’s daughter, were suddenly frightened too. Many quietly backed away, each secretly relieved that there had been so many people on the scene that no one could tell who had touched the young lady.

“Miss, Miss, say something. What’s wrong with you?” Qi Rongzhi’s wet nurse was still calling out in alarm.

“Take her first to the side hall. This poor nun will examine her face. A young lady’s face cannot afford injury,” the abbess said gently.

Her words reminded the old women. They nodded repeatedly, no longer even bothering to wipe away tears. A young lady’s face was indeed a precious thing. If it were really ruined, none of those who had come with her today would escape unscathed. Thinking of their mistress’s methods, the servants all panicked. Chunyi no longer had the heart to rage and followed behind Qi Rongzhi in alarm.

No one had time to care about the crowd gathered around them. One after another, they scattered outward, clearly meaning to flee.

They had beaten the prefect’s daughter into such a state; no one could shoulder that responsibility.

“What happened?” Qi Baiyu came hurrying over, his face stern.

“Second Young Master, the eldest young lady was beaten…” Seeing Qi Baiyu, the servants from the prefect’s residence seemed to have found a pillar of support. One after another they began to cry, and even Qi Rongzhi’s wet nurse started wiping at her tears.

Although they had always looked down on Qi Baiyu in private and had often joined Qi Rongzhi in humiliating him, at this moment it was as though he were the only one in charge.

“Let the abbess examine the wounds first. Don’t let there be scars later,” Qi Baiyu said, frowning after taking in the situation.

“That is exactly what this old servant was thinking!”

“Then hurry and go. Don’t delay matters,” Qi Baiyu said with a furrowed brow.

A great crowd left together with the abbess, and the onlookers too vanished without a trace. After such a thing, who would still dare stay and watch the excitement?

Even those few who had stood nearby without being dragged into it were now uneasy, afraid that if Miss Qi could not tell one person from another, she would simply start pointing people out at random.

Watching the excitement was one thing; getting dragged into it was another.

“Miss, will this be blamed on us?” Qingyue asked worriedly.

“No,” Qin Wanru shook her head. Qi Rongzhi had indeed been deliberately provoked by her, but the one who had clashed with her was not Qin Wanru herself. Besides, if one traced things back to the beginning, it had been Qi Rongzhi who first used foul words to hurt others, and even struck someone. After that, in the midst of the confusion, no one could tell who had hit whom.

Moreover, for such an embarrassing matter, Prefect Qi would hardly want the people of all Jiangzhou to go on spreading word that his daughter had behaved like a shrew.

When they returned to the room, the old matriarch also asked about what had happened outside. The commotion had been so great that she had long since been alerted, but hearing that Qi Rongzhi’s injuries were not serious, she said nothing more.

In truth, the whole matter had been caused entirely by Qi Rongzhi herself and had little to do with the marquis’s residence.

“What? You didn’t have those commoners who beat me arrested? You... what good are you? What are you even for?” Qi Rongzhi’s forehead was wrapped in a large white bandage. Her face was pale as she flew into a furious outburst. Grabbing the teacup beside her, she was about to hurl it at Qi Baiyu’s face.

Qi Baiyu reached out and snatched the cup from her hand, smashing it hard to the floor. “Have you made enough of a scene? Do you still want to go on? Right now everyone in Jiangzhou knows of Miss Qi’s fine reputation. You came to burn incense, and yet you ended up brawling with other pilgrims like a market shrew. Before, it was only your reputation for arrogance and rudeness. Now there is this new disgrace too, and many people saw it with their own eyes. Qi Rongzhi, what more do you want?”

“It’s all because of you! All because of you! It’s all your fault! You are only a concubine-born son, and you still have the nerve to say such things. If you had not gone off to play by yourself, how could this have happened to me?”

Though Qi Rongzhi had been startled, she still lashed out in anger, pushing all the blame onto Qi Baiyu in one breath.

In the past, she had often shoved such dirty blame onto Qi Baiyu, so this was simply old habit.

“I went off to play by myself? Wasn’t it you who pushed me out and told me to leave, to go far away? And now you say I wanted to play by myself? Qi Rongzhi, we are in the Quiet Heart Nunnery now, not in the prefect’s residence. This is not a place where whatever you say becomes law. Open your eyes and look carefully. When so many witnesses can prove that you drove me away, I should like to see where you put your face then.”

Qi Baiyu’s voice was cold. He leaned closer to Qi Rongzhi and said with a grim smile, “Qi Rongzhi, you do not want Father to know that in another courtyard you planted something else, intending to harm Second Miss Qin in secret, do you? That you sent me away, then used my name to trick Qin Wanru over?”

His voice was very low, so low that only Qi Rongzhi could hear it. Her expression changed abruptly. Her hand trembled, and she stared at Qi Baiyu in shock, unable to speak for a moment.

“Miss Qin has already left Jiangzhou. Right now the person Lord Ningyuan values most is Second Miss Qin. The mistress of the marquis’s residence is also the Water Madam, who dotes on Second Miss Qin, and Old Madam Qin is there to make the decisions. If you truly harmed Qin Wanru, I suspect Lord Ningyuan would find some way to cut you down to size.”

Qi Baiyu said darkly, his gaze cold and vicious. “In this region of Jiangzhou, the commander in charge is Lord Ningyuan. He has men under him. Unless you plan never to leave the prefect’s residence again, the chance of being seized and sold off is still very great. Do you really think the marquis’s residence fears our prefect’s residence?”