Qin Yining’s lips curved up slightly into a meaningful smile. She turned back to look at Jingzhe.

  The guard immediately grasped his mistress’ intent and took the other three hidden guards to the head of the second floor stairs.

  The Qin fourth miss continued to watch matters unfold downstairs. A lavishly dressed Madame Lu in purple robes alighted from the carriage with help from her maids. Glowering, she stalked forward at the head of her group.

  The manager on duty and servers were scared out of their wits. When they scrambled out to inquire about the situation, the madame’s guards harshly shoved them aside.

  “Get out of the way! Can you afford to stick your nose into what the Lus want to do!?” Madame Lu’s voice hinted ominously of an impending storm. Her slender eyebrows drawn tightly together in a frown, the look in her eyes was so sharp that it seemed like she would instantly take the life of anyone who dared to block her way.

  Upon hearing that it was the Lus, the manager didn’t dare stand in their way at all.

  Seeing that the staff were afraid of her, the madame asked, “Has someone from the Qin family come today? Are they upstairs?”


  In her fury, she couldn’t be bothered to wait for a response. She waved her men forward. “Go upstairs. When you see Qin exchanging papers with the seller, beat them to death! You’ll be richly rewarded if you do so. Don’t worry, the Lus have your back if anything happens!”


  “Understood!” roared her men. All of them flourished their clubs or bats and charged menacingly up the stairs, wood creaking and groaning in protest.

  The customers on the first floor had all retreated to the side of the hall. A flurry of conversations started up as they watched the show. There were also those who felt they couldn’t afford to fend the Lus and quickly settled their bill to exit this lawless place.

  Madame Lu compressed her lips together and snorted coldly. What, did they all take her for a sick cat because she didn’t bare her fangs?

  That Lu Dehan was courting death, but were the Qins courting death as well?

  No! It’s that damn girl courting death!

  I’m going to give her a thorough lesson today in whose word counts in the capital!

  “Who are you!?” Jingzhe, Xiaoman, Xiaoxue, and Dahan blocked the group of servants from charging up the stairs.

  The Lu hired men overflowed with a threatening manner. They didn’t care about the four ordinary-looking pageboys in their way at all. Shoving them aside brusquely, they declared, “Keep your nose out of it!”


  One of them turned back to ask, “Madame, which floor do we head for?”


  Madame Lu turned a cold gaze onto the manager. “The Qins are meeting with someone. Which floor?”


  The manager had a quick think. The second floor was reserved by a girl, the third floor by the Qins. He really didn’t want to answer, for fear of offending the Qins. But the Drunken Immortal was only so big. The Lus would very quickly find who they wanted, and he would’ve offended an enormous clan for his troubles.

  When his thoughts travelled here, the manager decided that a wise man knows when the odds are against him.

  “They’re, they’re on the third floor.” He responded slowly.

  “The third floor. Get up there and beat that Qin wench with everything you’ve got!”


  “Understood!”


  The hired help jostled past the ‘protesting’ Jingzhe crew, passing through freely to the third floor. Madame Lu followed at the rear, setting foot on the second floor when a refined and magnetic voice resonated from the third floor.

  “Second Master Lu, what do you mean by this? Is your family’s hired help here to make things difficult for this old man?”


  Second Master Lu?

  Poleaxed, Madame Lu froze on the spot. Her expression flickered rapidly, unable to react immediately.

  Meanwhile, her men heedlessly charged up to the third floor and roared, “The madame has given her orders. Come and accept your death, Qin!”


  “How dare you fight my mistress over property!? Qin, you want to be run out of the city, don’t you!”
……

  The servants pulled out all stops in order to please Madame Lu. Most of them didn’t even know what was going on, just that their mistress wanted to beat up a Qin surnamed girl. Throwing all concerns out the window, they joined in the jeering with gusto.

  His face black as a thundercloud, Qin Huaiyuan declared, “It looks like Second Master Lu came otherwise prepared for today’s gathering.”


  Livid himself, Lu Heng responded, “Please don’t misunderstand, Master Qin. I don’t know where these men came from either.”


  Hearing her cousin’s voice, Madame Lu finally came back to herself. The vague feeling of falling into a trap pricked at her, and she hurried up to the third floor.

  “Second elder cousin, it’s me!”


  Lu Heng stood at the head of the stairs and looked down on Madame Lu, who was wreathed in awkward smiles.

  “What is going on here?! I made plans today for a drink with Master Qin, but here you come charging in with this gang, yelling and screaming for the honorable minister’s head. What are you trying to do, commit murder in broad daylight??”


  “Second elder cousin, I……” The madame sweated nervously. “That’s not it at all, please don’t misunderstand! How would I ever commit murder in broad daylight? I just heard…… just heard……”


  I’m here to wreck Qin Yining’s plans of buying a manor because I can’t stand her!

  But the Master Qin that her cousin was meeting with was the father of that wench!

  Just what was going on?? Wasn’t it supposed to be Qin Yining discussing the deed on the third floor? How did it turn into her own cousin sharing a meal with Master Qin?

  The shoe finally dropped. I was set up!

  Madame Lu stood around awkwardly, not sure what to do anymore.

  Lu Heng very rarely expressed his emotions, but he was so incensed today that he wanted to break out in curses.

  Qin Huaiyuan stood and placed his hands behind his back, glowering. “It looks like this old man overstepped myself in wanting to befriend the Lu clan.”


  “Not at all! Please don’t be angry, Master Qin. Don’t be wrapped up in what a mere woman’s done.”


  “Is this woman not part of the Lu clan? If I’m not to be wrapped up in what she’s done, she should at least set aside her hostility for my family.” Qin Huaiyuan looked at Lu Heng. “I don’t know if the second master has heard the declarations from your own family to run the Qins out of town. This Madame Lu dares barrel in with her men today—will she just outright slaughter us in the streets next time?”


  With a cold snort, his sharp eyes swept across an ashen Madame Lu. “It looks like we really do need to exercise more care. Regardless, I beg to differ with the method that the Lus educate their daughters with.”


  Beet red, Lu Heng was of a mind to flay his female cousin alive. He’d wanted to use the meeting today to make the emperor think that the Lus and Qins were close. That would make the emperor keep the Great Yan officials at a distance, or at the very least not trust the Qins that much. That was the most advantageous outcome for the aristocratic families.

  But who would’ve thought that this farce would occur?? The Lu olive branch had turned into picking a quarrel and enacting revenge!

  What would the emperor think of all this when he heard of it?!

  At the very least, Lu Heng’s plans were completely ruined!

  But at the same time, he didn’t think his cousin was so much of a fool that she would look to start trouble here when he was meeting with someone at the same time.

  Something was afoot here!

  As the atmosphere froze over, Qin Yining slowly walked up to Madame Lu with her maids and guards. The fourth miss chuckled softly. “Big sister Lu, what show are you putting on now?”