A Fine Flower

As soon as Li Yunxin and Liu Laodao left, the people on the other side began scheming.

Qiao Jiaxin heeded Li Yunxin's words and stopped speaking in that sarcastic, needling tone. Instead, she went to sit by the table, her eyes rolling this way and that. At last, they fixed on the feather duster in the vase, and she could not look away.

Qiao Wangshi, in the main room, glanced at Qiao Jiaxin, then shot Qiao Jiaming a glare. "Have you howled enough? Get up! What kind of sight is this?"

Qiao Jiaming curled his lip and got to his feet, looking Qiao Jiaxin up and down as if he wanted to say something.

But Qiao Liushi hurriedly beckoned to him. "Come out, come out! Hurry up and come out!"

In the end, he felt that Qiao Jiaxin might truly be possessed, and fear crept into his heart. He brushed the dust from himself and came out.

Once the door was shut, the three of them instructed the servants to keep a close watch before heading toward the main house.

Whenever Qiao Jiaming had come here before, he had always hunched his shoulders. Now, however, he swaggered about. Passing the flowerbed, he saw a peony blooming beautifully. He reached out, snapped it off, tucked it behind his ear, and began humming a tune.

Qiao Wangshi frowned. "Such a fine flower... Ah, never mind."

Qiao Jiaming grinned smugly. "Auntie is still the sensible one. My eldest uncle's injuries are plain to see—he won't live much longer. Once he's gone, the Qiao Household will have no male descendants but me. By then, perhaps both Aunties will have to live under the same roof as me. What are these flowers and grasses worth? They'll all be mine! And Jiaxin—"

Qiao Liushi glared at him. "Don't you dare set your sights on her!"

Qiao Jiaming blinked in a grotesque manner. "Ha? What kind of thing is that to say? She wasn't born to either of you. Doesn't she usually give you sour looks whenever she sees you? My little sister travels with an escort agency, showing her face in public. Who knows whether she's even chaste? If I take her, that would be her good fortune—"

"You fool." Qiao Liushi reached out to twist his ear. Qiao Wangshi merely watched the two of them, frowned, and said nothing.

"Didn't you see who sent them back? The Yu Household's young master! The head of the escort agency! Let me ask you—at the Yu Household, even a mere guard looks at us with his nose in the air. What blessings did that dead ghost Qiao Duanhong cultivate in his past life for the Yu Household's young master to personally escort them home and even leave ten ingots of silver? Wasn't it because he had taken a fancy to Jiaxin?"

Qiao Jiaming blinked. "The head of the escort agency? The Yu Household's young master? Yu Meng? Huh? Second Aunt, what you say does make sense."

He rubbed his hands together again and smiled sinisterly. "But if you ask me, although Yu Meng is a fool known throughout Weicheng, he certainly won't lack women. Mm... he probably only wants to play around... My sister Jiaxin is quite pretty, too. Well... it won't be too late after the Yu Household's young master gets tired of playing with her. I can take her in as a concubine..."

Qiao Wangshi frowned again, but after thinking it over, she sighed. "Ah. Why say such things at a time like this? Your eldest uncle's life and death are still unknown. But that Yu Household young master seems rather fond of Liu Laodao..."

Qiao Jiaming snorted. "Who isn't that fool nice to? If he sees a beggar, the moment his foolishness flares up, he can reward him with a tael of silver. Liu Laodao, hmph... What had we been discussing before? This escort run has failed, and we still have to find money for compensation and consolation. We mustn't let it empty out our family fortune. That Liu Laodao is just a rotten old man, yet he occupies such a good place as Dragon King Temple for nothing. If you ask me, the two Aunties should spend some money to grease the prefect's palm, have him convicted of colluding with bandits to rob the escort shipment, and seize Dragon King Temple for us—at current Weicheng land prices, that property of his is worth three hundred taels of silver!"

"But... Liu Laodao does have some reputation, after all." Qiao Wangshi hesitated. "Other households ask him for paintings too. For example, the Zhang Household at Little Stone Bridge..."

Qiao Jiaming burst into laughter. "I say, Aunties, you are womenfolk after all—you rarely go out. Every time Liu Laodao comes boasting, you take him at his word? He does have some reputation—who doesn't know that he shamelessly goes to the doors of wealthy households, begging them to buy his paintings? They either take pity on him or grow sick of being pestered and buy one or two. Then he comes back and brags to you that people begged for his paintings. That Zhang Household at Little Stone Bridge you mentioned—Liu Laodao was short of silver that time, and with favorable winds and timely rains, no one was going to Dragon King Temple. So he ran to the Zhang Household's gatehouse and drank tea there all day. The gatekeeper got fed up with him, gave him two jiao of silver, and sent him away!"

Qiao Wangshi and Qiao Liushi exchanged astonished looks. "That was what happened?"

Qiao Jiaming curled his lip. "That rotten old man, hmph. And that brat too—they both colluded with bandits! Once we find someone to set Sister Jiaxin right, we'll report them to the authorities!"

"But Liu Laodao said... once Qiao Duanhong wakes up, we'll naturally know what happened..."

Qiao Jiaming turned his head. He said nothing, only smiled. "Heh heh. That depends on whether he wakes up at all."

After those words, the three of them fell silent for a time.

All readers are welcome. The newest, fastest, and hottest serialized works are all here! Mobile users, please read on the mobile site.