nycdaug Chapter 38 Wasp Attack
Chapter 38 Wasp Attack
Xiao Chengyan respectfully bowed to Lady Xing.
"I will heed my mother's teachings."
He then bowed and greeted Qiao Qingshu.
"Sister Shu'er, please forgive me this time. I will never dare to do it again. If this happens again, I will beg you with all my might."
Everyone laughed; it turned out to be a misunderstanding.
The matriarch of the Qiao family smiled and lectured,
“Shu’er, it’s not that your grandmother wants to lecture you in front of everyone, but when it comes to embroidery skills, you really are not good enough. The pillow you embroidered for me last time kept me up every night because it was pricked by the needle. The pattern was also very stiff. You are indeed not as good as your cousin Wan’er in this respect. No wonder Yan’er went to ask her instead of asking you.”
Qiao Jizhou seized the opportunity to adopt his fatherly demeanor and lectured him.
"You're this jealous over a purse? If she marries into the family, she'll be watching Yan-ge'er every day. Do you think that's reasonable?"
His words made the elders present laugh heartily, and the atmosphere became more relaxed.
Madam Xing held Qiao Qingshu's hand and whispered a few words of comfort in her ear.
Everyone assumed that this minor incident had passed.
But Qiao Qingshu subtly gave Xia Zhi, who was guarding the door, a wink.
A group of young maids lifted the curtain and filed in, bringing out soup bowls.
A gust of cold wind blew in, and everyone in the room shrank their necks. Several wasps also quietly flew in.
Just as everyone was sipping their soup, a scream shattered the tranquility of the meal.
"Aaaaaah!!!! What is that?!"
Liu Wan'er screamed and jumped up from her seat, chasing away the buzzing hornets surrounding her. She was so frightened that her face turned pale and she screamed repeatedly.
Everyone was frightened by what they saw and quickly got up, moving a good distance of eight feet from Liu Wan'er.
The wasps were big and wild, buzzing around Liu Wan'er alone.
The crowd immediately split into two groups, and no one dared to step forward.
Only that fool, Qiao Antai, saw the wasps and clapped his hands with delight, laughing.
"Catch the bugs! Catch the bugs!"
He happily pounced on Liu Wan'er, grabbing at her from all sides.
Liu Wan'er was already terrified, and when she saw the fool bumping into her, she was both anxious and angry, and tears welled up in her eyes.
He cried out desperately, "Help! Help!"
She pulled out a handkerchief from her bosom to cover her head and face, but in her haste, she accidentally pulled out that alluring handkerchief.
But she was busy dodging the wasps, her face covered by a handkerchief, and she kept her head down, completely unaware that the deadly handkerchief had fallen to the ground.
The handkerchief was brightly colored and eye-catching; the simpleton Qiao Antai picked it up as if it were a treasure.
Qiao Antai had never seen such a novel thing before. He held the handkerchief in front of his eyes and tilted his head to look at it from left to right.
Suddenly, he cheerfully shouted at Qiao Qingqiao,
"Little sister! Look! There are two little people fighting up there!"
As he spoke, he handed the handkerchief to Qiao Qingqiao.
The three Qiao sisters were all standing together, curiously looking down to get a closer look.
Qiao Qingqiao smiled and took it. She had no idea what it meant for the two little ones to fight; she just wanted to appease her brother.
He casually took the handkerchief, slowly unfolded it, and said nonchalantly...
"Yeah, this isn't just two people fighting... Ah!!!"
Before she could finish speaking, she threw the handkerchief into the air as if it were on fire. The usually dignified and serious second daughter, Qiao Qingqiao, blushed as red as a monkey's bottom and ran out, covering her face.
Qiao Qingle and Qiao Qingshu also looked up, left and right, trying to pretend they hadn't seen anything.
But the girls' blushing and uncomfortable expressions said it all.
The handkerchief spun twice in the air before landing on Madam Xing's hair.
Madam Xing reached out to grab it, but Old Madam Xiao beside her grabbed it first.
Old Mrs. Qiao also craned her neck to look curiously.
It was no big deal if he hadn't looked; once he did, even his sixty-year-old face flushed red.
If it weren't for his dark complexion, making it hard to tell, the younger generation would definitely have laughed at him!
The women looked at each other, somewhat embarrassed.
Old Madam Xiao shoved the handkerchief into Old Madam Qiao's hand.
"Madam Qiao, please keep the things that came out of your daughter's arms."
Old Madam Qiao's forehead veins throbbed; her mind was a complete mess, and she felt as if the thing in her hand was pricking her like needles.
He glanced down again, and his face, which had just been filled with shame, immediately lit up with joy.
He tossed the handkerchief back into Madam Xing's arms beside him.
"What belongs to someone else should naturally be returned to that person!"
Madam Xing, puzzled, unfolded the document to examine it. When she saw the two characters "Yi An," she was stunned and remained speechless for a long time.
Seeing this, Old Madam Xiao also turned her head to glance at her. The person who had just been uninvolved was now ashen-faced, glaring fiercely at Madam Xing and rebuking her.
"What's going on?!"
Xiao Chengyan knew he was doomed the moment he saw that the handkerchief was being held and waved by that idiot Qiao Antai.
At this moment, his private collection had been seen by the elders of both Xiao and Qiao families, and even the Qiao family's daughter had seen it all. No matter how composed he was, he panicked at this moment.
Those wasps had already been caught by that idiot Qiao Antai, who hid them in a corner and played with them.
Liu Wan'er also realized that disaster was imminent. The handkerchief she had prepared to treasure was now firmly held in Madam Xing's hand.
She felt as if her life was in someone else's hands.
At that moment, she even stopped breathing.
The room was completely silent, as if the air had frozen.
The expressions of everyone in the room ranged from fear to rage, but Qiao Qingshu's lips curled into a barely perceptible smile.
She looked at Liu Wan'er and thought to herself, "Good cousin, I'll help you this far. Now it's up to the Xiao family to decide whether they want you or not."
Madam Xing, looking at her son with anger at his lack of ambition, rushed forward and slapped him on the head.
"You bastard! If your father knew this, he'd skin you alive! What are you still standing here for? Kneel down before your grandmother!"
Madam Xing knew perfectly well that now that Old Madam Xiao was in charge, any branch of the family that she promoted would gain power, while any branch that she distanced herself from would never have a chance to rise again.
The four branches of the Xiao family appear peaceful on the outside, but in reality, they are locked in a fierce and deadly struggle.
In recent years, their eldest son's family has only caught the eye of Old Madam Xiao because of Xiao Chengyan's success. Madam Xing wished she could make this son pay his respects three times a day and embarrass himself in front of the old lady every day.
This also established Xiao Chengyan's image as flawless.
Now, this single handkerchief has almost ruined her years of painstaking planning.
At this moment, she even felt a bit of hatred for Liu Wan'er, and even wanted to kill this bitch.
Xiao Chengyan knelt down in front of the two old ladies, Xiao Qiao and Xiao Chengyan, with his head bowed and eyes lowered, no longer showing any of his previous ingratiating manner.
His courtesy name was clearly embroidered on the handkerchief, and he couldn't refuse it.
But being a scion of a prominent family, he kept his back straight even while kneeling.
Madam Xiao was so angry she felt dizzy. She sat down, supporting herself on the armrest, rubbing her temples and scolding him angrily.
"Yan-ge'er, explain yourself clearly!"
At this moment, Liu Wan'er also stepped forward and knelt down beside Xiao Chengyan with a thud.
The two knelt side by side, giving the impression of a pair of star-crossed lovers.
Qiao Qingshu stepped forward and gave a slight curtsy, saying,
"It seems Shu'er guessed correctly. Since they've exchanged purses and handkerchiefs, it seems that Brother Xiao Er and Cousin Wan'er are truly deeply in love. If I don't know what's good for me, then I'll be in the wrong."