After Transmigrating as a Disabled Villain - Chapter 4

The crowd watching the commotion all turned toward the direction of the voice and unconsciously parted to make way.

“Why is Miss Qiu here?”

“Why did Miss Qiu say she can prove Qin Chu didn’t cheat…”

The woman in the red dress had an indifferent expression, her eyes like cold stars as she walked through the crowd.

The moment Third Miss Gu saw Qiu Jinning, she hurried over and said pitifully, “Sister Qiu, boohoo, Cripple Qin hit me again. The Qin family simply has no respect for the law.”

Qiu Jinning ignored Third Miss Gu and looked directly at Teacher Li. “I was the one who invigilated Class C’s arithmetic exam. Qin Chu did indeed answer the questions herself, in her own handwriting. She did not bring in hidden notes, nor did she have a cheat sheet. Therefore, I can prove that Qin Chu did not cheat.”

Her voice was light and slow, as if she were speaking of the most ordinary matter, yet for no reason, it made everyone believe her.

What they trusted was the status of the county magistrate’s daughter, and also Qiu Jinning’s character in everyone’s eyes.

Although she was cold toward others, she was upright and impartial in how she handled matters.

She also had no reason to shield a good-for-nothing like Qin Chu.

Third Miss Gu did not understand and thought she had misheard. “Sister Qiu, what did you say? Why are you proving anything for her?”

Qiu Jinning said calmly, “Qin Chu did not cheat on the arithmetic exam.”

She had personally seen Qin Chu answer the questions seriously, without any act of cheating.

Seeing this, Teacher Li’s expression eased somewhat unnaturally. “Since Jinning can testify, then this was all a misunderstanding. Everyone, disperse.”

Since the teacher had spoken, the crowd scattered like a swarm of bees.

Qin Chu took two steps forward. “Thank you, Miss Qiu, for speaking up for me. Qin Chu is deeply grateful.”

“No need. I was merely stating the facts.”

Leaving behind that emotionless sentence, Qiu Jinning turned and left, with Third Miss Gu following closely behind.

Chen Xia looked at Qiu Jinning’s departing figure and said thoughtfully, “Cousin Qin, the county magistrate’s daughter seems like a pretty decent person. Unlike that Gu Laosan. Just mentioning her makes me angry.”

“Why angry?”

“Because she’s always going against you,” Chen Xia answered instinctively.

Qin Chu’s gaze sharpened.

She did not know the plot. She only knew that she was a great villain. Then the question was: what kind of role was someone who always went against the great villain?

In other words, what role was usually the arch-nemesis of the great villain?

The female lead.

Was Third Miss Gu the female lead?

No matter how Qin Chu thought about it, it felt a little surreal. She immediately asked, “Why does Gu Laosan always go against me? What’s the situation with the Gu family?”

Chen Xia looked at her in surprise. “Cousin Qin, you forgot? She used to say she liked your elder brother. You said she wasn’t even worthy of carrying shoes for the Qin family. From then on, this grudge was formed. Although her family is also in the wine business, they can’t compare to your Qin family. It was only last year, when the eldest daughter of the Gu family married Qiu Jinning’s elder brother, that Gu Laosan became arrogant. Truly a petty person intoxicated by success.”

Hearing this, Qin Chu fell silent again.

If Third Miss Gu was the female lead, then the person the female lead liked was…

Her good-for-nothing elder brother, whom she had yet to meet, was the male lead?

Why did that feel even more surreal?

“Then does my elder brother like her?” Qin Chu asked again.

Chen Xia scoffed. “Is your brain muddled? You even forgot who Cousin Qin likes? Isn’t it our high-and-unreachable county magistrate’s daughter? If you ask me, almost every man in Jiuqu County secretly admires her. Tsk, tsk. The title of Beauty Qiu didn’t come from nowhere.”

She stretched out her hand and pointed toward Qiu Jinning’s back.

Qin Chu followed the direction of her finger, and her mind became even more muddled.

She did not understand.

Forget it. Who cared who the protagonist was? She just had to live her own life well. If anyone blind came looking for trouble, she would hit back. On this point, she and the original owner were in perfect agreement.

Being a villain was satisfying.

And she intended to keep being satisfied.

She absolutely would not let herself feel wronged. Otherwise, wouldn’t this transmigration be a waste?

That evening, just after school ended, the little maid said in a panic, “Bad news, Miss. Master is coming back. Eldest Young Master told you to hurry over to his place.”

“Oh. Let’s go, then.”

It was about time to meet the original owner’s elder brother, that Qin Eldest Young Master who was suspected of being the male lead: Qin Mo.

Qin Chu looked in the direction the carriage was headed. It was not going back to the Qin residence, so she asked in confusion, “Where are we going?”

Also, why had the little maid said “bad news” when the original owner’s father was coming back?

“To the Den of Gold, of course. It’s the pleasure house by the Qin River. Eldest Young Master is waiting for us there.” The little maid explained considerately. Had Miss’s brain still not recovered? How had she forgotten everything?

Qin Chu nodded. She understood what a pleasure house was. It was probably a brothel.

As soon as they arrived at the street lined with pleasure houses, an older woman dressed in revealing clothes came forward to welcome them. “Oh my, Eldest Miss Qin, it’s been some time since you last came. Please come inside.”

Qin Chu glanced at Guanzi. Seeing that the little maid’s expression had not changed, she calmly followed the woman inside.

They went all the way up to the third floor in one breath, and the woman brought her into a luxuriously decorated private room.

“Which young gentleman would Eldest Miss Qin like to choose this time? A handsome young gentleman recently came to our establishment. He looks like he’s about to become the top courtesan. Would you like to meet him?”

Qin Chu almost could not keep her expression steady. She refused, “No need. You can leave first.”

The woman smiled ambiguously. “This humble woman understands. Eldest Miss Qin still hasn’t had enough of He Er. I’ll go call for some excellent dishes and wine for you.”

Seeing the woman leave, Qin Chu inexplicably let out a sigh of relief and looked at the little maid beside her. “Guanzi, did I come here often before?”

“Yes,” Guanzi answered casually.

Qin Chu’s heart lifted. She carefully asked, “Who is He Er?”

Surely the original owner wasn’t very casual in that area, right? Qin Chu found that a little hard to accept.

As Guanzi poured tea for Qin Chu, she said, “He Er is the male concubine you bought and brought home. He’s in the rear courtyard of our residence. Right now, he’s probably embroidering…”

The little maid knew her Miss could not remember things, so she explained everything carefully.

To summarize: when Master Qin was home, the Qin siblings were still fairly obedient. Once Master Qin went away on business, the two siblings completely let themselves go.

Before leaving, Master Qin had instructed his daughter to properly learn embroidery. In the end, his daughter bought a male concubine from a pleasure house and brought him back to embroider for her.

He had told his son to study more and learn how to manage the business. In the end, his son not only never went to the shops, he also spent every day wandering around pleasure houses and refusing to return home.

The two siblings were afraid their father would punish them when he came back, so they agreed to meet and come up with a plan together.

Qin Chu looked at the completely natural expression on the little maid’s face, while a huge storm surged in her heart.

None of that was important.

What was important was male concubine!

Male concubine!

What had she just heard?

“Guanzi, how many male concubines does your Miss have?” Qin Chu asked in a daze.

It couldn’t be what she was thinking, right? Had the original owner filled her backyard with lovers?

Guanzi was shocked. “Miss, one male concubine still isn’t enough for you? This is already unprecedented and unrepeatable. In the entire Jiuqu County, you’re the only one. Please don’t buy another. Otherwise, when Master comes back, he’ll definitely break your other leg too.”

The corner of Qin Chu’s eye twitched.

She had thought the customs of the Baiyue Dynasty were open-minded. After all that, it turned out Eldest Miss Qin herself was the open-minded one.

“Then, between me and that He Er… nothing happened, right?” Please let nothing have happened. Otherwise, she would not know what to do!

After pouring the tea, Guanzi stood to the side. “After you bought him and brought him back to the residence, you sent him to the rear courtyard to learn embroidery. You haven’t summoned him once until now. Miss, do you want to meet him?”

Qin Chu let out a huge breath of relief. As long as nothing had happened, it was fine. “Is that so? Then no need. Let him continue learning embroidery. Don’t I still need to report back to Father?”

“Miss, you’re so smart.”

After receiving a compliment from the little maid, Qin Chu could not feel happy at all.

Eldest Miss Qin really was a great genius. She did not want to embroider herself, so she bought a male concubine to embroider for her. She truly did not walk an ordinary path.

After the table was filled with food and wine, Qin Eldest Young Master still had not arrived. Qin Chu could not help asking Guanzi again, “Why isn’t my elder brother here yet?”

“Eldest Young Master is waiting for you at the pleasure house next door,” Guanzi said as she poured wine for Qin Chu. She deliberately poured less and did not fill the cup.

Qin Chu was puzzled. “Then why did we come here?”

Guanzi said cheerfully, “This servant saw you follow the madam inside, so I thought you wanted to come listen to music.”

Qin Chu was speechless.

Was she following the madam inside?

She had not known how the original owner usually handled things. Seeing that the little maid had no reaction, she had thought the original owner’s elder brother was here, so she followed inside.

“We’re not eating. Let’s go find my elder brother.”

The master and servant did not touch the food. Guanzi skillfully left behind a silver ingot and supported her Miss out the door.

After leaving the room and going down from the third floor, Qin Chu had just reached the staircase on the second floor when she stared at someone coming out of a private room, and her feet stopped moving.

Qin Chu looked at Qiu Jinning, who was dressed as a man, and her mind turned into paste again.

Qiu Jinning looked at Qin Chu, who was being supported down the stairs by her little maid, her eyes deep.

The two silently looked at each other. The atmosphere was inexplicably strange.

“Eldest Miss Qin, leaving so soon? What, do you know this young gentleman?” The madam looked curiously at the two people silently staring at each other. This young lady dressed as a man was an unfamiliar face. She had not expected her to actually know the good-for-nothing Eldest Miss Qin.

What? How could she tell this person was a woman dressed as a man?

Nonsense. Had she spent decades in pleasure houses for nothing? There were at least eight or ten young ladies like this every year who came here looking for something new. As the owner, as long as someone came in and spent money, they were an honored guest. Of course she could not expose a guest’s little hobby.

Qin Chu: “I don’t know her.”

Qiu Jinning: “We’re not close.”

The two spoke at the same time, but their answers were different.

Only Guanzi stared carefully at Qiu Jinning’s face. Suddenly, inspiration struck, and she cried out in surprise, “Miss, isn’t this Qiu—mmph.”

The little maid had only spoken halfway before Qin Chu covered her mouth. “Shut up. We don’t know each other.”

In this kind of place, at this kind of time, since Eldest Miss Qiu had dressed as a man to come here for pleasure, Qin Chu naturally would not be tactless enough to expose her.

Otherwise, how awkward would that be? One should leave a little room in all things, so they could meet again in the future.

Qiu Jinning lowered her eyes, her face cold. Without even looking at Qin Chu, she turned and went downstairs.

The madam still called after her from behind, “Young gentleman, do come often in the future.”

Turning back, she looked at Qin Chu again and asked nosily, “Eldest Miss Qin, do you know that person?” She probably did.

“I don’t,” Qin Chu answered. Then, as if possessed by a ghost, she asked, “She—that young gentleman, which young gentleman did she choose?”

The madam smiled without speaking. Guanzi understood the ways of the world well and took out a silver ingot, stuffing it into the woman’s hand. “Our Miss is asking you a question.”

Only then did the madam move closer and whisper, “Since that person was a young gentleman, naturally she chose a lady. That lady is the top courtesan of our establishment. How about I call her over so Eldest Miss Qin can meet her too?”

“No need.” Qin Chu refused immediately, feeling speechless inside.

Just how many top courtesans did this place have?

Still, she had not expected Qiu Jinning to come to a pleasure house dressed as a man just to find a woman.

One truly could not judge a person by appearance. She looked so cold, aloof, proper, and unapproachable, but privately, she was quite open-minded. Just as open-minded as Eldest Miss Qin.

Outside the pleasure house, Qiu Jinning walked in a hurry, then suddenly stopped. She turned back and watched Qin Chu leave that pleasure house and enter the one across the street. Her lips pressed tightly together, and she lowered her head before walking back.

“Which young gentleman did Eldest Miss Qin choose at your establishment?”

It was the same question, only the main subject had changed. The madam smiled and rubbed her fingers together, her hint obvious.

Qiu Jinning froze for a moment, then hesitantly took out a silver note.

The madam’s eyes were sharp and her hands quick as she accepted it. At once, she smiled brightly. “If someone else asked this, I wouldn’t say it. But since you’re so generous, young gentleman, Eldest Miss Qin didn’t choose anyone just now. She only had some wine and dishes. Perhaps she has another lover.”

After saying that, she gestured with her chin toward the pleasure house across the street.

“Thank you for telling me.” Qiu Jinning thanked her softly, glanced faintly at the opposite side, and this time did not stay any longer. She left directly.