After Transmigrating as a Disabled Villain - Chapter 9

Master Qin frowned as he listened. This little maid really didn’t know how to speak. The way she called at the door sounded as if she had a guilty conscience. What did she mean, “What should I do?” Just hurry up, come out, and explain clearly. Wouldn’t that settle it?

County Magistrate Qiu, however, raised his thick brows. He suddenly had a strong premonition that his daughter was in the Qin residence—inside Eldest Miss Qin’s room.

“Wait a moment.”

A muffled female voice came from inside the room, and then there was no more movement.

Qin Chu had not fully woken up at first, but the little maid’s words, “Lord Qiu is here too,” instantly startled her awake.

Qiu Jinning woke up at the same time.

The two of them lay on the bed and silently stared at each other for a moment. Qin Chu abruptly sat up. “Hurry and tidy up. My father is here, and your father is here too.”

Fortunately, neither of them had taken off their clothes. Their hair was just a little messy.

Qiu Jinning remained fairly calm. She sat down in front of the dressing table and tidied her hair bun in the mirror.

Qin Chu, on the other hand, was much more flustered. She did not know how to style ancient hair in the first place, and the more she tried, the messier it became.

“I’ll help you.” Qiu Jinning reached out, picked up a hairpin from the table, and stood.

Qin Chu did not act shy. She directly bent slightly and lowered her head a little, making it easier for Qiu Jinning.

A pair of fair hands moved skillfully, gently brushing through her black hair.

Qin Chu’s nose twitched. A cold fragrance brushed past her. It smelled good. Tempting.

“It’s done,” Qiu Jinning said faintly.

Hearing that, Qin Chu wanted to stand properly, but because her left leg was inconvenient and she had been bent over, she lost her balance the moment she raised her head. Instinctively, she grabbed the person in front of her.

Her hands held Qiu Jinning’s waist, trying to use her for support. But after being tormented by the love gu, Qiu Jinning’s body was also weak right now. She actually fell backward with her. Luckily, the dressing table was right behind them, so the two of them did not fall.

It was just that the scene was slightly awkward. Awkward, yet strange.

Qiu Jinning leaned back, her lower back pressed against the edge of the dressing table. Qin Chu gripped her waist, leaning forward with her body close to Qiu Jinning’s embrace.

Both of them froze at the same time and looked at each other face-to-face, so close they could almost feel each other’s breath.

Qin Chu steadied herself and looked toward the windowsill. “Um, I didn’t mean to.”

She really had not meant to. Who told Eldest Miss Qin’s left leg to be lame? She still was not that used to it.

Qiu Jinning’s eyes flickered. “Open the door.”

With a creak, the door opened from the inside, and everyone outside could not help looking over.

They saw the two standing side by side. Qiu Jinning wore a scarlet ruqun, her expression cool and aloof. Qin Chu wore a black long robe, her face uneasy.

The afterglow of the setting sun spilled over their slightly flushed cheeks, making the sight inexplicably harmonious—harmonious in a way that easily made people think too much.

“Father.”

The two spoke at the same time.

Qin Chu: “…”

Qiu Jinning: “…”

Master Qin and County Magistrate Qiu: “…”

That “Father”—should they respond or not? If they did, whose father would they be answering as?

Master Qin had not expected that the county magistrate’s daughter was truly in his daughter’s room, and for a moment, he could not react.

County Magistrate Qiu looked at Qiu Jinning and Qin Chu standing together, and his feelings were indescribably complicated. What had that little maid said just now? Eldest Miss Qin was sleeping. Then what was his daughter doing in someone else’s room? Sleeping too?

Otherwise, was she watching someone sleep?

“Jinning, come here. Are you all right?” She had not been bullied by that good-for-nothing Eldest Miss of the Qin family, had she?

“Daughter is perfectly fine.” Qiu Jinning walked to her father’s side and stood quietly.

“You came to the Qin residence without telling anyone at home. You made Father worry so much.” That girl Luyao had even said his daughter had been gotten drunk and taken away. But looking at her now, it did not seem like she had been forced. Could she have gone willingly?

“Daughter and Miss Qin had a pleasant conversation and forgot the time for a moment, so I rested here for a while. I made Father worry,” Qiu Jinning explained lightly.

County Magistrate Qiu’s feelings became even more complicated.

A pleasant conversation? With this good-for-nothing? And she had rested here for a while?

“I see. Since nothing happened, let us return home.”

The father and daughter then bid farewell to Master Qin. Qiu Jinning looked at Qin Chu from afar but said nothing more.

After the Qiu father and daughter left, Master Qin looked at Qin Chu. “Come with me.”

Only after they entered the study did Master Qin ask, “Tell me, what happened? You didn’t offend Miss Qiu, did you?”

Qin Chu smiled and said obediently, “Daughter ran into Miss Qiu at the pleasure house. She had drunk too much, so I brought her back to sleep for a while.”

Master Qin’s heart trembled. “Pleasure house? What do you mean by sleeping for a while?”

It couldn’t be what he was thinking, right? If County Magistrate Qiu came back to settle accounts later, he was too old to withstand it.

Seeing that his expression was wrong, Qin Chu felt speechless. What was he thinking?

“Father, you’re thinking wrongly. We just drank too much and simply slept for a while.”

“Cough, cough, cough. Father wasn’t thinking wrongly. You are both women, so of course you were simply sleeping. You’re the one thinking too much.” Master Qin looked embarrassed. Was he the one thinking wrongly? It was clearly his daughter’s words that made people overthink.

But…

“Although that male concubine of yours has already been sent out of the residence, the matter of you keeping a male concubine has still spread. Who knows when someone will come to propose marriage to you? If you can interact more with proper young ladies like Qiu Jinning, perhaps your reputation can still be saved a little. You didn’t do anything to her, did you?” Master Qin was still uneasy. Very uneasy.

Qin Chu was speechless. “I’d like to, but I’m afraid that before my reputation can be saved, I’ll drag hers down instead.”

This cheap father of hers really knew how to calculate. The key was, could something like that happen just because he thought about it?

Between her and Qiu Jinning, uh… they were not really suited to interacting too much.

Master Qin fell silent. After his silence, he became angry again. “So you still know what reputation is? Tell me, out of all the things you could have done—slipping around to play with cats and dogs, beating people up and so on would have been one thing—but you just had to keep a male concubine. How are you supposed to marry in the future? What man would be willing to marry a woman who once kept a male concubine?”

Was it easy for him? He had finally raised his daughter this far and was just waiting to drink a cup of wine offered by his son-in-law. In the end, his daughter had actually kept a male concubine behind his back. How was he supposed to find a good son-in-law now?

And there was also that unlucky son of his. He was already this old, yet there was not a single person in his room, and he refused to marry no matter what. When would he continue the Qin family line?

Could it be that he still had to raise this pair of children until they were old? Oh, his wife, why had she left so early, leaving behind such a pair of little ancestors?

The more Master Qin thought about it, the more grief and anger filled his expression.

Qin Chu raised her brows. “If no one comes to propose, that’s perfect. I’ll marry someone back instead.”

In the modern world, hadn’t she been single for twenty years because she had no feelings toward men? On the contrary, she had some thoughts toward women.

When Master Qin heard this, he almost wanted to pick up the abacus on the table and hit Qin Chu with it. “You still want to marry someone? Why don’t you fly to the heavens? What decent man would be willing to marry into your family as a live-in son-in-law?”

“Who said it had to be a man?” Qin Chu leisurely dropped that sentence. Seeing Master Qin freeze, she turned and left the study.

Master Qin stood there in a daze for a long while, unable to recover. What did his daughter mean by that?

If she did not bring back a live-in son-in-law, could she be planning to marry a wife back instead?

Once he reacted, he hurriedly chased after Qin Chu. “Chu’er, come back! Explain yourself clearly!”

Qin Chu ran away quickly despite her limp, completely ignoring the shouting behind her.

Halfway through running, Qin Chu turned around and walked back. “Father, does our family have any hundred-year-old aged wine? Strong liquor.”

She had almost forgotten to ask for Qiu Jinning.

Master Qin rubbed his forehead. “No. First, explain what you meant by not wanting a man.”

“It means exactly what it sounds like.” When Qin Chu heard there was none, she immediately felt tired. If she had known, she would not have run back. Was it easy for her to run back and forth with one lame leg?

Master Qin’s eyes widened. “Exactly what it sounds like? Don’t tell me you want to marry a wife back?”

That was what it sounded like, right?

Qin Chu turned around, leaving behind one sentence. “Why not?”

Master Qin’s brows jumped.

Why not?

It wasn’t exactly impossible?

Seeing that she probably couldn’t be married off, bringing someone back as a wife also seemed acceptable.

“Wait. Who do you want to marry? Come back here!”

Qin Chu did not even turn her head. She was still sleepy, and hungry too. Rather than spend time tugging back and forth with this cheap father, she might as well go back, eat her fill, and sleep.

Outside the Qin residence, the Qiu family’s carriage traveled all the way back to the county yamen.

After returning to the yamen, County Magistrate Qiu waved his hand, indicating for his daughter to follow him to the study.

“Did you ask clearly? Was that bookkeeping method thought up by Eldest Miss Qin?”

Qiu Jinning: “…”

The moment she saw Qin Chu, she had thought of that night during the Lantern Festival. She seemed to have forgotten the proper matter.

Seeing that his daughter was silent, County Magistrate Qiu raised his long brows. “What? You didn’t get an answer? She refused to say?”

“Daughter forgot to ask.” Qiu Jinning pursed her lips and answered briefly.

County Magistrate Qiu’s expression paused. He had not expected that answer. He carefully studied his daughter. “The two of you merely drank some wine and had a pleasant conversation?”

His daughter had always been steady. There had never been a time when she forgot proper matters, nor had there ever been a time when she was greedy for wine. The last time had been during the Lantern Festival night, when she had not returned home even at midnight, making him so anxious he almost went out to look for her. Luckily, before dawn, his daughter had returned safely.

Qiu Jinning lowered her eyes. “We only had a pleasant conversation. Tomorrow morning at the academy, Daughter will ask clearly.”