Chapter 42

“Xia Qingqing, you still know how to come back? I thought you had already attached yourself to Young Master Xie and didn’t want to return home anymore!”

Xia Jinlan stood in front of Xia Qingqing, her face filled with contempt. Her eyes were fixed on Xia Qingqing’s backpack.

A cold, sinister smile flashed across her lips.

“Come inside! Your mother wants to speak with you!”

Xia Jinlan flicked her sleeve and left.

Xia Qingqing thought that Xia Jinlan was going to have the muscular women watching closely come and deal with her, but to her surprise, Xia Jinlan didn’t make a move on her! This was completely unexpected!

“Alright!”

She lifted her skirt and stepped over the threshold, entering the main hall.

“Kneel down!”

Yan Meili’s cold voice rang out.

Xia Qingqing was still standing at the door, looking down.

“I told you to kneel, why aren’t you kneeling? Are your ears deaf?”

Yan Meili angrily pointed at Xia Qingqing and shouted.

Xia Qingqing still didn’t move.

Xia Jinlan walked over and poked her, “Mother told you to kneel. Are your ears deaf?”

“Oh! I didn’t hear clearly, the dog barking was too loud just now!”

Xia Qingqing fiddled with her ears, her big innocent eyes staring at them blankly.

“You… you…”

Yan Meili and Xia Jinlan trembled with rage.

“Sixth Girl, are you going to kneel or not? Do you want me to use the family law?”

“Mother, why should I kneel? Why doesn’t Elder Sister kneel?”

Xia Qingqing still looked dazed and innocent.

“How dare you! You made us lose so much money to Young Master Xie! You’ve committed a big mistake, and you’re still refusing to kneel?”

Yan Meili took a deep breath, her eyes sharp as she glared at her.

“Mother, we should punish her with the family law! She’s just pretending to be clueless there!”

Xia Jinlan chimed in from the side.

“Wait a minute, Mother, aren’t you mistaken? The one who made the mistake was Elder Sister, shouldn’t she be the one to suffer the family law?”

Xia Qingqing spread her hands, refusing to take the blame for this.

“Mother, stop talking in circles! Just send Xia Qingqing to kneel in the ancestral hall and copy the sutras!”

Xia Yuanxiu, who had been standing by silently, shook his head. He had seen enough. This Xia Qingqing was able to infuriate her mother and sister to the point where they couldn’t do anything about it.

Xia Qingqing glanced at her eldest brother. He was straightforward and didn’t hesitate—no beating, just going straight for the underhanded trick.

“Big Brother, right? Even if you want to punish your sister, it should be Elder Sister, not me! Are you confused?”

“Someone, take her backpack! There’s jewelry from the Treasure Pavilion inside. We can use it to offset the debt!”

Xia Yuanxiu motioned with his hand, and four strong men walked in through the door.

Xia Qingqing swallowed. She didn’t know where Xia Yuanxiu had found these four big guys. Each one was at least two meters tall, with muscles trembling, and their eyes were like brass bells, sending chills down her spine.

Forget it! It’s better to be tactful, after all, a wise woman doesn’t fight with men!

She took off her backpack and handed it to Xia Yuanxiu.

“Big Brother, take it! There are some snacks and ten taels of silver inside, plus a pack of needles!”

Xia Yuanxiu opened the backpack in surprise. There were no jewelry or precious items as he expected. Didn’t she buy jewelry from Treasure Pavilion? Wasn’t she a super VIP member?

“Big Brother, check carefully. What if Xia Qingqing hid something in a secret compartment?”

Xia Jinlan walked over and helped check everything.

The snacks were osmanthus cakes from Liu, ten taels of broken silver, and a pack of fine silver needles.

“Hey! Xia Qingqing, why did you buy these needles? Could it be that you’re planning some witchcraft or using them for evil purposes?”

Xia Jinlan laughed knowingly. So Xia Qingqing had relied on witchcraft to become stronger!

“No! These were given to me by Grandpa Sun from Xinglin Hall. He said I have a talent for medicine and wanted to teach me acupuncture!”

Xia Qingqing explained truthfully, and whether they believed it or not, it was up to them.

“You? With your abilities, you think you have a talent for medicine? It’s laughable!”

Xia Jinlan sized her up from top to bottom. She was just a little bean sprout, and even though her maternal grandfather was a scholar, he was just a minor scholar. How could she compare to her own grandfather, who was a high-ranking official in the court, even a top scholar?

Xia Yuanxiu glanced at the silver needles. “Abao, take everything to the kitchen and burn it. If she’s trying to use witchcraft to harm the Xia family, I won’t let her get away with it!”

“Yes, Young Master!”

Abao took the silver needles and left the room.

Xia Qingqing sighed.

“Xia Qingqing, this mess was caused by Jinlan. Now, you go kneel in the ancestral hall and copy the Diamond Sutra. When you’re done, you can come back!”

Xia Yuanxiu spoke with an unyielding tone, leaving no room for Xia Qingqing to protest.

“Yes, my dear elder brother!”

Xia Qingqing let herself be dragged away to the ancestral hall.

“Big Brother, isn’t this too lenient on her?”

Xia Jinlan grumbled, her lips pouted.

“The ancestral hall is cold and damp. If she kneels on the ground for too long, her knees will be ruined! Let’s see how she’ll run around the house after this! No need for force, just play dirty tricks, this is called winning without bloodshed!”

Xia Yuanxiu smiled darkly.

Yan Meili and Xia Jinlan felt a chill down their spines, gazing at Xia Yuanxiu with admiration.

They regretted not using such underhanded tactics earlier.

“Sixth Miss, go inside!”

A servant handed Xia Qingqing a tray with writing materials.

“Mm!”

Xia Qingqing took the tray and walked into the dimly lit Xia family ancestral hall.

“Bang!”

The large door of the ancestral hall slammed shut from the outside.

She lit an oil lamp, set up the writing materials, ground some ink, and opened the Diamond Sutra to start copying.

Since she had learned calligraphy from her grandfather as a child, writing the characters from the sutra was not difficult for her.

The servants standing outside the door secretly peeked through the cracks, watching as Sixth Miss knelt at the desk, earnestly copying the text, their lips curling up.

As expected, the eldest young master’s method worked. If this continued, Sixth Miss would be ruined.

Dusk fell.

The entire Xia manor was brightly lit. Xiao Suo stood at the door of Cui Zhuxuan, anxiously looking around.

“Why hasn’t Sixth Miss returned yet? She usually comes back at this time, ready to enjoy the delicious food I made for her!”

“Plop!”

A crumpled paper ball was thrown in front of Xiao Suo.

Xiao Suo looked around but couldn’t see who had thrown the paper ball. She bent down to pick it up, and there was a drawing on the paper.

It showed a little girl kneeling in a room with memorial tablets.

She recognized the words ‘Ancestral Hall.’

“Ah? Sixth Miss has been punished and is kneeling in the ancestral hall!”

Xiao Suo hurriedly ran inside, packing warm clothes and food before rushing to the ancestral hall.

Xia Qingqing heard the footsteps of the servant leaving the door and immediately stood up, stretched lazily, and moved her body.

She walked to a corner of the ancestral hall, lifted a curtain, and saw a hole in the wall.

She crawled through the hole.

This hole was something she had noticed when she went to the ancestral hall earlier today to worship the ancestors, as she had seen a raccoon squeeze through it. The Xia family’s ancestral hall had been neglected for years. It appeared fine on the outside, but it emitted a musty smell.

Yan Meili didn’t think much of Xia Jinxing. From the state of the Xia family’s ancestral hall, it was clear enough.