Chapter 24

Chapter 24: I'll Make You Apologize to Sisi! Crawl through? This Li Sisi was supposed to be a proper young lady from a respectable family, yet she was acting so arrogant and domineering without a shred of feminine modesty. In her past life, although she had secretly looked down on her, she had never done anything so disgraceful. Spreading her legs and making her crawl through—how was that any different from a street thug? No doubt, it was Pei Wuliang who had emboldened her. Otherwise, how would she dare treat her like this? Soon, a group of relatives came over to watch the commotion. They all recognized Jia Qingcheng. After all, before this, Jia Qingcheng and Pei Wuliang had been a couple, and they had all assumed Jia Qingcheng would become the matriarch of the Pei family. But unexpectedly, Pei Wuliang had suddenly broken off the engagement and chosen Song Jiaojiao instead. As for Jia Qingcheng, she was to be married off by Pei Wuliang to Chu Wangfu as a substitute bride, taking Song Jiaojiao's place to become a widow. Pei Wuliang's actions naturally showed that he had no place in his heart for this ugly woman, Jia Qingcheng. So even the Pei family relatives were not very polite to her. Where they had once greeted her cordially, now they only offered cold sneers and sarcastic remarks. "Sisi, why bother? Stop making a scene. Don't make things difficult for our future Princess Consort Chu!" "Sister-in-law, you're overestimating her. Haven't you heard? Prince Chu is on his last legs? Maybe our Miss Jia will become a widow the moment she marries into that family." "Sisi, mind your manners. You can't treat Miss Jia like this." The Pei family's aunt stepped forward to say a fair word, then looked at Jia Qingcheng. "Qingcheng, don't be angry. Sisi was just joking with you. Come this way instead, and I'll escort you." Jia Qingcheng had no intention of actually arguing with Li Sisi. After all, she had come to the Pei residence to see how humiliated Pei Wuliang was, not to pick a fight. "Thank you." "Come, follow me." "Aunt, no, you can't let her leave so easily. Brother Wuliang's failure today is all her fault. Look at that ugly face of hers—like a bitter gourd, bringing bad luck!" "Sisi, say no more. Qingcheng will still be part of the Pei family in the future." "The Pei family doesn't acknowledge a widow like her. At most, she can only be my cousin's concubine." "You stubborn girl, why won't you listen? Move aside!" "I won't move. Unless she crawls through here, I won't let her..." Jia Qingcheng didn't want to deal with Li Sisi, so she immediately walked past her. When Li Sisi saw that she wasn't listening to her, she immediately stepped forward to grab her. "Stop right there! Who said you could leave?" "Let go!" Jia Qingcheng flung her arm with force, and in an instant, Li Sisi was thrown off balance and fell to the ground. "Ouch..." Li Sisi only felt herself being flung aside by a powerful force, and then her body uncontrollably slammed into a pillar. Instantly, her forehead was split open... "It hurts." Li Sisi felt dizzy. Why was her head so dizzy? "Oh no, miss, your head is bleeding! How dare you, Jia Qingcheng! You dare bully the young miss in the Pei residence? Someone, stop her!" The maidservant was terrified and quickly helped Li Sisi up. When Li Sisi touched the blood, she flew into an even greater rage, glaring viciously at Jia Qingcheng. Seeing that she was injured, Jia Qingcheng straightened her back and looked at her coldly. "You ugly thing! It's bad enough that you're ugly yourself, but now you want to leave a scar on me? Let me tell you, even if my face is covered in scars, I'd still be a hundred times prettier than you! Someone, seize her!" "Miss, what do we do? Let's get out of here quickly." Seeing that things had escalated, Chunyan hurriedly tried to pull Jia Qingcheng away. But Jia Qingcheng simply straightened her back. She had done nothing wrong—why should she leave? But the Pei residence guards had already grabbed her, pressing her roughly to the ground. "Let me go!" "You ugly thing! You dare ruin this young lady's face? I'll make you pay with your own skin!" After saying this, Li Sisi immediately pulled out her hairpin and tried to slash Jia Qingcheng's face. But Jia Qingcheng kept struggling. "Let me go! I am the future Princess Consort Chu! Who dares touch me?" The title of Princess Consort Chu was her greatest life-saving charm! But she had underestimated how despicable the Pei family could be! "Princess Consort Chu? Ha! Prince Chu is as good as dead. Who cares about a woman about to become a widow? Hold her head down! I'll slash her face to pieces!" "Miss, no! Someone, help!" "Stop! What are you all doing?" Suddenly, a stern voice came from not far away. When Li Sisi saw that Pei Wuliang had arrived, she immediately transformed into a fragile victim, sitting down on the ground and clutching the tiny scratch on her forehead while wailing, "Cousin! This ugly thing bullied me! Look, my head is bleeding!" By this time, Jia Qingcheng had broken free from her restraints and stood up. She looked coldly at Pei Wuliang, her face expressionless. "Sisi, what happened?" "It was her! She pushed me! I was kindly showing her the way, but she called me a busybody and pushed me! Cousin, you have to stand up for me!" "Someone, go fetch a physician immediately to tend to the young miss's wound." The anxious look in Pei Wuliang's eyes betrayed his most selfish nature. There was no place for Jia Qingcheng in his heart, so naturally, he didn't notice that she had been bullied as well. "Cousin, you really need to teach her a lesson. She's not even married into the family yet, and she's already this fierce. In the future, won't she be lording it over the matriarch?" "Qingcheng, how could you push someone?" Pei Wuliang scolded Jia Qingcheng, but she had already anticipated his blame and had no intention of explaining herself. Her silence only made Pei Wuliang's heart ache even more. "Qingcheng, if you have any grievances, take them out on me. What kind of skill is it to bully your cousin?" "I didn't bully her!" "Still trying to deny it? There's blood—are you saying that's fake?" Jia Qingcheng didn't want to bother with Pei Wuliang. Seeing him in such a disheveled state was satisfaction enough; she had achieved her purpose in coming to the Pei residence. Though she had suffered a bit of grievance, she didn't care, because she would never again treat the Pei family as her own. A clean break was for the best. Though she had long known that Pei Wuliang had deceived her in her past life, she had still harbored a sliver of hope for these relatives of the Pei family. Now, she had seen their true faces. Naturally, her heart died in that moment. Suddenly, she found it laughable—in her past life, she had truly lived in vain, never seeing through the ugly faces of those around her. So be it! Mother was right—growth comes at a price, and the price she had to pay was learning to be cold-hearted. Her warmth had been drained by these people, drop by drop. Squeezed dry! Pei Wuliang had been in a foul mood to begin with. He had made a great fool of himself today and been scolded by his parents, who wanted him to think of a way to see if there was any room to salvage the situation. So, after calming down, he began to ponder why things were different from his past life. Soon, he found the reason—it was because he had wronged Jia Qingcheng. Perhaps she was the one secretly stirring trouble behind the scenes. Though he was furious, he knew that Jia Qingcheng responded better to softness than hardness. If he was too harsh, she certainly wouldn't listen or help him negotiate with Lord Hu. Seeing that Jia Qingcheng remained silent, Pei Wuliang decided to give her a way out. "Alright, Qingcheng, just apologize to Sisi and this matter will be settled. We're all family—don't ruin the bond between us."