WBSGVS Chapter 49 V2

Qingli observed his expression and added fuel to the fire, seemingly casually but with a hint of implication: “By the way, when your leg got injured, my parents sent over half of their family fortune to repay your life-saving grace. After all, the officers came in time, and if you hadn’t saved me, I wouldn’t have been fine.”

Cheng Zhaoyang felt his face twitch and didn’t want to bring this up, so he remained silent.

Qingli continued, “I was willing to marry you because the matchmaker said you were contemplating suicide, and marrying me was the only way for you to live well. With that in mind, I owe you a life debt too, but what about you? You liked me so much back then, yet now you can’t even lower your pride to apologize. It’s as if everything was a lie, the matchmaker was lying, your mother was lying, and you were lying even more!”

“Of course, it wasn’t a lie!” Cheng Zhaoyang resignedly said. His wife had suffered grievances and was being wrongly accused; he had to apologize first: “It’s my fault for letting Qingli suffer. It won’t happen again!”

But after a string of flattering words, she continued to stare at him with unblinking eyes, her lips tightly pressed together, as if waiting for something without letting go.

Cheng Zhaoyang felt a surge of frustration but also guilt. He gritted his teeth, bent his legs, and knelt, creating a loud “thud!” that echoed in the room.

His face flushed with shame, feeling like he was on fire, he spat out a few words through clenched teeth: “I’ve knelt to apologize to you now; is that alright? Are you calm now?”

Qingli smiled, tears still glistening in her eyes, and the grievances on her face disappeared. She pulled him up gently and said softly, “I knew you still liked me. Although your leg is injured and you aren’t calm in a crisis and don’t earn much money, the fact that you can treat me this well means we can still continue together.”

Just as Cheng Zhaoyang was about to smile, her following words made his face change. He wanted to refute her, but compared to Luo Qingli’s father, he didn’t earn much. It was also true that he had a limp and didn’t remain calm; the recent events proved that.

In an instant, he couldn’t argue and could only sulk in response.

Feeling like he was suffocating, he heard her last words and sighed with relief, finding a bit of comfort, but it was only a bit; he felt more embarrassed about what she had said before.

Additionally, having just knelt in front of her, Cheng Zhaoyang now didn’t want to face his wife. Although there were no outsiders present, he felt uncomfortable under her gaze.

Therefore, as soon as he stood up, he hurriedly said, “I still have something to take care of; I’ll step out first.”

Qingli smiled and nodded, watching him leave. As soon as she turned around, her smile had completely vanished, leaving only a trace of coldness.

Wasn’t he the one who liked to use life debts to suppress and coerce the original host?

Now that everything was reversed, let him bear it!

Dinner in the Cheng family’s living room was already nearing its end.

Mrs. Xiong was enjoying the last bit of meat soup, savoring it.

Cheng Zhaohua had just put down his bowl and chopsticks, pondering something.

Cheng Yue’er had already eaten her fill, but she kept glancing at the door, eagerly awaiting her brother’s arrival, and couldn’t help but mutter, “Why isn’t he here yet? He’s not bewitched by that vixen, is he?”

Mrs. Xiong immediately refuted, “Impossible! You know your brother’s temperament!”

Just then, Cheng Zhaoyang came in with a dark expression. The two of them exchanged a glance, feeling a simultaneous unease as if something was wrong.

Cheng Zhaohua spoke first, “Brother, what’s wrong? Is it that sister-in-law refuses to apologize?”

Cheng Zhaoyang shot a steady glance at his sister and said solemnly, “Why didn’t you tell me? Your sister-in-law fell into the water because she was saving you! She only hit you because you were in a quarrel with someone else!”

Mrs. Xiong felt something was off and quickly added, “But she hit me too!”

“Isn’t that because you were protecting her?” Cheng Zhaoyang pointed at Cheng Yue’er with a hint of disdain. “How old are you? Still acting like a child, getting into fights and causing trouble! You don’t even have the demeanor of a girl! Stay home for a few days and copy the rules of a proper lady three times!”

Cheng Yue’er felt like being struck by a bolt of lightning, crying out, “I don’t want to! I don’t want to!!!”

Xiong Shi knew her son wouldn’t blame her, but she also felt sorry for her daughter, so she quickly advised, “Let it go, let it go. Your sister is still young; it was that person who bullied her first!”

Cheng Zhaoyang waved his hand. Seeing his wife’s distressed expression regarding his sister, he felt somewhat relieved. He said firmly, “Mother, don’t say any more. It’s decided: she won’t be allowed to go out until she finishes copying the rules. If I see her outside again, I’ll break her legs!”

Xiong Shi frowned and found it hard to refute her eldest son.

Cheng Yue’er shrank back in fear. Looking at her brother’s unyielding expression, she completely broke down and regretted her actions.

She shouldn’t have told on him!

Now, it seemed her brother had come to bully her because he hadn’t gained any favor from Luo Qingli!

Seeing his sister crying so hard made Cheng Zhaoyang’s heart soften a bit. Although he usually upheld the rules, as the eldest brother, he felt a responsibility toward his younger siblings. So, he relented a bit, “Just two days of confinement; it can’t be less than that!”

Cheng Yue’er’s sobbing quieted a little, and with tears in her eyes, she managed a smile, “Thank you, brother.”

Cheng Zhaoyang ruffled his sister’s hair and continued eating.

At this point, Xiong Shi found it hard to eat. There was still a little broth left in her bowl, and to avoid wasting it, she forced herself to finish it, feeling uneasy in her heart.

This was her first unexpected confrontation with her daughter-in-law. How could Luo Shi make her eldest son turn around and blame her daughter? Where had she learned such tactics?

Her son was someone who would never treat his mother and siblings harshly for his wife’s sake. This was too strange, and because of that, Xiong Shi felt particularly frustrated. Seeing her daughter’s tearful, pitiful expression, she suddenly had a bright idea and sighed as she returned, “Oh, my arms and legs are tired from today’s fuss; I need to go rest.”

Cheng Zhaoyang glanced at his mother with a furrowed brow but kept silent, recalling how his wife could be quite difficult.

After finishing his plain rice, he intended to go back to his room to sleep but found the door tightly shut. Watching Chun stand guard at the entrance, she immediately stood up and said, “Son-in-law, the young lady isn’t feeling well and is afraid she might have caught a cold, which might be contagious to you. So, please find somewhere else to stay tonight.”

Cheng Zhaoyang felt dispirited. Cold wasn’t a trivial illness in ancient times, and he didn’t want to catch it, so he could only move to Cheng Zhaohua’s room.

That night, the two brothers made do with each other.

The next day, Cheng Zhaoyang went to work as usual while Qingli was still asleep. After tossing and turning alone in the room all night, she was too tired to get up.

She didn’t wake up until well past noon.

“Pan Chun, make me a bowl of noodles,” Qingli said lazily.

“Alright.” Pan Chun nodded, casting a guilty glance at Qingli before rushing to the kitchen to avoid seeing her.

Qingli found her behavior odd as she stood at the door for a moment.

It was still spring, and the sunlight wasn’t too hot, warming her body after a while. At that moment, the yard door was pushed open, and Cheng Zhaohua walked in, accompanied by a middle-aged man with a goatee, who appeared to be a doctor.

Cheng Zhaohua gestured, “This way, please.”

“Good.” The doctor nodded and followed him into Xiong Shi’s room.

Qingli raised an eyebrow. Was Xiong Shi sick?

Cheng Zhaohua came back out with a grim expression and asked, “Sister-in-law, don’t you care at all that our mother is sick?”

Qingli snapped out of her daze, confused. “Oh, mother is sick? I didn’t know! She seemed fine yesterday. Did Yue’er make her sick? I knew this child needed proper discipline. Sigh!”

Cheng Zhaohua had returned home with Cheng Zhaoyang yesterday and didn’t know the specifics of what had happened. But after this morning’s events, he felt he was entirely justified.

Seeing Qingli distort the facts, he said with a stern face, “Sister-in-law, don’t push everything onto Yue’er. She may be mischievous, but it’s you who upset our mother. You fell into the water yesterday, and a man saved you. You even hit our mother yesterday, and now she’s sick because of you, yet you can sleep until noon!”

Qingli’s eyes widened in shock, her expression furious. “I didn’t! Who said that? Tell me who said it!”

Cheng Zhaohua didn’t expect her to ask about this. Shouldn’t she be concerned about their mother’s illness and her falling into the water?

But Qingli wasn’t letting up, moving closer to him, “Second brother, who exactly said it?”

Cheng Zhaohua quickly backed away. He could tease other girls, but this was his sister-in-law, and he had no such thoughts. He could only say, “It was Mother who said it!”

Just then, Cheng Yue’er entered the courtyard, followed by a few familiar middle-aged women. When she saw Qingli, she greeted her sarcastically, “Oh, sister-in-law finally got up!”

After saying that, she smiled apologetically at the woman behind her, “Auntie, Second Aunt, Third Aunt, you’ve been entertained. My sister-in-law is the lady of the house; she won’t get up until noon! She probably doesn’t even know her mother-in-law is sick.”

As soon as Cheng Yue’er spoke, the expressions of the middle-aged women fell. They looked at Qingli as if she were something unpleasant, and one of them stepped forward with a stern face, “Oldest son’s wife, even though you are the daughter of Luo Fuzi, now that you’ve married into the Cheng family, you are our family’s daughter-in-law. You must never act like yesterday and make your mother-in-law sick. That’s truly unfilial!”

Qingli sighed and nodded in agreement, “Second Aunt, you’re right. This is too unfilial!”

The second aunt was momentarily taken aback, unable to respond to such compliance. Was it really like this? What else could she say when Qingli was so cooperative?

Cheng Yue’er felt an instinctive unease.

Just then, Qingli continued, “Second Aunt, you don’t know; Yue’er is so unfilial. Yesterday she came with me to Li Yuanwai’s house and insisted on arguing with the young lady there. In the end, she was nearly pushed into the water. If I hadn’t jumped in to save her, I would have fallen in myself. She might still be lying in bed now!”

The second aunt turned back to look at Cheng Yue’er in surprise. “Was there such a thing?”

Qingli nodded seriously, “Yes, that’s why I woke up so late today. I had a terrible headache yesterday. I hope I didn’t catch a cold; otherwise, I’ll have to spend money on medicine. When we returned, my mother-in-law heard about this and was furious. She said Yue’er was shameless, trying to seduce someone, and wanted to hit her. As a daughter-in-law, I couldn’t let my mother-in-law get physical with her. How old is she? I had to intervene. In the end, Yue’er even pulled my mother-in-law to protect her. Isn’t that too unfilial?”

Initially, the three aunts were fine with what they heard, but by the end, they all inhaled sharply and turned to Cheng Yue’er, glaring at her. “Yue’er!”

Cheng Yue’er: “???”