Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Early the next morning, I was already up and running laps around the courtyard.

Lu Yuan had told me that if I wanted to fight, I had to be in top physical condition. At the very least, I needed to be fast, strong, and have quick reflexes.

He even had someone buy a wooden training dummy for me to keep at home, so I could practice my strikes against it every day.

After a few days of training like this, my brother’s examinations finally came to an end.

To protect my brother, I secretly pawned all of my jewelry, and even sold a few of my mother’s pieces. When it was time to pick him up, I made a point of going to the stables to hire two identical carriages.

When my brother emerged from the examination hall, his face had thinned considerably, but his eyes were as bright as the stars.

After helping him into one carriage, I turned and climbed into the other. I had intentionally dressed exactly like my brother today, and as expected, Jiang Wanru’s people targeted the wrong person.

The carriage’s horse was soon spooked and began bolting down the main street.

My brother was held firmly inside his carriage by Lu Yuan’s men, forced to watch helplessly as my carriage sped away.

When I was thrown from the vehicle, I locked eyes with a terrified Jiang Wanru. She was standing in the middle of the road like a wooden post, seemingly paralyzed by shock.

She really was a lunatic, actually using her own body to stage an accident.

I don’t know what method Lu Yuan used, but he managed to stop the runaway horse. Meanwhile, amidst the gasps of the crowd, I collided straight into Jiang Wanru.

As we tumbled together in a heap, her maid rushed forward, wailing.

“Miss, Miss, are you alright? Young Master Song, thank you for saving her life, boohoo…”

Jiang Wanru stood up, her face flushed. Before she could speak, I pulled off my headscarf, letting my black hair fall like a waterfall.

“You’re welcome, Miss Jiang. However, I am Song Qing, not Song Yan. You’ve mistaken me for someone else!”

The surrounding onlookers immediately erupted into a commotion.

“Oh my, I thought it was a hero saving a beauty, but it turns out to be a beauty saving an ugly woman.”

“Usually, I just thought Jiang Wuyan was a bit plain, but compared to the girl from the Song Family-heavens, she looks like an ogress!”

“One is a bodhisattva, the other is a demon. Goddess Nüwa must have had her eyes closed when she molded Jiang Wuyan.”

The Jiang Family was known for being wealthy but cruel, often bullying the locals, so many people loathed them. Consequently, whenever Jiang Wanru appeared, the crowd’s remarks were particularly biting. After all, there is safety in numbers; venting their frustrations with a few insults from the safety of a crowd was something the Jiang Family couldn’t do much about.

To stage the accident, Jiang Wanru had even gone so far as to remove her veil.

Humiliated by the onlookers, Jiang Wanru ran out of the crowd in tears. I grimaced as I stood up. That fall must have left my arm covered in bruises.

Thinking of this, I felt happy again. Fortunately, it wasn’t my brother who was injured; it wouldn’t affect his ability to study or write.

My brother jumped out of his carriage, looking like he’d seen a ghost, and dragged me home by the ear.

“Song Qing! Kneel!”

He dragged me all the way to our father’s memorial tablet and even chased out our mother, who had come over after hearing the news.

I wanted to talk back, feeling indignant. But as I looked up, I saw that my brother’s face was covered in tears. His eyes were bloodshot and his voice choked with emotion. He opened his mouth several times before he could finally make a sound.