Chapter 382 : Worlds Apart
“Dad, why must you marry Murong off to a place so far away?” Qin Zhengdu could not help but speak out.
“Marrying into the Hu family is hardly an insult to her.” Old Mister Qin gave Qin Murong a long hard stare. “It seems to me that after all this while, she still doesn’t understand where she stands.”
Qin Murong trembled when she heard the words coming out of Old Mister Qin’s mouth. “It’s true that she’s a daughter of the Qins, but she’s not all that precious, certainly not worthy enough to be Wei Zhiqian’s partner. If Wei Zhiqian did like her, that would’ve been great. But he made it very clear that he had no interest in pursuing her.
“The Hu family is the perfect match for Murong.” Old Mister Qin’s words completely shattered any sense of worth that Qin Murong had acquired over the years.
Was she merely worthy of marrying into an upper-class families in such a remote place?
Although their wealth was undeniable, they were a family of country bumpkins located near the border in a tiny town called Nacheng.
“Dad, no matter what Murong did…she’s still not as unworthy as you say she is! Even…even if she isn’t able to marry Wei Zhiqian, she could still stay in B City and marry someone else decent.” Lu Yiling was no longer considering the Eight Great Clans at this point.
So long as it was an upper-class family within the city, she would approve.
Just please don’t send her precious Murong so far away.
Old Madame Qin thought hard before finally speaking. “Weren’t you all so certain that Wei Zhiqian was the only suitor worthy enough to be with Murong? Even Qin Muxiao was brought up to look down on everyone around her. She never gave a second glance to those who weren’t in the Eight Great Clans. It is precisely your lack of guidance to these girls that has enabled them to create a misconception of their social standing ever since they were kids.”
Even Qin Muye, the daughter of the head of the Qins, did not feel as highly about herself as did Murong and Muxiao.
“From the start, Wei Zhiqian had declared that he had no interest in Murong. Clearly, she chose not to believe him and refused to give up on him. For years, she pestered the man, causing embarrassment to our family name.” Old Madame Qin asked softly, “Since when did a daughter of the Qins ever have to shamelessly chase after a man?
“And after all that, you still have the audacity to deem yourself a precious daughter of the Qins? Precious, my foot! You’re not even worth a single penny!”
Old Madame Qin began losing her temper more and more as she went on, showing no mercy for Qin Murong’s pride. “You think the Hu son is unworthy of Murong? Well, Murong is the unworthy one here. As the saying goes, a virtuous woman rejoiceth her husband.
“Did you think that the Hu family weren’t aware of Qin Murong and her reputation? The only reason they agreed to allow their son to wed her was because of our family status. If it hadn’t been for her, their family would never have had the chance to propose a union with ours.” Old Madame Qin jabbed an accusing finger at Qin Murong. “You want to talk about finding her a decent suitor in B City? Dream on!
“Even the Hu family all the way in Nacheng have heard the rumors about her chasing Wei Zhiqian all around town. Knowing the fact that she kept on pursuing him shamelessly, despite having been rejected, do you think any man in B City with the slightest sense of pride would want her? Who could stand the judgment of everyone, thinking that they’d picked up an unwanted woman cast aside by Wei Zhiqian?”
“Granny!” Qin Murong’s eyes flashed with anger as blood rushed to her head. “How could you make me sound so trashy?”
“I suppose I finally got the message across. Did you really think what you were doing could be appropriate?” Old Madame Qin chuckled mockingly. “Hearing you say that just goes to show that you truly have no sense of shame, nor the slightest remorse for your actions!”
“I…I wanted to win over Wei Zhiqian for the sake of the Qins. Is that so wrong? Was I wrong to do that?” Qin Murong retorted indignantly.
What did she even do wrong?
Is it such a bad thing to want to fight for her family?
Old Madame Qin had made her sound so shameless.
“For the Qins? Did we ever ask that of you?” Old Madame Qin replied nonchalantly. “Your words just made it clear that you still don’t know where you stand.”
“Such foolishness.” Old Mister Qin was too tired to say more.
Foolishness out of ignorance would have been forgivable, but having explained everything to her and she still failed to see her faults…
“Let me make it clear for you. You are nothing in the Qin family!” exclaimed Old Madame Qin. “You are not good enough for Wei Zhiqian! And the Qins certainly do not need you to prove a single thing. Our family has never relied on these cheap tricks to prove our worth. We are powerful simply because we worked hard for what we have today, not by marrying our way up.
“First, nobody appreciates your so-called efforts. That’s just a lie you tell yourself to justify your selfishness. Secondly, there’s nothing to fight for. Zhiqian and Mufeng are already friends who would die for each other. What more do you want? Your so-called efforts will only ruin their friendship.
“With your stupidity, you are hardly worthy to be with anyone at all!” Old Madame Qin sneered. “Ordinary people are not good enough for you. But if we had you married off to an ordinary family without you knowing, you might not be deemed worthy either, because you’re too stupid for your own good. We wanted to send you away, while, coincidentally, the Hus are willing to accept you so that they could be connected to the Qin family. We are merely using each for mutual benefit.
“Whereas, you, my dear, are nothing but a pawn in all this.” Old Madame Qin was being deliberately harsh with her words in the hope of destroying Qin Murong’s sense of being better than everyone else, so she could finally learn her place.
It was to protect her from getting into more trouble when she finally settled in at the Hus.
The Hus lived in faraway Nacheng, and the Qins would be beyond reach.
With her stupidity and high sense of being better than everyone else, Qin Murong might easily offend the Hu family and end up suffering herself.
Being so far away, there was no way the Qins would be able to stand up for her.
Surely, the Hu family would be able to torture her any way they wanted.
Although Old Madame Qin was really sick and tired of Murong’s attitude, she was still a dear child of the family. The old lady had watched her since she was barely a toddler running around her knees.
She could not fathom the thought of Murong getting bullied by the Hus and having to suffer silently.
Marrying Murong to an eligible son in B City was, as Old Madame Qin had explained earlier, out of the question. No one with dignity would accept her now, after having known the way she chased Wei Zhiqian all around town.
Besides, this marriage was meant to make them family, not enemies.
She was worried that Qin Murong might somehow turn this relationship bitter.
And if some undignified man in the city did want Murong, why would the Qins even want an in-law like that?
In fact, after going through a thorough selection of eligible suitors, the two old folks had concluded that the Hu family was the best option.
They had been planning this for a long time, but they had kept it a secret.
Afraid that Qin Murong would stir up more trouble if she knew of this earlier, because it was not like they could keep a constant eye on her.
Now that something like this had happened, they could no longer sit idly by, for fear of Murong causing more trouble than she already had.
She’d offended the Tan family today; it could be the Wei family tomorrow.
They certainly could not let her single-handedly destroy their ties with each and every one of the Eight Great Clans.
A verdict regarding Qin Murong had to be made today, otherwise it would be unfair for the Tan family.
Qin Murong suddenly felt weak in her knees and collapsed.
Did her presence at home really mean so little to everyone?
“No! I don’t want to go Nacheng!” Qin Murong broke down in tears and crawled up to the old couple’s feet and kept begging, “Grandpa, Granny, don’t send me away to Nacheng!”
Her parents had originally told her that she would be able to marry Wei Zhiqian.
She had been longing for that day to come.
However, this Hu family in Nacheng was worlds apart from Wei Zhiqian!