My Lady Always Lacks Ambition

Qin Liuxi and Mrs. Wang returned to Qin Mansion and first went to pay their respects to Old Mrs. Qin, who was understandably worried.

Mrs. Xie, with her face full of indignant anger, didn’t even wait for Mrs. Wang to speak before she started complaining to Old Mrs. Qin about how arrogant and domineering the Zhao family was and how humiliated and lowly they themselves were.

"Assistant Zhao is nothing more than a small-time fifth-rank official. By clinging to the Meng Family, he acts so haughty as their lackey, even daring to trample over our faces. He’s nothing but a dog relying on another’s power, a fox exploiting a tiger’s might, bah!" Mrs. Xie spat rudely.

Seeing this, Mrs. Wang said, "Second sister-in-law, even if he is a fifth-rank official, he is still a local authority. As for our Qin family, we are but a family of criminal officials. We are merely the relatives of a criminal official. The Holy Emperor’s grace spared us ladies from pursuit, but it doesn’t mean that our status remains the same as before. Don’t forget, our current status is just that of ordinary commoners."

Mrs. Xie stuttered with quivering lips, "But it was clearly they who were wrong in the first place."

Mrs. Wang sighed softly, "Second sister-in-law, in Da Feng, the social hierarchy is strict. Haven’t you seen enough of this in Shengjing? Among the commoners, the nobles are never wrong even when they are, and the lives of commoners are as insignificant as ants or chaff; you can’t win against them."

When the Qin family had not yet fallen, the commoners looked at the ladies of the family with awe and deference when they walked outside.

"They bumped into us, and we weren’t harmed. We could have let it go by stepping back, but you insisted on drawing the curtain and arguing, which provoked them for no reason. The family of even a fifth-rank Deputy Magistrate can make us kneel and apologize. If it were some other noble, do you think we could still be sitting here?" Mrs. Wang’s tone carried a touch of dissatisfaction with Mrs. Xie’s recklessness.

Mrs. Xie’s face changed again and again, and after a long while, she retorted with a choked voice, "Elder sister-in-law speaks of our lowliness, but at the city gate just now, you carried yourself with no less dignity, facing them head-on."

"At first, did I not try to give way and apologize? It was the Zhao family pushing too hard, unwilling to forgive. Only then did I put up a front against Assistant Zhao in front of everyone. It was not about maintaining dignity, but rather a bet that they too cared about their reputation," Mrs. Wang said with a wry smile. "But I fear, we have completely offended Assistant Zhao now. Like just now, if Mr. Yu hadn’t stepped in to mediate, we might not have been able to leave unscathed. We have retreated now, but who knows how the Zhao family will settle accounts after autumn?"

Having heard the full story, Old Mrs. Qin’s face grew dark as water. Just as she was about to speak, she coughed again, spat out thick sputum, cleared her mouth, and scolded while pointing at Mrs. Xie, "You too are impetuous, not using your brain at all. Have you not considered our current plight, even going out to offer incense can bring back trouble."