Chapter 17: Tit for Tat
907 Words
Meng Tianchu thought to himself, Fine, I’ll wait. I’m just worried you won’t start cursing, because I’ve got a stomach full of anger waiting to explode. Slowly, he turned his head, crossed his arms, and stared coldly at Xiahou Fengyi.
Xiahou Fengyi bit her lip and said softly, "S-sorry... It was our fault earlier... I apologize."
This took Meng Tianchu by surprise. He wondered if he’d misheard, then turned back and pointed at Xiahou Fengyi and then at himself. “You... are apologizing to me?”
Feiyan, standing beside her, retorted coldly, “Hmph! It’s not because we’re wrong; we just can’t afford to offend you. We’re afraid of your big mouth spreading rumors everywhere. Don’t think we’re truly admitting fault.”
Meng Tianchu laughed loudly. “Good! Truly, birds of a feather flock together. You master and servant work so well together—one playing the good cop, the other the bad cop. Quite the act! If you dare to do something, then own up to it! You want to act like a saint while being anything but—hah! As if it’s that easy!”
Hearing such crude words, Xiahou Fengyi and Feiyan blushed deeply. Feiyan spat and said angrily, “Our mistress already apologized to you—what more do you want?”
“Mistress? Who’s your mistress? What does your mistress have to do with me? Whether she apologizes or not, what does that matter to me?”
“You...! I...” Feiyan, realizing she’d misspoken, turned red and stammered, “Alright, fine. Our young lady has already apologized to you. Isn’t that enough?”
“Ha! You call that an apology?” Meng Tianchu sneered. “You rich, privileged types—when have you ever taken us commoners seriously? Ha! An apology? You think a few words can erase the humiliation I suffered? Hahaha! You really think you’re something special, don’t you?”
Xiahou Fengyi, her face pale, asked, “Then... what do you want to consider it resolved?”
“It’s simple! Earlier, you forced me to strip in public and humiliated me. Eye for an eye. So…” Meng Tianchu crossed his arms and sized up Xiahou Fengyi and Feiyan’s graceful figures. “You two just need to strip off your clothes in front of me, down to your bare skin... No, do it here in front of me, turn three circles n***d, and I’ll accept your apology!”
Meng Tianchu amended his words mid-sentence because he realized that these two beauties—one his nominal wife, the other a close maid—shouldn’t be stripping in front of other men. That would benefit others, and he wasn’t willing to suffer such a loss. So he revised it to just stripping in front of him.
Xiahou Fengyi, on the verge of tears, collapsed back into the carriage.
Feiyan spat angrily, “You... you’re going too far!”
“Compared to what you master and servant have done, this is nothing. After all, you’re my wife and maid. What’s the big deal about stripping in front of me? Hmph! And don’t push me too far. Otherwise, I’ll make you strip in front of others! Or you can go back and face family punishment. This time, you won’t escape so easily, hahahaha!”
Feiyan gritted her teeth and said, “Fine! If you don’t accept it, so be it! We’ve already apologized—it’s up to you whether to accept. But I’m warning you! Don’t go spreading this incident around!” She knew that Xiahou Fengyi’s biggest fear was the fallout if word got out.
“Oh, I’m so scared,” Meng Tianchu mocked with a sneer. “Listen here, I’ve had enough of your bullying! I’ll reveal your Xia family’s despicable actions—your snobbishness and disdain for the poor—to everyone! I might even tell storytellers to weave it into their tales! Hahaha! A man stands by his words!”
“We’re... we’re not men!” Feiyan argued.
“I know! You’re women. Confucius once said, ‘Women and petty men are hard to deal with.’ Truly prophetic, hahaha!” He laughed aloud, then climbed into Qin Yiyun’s carriage as they resumed their journey.
The earlier exchange between Meng Tianchu and Xiahou Fengyi had been overheard by the Qin couple. Once Meng Tianchu was seated, the carriage started moving again. Qin’s wife asked, “Brother Meng, why didn’t you accept your wife’s apology just now?”
“She wasn’t sincere,” Meng Tianchu muttered. He suspected they were apologizing out of fear he’d tarnish her father’s reputation as a Ministry of Works official—not because they recognized their fault. But family matters shouldn’t be aired in public, and he hadn’t divorced her yet, so he kept it brief and said no more.
Qin Yiyun laughed. “Indeed, what they did earlier was outrageous. They can’t expect a few words to resolve it!”
Qin’s wife glared at him. “Really? And you’re still adding fuel to the fire at a time like this?”
Qin Yiyun, seemingly afraid of his wife, scratched his head sheepishly. “I-I was just speaking the truth.”
The maid, Jiyun, peeked out and glanced back. “Master, Madam, their carriage is still trailing us.”
Meng Tianchu snorted. “Ignore them!”
Qin’s wife chuckled. “Brother Meng, about the proposal we discussed earlier, what do you think? Will you agree?”
- Writer
