Farm Tough Girl
Chapter 274 - 274 275 The Old Horse Stumbles_1

Chapter 274: Chapter 275: The Old Horse Stumbles_1 Chapter 274: Chapter 275: The Old Horse Stumbles_1 Mrs. Liang hastily plastered a smile on her face and said, “My lord, the other day we truly owe it to your kindness for lifting your esteemed hand high and letting Shitou off with a light punishment. I suppose it was because you took a liking to the lad Shitou that you couldn’t bear to be harsh, right?”

Lord Lu waved his hand and said, “Even if I hadn’t dealt with it leniently at the time, Wang Shitou would have been released by now. After all, the Emperor has granted amnesty to all. There’s no need to thank me.” As for being lenient, it was purely out of compassion; he harbored not a shred of fondness for that boy in his heart.

Of course, he would never express that sentiment openly.

Mrs. Liang hastily said, “I knew Lord Lu must be kind and benevolent, or else how could you be an official who serves as the parent to the common people?”

Outside the door, Lu Qi peered inside and curled her lip, “Hypocrite.”

Tianniu nodded vigorously, “Right!”

Lord Lu had lost interest in continuing the idle chat and asked directly, “What urgent matter brings you to see me this time?”

Mrs. Liang smiled awkwardly before saying, “I heard that you, my lord, are looking for a study companion for your precious daughter? You even considered Qiao Tianniu from our village. Actually, my daughter is not bad either, please take a look!” With that, she quickly dragged Wang Qingmei to the forefront.

She went on, “It’s really a pity that I was bedridden from an injury a while ago, or else I would have brought her to you for consideration immediately. This child is honest and dutiful, but the key is that she’s very obedient. If you tell her to say ‘one,’ she wouldn’t dare say ‘two.’ She’s much stronger than, many times over, that wild child Tianniu. My lord, I’m not exaggerating, but in choosing a study companion, you have to pick the right one. What if Miss Lu is led astray?”

Lu Qi squeezed her eyes at Tianniu, “She’s actually talking behind your back.”

Tianniu pinched her face, “Don’t speak. I want to listen.”

Lord Lu’s expression was no longer amiable, but Mrs. Liang continued to blindly tout her daughter, oblivious, “What’s more important is that Tianniu is overly doted on by her mother and has such a pampered and willful temper. Serving by Miss Lu’s side, she’s bound to offend Miss Lu sooner or later. My Qingmei is different; she can handle any task and is modest and honest. Just take a look at her, she is nothing like that untrained wild child Tianniu.”

Tianniu’s teeth ground audibly as Lu Qi patted her shoulder promptly, “Don’t get angry. I’ll help you get back at her later.”

Lord Lu said coldly with a darkened face, “I personally selected Tianniu, and I think highly of her. Now that the decision has been made, there’s no reason to change. You should leave.”

Mrs. Liang blurted out immediately, “How could you take a fancy to that little wench? Could it be that you are mistaken?”

Lord Lu said sternly, “Are you implying that your judgment is better than that of an official like me?”

“Where would I dare? I’m just saying that even an old horse can stumble, you might have been mistaken just this once—”

Lord Lu’s forehead throbbed with veins, and Mrs. Liang found herself at a loss for words amid the tense atmosphere. Where had she gone wrong?

Outside, Lu Qi was holding her stomach with laughter, “Can she even speak? She even dares to say my dad’s stumbled like an old horse.”

Tianniu quickly covered her mouth, “Keep it down, don’t let them hear you!”

Lu Qi then nodded sincerely, but she was still holding back laughter. She had never seen her father so blatantly humiliated in her life.

“I’ve said what’s been decided cannot be changed, so you’d better head back now! I am busy with official duties and have no time for useless chatter. Someone, see the guest out!”

As her words fell, a servant came in, ready to “invite someone”, but Mrs. Liang was unwilling to settle for this, hastily saying, “Hey, even if we can’t replace the person, it’s good to have one more, right? It’s inevitable for Miss Lu to feel bored studying alone, wouldn’t two companions make it more lively?”

Lord Lu glanced at the timid Wang Qingmei—her small frame trembling—shook his head silently, and internally dismissed the idea.

“No need! My daughter gets along very well with Tianniu, they play together just fine. There’s no need to add another. Hurry up and leave,” he said.

Mrs. Liang pleaded several more times, but Lord Lu didn’t react at all, and the servant simply dragged her out.

Mrs. Liang was almost thrown out of the mansion, so angry she felt like her lungs would explode. In what way was her daughter inferior to that wild child Qiao Tianniu? Just as she was about to start cursing, suddenly a stone hit the back of her head. Mrs. Liang jumped to her feet, “Which son of a bitch just threw a stone at me?”

The people on the street looked at her as if she were a fool, Mrs. Liang looked around and saw no one. Just as she was about to leave, her shoulder was hit again.

“Who’s there?!”

There was no one.

Mrs. Liang was so angry she was practically exploding. She was already fuming inside, and now someone was hitting her in secret!

Lu Qi and Tianniu hid at the corner of the wall, giggling. They said to their exasperated servant, “Miss, please come down now that you’ve vented your anger. If your father sees us, he might get angry.”

Lu Qi pouted, “I hate her. She bullied Tianniu and my dad. I’m going to hit her,” she said, and then raised the slingshot in her hand and shot one more stone at Mrs. Liang.

Mrs. Liang thought she had seen a ghost in broad daylight and now felt really scared, so she quickly grabbed Qingmei and ran away.

Lu Qi burst into laughter, “Such a timid soul! Seeing her ghostly expression, she must have done many shameful things,” she said.

Not far away, Lord Lu watched his daughter laughing merrily and shook his head helplessly, wondering whom his daughter took after with such a cheerful nature.

The teaching nanny, sweating profusely, really didn’t want to admit that this was the young lady she had taught.

“My Lord, I will go and properly discipline the young miss and ensure she doesn’t commit such indecent acts again,” the nanny said.

Lord Lu coughed lightly, “Let it be, just this once. As long as it’s not repeated, that’s fine.”

The teaching nanny was dumbfounded. What was this? Spoiling one’s daughter was one thing, but this was something else, she thought.

Acting as if he hadn’t noticed her expression, Lord Lu walked away. Could he admit that he also wanted to hit someone and that his daughter had simply vented on his behalf?

Mrs. Liang’s presumptuous attempt to have her daughter taken in by the County Chief’s family as a reading companion quickly spread throughout the village. Muniang was speechless at the news. Couldn’t this person stay out of trouble? Especially after hearing from Tianniu what Mrs. Liang had said at the Lu Mansion, she felt that Mrs. Liang was just too much.

“But I really do feel sorry for Qingmei. Since she wasn’t favored by the County Chief this time, she’s bound to get a good scolding when she goes back. Her mother will definitely take out her anger on her,” Tianniu suddenly said.

She knew how pitiful the Wang family girls were. Although every household valued sons over daughters, which family would treat their own daughters so harshly? Even Mrs. Ji, that extremist, couldn’t find fault with Qiao Lianhua. Qingmei’s fate was indeed bitter.