She Became A Downfall Noble Lady-Chapter 37 - The Childs Growth Pattern
Chapter 37: Chapter 37 The Child’s Growth Pattern
Chapter 37 -37 The Child’s Growth Pattern
Nanny Jin, who once was a respectable Servant Woman in a grand household, now stood her ground without showing any weakness, coldly dropping a sentence and turning to leave.
No matter what, Nanny Jin was a woman, and the men in the courtyard, unless absolutely necessary, were loath to lay hands on her. Besides, if things got physical, exacerbating the situation, wouldn’t that let the whole village in on their dirty laundry?
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Although Lady Zhang had come out from the kitchen, she merely stood to the side and watched without any intention of mediating or intervening.
Lady Zhang had her own grievances. Relying on Qi Liang’s indulgence, Madam Pang behaved arrogantly at home without considering the consequences. Now that trouble had arisen, she actually expected others to clean up her mess. How could that be possible?
Seeing that she could not rely on Lady Zhang, Madam Song hastily signalled her two sons with her eyes, “Liangzi, go and coax Congming, after all our homes are separated by mere walls, the child does not know any better, how can we trouble your uncle’s family.”
Qi Dong approached Nanny Jin, his face as dark as thunder, as if he was about to get violent if one word went amiss.
Qi Liang handed the child he held to Madam Pang and went to pull Qi Congming, “You child, all you do is cause trouble every day. Why can’t you give anyone peace? Come with me, or you’re going to get it!”
Nanny Jin slapped away Qi Liang’s hand, shouting angrily, “What are you doing? Is Third Master planning to sever ties? Isn’t the Qi Family Third Branch afraid that I’ll go seek the village head and the Lizheng to intervene, afraid of the villager’s pointing fingers at your spine?”
On hearing this, Qi Dong’s expression turned even more solemn, but he no longer advanced. The abuse of Qi Congming by Madam Pang was within the Qi Family Courtyard, and not one person from his household had intervened to stop it, a fact that they really didn’t want outsiders to know.
Nanny Jin’s face was serious as she sternly asked Qi Yourong, “Third Master, our families are so closely related. I merely took the child to visit his second grandfather, why isn’t that allowed?”
When Nanny Jin became serious, she naturally came with the assurance of her association with a Prestigious Clan. In her manner was the justified and vehement assertion that taking the child away was absolutely reasonable.
Qi Yourong, thinking along the same lines as Qi Dong, also did not wish for the affair to become common knowledge. It was better to discuss the matter with his second brother than to have the whole village know. Besides, between brothers, there wasn’t an issue that couldn’t be resolved privately.
Qi Yourong fiercely glared at Qi Liang. All this trouble was caused by this youngster; his wife could do whatever she pleased without anyone being allowed to say a word. Now that trouble had arisen, the whole family suffered as a result of his actions.
He tried very hard to soften his tone, making a final effort, “Nanny Jin, if the child is happy and willing to visit his second grandfather, that would be great. But looking at the child’s current state, wouldn’t that just add to my brother’s troubles? How about this, we calm the child down first, and when we are free some day, I will bring the children over to pay respects to my brother. What do you think?”
Nanny Jin was not interested in Qi Yourong’s proposition and said indifferently, “Wait until the child is happy? I’m afraid that could take an eternity. It is better I take him out for a walk first, and when he feels better, I’ll bring him back. Elder, don’t stand in the way, otherwise, if this gets out, it won’t look good for anyone. I’m leaving now.”
When Nanny Jin mentioned “bringing him back,” she distinctly felt the child shiver for an instant.
Madam Song was annoyed, “What is the matter with you, old woman servant? Who takes a child away by force from someone else’s courtyard? Let him go, or we’ll take this to the officials. I’m going right now to inform the Lizheng and go to the county government office to argue the case. Let’s see if the law still exists, shall we?”
“Oh,” Nanny Jin drew out her tone, “My Ye Zi and I have been in and out of this place many times before, how come I didn’t see you claim this is someone else’s courtyard then? You still have the nerve to talk about going to the officials? Fine by me, let’s get the Lizheng right now and also call my master and the head of the first branch. If we are going to the county government office, then all the better.”
Did they think she was some country bumpkin who had never seen the world? Easily intimidated? She had encountered her fair share of first-rank officers. Now she had a legitimate status, and even Elder Jiang of the county office had acknowledged her and her master’s identity; was she supposed to fear going to the officials?
Nanny Jin’s composure stemmed from another reason as well.
The villagers didn’t criticize the Qi Family Third Branch and Madam Pang too much; most of them just mentioned that Qi Congming started working at a young age and that Lady Pang wasn’t close to the child, but there was no talk of child abuse by the Qi family. It was clear that Madam Pang’s abuse of the child was done in secret, and the Qi family wasn’t willing to make a fuss about it, probably because they would not seek out others to argue their case.
Sure enough, after hearing what Nanny Jin had said, Madam Song glared at her fiercely but said no more. The others also hesitated, seemingly undecided.
In the end, it was Qi Yourong whose gaze flickered several times before he relented, “Nanny Jin is also one of our own, so let’s take Congming to relax a bit. I will go fetch him later.”
With that, he motioned for his two sons and Madam Pang to back off with a wave of his hand.
Only then did Nanny Jin bring Qi Congming back.
Ye Xinyan and Qi Younian frowned deeper as they listened.
Qi Younian said indignantly, “This third brother is really out of line. How can he stand by while his grandson suffers such abuse right before his eyes!”
Ye Xinyan and Nanny Jin stood there, together watching the child who was still struggling weakly.
Ye Xinyan said helplessly, “We should still try to see if he’s been injured.”
Nanny Jin replied anxiously, “Is there a need to check? Although the fire tongs weren’t red-hot, one could still feel the heat on them. The child’s skin is soft and tender; he must be burned.”
Nanny Jin was certain that Qi Congming had been burned, but the little guy was utterly uncooperative. No matter how the three of them coaxed, he kept struggling, refusing to let anyone touch him and constantly trying to run out the door.
One could imagine how much intimidation and beating young Qi Congming had endured to make him endure the pain and still be so eager to return to that abusive home.
Ye Xinyan, now frantic, slapped the child’s hand sharply and bellowed at him, “Stop moving! Do you want to get beaten again? Nanny Jin, bring the plank from outside. Since he won’t listen, we might as well give him a good beating!”
Qi Congming’s palm immediately turned red, and he paused, looking up at Ye Xinyan to see her face filled with rage, staring at him as if she was about to start beating him. He was momentarily stunned and then calmed down; this kind of scenario and rhythm was what he was accustomed to and made him feel more at ease.
While still glaring at him, Ye Xinyan ordered Nanny Jin, “Take off his shirt and apply the medicine! This child only causes trouble for us, it’s as if he’s asking for a beating!”
Nanny Jin, seeing that Ye Xinyan had finally created a favorable situation, quickly undid the child’s clothing buttons and took off his tattered shirt.
As the clothes came off, the anger Ye Xinyan had been maintaining collapsed immediately.
This was just a very small child; said to be over four years old, he looked more like two or three. Besides the kid being skin and bones, what made Ye Xinyan unable to maintain her composure were the injuries on the child’s body.
On Qi Congming’s back crawled two long, hideous burns. Probably due to the recent scuffling, some areas had already broken skin, revealing wounds oozing with bodily fluids and tender flesh turned bright red.
