Return of the Swallow

Chapter 379: Crossing Swords

Madame Lu turned around with an exceedingly ugly expression. Qin Yining’s disgusting face was the first thing she saw.

“Why are you here!?”

The Qin fourth miss smiled faintly. “Our family bought a manor and I’m finishing the transaction today with the original owner. Why has big sister Lu barged in with so many people and is speaking so rudely to my father?”

The girl’s beautiful eyes shifted to Lu Heng at this point. “Do the Lus have a misunderstanding with my clan?”

The Qin fourth miss was blatantly accusing the Lus of playing the Qins! They were the ones who’d issued an invitation to Qin Huaiyuan. The Qin patriarch had accepted and graciously reserved an entire restaurant floor for the occasion. And in the end, Madame Lu was starting this kind of mess?

If the Lus had arranged for all of this beforehand, then they meant to grind Qin dignity into the dirt and bury it in the mud.

Such simple logic was obvious to Lu Heng, Madame Lu, and those watching downstairs.

The madame snapped back lividly, “Don’t you dare talk nonsense! What kind of misunderstanding would the Lus possibly have with the Qins!?”

“No misunderstanding?” The girl’s expression froze over. “Then that means big sister Lu’s done all this on purpose. What grudge or feud does my family possibly have with big sister Lu for you to offend my father in this way??”

A beauty to begin with, twin flames of outrage ignited in Qin Yining’s eyes. Her intensely bright eyes vanquished all those she looked upon, compelling Lu Heng to slowly walk down the stairs in spite of himself.

Previously the epitome of warm jade, her beauty had morphed into a supremely combative projection. The change stoked envy, hatred, and fury in Madame Lu.

I wouldn’t lose to her at all if I was ten years younger!

“You don’t need to clap such a large crime on me. I have no grudge or feud with Master Qin, why would I purposefully offend him?”

“Then what are you here for? Are you out for a stroll with your men and happened to pass by?”

“You!” How would Madame Lu not make out the sarcasm in the wench’s tones?

But with how things were now, just what could she say in her own defense? Admit in front of the Qin father and daughter duo that she’d come to prevent Qin Yining and Lu Dehan from signing the contract? She could hardly confess that she was here to teach Qin Yining a lesson!

The madame wouldn’t be afraid of anything if it was only her and the girl, but Lu Heng and Qin Huaiyuan were both here! She’d even said so much she shouldn’t have before realizing Qin Huaiyuan was upstairs... She’d even told her men to do whatever they wanted to the third floor occupants! That the Lus would have their back if there were any consequences!!

The look her cousin was giving her now inspired the beginnings of a migraine and her body to turn clammy with fear. It’d never been her place to make decisions for the clan!

As Madame Lu fell speechless, Lu Heng took a position three steps away from Qin Yining and bowed. “Miss Qin, we meet again.”

“Sir Lu.” The Qin fourth miss bent her knee to return the gesture.

The Lu second master smiled back at the girl, his gaze three parts contemplation, three parts admiration, and four parts complete understanding.

He was well aware of Madame Lu’s character. Though arrogance was her secondary name and she very much lacked brains, she would’ve never done all this had she known he and Qin Huaiyuan were upstairs.

Therefore, Lu Heng was quite assured that she’d received some sort of news today and misunderstood that Qin Yining was upstairs. That had emboldened her earlier actions and given rise to everything.

Madame Lu’s stupefied astonishment at seeing the Qin fourth miss earlier had been evident. It was blatantly incredulous to her that the girl would appear here.

How much of this had been the Qin fourth miss’s planning, and how much manipulation?

Lu Heng didn’t believe in the slightest that the girl had just so happened to be meeting with someone else here. It was even less plausible that her guards were all so useless as to be unable to stop the charge of Madame Lu’s men.

Surely his cousin knew everything by now and how she’d been set up by the younger girl, just like his speculations were running their course.

Such an obvious trap openly suppressed Lu Heng’s own plans of estrangement between the emperor and Qin Huaiyuan. It also struck back at Madame Lu, who’d offended Qin Yining a while back.

Was this Qin Huaiyuan’s plan? After all, he was hailed as Wise Pan An.

Or was it this exceedingly beautiful girl’s plotting?

Lu Heng was more inclined to believe the latter.

If the Qin fourth miss had nothing to do with all this, she wouldn’t be standing here now or pop out to talk to Madame Lu.

Qin Yining appeared to possess a lofty spirit and despised acting behind someone’s back. She would only openly stomp down on an obstacle like them.

It was even more so a forthright declaration that she fully perceived Madame Lu’s obstinate arrogance toward the Qin manor and his machinations between the emperor and Qin Huaiyuan. She would strike straight back at them and have them knowingly suffer for their efforts!

Such beauty, such rarity, such intelligence, and such bearing! I’ve never seen anyone such as her.

A ticklish and tingling sensation filled him—like someone had brushed his heart with a feather. Though his plans lay in ruins, an inexplicable delight filled his heart.