Chapter 3 — TVF Chapter 3

The Love-Brained Empress (3) At this moment, Qin Jingzhou had already tossed the Marquis of Antai onto the ground.

He had spent many years as an AoTian-type powerhouse, often camping in the wild and roughing it, so he personally had no particular aversion to dirt. But the Marquis of Antai had been scared stiff—so much so that when shaken lightly, droplets of some unidentified liquid could still be flung off. Qin Jingzhou found that deeply repulsive.

He stabbed the crescent-bladed halberd into the ground. A personal guard promptly brought over a stool, and Qin Jingzhou sat down with legs spread wide, surveying his surroundings.

No one dared meet his gaze.

He turned his head to look toward the gate. Outside, onlookers had already packed the entrance three layers deep inside and out.

He could actually guess that members of the Qi family were among those watching.

What he didn’t know was whether the fence-sitting Marquis of Antai, in his current state, was even qualified to call in Qi family reinforcements. To be honest, Qin Jingzhou would rather enjoy it if the Qi family sent someone—perfect chance to weigh just how heavy the Qi family really was.

Before that, though, he needed to see the original owner’s second daughter. The eldest daughter—the villainous empress—had a screw loose. The three sons so far were either trash or about to become trash. The youngest daughter was performing admirably and seemed perfectly normal, and the second daughter at least knew how to seek help when wronged. Inevitably, Qin Jingzhou had placed some expectations on her as well.

The guards behind him were on full alert, but their eyes were shining with excitement. Just as Qin Jingzhou was about to order them to bring the second daughter over, a shrill voice burst into his ears without warning—

“Cousin Jingzhou!”

Qin Jingzhou narrowed his eyes and looked over. Judging by her clothes and age, the newcomer should be the Marquis of Antai’s wife.

He searched the original owner’s memories—no such person. In the original novel, she was nothing more than a background prop briefly mentioned. Qin Jingzhou couldn’t be bothered to spare her a second glance.

When the Marchioness learned that her cousin Xiao Jingzhou had stormed the gate, she immediately sensed trouble. While her husband and eldest son went out to receive the guest, she hurriedly “deployed troops” in the main hall—ordering her confidants to surround the eldest daughter-in-law’s courtyard so tightly that not even water could seep through. Only after changing her clothes did she bring her dowry nanny to the front courtyard.

Rounding the screen wall and seeing her husband and eldest son deathly pale, she lost control and started shouting, “Cousin! How dare you!”

The Marquis of Antai, upon hearing this, wanted nothing more than to rush over and clamp a hand over his wife’s mouth. Do you have eyes at all?! Isn’t this pouring oil on the fire?!

Qin Jingzhou suddenly stood up and strode in front of the Marchioness, frightening her into nearly toppling backward.

He reached out, grabbed the Marquis’s eldest son by the hair, calculated his strength—aiming for blood but not a concussion—and slammed the man’s head onto the stone pavement with a single palm.

The eldest son was a complete coward. Even with his face smashing into the ground, he only cried out in pain and didn’t dare struggle.

The Marchioness, like a chicken grabbed by the neck, stared wide-eyed in disbelief—yet instantly fell silent.

Qin Jingzhou leisurely sat back down on the stool. He beckoned toward the doorway, where Third Miss Xiao stood protected by guards. “Where’s my daughter?”

If Second Miss Xiao were in any condition to come out and meet people, the Marchioness would have sent her out long ago to placate the Duke Cheng’en!

The Marchioness felt wave after wave of guilt. She tried crying pitifully, gambling that her cousin might still cherish old affection. “Cousin, you used to like me best!”

So the trashiness really was hereditary.

Qin Jingzhou let his youngest daughter jog over to knead his shoulders, not even lifting his eyelids. “Years apart, and you’ve only grown more disgusting.” He ordered the guard beside him, “Follow Third Girl and bring Second Girl back. If anyone blocks you, beat them first. If anything happens, I’ll take responsibility.”

The captain of the guards clasped his fists and accepted the order.

Being publicly scolded by her cousin, the Marchioness burned with shame and anger. Still, she spread her arms and stubbornly blocked Qin Jingzhou, her voice trembling as if she were about to cry at any moment. “Cousin! My parents told you to protect me well!”

Qin Jingzhou didn’t even bother standing up. Ignoring the filth, he grabbed the Marquis of Antai nearby and introduced the man’s forehead to the family stone pavement as well.

Feeling the true might of his own courtyard stones, the Marquis—like his eldest son—fell into a dazed stupor.

Watching blood trickle from her husband’s brow, then looking at her eldest son, forced into kowtowing and seemingly lost in space, the Marchioness finally realized: Her cousin who had run off to the outskirts to cultivate immortality and refine pills had truly returned—and he had truly come to demand an explanation. Dryly invoking old familial ties was utterly meaningless.

She suddenly remembered everything they had done to Second Miss over the years—especially recently. Her throat tightened, and she lost her voice entirely.

Third Miss Xiao snorted coldly, then swaggered past the stunned family of three with her father’s personal guards.

Normally, Third Miss wasn’t particularly bold. But today, with her father so mighty, she felt like a little fox borrowing the tiger’s might.

Then she thought—so what if I’m a little fox? Can’t a little fox stand tall?! Her father had given her… she turned her head and counted—twenty personal guards!

Her confidence soared. Head high, chest out, she marched toward the inner courtyard of the Marquis’s residence.

To be fair, as rotten as the Marquis of Antai’s household was, it wasn’t so bad that they couldn’t muster a few dozen guards.

But seeing how cowardly the Marquis, Marchioness, and eldest son were in the face of the Duke Cheng’en, the stewards understood the situation perfectly. Who would dare step forward to act on the marquis’s behalf now?

So when they encountered the aggressive Third Miss Xiao and the guards, the household stewards retreated three steps and bowed their heads to make way.

Where the stewards led, the servants and maids naturally followed suit.

Third Miss Xiao reached her second sister’s courtyard unimpeded. Ignoring the matrons guarding the door, she shouted inside, “Second Sister! Father’s here to back you up!”

Almost immediately, her sister’s voice came from within, filled with surprise and sobbing, “Did Father really come?”

At this point, the dowry nanny sent by the Marchioness to guard the door could no longer play mute. Facing the ferocious twenty guards, she stiffened her courage and said to Third Miss, “The young madam has caught a cold. Afraid of passing on illness. The doctor said she needs quiet rest and shouldn’t see anyone…”

Before she could finish, her cheek suddenly went cold—then came searing pain, and then darkness. When she came back to herself, she was already sprawled on the ground, aching all over.

The lead nanny was knocked flat by two clean strikes of sword hilts from the Duke’s guards. The others didn’t dare utter a peep. Third Miss Xiao led her people charging into her sister’s courtyard.

She had only taken a few steps when the sister she hadn’t seen in half a year appeared at the doorway, supported by a maid. One look, and tears streamed down Third Miss’s face. “Damn the Marquis of Antai’s household!”

Second Miss Xiao had white gauze wrapped around her forehead. Black medicinal paste covered her left cheek, and the other side of her face was swollen as well.

Third Miss hurried forward, carefully examining her sister’s injuries again, then looked at the maid beside her. “What happened?”

The maid wept. “The young master beat her.”

Second Miss Xiao sighed softly. “I told you. I argued with your brother-in-law. He couldn’t win the argument, so he slapped me. I wasn’t prepared and fell… just happened to hit the corner of the table. There was hot tea on the table.” She gestured to her left cheek, smeared with paste. “This side was scalded.”

Third Miss grew anxious. “Father’s already here, Second Sister, don’t—”

Second Miss Xiao forced a smile, but the movement tugged at her injuries, twisting the expression painfully. “I won’t speak for him. No matter what, he shouldn’t have laid a hand on me. If he hadn’t hit me, none of this would have happened. He was afraid I’d complain to Father. Our family… a starved camel is still bigger than a horse. The Marchioness panicked and simply ordered people to watch me—putting me under house arrest.”

Third Miss was good at reading people. She felt her sister was telling the truth and took her hand. “Come. Let’s go see Father. Father will seek justice for us!”

When Father left home, Third Sister had still been young and remembered little. But since Second Miss Xiao had grown up, Father had devoted himself to cultivation, rarely paying attention to his children.

She had expected her elder brother to come—but instead, it was Father… Her feelings were complicated. She believed Father would ultimately make her in-laws and husband admit fault, then persuade her to reconcile. Still, Father being willing to back her was far better than his former indifference.

Wearing a veil, Second Miss Xiao came to the front courtyard with her younger sister. The first thing she saw was Father sitting on a stool with eyes closed, resting. Behind him stood their family’s formidable personal guards—and a crescent-bladed halberd.

Half of the Marquis of Antai’s bright red gate lay quietly on the ground.

Her parents-in-law and husband sat farther away. Both her father-in-law and husband were injured. Her father-in-law looked shocked upon seeing her, while her mother-in-law wore a panicked expression, desperately begging her for mercy with her eyes. As for her husband—he looked completely out of it.

Even at a time like this, he was still thinking about Qi Langhuan.

Second Miss Xiao made up her mind: even if she had to reconcile on the surface later, their marital bond was irrevocably severed!

She was about to step forward and pay respects to Father when she saw him stand up, take a horsewhip from a guard, and walk toward her husband. “You did this?”

Her husband had no defense and could only admit it.

Father lashed out with the whip. Even through her veil, she clearly saw—teeth and blood flying out of her husband’s mouth together.

Amid her mother-in-law’s shrill scream, Second Miss Xiao felt pure delight. …Ah! So satisfying! Let’s see how you can still show your face and fawn over Qi Langhuan with missing teeth!

She couldn’t help smiling—then winced as the movement tugged at her wounds.

Then her father looked over again and instructed her, “Pack your things. Bring your dowry. Come home with me. I’ll wait here.”

Second Miss Xiao smiled through tears. “Mm!”

Qin Jingzhou was very satisfied with his cheap daughter’s reaction. The second daughter also seemed to be a normal person.

He looked at the dark-faced Marquis of Antai. “Your wife has hidden quite a bit from you.” Seeing the Marquis’s genuine shock at Second Miss’s injuries, this clearly wasn’t an act.

At these words, the Marchioness felt even guiltier—so much so that she forgot to worry about her toothless eldest son.

The Marquis of Antai took a deep breath. “I will give the Duke an explanation.”

Qin Jingzhou brought his second daughter back to the Duke Cheng’en’s residence. As soon as he stepped down from the carriage, the head steward reported, “A Nanny sent by Her Majesty the Empress has been waiting for some time.”

Just as expected.

The Qi residence wasn’t far from either the Duke Cheng’en’s residence or the Marquis of Antai’s. If the Qi family didn’t go save the Marquis of Antai’s household, that meant choosing to cut the fuel from under the cauldron.

Qin Jingzhou sent the two daughters to the inner quarters. Unhurried, he washed and changed clothes, then called the similarly prepared daughters back to his side before allowing the increasingly anxious palace Nanny to come forward and pay respects.

The Nanny clearly wanted to flare up. But after forcing herself to bow and then lifting her eyes to meet Qin Jingzhou’s calm, unruffled gaze, all her thoughts evaporated.

She simply relayed Empress Xiao’s words verbatim:

How could Father return to the capital and do something so disgraceful? The Marchioness of Antai said she would help me deal with Qi Langhuan. If Father won’t help me, he shouldn’t undermine me either! If Father continues to act recklessly, don’t blame me for being impolite!

Third Miss took a deep breath. Veins bulged on the back of the hand clutching her handkerchief.

Qin Jingzhou frowned slightly. “Did Empress Xiao marry into the palace and leave her brain at home?” The system explained, “Her role is a dumbed-down vicious villain. The most crucial part of this mission is actually restoring her intelligence.” “How do I restore it?” The system sent a smiling face. “Please explore on your own.” Fine. Thinking carefully, he really hadn’t encountered such a problem before.

Qin Jingzhou looked at his veiled second daughter and asked in front of the palace Nanny, “How long has your eldest sister been like this?”

Second Miss Xiao didn’t answer directly. “The Marquis of Antai’s eldest son told me to enter the palace and persuade Elder Sister to stop making things difficult for the Noble Consort. Otherwise, he said she would make me ‘drink a toast only to be forced to drink forfeit wine.’”

Qin Jingzhou smiled. “And how would that forfeit wine be served? In the palace… by ruining you sisters’ reputations?”

Second Miss Xiao lowered her head. “Yes.”

Qin Jingzhou said, “I hit him too lightly.” He turned and instructed the waiting head steward, “Go to the Marquis of Antai’s residence and tell the whole family to roll over here.” Then he looked at the Nanny, who was staring at the floor. “Go back and tell the Empress—she became Empress because of me, this Duke. Don’t get the order backwards.”

The Nanny hurriedly answered respectfully, “Yes.”