She Is Such A Jerk, And Yet She’s The One Crying! - Chapter 31

Early the next morning, Qiang Ning heard someone visiting outside. Immediately after, Lin Dongruan went out to open the door. Qiang Ning knew in her heart that Jiang Weilan’s people had arrived, so she followed outside to watch the excitement.

“Sister, who is he? He looks like a powerful noble who is hard to provoke,” Qiang Ning said, hiding behind Lin Dongruan and pointing at Jiang Weilan at the door. “Sister, do you know him?”

Jiang Weilan timely stepped in to smooth things over: “Doctor Lin and I have met a few times in the past. Now, hearing that an old acquaintance has come to Sanqi County, I have come specifically to invite Doctor Lin to my residence for a chat.”

When the governor of a county makes such an offer, let alone a commoner, even the local gentry would flock to it. Unfortunately, Lin Dongruan was not someone who lusted after power or wealth. Years ago, she was famous throughout the world for her pure and lofty character, and after living in seclusion in the mountains for many years, she adhered to this even more strictly.

As expected, Lin Dongruan spoke to decline: “I am of humble talent. For these past years, I have been ignorant of world affairs and the situation at court. I fear I would be unable to converse pleasantly with Your Excellency. I thank you for your kind regard, but I must ask you to excuse me as it is truly inconvenient to accept the invitation.”

Qiang Ning, standing to the side: “…”

Was something wrong with Jiang Weilan? She had told him not to lie, but to simply bring his foolish son and sincerely invite Lin Dongruan; with her healer’s heart, she would surely have agreed. Now, with such a bureaucratic excuse, Lin Dongruan would never go under any circumstances.

Back then, even when she was at the height of her power as the Imperial Preceptor, she had resigned and returned home without hesitation, and she didn’t even care for the position of Empress. Would she care about an invitation from a mere county governor?

Qiang Ning truly broke into a cold sweat for Jiang Weilan’s intelligence. Idiot.

Lin Dongruan shielded Qiang Ning behind her and turned to see the guest out. Seeing that things were failing, Jiang Weilan looked at Qiang Ning with some concern. Qiang Ning gave him a look, then held the door and asked, “Old man, you probably aren’t just here to simply chat with my sister, are you? My sister has always had no friends or guests; you must have something to ask of her, right?”

Seeing that Her Highness had offered him a way out, Jiang Weilan quickly took the opportunity: “The young lady is indeed worthy of being Doctor Lin’s sworn sister; she is truly intelligent. What you say is true; I indeed have a request—my eldest son is foolish and difficult to cure. I do not know if he has offended ghosts and gods or if it is a problem with his head. All these years of seeking medicine and inviting spirits have been in vain. Doctor Lin is the world’s top shaman-doctor; I beg you to grace my residence with your presence to treat my son.”

Lin Dongruan spoke calmly: “The most important thing in seeking medical treatment is sincerity. If you are unwilling to be straightforward even about the act of seeking help, you will surely be deceptive when discussing matters related to the patient in the future.”

Qiang Ning heard the subtle refusal in her words and couldn’t help but feel surprised.

—It seemed Lin Dongruan truly detested lying. She was willing to treat someone without holding a grudge against a former enemy, yet now she was unwilling to treat Jiang Weilan’s son because of a small lie?

Qiang Ning thought back carefully and suddenly felt that every time she was beaten, it wasn’t for nothing. After all, Lin Dongruan had forgiven her so many times. Although a palm-whipping was unavoidable each time, in the end, she was forgiven easily. Qiang Ning was not afraid of being beaten; she was only afraid that Lin Dongruan would no longer choose to forgive her.

Looking at the frowning Jiang Weilan who couldn’t get forgiveness, Qiang Ning suddenly smiled in a very good mood.

Jiang Weilan: ???

Qiang Ning cleared her throat and regained her composure: “I’ve already said my sister isn’t going. Why are you still standing there? Your sincerity is insufficient; do you intend to use my sister for nothing?”

She was hinting for Jiang Weilan to offer some benefits, a point that Lin Dongruan naturally caught as well. Lin Dongruan frowned, turned back to Qiang Ning, and said, “A-Ning, you must not be greedy.”

Qiang Ning apologized while continuing to speak with hidden meaning: “Even if you brought a thousand-mile steed, my sister could not possibly agree to you!”

Jiang Weilan instantly understood: “Coincidentally, my residence just acquired a thousand-mile horse, with a rain-like mane and frost-like hooves—a true Red Hare among horses! Men, deliver it to Doctor Lin’s residence immediately.”

Lin Dongruan: “…”

Qiang Ning had long heard from Song Luo that a thousand-mile horse had been bought by someone in Sanqi County. Its coat was frosty white, and its mane was as stunning as snow. By sheer coincidence, this test proved that the fellow Jiang Weilan had secretly bought it.

Now that things had turned out this way, Jiang Weilan could only dejectedly part with his treasure. Qiang Ning was overjoyed, and even found him much more pleasing to the eye. Seeing that Qiang Ning was interested in a good horse, Lin Dongruan could not continue to refuse Jiang Weilan’s request and had to agree.

After setting the time for the visit, the door was closed. Lin Dongruan silently went to pick up the ruler first. The ruler was bought at the market that day; it was sturdy and straight. Striking the palm with it wasn’t as painful as a cane, but the sound was much louder. It was quite intimidating. Every time Lin Dongruan approached holding the ruler, Qiang Ning’s legs would go weak. She even felt that this ruler was more frightening.

Lin Dongruan: “A-Ning, kneel.”

Qiang Ning knelt without a word, cursing Jiang Weilan several times in her heart.

Lin Dongruan: “Raise your hand.”

Qiang Ning tried to act spoiled to make the other change her mind: “Sister, we have to go to that old man’s residence this afternoon. It would be quite embarrassing if my palm is swollen… Can I not be beaten today?”

Lin Dongruan was expressionless: “No.”

Qiang Ning whispered: “Then a bit lighter? Please?”

Lin Dongruan did not answer; her expression grew colder as she used one end of the ruler to lift Qiang Ning’s palm a bit higher. Qiang Ning’s scalp tingled. With tears nearly falling, she raised her hand and took a solid strike from the ruler. After one strike, her palm immediately began to burn with stinging heat.

Lin Dongruan did not withdraw the ruler this time but continued to demand her hand. Qiang Ning’s eyes were slightly moist, in disbelief: “Ah? Sister, are you still going to hit me?”

Lin Dongruan said, “A-Ning, one should not use a favor to seek a reward. You did wrong today and should be punished well.”

Qiang Ning retorted, “But Sister, shouldn’t one ‘bestow a favor and expect a reward’? If one doesn’t seek a return, more and more people in the world won’t understand gratitude, and then no one will be willing to lend a hand. Sister, there are not many noble people in this world; as for someone as noble as you, there are probably none at all. Yes, ‘bestowing a favor and seeking a reward is not the way of a gentleman’ makes sense, but I am no gentleman. Not only do I seek a reward, I want to see it immediately, so I know who is a truly petty person who receives a favor but does not return it. I am not noble, and I am unwilling to suffer a loss just like that.”

“A-Ning, I do not want you to be forever trapped in a corner; your mindset should not be so limited. Just as an Emperor works tirelessly for the people of the world, does he always seek a reward at every moment?” Lin Dongruan corrected her sternly. “If you want to go far, you should not plot for small immediate gains.”

Qiang Ning grumbled inwardly—I’m not the Emperor, what’s the point of saying all this? Lin Dongruan, have you gone mad from being the Imperial Preceptor? Of course, Qiang Ning only dared to say this secretly in her heart. Facing Lin Dongruan, she didn’t talk back at all, but simply accepted her fate and raised her hand to let the other punish her.

Qiang Ning thought: Jiang Weilan, I’ve noted down this debt.

She didn’t know how many times Lin Dongruan hit her in the end. Qiang Ning’s palm went completely numb and lost all sensation. She was so aggrieved she was about to burst into tears. Finally, she clutched her hand and sullenly stopped talking to Lin Dongruan. Lin Dongruan stood beside her for a long time, then went out.

Looking at her bright red palm, Qiang Ning felt even more aggrieved. She was suffering here, yet Lin Dongruan didn’t even say a word of comfort, and now she had even left her alone at home. She felt stifled and looked toward the door with great dissatisfaction.

Just as she was angry, there was a “clack” from the roof, as if a tile had been accidentally displaced, making a noise that was neither too loud nor too soft. Qiang Ning looked up in a rage and locked eyes with the shadow guards who were huddled on the roof peeking in.

Qiang Ning: “…”

Had they all come to laugh at her? It wasn’t that the shadow guards hadn’t fled the scene; it was just that everyone had taken turns to watch the Princess Royal get beaten and lose face. When they were accidentally detected, a few unlucky souls were forced to stay behind to take the blame. They were just poor scapegoats.

Unfortunately, they were wrong. Whether they were the tricksters or the honest scapegoats, none could escape punishment. Qiang Ning felt she had lost face and was in a bad mood, so she naturally sought to find fault with them immediately.

“Either be docked half a month’s salary or run three laps around Sanqi County. Choose for yourselves.” Qiang Ning said with a dark face, arranging for Song Luo to handle it.

Song Luo was on leave and didn’t need to wait for Qiang Ning’s orders, but hearing there was excitement to join in, he was overjoyed. The money the shadow guards were fined would all go to him. He immediately didn’t want to be idle and gleefully went to supervise the shadow guards running their laps.

Qiang Ning sat in the house alone. After a while, she waited for Lin Dongruan to return home. She was unhappy and didn’t want to talk to anyone. Even when the other returned, she pretended to ignore her. Lin Dongruan brought back refreshing plum soup. Seeing Qiang Ning sulking and not talking, she poured the plum soup into a cup and personally brought it to her.

Qiang Ning looked away: “Take it away, I won’t drink it.”

Lin Dongruan said gently: “Even if you don’t drink it, you should hold it. The plum soup is icy and relieves pain. By holding it, your palm won’t hurt.”

Qiang Ning was unhappy: “You’ve already beaten me; is it too late to coax me now?”

“Don’t be angry, let Sister see your palm.” Lin Dongruan took her hand, lowered her eyes, and gently blew on her bright red palm, asking softly, “The cane was replaced with a ruler; does it still hurt a lot?”

Qiang Ning’s palm felt a bit itchy. She pulled back the corners of her mouth and gave a grumpy “Ow” as a response. Lin Dongruan sighed helplessly, stood up to wash a cool water cloth, and came back to carefully apply it to Qiang Ning’s palm: “A-Ning’s hand is so delicate; it should not have been struck here.”

“So Sister, you do know how to feel bad for someone?” Qiang Ning said sarcastically, “From that posture of hitting me just now, I thought you hated me so much.”

Lin Dongruan laughed softly: “How could I hate you without reason? That action was only so that you could mend your ways in time.”

At the mention of this, Qiang Ning felt even more aggrieved: “Then why didn’t you stop me when I was making demands of that old man? If you had spoken up then, I wouldn’t have had to be beaten.”

Lin Dongruan, you are noble and couldn’t stand me asking Jiang Weilan for a thousand-mile horse. Then why didn’t you say a word when I asked for the horse? If you wanted to stop it, how could Jiang Weilan not listen to you? These latter words, Qiang Ning could only say to herself in her heart.

When she had intentionally asked Jiang Weilan for some benefit, Lin Dongruan only admonished her not to be greedy. But later, when she made the specific request, Lin Dongruan didn’t make a sound, only punishing her after closing the door. Her palm hurt this much; Lin Dongruan was also at fault.

“Because A-Ning looked like she really wanted to raise a good horse,” Lin Dongruan answered her after a moment of silence. “A thousand-mile horse is hard to come by; I didn’t want A-Ning to be disappointed.”

Qiang Ning’s chaotic heart instantly went quiet. What did she say? Qiang Ning almost thought she had misheard. Lin Dongruan could actually do such a thing? For her?

No wonder she didn’t dissuade her at the time; it turned out she saw that she liked Jiang Weilan’s fine horse. Qiang Ning felt embarrassed instantly. She curled her fingers and looked at Lin Dongruan awkwardly: “I’m sorry, Sister, I misunderstood you.”

At this time, Lin Dongruan brought the plum soup again and handed it to her once more: “A-Ning, blame me for being unable to buy you a top-quality thousand-mile horse, so I could only let you suffer by using such a method of exploiting a favor to get what you wanted.”

Look at her, blaming herself like this again. Despite having given everything, she still felt indebted. Even someone as cold-hearted as Qiang Ning was made to feel a bit uneasy in her conscience. Qiang Ning held the plum soup in her hand and sat properly beside Lin Dongruan, looking very obedient. She whispered: “It’s not your fault, Sister. Don’t blame yourself.”

Lin Dongruan’s pale grey eyes looked at her, the tenderness within them enough to make Qiang Ning drown in them: “A-Ning, do you know how to ride? If not, Sister will take you to the outskirts of the city to learn.”

Qiang Ning had tamed fierce horses at age seven, selected fine steeds at ten, and could ride to win top prizes by twelve. Even excluding the flattery and yielding of her subordinates, she was very skilled in horsemanship. But… Lin Dongruan had said so; how could she give up such a good opportunity for closeness? This was horse riding personally taught by Lin Dongruan; she had to learn it.

The word “know” lingered in Qiang Ning’s throat for a moment before being swallowed back down. “Then I shall have to trouble Sister for your instruction.” Qiang Ning drank a sip of plum soup with a guilty conscience.

Lin Dongruan waited for her to finish drinking in small sips, then spoke: “A-Ning, there is one more thing I haven’t told you the truth about. Now that such an opportunity has arisen, I shouldn’t continue to hide it from you.”

Qiang Ning paused, feeling that something was wrong. Sure enough, in the next instant, Lin Dongruan was about to reveal her identity: “Actually… I haven’t always been in Wusang Town. Before, I went to the capital…”

Qiang Ning felt that if she continued, she would have to find a way to act with her again. Now was clearly not a good time for deception; her conscience was still uneasy. How could she quickly harden her heart to continue deceiving Lin Dongruan?

So Qiang Ning immediately spoke to stop her: “Sister, you don’t have to say it, I know.”

As soon as she interrupted, Lin Dongruan indeed did not continue, but asked: “How did A-Ning know?”

Qiang Ning answered through gritted teeth: “At a glance, Sister does not belong to the mundane world. You are out of place in a remote area like Wusang Town, and you don’t look like a woman trapped there. Sister must have seen famous mountains and great rivers, met nobles and officials, known the warmth and coldness of human hearts, and the hardships of the people… I can see all of this. Since you have already chosen to let go of your past, there is no need to mention it again. I don’t mind.”

Lin Dongruan smiled faintly: “A-Ning is wise and thoughtful.”

Qiang Ning said: “Since Sister left the capital to come to a small place like Wusang Town, there must be reasons beyond your control. I imagine it wasn’t something pleasant. The scar has already scabbed over; whenever it’s mentioned, it’s like opening the wound. A-Ning is fortunate to have Sister’s protection and should not greedily pry into your sad past… Of course, if there is a chance, A-Ning is willing to spend the rest of her life with you, sharing your joy and sorrow, enjoying your happiness, and grieving your woes.”