TSWPF -Chapter 163 Fainted

Dongmei was steady by nature. She quickly calmed down from her panic and fixed her gaze on Li Qingling, rebutting her coolly, “It’s because you’re jealous that my young lady is more beautiful than you and comes from a better family. That’s why you’ll stop at nothing to smear her, wanting to ruin her reputation. No matter what, this time I must protect my young lady. If you hadn’t insulted her first, she wouldn’t have been so enraged that she lost her reason.”

In short, no matter whose fault it was, it could not be her young lady’s fault.

She had to shift all the blame onto Li Qingling and pull her young lady out of it.

If her young lady were made to bear the crime of killing someone, her entire life would be ruined.

When she finished speaking, Li Qingling laughed again and even clapped her hands. However, the smile didn’t reach her eyes. She glanced coldly at Dongmei, then looked toward Tong Wanrong, who was hiding behind her, and said, “Miss Tong, this maid of yours is better than the previous one—sharp-tongued and eloquent, able to turn black into white. Truly admirable.”

She did rather admire how this maid could calm down so quickly.

Unfortunately, Li Qingling was not someone who bullied the weak and feared the strong. What Tong Wanrong had done to her—she would repay it in full.

Thinking of this, her expression turned cold. She stared at Tong Wanrong with a fierce presence. “Miss Tong, do you dare swear to heaven that I really insulted you just now?”

This time, she intended to deal with Tong Wanrong once and for all. She didn’t want her jumping around again.

She didn’t have the energy to waste on pointless verbal sparring.

Tong Wanrong lifted her eyes and glanced at Li Qingling. When she met those cold, indifferent eyes, she shuddered in fear and stammered, unable to say a word.

“Miss Li, my young lady is timid. Don’t frighten her,” Dongmei said. In her heart, she felt both anxious and disappointed in Tong Wanrong—how could she be so cowardly? If she had even a bit more presence, she wouldn’t have been suppressed so badly by Li Qingling.

Dongmei could already foresee that once they returned to the residence, punishment would be unavoidable.

Whether she was right or wrong didn’t matter. If something went wrong with the young lady, then it must be her fault.

Such was the sorrow of being a maid—no choice at all.

Li Qingling shifted her gaze back to Dongmei. After locking eyes with her for a moment, she raised three fingers and solemnly swore, “I, Li Qingling, swear that if I insulted Miss Tong just now, may I be struck by lightning and die a miserable death.”

After speaking, she lowered her hand and looked at Dongmei with mockery in her eyes.
“I’ve already made a deadly oath. Does your young lady dare to do the same? Hmm?”

The people here believed in the gods and would not casually make such poisonous oaths.

The moment Li Qingling made this oath, those onlookers who had harbored some doubts began to lean toward her side again, believing that if she had truly insulted someone, she would never dare to swear such an oath.

Even as composed as Dongmei was, seeing Li Qingling swear without hesitation made her heart panic again.

She hadn’t expected Li Qingling to pull such a move—to swear so decisively.

Turning to look at Tong Wanrong, whose face was pale and whose body was trembling nonstop, Dongmei sighed inwardly. Truly, comparing people only led to death.

If her young lady had even half of Li Qingling’s temperament, their situation wouldn’t be so awkward.

Seeing that neither Tong Wanrong nor Dongmei spoke, the onlookers began to jeer again.

“Miss Tong, that girl has already sworn she didn’t insult you. Do you dare swear or not?”

“Exactly, Miss Tong—do you dare to swear?”

“Hah, I say she doesn’t dare. Those words earlier must’ve been nonsense spouted by that maid of hers.”

More and more unpleasant remarks reached Tong Wanrong’s ears, making her face even paler. Li Qingling wondered if she would faint in the next moment.

Just as that thought crossed her mind, she saw Tong Wanrong’s body sway unsteadily.

Was she really going to faint?

No way—was she actually pulling this trick?

“Miss, what’s wrong with you?” Dongmei screamed. Tong Wanrong glanced at her, then closed her eyes and collapsed into Dongmei’s arms.

Li Qingling stared in disbelief. She hadn’t expected Tong Wanrong to actually faint.

Or perhaps she was pretending—just to escape this place.

Her eyes flicked, and she spoke with concern, “Miss Dongmei, don’t worry. I know some medicine. I can help take a look at what’s wrong with your young lady.”

As she spoke, she lifted her foot and was about to walk over.

Dongmei lowered her head to look at Tong Wanrong and noticed her eyelashes trembling slightly. She knew her young lady was pretending to faint. If Li Qingling came over, she would definitely be exposed.

She suddenly raised her head, glared at Li Qingling, and shouted angrily, “Don’t come any closer! You’ve already angered my young lady to the point of fainting—what more do you want?!”

She had to get the young lady back to the residence as soon as possible to minimize the damage.

Hearing this, Li Qingling put her raised foot back down. She shrugged helplessly and said, “I only asked whether she dared to swear a poisonous oath. Just that one sentence made her faint? Then your young lady’s heart is really too narrow.”

She dared to scheme against Li Qingling—then Li Qingling would give her a harsh lesson, one that would make her detour whenever she saw her in the future.

Dongmei was so furious her eyes reddened. Afraid that saying more would only cause more trouble, she glared bitterly at Li Qingling, bent down, hoisted Tong Wanrong onto her back, and hurried away.

Watching the two of them leave, Zhao Yichen turned to Li Qingling and asked, “You’re just letting them go like this?”

If it were him, he definitely wouldn’t let them off so easily.

But this was Li Qingling’s affair, and he didn’t dare interfere too much.

Li Qingling nodded. “With so many eyes watching, it wouldn’t be good to go too far. Let them go.”

People naturally sympathized with the weak. If she went too far, the blame would fall on her.

Moreover, after this incident, Tong Wanrong’s reputation was essentially ruined—that was the greatest punishment of all.

…

As soon as Tong Wanrong got into the carriage, she slowly opened her eyes, tears sliding down from the corners.

This time, she was truly finished.

What should she do now? Was there still any chance to make things right?

Seeing Tong Wanrong crying silently, Dongmei felt terrible as well. “Miss, this matter must be told to the master and madam. Let them stand up for you.”

She didn’t believe they couldn’t deal with that village girl.

Tong Wanrong tightly gripped Dongmei’s hand and sobbed, “Dongmei, do you have any good ideas? As long as I can get through this ordeal, I’m willing to do anything.”

“Miss, later you’ll still need to pretend to be unconscious. Once we return to the residence, I’ll tell the master and madam everything.”

The master and madam loved the young lady dearly. Seeing her fainted, they would surely be heartbroken.

With her added words, they would definitely be furious. When that happened, Li Qingling would have a hard time.

Tong Wanrong had no ideas at all and could only follow Dongmei’s plan.

Things indeed unfolded just as Dongmei had said. When they learned that Tong Wanrong had fainted, Master Tong and Madam Tong were deeply distressed and sternly questioned Dongmei about what had happened outside.

Dongmei fell to her knees with a thud, her eyes red as she cried, “Master, Madam, this is all my fault. I failed to protect the young lady.”

“Tell me—what exactly happened?” Madam Tong’s face was dark with anger.

Anyone would be furious seeing their daughter go out lively and return carried back.

With her head pressed to the ground, Dongmei embellished the story with exaggerations. Of course, after passing through her mouth, the events became something entirely different.

All the blame was pushed onto Li Qingling.

After hearing it, Madam Tong smashed a teacup in anger and glared furiously at Master Tong.
“Look at this—look! That’s your good student. If you don’t punish him, I won’t let this go!”

Daring to anger her precious daughter to the point of fainting—she wouldn’t spare anyone.

Master Tong was also very angry, but he still retained a bit of rationality and spoke up for Liu Zhimou. “What does this have to do with him? It was his fiancée who caused the trouble.”

How could Liu Zhimou have such a fiancée? With such an arrogant and domineering temperament, how was she worthy of him?

“I don’t care!” Madam Tong said unreasonably. “His fiancée’s fault is his fault. If he can’t control his fiancée, who else is to blame? It’s his fault!”

“I say you don’t need to put so much effort into tutoring him anymore. I want to see—without your guidance, can he still pass the xiucai exam or not?”

Madam Tong was placing all of Li Qingling’s fault squarely onto Liu Zhimou.

After all, Li Qingling was his fiancée. If his fiancée made a mistake, then he should bear it.

Master Tong shot Madam Tong a sideways glance and said irritably, “What nonsense are you talking about?”

If a student he taught passed the xiucai exam, that would be his honor as well. How could his wife not consider that? Truly long hair, short insight—only thinking of the present, not the future.

Seeing that Master Tong refused to help her, Madam Tong grew even angrier, her face turning green. She smashed two more cups, pointed at Master Tong, and cursed loudly, “Is Rong’er even your daughter or not? She’s suffered such a great grievance—how can you, as her father, not stand up for her?”

Furious to the point of grinding her teeth, she couldn’t help but pinch Master Tong hard at the waist, making his face flush red. “If you won’t vent your daughter’s anger, then go live with that student of yours! My daughter and I will live on our own!”

She had never been this angry before. This time, her daughter’s fainting had truly ignited her rage.

If that village girl named Li Qingling were in front of her right now, she would love nothing more than to slap her twice and let her know why flowers were so red.

Tormented by Madam Tong until he feared her, Master Tong could only nod repeatedly.

His daughter had been wronged—he would definitely speak to Liu Zhimou and tell him to properly rein in his fiancée, to restrain her temperament and stop disgracing him outside.

After all, Liu Zhimou was destined for an official career. If he couldn’t manage his inner household well, his career path wouldn’t go far either.

For this reason alone, he would have a serious talk with Liu Zhimou.

Seeing Master Tong finally nod, Madam Tong’s anger subsided somewhat.

She decided to find an opportunity to meet Li Qingling herself, to see exactly what kind of person she was—so bold as to dare bully her daughter.

When she met her, she would definitely make her suffer.

She would show her that a daughter of the Tong family was not someone anyone could bully at will.