Born to Be Either Rich or Noble - Chapter 67

Qian Tong had a dream.

In the dream, a man and a woman were entangled in breathless passion; she and a young man pressed close, cheek to cheek, their lips joined, their bodies intertwined… The young man’s kisses alternated between urgent and gentle, his cool, threadlike breath crushed and passed between their mouths. Her breathing broke apart; her mind felt clouded. She was dragged helplessly into the intoxication…

Her mouth felt dry, her lips sore…

That was the sensation she carried as she woke. She instinctively pressed her lips together and realized they felt swollen, tingling with a faint numbness. She forced her eyes open and saw the canopy above her.

After two stunned breaths, the memories of last night came flooding back.

Where was she?

Qian Tong’s eyes widened. She shot upright in the bed and looked around.
She was not lying on the chaise she’d first curled up on the night before—but on a real bed, covered with a pale water-blue silk quilt.

Her expression froze. Her mind spun in wild circles.

She couldn’t recall what had happened last night—but at this moment, she seemed to be… sleeping in the Heir Apparent’s bed.

The Heir Apparent was not there.

Qian Tong hurriedly touched her lips. The faint numb pain was still present.
It wasn’t “just a dream.”

Her heart dropped, then went cold.

What had she done?!

Qian Tong grabbed her head with both hands, despairing and terrified.
After waiting a while and hearing no movement, she threw aside the quilt and cautiously called out,
“He… Heir Apparent?”

No response.

She got up, slipped her feet into the boots by the bed, and walked out.

The doors that had been locked last night were now open. Harsh daylight flooded in, making her vision blur. She turned her head sharply away, her already-sinking heart dropping another inch.

Judging by the brightness, it was not morning.

At the very least—it had to be noon.

A shadow guard—the same one addressed as “Mengqing” the night before—entered and saluted.
“Miss Qian is awake? My lord left instructions: when you wake, eat something. If you have no appetite, then go find him.”

She definitely needed to find him.

She had to figure out exactly what happened last night. As she lifted her hand to fix her hair, she asked,
“Where is he?”

When she woke, her long hair had been loose. She swiftly gathered it into a knot, then started searching around for the hairpin she’d lost somewhere during the night.

Before she could find it, Mengqing offered her a small box.
“My lord is in the dungeon. There are no maids here to help with your hair. He had me buy a ribbon—please make do with it.”

She had arrived last night with the Park Matriarch and hadn’t brought Fuyin with her. She certainly hadn’t expected to stay the night—much less…

She suddenly asked,
“Did you hear anything last night?”
For example, her suddenly waking up in the middle of the night, going into the bedchamber, pushing the Heir Apparent down, and kissing him—shadow guards had sharp hearing. They would have picked up any sounds inside their master’s room. She just wanted to know—was the Heir Apparent angry last night? Did he resist her?

Mengqing lowered his gaze.
“Miss Qian, I heard nothing at all.”

So he’d been silenced.

See? She knew something would happen if the two of them stayed in the same room overnight. The Heir Apparent’s reputation wasn’t going to survive this.

Qian Tong opened the box. Inside lay a淡water-blue silk ribbon.

She quickly tied her hair up. She had no mind to eat—she hurried straight to the dungeon.

She had lived in the prefecture’s main residence before, had stayed in its dungeon before. She now knew the layout well. When she arrived, Officer Wang Zhao was stationed at the entrance with soldiers.

From far away, he saw her approaching and immediately lowered his head, pretending not to notice her.

He didn’t see Qian Tong—
but Qian Tong definitely saw him.

As for why she appeared here at this hour, she felt no embarrassment at all. When she reached him, she greeted him cheerfully,
“Good day, Officer Wang.”

Wang Zhao tried several times but couldn’t lift his head.
“Miss Qian.”

Qian Tong had no idea what inner turmoil he was suffering. After the greeting, seeing that he didn’t stop her, she strode straight into the dungeon.

Her second time entering—she needed no guide. She went straight in.
Near the end, she spotted the guards. She also faintly heard someone cursing inside.

“What nonsense! Your Park family never smuggled gunpowder?! Before the court arrived, the second Park son went to sea every few days to blow something up—was he shooting fireworks? Who are you lying to? You think the Heir Apparent is easy to fool?”

That was Lu Daozhong.

Qian Tong nearly laughed aloud.
So all four great houses’ members had been arranged in the same section of the dungeon?

First the Cui family, then the Lu family, then the Qian family, and now the Park family’s Third Madam. The four major households had all taken a turn in here.

She quickly found the Heir Apparent.

He was seated with his back to her in an official’s chair.
Sensing movement behind him, he angled his head slightly—only enough for a sidelong glance, not a full turn.

Then he looked forward again, toward the Park family’s Third Madam locked inside the cell.

Compared to the treatment given to the other three great families, the Third Madam had it far worse. She was hoisted upright, hands and feet bound, several whip marks striping her body. Her robes were torn, stained with blood. When Lu Daozhong cut in, she—weak as her breath was—still had a fierce aura.
“Shut up! Who do you think you are?”

Wherever she stood, Lu Daozhong had never once had the right to interrupt.

Struggling to lift her head, the Third Madam spoke toward the Heir Apparent seated outside the cell.
“Since I’ve already fallen into your hands, my fate is yours to decide. Whatever methods you want to use, go ahead—this old woman can handle—”

“Heir Apparent.”
Qian Tong had already reached him.

This time, Song Yunzhi turned fully around.

It was still his face—still handsome, still austere and immaculate. But something about him today was off. Qian Tong immediately saw it.

He was hurt.
A patch on his lower lip was split and crusted with dried blood.

Qian Tong froze in place, as if pinned there by something unseen. She stared at his mouth without moving.

She didn’t need to ask anymore.
It wasn’t a dream.
She really had offended the Heir Apparent last night.

Bitten like that…

How wild had she been?

Compared to her shock, Song Yunzhi’s expression was far calmer.
He looked at her once, silently moved his gaze away, and that wordless reaction alone made everything that happened last night feel even more inscrutable.

Qian Tong felt she probably couldn’t explain herself clearly—how exactly had she ended up in his bed, and why couldn’t she remember a single thing…?

Before she could think further, Third Madam Pei fixed a fierce stare on her. With how agitated she was, the shackles on her wrists clanged nonstop as she demanded, “Qian Seventh Miss? What are you doing here?!”

Wasn’t this woman supposed to be trying to kill the heir of the Song family and then run off with her precious nephew? How could she appear here so brazenly?

The night she was caught by that hidden young master of the Shen family in the dungeon, she’d realized she had walked straight into the trap Qian Tong set for her. She had hated Qian Tong for wanting her dead.

What she hadn’t expected was that after she confessed everything to the young heir last night, Qian Tong would still be standing safely by his side.

Third Madam’s gaze flicked between the two of them. Slowly, something dawned on her. Her expression froze—then twisted into a sharp, humorless laugh. “Qian Tong, I really underestimated you. Does my elder nephew know what you’ve turned yourself into?”

What had she “turned into”?

Her clothes were neat, her hair was properly combed—what was wrong?

Qian Tong hadn’t expected to ever see Pei Third Madam again. After all, the reason the woman ended up in prison was because Qian Tong herself had personally tricked and frightened her into stepping into a jail cell.

Now that the truth had been exposed, meeting face-to-face again was inevitably awkward.

As expected, Third Madam began her revenge. “Weren’t you supposedly so devoted to my elder nephew? What now—after seeing the young heir, you want to climb up to higher power?” Her tone dripped with mockery. “I thought you had a backbone. Back then, just to elope with him, you gave up your position as head of your family, knelt in the ancestral hall and took twenty lashes from the old matriarch, yet refused to repent. You still dragged your battered body to my Pei family’s gates, insisting that if you couldn’t see Mingyi, you’d rather die than leave…”

She was only halfway through when Qian Tong felt two icy stares fall on her like shards of frost.

She wasn’t worthy of the heir. If she had another man in her heart yet tried to seduce the heir… that was a completely different matter.

And last night she had, indeed, climbed into his bed.

The Third Madam’s words almost painted her as a fickle, scheming woman who latched onto whoever held power. Qian Tong couldn’t understand—this woman was about to die, so why was her mouth still so sharp?

Qian Tong said, “Those are old stories. Even I barely remember. Impressive that Third Madam still does.”

“Old stories?” Third Madam barked. “If those are ‘old stories,’ then what about the time you went to Haizhou and stayed locked in a room with my elder nephew for a day and two nights? When you came out holding hands—right in front of me and the First Madam—you said the two of you had rekindled your love. You even claimed that once you killed the young heir, you’d marry into our Pei family. Is that also an ‘old story’?”

How was she still alive and talking?
Qian Tong’s patience snapped. She surged forward. “That rotten mouth—see if I don’t tear it off—”

“Come back!”

She had barely reached the doorway when a cold voice from behind stopped her in place.

Her steps froze.

Third Madam burst into triumphant laughter. “Young Heir Song, now you can clearly see what kind of woman she is…”

Her gloating was in full swing when Lu Daozhong chimed in again. “Seventh Miss!”

He didn’t know what had happened between her and the heir, but as someone who had been a grandfather, he understood provocation when he heard it. He was even more anxious than Qian Tong. “Seventh Miss, hurry and explain!”

Qian Tong: “……”

If she explained, how could she later make use of her past with the Pei family’s eldest son to preserve relations?

But if she didn’t clarify today, she didn’t think she’d be allowed to leave—she might end up sharing the cell with Third Madam. She could only deal with the matter in front of her first. “Third Madam, stop spewing nonsense. The eldest young master and I are innocent.”

Third Madam’s laugh grew louder. “Weren’t you the one begging to be engaged to our Pei family? Innocent? How?”

Qian Tong’s tone chilled. “It was your people who locked the door. If I didn’t agree to kill the heir, you planned to keep us locked in that room until my reputation was ruined, forcing my family to intervene. As the Qian family’s future son-in-law, the young heir would have personally come. And once he saw me ‘entangled’ with the eldest young master, I’d be branded unfaithful for life, severed from my family.”

“So I begged the eldest young master to pretend to agree to an engagement with me.”

Since the words had been said, there was nothing left to hide. “How the young heir leaves my family—and under what circumstances—that is not for your Pei family to orchestrate.”

Qian Tong let out a quiet, cold laugh. “Third Madam, you wove your own cocoon. And even now, you still don’t understand?”

Third Madam stared, stunned.

Qian Tong added, “I stopped liking Pei Chengyu two years ago.” She continued, “Your Pei family humiliated me one by one—why would I still think of him?”

She laughed lightly, disdain thick in her voice. “I’m not that pathetic.”

Standing at the doorway, the cold indifference on her face was plain as day. At this moment, a true fear finally rose in the Third Madam’s heart.
If Qian Tong no longer cared for the eldest son…

Then she had pretended to stand with the Pei family—while truly standing with the heir.

Third Madam’s chest tightened.

So they truly intended to move against the Pei family? She lifted her gaze toward Song Yunzhi, seated on the official’s chair ahead. His expression was serene as frost beneath the moon—calm, untouched.

Had he been targeting the Pei family from the very start?

She demanded to see the First Madam. She demanded to see the eldest son.

“Let me out! Someone—anyone!” Third Madam thrashed wildly, chains clattering. “Is anyone from the Pei family here? Send word—send word to—”

Before she finished, a guard shoved a cloth into her mouth, then whipped her mercilessly—strike after strike, tearing flesh.

Qian Tong glimpsed it only once before turning away.

Life and death often hinged on a single sentence. If she hadn’t told the truth just now… would she be the one being beaten?

Yes. Without a doubt.

She rubbed her arm instinctively. Song Yunzhi happened to stand and look toward her. She should have been scared, but when she saw the distinct injury on his lip, all she felt was guilt.

He walked up to her and asked gently, “You came to see me about something?”

He didn’t mention a single thing that happened earlier, as if that entire confrontation had never taken place.

But Qian Tong knew—he had refrained only because she’d explained herself.

She regretted coming down here at all. If she’d waited outside a little longer, none of this would have happened.

She nodded.

“We’ll talk outside.” The young heir walked ahead to lead her out.

As they left, they could still hear the crack of the whip behind them—and Lu Daozhong’s delighted shout: “My wife! My son! My dear grandson! Did you see? The one who harmed you is finally getting what she deserves—”

—

Earlier, Qian Tong had stormed in, determined to demand exactly what had happened last night. But now that she was outside again, her steps slowed.

Since he already knew her engagement to the eldest Pei son was fake, and considering what had happened last night—knowing the heir’s serious and responsible nature—he would undoubtedly bring up their former marriage arrangement again.

They walked far from the dungeon, yet she still didn’t speak. Song Yunzhi asked once more, “What did you want to see me for?”

He stopped walking. She stopped too.

She truly had no memory of anything that happened last night. She wanted to know, yet didn’t want to know. Hesitantly, she whispered, “Last… last night, I…”

Maybe… she should just forget the whole thing?

She could play the heartless woman.

Seeing her pause too long, the heir asked first, “What about last night?”

Qian Tong could see it clearly—he wasn’t angry. If she admitted it, the upright and straightforward heir would certainly take responsibility.

But she didn’t want to take responsibility.

Better to be heartless, then.

She lifted her head and smiled at him. “It’s nothing. I just had a dream last night. Your room is surprisingly comfortable to sleep in… Oh, I never mentioned it to you, did I? I’ve had sleep-walking episodes since I was a child.”