The Cannon Fodder and Villain’s Happy Ending

The brocade curtain embroidered with cranes and chrysanthemums were raised and Qin Zhun entered in a large stride. Mrs. Su took two steps forward and was about to complain as soon as she opened her mouth. “Marquis…”

“Slap!”

Qin Zhun raised his hand and slapped Mrs. Su’s face hard, causing her face to turn to the side.

A clear hand mark could be seen on the left side of her face, and her cheek was swelling up rapidly. A few strands of hair had fallen down to her cheek.

The slap from earlier was so crisp and loud that it stunned Granny Zhao and the maids behind the curtain.

Qin Zhun’s face was blue with anger and he rebuked her angrily, “Repulsive!”

Qin Zhun felt like his dignity had all been lost.

He was drinking with some noblemen in a restaurant earlier when someone in the next seat over began chattering about the Yunguang case, saying that other things were involved in the Yunguang case as well, that some ladies of a marquis’ household were fooled by her, sending her houses and silver. Among them was the wife of the Zhongyi Marquis who misappropriated her sister-in-law’s dowry in order to please the heretical practitioner Yunguang. At that time, Qin Zhun was so ashamed that he rushed home before he could dig a hole in the ground and hide in it out of shame.

Mrs. Su was confused and she could hear her ear buzzing from that slap.

They had been married for sixteen years, and even during the years she was exiled, Qin Zhun had treated her with kindness and respect. She had never been beaten like this in her life!

Qin Zhun was even angrier and said through clenched teeth, “Ning’er is the eldest grandchild of the main branch and yet it was I who inherited the title!” That matter itself was already an object of criticism by many.

“Now you come out with this misappropriation fuss. Do you think I still have any face left in the outside?! Now people are laughing at me! Do you think I can still happily sit on this title?!”

“Originally, I had almost managed to land a vacancy, and now it’s difficult to say if I can still look forward to that!”

“And it’s all because of the trouble you caused!”

“How short of money are you that you would embezzle money from the main branch?!” Qin Zhun pointed his finger at Mrs. Su’s nose and scolded her, blue veins popping from his neck. Mrs. Su had the audacity to embezzle his sister-in-law’s dowry. This was so underhanded that even he had become a laughingstock as well.

Mrs. Su touched the swollen left side of her cheek and felt the burning hotness. She was in pain, she was humiliated, and she felt both angry and wronged.

Qin Zhun really does not understand the family’s spendings. His daughter’s dowry, his son’s bridal gifts, as well as the exchange of favors. All of that needs silver.

Right now, the marquis only had so many stores and fields under its name, things were getting tight this year too. If not for them having a bad year and having not enough silvers to spend, would she have taken the risk to do illegal moneylending?

She did it all for the sake of the family!

But Mrs. Su didn’t dare say anything about the loans right now and said while holding her cheek, aggrieved, “Marquis, I was talked into it by Qin Xin.”

“Xin’er is really too bold. She was the one who wanted to bribe Yunguang but she had no silver of her own, that was why she secretly embezzled Sister-in-Law’s dowry.”

“Xin’er?” Qin Zhun frowned in confusion.

Mrs. Su spilled all the beans about Qin Xin bribing Yunguang to boast about her good fortune in front of Empress Dowager Liu, talking all the way to the part where she was demoted by Empress Dowager Liu into a concubine today.

Qin Zhun was shocked. He didn’t expect so many things to happen at home after going out for only half a day.

“The empress dowager really reduced Xin’er to a concubine?” Qin Zhun couldn’t help but ask.

Mrs. Su nodded. The more she thought about it, the more upset she felt. “Lord Marquis, Qin Xin actually dared to enlist the help of a heretical practitioner. She was getting what she paid for!”

Even though Qin Xin was the one who did such a stupid thing, the one who had to suffer for it was her and their second branch family!

Whether these were self-incurred troubles or not, Qin Zhun was already confused.

The reason he wanted to cozy up with the second prince is so their marquis family could have a princess consort in the family tree. But now that Qin Xin had been reduced from a consort to a concubine, the situation was very different.

To put it bluntly, the relative of a concubine is no proper relative!

Qin Zhun frowned deeply and paced back and forth distractedly. He even forgot to question Mrs. Su about the misappropriation of the dowry for a while.