Chapter 56

It turned out that it was that little brat, Xiaotao, who had tattled. Next time, I must get Lady to give her a good lesson.

Facing Bai Qianruo’s questioning, Li Qi sneered coldly and said, "I was just stating a fact. Is this also considered malicious slander? How amusing. I ask you, Lady Bai, did I say anything wrong with those eight words?"

Bai Qianruo retorted, "Sister Wang mourns her deceased husband at home, which is a matter of moral propriety and the three obediences and four virtues. What is wrong with that? But how could someone as despicable as you understand what moral propriety and the three obediences and four virtues are?"

Li Qi sneered, "What moral propriety and three obediences and four virtues? I don’t understand them, and I don’t want to understand them, because they are all nonsense."

"Bold! How dare you insult the teachings of the sages? Are you trying to become the enemy of all Confucian scholars?" Bai Qianruo shouted.

"I’m very timid."

Li Qi glanced at her disdainfully and said, "Confucian scholars? What nonsense. Am I their enemy? They don’t deserve it."

"You—!"

Li Qi’s foul mouth made Bai Qianruo’s chest heave with anger, and she couldn’t even speak.

Li Qi was also furious and had no intention of showing any gentleness. He continued, "Since the founding of our dynasty, the Liao Kingdom has repeatedly invaded our borders, plundering and committing all sorts of atrocities. Where were those Confucian scholars then? And look at these elderly people and children, who can’t even get a full meal. Where are those Confucian scholars now? Hmph, all they do is hold a book and spout things like ‘Confucius said’ and ‘Laozi said.’ I say, ‘To hell with them.’ They don’t even know the simple principle of helping others. I think they’ve read their books into the bellies of dogs. They do nothing useful and only bully kind and innocent women like Lady. It’s shameful for you to bring them up, and I feel ashamed for you."

After this scathing rebuke, Bai Qianruo was stunned. Every word Li Qi said echoed in her ears. Although they were full of foul language, they were all reasonable.

But Bai Qianruo had never been so wronged. Her eyes filled with tears, but she bit her lip and didn’t let them fall. She retorted, "You’re lying. How have they ever bullied Sister Wang?"

But this rebuttal seemed weak and ineffective.

Li Qi, hearing this, was secretly delighted and laughed, asking, "Lady Bai, do you know what the most despicable and shameless thing in the world is?"

Bai Qianruo huffed, "The most despicable and shameless thing in the world is known only by the most despicable and shameless person."

...

Li Qi was momentarily stunned. Damn! This girl is indirectly insulting me! He retorted, "That’s why I asked you!"

"You—!"

Bai Qianruo, known as the second most talented woman in Tokyo, was naturally well-versed and quick-witted. In the past, when she debated with Confucian scholars, she had never met her match. But now, she was repeatedly toyed with by Li Qi, and what was worse, she couldn’t find a reason to counter him.

Seeing her face turn red with anger, Li Qi smiled and waved his hand, saying, "Enough, enough. Since you can’t say it, I’ll say it for you. The most despicable and shameless thing in the world is to deprive others of their thoughts."

"Deprive others of their thoughts?" Bai Qianruo repeated softly.

Li Qi asked, "Exactly! By the way, do you understand what thoughts are?"

Bai Qianruo showed a勉强能懂的表情，稍微点了点头。

Li Qi sighed deeply and said, "From the moment a person is born, they have the right to pursue freedom, happiness, and love. These rights are given by heaven, and no one should try to deprive them. The so-called Confucian scholars you mentioned use their nonsensical teachings to try to defy heaven and take away the rights given by heaven to everyone. Isn’t this more despicable than those who plunder and commit atrocities?"

Saying this, Li Qi sighed again, "Actually, women suffer the most from this. Think about it, Lady Qin is a perfectly good woman, but her thoughts have been taken away. She can only live like a walking corpse in that small room. If you were in her place, would you be happy? Could you be happy?"

These words were extremely bold. If they were heard by those pedantic Confucian scholars, they would surely try to fight Li Qi to the death.

Fortunately, Bai Qianruo was not a pedantic person. In fact, she was also very resistant to those rituals and customs. She only brought up these unwritten rules to counter Li Qi, but she was unexpectedly belittled by him.

Bai Qianruo’s expression softened slightly, and she said, "You’re right. Since Sister Wang’s husband passed away, she has smiled much less. But—But this can’t be an excuse for you to insult Sister Wang."

Li Qi laughed and said, "First, I need to clarify that I am not insulting Lady Qin. I just want to awaken her and help her step out of that door. My tone might have been a bit harsh, but she is deeply poisoned. If not for this, she wouldn’t listen to me. As for you—Hmph!"

Bai Qianruo asked anxiously, "What about me?"

Li Qi glanced at Bai Qianruo and said, "You always say you are Lady Qin’s good sister, but why do you see her trapped in the mud and not try to save her? Instead, you indulge her and now even try to harm a good person who wants to save her. Sigh, it’s fine. As long as Lady Qin is happy, I, Li Qi, can endure some委屈. What’s the big deal?"

You endure委屈?

Bai Qianruo gave Li Qi a glare, but she now understood that Li Qi was actually doing this for Lady Qin’s good. She blamed herself for not understanding the situation and coming to confront him, which led to her current passive position. But seeing Li Qi’s委屈look, she chuckled, "Are you asking me to thank you?"

Li Qi shrugged and said, "I think I fully deserve the thanks of anyone who cares about Lady Qin. Even her parents would be grateful. I guarantee that once Lady Qin takes charge of Zui Xianju, she will be ten times, no, a hundred times happier. Isn’t that what you want to see?"

This guy is indeed a smooth talker. I came here to confront him, but now I have to thank him. This is really unfair.

Bai Qianruo felt more and more indignant. Suddenly, an idea came to her, and she smiled, "You’re right. I should thank you, but you have to apologize to me first."

"Apologize to you? Lady Bai, are you out of your mind?" Li Qi asked in surprise.

"You’re the one who’s out of your mind."

Bai Qianruo huffed and said, "You slandered me in front of others. Don’t you need to apologize to me?"

Li Qi retorted, "Slander you? Why don’t you say I molested you!"

He couldn’t remember ever doing anything to wrong Bai Qianruo.

"You’re still trying to justify yourself! I ask you, do you know Song Yuchen?" Bai Qianruo asked.

"Yes, I know him. A couple of days ago—"

Li Qi stopped mid-sentence, his face tightening. He felt uneasy. No way, that Song fellow couldn’t have told this girl everything I said to him, could he?

Then he dismissed this thought. He thought Song Yuchen was at least a talented person and wouldn’t be that stupid. He must have let something slip unintentionally. He then changed his words, "We’re not very close."

"Then are you very close to me?" Bai Qianruo asked.

Li Qi laughed and said, "We’re not very close now, but who knows about the future."

Bai Qianruo huffed and said, "That’s strange!"

"What’s strange?" Li Qi asked curiously.

Bai Qianruo’s lips curled up, "You told someone who isn’t very close to you that another person, who also isn’t very close to you, once praised him for being well-read and having extraordinary insight. Isn’t that strange?"

"Uh...!"

Li Qi was speechless. At that moment, he wanted to take a knife and cut open Song Yuchen’s head to see what kind of garbage was inside.

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There will be another chapter after 10 PM.

{Piaotian Literature}