Turning Antagonist to Protagonist: He is Both Soft and Fierce-Chapter 360 - 355: The Villain Grows Suspicious

The coachman in front praised, "Ever since General Song took office, the city has become much safer. There used to be thefts now and then, but I haven’t seen any lately."

Lin Qiao twitched the corners of her mouth — beheading at every turn, who wouldn’t be afraid? Just watching in a dream gave her enough cold sweats.

After finishing the pancake, they waited for about another quarter of an hour before the road finally cleared. When passing by the market entrance, Lin Qiao didn’t look, fearing that the more she looked, the more intimidated she would feel, and then she wouldn’t dare to run.

She bought a bit of everything for the New Year, ending up with more than half the cart full, and then went to buy some clothes for the family. This time, she didn’t go to the Ruyi Shop but another store.

For each family member, she bought two thick jackets. At checkout, the shopkeeper looked at her, again and again, finally uncertainly asked, "Are you General Song’s wife?"

Lin Qiao wanted to say no but still nodded, "Yes."

The shopkeeper became much more enthusiastic, smiling broadly, "I thought you looked familiar. Just two quarters ago, I saw General Song too; he went into that place over there." He pointed at the inn opposite.

Lin Qiao glanced over and didn’t take it to heart. He often handled things outside anyway. She then smiled and nodded, "How much silver?"

"Ten taels and four hundred cents, let’s call it ten taels." The shopkeeper laughed.

Lin Qiao still gave ten taels and four hundred cents, "What’s due is due."

Then she asked the coachman to carry the clothes to the carriage. Just as she was about to get on, she saw someone coming out of the inn opposite. Although he quickly got into a carriage at the entrance, she still recognized him.

The Fifth Prince, Zheng Rui.

Thinking about what the shopkeeper had just said, the villain probably met with the Fifth Prince again.

Her mind swiftly conjured a phrase: damn villain.

Ahem, kid, don’t blame me for cursing your father; he truly is a scoundrel.

Deserves to be scolded.

She paused for a moment, then headed towards the inn across the street. After looking around but not seeing the villain, he must have left first.

She could only take the carriage back.

...

A rundown courtyard somewhere in the west of the city.

A tall man looked at the trembling man kneeling on the ground, pursed his lips, and asked, "Why did she give you twenty taels of silver?"

It was Song Tingfan speaking.

The kneeling man stammered, "I, I... don’t know, General. I haven’t used the silver, here it is." He took a money bag out to give it to him.

He thought the twenty taels of silver had made him angry.

Song Tingfan’s face was sullen, not even glancing at the money bag, he said lowly, "Did you meet before that time?"

"No, never met." Gu Qingyou hurriedly shook his head, he didn’t know why General Song had caught them.

Never met...

Why give him twenty taels of silver then, let him go far away?

Song Tingfan quelled his unease, "What did she say to you, without missing a single word?"

He paused, his eyes narrowing slightly, "If there’s a single word missing, I’ll kill you."

Gu Qingyou was just a common man, terrified upon hearing this, turned pale, and dared not lie, reciting word for word, "Mrs. Song said I should take it to find a livelihood elsewhere, said I’m good at embroidery, and embroidering square cloths can save up quite a bit of silver."

"Also told me to be smarter and not to trust people easily."

Livelihood...

Song Tingfan’s gaze darkened, impossible to tell what he was thinking, remaining silent for a long time, but the faint tension on either side revealed his current mood.

"Don’t appear in Lunan City again."

He dropped this line and turned away.

Gu Qingyou collapsed on the ground, panting heavily, when another person entered, "Quick, stand up, I’ll take you out of the city."

...

Song Mansion

Lin Qiao bought a few pounds of meat to make dumplings. At first, Granny Jiang, the manager, wouldn’t let them, but after much talking, agreed to let them wrap together.

It wasn’t that her words were ineffective, but all the servants feared Song Tingfan. Two days ago, an old lady on night duty got lazy, causing Song Qin to fall upon getting up. She was then punished with strokes and sold off directly.

Song Qin’s pleas had no effect.

Upon hearing the sound of hooves, Granny Jiang immediately looked towards the door, "The master is probably back." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Just as she finished speaking, a man in a moon-white, high-collared, belted robe led a horse inside.

The accompanying young servant quickly went forward to lead the horse to the stable.

"Master."

As he walked in, Granny Jiang respectfully greeted.

Song Tingfan responded with a "hmm," his gaze sweeping over the dumplings on the table, finally resting on Lin Qiao, then moved away after a while, and turned to leave.

That look of his just now was a bit baffling. Lin Qiao bit her lip; could it be that he knows she’s aware of his and the Fifth Prince’s affair?

This matter really couldn’t be hidden; Wei Yun would definitely tell.

The villain would surely doubt her, after all, how would an ordinary woman know these things.

After a while, Song Tingfan came back, rolled up his sleeves, and sat down beside Lin Qiao to wrap dumplings.

Perhaps because both had matters on their minds, neither spoke for a moment.

Song Rong glanced at them, then at Song Qin, it had never been like this before.

In the village, every time they returned home, Niu Niu would call for Qiao’er first.

Song Qin couldn’t help worrying, asking several times, but they always said they didn’t quarrel, although the two clearly seemed to have done so.

Two quarters later, the dumplings were wrapped up.

In the kitchen

Lin Qiao washed her hands and began making the soup base. Granny Jiang stood by wanting to help but couldn’t, feeling a bit awkward.

Song Tingfan, who was tending the fire, said in a low voice, "You go out."

Granny Jiang quickly nodded and then left, closing the kitchen door slightly as she went; it was cold outside, and the kitchen was in the draft.

While stir-frying the seasoning, Lin Qiao silently observed Song Tingfan’s expression; he seemed a bit off today, his gaze on her always carried scrutiny.

Suspecting her?

Just as she was thinking, his deep voice suddenly broke the silence, "Lin Qiao."

Somewhat somber.

Lin Qiao instinctively froze but quickly regained composure, making it impossible to detect any strangeness. She glared at him unhappily, "What are you doing, why call my name."

At this moment, she dared the villain was indeed suspicious.

But she hadn’t slipped up recently; just based on what she said to Wei Yun, it shouldn’t lead to such probing.

The woman’s expression was too normal, without a hint of panic, Song Tingfan squinted slightly, and as usual, said, "Just felt like calling."

Lin Qiao resisted the urge to roll her eyes, calling? If she answered wrong, it wouldn’t just be a call.

It would be dead dead.

She bared her teeth at him, "Song Tingfan, Song Tingfan, Song Tingfan..."

"If you like it this way, we’ll call each other like this from now on. Don’t say I’m your wife outside, I won’t say you’re my husband either." After saying that, she pretended to be angry and ignored him.

If it were someone else, that "Lin Qiao" of his would have surely exposed them.

One must know that in dreams, the original self was most terrified of the villain calling her name.

Being able to act comes in handy.

"Qiao’er." Song Tingfan restrained his thoughts, softly calling once.

"I won’t answer you." Lin Qiao added water to the pot, "Put the dumplings in yourself to cook." Then she angrily left the kitchen.