Chapter 658 - 229: Meimei, 108 Stabs

At first, Bernhard hadn’t been on guard against Qin Mei. Now, he was wary. Qin Mei moved too fast, aiming straight for his heart. He dodged the fatal blow, but his arm was slashed. The pain snapped him to his senses. He clutched his wounded arm, his deep eyes filled with disbelief and rage. "You..."

Qin Mei’s second strike was incredibly fast, once again aimed at his heart.

No matter how much Bernhard might have cherished beautiful women, he couldn’t afford to be a gentleman in the face of Qin Mei’s assault. Seeing that Bernhard was about to retaliate, Grandfather called out, "Someone!"

The housekeepers cleaning upstairs, the cooks from the kitchen, the gardeners trimming plants in the courtyard... and so on.

In the living room, a dozen or so servants gathered around, holding their respective tools as they watched.

Their Eldest Young Madam was stabbing the German Merchant, one strike after another. The scene was bloody and brutal. He screamed with every stab, his voice growing hoarse, but the Eldest Young Madam showed no sign of stopping.

Killing someone usually takes one fatal blow. If one isn’t enough, you add another. Four stabs at most would be enough to take a life. But the Eldest Young Madam was going at him one strike at a time. Was this killing? No, this was torture.

’What kind of deep-seated hatred could drive our Eldest Young Madam to torture the German Merchant like this?’

Grandfather was dumbfounded. The German Merchant was no weakling, but facing his eldest granddaughter-in-law’s assault, it was as if he were completely powerless.

’What is going on?’

Grandfather looked at Jie Jingchen, his eyes filled with confusion.

Jie Jingchen stood quietly to the side, his gaze fixed on Qin Mei as she stabbed the German Merchant again and again. Only after the 108th strike did Jie Jingchen step forward to stop her. "Meimei, that’s 108 stabs."

Qin Mei paused her stabbing, tilted her head to look at Jie Jingchen, and asked quizzically, "Does 108 have some special meaning?"

"I like reading *Water Margin*," Jie Jingchen said, the corners of his lips curving into a smirk.

Qin Mei froze for a second. "The 108 heroes?"

"Mhm," Jie Jingchen nodded, his gaze full of doting affection as he looked at her.

Qin Mei considered this for a moment. She decided against the 109th stab and instead kicked the German Merchant, who was barely clinging to life. Speaking to him in German, she said, "You’d better thank my husband. If he didn’t enjoy *Water Margin*, I would’ve turned you into a human pincushion today."

The German Merchant offered no response. His eyes closed, his head lolled to the side, and it was impossible to tell if he had fainted or died.

"This is trouble," Grandfather sighed. With the German Merchant dead in the Qiao Family’s home—and at the hands of his eldest granddaughter-in-law, no less—he would have to rely on his niece, the Governor’s Wife, to smooth things over.

"Take him to the hospital," Qin Mei said, shaking her sore hand. She gave the man a disgusted kick. ’Trying to sleep with me... he should have considered if he was even capable.’

The servants all looked to Grandfather. ’Stabbed 108 times... the man is surely dead. Rather than take him to a hospital, wouldn’t it be better to just bury him quietly?’

"No need to take him to the hospital. He’ll be cold by the time he gets there," Grandfather said, waving a dismissive hand.

"He won’t die. Take him to the hospital," Qin Mei said. Seeing that everyone was ignoring her, she frowned and urged, "This is a matter of life and death. If you don’t get him to a hospital for treatment, he really will bleed to death."

’She wasn’t worried about life and death when she was stabbing him, but now she is? Isn’t it a bit late for that?’

"Listen to her. Take him to the hospital," Jie Jingchen said.

"Jing Chen, the wisest course of action is to dispose of the body ourselves," Grandfather said.

"He’s not dead," Qin Mei said. ’Why won’t any of them believe me?’

’He’s still not dead after all that?’ Grandfather was skeptical. He looked at Qin Mei, his cloudy eyes full of doubt. "He’s really not dead?"

"I guarantee it," Qin Mei assured him.

Grandfather breathed a sigh of relief. "As long as he’s not dead, this is much easier to handle," he said with a smile. "Take him to the hospital."

’Even if he’s only got one breath left in him, as long as he isn’t dead, the matter can be managed.’

Two servants carried away the blood-soaked German Merchant while others began to clean up the bloodstains on the floor. Qin Mei returned the fruit knife to the chef. "Thanks for the knife."

The chef took it back, stunned. ’The Eldest Young Madam came to the kitchen asking for a fruit knife... I thought she was going to peel fruit, not a person.’

"Jie Jingsi, I’m hungry," Qin Mei said to Jie Jingchen in a coquettish tone. Even in front of Grandfather, she didn’t switch to calling him Jie Jingchen. It was too much trouble to change it, and she’d call him whatever she liked, whether they were happy about it or not.

Jie Jingchen glanced at the chef, who immediately understood the unspoken command.

"It’ll be ready right away." Before the words were even out of his mouth, the chef was already running toward the kitchen.

Jie Jingchen helped Qin Mei to a seat, then headed toward the kitchen himself.

Grandfather watched Qin Mei with a complicated expression. One moment she was a fierce warrior, swinging a knife and stabbing a man; the next, she looked as delicate and helpless as if she couldn’t take care of herself.

"Have some dessert to tide you over," Jie Jingchen said, emerging from the kitchen with a plate of sweets and a glass of milk.

Qin Mei had woken up hungry in the first place, and after all that exertion, she was starving. She took the dessert and began to eat.