Chapter 133 Slag Father Names Another Concubine, Stepmother Changes Strategy [1]
At that time, before Taizi finished speaking, Liu Ruixue felt her heart shatter. She didn’t know how she returned home afterwards.
She didn’t want Zi You to marry him. But she thought that she was going to marry Taizi soon. If he wanted to marry someone else, what could she do? Thus, she couldn’t help but ask Zi You.
She admitted that she was selfish, but one had to put oneself first. She couldn’t watch Duke Anguo fu suffer too.
Thinking of this, Liu Ruixue forcefully suppressed the bitterness in her heart. She laughed freely and easily. “No. I just don’t want you to be deceived by Zhao HongXiang. Besides, what’s wrong with us sisters marrying the same man?”
Although she said that, the smile in her eyes was faint. She also looked at Zi You a bit nervously.
Zi You really hated Taizi. In her previous life, she treated Yu Lanxuan as her best friend and listened to her and w.a.n.g Yiping and gradually alienated herself from everyone.
In this life, she thought that she could meet a few sincere friends, but it seemed that this was hopeless. Liu Ruixue had not married Taizi yet, but here she was trying to test her in every way.
It looked like she was doomed to be a loner. Zi You smiled deprecatingly. The thought of telling Liu Ruixue about Taizi and Shangguan Lingluo’s scandal was completely dispelled now.
She slowly, but very firmly said, “I will not share a husband with any woman. Even if it’s my sister, I will never agree! Xue jiejie, I wish you happiness. Please tell Taizi that he is a monarch and my grandfather is a subject. My grandfather will abide by a subject’s duties.”
Liu Ruixue saw Zi You’s strong refusal and was secretly relieved. She revealed an embarra.s.sed smile.
She wanted to say something, but saw that Zi You reverted back to her cold appearance and couldn’t help but finally say the truth. “Don’t blame me, You’er. In fact, I knew that if I said such words, I may lose you as a meimei. But I still said it for my own selfish reasons. I don’t have a choice. In half a year, he will be my husband. Do you know how unwilling I am to marry him?
“But I have to marry him. If I don’t marry him, I only have two paths. I either become a nun or commit suicide. No matter which I choose, it will be a blow to my parents and Duke Anguo fu. You’er, he is not a good man. He really isn’t. I hope that you can understand the difficulties behind what I said.”
Liu Ruixue had not finished speaking, but her eyes turned red again.
Zi You couldn’t bear to blame her anymore. In fact, she couldn’t say how Liu Ruixue was wrong.
As she said, Taizi was about to be her husband. Zi You couldn’t ask her to abandon her husband and family for the sake of their friendship.
Zi You’s earlier anger was because Liu Ruixue did not tell her the truth. Now that she opened up and told her about her difficulties, it proved that she wasn’t a true villain.
Not only was she not a villain, but even if she was, Zi You felt that a villain was still better than a hypocrite.
But from then on, Zi You completely gave up on the idea of telling Liu Ruixue about Taizi and Shangguan Lingluo’s matter. In this lifetime, she had already decided that she would rather wrong the whole world, than have the world wrong her. Even a friend could not.
Back at home, Old General Mu was not a.s.sured. When she returned, he quickly pulled her into the study and asked worriedly, “Why did De Fei summon you into the Palace?”
Zi You didn’t want her grandfather to worry, so she quickly replied, “Don’t worry, grandfather. She wanted me to treat Second w.a.n.gzi’s paralysis. I refused.”
Old General Mu let out a sigh of relief. He said, “You did the right thing. You must not agree. Let’s not mention that men and women should maintain distance. But just because he is a w.a.n.gzi, you cannot treat his injury.”
There were some things that Old General Mu did not say to Zi You. Second w.a.n.gzi was inexplicably hurt and it was unclear how it happened. The Emperor had many sons, but there was only one throne. In the battle over it, it would be a lie to say that there were no casualties.
Old General Mu was patriotic and upright, but that didn’t mean that he was a fool. He didn’t want his granddaughter to think about the imperial family anymore.
Old General Mu thought of this and said to Zi You, “Stay away from the imperial family. None of them are simple. There’s also Duke Anguo fu. Although that’s your aunt’s cousin’s family, your G.o.dsister is going to marry Taizi as cefei. Don’t get too close to her. It’s better to maintain some distance.”
Zi You was afraid that her grandfather would worry, so before she went to Duke Anguo fu, she sent Shuiyun back to tell her grandfather about her whereabouts. That’s why Old General Mu mentioned this.
Zi You immediately nodded obediently. “I know, grandfather. I will try to go to Duke Anguo fu less.”
It wasn’t that Zi You wanted to hide what she was doing from Old General Mu. Old General Mu had the ability to lead the army to fight on the battlefield. He could scheme and plot on the battlefield, but how could he know how to do that in courtyards and the Palace? How could he be the opponent of imperial descendants who grew up fighting and scheming in the Palace?
When Zi You thought about how her grandfather and uncle both died for the country in her previous life, she was filled with disgust and resentment even against the current Emperor.
She made up her mind. She was going to cause chaos in the imperial family. Only if they fought bitterly would they not have time to pay attention to her grandfather. That’s how their General’s Manor could stay standing.
The smile on Zi You’s face became more docile. She nestled her small body in her grandfather’s arms. She smiled sweetly and cutely, “Grandfather, You’er is also a soldier now. Don’t treat You’er like a child, okay?”
After joking for a bit, Zi You went to w.a.n.g Yiping’s courtyard, Yiping Ju.
This woman seemed a lot more honest on the surface now. But it didn’t need to be mentioned how much hatred existed in her heart. Zi You was quite clear on this point and w.a.n.g Yiping and Duke Yongnan furen’s plot.
Zi You estimated that the plot would soon be carried out. This was just the calm before the storm. The Spring Festival was almost here. Her slag father was about to return. Shui YouLian’s last letter said, “Bieqie is more than two months pregnant and cannot serve Laoye. Laoye has named a Sixth Yiniang in Quanzhou. Bieqie is afraid that he will bring her back.”
Zi You wondered kind of expression w.a.n.g Yiping would have when she saw the pregnant Fifth Yiniang and the sweet and delicate Sixth Yiniang. Should she tell her ahead of time and make her stressed? It could also speed up her plot.
Otherwise, she and her grandfather would go up into the mountains to train soldiers. It would take at least half a year.
“Bieqie pays respects to Xiaojie. Is Xiaojie going to Furen’s courtyard to visit Furen?” As Zi You was thinking, she encountered Second Yiniang and Third Yiniang.
The two curtsied to her. It was Second Yiniang, the only person who had a Shu son from the first household, who asked the question.
It was unclear if Mu YingRui was overs.e.xed that led to his ineffective sperm. He had a lot of women, but not many children. Now that Zi You was studying medicine, she finally understood that when men did that too much, sperm count would decline and women were less likely to conceive.
He was really reaping what he sowed. Zi You looked at the Shu son next to Second Yiniang. He had his head lowered and not as clever as uncle’s sons. She secretly sneered in ridicule, but had a faint smile on her face. “Second Yiniang and Third Yiniang just left mother’s place with brother?”
Although Second Yiniang and Third Yiniang were Mu YingRui’s concubines and of an older generation than Zi You, they still had the statuses of servants. Zi You was a master. Old General Mu would never let his precious granddaughter curtsy to lowly concubines.
Thus, the two saw Zi You and obediently curtsied to her, albeit full of reluctance.
Everyone in the house was afraid of Old General Mu being unhappy. Therefore, they were even a bit timid when they see Zi You.
All the servants felt their backs turn cold when they see her, especially after Zi You recovered from her illness. They always felt that her eyes were like a bottomless deep pool. If they weren’t careful, they could be sucked in.
Second Yiniang was the most scheming among all the yiniangs. When she saw Furen being defeated again and again, she also felt Zi You’s abnormality. She always felt that Zi You with a cold and light smile who didn’t show any anger or joy was more terrifying than the Xiaojie who used to wear all her emotions on her face.
Second Yiniang did not dare to snub her and hurriedly replied, “Bieqie heard that Laoye sent a letter back. We wanted to ask when Laoye will return.”
Zi You lazily asked, “Oh? So mother told you?”
Second Yiniang was so angry that the handkerchief in her hand was twisted. She angrily and coldly smiled. “How could she tell us? We’re really unlucky. We didn’t say anything, but was lectured by Furen.”
Zi You deliberately comforted loudly, “Don’t be angry at mother, Second Yiniang. Mother must be feeling bad! She married father earlier than Fifth Yiniang. But now Fifth Yiniang is pregnant. And father also named a Sixth Yiniang. Please understand mother’s feelings! Go with Fourth Yiniang tomorrow to comfort mother.”
Zi You’s words were tantamount to an exploding bomb. The two women were stunned silly. Even after Zi You left, they did not react.
Second Yiniang had a Shu son, so she was in a better situation. But Third Yiniang had no children, so how could she be comfortable? She said angrily and fiercely to Second Yiniang, “Whomever Laoye wants to favor is Laoye’s decision. It’s not something we can control. Why is she taking it out on us? If she has the ability, she should have went with Laoye to take up the post and get pregnant too. Why take it out on us unfortunate people?”
“Exactly.” Second Yiniang pulled her son over and echoed in disdain, “She can’t conceive, but glares in despise at my son. She’s more vicious that the first furen. No wonder Lao TaiYe doesn’t like her. Let’s go tell the news Xiaojie told us to Forth Yiniang. We’ll vent our anger tomorrow morning.”