Su Yaoyao’s nails dug deeply into her flesh, yet she felt no pain at all.
Anger, humiliation, disappointment, fear…
All kinds of emotions churned in her heart, and in the end they only turned into one sentence:
“Do you like her? You two are brother and sister!”
Su Yuan looked at his own sister as if she were an idiot.
“Do you really need to think that much just to like something beautiful?”
“Dear sister, how can you be so filthy-minded? I only like Su Lingqing’s face. If you were that beautiful, I could like you just the same.”
Appearance was Su Yaoyao’s greatest sore spot. She had always been jealous of Su Lingqing’s beauty and constantly wanted to destroy it with her own hands.
Now that her younger brother had said such things, the girl wished she could peel Su Lingqing’s skin off on the spot!
“Su Yuan! You’ve gone too far!”
The young boy looked impatient and turned to leave, unwilling to waste any more words with her.
“Don’t forget what you promised me just now.”
Seeing him leave directly, Su Yaoyao’s eyes widened.
“Aren’t you going to find a way to get me out? It’s dark and cold here! Father loves you the most go plead with him for me!”
Su Yuan stopped in his tracks.
“Oh right, Mother said the same thing to me before.”
Hearing this, hope appeared on Su Yaoyao’s face.
“But I don’t plan to do that. After all, I can only return home for three days every half month. If Father starts disliking me because of you, that would be a terrible loss.”
“Besides, you’re being punished because you were stupid. Why should I plead for you? Just kneel here and maybe you’ll grow a brain.”
Su Yaoyao’s eyes turned bloodshot. Su Yuan was becoming more and more outrageous!
Once she got out, she would definitely complain to their mother!
What Su Yaoyao didn’t know was that Fusheng Courtyard was already in complete chaos. Anyone could take advantage of the confusion.
Most likely, no one had the time to worry about her.
Su Huai looked at the woman in front of him whose face was filled with anger. He was so furious that even his fingertips trembled.
“Zheng Rui… Zheng Rui… I promoted you from secondary wife to principal wife because I trusted your ability to manage the household not so you could behave so recklessly!”
The man’s voice trembled slightly, revealing his great anger. Not long ago, he had been drinking tea with Zhou Jianyue when he heard certain news from her.
Zheng Rui had actually found some worthless nobody and tried to marry Su Lingqing off to him!
It wasn’t that he cared about Su Lingqing as a daughter. What angered him was that Zheng Rui couldn’t even handle such a simple matter and let the news spread throughout the entire residence!
Most importantly, Jianyue had been the one to tell him personally!
Su Lingqing had only just helped her familiarize herself with the estate, and immediately afterward she heard that the lady of the house treated her legitimate daughter so harshly.
It completely ruined his reputation!
Rumors had probably already spread outside as well. How could he hold his head high among his colleagues now?
“I’ve been away for three months and this is how you welcome me? Acting petty during the day and losing your composure was bad enough now you’ve disappointed me even more!”
Su Huai was so angry that his beard bristled and his eyes widened. If he had a little less restraint, he would have slapped her already.
Zheng Rui’s eyes reddened. It took her quite a while to swallow her anger before she could speak.
“So you still remember that I endured being a secondary wife just to marry you? Those years as a secondary wife meant I could never hold my head high among the noble ladies! Even Yaoyao and Yuan’er suffered humiliation because of it! And now, because of a few vague rumors, you humiliate me like this in front of the servants!”
She looked at the courtyard full of kneeling maids, her heart breaking.
“Or… is it simply because that Zhou Jianyue heard about it that you’re this furious?” Zheng Rui suddenly asked, her face turning pale.
She didn’t even need Su Huai’s answer anymore. That was the real reason for his anger!
Su Huai felt his pride exposed, his throat tightening.
“Nonsense! You… you’re unreasonable! The position of principal wife is yours, and the children are all legitimate and most favored! Who in this entire household dares not listen to you? What more do you want?!”
Tears streamed down Zheng Rui’s face.
“What do I want… don’t you know?”
Her choking sobs filled the air. Su Huai’s expression shifted, and in the end he didn’t say anything harsher.
But his anger remained. Being a man who valued his pride so much, he flicked his sleeve and left Fusheng Courtyard.
Qiuyun and Dongxue hurried to support Zheng Rui. Frowning, they dismissed the kneeling servants and quietly tried to comfort her.
“Madam… you know the master’s temperament. Why say such things and anger him?”
“Yes, Madam. Those shameless women will lose favor sooner or later. The master values you the most!”
Zheng Rui slowly calmed down, though her chest still ached with heaviness.
“I’ve been too restless lately. Just now I only needed to soften my tone, but instead…”
She thought carefully about the reason and in the end placed all the blame on Su Lingqing.
That’s right. If that little wretch hadn’t caused so much trouble yesterday, she wouldn’t have nearly lost control today!
She quietly asked, “How is Yaoyao doing?”
Qiuyun replied, “Miss is still kneeling. It’s so cold tonight…”
Before she could finish, a young maid hurried over and whispered something in Qiuyun’s ear.
The color instantly drained from Qiuyun’s face.
Zheng Rui noticed something was wrong. “What happened?”
Qiuyun said in disbelief, “Madam… those bandits… they’re all… all dead…”
Dongxue’s eyes widened. Zheng Rui’s face turned pale with shock.
“Dead?! How is that possible?!”
Her sharp scream pierced the night air and reached Su Yuan’s ears.
“Oh?” He gathered his luxurious cloak and leisurely walked into Fusheng Courtyard. “Mother, what’s wrong?”
Seeing her son, Zheng Rui steadied herself and walked forward.
“Yuan’er, how is your sister?”
But Su Yuan simply asked again, “Mother, what just happened?”
Thinking he was worried about her, Zheng Rui felt a trace of warmth in her heart.
“It’s nothing. Just some small matter disturbing Mother. In a few days it won’t happen again.”
After hearing this, Su Yuan raised his hand, signaling Qiuyun and the others to leave. Then he leaned close to Zheng Rui and whispered softly:
“Mother, the ‘small matter’ you mentioned… is it Sister Lingqing? But I really like her. It would be nice if we could all live in harmony.”
Zheng Rui’s pupils trembled, her lips tightening.
Then she grabbed Su Yuan’s shoulders tightly.
“Yuan’er… do you know what you’re saying?!”
Su Yuan pulled away from his mother and said indifferently,
“Of course. Since Mother relies on Yuan’er to secure her position in front of Father, it’s only natural for you to listen to your son more.”
“After all, if you rely on yourself or Sister, you’ll never get ahead in this lifetime. Especially now that Zhou Jianyue has appeared she’s younger and more beautiful than you. If Mother wants to win, you’ll still have to rely on me, right?”
Hearing her son expose everything so bluntly, Zheng Rui trembled with rage.
Why was her fate so miserable? Her daughter was foolish and incapable of achieving anything, while her son was selfish and self-serving!
“Fine. Since Yuan’er has said so, Mother will naturally listen to you,” Zheng Rui said through gritted teeth.
Su Lingqing… you shameless little wretch! Using that face to seduce Yuan’er! That’s your younger brother!
After Su Yuan returned to his room, Zheng Rui called Qiuyun and Dongxue back again.
“That little wretch managed to escape from the bandits’ den. Someone might be protecting her behind the scenes!”
Dongxue frowned. “Who could protect her? Everyone in the residence can’t wait to avoid her!”
Zheng Rui’s mind suddenly jolted, as if she had realized something important.
Could it be…?