“…” Lu Changqing was stunned.
“That’s not what I meant…” Xu Miaoyan’s face flushed and paled in quick succession.
“Let’s not talk about this anymore,” Lady Chen took the initiative to change the subject. “Qianxue, Changqing and I were just discussing that the end of the month is an auspicious day. Why not let Miaoyan enter the household?”
“Didn’t Second Master say? This matter isn’t up to me,” Fang Qianxue gently tapped the teacup lid, her gaze calm as she looked at Lu Changqing. “Why ask me?”
“It would be best if you brought this up, to show your virtue and magnanimity,” Lady Chen said with a pleasant expression. “Just say it’s to leave descendants for Changli…”
“I don’t agree,” Fang Qianxue said softly.
The Lu family also knew that the matter of dual-lineage succession wouldn’t sound honorable if spread around, so they wanted her to propose it. Now, half the court consisted of her grandfather’s former students. As long as she spoke up, no one would dare criticize.
But was Fang Qianxue some clay to be molded and flattened at will?
Lady Chen frowned and turned to look at Lu Changqing.
The matter of dual-lineage succession wouldn’t sound good if it got out. Her daughter Lu Wanrou hadn’t yet been betrothed, and her reputation was very important.
Moreover, Grand Tutor Fang had given his granddaughter a large dowry back then. Lady Chen’s intention was for Fang Qianxue to split half of that money with the main branch, since Xu Miaoyan was still young and would need to raise children in the future.
And Madam Xu was an immortal maiden! The children she bore would be immortal children—how could they suffer in terms of food and clothing?
“Today, the Empress appointed Miaoyan as a sixth-rank female official and said that if she could make the Qilin Beast from the Western Regions eat, she would appoint her as the Nation-Protecting Saintess,” Lu Changqing said solemnly. “Lady Fang, do you know what this means?”
Nowadays, the Great Yong dynasty faced internal and external troubles, and the world was unstable. Yet at this very moment, Xu Miaoyan emerged as an auspicious sign. The Emperor and Empress would surely confer titles lavishly.
If he, Lu Changqing, could marry the Nation-Protecting Saintess, his future career would surely soar to great heights!
If Miaoyan hadn’t suddenly felt unwell today and failed to persuade the Qilin Beast to eat, the Empress would already have considered promoting him.
“Nation-Protecting Saintess?” Fang Qianxue looked up at the man across from her, seeing the desire for power in his eyes. “I’ve truly never heard of that.”
Originally, Lu Changqing would have used the connections left by Grand Tutor Fang to climb higher, eventually becoming the Great Yong’s Chief Grand Secretary—a powerful minister second only to the Emperor, commanding ten thousand people. Then he would have recklessly courted death, performing a grand gesture of “offering the rivers and mountains to win your favor” for Xu Miaoyan.
But now, Fang Qianxue decided to cut off his career path.
Why should others suffer for their love? Using her own bitterness to highlight their sweetness?
She would climb higher than Lu Changqing. Only then could she rightfully divorce her husband!
“Second Sister-in-law, just agree! When your Fang family was confiscated, if our Lu family hadn’t protected you, you’d have been exiled by now,” Lu Wanrou now cared only about her own marriage prospects. She had taken a liking to the heir of the Liaoyuan Marquis’s household, but unfortunately, the Lu family’s status was a bit lacking. “You can’t repay kindness with enmity and deliberately block Second Brother’s future.”
“That’s right, Changqing’s future comes first,” Lady Chen was also growing impatient. “Qianxue, I’ve always thought you were sensible. If you continue to be ungrateful, given your current status, Changqing would be justified in divorcing you.”
“Then let Second Master divorce me,” Fang Qianxue hadn’t expected that her mother-in-law and sister-in-law, whom she had supported with her dowry for five years, would abandon her so quickly. “There’s no need for dual-lineage succession either. Wouldn’t it be better to directly welcome Miss Xu into the household?”
Although my grandfather took his own life in prison due to Prince Yong’s case, the Emperor and Empress still harbor some guilt toward the Fang family, and my grandfather’s connections in the court remain intact. If Lu Changqing were to divorce his wife and marry another, it would become a lifelong stain on his reputation.
“Fang Qianxue! If you are divorced, Yuan’er and Yao’er will be looked down upon for the rest of their lives,” Lu Changqing clenched his sleeves and stood up, “Even if you don’t think of yourself, you should think of the two children!”
Fang Qianxue’s heart turned cold.
If it weren’t for the sake of the two children, why would she have endured until now?
“Please, Madam, allow me to return to Jiangning!” Xu Miaoyan suddenly knelt down, kowtowing to Lady Chen, then clutched her chest in pain, struggling, “It hurts! My heart hurts so much…”
“Miaoyan!” Lu Changqing hurriedly scooped Xu Miaoyan into his arms and carried her toward the inner chamber. Before leaving, he shot a fierce glare at Fang Qianxue, “You knew Miaoyan has a heart condition, yet you still provoked her like this. If anything happens to her, I won’t let you off!”
After the physician came to Song Sheng Residence to examine Xu Miaoyan, she fell into a peaceful sleep.
Lu Changqing remained by the beauty’s side, holding her hand with deep concern, “Is there truly no way to cure this heart condition?”
“There is a way,” Xu Miaoyan’s maid, Xiuqiu, stood nearby, “but I dare not say it.”
“Speak!”
“Our young lady’s illness requires a heart to nourish the heart,” Xiuqiu explained, “She heard from Ling Que of Medicine King Valley that if she drinks three drops of a destined person’s Heart’s Blood every day, she will be fully recovered in a month.”
“Drink my Heart’s Blood!”
“No, no!” Xiuqiu waved her hands, “It must be from a destined person whose birth characters align.”
“Who exactly is this destined person?” Lu Changqing asked.
After much hesitation, Xiuqiu timidly replied, “The second wife’s birth characters happen to align.”