Teahouse.

Yun Chu and Luo Shi sat facing each other.

“The hairpin Madam Xie is wearing is truly beautiful.”

Luo Shi held her teacup and noticed the new hairpin in Yun Chu’s hair, offering a sincere compliment.

Yun Chu smiled: “Surely the Marchioness didn’t invite me just to drink tea?”

Luo Shi gazed at her and said: “When I was still an unmarried maiden, I heard many people mention the eldest daughter of the Yun family—the capital’s foremost beauty, with suitors nearly breaking down her doorstep. I always felt that the Yun family’s eldest daughter was like clouds in the distant sky, so very far from me. No matter how beautiful you were, it had nothing to do with me. But now I’ve discovered I was wrong…”

Yun Chu took a sip of tea.

She had been having people watch Marquis Xuanwu Qin Mingheng. She naturally knew that under the servant’s deliberate guidance, Luo Shi had led people to the small courtyard the Marquis of Xuanwu maintained outside and caught him red-handed.

Now, the two mistresses in that courtyard were under the control of the Luo family’s people.

She hadn’t had the servant deliberately conceal his identity, so it wasn’t strange that Luo Shi had found her way here.

It was just that Luo Shi’s words were so odd—shouldn’t she be questioning why Yun Chu had orchestrated all this?

“Does Madam Xie know that my husband, the Marquis of Xuanwu, keeps mistresses outside—and not just one, but two?” Luo Shi laughed, that smile full of indescribable pain. “Everyone in the capital says I married a good husband. In all these years of marriage, the marquis’s residence hasn’t even had a single concubine. I also always believed my husband and I shared deep affection, until I saw those two mistresses. Only then did I realize my husband had always had someone in his heart.”

Luo Shi stared at Yun Chu. “Those two mistresses look like Madam Xie, especially the pregnant one. From the side, I almost thought it was Madam Xie herself.”

Yun Chu’s fingers suddenly froze.

It was as if a venomous snake had crawled up from her feet, flicking its forked tongue by her ear, making her scalp crawl.

“I also discovered that the marquis’s residence has a secret chamber, with walls covered in paintings—all of Madam Xie.” Luo Shi’s voice gradually grew hoarse. “So it turns out, my husband’s beloved is the capital’s foremost beauty, the Yun family’s eldest daughter, now Madam Xie. When his beloved married another, he found two women who resembled her, kept them outside, and lived an ordinary married life with them… Then what am I? What do I count as?”

As she spoke, she broke down, covering her face with a handkerchief and weeping.

Yun Chu felt as nauseated as if she’d swallowed countless flies.

She felt her stomach churning continuously. She drank several large cups of tea before suppressing the feeling.

She patted Luo Shi’s shoulder, silently comforting her. About a quarter of an hour later, Luo Shi finally stopped: “I apologize for making a spectacle of myself before Madam Xie.”

“Since the Marchioness has told me so much, I shouldn’t hide anything either.” Yun Chu raised her eyes. “Does the Marchioness know that I deliberately had the servant guide you to that courtyard?”

Luo Shi knew someone had been deliberately guiding her, but hadn’t yet investigated who it was, because she was so grief-stricken she didn’t know what to do.

When she saw that room full of paintings of Madam Xie, she completely broke down and lost her reason. Unable to restrain herself, she had come directly to find Madam Xie.

She truly hadn’t expected that it was actually Madam Xie who had guided her to discover her husband’s mistresses.

Could it be that Madam Xie had long known about Qin Mingheng’s dark, shameful thoughts?

“I did indeed know of the Marquis of Xuanwu’s intentions long ago. Last time when I accompanied my husband to the marquis’s residence to apologize, the Marchioness probably doesn’t know—the Marquis of Xuanwu drugged my tea.” Yun Chu’s expression turned cold. “Since he dared to do such a thing, I naturally had to make him pay a price.”

With a clang, the teacup in Luo Shi’s hand spilled onto the table. She frantically wiped up the tea with her handkerchief and asked anxiously: “He didn’t do anything offensive to Madam Xie, did he?”

Yun Chu pressed her lips together and said nothing.

She couldn’t speak of what happened on her wedding night. Just thinking of that night made all her bones turn cold.

From her expression, Luo Shi seemed to read something.

A long silence fell between the two women.

Yun Chu looked at her and said: “As one woman to another, I want to tell the Marchioness something in advance. My Yun family will not let the Marquis of Xuanwu off. Most likely, there will be no Xuanwu Marquis residence in the future.”

Luo Shi’s head shot up.

The Yun family was a first-rank general’s household, and General Yun had just returned to the capital and enjoyed the Emperor’s great favor.

If the Yun family wanted to deal with the Xuanwu Marquis residence, it would be as simple as lifting a finger. Making the Marquis of Xuanwu disappear was no idle boast at all.

“Before things happen, the Marchioness still has time to make a choice.” Yun Chu stood up. “Think it over carefully, Marchioness. I’ll take my leave first.”

Nearly an hour after Yun Chu left, Luo Shi finally steadied herself against the table and stood.

She hadn’t eaten anything for two days and felt somewhat weak, barely managing to steady herself by holding onto her maid’s hand.

She took a carriage back to the Xuanwu Marquis residence. Just as she entered her own courtyard, a teacup smashed at her feet. She looked up to see Qin Mingheng sitting in her room.

“You’ve finally returned!” Qin Mingheng’s face was full of fury. “Where exactly have you confined Chu Niang and Qiu Wen? Chu Niang is with child and can’t withstand shocks. Release them both immediately!”

Hearing “Chu Niang,” Luo Shi thought of Yun Chu. If Madam Xie knew this man had deliberately given his mistress that name, she would probably be even more enraged.

She slowly walked inside, sat down, and said: “I can release them. I can even allow them to enter the marquis’s residence. But the prerequisite is that the bastard child must be aborted.”

Qin Mingheng’s expression changed: “Impossible!”

“Husband, after we had our son, you said you feared having too many children would lead to fighting over the heir position in the future. We agreed that in this lifetime we would only have one child.” Luo Shi looked at him. “This was your promise back then. You keep your promise, and I’ll allow those two to enter the household.”

After giving birth to their son, her husband had never touched her again. She thought it was truly because he didn’t want more children.

But it turned out her husband had a family outside. He had only given her dignity and face—all other tenderness he gave to those two mistresses.

Qin Mingheng’s expression darkened.

He could produce a legitimate son with Luo Shi, who would be named heir, which fulfilled his duty as the Marquis of Xuanwu.

The child in Chu Niang’s belly was the child he truly wanted—one who would resemble him and would also resemble Yun Chu…

He had never intended for Chu Niang’s child to become the heir. He only wanted to live an ordinary life as a family of three with Chu Niang and the child. Such a simple wish had been destroyed by the woman before him.

His eyes seemed to shoot flames.

Luo Shi pressed her lips together: “I went to see Madam Xie just now and told her about your mistresses.”

“What did you say?!”

Qin Mingheng leaped up in rage.

Yun Chu already thoroughly detested him. If she knew he had secretly kept mistresses, there would be no possibility between him and Yun Chu in this lifetime.

He had given Luo Shi sufficient dignity and respect. Why, why did she have to destroy his image in Yun Chu’s heart…