Liang Zhe hummed in acknowledgment and said, “Third brother, fourth brother, it’s so late—what brings you to my place?”
Liang Dong said with a grin, “It’s not that late; we just finished dinner, didn’t we? Big brother, we brothers admire your martial skills and wanted to invite you to the training grounds to give us some guidance.”
Liang Jie also said with a smile, “That’s right, big brother. You won’t refuse again, will you? Big brother, we are blood brothers after all. If others were to know, it wouldn’t look good.”
Liang Zhe said indifferently, “I still have matters to attend to. Today won’t work—how about tomorrow morning? I’ll wait for you both at the training grounds at the first quarter of the mao hour tomorrow morning.”
Liang Dong’s face fell, looking bitter: “Big brother, you know perfectly well that we two don’t get up that early. Aren’t you deliberately making things difficult for us?”
Liang Jie chimed in, “Yes, yes, big brother.”
Liang Zhe suddenly blinked mysteriously and said, “Big brother is unwilling to go now—could it be that you’re planning to visit Dongqing Courtyard?”
Liang Jie quickly said, “If that’s the case, then we won’t disturb big brother. Big brother’s happiness is indeed a joyous matter. This way, the household will have new additions soon, and the old ancestor will surely be delighted.”
Liang Zhe’s expression remained calm, but Liang Yanjun’s handsome face flushed red with anger. However, he was merely the young master’s subordinate and had no standing to speak.
After the twins left, Liang Yanjun said indignantly, “Third Young Master and Fourth Young Master are truly going too far!”
Having said this, he regretted it immediately. He was an outsider after all and had no standing to say such things.
Liang Zhe, however, wasn’t angry and said, “Let them be. Why get upset over it?”
Liang Yanjun remained sullenly silent.
To outsiders, this Western Expedition General’s household appeared so glorious, but as Liang Zhe’s subordinate who had followed him for over ten years, Liang Yanjun wished that the young master hadn’t been born into such a family.
The young master’s father, Liang Yunshan, was the renowned Western Expedition General who was also enfeoffed as Marquis of Western Expedition, so some people called him Lord Marquis.
The Marquis’s legitimate wife, Zhao Shi, was the young master’s mother. When the young master was two years old, his mother passed away, leaving behind the young master’s four-year-old sister Liang Zhen and the young master himself.
After his wife’s death, the Marquis remarried Luo Meixiang from the Luo family, who was the niece of Old Madam Luo’s natal family. Luo Meixiang’s family had deep foundations—her grandfather, Grand Secretary Luo, had controlled the government for seven or eight years and had only passed away five years ago.
After Luo Meixiang entered the household, she quickly gave birth to Third Young Master and Fourth Young Master, the twin boys who were only three years younger than the young master. Two years later, she gave birth to a daughter named Liang Qiong.
With Old Madam supporting her, her natal family backing her, and having a pair of sons and a daughter, Luo Meixiang’s position in the household was as solid as a rock.
Nine years ago, before the young master’s maternal grandfather, the old Mighty General, passed away, he sent both the young master and the Fourth Prince to serve under the current Mighty General, who was the young master’s legitimate uncle.
Fourth Prince Zhou Mian’s birth mother was from the Zhao family’s relatives. The Fourth Prince was the same age as the young master, and from then on, they had always stayed by the side of Mighty General Zhao, the young master’s uncle.
The Marquis was extremely angry about this, but he had no choice but to comply with the old Mighty General’s deathbed wishes and let the young master go. Unfortunately, the Mighty General later met with trouble, lost a leg, and could no longer take the battlefield, so he had to return to the capital.
At that time, the young master was thirteen and the eldest miss was fifteen.
As soon as Mighty General returned to the capital, Madam Lin accused the eldest miss of having an illicit affair, arranged a marriage for her, and married her off to a minor official in a distant place.
When the young master learned of this news, he was so furious that he practiced sword work and killed three wolves. However, the young master didn’t return to the capital but instead followed the Fourth Prince under a general who succeeded the Mighty General.
Two years later, the young master became famous in a single battle at the frontier. Yet no one knew how many times the young master had narrowly escaped death. To save the Fourth Prince, the young master had twice risked his life and nearly died.
The young master was granted an official position by the court—a fifth-rank assistant prefect—and returned to the capital to receive the imperial favor.
Who would have known that during just one month in the capital, Madam Lin forcibly imposed a concubine on him—Miao Zhilan—claiming that she and the young master had been intimate and that he needed to take responsibility for the girl.
If Madam Lin hadn’t threatened him using the eldest miss, how could the young master possibly have allowed someone like Miao Zhilan to become his concubine?
Miao Zhilan lived in Dongqing Garden.
The meaning behind Third Young Master and Fourth Young Master’s words couldn’t have been clearer!
Liang Yanjun’s face turned red with anger.
Ruining the eldest miss’s reputation, ruining the young master’s reputation—what more did that venomous woman want?
…
Just as the public had speculated, Liu Junqing was named the top scholar.
Upon hearing this news, Qin Shuying’s hand only paused slightly before she continued reading her book.
Nanny Fu said, “Miss, all the gifts that should be sent have been sent.”
Qin Shuying hummed indifferently. Nanny Fu felt very uncomfortable. She hadn’t expected that such a family would harbor such thoughts. The people the miss had sent out to investigate had indeed confirmed that the Liu family had been involved in the Eastern Hidden Temple incident.
After thinking for a moment, Qin Shuying put down her book and asked, “Nanny, how are things with the Xu family?”
Nanny Fu replied, “The Duke of Chengen’s household sent people to break off Fifth Miss Xu’s engagement. Fifth Miss Xu hanged herself that very night but was fortunately saved. After this incident, Fifth Miss Xu probably won’t be able to marry into a good family.”
Qin Shuying stood up. Nowadays, whenever she wasn’t reading, she would walk around the room to exercise her body.
“The Mao family does business, and one careless move caused them to lose a large sum of money. This originally had nothing to do with Mao Shi—she could have completely stayed out of it.”
But she had thought herself easy to bully and had reached her hand toward her.
Nanny Fu nodded, “Sixth Miss really had no need to view you unfavorably. She is the legitimate younger sister of Consort Lian—her future marriage will naturally be excellent. If she had been content with her lot, what threat would you pose to her? Being on good terms with you would only benefit her. Human hearts are never satisfied, like a snake trying to swallow an elephant. She showed such disregard for clan affection, and now she’s merely confined to her quarters—she’s really gotten off lightly!”
Qin Shuying’s eyes turned cold. Being a legitimate daughter after all, Qin Yongtao had actually convinced the old madam to merely confine Qin Yunyun to her quarters, not allowing her to leave until marriage. He also had people change their testimony—that day, no one had actually been intimate with Qin Yunyun; she had merely been taken away by a few old women.
Qin Yaoyao, a concubine-born daughter, and Qin Yunyun, a legitimate daughter, were indeed treated differently.
As for Xu Shi, she continued her Buddhist devotions, but her opportunities to leave the house were reduced by another level. Unless summoned by the palace or for national affairs, she would generally no longer appear before others.
In any family with deep foundations and prominent status, both Xu Shi and Qin Yunyun would have had to enter the family temple to spend their lives with Buddhist lamps and ancient scrolls.
But they had Consort Lian as their backing.
Nanny Fu was naturally very dissatisfied with this handling, but there was nothing she could do. She said, “Sixth Prince appears just and fair on the surface, but is actually ruthless and heartless. Miss, you need not fear Xu Shi and Sixth Miss making moves against you now. I imagine Sixth Prince won’t give them any more opportunities in the future. To Sixth Prince, Xu Shi and Sixth Miss will only hold him back. But this doesn’t mean Sixth Prince will therefore like you. Now, the public opinion outside is very unfavorable to Sixth Prince, so Sixth Prince will inevitably resent you, Miss.”