Lu Mansion

Hearing Lu Changxuan say she should arrange for him to take a concubine, Qin Feifei trembled with rage and shook her head violently: “Husband, I disagree!”

Lu Changxuan’s expression turned stern: “What do you mean by this?”

Qin Feifei looked furious: “I work myself to death at home, serving those before and after me. You don’t know how tired I am. We already have two concubines, Lanhua and Meihua, and you still want… I disagree! I want to see what kind of floozy dares seduce a married man!”

Lanhua and Meihua were concubines that Qin Yaoyao had arranged for Lu Changxuan while she was alive.

Lanhua had served Lu Changxuan for six years and bore him a daughter. Meihua had served him for three years and was already pregnant when Qin Yaoyao died, but ultimately failed to deliver the child.

Due to his use of black incense, Lu Changxuan’s temper had become particularly volatile. Hearing her speak this way, his face immediately darkened: “You yourself seduced a married man—have you forgotten so quickly how your second sister died? Ju’er didn’t seduce me. She’s still pure, and I respect her!”

Qin Feifei trembled with anger and began crying: “Didn’t I do all this for you? I degraded myself to marry you…”

In the past, seeing her beautiful face wet with tears like pear blossoms in rain, Lu Changxuan had always been deeply moved. These past few months, having seen too much of her weeping, Lu Changxuan found it extremely distasteful and irritating.

He cut off her tearful complaints: “Bullshit! You did it for yourself! Don’t forget—you’re a widow! Without me, how could you possibly remarry a fifth-rank official? You only targeted Qin Yaoyao because she was easy to bully and manipulate! Try someone else’s family and see which household’s mistress would let you steal away her husband!”

Qin Feifei stared with eyes wide in terror. Was this Lu Changxuan? Wasn’t he refined and elegant? How could he speak such crude words?

Lu Changxuan was completely unaware that such words, even a few months ago, he couldn’t have spoken even under threat of death.

“Husband, you… you can’t be so heartless…”

Lu Changxuan snorted coldly: “I’m heartless? Who personally killed my legitimate wife? Who caused the death of my legitimate eldest son?”

Qin Feifei immediately fell into an ice pit, her legs feeling as if soaked in ice water, trembling all over with bloodshot eyes. How could he say such things about her? He had said back then that he had wanted to marry her from the beginning, but his status was too low to dare propose, so he had to marry Second Sister instead.

Later, when she became a widow, the first time he saw her, his desire to have her was overwhelmingly strong. He secretly swore that even if he had to give up wealth and honor, he would have her.

These were all his own words.

That’s why she had violated human ethics and done such shameful things. Later, she was bewitched and schemed against Second Sister, killed her own nephew, and even set fire to burn Second Sister to death.

“No, no, you taught me all this. I never intended to do such things…”

She remembered now—she initially had no intention of scheming against Second Sister. It was her husband who said that someone’s daughter-in-law was discovered in bed with another man on her mother-in-law’s birthday, and then that daughter-in-law was imprisoned. After Second Sister was imprisoned, he said that someone’s house, being old and in disrepair, would burn down the entire house from just a spark.

Lu Changxuan looked at her as if she were a fool: “But my hands are clean—I did nothing. Since you did it, don’t blame others.”

Qin Feifei stared in terror, her eyes as wide as they could possibly be. What did this mean?

“Get away!”

Lu Changxuan was impatient to see her crazed appearance any longer. With a flick of his sleeve, he walked past her.

Qin Feifei reflexively grabbed his sleeve and was dragged several steps until they reached the threshold, pleading: “Husband, please… please don’t treat me this way, alright? Alright? Everything I did was for your good…”

Lu Changxuan laughed coldly: “For my good? If it’s for my good, you should actively go to the Che family and, according to proper rules and etiquette, let Ju’er enter the household openly. If you don’t want to, it doesn’t matter—Mother will go.”

“Husband, listen to me…”

Suddenly, Lu Changju’s shrill voice pierced Qin Feifei’s eardrums: “Sister-in-law, you’re truly inferior to your second sister. She graciously arranged for elder brother to take Lanhua and Meihua as concubines. Look at you—you’re supposed to be a legitimate daughter, yet you’re not even as good as a concubine’s daughter?”

Lu Changju supported Old Madam Lu standing at the doorway. Both looked at her with disgust.

Qin Feifei instinctively wanted to argue back. She had been devoted to Lu Changju! “Little sister-in-law…”

“Don’t you see Mother is here? No sense of hierarchy! You claim to be a legitimate daughter, but you’re truly nothing like your second sister.” Lu Changju pursed her lips and scolded her.

Lu Changju had recently been associating with several officials’ daughters and believed she had learned many proper rules.

Being told twice in succession by Lu Changju that she was inferior to Second Sister, Qin Feifei was nearly at her breaking point. She gasped heavily, her face and neck flushed red, wanting to argue back but not daring to contradict in front of Lu Changxuan.

“Mother, why have you come?”

Lu Changxuan shook off Qin Feifei’s hand and stepped forward.

Old Madam Lu’s sinister gaze fixed on Qin Feifei as she snorted coldly: “If I hadn’t come, I wouldn’t have known that this daughter-in-law of mine is so narrow-minded. Changju is right—she’s not even as good as a concubine’s daughter! Don’t worry, since you like that Ju’er girl, Mother will arrange to bring her back and elevate her to equal wife status!”

Qin Feifei had already retreated several steps after Lu Changxuan’s forceful push to steady herself, but Old Madam Lu’s words made her collapse immediately: “No…”

Lu Changju huffed: “Sister-in-law, why are you acting this way? When elder brother likes someone, we should quickly bring her home! Who are you crying and wailing for? Do you think you’re still unmarried?”

Nanny Wu, who served Qin Feifei, had been standing in the courtyard earlier. She had heard the conversation inside the room vaguely, but everything that happened after Lu Changxuan and Qin Feifei came to the courtyard, she saw clearly.

She hurriedly put on a smiling face and said: “Young Miss, Madam is also thinking of the household. The accounts are already in deficit. To bring in another household of people without money would make the affair unseemly—wouldn’t that embarrass the master? Madam was thinking that once we have money, we can arrange things properly and grandly.”

Old Madam Lu, being old and shrewd, understood Nanny Wu’s intentions perfectly. However, the household’s lack of money was indeed a fact. Although taking a concubine wouldn’t cost too much, calculating everything would still require about a hundred taels—enough for her to eat meat for a year.

Moreover, since Changxuan liked this woman and had clearly been meeting with her frequently, why not use her first and discuss later? Anyone who could get involved with a married man couldn’t be a decent woman anyway. Since Changxuan was using her services without suffering any loss himself.

Without spending money while her son still had a woman to enjoy—such a bargain shouldn’t be passed up. Losing a year’s worth of meat money really pained Old Madam Lu.

As for elevating her to equal wife status, this was just Old Madam Lu’s offhand remark to anger Qin Feifei. Although she detested the Qin family’s superior attitude, she ultimately didn’t dare completely offend them—they still had an imperial concubine in the palace.