“Say it again, go on!” The Marquis of Zhennan angrily pointed at Chu Yuehua and said, “Tell your sister to explain what she did at Prince Kang’s mansion today!”
“What did I do? I simply didn’t return the greeting of that lowborn Ye woman!” Chu Yuehua shouted. “I’m a second-rank County Princess, while she’s merely a fourth-rank titled lady from a merchant background. What’s wrong with accepting her bow? Why does everyone have to criticize me for this? ‘A tiger fallen to the plains is bullied by dogs’—now I’ve become a rat in the street that everyone wants to beat!”
With that, she began to sob.
Today, because of this incident, the elderly women of the imperial clan had given her no shortage of lectures, both directly and indirectly. She was truly fed up and grew to hate Ye Yaming even more.
Just a lowly daughter of merchants—what right did she have to stand shoulder to shoulder with her as sisters-in-law? And she had even become the wife of the heir, an elder sister who would outrank her. Her aunt was right; that ungrateful wolf Lu Guanyi should have been eliminated directly. If he had been killed earlier, she wouldn’t have had to suffer today’s humiliation.
The Marquis of Zhennan’s wife secretly rolled her eyes again.
To say these three siblings were shrewd would be inaccurate, as they were constantly instigated by Madam Shi to do foolish things, developing personalities that everyone despised. Yet to say they lacked cunning would also be wrong, as they were adept at playing the victim before the Marquis of Zhennan.
“She was introduced by your royal aunt. If not for the monk, then for the Buddha—you should have treated her with courtesy out of respect for your royal aunt,” the Marquis of Zhennan roared. “Besides, a wife derives status from her husband. Since she has become the wife of the Xuanwu Marquis’s heir, you must show her respect.”
“Father, why are you shouting at your sister? She’s young; you should speak gently to her. Besides, it was just a matter of not returning a bow to the wife of a marquis’s heir. What’s the big deal?” Chu Zonghua shouted back at the Marquis of Zhennan.
With his mother’s early death, his first and fourth aunts had repeatedly instructed him to protect his younger brother and sister, ensuring they wouldn’t be bullied.
From a young age, Chu Zonghua had taken it upon himself to protect his siblings, unable to bear seeing them suffer even the slightest grievance from their father or stepmother. Previously, his maternal grandfather had been the Duke of Weiguo, and his first aunt had been the Empress. Not only a powerless marquis like the Marquis of Zhennan, but even the Emperor himself had to show some deference to the Duke of Weiguo’s household.
Thus, Chu Zonghua and his siblings had never feared the Marquis of Zhennan. The Marquis also didn’t dare speak harshly to them, fearing they would complain to the Duke of Weiguo and the Empress, causing trouble for him. Outside, others, due to the power of the Duke of Weiguo’s household and pitying the children for losing their mother early, were unwilling to quarrel with them.
This had fostered the arrogant and willful personalities of Chu Zonghua and his siblings.
“What’s the big deal?” The Marquis of Zhennan laughed bitterly. “Do you think things are still as they were before? Before, your maternal grandfather was the Duke of Weiguo, so being disrespectful to others naturally didn’t matter. But what is your status now? How many people are watching for your mistakes? Not only are you failing to keep a low profile, but you even dare to disrespect Princess Imperial Yuning. If you’re tired of living, say so early, but don’t implicate our entire household.”
The Marquis of Zhennan would have been better off not saying that last sentence. It thoroughly angered the three siblings.
“Aren’t you just afraid we’ll implicate you? When my grandfather was in power, you benefited plenty. Now you’re turning your back on us? If you’re afraid we’ll implicate you, we’ll leave!”
After saying this, Chu Zonghua pulled Chu Yuehua away, with Chu Yuanhua following closely behind.
The Marquis of Zhennan pointed at their retreating figures, trembling with rage: “Look at these unfilial children. They’ll be the death of me!”
The Marquis of Zhennan’s wife watched the three departing figures, her gaze flickering with an inscrutable expression.
…
In the carriage returning to the Marquis’s mansion, Ye Yaming recounted the events at Prince Kang’s mansion to Lu Guanyi.
Lu Guanyi’s face immediately darkened.
County Princess Qingrong Chu Yuehua and her two brothers had bullied him numerous times.
Originally, he had lived with his grandparents and didn’t visit the Xuanwu Marquis’s mansion; after his grandfather’s death, he still lived in a separate courtyard, maintaining a distance from Madam Shi and Lu Guanyu. Even though Madam Shi considered him a thorn in her side, she at least maintained some face on the surface and didn’t dare go too far, still mindful of his father, Lu Zhongyong.
Of course, it might also have been because both he and Lu Guanyu were minors, and eliminating him wouldn’t have served much purpose, so Madam Shi had bided her time.
But the Chu siblings were different. Relying on their status as imperial family members and the power of the Duke of Weiguo’s household, they had frequently used the pretext of avenging their aunt and cousin to cause trouble for him. After learning of his father’s forbearance, he didn’t want to create problems for his father, so he had endured all these grievances.
As he and Lu Guanyu grew older, the matter of the heir’s position could no longer be delayed. Chu Zonghua, under Madam Shi’s subtle hints, had planned to have him killed. Sensing danger, he had fled to Lin’an.
Seeing Lu Guanyi’s troubled expression, Ye Yaming quickly comforted him: “It’s fine. It was just a matter of not returning a greeting, and truthfully, she wasn’t wrong. Princess Imperial Yuning went to speak with the Marquis of Zhennan today, so County Princess Qingrong will certainly face punishment. Many elders in the hall also spoke up for me.”
Lu Guanyi shook his head: “You don’t understand.”
He recounted how he had been bullied by the Chu siblings since childhood, saying, “Given their temperament, if they bully someone who endures it silently, the matter passes. But if they bully someone who complains and the elders find out, resulting in them being punished, they will harbor resentment and seek revenge.”
“Today, Chu Yuehua was embarrassed by Princess Imperial Yuning in front of so many people, and then scolded by the Marquis of Zhennan when she returned home. She already hates me to the bone and looks down on you. She will certainly cause trouble in the future.”
Lu Guanyi sighed: “If I could stay by your side constantly, I wouldn’t worry. But after the New Year, I’ll be going to the frontier.”
After thinking for a moment, he said: “I’ll assign two more people to your side for secret protection. Additionally, if you encounter trouble, you must seek out Princess Imperial Yuning and ask for her assistance.”
At this point, Lu Guanyi was immensely grateful that Ye Yaming had caught Princess Imperial Yuning’s attention.
“Princess Imperial Yüan’s mourning period lasts one year and will end in February. Do you think we should try to move things forward a bit?” he asked Ye Yaming in a low voice.
If Princess Imperial Yüan became the Xuanwu Marquis’s wife, she would be Ye Yaming’s mother-in-law. Then, if the Chu siblings caused trouble, Princess Imperial Yüan could legitimately stand up for Ye Yaming.
Ye Yaming shook her head: “We absolutely must not interfere in this matter.”
It seemed that neither Lu Zhongyong nor Princess Imperial Yüan was eager to remarry. Moreover, they had a six-year age gap, with the woman being older than the man, which was considered unsuitable in the eyes of society.
If the Emperor insisted on arranging their marriage to consolidate imperial power, that couldn’t be helped. But if she and Lu Guanyi promoted this match for their benefit, disregarding the wishes of the two individuals involved, it would be too selfish. If this were discovered, she and Lu Guanyi would thoroughly offend Lu Zhongyong and both Princesses Imperial Yüan and Yuning.
“Don’t worry, I’ll be careful,” she said.
Then she lowered her voice even further: “I heard that the Marquis of Zhennan’s wife’s son was nearly killed by poisoning from Chu Yuehua’s brother?”