Chapter 4
Edward Quan ·
“Isn’t this the very outcome Second Miss fought so hard to bring about?”
“Second Miss can see through everything. Surely she knew the Empress Dowager was old, and His Majesty had already taken back the military command?”
Chapter 4
“Now that Master has become an in-law of the Duke’s household, Second Miss has many good days ahead of her!”
I wrenched myself free of her and chased after them through the side gate. I had only reached the mouth of the alley when I collapsed.
4.
When I woke,
I was back in that cramped room in the Lu residence.
Outside the window, I heard Mother seeing my elder sister off and reminding her,
“Yunchu has always been pampered at home.”
“If she does anything amiss at her husband’s house, I hope you’ll be patient with her, son-in-law.”
Lu Yunchu drew out her words in a coquettish whine.
“Mother—”
“Jingchuan treats me very well. Don’t worry.”
Gu Jingchuan sat by my bed.
There was guilt in his eyes,
but no regret.
“I’ll see to Qinghe’s funeral.”
“I owe you for what happened today.”
I asked him what this so-called debt meant.
Was it breaking off our betrothal,
or marrying my elder sister just as my birth mother had died?
“If you truly think you owe me, then give me back the marriage now.”
He fell silent for a moment, then still shook his head.
“Yunchu has suffered too much for my sake.”
“I can’t make her unhappy again.”
“If there’s anything I can do to make it up to you later, I’ll do my best.”
I laughed aloud.
“Then I hope my brother-in-law will keep his distance from me.”
That word—brother-in-law—made his face go pale.
The Empress Dowager heard about the upheaval over the marriage.
She sent a matron with only one message:
“I valued her for her courage. I did not give her my trust so she could use it to scheme over a marriage.”
“She need not enter the palace again.”
Once those words spread,
the servants in the residence no longer bothered to avoid me when they gossiped.
“So she wasn’t the Lu family’s legitimate daughter after all.”
“Just a servant’s brat, born after her mother climbed into her master’s bed.”
“Climbed into his bed? Lord Lu was such a proper gentleman in his youth. Why would he look twice at a maid?”
“Who knows? Maybe she’s some bastard from goodness knows where!”
“The Lu family was kind enough to register her under the mistress’s name.”
“She has no gratitude, and still kept fighting the legitimate daughter for everything.”
“She’s a base creature through and through!”
When Father saw that I had lost my backing,
that very evening he discussed it with Madam Lu
and decided to send me to a country estate.
“Keeping her in the capital will only bring trouble to the family.”
“Once Qinghe is buried, send her away at once.”
Madam Lu later came in person to bestow her “kindness” on me.
“Your father meant to find some young fool and marry you off as quickly as possible.”
“I was afraid you were too hot-tempered and might do something rash, so I pleaded on your behalf.”
“We’ll renovate a room at the country estate into a Buddhist shrine. You can go there and observe mourning for your birth mother.”
“As long as you behave yourself from now on, the Lu family won’t let you go hungry.”
I did not argue.
On the day Lu Yunchu returned to her parents’ home after the wedding, I still went to the banquet as usual.
Before the feast, I heard the maids envying my elder sister.
“I hear that when Young Master Gu gets drunk, he still remembers to buy pastries to take home to his wife.”
The Gu family’s banquet was lavish.
All the guests were young ladies who were usually on good terms with my sister.
Before, they had been wary of the Empress Dowager and had never dared mock me openly.
Today, at last, they had their chance.
“Oh, isn’t this Second Miss Lu, who has to win at everything?”
“She’s already been jilted, and she still dares show her face.”
“Could it be she still wants to steal Eldest Miss’s attention?”
“Dream on. From now on, even Young Master Gu would think you too filthy to carry his wife’s shoes!”
I was about to retort,
but Lu Yunchu put on a magnanimous air first.
“Yao’er is still my younger sister. Please don’t speak of her that way.”
She smiled at me with perfect sincerity—
the composure of a victor.
“Now that the misunderstandings of the past have been cleared up, let’s put them behind us.”
“I know you don’t want to go to the country estate, so Jingchuan and I have found you a match.”
“The Gu family has a distant cousin named Zhao. He’s proper-looking and studied for a few years.”
“The Zhao family is mild-tempered. You won’t be mistreated if you marry into it.”
“If you agree, your brother-in-law and I will prepare your dowry.”
She took my hand, putting on a show of sisterly affection.
“Behave yourself and live quietly from now on, and I’ll still recognize you as my sister.”
I pulled my hand away and asked her bluntly,
“Lu Yunchu, you toss me some rotten match and think you’ve turned into a bodhisattva?”
I shoved her hard, sending her to the floor—
right where Gu Jingchuan, who had just hurried over, could see it clearly.
To make sure he didn’t miss it,
I spat on the ground in front of him.
The young ladies packed into the room erupted at once.
“Lu Yao, how dare you lay a hand on her!”
“Yunchu has gone out of her way to arrange things for you, and you repay her with ingratitude?”
“No wonder you’re just like your birth mother—a wretch who can never be tamed!”