Chapter 6
Edward Quan ·
I turned to the young woman who had laughed the loudest earlier.
“Are you the young lady from the Zhou family, the Grand Secretary’s niece?”
“And the adopted daughter they took in three years ago, right?”
6.
Her expression changed.
I questioned her first:
“A year ago, did Madam Lu repeatedly hold banquets and invite your aunt over?”
“Did your aunt ever tell you what the Lu family was trying to find out?”
She was just about to shake her head
when Xiao Che coldly laid out her background.
“You were born with the surname Zhan, in Qingzhou. Three years ago, your father was convicted, and the entire Zhan family was exiled.”
“By rights, your name should have been on the exile list, too.”
“But three days before the imperial decree reached Qingzhou, your aunt suddenly came and brought you back to the capital, adopting you as her daughter.”
“Was that really a coincidence? Or had Madam Zhou heard something she shouldn’t have and wanted to preserve a remnant of her younger sister’s bloodline?”
The young woman’s knees gave way. She fell to the ground and confessed.
“A year ago, Madam Lu kept visiting my aunt because she wanted to find out about her cousin’s marriage plans. She wanted to marry Eldest Miss Lu into the Zhou family…”
“My aunt said at the time that the Lu family talked as if they were so righteous. The Duke’s heir wasn’t even cold in his grave, and they were already rushing to find another family for their daughter.”
Lu Yunchu raised a hand to slap her.
“You’re lying!”
Gu Jingchuan stopped the blow.
He ordered someone to see the guests out, then turned back and continued to shield my sister.
“Whatever misunderstandings there may have been in the past, Yunchu is my wife now.”
“It is only right that I protect her.”
Xiao Che found that hilarious.
“If Second Miss Lu hadn’t gone to the epidemic-stricken region and nursed you, would you still be standing here alive, putting on airs like some virtuous gentleman?”
“On the one hand, you slander the woman who saved your life.”
“On the other, you protect that ungrateful wretch. You two really are made for each other.”
He turned to me and spoke loudly enough for the entire hall to hear.
“Second Miss Lu, heaven clearly saved you from marrying him. A beauty like you deserves better!”
That day, Xiao Che and I “joined forces in mischief.”
Lu Yunchu was so furious she fainted on the spot.
I heard that Gu Jingchuan moved into the study that night.
My sister returned to the Lu residence, frail and ill, and forced our parents to send me away at once.
“Send her to the country estate. She must never be allowed to return to the capital in this lifetime!”
But she no longer had any say in whether I stayed or went.
Xiao Che’s betrothal gifts were soon piled up in front of the Lu residence.
He openly asked Father for my hand.
“I’ve long heard that Second Miss Lu is peerlessly beautiful. I’ve admired her for ages, and I’ve come to ask for her hand!”
“Lord Lu prides himself on being a refined gentleman, so I’m sure he won’t care for these vulgar things.”
“After you’ve looked them over, please place them all in Yao’er’s private storehouse.”
Madam Lu was the first to jump up and object.
“Even if she was born to a maid, she is still a hereditary servant of the Lu family!”
“I am the mistress of this household. Unless I agree, she is not going anywhere!”
Xiao Che calmly drew an imperial edict from inside his robe.
“Does Madam Lu mean to defy the Emperor’s decree?”
Father’s mustache trembled. He had no choice but to pull Madam Lu down to her knees.
The night before my wedding, Gu Jingchuan came to see me again.
“Do you truly want to marry a man like him?”
“He’s obsessed with women. He’s no good man to entrust your life to.”
I leaned against the door and looked at him.
“The Emperor has arranged my marriage from above, and my birth father has approved it below.”
“It isn’t for my brother-in-law to concern himself with.”
That word—brother-in-law—made him lower his eyes,
but still he would not leave.
“Marriage isn’t a joke.”
“Xiao Che is reckless and has enemies everywhere. He’s a womanizer, too. If you go with him, you’ll be dragged into trouble sooner or later.”
I asked him,
“Gu Jingchuan, do you still remember what I once said on my knees before the Star Lord’s statue?”
That day, I had clasped my hands together and made a solemn vow.
“With the Star Lord as my witness, if I, Lu Yao, find a worthy match, then after marriage, through fortune or misfortune, glory or disgrace, I will follow my husband in life and death.”
Gu Jingchuan’s eyes reddened.
“Yao’er, I didn’t know your background before.”
“I only thought your family had spoiled you rotten, and that was why you fought with your sister over everything.”
“I felt sorry for Yunchu, so I…”
“But now, I truly want you to have a good life from here on.”
Chapter 6
“The Duke’s household would never cast aside a wife.”
“But I can find you a suitable family in the capital.”
“Not that distant cousin. I’ll choose someone talented, handsome, and from a good family, and have the Duke’s household—”
At last, I could not listen any longer.
“Gu Jingchuan, all you highborn young masters and ladies think far too highly of yourselves.”
“I deceived you. Does that mean everything I did with my own hands to care for you was false, too?”
“The things are right there in front of us. Why should they belong to Lu Yunchu just because she was born first? Why am I a sinner for fighting for them myself?”
“If someone has to decide whether I’m good or bad, right or wrong,”
“that person can only be me.”
I pointed toward the door.
“Brother-in-law, please leave.”