🔑 New Month, New Passkey!
Ko-fi Supporters: The ad-free passkey for November has been updated! Please check your Ko-fi account or latest supporter post to click the new activation link and keep your ad-free access active.

Yunchu’s Vengeance - Chapter 132

Chapter 132 - The Exterior Mistress Named Chuniang

Teahouse


Yun Chu and Lady Luo sat facing each other.


"This hairpin on Madam Xie's head is truly beautiful."


Lady Luo held her teacup, caught sight of the new hairpin in Yun Chu's hair, and offered a heartfelt compliment.


Yun Chu smiled slightly. "The Marquis's wife surely didn't just want to drink tea with me, is it that simple?"


Lady Luo gazed at her and said, "Back when I was still in my boudoir, I heard many people mention the eldest young lady of the Yun family—the premier beauty of the capital, whose suitors nearly trampled the threshold. I always felt that the eldest young lady of the Yun family was like clouds in the distant sky, far, far away from me. No matter how beautiful you were, it had nothing to do with me. But now I realize, I was wrong..."


Yun Chu took a sip of tea.


She had constantly sent people to keep watch on Marquis Xuanwu, Qin Mingheng. Naturally, she knew that under the deliberate guidance of a pageboy, Lady Luo had taken people to the Marquis's outer courtyard, catching the Marquis red-handed.


Presently, the two exterior mistresses in the small courtyard were under the control of the Luo family.


She had not instructed the pageboy to deliberately conceal his identity, so it was no surprise that Lady Luo had tracked her down.


Yet why was what Lady Luo saying so strange? Shouldn't she be interrogating her about why she had orchestrated all of this?


"Does Madam Xie know? My husband, Marquis Xuanwu, keeps exterior mistresses outside, and what's more, there are two of them." Lady Luo smiled, a smile containing endless, unspeakable pain. "Everyone in the capital says I married a good husband; after being married for so many years, the Marquis's Manor doesn't even have a single concubine. I always thought my husband and I shared deep affections, until I saw those two exterior mistresses. Only then did I realize that my husband actually had someone in his heart all along."


Lady Luo stared intently at Yun Chu. "Those two exterior mistresses look just like Madam Xie, especially the pregnant one. From the side profile, I almost thought it was Madam Xie."


Yun Chu's fingers abruptly paused.


It was as if a venomous snake had slithered up from her ankles, hissing beside her ear and making her scalp tingle with numbness.


"I also found out that there is a secret room in the Marquis's Manor, and the secret room is filled with portraits—every single one of Madam Xie." Lady Luo's voice gradually grew hoarse. "So, my husband's beloved, the person in his heart, was the premier beauty of the capital, the eldest young lady of the Yun family, and now Madam Xie. When his beloved married another, he simply found two women with similar looks to keep outside, starting the life of an ordinary couple... Then what about me? What am I?"


As she spoke on and on, she collapsed, covering her face with her handkerchief and weeping.


Yun Chu felt as nauseated as if she had swallowed countless houseflies.


She felt her stomach churning continuously, and only after drinking several large cups of tea in succession did she manage to suppress the sensation.


She patted Lady Luo's shoulder in silent comfort. After about a quarter of an hour, Lady Luo finally stopped. "Apologies, I've made a fool of myself in front of Madam Xie."


"Since the Marquis's wife has told me so much, I shouldn't keep things hidden either." Yun Chu raised her gaze. "Does the Marquis's wife know that it was I who deliberately had a pageboy guide the Marquis's wife to that small courtyard?"


Lady Luo knew that someone had been deliberately guiding her, but she hadn't yet sent anyone to investigate who it was because she had been so grief-stricken that she had no idea what to do.


When she saw that entire room filled with portraits of Madam Xie, her whole person had collapsed, losing her sanity. Unable to hold back, she had come straight to Madam Xie.


She truly hadn't expected that it was Madam Xie who had guided her to discover her husband's exterior mistresses.


Could it be that Madam Xie had long known about Qin Mingheng's dark, unspeakable intentions?


"I indeed knew of Marquis Xuanwu's intentions long ago. Last time, when I accompanied my husband to the Marquis's Manor to offer a humble apology, the Marquis's wife probably didn't know that Marquis Xuanwu drugged my tea." Yun Chu's expression turned cold. "Since he dared to commit such an act, I naturally must make him pay the price."


With a crash, the teacup in Lady Luo's hand splashed across the table. In a flurry, she used her handkerchief to wipe away the tea, asking anxiously, "He didn't do anything offensive to Madam Xie, did he?"


Yun Chu pressed her lips together and remained silent.


The events of her wedding night were words she could not bring herself to utter. Whenever she thought of that night, the bones all over her body grew freezing cold.


From her expression, Lady Luo seemed to read something.


Silence lingered between the two of them for a long, long time.


Yun Chu looked at her and said, "As fellow women, I want to tell the Marquis's wife one thing in advance: the Yun family will not let Marquis Xuanwu off, and before long, the Marquis Xuanwu's Manor will likely cease to exist."


Lady Luo abruptly raised her eyes.


The Yun family was a first-rank general's household, and General Yun had just returned to the capital, deeply favored by the Emperor.


If the Yun family wanted to deal with the Marquis Xuanwu's Manor, it was simply a matter of lifting a finger. Making the Marquis's Manor vanish was by no means an empty boast.


"Before things erupt, the Marquis's wife still has time to make a choice." Yun Chu stood up. "Take your time to think it over, Marquis's wife. I shall take my leave first."


Nearly an hour after Yun Chu left, Lady Luo finally steadied herself against the table and stood up.


She hadn't eaten anything for two days, and her body felt somewhat weak. Only by leaning on her maid's hand did she manage to steady her footing.


She took a carriage back to the Marquis Xuanwu's Manor. Just as she stepped into her courtyard, a teacup smashed down right beside her feet. Raising her head, she saw Qin Mingheng sitting in her room.


"You've finally returned!" Qin Mingheng's face was full of anger. "Where on earth did you lock up Chuniang and Qiuwen? Chuniang is carrying a child and cannot take shocks; hurry up and release the two of them!"


Hearing the name Chuniang, Lady Luo thought of Yun Chu. If Madam Xie knew that this man had deliberately given his exterior mistress that name, she would likely grow even more furious.


She slowly walked in, sat down, and said, "I can release them, and I can even let them enter the Marquis's Manor, but the premise is that that wicked spawn must be aborted."


Qin Mingheng's expression changed abruptly. "Impossible!"


"Husband, back then after we had Ge'er, you said you feared having too many children would later lead to fights over the heirship, and we agreed to only have one child in this lifetime." Lady Luo looked at him. "This was your promise back then. If you fulfill your promise, then I will welcome those two into the doors."


After giving birth to a son, her husband had never touched her again. She had thought he genuinely didn't want any more children.


As it turned out, her husband had a home outside. He had given her outward face and dignity, but all the rest of his warmth had been given to those two exterior mistresses.


Qin Mingheng's expression darkened.


Being able to have a legitimate son with Lady Luo and petitioning to have him named heir was already the utmost fulfillment of his duty as Marquis Xuanwu.


The child in Chuniang's belly was the child he truly wanted—one who looked like him, and who would also look like Yun Chu...


He had never intended for the child in Chuniang's belly to become the heir; he only wanted to live the life of an ordinary family of three with Chuniang and the child. Such a simple, extravagant hope had been completely ruined by the woman before him.


Blazes of fury seemed to erupt in his eyes.


Lady Luo pressed her lips together. "I just went to see Madam Xie and told her about the Marquis's exterior mistresses."


"What did you say?!"


Qin Mingheng leaped up in a fury.


Yun Chu already loathed him deeply. If she found out he had secretly kept exterior mistresses, there would truly never be any possibility between him and Yun Chu in this lifetime.


He had given Lady Luo ample face and dignity, so why did she have to ruin his image in Yun Chu's eyes…

Popular posts from this blog

The Early Spring - Chapter 1

Chapter 1 - The Rainy City That year, the rain in Beijing was heavier than usual, even heavier than in the south where Shang Zhitao had just left. The rain fell in a continuous drizzle, and faint clouds and mist lingered above the sky, making it hard to tell whether the scene was picturesque or desolate. Shang Zhitao was wrestling with her two large suitcases—one packed entirely with books, and the other filled with clothes and shoes, with nothing else inside. Traveling all the way from Nanjing to Beijing, the twenty-two-year-old had accomplished the monumental feat of her first independent migration. Fine beads of sweat dotted her forehead and cheeks, turning her face a flushed pink. Shang Zhitao felt as though she was about to melt. She calculated in her mind that she definitely had to go buy a fan tomorrow. The narrow partition room felt even more cramped because of these two suitcases. She heard the girl in the next room talking on the phone: "Should I go over to your ...
Read more

Against the Current - Chapter 1

Chapter 1 - Origins It is said that there was once a young boy in Jinling named Chen Wanquan. When he was five or six years old, he lost both of his parents, and his elder brother and sister-in-law sold him to the wealthy Lin family as a bondservant to work in an antique shop. As the days and months passed, he honed a sharp eye for authenticating antiques, calligraphy, and paintings. Because he had no property or family standing to his name, no respectable household was willing to discuss marriage with him, yet he had developed high standards and looked down upon ordinary maidservants. At the age of thirty, his employer promoted him to the position of third manager of the shop. A year later, out of benevolence, the Lin estate granted him a third-class maid named Mistress Xue, ordering the two of them to be wed. This Mistress Xue had originally worked exclusively on embroidery and sewing in the second branch of the household. Because she was quite attractive and possessed a competitive ...
Read more

The Early Spring - Chapter 2

Chapter 2 - The Beginning of the Story Shang Zhitao boarded the bus early in the morning. As the city was just waking up, the bus wound its way through the thin mist. With earbuds in her ears, she looked out at the streets. How industrious the people living here truly were; even at this early hour, the sidewalks were already packed with hurried commuters. She was a commuter too, rushing along. She wore a white shirt dress today, cinched at the waist with a slim light-brown belt. Her hair was tied up high, and though she wore no makeup, she radiated a peerless, youthful charm. Sitting there, she looked quiet and well-behaved, just like the obedient child from next door that people always talked about—outstanding, yet not too flashy. Shang Zhitao had always been this kind of person since she was little. Her academic grades were only slightly above average, and her looks were similarly middle-of-the-pack. Because of this mediocrity, even with all her diligence and eagerness to lea...
Read more