Yunchu’s Vengeance - Chapter 133
Chapter 133 - Voluntarily Requesting to Be Cast Aside
Lady Luo looked at the man before her in sheer disbelief.
Having been married for so many years, he had always treated her with respect and care; she truly never imagined that beneath his hypocritical exterior lay such a true nature.
She forced back the stinging sourness in her eyes and continued, "I've already had someone force an abortion on Chuniang."
One thunderclap after another made Qin Mingheng completely lose control of his emotions.
He stepped forward and, before Lady Luo could even react, grabbed her by her slender throat.
"Ngh—"
Lady Luo felt the five fingers on her neck rapidly tighten, a sense of suffocation striking fiercely like a surging tide. For the first time, she felt death drawing so close to her.
"Mother! Let go of my mother!"
The Marquis Xuanwu's heir rushed in, kicking and punching wildly at Qin Mingheng.
Yet Qin Mingheng, acting like a madman, shoved the little heir away with a violent push.
With a loud thud, the child's head struck the doorframe, bursting into earth-shattering cries.
Only then did Qin Mingheng snap out of his trance as if awakening from a dream, releasing his grip on Lady Luo.
"Cough, cough, cough!" Lady Luo coughed violently, instinctively pulling the child into her arms. "Mother is here, Mother is fine, don't be afraid, don't be afraid..."
She urged the wet nurse to hurry and carry the child away.
Only then did she look back at Qin Mingheng. "Husband, I was just lying to you. I didn't touch the child in Chuniang's belly..."
She had merely tested this man, wanting to know how important that unborn, wicked spawn was in her husband's heart—and she had her answer.
Qin Mingheng let out a heavy sigh of relief.
He squatted down and helped Lady Luo to her feet. "I'm sorry, Wife. I was just too impulsive. Does your neck hurt? Shall I find a physician to come and take a look for you?"
Lady Luo bit down on her lower lip.
He had changed back to the gentle husband of the past.
If not for the lingering pain on her neck, if not for her profound experience of that sensation of impending death, perhaps she would have been deceived once again.
If this man still held even a shred of affection for her, if this man felt even a tiny bit of heartache for the child, perhaps she would have hesitated.
There was no need anymore.
There was simply no need anymore.
"Chuniang and Qiuwen are at the Luo residence." Lady Luo straightened her posture. "I am going right now to bring them back to the Marquis's Manor."
Qin Mingheng pressed his lips together. "You said you told Madam Xie about me having exterior mistresses. After hearing it, how did she react?"
"Madam Xie said that it is entirely normal for a man to have three wives and four concubines, and advised me to accept it." Lady Luo lowered her eyelids. "The hour is getting late; I am making a trip back to my maiden family."
She turned and walked out of the room, had the wet nurse carry the child, and left the Marquis Xuanwu's Manor at top speed.
The next morning, just as the people who had come to Shengju Residence to pay their respects left, a pageboy from the front courtyard hurried into the side parlor.
This pageboy was named Duoxi, around fifteen or sixteen years old, and extremely quick-witted. Standing below the steps, he reported, "Yesterday evening, the Marquis's wife took the young heir and returned to the Luo family. First thing this morning, Lady Luo and Lord Luo personally escorted Marquis Xuanwu's two exterior mistresses to the manor. They declared that their daughter was consumed by jealousy and unable to tolerate exterior mistresses or their offspring, and on behalf of their daughter, they voluntarily requested to be cast aside—asking the Marquis to divorce his wife, and even forgoing the young heir's position."
Tingfeng's face was full of astonishment. "Why request to be cast aside? Why not a separation by mutual agreement?"
Yun Chu smiled slightly.
The Marquis Xuanwu was also considered a prominent, high-status family. To preserve his reputation, the Marquis would never agree to a mutual separation, and no one knew how long such a dispute would drag on.
Yet by claiming to be consumed by jealousy, voluntarily requesting to be cast aside, and yielding the heirship position, Lady Luo appeared on the surface to be the one in the wrong, giving ample face to the Marquis's Manor.
In reality, however, it was Lady Luo's parents who went forth, applying pressure on the Marquis both overtly and covertly, forcing him to agree to cast her aside.
The damage to the Luo family's reputation would only be temporary; once the Marquis met his downfall, the Luo family's voluntary casting-aside would become their wisest move.
Therefore, as long as they knew the Marquis had offended the Yun family, the entire Luo family from top to bottom, including all the clan elders, would swiftly draw a clear boundary between themselves and the Marquis's Manor.
One had to admit that Lady Luo was a clear-headed woman.
After suffering such a devastating blow, she could still devise the safest path forward under the circumstances.
The affair between the Marquis Xuanwu's Manor and the Luo family caused a tremendous uproar in the capital, quickly overshadowing the news of Xie Old Madam's death.
While Lady Yuan breathed a sigh of relief, she couldn't help sighing. "Upon discovering that her husband had exterior mistresses, the Marquis's wife left the manor without a moment's hesitation... Back then, if Chu'er had known that Concubine He was an exterior mistress and had already borne three children with Jingyu, she probably would have left our Xie family too... Chu'er has been deceived for so many years, suffered so many grievances, and yet still wholeheartedly considers things for our Xie family. She truly is a rare, good child."
Xie Zhongcheng frowned and said, "Tell me, where on earth is that brat hiding?"
At the mere mention of Xie Shiwei, Lady Yuan's heart ached terribly. He was only an eight-year-old child hiding outside all by himself; heaven knows how much suffering he was enduring.
Daring not to say anything more, she selected a hairpin from her vanity case, wrapped it up, and went to find Yun Chu. "Chu'er, your younger sister is getting married soon, and since our Xie family is still in the mourning period, we won't go to the Yun family to drink the wedding wine. Take this hairpin on my behalf to add to Ruanjie'er's dowry."
Yun Chu nodded and placed the hairpin inside the case.
Yun Ran and the Dai family's wedding was set for the autumn. By the end of August, autumn had long since arrived, but the weather was still fiercely hot.
Early in the morning it was still somewhat cool, but the moment the sun came out, the temperature rose rapidly. Sitting inside a carriage without an ice basin would leave one drenched in sweat.
Yun Chu brought Xie Ping along to return to the Yun family for the wedding wine.
When they arrived, it was still quite early, and there weren't many guests in the courtyard—or perhaps because it was a concubine daughter's wedding, the Yun family hadn't invited too many people.
Yun Chu went straight to Yun Ran's courtyard. All the female relatives of the Yun family were already there, and people packed the rooms inside and out.
A senior matchmaker was busy styling Yun Ran's hair and applying delicate makeup to her face. She wore red bridal robes, looking radiant and moving.
"Eldest Sister."
Seeing Yun Chu, Yun Ran gave a shy greeting.
Yun Chu took a case from Tingshuque behind her, opened it, and placed it before Yun Ran. "This is the dowry gift your Eldest Sister prepared for you."
Ting Ran didn't even have a chance to speak when a hand reached out from the side—it was the Yun family's Third Aunt, who snatched up the case. "Chu'er, you really are generous! This set of pure gold headwear, embedded with emeralds, must be worth at least a thousand taels of silver to begin with. As if that wasn't enough, there's even a whole box of gold beans... Goodness gracious, there's even a stack of silver notes..."
The surrounding matrons also stretched their necks out to peer inside.
In a prestigious household like the Yun family, the dowries for daughters getting married were never low. When the legitimate eldest daughter of the Yun family, Yun Chu, married back then, her dowry amounted to a full thirty thousand taels of silver. For the collateral branches of the Yun family, a better-off family would gather around ten thousand taels for their daughter, while lesser ones would still have five thousand taels... Yet here for Yun Ran, just the items Yun Chu had prepared alone totaled five thousand taels of silver, and coupled with what her stepmother Lady Lin prepared, it probably came close to twenty thousand taels. To think this was merely for a concubine-born daughter, and marrying into a family of the Dai family's standing no less, yet she received such a massive dowry.
Many matrons cast envious glances her way.
Xie Ping stood outside the crowd, standing on tiptoes to catch a glimpse. Seeing that pure gold headwear and that stack of silver notes, she couldn't help her eyes turning red.
Her own dowry consisted solely of the bridal robes she had embroidered herself and some private savings, amounting to no more than a hundred taels of silver...
Yet she knew clearly in her heart that if her mother didn't prepare a dowry for her, there must be a reason for it. She only needed to obediently listen and obey…