Ask the Nine Ministers

Chapter 21 Relieve anger
There are many ways for wealthy families to torture their concubines, and Fu chose the simplest one that made Xue Yueying most uncomfortable.

Half of the prepared dowry list was crossed out.

Xue Yueying's face turned pale when she heard the news.

She carried a food box to Qinglan Courtyard and knelt before the eldest lady.

"Mother only took a few sips of soup for breakfast and barely ate anything. I think she was too worried about my elder sister. Ying'er asked Doctor Zhang for a prescription to calm her nerves and stewed this lily and qi-invigorating soup..."

She took out a small celadon cup from the food box and held it high with both hands.

Fu glanced at them calmly and lowered her head to drink her tea.

The porcelain cup in Xue Yueying's hand was scorching hot, but she didn't dare let go. In a moment, her eyes turned red.

"Ying'er doesn't know where I went wrong, please forgive me, mother."

It must be said that Xue Si is very smart and knows how to behave. Over the years, he has been serving the Madam with great care and attention, even more capable than the maids around Fu.

However, this time she was bold enough to violate her own daughter, and Mrs. Fu would never forgive her.

Madam Liu glanced at her mistress and yelled at her, "Fourth Miss, you are too ignorant. The Madam loves you with all her heart. Look around this mansion, besides the eldest Miss, you are the only one who has married so gloriously. You are such an ignorant girl, how much criticism has the Madam endured for your marriage? What is wrong with you now that you want to bring disaster to the eldest Miss?"

Xue Yueying looked up innocently, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Mother, Ying'er is not here. I didn't know Master Fu would come..."

"You still dare to quibble?" Fu's face was cold. She suddenly raised her hand and slapped Xue Yueying in the face.

The soup bowl fell from her hand, and the room was immediately filled with the aroma of herbs and food.

Xue Yueying's cheeks turned red and her palms were also burned red, but she didn't dare to cry out in pain. She just stroked her face with her hands and shed tears silently.

Fu was still not satisfied, and poked her forehead with her long nails. "Little bitch, you still dare to pretend in front of me? I asked the doorman, and he said that you paid money and told him to keep the door open! Otherwise, how could Master Fu come in without anyone noticing?"

Xue Yueying shook her head desperately.

In just a few days, she was beaten for the second time.

She sobbed in grievance, unable to hold back. "I was raised by my mother since I was little, and she knows my personality best. I dare not hide it from you. I did ask you to leave the letter at the door, but the letter was written to Gu Lang... It was not to harm my elder sister, nor for myself. I just wanted to share my mother's worries."

Fu sneered, her mouth almost twisted with anger, "Share my worries? Don't think that I don't know what you are thinking. Do you think that if you ruin the dignity of the eldest girl, the master will love you the most? It's just wishful thinking. A daughter born out of wedlock will never be able to show up in public!"

"Mother——" Xue Yueying's eyes were filled with tears.

Amidst Fu's increasingly scathing rebukes, she suppressed her grief and indignation, gritting her teeth and saying, "Ying'er thought that this must have been done by Sixth Sister..."

Nanny Liu was beaten by Xue Liu that day, and she hated her much more than Xue Yueying.

Hearing this, she began to instigate, "The fourth young lady is always very filial to the first lady, I don't think she would have such evil intentions..."

Xue Yueying nodded repeatedly, "In order to prevent mother from worrying and elder sister from being deceived, Ying'er did not hesitate to push her beloved Gu Lang out with her own hands, and was even willing to share a husband with the sixth sister. How could she harm elder sister? If mother does not believe it, you can call Gu Lang and confront him face to face."

She didn't know why Gu Jie didn't show up for the appointment, but she was certain that this matter was related to Xue Liu.

Seeing that she spoke so firmly, the anger in the eldest lady's stomach gradually subsided.

But after thinking about it for a moment, I still find it hard to believe.

"Xue Liu? I suppose she has the heart, but she doesn't have the courage, let alone the ability."

Madam Liu reminded her, "Sixth Miss has been away from home for ten years, and has been hanging around in the old mausoleum, making friends with many people, some of whom are involved in scandals... Madam, this is really hard to say."

Fu shook her head. "Impossible. If she wanted to destroy the eldest sister, why did she appear in the Bitong Courtyard and in the eldest sister's room last night?"

Nanny Liu and Xue Yueying couldn't figure it out either.

But the things that I can't figure out are all thanks to Xue Liu.

Who made her the Seven Evil Stars, a born bad seed?

If Xue Liu had not returned home, none of this would have happened. It was a pity that she had worked so hard for all these years, just to marry into a good family, get a good husband, take care of her husband and children, and bring honor to the family in the future.

What was wrong with her?
Why should Xue Liu marry better than her?

She was said to be a concubine, but that was Prince Duan, the Prince Duan who would ascend the throne in the future.

If she wasn't pregnant, she would be willing to go to Prince Duan's mansion as a concubine.

But her elder sister was so mean and jealous of her father's favor that she would rather choose Xue Liu than her.

The more Xue Yueying thought about it, the more upset she became: "Has mother forgotten? Sixth sister was born an unlucky person? There has never been such a mistake in the mansion before, but since Sixth sister returned home, there has been constant trouble. When she goes to Prince Duan's mansion in the future, I wonder if my elder sister will be harmed by her..."

Fu's expression suddenly changed, "Shut up! How dare you curse my eldest sister?"

Xue Yueying lowered her eyes, "Ying'er doesn't dare. Ying'er is just thinking about how to share her mother's worries."

Under Fu's puzzled gaze, Xue Yueying took out a light pink satin purse from her bosom, on which was embroidered a pair of butterflies flapping their wings, ready to fly.

This was found from the clothes that Xue Sui had taken off.

"This purse was originally intended for catching an adulterer last night. Since it was not used, my daughter will think of another way."

Fu and Madam Liu exchanged glances, and then they relaxed their expressions a little. They said in a veiled tone, "Don't tell me what you want to do. I know nothing about it, and I don't want to bother with the grudges between you sisters. Anyway, she is not the daughter of my belly. If she doesn't care about me, why should I empty my pockets to earn respect for her?"

Xue Yueying knew that Fu was speaking in a counter-intuitive way, so she deliberately hit him and bit her lower lip.

"Whatever Ying'er does has nothing to do with the Madam. It's because I regard the Madam as my own mother. Whoever makes the Madam unhappy, Ying'er will make that person uneasy..."
-
Yaoguang carried the pigeon cage in his hand and stepped onto the Qilin Pavilion of the Misty Rain Tower. He saw Xue Sui sitting on the wooden sill by the window. She was looking at the green tile roof outside the window in a leisurely manner.

Yaoguang put down the pigeon cage with a smile in his eyes.

"Sir, the imperial envoy has brought the news, and Ling Yu has also brought it."

Xue Sui turned around and glared at him, "Don't joke around."

When she opened the pigeon cage, a white dove came out happily and gently jumped into the palm of her hand.

Xue Sui nudged its feathers with his face, fed it a few grains of food, and said with a smile, "Lingyu, I have to trouble you to do something for me again."

The pigeon lowered its head and pecked at the food, cooing from time to time, as if responding to Xue Sui's words.

"There are vegetables and meat, Thirteenth sister is so kind." Yaoguang sat down with his robe lifted up in a casual manner, picked up the chopsticks, and laughed while eating, "Gu Wulang, who was confined to the mansion by his own mother, must be worried to death. He is so stupid. Whoever offends our little Thirteenth sister will have a good ending..."

Xue Sui didn't answer, but just signaled him with his eyes: "Where's the wine?"

Yaoguang glanced at her and said, "Big Brother has ordered that you are not allowed to drink. How dare I?"

Xue Sui looked at him calmly.

Yaoguang stared at her for a moment, and finally gave in. He sighed lightly, took out a wine bag from his arms, and stuffed it into Xue Sui's hand, looking like he had given up on himself.

Xue Sui leaned against the window, took it lazily, uncorked, and drank from it.

A few strands of clear wine slid down from between her fair and slender fingers. The wine was like nectar and her hands were like porcelain jade.

At this moment, she was completely different from when she was in Xue Mansion.

She was nothing like the well-behaved sixth daughter of the Shangshu Mansion, but more like a dandy boy playing with birds in a cage in the market.

But she has a beautiful face, eyes like stars, a straight nose, and black hair lightly tied up. When the breeze blows gently, she looks more straightforward, uninhibited, and casual.

This kind of charm is difficult for others to imitate and it is difficult to be disliked.

"Blame me."

Yao Guang shook his head and sighed, thinking about those years.

Thirteen had just become a disciple of the master. In the middle of the night, Yaoguang went to buy some wine secretly and just as he climbed over the wall, he was caught by someone.

She stood under the eaves in the freezing wind. She was not even as tall as his shoulder and was so thin that it seemed as if she were crushed and kneaded together and not even two pounds of flesh could be put together. However, her eyes were big, bright and clear as water.

That was the first time Yaoguang was threatened by her to drink with her.

The two men drank the entire jar of wine, and Thirteen didn't say a word.

He was discovered by the eldest senior brother the next day and was punished to be put in solitary confinement for half a month, but Thirteen was fine.

Later, whenever he was craving for wine, Thirteen would come over like a dog with a nose to follow the smell...

The eldest senior brother, who is upright and polite, can catch them nine times out of ten.

"Pfft!" Yaoguang couldn't help laughing as he thought of his youth. "Big Brother is doing this for your own good. You are weak and your drinking habit is poor, so you should...drink less."

The last word got stuck in my throat.

Xue Sui squeezed the wine bag, deflated it, and threw it on the table.

"Too much." Yaoguang said, "I will be punished by the senior brother again later."

Xue Sui straightened her clothes, sat down calmly, and gently stroked Bai Ge's head. She was dignified and behaved as usual. In the blink of an eye, she became the well-behaved sixth young lady of the Xue family. "Go back and tell my senior brother that I am grateful for your kindness. I will repay you tomorrow."

Yaoguang was almost killed by her jealousy, "You and I are brothers and sisters, there is no need to do this... at worst we can be punished by Master together later."

After that, he sighed again: "Thirteen, if you are tired, go back to the Old Mausoleum Swamp."

Xue Sui smiled and hummed softly, feeling drunk.
-
The weather is fine and the sun is high in the sky.

A white dove broke through the clouds, fluttered over the towering city walls, flew over the training grounds of the Eastern Palace Guards' Mansion, and then landed lightly on the eaves, cooing softly.

On the parade ground, Crown Prince Li Zhao was wearing a black soft armor embroidered with gold, a purple gold helmet with a hair-binding cap on his head, holding a longbow in his hand, and riding a swift horse. He stretched out his long arms, drew his bow and arrow, and aimed at the upright straw target on the parade ground...

Suddenly, he raised the arrow and pointed it at the pigeon that was still perched on the eaves.

The bowstring was slowly pulled to its full length, making a buzzing sound.

The white dove seemed to sense danger, spread its wings and flew into the air.

A clever little thing!
Li Zhao slowly put down the arrow before it was shot, and the corner of his mouth slightly raised, a smile formed on the corner of his lips.

The dove was not afraid of death. It flapped its wings bravely towards him and landed on the saddle without any fear.

Guan Ya caught up with him, "Your Highness, it's a carrier pigeon!"

Li Zhao spread out his palms.

The white dove landed meekly.

I saw a unique mailbox tied to its slender legs.

　Pigeons: It’s all up to me. Fly and fly, fly and fly. Two little bees, fly to the flowers. You gather your honey and I eat my food. Eat and eat, gather and gather…

　　(End of this chapter)