Ask the Nine Ministers

Chapter 30: End of Love
In the past two years, Xue Qingzhi's favorite was Aunt Zhao. He seldom came to Fu's courtyard. He only came twice a month symbolically, usually to have a meal, ask about the children's homework, and leave at night.

As the saying goes, when two cases are placed side by side and one eye is raised, they become tired of each other.

Mrs. Fu's face looked extremely ugly. No matter what Xue Yueying said, she stared at her husband without blinking and sneered slightly.

"Master, you are the Minister of Justice, and you are eavesdropping?"

"Fu." Xue Qingzhi's tone was cold, his eyes were so cold that he seemed to want to eat her, and each word was more vicious than the last: "We have been married for 26 years, and I didn't know that you were such a vicious woman with a heart of a snake and a scorpion!"

"Evil woman?" Fu knew that he had heard everything that had just been said.

He also knew that Xue Qingzhi would not report these scandals to Jingzhao Prefecture.

He only lives his life on one face.

A couple who have fallen out are still husband and wife.

Even though they had fallen out, she was still the one Xue Qingzhi married in a formal ceremony, carried home in a sedan chair carried by eight men. She was not comparable to those lowly and lowly vixens.

Fu sneered, not even looking at Xue Qingzhi's expression, brushed her sleeves, and sat back in her chair, her posture a little more upright than before.

"May I ask, sir, who is not poisonous? Is it Liu, who followed you back home despite having no status or position, or the Hu Ji you brought back from the brothel? Or is it Lin, who clearly liked someone else and refused to marry you, but was forced by you to be your concubine - her biological mother?"

"How dare you!" Xue Qingzhi said sternly.

Fu smiled and glanced at Xue Yueying who was crying silently.

"I raised your daughter with good intentions, loving her like a precious treasure, but in the end, she stabbed me in the back, took my purse, and framed me. You didn't ask her to kill your third brother, but you asked me, a slandered housewife, what crime I committed? Is this how a minister should be?"

Xue Qingzhi was stunned for a moment and became extremely angry.

"Fu, as the mistress of the Xue Mansion, you should be careful with your words."

"I have already been convicted by the master, what sense of propriety do I need to keep?"

After saying this, Fu stood up and slowly walked in front of Xue Qingzhi. She looked up at his furious face and smiled faintly.

"I have been married to you for twenty-six years. In order to maintain the dignity of the Xue family, for your official reputation, and for the worthless title of the eldest lady, I have endured humiliation and lived in fear for twenty-six years."

A cold smile appeared at the corner of Fu's lips.

"Master, do you still remember what you said in front of my parents when you married me? You said that since you were marrying into the Marquis's family, you would definitely treat me well and never let me suffer any injustice. Over the years, you have brought people to the back house one by one. Are you worthy of me and those rotten-tongued oaths of yours?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the room fell silent.

Including Xue Sui and Xue Yueying who was wiping her tears.

Fu had always regarded herself as the legitimate daughter of a noble family and the matriarch of a prestigious household. When had she ever been so disrespectful as to contradict her husband?

It seems that he is really determined to go all out.

Xue Qingzhi looked at her with a cold face and said nothing.

Slowly, the arrogance dissipated.

"Someone, come! Send the fourth young lady back to Liuli Pavilion. You are not allowed to come out without my order."

Xue Yueying collapsed on the blue bricks and stones, tears streaming down her face.

"I miss my mother...Father, I miss my mother..."

Whenever Xue Qingzhi talked about her biological mother, his heart would soften.

But this time, Xue Qingzhi did not turn around. He let Xue Yueying pull the corner of his robe hard to beg for mercy, but he remained motionless, staring at Fu with cold eyes.

"And you, this vicious woman..."

He paused, thought deeply, and then closed his eyes coldly.

"I will not divorce you. From now on, I will never set foot in Qinglan Courtyard again. You and I are no longer husband and wife."

After saying this, Xue Qingzhi turned away.

Xue Yueying cried bitterly, and with the help of two maids, she went out weeping.

Xue Sui took a look at her aggrieved and resentful look, smiled slightly, and slowly bowed to the cold Fu.

"Madam, it's getting late and the dew is heavy. You should rest early. Goodbye!"

"Xue Liu." Fu looked at the thin woman in front of her, "I underestimated you."

Xue Sui smiled, walked to the door, and waved to Xiao Zhao to bring in the soup bowl in her hand.

"Madam has misunderstood."

She handed the soup bowl to Fu, her eyes dark but her smile sincere.

"Grandmother said that the Madam had worked hard all night and had been wronged, so she asked me to bring a bowl of soup to help her calm down. Who knew she would hear this?"

Fu was angry: "Do you think I will believe your nonsense?"

Xue Sui put down the soup bowl with a smile, "It's stewed in my grandmother's small kitchen. It's not poisonous, drink it without worry."

Her voice was soft and there was no malice in her voice. She looked like a weak girl of seventeen or eighteen. How scheming could she be?

However, after suffering such a huge loss, the Fu family will no longer be naive.

"If I had known this would happen, I shouldn't have been soft-hearted and let you live."

Xue Sui stopped walking for a long while, then slowly turned around to look.

Her eyes were so dark that the candlelight could not penetrate them, and they were as deep as an abyss.

"Madam, why are you so anxious?" She raised the corners of her lips slowly, and blinked her dense eyelashes, lightly but incomparably cold and sharp, "I have come back to honor you, haven't I? You must take care of yourself."

With her eyes slightly curved, she bowed and left.

It took Fu a long time to react. He stared at the straight back and cursed softly.

"Disaster Star, why didn't you die outside...why don't you just die!"

She regretted obeying her daughter's words and bringing this bad seed back from the Old Mausoleum Swamp.

Without her, so much shit wouldn't have happened.

Fu regretted his decision.

Weeping uncontrollably.
-
That night, Jinshu came to Lixiangyuan and brought a message from Tianshu to Xue Sui.

"Girl, the eldest master has taken care of everything."

Xue Sui felt relieved.

Uncle San seems to be a non-starter on the surface, but once you really let him do some serious work, he unexpectedly thrives like a fish in water.

She smiled and called Lingyu over to give Li Zhao a letter.

"The leader of the Laojun Mountain bandits has been eliminated. If you lend a helping hand, it will only be a reward."

The last time Li Zhao captured You Zhimu, he did not cause any trouble to Xue Sui afterwards and dealt with the body very cleanly himself, so much so that Li Huan almost turned the Jingzhao territory upside down but still could not find the person.

The gang of evil men in Laojun Mountain had repeatedly provoked Li Zhao, so she took this opportunity to get rid of them, not dirtying the Crown Prince's hands and saving him from future troubles...

All the damned ones are dead, and there is no evidence anymore.

Jinshu watched her release Lingyu and said calmly, "Madam and the fourth young lady have fallen on hard times this time. They didn't let the young lady spend any effort, but they exposed their shortcomings and showed their true colors in front of the master..."

Xue Sui glanced at her and said, "People's hearts are like scales, with closeness and distance as weight. Those who are partial will eventually be partial."

Jinshu sighed silently.

The fourth girl committed such a serious crime, so she should just be put under house arrest.

"Isn't the master's heart biased? If he had been more compassionate to the girl, why would it have come to this?"

"No need." Xue Sui narrowed his eyes slightly, and said in a cold tone: "Rather than pity, I would rather they crawl at my feet and beg me."

Jinshu smiled and did not continue the topic, but said: "The eldest son said that it is inconvenient at the moment, so he will not see the girl."

The smile on Xue Sui's face finally faded.

Does the eldest brother still blame her, abandon the imperial envoy, and return to the capital for revenge?
After Jinshu left, light rain began to fall from the sky.

Xue Sui opened the window and looked at the sky covered with rain and fog, then told Ruyi and Xiaozhao to help her wash up.

Just after I lay down in bed for a while, I heard the cooing of pigeons outside the window.

Xue Sui put on his clothes and brought Lingyu into the house. He spent some time with it and then took out the mailbox it had brought back.

"Every move you make is ruthless. Will your ambition grow bigger and bigger and eventually become uncontrollable?"

Xue Sui's heart trembled.

She wrote to Li Zhao that day to inform him in advance that she was going to take action.

After all, the Eastern Palace had discovered the Hongfu Casino, so it was only a matter of time before Prince Duan discovered it.

She needed Li Zhao to mediate and confuse Prince Duan so that she could fish in troubled waters.

As she became more entangled with the Eastern Palace, Li Zhao could not hide what she did.

But it was obvious that Li Zhao knew much more than just the matter of Xue Qingxiu.

He knew more. He even became suspicious of her, thinking she had some plans...

This kind of suspicion is not a good thing.

Li Zhao had a strange personality and was moody. His many years as a crown prince also made him extremely vigilant. Once he sensed a crisis, he would turn around and attack her!

At night, Xue Sui had a nightmare.

The dream was filled with Li Zhao's bloody dagger, flashing coldly in front of her, as if it was going to cut her throat.

I sat up in bed at dawn, covered in cold sweat.

She frowned and thought for a moment, then ground some ink and picked up a pen, wrote a letter and gave it to Lingyu.

"I only remember your kindness accompanying me, and I am determined to live forever."

Lingyu flew back after lunch. He had been there for a long time and the mailbox was empty.

　Li Zhao: Am I making an appearance now, or am I still staying behind the scenes?

　　Eunuch Laifu: Your Highness, you are still holding the lute and half covering your face...

　　(End of this chapter)