Full House Spring

Chapter 47 Favoring one and favoring another
Lu Zhiyao did not avoid her gaze when he heard that. Instead, he met her gaze, raised the corners of his lips slightly, and smiled slowly.

"Sister, have you forgotten that it was Yao Dizhu who had bad intentions towards you, which led to a series of accidents, and I am also a victim."

Lu Qinghe stared at her with eyes wide open, gritting his teeth and said:
"Since you knew to find someone to rescue me, why did you fall for it yourself? This doesn't make sense, does it?"

Lu Zhiyao blinked her innocent eyes and said logically, "Of course, the medicine entered my mouth a little later, so my sister had an attack first. What, was it wrong for me to risk my life to save you? Or does my sister want to be the Princess of Hui?"

Lu Qinghe said with disgust, "Who wants to be the concubine of Prince Hui? I just don't want to be used by you. You know that Concubine Shu is my aunt and our family is close to the Third Prince, but you still want to get involved with Prince Hui. Aren't you afraid of being deserted by everyone?"

Lu Zhiyao's face, which was as clear as the sky, suddenly became cloudy, and her smile disappeared. She said slowly, "Sister seems to have forgotten that I am a concubine's daughter who is not valued by the family. The Duke and the Madam will worry about your marriage. When I am eighteen or nineteen years old, I will be sent away by my stepmother at will. I have no right to choose at all."

Lu Qinghe was slightly stunned, and subconsciously retorted: "No, even if my aunt doesn't have a kind motherly heart, the old ancestor will not stand by and watch. You are too pessimistic."

Lu Zhiyao's mouth was curved with contempt, and her eyes seemed to be wrapped with knives. She said in a bad tone: "In the eyes of the old ancestor, we, her own granddaughters, are not as pleasing to her as the maids who serve her. When she is happy, she will call all of us to her side to tease us. If we make her unhappy, she will not even glance at us. How can she really care about us?"

Lu Qinghe's expression went blank for a moment. She wanted to refute Lu Zhiyao, but she didn't know how. Lu Zhiyao just looked at her leisurely.

After a long while, she had no choice but to compromise and said, "If you really know how to plan for yourself, you shouldn't choose King Hui. After you marry into King Hui's mansion, not only will my father and brother not support you, they will also draw a clear line between us. How can King Hui take you seriously if you are isolated and helpless?"

Lu Zhiyao could hear the concern in Lu Qinghe's words. The corners of her mouth slightly raised, and she said calmly: "I have chosen the path myself. Even if it is through mountains of swords and seas of fire, I have to go on. After all, I only have one life to lose."

Lu Qinghe's face was full of helplessness. She frowned and shouted at Xia Li in dissatisfaction: "Aren't you the smartest maid in front of the ancestor? Why don't you persuade her? Are you really going to watch her jump into the fire pit?"

Xia Li consciously blocked out the sound of the two people's argument. She was thinking about the mural on the wall. Suddenly, her name was called. She said blankly: "Didn't the emperor issue an order for this marriage? Can we disobey it?"

When she said this, Lu Qinghe was like a balloon that had its skin punctured, deflated all of a sudden. She looked back and forth between the two of them, and finally said resignedly:
"It seems that this matter is set in stone and there is no possibility of change. In this case, you two can give me some advice. It is said that three cobblers are better than Zhuge Liang."

Xia Li looked at her self-righteous appearance, and his eyes met with Lu Zhiyao's, revealing a tacit look between them, and then he said softly:

"What happened to you, young lady? I am a humble servant and my words are not influential. I may not be able to help you."

Lu Qinghe turned his head to look at her and sneered, "Fang Xiali, stop playing tricks on me. Everyone in the mansion knows what I'm thinking. Since you can help my second sister, you shouldn't be partial to one and neglect the other. You have to give me some advice so that I can become the third prince's consort."

Haha~ What a big tone she has. Xia Li was at a loss whether to laugh or be angry when looking at her expression.

"Thank you for your esteem. If I really had such great ability, I wouldn't be a servant now."

Lu Qinghe frowned and said unyieldingly:
"I just want you to help me think of a solution. It's just something that requires thinking. Why do you come up with so many excuses?"

After that, she looked at Lu Zhiyao again and said, "Second sister, you should understand what I mean. If you don't agree, it means you can't bear to see me doing well."

Lu Zhiyao held his forehead with his hand and said weakly, "What is the Duke's attitude towards this matter? What did my elder brother say?"

Lu Qinghe said with displeasure: "My father didn't express his opinion directly, but my eldest brother advised me to give up. However, this matter concerns my lifelong happiness, and no one's words will work."

Xia Li tactfully advised, "The prince will never harm you, you should listen to him. The Third Prince is not at peace, and Concubine Shu doesn't treat you as well as before, so why do you have to rush forward and suffer injustice?"

Lu Qinghe turned to look at Xia Li, with a cold look in her eyes. She said, "Then tell me, if I don't have the Third Prince in mind, who else can I marry? I am the eldest daughter of the Duke's Mansion, and I have been raised in luxury since I was a child. It is impossible for me to commit myself to an ordinary man."

Xia Li saw the pride and arrogance in her bones. In this feudal society, when the lives of the lower classes were worthless, it was understandable that a grown girl would think this way.

Xia Li replied solemnly, "It's not wrong for a young lady to want to be a superior person, but if your ability can't support this ambition, you will live a very painful life. There is no turning back in life, you should think carefully about it."

To Lu Qinghe, these words were tantamount to mocking her incompetence. She wanted to get angry, but when she met Xia Li's deep eyes, she immediately calmed down.

Lu Qinghe said dejectedly: "If you don't want to help, forget it, I will find a way myself..."

After she finished speaking, she walked out without looking back, her footsteps were hurried, as if someone was chasing her from behind. Lu Zhiyao said with a complicated expression:

"I don't know how the eldest wife taught her to develop such a perverse personality."

Xia Li smiled and did not comment. She said softly, "I will not tell a word of what the eldest lady said today. It is better to have less trouble than more. If the second lady has no other instructions, I should go back to work."

Lu Zhiyao nodded slightly and said with a faint smile: "Go and do your thing. I won't mention it to anyone else."

Xia Li bowed to her, then turned and left. She always kept to her duties and followed all the rules and etiquette. This did not mean that she had been assimilated or had a slave mentality in her bones. It was just a way for her to protect herself and avoid being criticized.

Xia Li stood with her back straight and her body light. She had just come out of the Second Miss's courtyard when she bumped into Zhao Xiaohui, whom she hadn't seen for a long time. Zhao Xiaohui was holding a box in her hand. She was now the head maid of the Fourth Miss and had quite a reputation in Chunshanju.

Seeing Xia Li, she paused slightly and said with a fake smile, "What a coincidence today. I didn't expect to run into Miss Xia Li. I'm very curious, why are you here, Miss?"

Xia Li had always been at odds with her. He glanced at her and said without any emotion, "Why I came here is none of your business. You should serve the Fourth Young Lady well. Don't ask about it for no reason. Otherwise, you might offend someone without knowing it."

Zhao Xiaohui's face changed slightly. Ever since they met, she never got along well with Xia Li. She always felt that she was upset and couldn't get it out. Whenever they met, she wanted to say something sarcastic.

"You are so secretive and dare not tell the truth. Could it be that you really have some ulterior motive? Oh~ You don't want to be the second young lady's companion and go to Prince Hui's mansion with her? After all, the old lady is old, and you are at the age of marriage, so you have to make plans for yourself." Xia Li was amused by her self-righteousness and said nonchalantly: "Why haven't you made any progress in the past few years? You come up with this idea yourself, and you think that others think the same way? You are really narrow-minded."

Zhao Xiaohui hated her self-righteous look the most. She gritted her teeth and said, "Isn't that what you were planning? We are all servants. It's not shameful to plan for yourself. Why can't you admit it?"

Xia Li didn't want to continue arguing with her. He glanced at the box in her hand and reminded her calmly, "You are here to do your job. Don't delay your work. If the fourth lady punishes you later, no one will speak for you. I have something else to do, so I'll leave first."

After Xia Li finished speaking, she ignored her and walked away. Zhao Xiaohui looked at her back and stomped her feet in anger. She always got into trouble when she met her.

Because of Xia Li's incident, Zhao Xiaohui couldn't be happy even though she received the reward from the Second Young Lady. When she returned to Chunshanju, she saw the Fourth Young Lady sitting at the desk painting.

Zhao Xiaohui walked lightly to the front of the fourth young lady, and waited until she finished the last stroke before she bowed and whispered softly, "Young lady, the second young lady really likes that ruby headpiece, and she even gave me a lot of money as a reward."

Lu Wanqiao hummed, her eyes lingering on the painting, not moving away, and said nonchalantly: "As long as Second Sister likes it, I'm glad. I used to be very distant from her, and now she's getting married. If I don't get close to her, I'm afraid there will be no chance in the future."

Zhao Xiaohui smiled and said, "No, although the second young lady was adopted into the eldest house, she is your biological sister. No one else can get past this relationship."

After Zhao Wanqiao admired the painting, he pressed it with a paperweight and said, "When the ink is dry, have someone send the painting out for framing. I want to hang this one up."

Zhao Xiaohui nodded in agreement. She took the hot towel handed to her by the maid and wiped the fourth girl's hands carefully. Lu Wanqiao said in a low voice, "Did the second sister mention our second room?"

Zhao Xiaohui frowned slightly and replied calmly, "The second young lady didn't mention it. She just said that if you are free, you can go and play with her. I heard the second young lady tell the maid in front of her that the eldest young lady had just left before I left."

Lu Wanqiao paused while applying the ointment on her hands. She asked with a puzzled look on her face, "Why is the eldest sister looking for the second sister? They have never met before."

Zhao Xiaohui said lightly: "It must be that the eldest girl couldn't bear to see the second girl marrying up, so she ran over to find fault."

Lu Wanqiao said unhappily: "How can you talk like that? Can you arrange things for the master as you please?"

Zhao Xiaohui quickly admitted her mistake and said, "I know I was wrong. Besides the eldest lady, Xia Li who was with the old lady also went to the second lady's place."

Lu Wanqiao's face was filled with more doubts. She murmured, "Why are they all going to my second sister's place? Could something have happened that I don't know about?"

Zhao Xiaohui took a look at her expression, and then said:

"I didn't see anything wrong. The Second Miss is still as gentle as before, but her status is different now, so everyone wants to be on good terms with her. For example, Xia Li might want to marry into the palace as a dowry for the Second Miss. She is very ambitious."

Lu Wanqiao was not a fool without a brain. She did not believe a word Zhao Xiaohui said. She turned her head and said with a half-smile:

"You probably don't know that before my second sister brought Manqing back, the first person she wanted was Xia Li. It was she who refused to go, and then the old lady let my second sister choose someone else."

Zhao Xiaohui's face turned pale and blue, like a clown. Lu Wanqiao bluntly said, "You are far inferior to Xia Libi. Instead of gossiping, you might as well learn from her."

Zhao Xiaohui felt very aggrieved and could only lower her eyes and agree respectfully. She didn't dare to say anything in front of Lu Wanqiao. After finally getting the end of her shift, she went home without looking back.

The same few families were still living in the back alley, but some of them had gained power in the government and had money to buy more land, so they expanded the area of their houses a little. Instead, the Zhao family's house seemed increasingly cramped.

As soon as Zhao Xiaohui arrived at the gate, she heard her mother arguing with her sister-in-law. This family had been like this for so many years, and she was almost numb. She pushed the door open expressionlessly and saw her mother sitting on the floor of the main hall, crying and cursing:

"It's such a misfortune for our family to marry such a jinx. She can neither give birth to an heir nor win the heart of a man. Now she even deducts the food rations of her mother-in-law. She is so heartless..."

When Mrs. Zhao saw her daughter coming back, she cried even harder and said loudly, "Xiao Hui, your sister-in-law is unfilial. Please help me..."

Zhao Xiaohui showed disgust, she had originally sided with her mother, but her mother was ignorant and gave all the family money to her brother to gamble. She and her sister-in-law worked in the mansion and did not come back for several days, and her mother and Dong Ge'er almost starved to death at home. Since then, she no longer sided with them.

Zhao Xiaohui looked around the room and didn't see her brother. Only her sister-in-law and Dong Ge'er were sitting in the main room eating dinner. Madam Lu glanced at her and said casually, "There's still some food in the pot in the kitchen. Go and put it in a bowl. Don't give it to mother."

Zhao Xiaohui nodded slightly, without asking what happened or paying any attention to her mother, letting her continue crying.

After she sat down, Dongger put the last piece of meat in his bowl into his aunt's bowl and said sensibly, "This meat is for you, my mother and I have already eaten it."

Zhao Xiaohui patted her nephew's head and was very fond of this little guy. Madam Lu put down her bowl and chopsticks and said in a deep voice:
"I plan to bring Dong Ge'er into the mansion and let him do some errands in the front yard. He can also practice martial arts with the guards. He will have a way out in the future."

Zhao Xiaohui frowned and asked, "Isn't it too small?"

Madam Lu sighed and said, "If you don't take him away now, I'm afraid your brother will get angry next time and really harm Dong'er."

Zhao Xiaohui saw that Dong Ge'er had a wound on his neck and knew that her brother must have done something stupid again. She was too lazy to ask any more questions. She sighed and said helplessly:

"If I had used my connections to work for the second young lady, I would have been able to rise to the top and pursue a career in the palace. But now the fourth young lady's marriage proposal has not made any progress, and I don't know when I can get through it."

Madam Lu subconsciously glanced at her bulging chest. This girl didn't look outstanding, but her body was well developed and really enviable.

(End of this chapter)