Chapter 18: Forcing a Marriage with a Flat Wife

  The Second Mistress was stopped by Zuo Xiang's loud shout, and with a head full of cold sweat, she turned to look at Lei Ce Fei, pleading for help, "Sister..."

  Lei Ce Fei's face also looked somewhat unsightly, but her expression was calm, she just lowered her eyes and took a sip of tea, saying: "Yue Xin herself had agreed..."

  "Did Second Sister agree to this herself? Isn't Consort Shifei afraid of being ridiculed by others for saying such a thing?" Chu Jinyang said, her eyes flashing with a hint of moisture, looking completely like an innocent young girl, but the words that came out of her mouth were sharp and left no room for compromise. "Father entrusted the management of the rear courtyard to Consort Shifei not just to control the finances and manage household chores, but also to teach us children etiquette and discipline. Did Second Sister agree to this herself? As Madame Fang just said, can Second Sister really afford to answer casually when it comes to matters of marriage?"

  This big hat came down, it was said that Leisi's wife deliberately made trouble and refused to teach the daughters born in the house well.

  Lei Ce Fei's face turned cold, and she suddenly realized that she had let Chu Mianyang lead her into digging a hole for herself with just one careless move, and now she couldn't even find a ladder to climb out.

  Chu Yu Yao, relying on her identity as the eldest young mistress of a large manor, had always looked down on others. Now that she saw Chu Mo Yang dare to openly defy her and even made her own mother lose face, she was not willing to let it go.

  She slammed her hand on the table and stood up, pointing at Chu Nianyang and scolding: "You're being too presumptuous! Empress Dowager is your elder, even if she did something wrong, it's not for you to criticize. Chu Nianyang, don't think that just because Father dotes on you, you can be impudent and disrespect Empress Dowager. If you continue to be rude to her, don't blame me for being unkind to you."

  Arrogant and domineering, looking down on others!

  As expected, it's the usual style of a noble young lady!

  Chu Nanyang also spoke in a cold tone, "I was just about to say that, Young Master's wife, please restrain yourself and do not interfere with the internal affairs of our Eastern Palace without distinction!"

  Her sudden change in addressing Chu Yu Yao shocked everyone.

  The atmosphere in the room suddenly froze.

  Chu Yu Yao's eyes widened in shock, and she stared blankly for a moment before bursting out laughing incredulously. "Chu Xiu Yang, what do you mean by that? I'm also Father's daughter, your elder sister... you... you..."

  She said and got a little angry and out of breath.

  Chu Sunyang didn't care whether she was angry or sulking, and calmly looked at her saying: "If I'm not mistaken, when you got married, Father once said that unless it's a holiday, before he summons you, you're not allowed to set foot in the East Palace again, right? It's only been two years now, have you already forgotten your father's words? Moreover, not only that, but you also dared to ask for another one of Father's daughters, are you not satisfied with losing face back then?"

  Chu Yu Yao's face changed color, her feet stumbled and she took a step back, her tense voice trembling as she said: "You - you -"

  But couldn't form a sentence, couldn't say a complete sentence, pinched the corner of a small table next to him, and was embedded in it.

  The second wife's eyes rolled around, and at that time she only knew that Chu Yi'an was dissatisfied with the marriage between Pingguo Gongfu and Chu Yuexiao, but now it seems that this matter should be far from as simple as it appears on the surface, perhaps...

  Is there another inside story?

  And just looking at Chu Yu Yao's expression at this time ——

  I'm afraid it's still something that can't be seen by others.

  As for meddling in other people's private affairs and adding insult to injury, the second lady had always been tireless, and upon hearing this, she pretended to take Chu Yuexiao's side, saying in a soft voice: "The eldest young miss of the mansion is the daughter of the duke, how could the crown prince say such things without reason? There must be some misunderstanding."

  This woman is already struggling to save herself, yet she still has the nerve to play tricks and try to get something out of her own mouth.

  Chu Youyang would never bother with her anyway.

  Lei Ce's wife had completely calmed down by then and spoke up, "Yao'er, you're also at fault. Zhenyang said a couple of extra words for the sake of the young master's reputation. What's the big deal about a family member quarreling in private? Don't make a mountain out of a molehill."

  As they spoke, he had already grasped one of Chu Yu Yao's hands and subtly shook his head at her.

  In fact, she and Chu Yu Yao are the same in their hearts, both intuitively disbelieving that Chu Xiao Yang would know the inside story of what happened back then, because after all it's a family scandal, and even if Chu Yi An dotes on this little girl, he wouldn't tell her about such things.

  But Chu Zhaoyang's words were solemn and earnest, and didn't seem like an empty threat. What if she really knew something?

  Lei Ce Fei and Chu Yue Yao both didn't dare take this risk, so they could only compromise.

  For the time being, Chu Yu Yao was placated, and Lei Ce Fei smiled again as she looked at Chu Xiao Yang, "Xiao Yang, just now——"

  "The young mistress of the Pingguo Duke's estate, you haven't answered my question yet." Chu Nanyang didn't pay attention to her and directly asked Chu Yuexiao, "You said it was your idea before, wanting to send Second Sister to the Pingguo Duke's estate as a concubine?"

  Chu Yu Yao was afraid that she had already fallen into her hands, and for the time being, even if she was unhappy in her heart, she could only grit her teeth and temporarily tolerate it, not daring to clash with her head-on.

  Chu Yuexin herself was not a good match, and the second lady knew that she couldn't hold up the family's reputation. She sincerely felt that being able to become the wife of Ping Guo Gong's son was already a great blessing for her. At this time, she couldn't help but speak out, "Young mistress, aren't you speaking too seriously? In the past and present, there have been many cases of sisters serving the same husband in noble families, and many of them have been passed down as beautiful stories. Sisters living in harmony is actually not a bad thing."

  Because of Chu Nianyang's attitude, she didn't dare say clearly that she wanted to send Chu Yuexin to Pingguo Gongfu.

  This shallow woman really doesn't know when to stop until she hits a dead end.

  "What's meant by 'sisterly love' isn't something that can be achieved just by saying it." Chu Jiongyang seemed to have compromised, unknowingly softening his tone, with a hint of a smile at the corners of his lips as he looked at Chu Yuexiao, "If you, the young master's wife, are truly considering sisterly affection, then why not directly use the rites of equal wives to bring your second sister over?"

  The eyes of the two wives lit up, while Chu Yuexin was shocked, and both of them turned their heads to look at Chu Yuexiao without saying a word.

  A flash of anger flickered in Chu Yu Yao's eyes, her resentment unrelenting.

  She wanted to use Chu Yue Xing in the past, only because she valued this concubine's gentle and easy-to-control personality, wanting to borrow her womb to give birth to a son. As for the so-called promise of being a co-wife, it was just a trick proposed by Lei Ce Fei to entice the two women. She wasn't stupid, how could she possibly add trouble to herself for no reason?

  Chu Nanyang, however, was completely oblivious to the annoyance in her eyes and simply repeated his question: "How about it? As long as you nod your head, I will go persuade Father to ask for an imperial decree of marriage from the Emperor, giving you both a good reputation!"

  Digression

  "Hmm, it seems like my Xīn Bǎo is quite skilled at digging holes and tunnels. First, let's give each of the mother-daughter duo a shovel to fill in the dirt and see if they can be completely buried ╭(╯3╰)╮"