Union

Chapter 84 Ruizhu's Lies
Lin Shuqing feared nothing and no one, except her mother, the Lady of Chang'an.

Seeing her mother's stern face and sharp eyes, Lin Shuqing immediately felt intimidated.

But she was, after all, the youngest daughter of the Lady of Chang'an, and was the most pampered and indulged by her mother. When she saw her mother's serious expression, she was first afraid, but then she felt wronged.

She immediately burst into tears, "The people from the Rongguo Duke's Mansion bullied me, and instead of standing up for me, you interrogated me with all sorts of nonsense. Mother, am I really your biological daughter?"

"What nonsense are you spouting? Chen Yanzhou is your husband!" Lady Chang'an was so angry that her hands trembled. "If you weren't my biological daughter, I would have you beaten to death, you little wretch."

Now that things have come to this, there's no need for further questions. Just by looking at the little brat's expression, Lady Chang'an believed nine-tenths of Ruizhi's words.

However, the more Lady Chang'an believed Ruizhi's words, the more she felt devastated.

She had no idea what sins she had committed in her past life to deserve such a cursed daughter in this life.

She valued a maid more than her own husband, and even abandoned her husband's family to protect the maid!

Is this really the daughter she has carefully raised?
What kind of retribution is this for?

Lady Chang'an was so angry that her hands trembled and her head spun. She finally couldn't hold back and pointed at Lin Shuqing, who still didn't realize her mistake, saying, "You little beast, get back here!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Lady Chang'an let out a soft cry of pain, clutched her head, and slumped into the armchair.

Lady Chang'an Marquis suffered from headaches, and when the pain was severe, she felt as if she wanted to bang her head against the wall.

Because of this flaw of hers, she has always been very careful to cultivate her character and rarely gets angry.

But this time, she simply couldn't take it anymore and couldn't control herself.

Lady Chang'an clutched her head and cried out in pain. Seeing this, Lin Shuyu felt sorry for her mother, but was also alarmed by the mess her younger sister had made.

Seeing her younger sister still standing there as if nothing had happened, she was furious. Pointing at her, she said, "Go back to your courtyard and reflect on your actions. I'll deal with you when Mother gets better."

A group of people surrounded Lady Chang'an, and even the wife of the heir of the Chang'an Marquis's mansion was startled and ran over.

Lin Shuqing was worried that her father and brother would scold her when they returned, as things had escalated.

She naturally dared not stay at the Marquis's residence, but she also did not want to return to the Rongguo Duke's residence just like that. Finally, she thought of a place to go and asked the coachman to take her there directly.

Ruizhi followed closely behind her, and seeing her daughter get into the car, Ruizhi hurriedly tried to climb up as well.

Unfortunately, just as she climbed onto the carriage shaft, Lin Shuqing pushed her off.

"You little hussy who betrayed her master for personal gain, don't follow me anymore. I can't afford a maid like you."

Ignoring the fact that Ruizhi had bumped into the stool and a large bruise had instantly swelled up on her forehead, Lin Shuqing only told the driver to hurry up and leave.

The coachman was part of her dowry.

When Lin Shuqing was in the Rongguo Duke's Mansion, she initially used the Duke's carriage for travel. However, the Duchess did not manage affairs much, and most matters concerning household management required the approval of the Heir's wife.

Lin Shuqing didn't want to have people from the Duke's mansion with her every time she went out, because any little thing would reach her sister-in-law's ears. So she quickly used her dowry, and afterwards she mostly traveled by this carriage.

The carriage drove out of the alley where the Marquis of Chang'an's residence was located, and it looked like it was heading towards the Duke of Rong's residence.

Lin Shuqing suddenly spoke up, "Let's not go to the Duke's mansion, let's go to the dowry estate in the suburbs."

The driver paused upon hearing this, and stammered, "Miss, isn't this inappropriate?"

"What's wrong with that? Am I the girl or are you the girl? Who's in charge, me or you? Stop babbling and hurry up to the estate."

The timid coachman murmured twice and dared not argue further. He left the city before dark and took Lin Shuqing to her dowry estate.

At first, the estate only housed the steward's family. Later, when Ruizhu was punished, her parents and brothers were also sent to the estate.

Because Ruizhu has implicated her family in their work, she is now very unpopular with her family.

Sure enough, while having dinner, Ruizhu's parents started lecturing her again.

Ruizhu ate her rice in silence without saying a word, but her movements as she poked at the rice were fierce and ruthless, as if she wanted to poke a hole in the bowl.

Just as Ruizhu was pondering how to save herself, a commotion suddenly broke out on the estate. Listening closely, someone was shouting, "The young lady has come to the estate!"

There is only one person who can be called a girl.

Ruizhu immediately put down her chopsticks, rushed out like a madwoman, and ran to the carriage.

Just then, Lin Shuqing was crawling out of the carriage, preparing to get off. Ruizhu suddenly appeared, startling her, and she couldn't help but yell and curse.

But Ruizhu knelt down on the ground with a "plop" and said earnestly, "Miss, Miss, why did you come to the manor at this time? It's already dark outside. What if something happens to you? Miss, have you eaten? Are you tired? Would you like to wash up and rest first?" Ruizhu used to serve Lin Shuqing, and now that Lin Shuqing didn't have any maids with her, Ruizhu would naturally serve her.

When Ruizhu saw that Lin Shuqing had come to the manor alone, she naturally had her own thoughts. And being intelligent, and having figured out Lin Shuqing's personality, she quickly guessed what was going on.

Ruizhu immediately clenched her handkerchief, realizing she was in danger.

Now, the only one who can save her life is Lin Shuqing, who is standing right in front of her.

Thinking of this, Ruizhu served Lin Shuqing even more attentively.

First, they served her a bath, and then they had her own mother prepare a table full of food and serve Lin Shuqing her meal.

While attentively serving her, Ruizhu couldn't help but sob, "It must be because of me that the young lady has been implicated."

Lin Shuqing took a bite of the food and bit down hard, as if she wanted to crush someone's flesh.

She remained silent, and Ruizhu grew even more terrified. "Miss, why don't you sell me? Send me to the authorities. As long as you punish me severely, things will surely calm down. Miss, I'm willing to die so that you won't be punished."

Ruizhu knelt on the ground and kowtowed. Lin Shuqing stared intently at her feigned behavior, her eyes unusually deep.

When Ruizhu was sent back to her courtyard, she readily admitted to accepting the bribes. However, she had her reasons for doing so: she wanted to keep the county government's affairs firmly in her own hands.

According to Ruizhu, she herself didn't have much money, and the little money the young lady gave her had all been spent by her maids and servants.

Now that she's in charge, she has to find ways to make some money—after all, if you want your servants to obey, you have to let them see the benefits, which means giving them some sweet treats from time to time so they know that there's a future in following this master.

The reason she held onto the manager's position so tightly and bound everyone to her boat was because the Second Master was completely bewitched by that vixen Yunying.

She even overheard the Second Master saying that he wanted to first make Yunying his concubine, and then have her bear three or five children. After a few years, when he was transferred to the capital, he would divorce Lin Shuqing on the grounds that she had no children, and make Yunying his official wife.

This is Ruizhu's "pledge of allegiance".

Lin Shuqing did not disbelieve, but she did not believe it entirely either.

For example, Lin Shuqing didn't believe that Ruizhu attributed the acceptance of bribes to winning people's hearts and controlling Yunying. She was more convinced that Ruizhu had become greedy and wanted to enrich herself.

Lin Shuqing didn't believe Ruizhu's nonsense at all, but she believed that Chen Yanzhou must have really taken a fancy to Yunying, the girl she sent there, and even promised that after she gave birth to three or five children, he would kick her out as the first wife so that Yunying could have a place.

Lin Shuqing didn't care whether Chen Yanzhou lived or died, but she cared about her own dignity and honor.

She would not allow anyone, by any means, to challenge her dignity and status.

Even though she was quite impatient with her position as the second wife of the Rongguo Duke's mansion and longed to leave, until she did, the position was hers. Anyone, even Chen Yanzhou himself, who dared to covet this position, would suffer a terrible fate.

Lin Shuqing thought of Chen Yanzhou and Yun Ying, who were far away in Lingnan Prefecture. She wondered what they were planning to do right now, such as having a child and trying to get her to move out of the position. She gritted her teeth with hatred and wished she could just lift Yun Ying by the feet and sell that maid.

What a piece of trash! Give her some face and she really doesn't know her own worth.

She still wants to be the wife of the Duke's mansion; she'll have to wait until the next life.

Lin Shuqing was filled with hostility. She poked at the tofu in the bowl with her chopsticks until the tofu was completely mashed.

Chen Yanzhou was unkind to her, so how can she be blamed for being unjust to him?

This was only because she valued her reputation and didn't publicize Chen Yanzhou's plans to everyone; otherwise, the people from the Duke's mansion would have been humiliated in front of her.

They still want her to avenge Chen Yanzhou and deal with Ruizhu? Let them dream on.

Lin Shuqing's resentment intensified.

If malevolent energy had a color, she should be surrounded by billowing black smoke right now.

Lin Shuqing was completely unaware of the immense resentment she harbored; she only felt it was unfair and extremely wronged.

Feeling wronged, she inevitably had to find a way to vent her anger.

Lin Shuqing looked at Ruizhu and said, "I remember you have a brother. Have him make a trip to Lingnan Prefecture for me..."

Lin Shuqing asked Ruizhu to lean closer and whispered something in her ear.

Ruizhu was terrified when she heard Lin Shuqing's instructions.

Although she pinned all the blame on Second Master and Yunying to save her own life, she didn't think that Lin Shuqing, with her fiery temper and the way she and Second Master loathed each other, could see through her deception.

However, despite having considered everything, she never expected Lin Shuqing to be so crazy. She actually wanted her brother to personally go to Lingnan Prefecture to take the opportunity to tie up and sell Yunying to a dirty place.

(End of this chapter)