My husband, who abandoned his father and kept his son, actually wants me to be his concubine.

Chapter 21 Unfilial Stepmother
Upon hearing Lu Jinshi's words, Rong Yi was speechless for a moment. Indeed, he could not prove that Zhang'er was his child.

Seeing Rong Yi's expression, Lu Jinshi said coldly, "Get out of the carriage now and don't slander my reputation again. If you dare to impersonate the father of my child again, don't blame me for sending you to the government office."

Rong Yi laughed in anger, gripping Lu Jinshi's chin tightly and saying, "If you treat me like this now, aren't you afraid that Zhang'er will ask you about his father when he grows up?"

Lu Jinshi slapped Rong Yi's hand and raised an eyebrow slightly, saying, "I found Zhang'er an extremely wealthy stepfather. Zhang'er will definitely not resent me when he grows up."

Rong Yi asked, "Stepfather?"

Lu Jinshi looked at Rong Yi with hatred in her eyes, "Yes, I have found a good stepfather for Zhang'er. He comes from a richer family than you, and his character is far superior to yours. He has sworn that he will only have me as his wife in this life. He is much better than you, who are heartless, hypocritical, and worse than a beast, and actually wanted me to be your concubine and take my child away."

Rong Yi was at a loss for whether to be angry or amused.

Lu Jinshi said, "We're almost at the academy, you should go out now."

When Rong Yi stopped bothering Lu Jinshi, he got off the carriage.

Rong Yi watched the carriage depart, and he was quite looking forward to seeing what kind of expression Lu Jinshi would have when she learned that he was the Seventh Prince.
When Rong Yi arrived at the academy, Lu Jinshi was already lecturing on Yuan Fei's articles in the classroom. After finishing Yuan Fei's articles, Lu Jinshi began to lecture on Zuo Zhuan.

Rong Yi had learned Zuo Zhuan from many teachers. Even though Lu Jinshi's explanation of Zuo Zhuan was more thorough than those of his previous teachers, he was still too familiar with it. He became somewhat bored and just stared at the back of Lu Jinshi's ear, his mind wandering.

When Lu Jinshi met Rong Yi's gaze, he flicked Rong Yi's head hard with his finger. "Do I have words on my face? Why are you looking at me? Go read a book!"

"Why did you hit... my brother Rong again!"

Jiang Yin stood up defiantly.

Xu Yang also said, "Brother Rong, you can't spoil this woman! Even if she is your senior sister, temporarily taking over the role of teacher, how can she keep hitting your head again and again?"

Rong Yi said slowly, "It's alright."

Lu Jinshi frowned slightly. After putting down the Zuo Zhuan in her hand, she said, "I have something to do this afternoon, so I'll leave school half an hour early today."

Rong Yi raised his eyes and asked, "What brings you this afternoon?"

Lu Jinshi ignored Rong Yi, packed up the books on his desk, and went straight to the Prince An's residence.

Rong Yi felt something was very wrong. Lu Jinshi rarely dressed up. Rong Yi remembered that the last time she wore such exquisite makeup was when they first met.

Lu Jinshi usually prefers a simple and plain style. Her grandfather has just passed away, so why is she dressed up so flamboyantly? I wonder where she is going.
Rong Yi then decided to go with him.

Yuan Fei, who was standing to the side, said, "Brother Rong, today is Princess Yongjia's twenty-fourth birthday banquet. Would you like to attend?"

Rong Yi said, "I forgot that today is my elder sister's birthday, so I should go."
-
After arriving at the Prince An's residence, Lu Jinshi took a carriage from the Prince An's residence to Princess Yongjia's birthday banquet.

Lu Jinshi learned about Princess Yongjia from his two cousins.

Emperor Huiyuan had only one daughter, Princess Yongjia, who was exactly twenty-four years old this year.

Princess Yongjia's husband is Yuan Jie, the heir of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion. They have been married for six years, but Princess Yongjia has not yet conceived.

Upon arriving at the entrance of the princess's residence, one is greeted by a multitude of exquisite carriages and sedan chairs.

As Lu Jinshi and his two cousins ​​entered the princess's residence, they saw many young ladies from wealthy families coming to greet them.

"Princess, who is this lady?"

Yuan Yunjiao looked at Lu Jinshi in front of her and asked Lu Yiran.

Lu Yiran smiled gently and said, "This is my cousin, Lu Jinshi."

“Cousin, this is Yuan Yunjiao, the younger sister of Prince Consort Yuan.” Yuan Yunjiao nodded to Lu Jinshi: “Miss Lu.”

Lu Jinshi nodded to Yuan Yunjiao and said, "Hello, Miss Yuan."

As Lu Jinshi entered, he overheard several young ladies gathered together discussing his relationship with the Seventh Prince.

"So, it turns out that the one engaged to the Seventh Prince wasn't He Jinlan? Then why does He Jinlan always act like she's the Seventh Prince's fiancée?"

"The eldest daughter of the He family is actually someone else. It's just that Princess Mingzhu took her to the countryside back then, and they haven't returned to Chang'an for more than ten years. In these ten years, everyone has accepted that the eldest daughter of the He family is He Jinlan."

“Since the real eldest daughter of the He family grew up in the countryside, how can she be qualified to be the Seventh Prince’s consort? This marriage is betrothal to He Jinlan.”

"Which of the Seventh Prince's brothers, all of whom are princes, did not have a wife who was born into a noble family and raised in a prestigious manner? This Princess Mingzhu's daughter grew up in the countryside and is probably not worthy of being the Seventh Prince's wife."

"Furthermore, I heard that the other day, that Miss He was so arrogant that she kicked her stepmother and sister out of Jin Garden, and even demanded 15,000 taels of silver from her own sister. It's clear that she's from the countryside and has no sense of propriety. How could the Seventh Prince possibly marry her as his princess?"

Hearing the conversation of the young ladies, Lu Yiying stepped forward and said, "Sun Xian, your family has always prided itself on its literary tradition and considers itself a family of scholars. How dare you, as the daughter of the Minister of Rites, speak of my cousin like that?"

Sun Xian never expected that her whispers behind her back would be overheard by Lu Yiying. She was not afraid and said, "If your cousin dares to do it, why can't I say anything? Your cousin is very short-sighted. She bullied her stepmother and younger sister for 15,000 taels of silver, disregarding filial piety and sisterly affection."

Lu Yiying was furious.

Lu Jinshi walked up to Sun Xian and asked, "Miss, may I ask if your father has any concubines? Do you have any half-sisters?"

Sun Xian frowned slightly and said, "Why are you asking this?"

Lu Jinshi chuckled lightly: "You're quite the opportunist. Would you mind letting your father's concubine and your half-sister live in the mansion you live in? Would you mind letting your half-sister sleep on the bed that your maternal grandparents prepared as dowry for your mother?"

Sun Xian frowned and said, "Who are you? You keep talking about being born out of wedlock. Don't forget that Princess Yongjia in this princess's mansion was also born out of wedlock. Only low-class families would value legitimate and illegitimate children!"

Lu Jinshi said, "I am the shallow-minded eldest daughter of the He family that you mentioned."

Sun Xian and the other young ladies around her looked at Lu Jinshi's appearance with some surprise.

Lu Jinshi looked at Sun Xian and said, "You just said that I disrespect my stepmother and that I am not filial. Tell me, would you be filial to a woman who has an affair with a married man and has a child out of wedlock? Liu Xiuxiu colluded with a married man, got pregnant out of wedlock, and drove my mother away. If I were to be filial to her, I would be the greatest unfilial person to my mother!"

"Jinyuan was prepared for me by my mother, and that nanmu bed was part of my mother's dowry. Liu Xiuxiu and He Jinlan, mother and daughter, have been usurping my place for eighteen years. How can it be called short-sighted when I take back what rightfully belongs to me?"
Since you criticize me so vehemently, you must be virtuous enough to give your mother's dowry to your aunts and sisters. Why not have all the sisters witness this today, and then give your mother's dowry to them? That would show you're not short-sighted and that you have deep sisterly affection.

Sun Xian's face turned pale and then red, and she said with tears in her eyes, "Miss He, even if you grew up in the countryside and don't know the rules, you shouldn't be so aggressive. No matter what, the wife of the Marquis of Yongxing is your stepmother. You are an unfilial stepmother."

Upon seeing Sun Xian in tears, several daughters of officials who were on good terms with her rushed forward to comfort her.

"Sister Xian, don't cry, this is not your fault."

“Miss He, Miss Sun is right. A stepmother is still a mother. How can you be so unfilial?”

"Miss He, how can you speak of Miss Sun like that?"

Seeing that all the young ladies were defending her, Sun Xian cried even more pitifully, "Miss He, I only wanted to teach you some rules of Chang'an because you came from the countryside. Why do you take my kindness for granted and treat me so aggressively?"

Lu Jinshi raised his hand and slapped Sun Xian, who was pretending to cry.

Amidst everyone's astonishment, Lu Jinshi slowly spoke, "Rules? Today I'll teach you what rules are. What do you mean by shedding tears at Princess Yongjia's birthday banquet?"

"Furthermore, does Liu Xiuxiu even deserve the title of Lady of the Heir Apparent of the Marquis of Yongxing? Or does Miss Sun think that a woman of such questionable character is worthy of being addressed as 'Lady'?"

(End of this chapter)