Xie Lian’s face flushed and his eyes turned red after being rudely rebuked by Qu Zhizhen.
“Do you think that once you enter the Qu Mansion, you will have nothing to do? Hold on to your dowry. If you have another child in the future, you will live a life of wealth and glory from now on.” Qu Zhizhen stared at Xie Lian with a cold look in his eyes.
Xie Lian had never experienced such a thing before, and he was so scared that he held back his tears. He said guiltily, "Master... Master... That's not what I meant..."
"No? Can you swear not to give birth to children in the future?" Qu Zhizhen sneered.
“I…I…” Xie Lian stood up, the blush on her face faded away and turned pale. How could she dare to make such a vow
If she has no offspring, what is the value of everything she has
She married Qu Zhizhen as his second wife because he was in his prime, had only one illegitimate son and no legitimate son. If she gave birth to a legitimate son, her position as the legal wife would be secure.
"You don't want to?" Qu Zhizhen said coldly.
“I… I don’t mean that. The Second Master is old and doesn’t have a legitimate son. The Second Young Master… The Second Young Master’s reputation is like this now…” Xie Lian stuttered at her glare. This was completely different from what she had thought when she came here before.
Didn't they talk about returning the dowry? Why did they talk about giving birth to a child
"Reputation? Even if Mingcheng's reputation is not good, it is still better than yours. Have you not yet realized that your reputation is not good?" Qu Zhizhen regretted more and more. He should have thought carefully at that time whether this Xie Lian was suitable. What he wanted was a helper with a clean background, not a drag.
His son was holding him back, and he was unable to react in time, which led to such a consequence. Now, the newly married helper is also holding him back. How can Qu Zhizhen not vomit blood
He has been hesitating these past few days, wondering whether he should be decisive and divorce the person
It was just that she was just married, so there was nothing wrong with it. Others thought that the dowry was his idea. Even though Xie's reputation was not good, he was implicated.
If I divorce her at this time, my reputation will not only not get better, but may even get worse.
But it didn't help him at all because Xie's reputation was not good.
Whenever he thought of this incident, Qu Zhizhen regretted it endlessly. He had always been decisive in his own affairs, and he had never regretted anything when it came to getting married. But now he really regretted it, regretting that he had promised too boldly at that time.
My mother was not happy with me, my elder brother and sister-in-law were also quite gossipy about me, not to mention my daughters, and my reputation outside...
“Master!” Xie Lian’s tears fell, and he looked up at Qu Zhizhen pitifully, “Master… I… I really don’t know what I did wrong… I… really didn’t do anything.”
Seeing her so useless, Qu Zhizhen took a deep breath and suppressed his restlessness: "Do you know... what you married into this family for?"
“I… know… I know that I must follow Master and help Master…” Xie Lian’s eyes were filled with tears. She was born thin to begin with, and now she looked even more pitiful, with a pretty face.
But such a beauty was nothing special in Qu Zhizhen's eyes. Both Xiao Yue and Yu were more beautiful than Xie Lian in front of him. Even Yu had a few more features than Xie Lian, as she had been a minister for many years.
The lady's demeanor is far beyond the reach of an orphan like Xie Lian.
"You really didn't help me at all." Qu Zhizhen couldn't help but sneer.
After he finished speaking, he realized that he had been a little impulsive. The Xie in front of him was really not a good person. Without waiting for Xie Lian to cry, he waved his hand and said, “When you have nothing to do, go to the East Palace more often, pay your respects to mother, and ask your eldest sister-in-law for advice on housekeeping. As for other matters, don’t worry about it.”
“But…” Xie Lian raised his tearful eyes.
"There's nothing to worry about. You have to remember that the reason you can marry me is not because of yourself, but because you are useful. If you don't even have this, what's the use of you?" Qu Zhizhen said in a cold voice.
Xie Lian was shocked, and his heart was filled with sorrow, but he had to suppress the grievance in his heart. With tears in his eyes, he took two steps forward to the desk, and tears fell one after another, "Master..."
"Why are you getting so close?" Qu Zhizhen raised his eyes and asked.
“I…I…want to ask about the Second Young Master’s matter…about the Second Young Master’s concubine…” Xie Lian was frightened and took a step back, stammering.
"Mingcheng's affairs have nothing to do with you. You just need to do your own thing. He will take care of his concubines, so you don't have to worry about them." Qu Zhizhen said unhappily. He put his hand on his forehead and remembered that Xu disappeared because of Xie Lian.
He didn't want to investigate the inner reasons behind this. It wasn't a good thing in the first place. It was ok for Mingcheng to use her to gain some good reputation.
“That matter… I was wronged…” Xie Lian cried out in injustice.
Qu Zhizhen said impatiently: "It's all over. What's the point of talking about it? Go back first and let this matter end here. You don't have to worry about Mingcheng anymore. Even if you are the stepmother, Mingcheng is still a grown-up stepson. The relationship between the two does not need to be too close, so as not to cause unnecessary gossip."
“I… I and the Second Young Master… how could this happen?” Xie Lian seemed to have been hit hard by someone, the sorrow on his face was frozen, he looked at Qu Zhizhen in disbelief, as if he had said something extraordinary.
"Why not? You lived in the mansion before, and then moved to Zhu's mansion... Now you deliberately messed up Mingcheng's concubine... This kind of thing is hard to explain." Qu Zhizhen paused here, "If rumors about this kind of thing really spread, I will definitely not tolerate you."
Xie Lian staggered and almost fell.
"Okay, go down now. Don't come here unless necessary. Just do your job in the inner courtyard. Since mother appreciates you, other people will naturally treat you well. Don't think about anything else. You have a bad reputation and you can't help me much." Qu Zhizhen reminded impatiently.
“I know.” Xie Lian wasn’t really stupid, he just felt a little drifting these days, feeling that his life had changed drastically and he could rest easy from now on. All the things he promised in the past were no longer possible.
Only now did she realize that she had been thinking too well.
Nothing of all the things around her went as she wished. She was supposed to marry into the family and become the wife of a Shangshu, but on the first day she was demoted to the wife of a Vice Minister. I heard that she committed a crime. I wonder what will happen next.
In the inner courtyard, the lady threw everything in the West Mansion back to her, and told her that she was busy with things and didn't need to go over to pay respects. At the time, she thought that the lady was considerate of her, but now she realized that this so-called everything was not considerate of her.
, just didn't like her at all and left her aside.
But why did this happen? Didn't the British princess like her very much? How could it be her fault
Even if she deliberately took advantage of the Princess of England, it was the Princess of England's tacit approval. It was the Princess of England herself who was useless and did not dare to explain the matter to the King of England. Now it is her fault again.
Xie Lian also felt a bit angry towards Qu Moying, thinking that she was also a person without good vision. How could she let her get so many things? Isn't this harming her
Thinking about Qu Moying's life experience again, he felt that he was not a knowledgeable person to begin with. There was a reason why he did such a thing. It was Yu who deliberately raised him to be so stupid, but why should he bear the consequences now, especially asking him to return those shops. Xie Lian was so angry that he almost fainted.
She got it by her own ability, so why should she return it? And she had to return it secretly so as not to hurt the reputation of the British Palace.
She was unwilling to give up. These were all hers and had already been given to her. Why should she spit them out
Qu Moying has been living quite comfortably these past few days as she is waiting for news of Duke Yu's return.
Duke Yu had come here with the envoys from the Northern Frontier. Seeing that they were about to enter the capital, what she had to do now was to let the Qu family "exploit" her even more.
For this purpose, Qu Moying specially sent a note to the Qu Mansion to the new wife, Mrs. Xie.
Xie took the note and went to see Qu Zhizhen. This time, Qu Zhizhen didn't even let him into the study. He just told her to be careful.
Nothing else was said.
Xie brought people to the Prince of Ying's mansion. Qu Moying had someone welcome her in. When he saw Xie, he couldn't help but ask in surprise, "How come you look so haggard after such a short time?"
“I…” Xie Lian covered her face and started crying. This was the first time someone cared about her after she got married.
The steward he saw on weekdays looked respectful, but in fact there was not much respect in his eyes. Xie was upset because he couldn't establish his authority.
"Mother?" Qu Moying tilted his head and looked at her in confusion.
Mrs. Xie couldn't help crying and complaining: "Because the princess added makeup to me, the princess was scolded, I... I really can't bear it, I feel uncomfortable, and I have no appetite."
"This matter... has passed, and those shops have been returned to us!" Qu Moying sighed.
"But the master still blames me. People outside are still saying that I... am greedy. It was obviously the princess who added it for me. I didn't ask for it, but others say that I... am just greedy." Xie finally found someone to talk to, and poured out all the bitterness she had been feeling for a while.
After saying that, he looked at Qu Moying expectantly.
"Don't worry, mother. I will clarify this matter for you later, but now... our prince still needs me to explain it clearly." Qu Moying knew what she expected and sighed again.
"But now... what should we do?" Xie didn't dare to force Qu Moying to explain.
"Mother, there is actually a solution." Qu Moying thought about it, her eyes suddenly lit up, and a smile appeared under her long eyelashes. It was obvious that she had an idea.
"Is there any good idea?" Xie had been in a state of panic recently, with no one to help her. How could she not be surprised to hear Qu Moying say that there was an idea...