Chapter 37 Disgusting, like eating shit

Ever since the notice incident, Uncle Qingshan felt his mind was in a constant state of confusion. He knew this wasn't right, and he tried to calm himself down and think things through.

Even after he calmed down, he still felt that he couldn't fully control the situation. He was always in a passive position, being led by the nose by Jiang Yu of the Duke of Chu's mansion.

He wanted to change this situation, but no matter how hard he racked his brains, he couldn't figure out a perfect way to break this deadlock. Were they really going to just suffer this loss? Were they really going to let the Qingshan Marquis's mansion and the Imperial Concubine become a laughingstock in the entire capital?

He was unwilling to accept it.

But what can you do if you're unwilling to accept it?

What he didn't know was that this was exactly the result Jiang Yu wanted—to make him focus on solving the immediate problem and ignore the important details.

Uncle Qingshan looked at Qi Yuanhong with a sinister gaze and said, "What do you think we should do now?"

Qi Yuanhong inwardly scoffed. At this point, the Emperor had already issued an edict; what could he do? But on his face, he remained respectful, saying, "This student does not know."

"Hmph!" Uncle Qingshan snorted heavily, and Qi Yuanhong lowered his head and pretended to be a quail.

At this moment, Su Yuezhen spoke up, "Grandfather, I don't want to be beaten. Let my maid Hongxing take my place. Her build is similar to mine. Let her wear my clothes, and we can bribe the executioner to cover it up easily."

Qingshanbo's mind, which had calmed down, suddenly flared up again. He roared at Su Yuezhen, "When you are executed tomorrow, the people below will be ordinary people who don't even know you!"

"Let me tell you, everyone from the Duke of Chu's mansion will be there, as will the Marquis of Jiangling's mansion, the Marquis of Cheng'en's mansion, and even the young ladies who were on good terms with you in the past. Do you think they won't see through your act? If they find out, that's the crime of deceiving the emperor. Do you want our Qingshan Earl's mansion to be wiped out?"

"What should we do then?" Su Yuezhen was worried about her execution the next day, and she didn't care about Uncle Qingshan's angry attitude. She cried and said, "Anyway, I don't want to be beaten in public at the execution ground. I'd rather die than be beaten like that."

"Then go die!" Uncle Qingshan picked up the teacup beside him and smashed it hard at Su Yuezhen's feet with a loud crack.

The room fell silent. Uncle Qingshan, rubbing his aching head, waved his hand dismissively and said, "Get out, all of you, get out."

Su Yuezhen glanced cautiously at Uncle Qingshan, then glared fiercely at Qi Yuanhong, before turning and striding out. Uncle Qingshan's wife offered a few words of concern to him, then left with her son and daughter-in-law. Qi Yuanhong, seeing this, also bowed and withdrew.

Upon reaching the door, he saw Lady Qingshan looking at him with a restrained expression. Qi Yuanhong bowed to her, and Lady Qingshan looked at him for a moment before saying, "I will find a date as soon as possible so that you and Yuezhen can get married."

Qi Yuanhong was shocked. Even now, how could his marriage with Su Yuezhen still go through?

Before he could say anything, Su Yuezhen, who had just reached the courtyard gate, turned back angrily and said, "I will never marry a poor wretch like him, even if you beat me to death."

"If you don't marry him, who will you marry?" Lady Qingshan was also furious. "You've been having an affair in your maiden quarters, and tomorrow you'll be flogged at the execution ground. If you don't marry him, who else can you marry?"

These words made Su Yuezhen blush with embarrassment, while Qi Yuanhong felt utterly disgusted, as if he had eaten shit. But what could he do in the face of power? He could only endure it, even if it made him look like a turtle.

He hurriedly bowed to Lady Qingshan and left. Lady Qingshan and Su Yuezhen's parents then went to comfort Su Yuezhen...

......

The Duke of Chu's mansion was peaceful and harmonious. Jiang Yu and Cheng Yunxiu were both in Lu Yifang's courtyard, and the three of them were sitting together talking.

Cheng Yunxiu was a straightforward person, and she told Lu Yifang about her marriage to Jiang Mingchang years ago:

“My family was poor, and I was just a girl. We didn’t know where our next meal would come from. When I was fourteen, a matchmaker from the town came to my house to arrange a marriage for me. She said he was the only son of the Jiang family, who owned a general store in town.”

My family and I couldn't believe it, but the Jiang family presented a dowry of fifty taels of silver in front of my parents, and we had no choice but to believe it. Later, after I married into the Jiang family, I learned that my husband was timid, incapable of handling responsibility, and most importantly, infertile.

My in-laws had seen me fight and thought I was a capable person, so they asked a matchmaker to come to my house to arrange a marriage.

Hearing this, Lu Yifang's face showed heartache. Then Cheng Yunxiu said, "But the good thing is that my parents-in-law are good people. Although my husband isn't very reliable, he has a good temperament and knows how to care for people. Since I married into the Jiang family, everything I eat, wear, and use is better than before. Why shouldn't I live a good life?"

My in-laws and husband treated me even better because they saw that I was a down-to-earth person. Later, we had Yu'er, and our family lived harmoniously. Although we weren't rich, we had enough to eat and drink, and I really felt that life was good.

After hearing her words, Lu Yifang smiled and said, "Big sister, you are a person of great wisdom."

Cheng Yunxiu waved her hand dismissively, "What great wisdom? It's just about trying to make a good life. Every family has its ups and downs; you just have to grit your teeth and get through it."

She looked at Jiang Yu and said, "Yu'er is fine as she is now. It's just a divorce, isn't it? You are now the eldest daughter of the Duke's mansion, with money and power, so you have nothing to be afraid of."

Jiang Yu knew that she was taking the opportunity to comfort her, so she smiled and said, "Don't worry, I'm really not sad or scared. I'm even a little glad that this happened, which exposed Qi Yuanhong's true nature. Otherwise, I would be disgusted to death if I lived with someone like that for the rest of my life."

Lu Yifang sighed, took Jiang Yu's hand and said, "I've been worried about you these past few days, but it seems you understand things better than I did."

Jiang Yu smiled at her, "Mother, just like my mother said, as long as you work hard to live a good life, there is no hurdle you can't overcome. The same goes for you."

Lu Yifang sighed heavily again, "The things I worry about aren't things I can fix by trying. Your father and your eldest brother are both useless, spending their days chasing after women. Your grandfather's health is poor, and it looks like the Duke's mansion is about to..."

She sighed again, "If your father and your elder brother are just philandering, that's one thing, but I'm afraid they'll cause trouble outside and bring disaster to the Duke's mansion."

Lu Yifang was a member of the royal family, and even though she didn't have great talent, the education she received from childhood made her worry about the future of the Duke's mansion.

Jiang Yu took her hand and said, "Mother, there's no use thinking about things you can't change. You might as well live your life well. Besides, Grandfather is still here; he has plans."

Upon hearing this, Lu Yifang's expression grew even more worried, fearing that the Duke of Chu would send Jiang Yu to the palace.