Chapter 524 Past Friendships

What about our past friendship?

Shu Yu was genuinely surprised. She was very puzzled. "Did we have any feelings for each other before?"

Hou paused for a moment, then smiled wryly, "You probably don't remember anymore, after all, you were still young back then."

"Tell me about it?"

“When you were about three years old, you were often locked in a small dark room by Madam Xue. I had just entered the manor not long before, and I was pregnant with the Sixth Miss. I admit that I am not a very good person, but as someone who was about to become a mother, I really couldn’t bear to see such a young child being abused. So, when I had the chance, I brought you food a few times.”

Hou was originally from a brothel; she was bought into a brothel at a young age and served the most popular girl in the brothel at the time.

As she grew older, her looks began to stand out. The madam saw that she was beautiful and youthful, and that with some dressing up she was just as good as the other girls, so she decided to sell her virginity for a high price.

That girl protected her, but unfortunately, she couldn't protect her anymore, so she asked her to find a way to seduce a kind-hearted master from a wealthy family.

Back then, she was still a courtesan. If she managed to seduce someone, there was a high chance they would be taken into her household as a concubine.

Although the inner quarters of wealthy families are not peaceful either, they are still better than prostitutes who have been with thousands of men.

After careful selection, the Hou family finally chose the second master of the Shu family.

The eldest master of the Shu family is the prefect, and the madam dares not offend him. The second master is easily swayed, and as long as she uses some tricks, it won't be difficult to win him over.

Sure enough, the second master redeemed her from her servitude and settled her in a courtyard in the city. Later, she became pregnant and was taken into the household as a concubine.

But she dared not relax at all. There were many private matters in the inner quarters of wealthy families, especially since she knew nothing about the unfamiliar Shu family and did not even have a confidant by her side.

But she couldn't stay in her own courtyard forever; she needed to figure out the Shu family's situation as soon as possible.

So, when no one was looking, Madam Hou would occasionally leave the courtyard to wander around, telling people she was just taking a walk. The doctor had said that she should move around more to help with childbirth, otherwise she was very likely to have a difficult delivery.

She saw Shuyu by chance. At that time, little Shuyu was so hungry that she didn't know how, but she quietly ran out of Aunt Xue's courtyard.

Hou had never seen this child before. She didn't seem like a servant, and she didn't seem like a young lady either.

Xiao Shuyu was so hungry and delirious at the time that she almost bumped into her.

Hou avoided the child, even suspecting that the second wife might have deliberately sent the child to cause her to miscarry.

So Hou turned to leave, and just as she did, she saw several fierce-looking old women coming from the other side. The old women didn't see her; they simply grabbed the frail, barely breathing little Shuyu and carried her away.

As they walked and cursed, Hou realized from their voices that the little girl was actually the third daughter of the Shu family, the daughter of Master Shu.

She found it unbelievable that the third daughter of the prefect's family was living a life worse than that of a servant.

Moreover, the child was so young, only two or three years old, yet these people didn't treat her like a human being at all.

After returning home, that scene kept flashing through Hou's mind.

Later, she asked the servants of the Shu family who served her, and that's when she learned about the Third Miss's situation at home.

Hou had no intention of meddling in other people's business. She was already surrounded by enemies and trying to protect herself, so she had no energy left to care about others.

(End of this chapter)