Chapter 79: After the fight, my wife got sick and couldn’t get up this morning…

Peony Courtyard

Mrs. Cen had not expected that the rumors would spread throughout the capital so quickly. Her desire to promote the illegitimate son as the legitimate one was originally a family matter within the mansion, but now those people outside were talking about it, and all their attention was on the Duke of Weiguo's mansion, which was really infuriating.

"I just wanted you to send someone to spread some gossip in the mansion so that Aunt Qiong and Lu Cong'an could hear it. How did you do things that everyone knew about it?"

Madam Qi hadn't anticipated such a commotion, and with a hint of suspicion, she asked, "I know the seriousness of this matter, but I didn't expect it to spread so quickly. It's just the matter of a bastard, and yet news spread so quickly. Madam, do you think the Crown Prince got wind of it and deliberately made such a big fuss?"

Hearing her words, Cen thought of Lu Bingzhi, and her expression darkened. "He's a legitimate son of a noble family, and thanks to the late Princess Shuning as his mother, he's far more respectable than other princes from prominent families. The Empress Dowager and the Emperor favor him in the palace, and yet he's so heartless as to try to prevent his half-brother from having a bright future!"

"I've seen him treat his half-brother Lu Cong'an so kindly and affectionately on a daily basis. He never seems to be looking down on his half-brother out of pride. I used to think our prince was a true saint. But now it seems he's never really treated his half-brother Lu Cong'an well. He's just doing it for the sake of reputation and to impress the people in the mansion. His fake kindness is truly disgusting!"

Seeing her wife so angry, Madam Qi knew that she was most afraid of her stepson Lu Bingzhi. She had hated Lu Bingzhi for many years. Now that the matter had become so serious, she naturally hated her stepson Lu Bingzhi.

Before she could say anything, footsteps were heard outside. Lu Danruo came in with a grim expression. As soon as she came in, she shouted, "Mother, are those rumors outside true? Are you really going to honor Lu Cong'an and register him as your legitimate son?"

Mrs. Cen was furious at the moment, and was extremely upset, but she had no time to deal with Lu Danruo, her willful and spoiled daughter. Seeing her daughter acting so unruly upon entering, she frowned and scolded her softly, "Alright, it's not your place as an unmarried girl to interfere in the affairs of the adults. I'm busy here, so please go back to your courtyard and don't cause trouble for me."

When Lu Danruo heard her say this, her eyes immediately reddened and she began to cry. She choked back tears as she spoke, "I only care about you, mother. I never thought of causing trouble for you. Have you lost even this little patience for me now? In this entire Weiguo Mansion, we are the only ones who rely on each other. Who else cares about our lives?"

Hearing Lu Danruo say this, Cen was slightly startled, and her heart softened a little. She sighed softly, beckoned Lu Danruo to sit in front of her, and then said with some helplessness: "Okay, I won't hide it from you. Since you asked this, I will tell you the truth. I really am thinking of registering Lu Cong'an under my name."

Lu Danruo originally thought that it was just some rumors spread by the maids and servants to disgust her and her mother. But when she heard Cen say this, she was stunned and looked at Cen in disbelief.

After a while, she finally spoke, "Mother, are you confused? Lu Cong'an is no longer a baby. He's already grown up. You're registering him under your name. Even if you truly treat him, how much affection can you really show him? He has always been filial to his biological mother, Aunt Qiong."

At this point, her voice dropped a few notches as she continued, "Besides, when Mother punished him with the family discipline, I heard it almost cost him his life. Doesn't he hate Mother in his heart? Would he be willing to be truly filial and respectful to her? Don't end up raising an ungrateful person who you can't get rid of, and who would disgust you if you kept her."

"Besides, what's the point of raising someone else's son? Doesn't mother want to give birth to a brother for me? After all, it's unreliable without blood ties."

As Lu Danruo said this, she seemed to be much more sensible than before. However, the biggest reason why she obstructed this matter was not because of these things, but because she couldn't stand the fact that Lu Cong'an, a bastard's son, could obtain the status of a legitimate son.

Lu Cong'an was more respectable in the mansion because of the care of her brother Lu Bingzhi, than her, the legitimate daughter of a second wife. Aunt Qiong was also very honored because she was an old servant who served Princess Shuning. Even her grandmother, Madam Dou, did not treat her as a lowly concubine, and often sent people to send her some rewards.

From childhood to adulthood, she was the one who had the most disrespect in the eldest house. She usually got less than Lu Bingzhi, or even Lu Cong'an. She knew all this, but what else did she not know behind the scenes?

It was true that she was jealous of Lu Bingzhi, the prince, but she also felt a bit jealous of her half-brother Lu Cong'an besides looking down on him. However, she kept all these thoughts in her heart and did not dare to say them out loud, for fear of being looked down upon and laughed at.

Now that her mother wanted to promote Lu Cong'an and give him the status of a legitimate son, she could no longer tolerate it.

Before Cen could speak, Lu Danruo grabbed her arm and pleaded, "Mother, please give up this idea. I really don't want to have another legitimate brother. Is this lowly thing, Lu Cong'an, born to a concubine, worthy of being registered under your name?"

As soon as Lu Danruo finished speaking, he felt that Cen's body suddenly stiffened.

All the maids and old women in the room knelt on the ground, and the atmosphere was a little stagnant for a moment.

Cen brushed Lu Danruo's hand away, forced a smile, stood up and went to the door to greet him. She bowed to Weiguo Duke Lu Yu, who had been standing there for some time, and said, "How come the master has time to come here? Why didn't you send someone to tell me to ask the servants to prepare some dishes that the master would like?"

Cen's eyes were filled with obvious nervousness and guilt. She wondered how much of her daughter's nonsense Lu Yu had heard. Lu Yu had never loved this daughter as much as he loved Lu Bingzhi. If he had heard those words, he would probably have felt a bit of disgust towards his daughter.

Thinking of this, Cen felt even less confident. For the first time, she regretted not educating her daughter well, causing her to say such disrespectful words to her brother.

At this moment, Lu Danruo saw that her father Lu Yu had already turned pale with fear. She stood up tremblingly and hid behind Cen. She bowed to Lu Yu and said, "My daughter greets you, father."

Lu Yu glanced at her, his tone unmistakable, "No matter what you said to your mother in private, even if I happened to hear it, I wouldn't punish you. Just remember one thing, even if Cong'an is born to Concubine Qiong, he is still your half-brother. If you can't respect him in your heart and treat him as your own brother, at least be polite and don't say such disrespectful words in front of others."

"When you get married, you will be another family's daughter-in-law, and you and your sister will be a married lady in the mansion. It's up to you whether you want to interact with each other or not."

Lu Danruo originally thought that the Duke of Weiguo would reprimand and punish her, or even order someone to use family rules. She was really uneasy, and even felt a bit regretful and afraid.

But when her father said this, her face suddenly turned pale, her legs went weak and she fell to her knees. She couldn't help but shed tears, and said with trembling lips: "Father, father, daughter..."

The little smile that Cen had managed to put on her face disappeared. She couldn't help but defend her daughter, "Master, Danruo is ignorant. If she said something wrong, as a father, you should be angry and disappointed. You can punish her by grounding her to the ground or making her kneel in the ancestral hall. How could you say such hurtful words to her? No matter how bad she is, she is still your biological daughter!"

Cen felt a chill in her heart, and felt that she didn't know her husband Lu Yu very well.

After all, although Lu Yu was a bit majestic in his daily life, he generally gave people room and dignity. Before, when he felt that his daughter was willful and spoiled, he only talked to her privately and asked her to discipline her daughter well. He also found a female teacher from outside to teach his daughter some etiquette and knowledge.

However, after studying for some time, the daughter lost her patience and heard people say that the teacher was a divorced person, so she looked down on him a little and felt that it would not be good to have such a teacher teaching. Later, the daughter told her that she saw that the teacher looked at Lu Yu with a strange look, and it was obvious that he had the intention of currying favor with her. He taught her that his intention was fake and that he really wanted to enter the Weiguo Mansion. She was suspicious, and seeing that the teacher was really good-looking, she found an excuse and gave him a lot of silver to send him away.

Lu Yu didn't say anything after hearing this, let alone question his wife. Ever since that incident, Lu Yu never disciplined his daughter Dan Ruo again.

Seeing Lu Yu like this, Mrs. Cen thought of the past and was at a loss for words to continue questioning or persuading him.

Lu Yu glanced at Lu Danruo, who was kneeling on the ground with a panicked look on her face, and instructed the nanny beside her, "Send the young lady back to her own courtyard. Madam and I have something to discuss privately."

When the nanny heard this, she hurriedly helped Lu Danruo out. All the other maids and servants in the room also retreated, not daring to stay here.

Looking at this situation, everyone guessed that the Duke was in a bad mood. Most of what he would talk about with his wife later would be about the third young master Lu Cong'an. The couple might even start arguing, so who would dare to stay here?

Soon, only Lu Yu and Cen were left in the room.

Lu Yu walked forward and sat down on the soft couch. He glanced at Cen and pointed to the other side, saying, "Sit down and talk!"

Cen always felt a little insecure when facing Lu Yu, thinking that Lu Yu was high and mighty and always looked down on her as his successor.

Hearing Lu Yu say this, she stepped forward and sat down, unable to help but choke up a bit as she spoke, "I know the Duke came here for Cong'an's matter, but the Duke should also think about me. I've been in the mansion for many years, and now I only have one daughter, Danruo. I want a son, but the Duke rarely comes to see me. Even when he does, I can't get pregnant. That's why I wanted to register Cong'an as my own. Firstly, I want to have someone to rely on in the future, and secondly, I want Danruo to have a brother who can help her."

"Danruo's words just now were just a joke. As long as Cong'an is registered under my name, she will naturally respect Cong'an as her brother."

Lu Yu's gaze lingered on Cen's face for a moment before he spoke, "After all these years, you're still like this. You're telling lies that we both know are false, yet you insist on treating them as if they were true. Do you think I, the Duke of Wei, am a fool who can be fooled by a few words from you?"

Seeing Cen stunned, Lu Yu said calmly, "I won't say anything else. I came here to tell you that when you punished Cong'an like that, you almost killed him. For this reason alone, I won't let Cong'an be registered under your name."

Hearing him say these words so bluntly, Cen's face changed immediately. She looked at Lu Yu in disbelief, not believing that he would be so disrespectful to her, his second wife.

Lu Yu withdrew his gaze, stood up and was about to walk out.

Cen suddenly stepped forward and grabbed his sleeve. "You are not allowed to leave! Lu Yu, how could you treat me so cruelly? He is just a son born to a concubine. I am willing to give him respect because I am a virtuous and generous wife. Why are you stopping me? In your heart, is everyone more important than me, your second wife? Even a bastard's son can surpass me?"

"I've been married into the mansion for so many years, managing the household expenses and giving birth to Danruo for you. Even if I haven't contributed much, I've worked hard. Are you really so cruel? Do you want everyone in the capital to laugh at me? Do you want people to say behind my back that I, the wife of the Duke of Wei, want a reputation for being virtuous and generous, but my own husband won't allow it?"

As Cen spoke, she completely discarded the gentleness and magnanimity she usually pretended to have, and accused Lu Yu like a shrew.

......

The next morning, after Cui Lingyan had washed and dressed, she was having breakfast with Lu Bingzhi when Birou came in and reported, "Young Madam, someone from the Peony Courtyard has sent a message saying that you don't need to go and pay your respects today."

Cui Lingyan raised her eyebrows. Today was the day to pay respects to the Peony Courtyard. Cen, her mother-in-law, would not exempt her from even this little courtesy.

Seeing her young mistress's confusion, Birou explained, "I heard that Madam and the Duke had a quarrel last night. After the quarrel, Madam fell ill and couldn't get up this morning."