Chapter 5 My stepsister with a pre-arranged marriage, hehe.

Zhan Xingzhuo told Zhou Zhining about his previous engagement on his own initiative.

That happened a year after they got married.

At that time, they were still living in the Hua Cui Courtyard of the Duke's Mansion. Qing Ling was preparing the Mid-Autumn Festival family banquet with her mother-in-law when a maid rushed into the inner courtyard to report that Miss Zhou had arrived.

Yao Qingling had been in the household for a year and hadn't seen Miss Zhou at all, but she saw her mother-in-law's expression change drastically and she hurriedly left.

Qingling followed them to the entrance of the Duke's mansion, where she saw Zhan Xingzhuo carrying a woman down from the carriage. Her skirt was covered in blood, and blood was still dripping as they entered the mansion.

It's terrifying.

After that, she learned that the Miss Zhou the maid mentioned was Zhou Zhining—the wife of the son of the Left Censor-in-Chief.

At the same time, she is also the daughter of teacher Zhan Xingzhuo, and they were once engaged.

In the fifth year of the Jingyan reign, the Yellow River suddenly breached its banks, flooding large areas of towns and causing countless deaths and injuries. The imperial court conducted a thorough investigation and uncovered a major corruption scandal, in which the Zhou family was also implicated.

The Duke's family was known for its integrity and was furious about corruption and bribery. Not wanting to be implicated by the Zhou family, they broke off the engagement.

Zhou Zhining accepted.

In order to protect the Zhou family, Zhou Zhining sacrificed herself by marrying Wang Xuan, the illegitimate son of the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate.

Under the influence of the Left Censor-in-Chief, all members of the Zhou family, except for their underage son and the married Zhou Zhining, were sentenced to exile.

The young child was later sent to a distant relative's place to avoid trouble, arranged by Zhou Zhining.

In other words, Zhou Zhining has no family to rely on anymore; she has no one to support her.

Zhan Xingzhuo said that he didn't care about the Zhou family, but Zhou Zhining was innocent and shouldn't sacrifice herself for her family by marrying such a man.

He felt guilty about breaking off the engagement years ago and couldn't bear to see Zhou Zhining living such a hard life, so he adopted her as his sworn sister and took care of her as his sworn brother.

But this angered Duke Zhan. If he were to adopt a sister, it would be the same as the Duke adopting a daughter. Duke Zhan refused, and the father and son fell out. Zhan Xingzhuo then moved out of the Duke's mansion and bought another residence, which is the house they live in now.

That speed was nothing short of swift and decisive.

Yao Qingling was stunned at the time and did not understand the situation, but she could only move to the new mansion with Zhan Xingzhuo.

Zhan Xingzhuo said that Zhou Zhining had miscarried because her husband, Wang Xuan, beat her, and he asked him to take good care of her.

Yao Qingling trembled with anger, but she managed to suppress her fury at being deceived.

She and he have been married for a year, and she believes in the feelings that have developed over that year.

So she chose to forgive him because of his honesty, and even naively thought that he was a man of affection and loyalty.

Besides, seeing Zhou Zhining being bullied to the point of near death, she couldn't just stand by and do nothing.

She sympathized with Zhou Zhining's plight and respected her filial piety in sacrificing herself during the family's crisis.

And so the days went by, one after another.

In the past two years, Zhou Zhining would return to the Wang family every time she recovered from her injuries.

After a period of peace, he was beaten and injured by Wang Xuan again for some reason, and then came to stay at the manor again.

The cycle repeated itself, like an incurable disease, gradually infiltrating Yao Qingling's marriage.

If Yao Qingling hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she would have thought that Zhan Xingzhuo treated her very, very well. He was gentle, considerate, respectful, and loving, and gave her a warm home.

But then Zhou Zhining appeared, and with comparison, she realized that all those good things were just what a husband should do.

He can be even better and more attentive at times.

But what he gave her was no longer the tenderness and consideration of their first year of marriage, nor the respect and love.

He always told her not to be petty or narrow-minded.

He always said that Zhou Zhining had endured humiliation and hardship, and that her life had been extremely difficult.

She should be shown compassion and given support.

He used his salary to pay for Zhou Zhining's medical treatment, medicine, and recovery; he also bribed the servants in the Prince's mansion to act as spies, so that he could rush to her aid if she was bullied.

In the past two years, Yao Qingling deliberately suppressed her grievances and bitterness, trying not to care so much.

But, adopted sister?

Is she really just a foster sister, with no other emotional connection?

Yao Qingling's nails dug tightly into her palms, her dark eyes staring straight at Zhan Xingzhuo.

Zhan Xingzhuo found her gaze strange and frowned: "Why are you looking at me like that?"

A sharp pain shot through her palm, snapping Yao Qingling back to reality and suppressing the question she was about to ask.

She gently touched her belly, trying to reassure herself that she wasn't ready yet, it wasn't the right time...

Yao Qingling calmed herself down, took a deep breath, and said, "The others have nothing to do with her, they're just watching the show. Why get involved? You're the second young master of the Duke's mansion, but others aren't. Who wants to offend the Wang family for no reason and get themselves into trouble?"

In fact, Yao Qingling didn't want to get into trouble and waste her breath arguing with Zhan Xingzhuo.

She wanted to send Zhou Zhining and her son to the estate because she needed to give her mother-in-law an explanation.

Zhan Xingzhuo's actions caused a rift with the Duke's Mansion for Zhou Zhining's sake, and Yao Qingling became the bridge between the Duke's Mansion and this side, but ended up suffering from both sides.

He thought she was having an easy time?

Zhan Xingzhuo felt that Yao Qingling was unusually sharp today, and she was confronting him head-on.

She wasn't like this before.

He picked up a clean cloth to dry his feet and said, "There have been bandits roaming outside the city recently. I'm not comfortable sending Zhi Ning there."

He let Minglu come in and pour out the water. After closing the door, he said, "I will talk to Wang Zheng in a few days."

Wang Zheng is the eldest son of the Wang family and, like Zhan Xingzhuo, serves as an official in the court, so his words carry weight. Wang Xuan, on the other hand, does not hold an official position, so he has to listen to his elder brother.

Yao Qingling thought to herself, "So he had a plan all along."

This time, there was no plan to let Zhou Zhining stay until she recovered from her injuries before she went back to the Wang family on her own.

She picked up the book again and started reading, without giving it any further thought.

It should be said that ever since she had the idea of ​​divorce, she had been preparing to extricate herself from them.

As long as the Duke's mansion doesn't question her, she'll just turn a blind eye.

After washing his feet, Zhan Xingzhuo lay down on the bed.

He looked at Yao Qingling, who had already washed up and was wearing only a traditional Chinese jacket. She was sitting on a round stool, engrossed in reading.

The candlelight made her skin look rosy, her soft eyes calm and peaceful, and her loose hair glowed with a faint blue light.

The man's eyes flickered, and his voice was slightly hoarse: "Aren't you tired, staying up so late?"

The sound of a wooden clapper could be heard outside.

Yao Qingling was reading books about geographical strategies.

She owned a dowry shop that sold miscellaneous goods from both the north and south of China.

However, she spends most of her time in the mansion, managing its internal affairs. If she were to leave, she would need to find a way to survive and live well.

Therefore, she wanted to expand the variety of items sold in her shop, preferably including rare and unusual items that could help her maintain her relationships with high-ranking officials and nobles.

She put down the book, took the candle and moved it to the low table beside the bed, and took off her casual clothes.

Zhan Xingzhuo slept on the outside, and she slept on the inside. She went around to the foot of the bed without waking him up or touching him.

He lay down and fell asleep without saying a word.

The man turned to look at her from the side. Up close, her skin was even more delicate and radiant, without a single blemish. Her hair was also well-maintained, glossy and smooth.

This can only be achieved through meticulous care.

He raised them.

The man stroked her hair and pressed his lips against her face, but Yao Qingling didn't want to be intimate with him, so she turned her head away and avoided him.