Chapter 23 Zhou Baili's little face was frightened and pale
As the mistress's legitimate daughter, Zhou Baili has had the best food, clothing and other necessities in the mansion since she was a child, which also made her arrogant.
If Liu Mingyue had not experienced life and death, she would have been really sad to the point of being unable to control herself if Zhou Baili were in front of her.
The daughter of the mistress, when Aunt Liu was not taken as a concubine by Zhou Junyuan, wasn't she also the legal wife? Zhou Baili said this intentionally, which was murderous and heartbreaking. Liu Mingyue was not moved by it, but Aunt Liu looked very uncomfortable and lowered her head quietly.
Liu Mingyue saw her mother's expression and felt sorry for her mother's miserable life. She took two steps forward without leaving a trace and stood in front of Aunt Liu.
"Sister, you are right. The prince also thinks that sister is of noble family and beautiful. If he can marry such a beautiful wife, he will have no regrets in his life." Liu Mingyue used to be a person who would allow others to bully him. Acting honest and dull is his specialty.
Liu Mingyue looked straight at Zhou Baili and said seriously, "The prince also said that I am ugly and unworthy of the prince of the Marquisate. Sooner or later, the prince will divorce me and marry my sister. In the future, my sister will be the noble wife of the Marquisate."
Tan Zhuoyan will undoubtedly be the Marquis of Dingbei in the future, but he is in poor health, so it will be useless even if she marries him and becomes the Marquis' wife.
The Marquis's original intention was to marry Zhou Baili, but later they sent Liu Mingyue in as a replacement.
Zhou Baili was now trying to avoid Tan Zhuoyan, and she thought it would be best not to mention the marriage. When she heard that Tan Zhuoyan was planning to divorce the ugly girl and marry herself, Zhou Baili's face turned pale with fear, and she hurriedly took Zhao Yinlian's arm and went into the flower hall.
In order to welcome the prince, the Zhou family set up fruits and snacks in the flower hall. The fruits were seasonal, and the tea was the pre-rain Longjing tea that had been obtained this month.
There was ice cream placed in the flower hall for cooling off. Even in the hot summer, the room was cool and refreshing, which showed that the people in the Zhou family had put a lot of thought into it.
"What are you still doing? Since the prince is not coming, there is no need to prepare anything else. Take everything away." The old lady was unhappy when the prince didn't come. She thought it was a waste of time to get up early in the morning, change clothes and wait inside the mansion gate. As soon as she entered the flower hall, she ordered people to take away the fruits, tea and snacks.
The servants who were busy in the hall paused for a moment, but when they saw the old lady and the master walking in front, they quickly realized what was happening and removed all the teacups and saucers that had just been placed on the table.
Liu Mingyue and Aunt Liu came in later. The flower hall was already empty. There was not even a cup of tea. It was very quiet.
The old lady didn't say a word and went back to her residence with a cold face. Although others stayed, they were just there to watch the fun.
"Father, Madam..." Liu Mingyue entered the flower hall and raised her hand to signal the servants to bring up the gifts she had brought back.
"It's hot now, and the lotus flowers outside the city are in full bloom. When are you free, my husband? When will you take a day off to enjoy the flowers with us?"
Zhao Yinlian interrupted what Liu Mingyue was about to say, and did not take this adopted daughter who had returned home seriously, and even deliberately bullied her.
Seeing this, Liu Mingyue remained calm, signaled the servant to put the things on the table, and sat down at the last seat.
"You can take a day off in two days. There is nothing important in the court during this period. I will go with you in two days." Zhou Junyuan looked at Zhao Yinlian. When he saw her lively and clever daughter beside her, his expression was gentle, like the most loving father in the world.
"You guys go too." Zhao Yinlian looked at Aunt Bai and Aunt Zhao and their daughters, all of whom acted like mistresses. However, anyone with eyes could tell that she deliberately skipped Aunt Liu, and Liu Mingyue and her daughter sat in an inconspicuous corner, just like usual.
They were talking and laughing, a scene of a harmonious family. However, this family did not include Liu Mingyue and her daughter.
"Madam, how have you been doing in the Marquis' Mansion these days? Have you been bullied by anyone? Tell me the truth." Aunt Liu did not take these people's cold treatment to heart, and her mind was all on her daughter.
The prince did not accompany his daughter back home, which shows how much he dislikes his daughter and even ignores basic etiquette.
Liu Mingyue held Aunt Liu's hand and gently stroked it with heartache: "Aunt, my daughter is really doing well in the Marquis' Mansion. My daughter has no feelings for the prince. Even if he treats her coldly, it really doesn't matter to her."
The mother and daughter looked at each other and had a lot to say, but due to being in front of others, they could only keep their thoughts to themselves for the time being.
Originally, when a bride came back, the whole family should sit down and have a good chat, but the Zhou family didn't care about Liu Mingyue at all. When she came back, the bride sat in the hall, like a complete outsider.
"My daughter knows that she has failed to please her husband and has made her father unhappy. If you sisters like any of these gifts, please take them. I will not be here to upset my father. I have some things in my aunt's room, so I will go get them now."
Liu Mingyue stood up and bowed to Zhou Junyuan. After receiving a cold snort from him, she took Aunt Liu and went straight back to the yard.
Aunt Liu's courtyard was not far from Zhou Junyuan's residence. The flowers and plants planted in the courtyard showed that someone had taken good care of them, and the furnishings in the house were also very decent.
When Liu Mingyue entered the room, she saw a new screen on the couch, with a double-sided embroidery of mandarin ducks playing in the water on the soft and hazy gauze. In recent years, Zhou Junyuan's attitude towards Aunt Liu has not been the same as before, but she is the most favored among all the aunts.
After all, Aunt Liu is beautiful, and when her pair of phoenix eyes look at you, even women can't take their eyes off.
This year, Aunt Liu was in her early thirties, and her figure was even more charming. Zhou Junyuan still stayed in Aunt Liu's room most of the time. Before Liu Mingyue got married, even if Zhou Junyuan disliked Liu Mingyue, he still liked to come to Aunt Liu's house often.
Aunt Liu saw her daughter staring at the screen and explained, "This screen was sent by the master on the day of your wedding."
"He still comes to mother's room every one or two days?" Liu Mingyue took Aunt Liu's hand and sat down beside the couch, her tone ambiguous.
Zhou Junyuan had no romantic feelings towards Aunt Liu. Whenever he visited her, it was just to stay overnight.
When her daughter suddenly asked such a question, Aunt Liu's cheeks flushed, and she lowered her eyes uncomfortably and nodded.
After all, it was about what happened in the bedroom, and Aunt Liu felt somewhat embarrassed in front of her daughter. Liu Mingyue held Aunt Liu's hand, and then she noticed that the pinch marks on her mother's wrist had faded a lot. It was self-evident who left such ambiguous marks.
Liu Mingyue tightened her grip on Aunt Liu's hand. For all these years, her mother had slept with men she disliked in the mansion for her sake, and in the end, they had squeezed every last bit of her value out of her.
Zhou Junyuan appears to be a decent person on the surface, but he is actually a hypocrite. Not only did he kill her father, he also took advantage of her misfortune and used the difficulties of an orphan and a widow to take her mother as a concubine. He also asked her to marry the disabled prince in place of his daughter, and all the benefits went to him.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com