Chapter 2 You really are cunning
Admittedly, Du Ziheng did not marry willingly, but neither did she.
If he's unwilling, then he'll exert himself before the marriage.
Now that they're married, he wants to embarrass her? That's absolutely unacceptable.
I experienced something similar in my past life, but back then it was Yu Jiaojiao who was left with the mess.
Yu Jiaojiao harbored resentment over the humiliation of her wedding night, and after learning of You Bingyue's actions, she tried her best to prevent the Prime Minister's residence from intervening.
In the end, You Bingyue was captured, but not completely.
You Bingyue has many male confidants, one of whom is the carefree prince of the current dynasty.
Not only did the Prince of Xiaoyao step in to protect her, but he also helped her vent her anger by severely punishing the Marquis of Wu'an's mansion.
Still not satisfied, the carefree prince deliberately broke Yu Jiaojiao's car wheel during one of her outings, causing her to be humiliated in the street and break her arm, which took her a full six months to recover.
You Bingyue was not punished at all, and the incident even fueled Du Ziheng's fighting spirit.
Three years later, he passed the imperial examination with top honors and, taking advantage of the emperor's bestowal of a title, obtained a mansion and moved out with You Bingyue.
In the new mansion, Yu Jiaojiao's status plummeted.
Despite being the legal wife and having the support of the Minister's mansion and the Prime Minister and his wife, she still suffered repeated setbacks.
In contrast, You Bingyue was not only well protected by Du Ziheng, but also, because of Du Ziheng's ambition, the Prime Minister and his wife saw her good qualities and their attitude towards her became much more relaxed...
***
In the afternoon, the visiting card from the Lady of Wu'an Marquis was indeed delivered.
At that time, the Prime Minister's wife, Madam Yao, was unaware of You Bingyue's assault and was only puzzled: "Why would the Marquis of Wu'an's wife come to our door at this time?"
She and the Lady of Wu'an Marquis did not have a deep relationship; they were merely nodding acquaintances.
Just then, Prime Minister Du returned from outside. As he lifted the curtain to enter the room, he heard Yao's words, and a hint of anger appeared on his stern face: "Isn't this all the trouble caused by that unfilial son!"
Yao asked, puzzled, "What's wrong with Ziheng? He hasn't caused any trouble these past two days, has he?"
The only outrageous thing he did in the past two days was to humiliate his bride on their wedding night.
But this matter is none of the Wu'an Marquis's business.
Prime Minister Du angrily recounted the incident of You Bingyue hitting someone.
He just found out too.
Upon learning of this, he immediately went to the Marquis of Wu'an's residence, only to be turned away. He could only return to settle scores with his rebellious son.
Before he could even call his rebellious son, troublemakers came knocking.
"Someone, go and fetch that unfilial son and that woman. Let them deal with the trouble they've caused themselves!"
Madam Yao hurriedly said, "Master, you mustn't! If this matter isn't handled properly, it could affect Ziheng's performance in this year's imperial examination!"
Nowadays, scientific expeditions not only value academic performance and connections, but also the integrity of the examinee.
If you are a heinous villain, no matter how good your grades are, the imperial court will not employ you.
Du Ziheng is the son of the Prime Minister and a popular candidate for the imperial examination. Countless people are eyeing him!
If this matter escalates and reaches the Emperor's ears, it will certainly affect his future!
Prime Minister Du remained silent.
The steward felt as if he had a thorn in his back and a fishbone stuck in his throat. Only when the two stopped talking did he speak up: "Master, Madam, the person the Lady of Wu'an Marquis requests to see... is the young mistress."
"What?"
The Prime Minister and his wife were stunned.
A moment later, Prime Minister Du said, "Go and summon the young mistress."
Yao said, "Let's go see her instead."
She paused, then changed her mind: "No, let Ziheng go see her."
**
Yu Zhiyi has finished calculating her publicly known assets.
She was an adopted daughter of the Yu family. Although her adoptive father was the Minister of Revenue, her dowry was quite substantial, amounting to 120 taels.
But most of them are fake; there's not much of value in them.
There were only six hundred taels of silver in hand, and the other miscellaneous items added up to less than a thousand taels.
Before she got married, Madam Yu gave her two shops, but neither of them were large shops in bustling areas. Instead, they were small shops in a back alley, where it would be difficult to find tenants, let alone do business there.
However, Yu Zhiyi didn't care, because she earned much more money on her own.
Zi Yuan said angrily, "Master and Madam are far too biased. I heard that the Second Miss's jewelry alone is worth ten thousand taels of silver. Madam also gave her ten thousand taels of silver separately, and each of the five young masters gave her one thousand taels. Not to mention, the eldest young master gave her several large shops, and the second young master gave her hundreds of acres of fertile land..."
Yu Zhiyi didn't care much. "She is the legitimate daughter of the Minister's family. Even if they emptied the entire Minister's mansion as her dowry, no one else could say anything."
Zi Yuan was still very sad: "But before the Second Miss came back, the Master, Madam and the five young masters were clearly very good to her."
More than a decade ago, Madam Yu unexpectedly gave birth to a daughter outside of marriage.
There was another woman in the inn who had just given birth to a daughter. When she saw that Madam Yu was very well-off, she knew that she was the lady of a wealthy family. She then had a wicked idea and switched the two baby girls.
Ten years later, the truth came to light, and the woman, seeing that her scheme had been exposed, committed suicide in fear.
Yu Zhiyi's situation instantly became awkward.
The Yu family couldn't bear to send away Yu Zhiyi, who had no parents, so they continued to let her be the eldest daughter of the Yu family.
However, her status and treatment plummeted.
Seven years have passed, and Lord Yu and his wife and five brothers have grown increasingly distant from her, eventually turning into indifference.
Even on her wedding day, they didn't make any special gesture.
The only dowry Madam Yu gave her was a plain gold hairpin, worth less than a hundred taels of silver.
The five brothers had also agreed that each of them would give her only one piece of jewelry of modest value.
The six hundred taels of silver were left behind by Yu Zhiyi before she turned ten.
After she turned ten, her monthly allowance was only three taels of silver, and after deducting daily expenses, there was practically nothing left.
Even the first-class maids in the Minister's mansion receive a monthly allowance of three taels of silver.
Are you sad?
Are you sad?
Of course, it has happened before.
However, one cannot live in despair and sadness forever; relying on memories of past happiness is not a sustainable path.
Yu Zhiyi didn't respond, but glanced at the bright sunshine outside the window: "Serve tea, we have guests."
Ziyuan glanced at the empty doorway, didn't ask her mistress why she said that, and obediently went to prepare tea.
Before long, Du Ziheng appeared outside Linfeng Pavilion with a sour face.
He exuded the scholarly air unique to intellectuals, and his loose yet well-fitting blue and white outer robe fluttered in the wind as he moved, making him quite dashing.
He was also very handsome, with red lips and white teeth, a high nose bridge that wasn't overly cold or sharp, and long eyelashes like butterfly wings—the kind of handsome appearance that could make a woman fall in love at first sight.
No wonder Yu Jiaojiao was so infatuated with him in her past life that she knew he couldn't accept her, yet she still went out of her way to get close to him.
Yu Zhiyi withdrew her gaze, and adhering to the way of hospitality, picked up the teapot with her fair and slender fingers and personally filled it with tea.
"Now that you've arrived, why don't you come in?"
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