Chapter 32 Retrieving the Contract of Indenture
"Slow down, Auntie, slow down." Mai Dong helped Qiao Bao'er, who was running all the way, and said anxiously, "It's only the fourth day, your body hasn't recovered yet, you can't run, you can't be exposed to the wind! You'll get sick for the rest of your life!"
Qiao Bao'er had no time to think about any of that. It was only when the maidservant from the Lady of the Marquis's side came to check on her to see if she was pregnant that she realized the Lady of the Marquis knew about this.
She hurriedly sent someone to inform Yushu, only to learn that Yushu had been taken to the Marquis's residence by the Marquis's wife!
It must be that Lady Hou is blaming Yu Shu because of her pregnancy. It was her fault, so how could Yu Shu be implicated and punished?
She should bear the consequences if the Marquis and his wife wanted to punish her; she accepted it. She wasn't afraid of her wretched life. But she couldn't let her Yushu offend the Marquis's wife again because of her.
She ran so fast that her forehead was covered in sweat, and she felt dizzy and weak in the legs. She gritted her teeth and went through the side gate of the Marquis's mansion, quickly entering the Marquis's wife's courtyard.
As soon as they reached the entrance of the main hall, they heard the Marquis's furious roar: "What did you say? Do you know what you're saying! Nonsense!"
Yu Shu's voice rang out amidst the roar: "How is it nonsense for me to redeem my mother's indenture? Father promised the Lady of the Marquis that he would never take a concubine in his life, and he should keep his promise and remain faithful for life. You said that you were drunk when you had that foolish thing with my servant mother, so Father should make amends for that mistake and release my mother, instead of keeping her as a mistress and making one mistake after another..."
"Unfilial daughter!" Xie Zhian roared in fury, grabbing a teacup from the table and throwing it at Xie Yushu.
"Yu Shu!" Qiao Bao'er rushed in and stood in front of Xie Yu Shu, hugging her tightly. The teacup smashed on her thin back, shattering on the floor.
Xie Yushu was extremely surprised, never expecting Qiao Bao'er to appear here. He immediately reached out and touched her back where she had been hit, and felt that her trembling back was soaked with cold tea.
But Qiao Bao'er stood firmly in front of her, still asking, "Did it hit your jade book?"
Xie Yushu looked down and saw that Xie Zhian's face was deathly pale, with no color in it at all, and her forehead was covered in cold sweat. Her anger surged up immediately. She hadn't wanted to make things too ugly, but now it seemed that Xie Zhian was being shameless.
"What are you doing!" Meng Min was also startled by Xie Zhi'an's actions and angrily said to him, "Just talk, why are you hitting me and smashing things? You're supposed to be well-mannered!"
Xie Zhi'an had never been spoken to like this by Meng Min before, and he was even more furious: "All the upbringing I received has been ruined by this unfilial daughter! Listen to what she said! And what she did!"
"Mother, sit down first." Xie Yushu helped the trembling Qiao Bao'er sit down and said softly, "Don't be afraid."
Qiao Bao'er was terrified. Holding her hand, she kept blaming herself for not having a good family background or a good brain to help her daughter, and for having to make her daughter suffer this pain on her behalf.
"It's alright." Xie Yushu patted her hand to reassure her before turning to look at the furious Xie Zhian. He sneered, grabbed the teapot and teacups from the table, and smashed them all on the ground with a "bang."
Meng Min let out a soft cry of fright, and Zhenniang quickly stepped forward to protect her.
Not satisfied with that, Xie Yushu overturned the table and grabbed an unbroken teacup, smashing it against the wall behind Xie Zhian.
Xie Zhi'an was terrified and shrank back, trying to avoid her. He hurriedly scolded the maids and servants to stop her.
Xie Yushu stopped smashing, having already smashed almost everything she could. She calmed her breathing slightly and looked at Xie Zhi'an, who was still stunned.
"You're insane, you're really insane..." Xie Zhian's face was covered in tea, and his complexion was deathly pale. He had never seen such a shrewish woman, let alone such a rebellious daughter. He was so shocked that he didn't know how to scold her.
Xie Yushu looked at him and smiled: "If I were really crazy, I wouldn't smash the teacup against the wall, I would smash it directly in my father's face."
She found a chair and sat down, looking relaxed and unpretentious, and said to Xie Zhian, "Father, did you find what I said unpleasant? What I just said wasn't the truth? You didn't think it was unpleasant when you were doing those things, but now you find it unpleasant to hear me say it?"
"How dare you speak to your father like that!" Xie Zhian was furious, but was stunned by the smashing and dared not lay a hand on his father, only venting his anger.
"A loving father breeds filial piety. My current disobedience, disrespect for elders, and lack of manners are all because I was born of a mother but not raised by a father." Xie Yushu still smiled and said, "Besides forcing my mother when you were drunk and causing her to get pregnant with me, what else have you done in the past ten years?"
"You, you..." Xie Zhian trembled with anger.
She showed no sign of stopping: "There are some things, though. They give me a little money every month and occasionally scold me and my mother with disdain, saying we're not good enough for a proper occasion. Since Father looks down on me and my mother so much, why bother having a servant you despise bear your child? You have plenty of women anyway."
As soon as he finished speaking, Xie Zhian's expression changed immediately, and he shouted, "What nonsense are you talking about!" He then looked at Meng Min as if afraid that she would believe him.
Meng Min's face was grim, and she had some words on the tip of her tongue, wishing she could take this opportunity to prove Xie Zhi'an's filthy affair with Widow Ye and the Chief's wife!
But Zhenniang pressed down on her shoulder, signaling her not to act rashly and to see what Miss Yushu was planning.
Sure enough, Xie Yushu said calmly, "Am I talking nonsense? Father, do you dare to swear to the Lady of the Marquis that you only betrayed her once in your life when you were drunk? Say that you only have her and my mother as your women in your life, and if there are any other women, you will give all of the Marquis of Yong'an's property and estate to the Lady of the Marquis."
Xie Zhian, his face stiff, said angrily, "It's a joke for me, as your father, to swear an oath to you!"
"What about me?" Meng Min said, suppressing her anger. "Zhi'an, you haven't done anything to wrong me, so what's wrong with making a vow?"
"How could you let her run wild like that?" Xie Zhian said to Meng Min angrily, "She and her mistress have gone crazy and are making a scene here. Instead of restraining them, you're just running wild with them?"
Meng Min was heartbroken. She knew that if making a vow were useful, Xie Zhi'an would have been struck by lightning long ago. But now Xie Zhi'an was unwilling to even lie to coax her, which meant that he was determined to bring the woman outside back. That's why she was afraid that what she said today would become evidence against him in the future.
Yes, Widow Ye is about to give birth, isn't she? He's probably already planning the date to bring her back.
Meng Min even felt that Xie Zhian's initiative to bring up Qiao Bao'er's pregnancy today was just a test to see what she would say. If she accepted Qiao Bao'er's pregnancy so easily, he would definitely say when he brought Widow Ye back in a few days: "You can accept Qiao Bao'er, but can't you accept one more person?"
Shameless.
Meng Min's fingers trembled with anger. This man she had been married to for almost twenty years was terrifyingly unfamiliar. He was scheming how to control her, how to use other women as shields. Was he also planning to make her deal with Xie Yushu and her daughter today?
She felt disgusted from the bottom of her heart. Qiao Bao'er was nothing more than a pitiful woman. He had forced himself on her when she was drunk, and after a couple of days of novelty, he lost interest and sent her to his outer quarters. He hadn't thought of Qiao Bao'er all these years, but now he was holding onto her again, simply because no woman dared to disobey him like that.
No woman dared to abort his child without a word, and no woman dared to buy her freedom or take the initiative to leave him!
Meng Min felt a surge of indescribable pleasure. Xie Zhi'an probably never imagined in his life that a servant girl would dare to abandon him, or that a servant girl's daughter would dare to break ties with him for her mother's sake!
She couldn't help but say coldly, "Since you think they've gone mad and are acting so recklessly, why don't you just give her the indenture and send her away?"
Xie Zhian was stunned. He didn't expect that Meng Min would not only not help him discipline the two crazy women, but also let them go.
Xie Yushu knew she had it all figured out. Her falling out with Xie Zhian and making him swear an oath was all for Meng Min's sake, to let Meng Min know clearly that she and her mother would never become Meng Min's enemies for Xie Zhian's sake, and that she was firmly and resolutely on Meng Min's side.
Today she will tell Meng Min that she only recognizes Meng Min as the mistress of the Yong'an Marquis's mansion.
"Send her away?" Xie Zhi'an frowned and said to Meng Min, "Are you out of your mind? Is Qiao Bao'er an ordinary servant? She is a concubine who has borne me children. Throughout history, there has never been a concubine who has been released from her contract while her master is still alive! Moreover, she dared to abort the child in her womb on her own initiative!"
"That wasn't a child, just a pile of unformed rotten flesh." Emboldened by Meng Min's words, Xie Yushu spoke with even greater fearlessness: "It was never going to be saved; it just happened to be aborted in time. If Father cared about my mother's pregnancy, he would know she had already bled several times and started burning moxibustion to protect the pregnancy at five months. Even the doctor you invited said the prognosis was grim. But Father never even visited my mother once; how could he know all this?"
She looked at Xie Zhi'an and said, "I'm really curious. Father has never cared about my mother's pregnancy, so why did he suddenly think of telling the Lady of the Marquis today that he wanted to find a nanny to serve my mother?"
Xie Zhian, as if struck in a vital spot, angrily rebuked, "You wretched thing!" Pointing a trembling finger at her, he shouted, "Don't think that just because you're married I can't discipline you! Guards, guards! Drag her out to the courtyard and give her a good spanking!"
Startled, Qiao Bao'er immediately stood up to protect Xie Yushu, and said without hesitation, "It has nothing to do with Yushu. It's because I didn't want to keep that baby. It's because I wanted to redeem myself!"
She was timid and had never dared to speak loudly. Even when Xie Zhian forced himself on her, she could only cry and accept her fate. But now, she knelt down before Xie Zhian as if she had nothing to lose and said loudly, trembling, "Does the Marquis still remember when you forced yourself on me while you were drunk? You promised me that if I kept quiet, you would give me my indenture if you were afraid that the madam would find out?"
Xie Zhian was utterly humiliated by these women today. He was both shocked and furious, his face turning red and white as he scolded her for not bringing up the past again!
Qiao Bao'er was determined to tell the story: "The Marquis made it very clear at the time. He said that he was drunk and mistook me for his wife, and told me not to mention it. After a few days, he gave me a contract of indenture and let me go home. If I hadn't found out that I was pregnant later, I would never have thought of staying as a concubine..."
"Shut up!" Xie Zhi'an couldn't stand it anymore. "You ungrateful wretch!" He was already doing her a favor by even liking Qiao Bao'er, a mere servant, and she actually had the nerve to bring up these shameful things to accuse him!
He shouted angrily, "Drag this servant girl out and beat her to death too!"
Meng Min, however, let out a cold, mocking laugh behind him.
Zhenniang, standing beside her, waved to the old women who were about to enter, signaling them to go back. In the Madam's courtyard, one naturally had to obey the Madam's orders.
be utterly shameless.
Looking at Xie Zhi'an at this moment, Meng Min felt disgusted by his appearance and wanted to vomit. Where did the gentle and refined young master of the aristocratic family go?
What's the difference between him now and those desperate gamblers and drunkards?
Meng Min felt ice-cold all over, and her head began to throb again. "Isn't the Marquis already making a scene bad enough?"
Xie Zhian turned to look at her, his anger subsiding the moment he met her cold, mocking gaze. She had never looked at him like that before…
She showed no anger or resentment, only a cold indifference.
"It was the Marquis who was at fault for forcing Qiao Bao'er into marriage. She has never done anything wrong all these years. What grounds does the Marquis have to beat her to death?" Meng Min asked him coldly and calmly. "Even a family like ours would not beat someone to death without reason. A servant's life is also a life. Besides, she has given birth to your daughter, and her daughter is already married. The Marquis may not care about his reputation, but I do, and our Meng family does."
Xie Zhi'an couldn't understand why Meng Min had changed. She was now siding with others to blame him.
When did she stop standing behind him?
"Zhenniang, bring me Qiao Bao'er's indenture." Meng Min ignored Xie Zhi'an and looked at Qiao Bao'er and Xie Yushu. The thin and weak Qiao Bao'er was still protecting Xie Yushu, while Xie Yushu's gaze was firm, like Qiao Bao'er's most solid support.
A pang of sadness welled up in her heart; if only her Jia Ning were still here…
"Are you deliberately trying to oppose me?" Xie Zhi'an felt a chill in his heart, and felt that Meng Min was deliberately disrespecting him, the head of the household, in front of so many people, and was trying to go against him: "Are you trying to tell them that you are the one in charge of the Yong'an Marquis's mansion?"
Meng Min looked at him, almost laughing in anger. So what he cared about most was his reputation, his reputation as the Marquis of Yong'an. "Does my husband care that I offended you? Then all these years I forbade you to take a concubine, did you feel ashamed and resentful in public?"
Xie Zhian's face immediately darkened. He felt that all the women in the room had gone mad and were unruly: "You've gone mad with them too!"
He didn't want to talk to these crazy women anymore, so he angrily turned and left, almost bumping into Zhenniang who was returning with her indenture.
Zhenniang quickly walked around him and watched him leave the courtyard angrily. She immediately beckoned to a servant and whispered to him to follow the Marquis and see if he was going to leave the manor to find that widow.
She took the indenture and handed it to Qiao Bao'er.
Qiao Bao'er took it in her hand in disbelief, her whole body trembling. This was the indenture of her, Qiao Miao'er, and Mai Dong, something she had dreamed of getting back all her life, and now she had actually gotten it back.
Unable to hold back her tears, she knelt down and kowtowed to Meng Min: "Madam, you have shown me such great kindness, I..."
"Get up, get up quickly." Meng Min had Zhenniang help her up, and sighed as she looked at her face, which was clearly showing signs of blood loss. "Don't thank me, thank yourself for having such a good daughter. I've never seen a daughter as rebellious as her, redeeming her mother from servitude."
She looked at Xie Yushu, not only amazed by her courage, but also by her ruthlessness and decisiveness. Was it Xie Yushu who made Qiao Bao'er abort the child? There are few daughters in the world who would dare to do such a thing. She has undoubtedly offended her father completely this time, just to get her mother out of trouble.
Qiao Bao'er nodded repeatedly, then hugged Xie Yushu while crying, "Mother, thank you, thank you Yushu..."
"Congratulations, host, you have completed 20% of the main storyline mission for the female supporting character."
so much?
Xie Yushu was amazed; he had only completed 12% before, and now he had suddenly jumped to 20%.
Yu Shu, do you really want to save your mother?
If she were to free Qiao Bao'er from slavery and let her live in a mansion, wouldn't she be able to directly gain over 50%?
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Author's note: Everything is getting better, and Qiao Bao'er is about to live a good life!
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