Chapter 3: Unmediated Adultery
Luo Zhaohan's body shook.
She stared at Xie Wuqi, remembering that on their wedding night in her previous life, this man had also sworn on his knees in the same way.
Xie Wuqi lifted his clothes and knelt beside Liu Yueli, "I am willing to sign a military order and will never let Yueli down in this life."
He turned to look at the person beside him, his eyes so gentle that they could drip water, "If you break your oath, let me be pierced by thousands of arrows..."
"Don't say such unlucky words!" Liu Yueli hurriedly covered his mouth.
Luo Dinglian and Qin Wan looked at each other and saw bitterness in each other's eyes.
The incense burner on the carved table was emitting curls of smoke, but it could not dispel the stagnant chill in the hall.
Xie Wuqi was Zhaozhao's husband, whom they had pampered for fifteen years. Now, they wanted to teach this evil creature to marry their adopted daughter as his legal wife.
If this is allowed, Zhao Zhao will probably be drowned in spit in the capital and won't be able to raise her head.
"Master..." Qin Wan's hands, clutching the embroidered gold handkerchief, trembled slightly as she looked at her husband with tears in her eyes. "Zhao Zhao is the apple of our eyes. She must not suffer such injustice!"
Before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by Liu Yueli's sobbing.
The girl in the moon-white skirt knelt on the blue brick floor, her thin shoulders trembling like willow catkins in the wind: "Yue Li knows that I feel guilty towards my sister, but Yue Li really has no other choice..."
Before he finished speaking, Xie Wuqi had already stepped forward and embraced the person in his arms, their clothes tangled together, hurting people's eyes.
Luo Zhaohan suddenly chuckled.
"Father and Mother, why should you be so embarrassed? My fate with the young master of the Xie family has long ended anyway." She was clearly smiling as she turned around, but tears were lingering in the corners of her eyes. "Mother said the other day that she would give her the pair of jade screens in the storehouse as a decoration, but now she's saved it."
These words shattered Luo Dinglian's heart. He slammed his rough palm on the table, making the teacup clink. "Nonsense! How could the daughter of the Luo family..."
"Master!" Chunxi suddenly rushed out, holding the wooden box tightly in her arms.
The little maid, her hair disheveled and her face still stained with tears, knelt down in front of the hall and said, "I found this in the secret compartment of the second young lady's dressing box. Please, Master and Madam, take a look!"
Liu Yueli's face turned pale as paper in an instant.
She struggled to get up, but Xie Wuqi held her waist tightly: "How dare you! How dare a mere slave frame you!"
"Xie, Master, you are so arrogant." Chunxi stiffened her neck and sneered, her fingertips making a crisp sound as they opened the copper lock. "Although I am a humble servant, I know how to write the words loyalty and righteousness. Unlike some people, they eat the rice of the Luo family, sleep in the Luo family's bed, and even steal from the Luo family!"
The yellowed letters in the box fell like snowflakes, and the top one had the four words "Yueli my love" written on it.
Qin Wan picked up one with trembling hands. After reading the contents clearly, she suddenly covered her chest with her hands. "March 28th, a private meeting at Hefeng Pavilion... This signature is actually from two years ago!"
Liu Yueli and Xie Wuqi looked at each other, their faces suddenly turned pale!
Liu Yueli straightened up suddenly, opening her mouth but unable to speak. Her fingers, hidden within her sleeves, clenched her palms tightly. Those letters were clearly locked in the secret compartment of her dressing table, with the key hanging around her neck. How could a thieving maid have dug them out?
"Sister, don't listen to the slander!" She suddenly threw herself at Luo Zhaohan's feet, the pearl hairpins in her hair falling to the ground. "Chunxi must have seen Master Xie asking to marry me today, and she must have resorted to such tactics to defend you."
Xie Wuqi rushed forward and supported her thin shoulders, then turned to glare at Luo Zhaohan. "It's fine if you're always domineering, but now you're actually condoning your maidservant to give false testimony! Yueli treats you like a sister, so check your conscience!"
"Conscience?" Luo Zhaohan suddenly laughed, startling the candlelight. She reached out to hold her trembling parents, her nails digging deep into the sandalwood chair back.
The sharp face of Mrs. Xie, her mother-in-law in her previous life, appeared before her eyes again - the old woman pinched her nose and threw a piece of letter at her face, saying that the Xie family had long wanted to marry Liu Yueli as a daughter-in-law.
"Han girl, do you think my Qi'er really likes you? He has always had his eye on Liu Yueli!" The voice in the memory pierced his eardrums, "If it weren't for the military power in your Luo family, he wouldn't even want to set foot in your courtyard!"
After hearing what Madam Xie said, Luo Zhaohan was certain that Liu Yueli must have hidden the letters and tokens that she had exchanged privately with Xie Wuqi, so he came up with this plan.
At this moment, Luo Zhaohan stared at the jade pendant dangling around Liu Yueli's waist, and suddenly reached out to pull it off.
The black jade pendant inlaid with beads hit the blue bricks with a clang, startling Liu Yueli so much that she trembled all over.
This is the ancestral jade pendant that Xie Wuqi said he accidentally lost last year. There is a word "Qi" engraved on the back.
"Last Mid-Autumn Festival, you said the jade pendant was lost. I braved the heavy rain and led the servants to search the lotus pond three times." Luo Zhaohan stepped over the jade pendant and sneered, "So I gave it to you long ago, my dearest one."
Liu Yueli hurriedly grabbed Luo Zhaohan's sleeve: "No, this is..."
"Last month, you had a high fever, and I stayed by your side for three days and three nights." Luo Zhaohan pulled out a piece of gold-sprinkled letter paper from the box. The scent of ink mixed with tears stained the words. "When you were delirious with fever, you held my hand and called me Brother Wuqi. I thought it was just a dream. It turns out that everything was foreshadowed!"
Qin Wan suddenly grabbed a few letters, her voice trembling, "This was... two years ago? Back then, Zhao Zhao had just come of age, and you were already hanging out together behind her back!"
Liu Yueli took two steps on her knees and grabbed Qin Wan's trouser leg, "Godmother, please understand. Yueli really didn't have a secret meeting with Master Xie!"
"presumptuous!"
Qin Wan turned around suddenly, the corners of her eyes red as if dyed with cinnabar.
"What a deep and loyal friendship!" Her fingers trembled as she pointed at the scattered gold paper on the ground. "You've trampled the General's sincere gratitude into dust, and only helped you two, a pair of illicit lovers, to cover up their love!"
Xie Wuqi was about to speak when the scabbard thrown by Luo Dinglian hit him on the shoulder.
"brute!"
"Since you want to humiliate yourselves, I will grant your wish!" Qin Wan grabbed the letter on the table and tore it in half. She threw it into the air, and it landed on Liu Yueli's pale face. "Tomorrow, let the whole capital see how a man from the Xie family can have an affair with the orphan girl of his savior—without a matchmaker!"
When the last word fell, the Buddhist beads on Liu Yueli's wrist suddenly broke, and the sandalwood beads rolled into the cracks of the blue bricks.
She stared at Qin Wan's resolute back, and suddenly remembered the serious illness when she was twelve years old. Her stepmother also stood in front of the imperial physician with such determination and said, "If you can't save her, you will die with me."
Now, it’s all over!
Qin Wan hurried forward and hugged her daughter Luo Zhaohan tightly in her arms, tears streaming down her cheeks involuntarily.
Her dear Zhao Zhao was so pitiful.
Although Luo Zhaohan had accumulated countless grievances in his heart, compared with the hatred of his previous life, these grievances seemed insignificant.
Seeing her adoptive mother Qin Wan's determination, Liu Yueli turned to look at Luo Dinglian, tears in her eyes, and called out in a trembling voice, "Foster father..."
Luo Dinglian shook his head helplessly, feeling much more sorrowful than anyone else.
He was extremely confused. Did he teach Liu Yueli bad things, or was human nature inherently full of evil? Even he himself was caught in Liu Yueli's scheme from beginning to end!
Liu Yueli was completely panicked when she saw that Luo Dinglian, who had always loved her unconditionally, treated her coldly.
She felt terrified...
She was afraid that if what happened today got out, the Xie family would refuse to let her in.
After all, once she left the Luo family, she would be just an orphan with no name, no status and extremely humble!
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