Chapter 7 The three of them were like family, only she was an outsider.
Tao Ye paused, then realized something, shoved Ming Lu, and angrily scolded, "What the hell? What does that child's fall have to do with my young lady? Isn't it normal for children to bump and bruise themselves?"
Yao Qingling calmly finished the last bite of wonton.
With the addition of vinegar and sesame chili oil, it tasted really good. If no one had interfered, she could have eaten another bowl.
The spoon clattered against the porcelain bowl with a crisp sound, and the two stopped arguing, staring blankly at Yao Qingling.
Yao Qingling stood up and said calmly, "Taoye, you've eaten your fill, it's time to go back."
"Miss!" Tao Ye was so anxious she jumped up and down. Wasn't this just asking to get scolded?
...
Inside the mansion, Zhan Xingzhuo sat on his lap with the child in his arms, his face so gloomy it could drip water.
"...Brother Xingzhuo, don't be angry. Xiao'er doesn't dare to play freely at the Wang family, so he's just being mischievous here. It's my fault for not keeping a close eye on Xiao'er."
Zhan Xingzhuo's gaze fell on the boy's small face.
The child had already been treated by the doctor, who applied medicine and wrapped his head in a cloth, the blood seeping out staining the cloth a few streaks of crimson.
At this point, he had stopped crying and was eating a piece of red bean and jujube paste cake, with tears still clinging to the corners of his eyes.
The man felt even more heartbroken when he saw the bloodstains, which made him even angrier at Yao Qingling.
He gently wiped away the child's tears and said coldly, "You're recuperating in the house, unable to even leave the room. What's wrong with that? As the head of the household, I've repeatedly told Yao Qingling to take good care of you and your child, yet she goes out every day. What's outside that attracts her?"
Zhou Zhining lowered her eyelashes and, under the guise of wiping the crumbs from the child's mouth, leaned forward toward Zhan Xingzhuo.
The two were standing very close together, and at first glance, they looked like a warm and harmonious family of three.
Zhou Zhining's lips curled up slightly, as if she were speaking casually: "Yes, speaking of which, Qingling leaves early and comes home late every day, and she doesn't eat much when she gets home. But I don't think she's in a bad mood; she leaves with a smile in the morning."
The man's face darkened further.
After wiping away the crumbs, Zhou Zhining tidied the child's hair, gently pulling the fine strands of hair out from under the cloth.
She leaned forward, getting even closer to Zhan Xingzhuo, close enough to feel his breath on her face.
"...I remember your birthday is coming up soon, is she preparing a surprise for you?" She looked up at Zhan Xingzhuo, her watery eyes charming and affectionate, yet tinged with melancholy, her eyelashes slightly lowered. "I don't have anything to prepare for you, I don't have anything to offer..."
Zhan Xingzhuo looked at her, his heart fluttering with excitement.
Zhou Zhining was once a renowned talented woman in Shengjing, excelling in both talent and beauty.
At that time, she didn't know what inferiority was.
She was once so proud, but now she is so humble that she says things like "I have nothing to offer."
Zhan Xingzhuo was heartbroken—it was all because of the Zhou family's affairs that she was implicated. Wang Xuan trampled her dignity into the ground and tormented her until she completely lost her self-confidence.
"Zhining, don't say that. I'd be happy if you just wrote a poem or painted a picture..."
As the two were talking, they were completely unaware that Yao Qingling had already returned to the mansion and was standing in the courtyard.
The door was open, and the inside was completely visible.
Yao Qingling looked at the three of them, who seemed like family, while she was the only outsider.
"Madam, please save us, it hurts so much..." The maids and servants kneeling on the ground shifted their knees and pleaded for help while wiping away tears.
Because they had not served Madam Wang and the young master well, they were punished by the master to kneel and were not allowed to get up without his permission.
But the courtyard was dilapidated, the road was rugged and uneven, and the sharp stones pressed against their bones, causing excruciating pain. They couldn't bear it anymore.
Yao Qingling lowered her eyes and glanced at them indifferently.
On her way here, she already knew the whole story.
Xiao'er was playing in the yard when he tripped over a pebble on the road and fell, hitting his forehead and bleeding a lot. Doctor Li has already come and said it's nothing serious.
But Zhan Xingzhuo was furious when he found out.
The commotion in the yard alerted the people inside the house.
Zhan Xingzhuo carried the child out and stood on the steps, looking down at Yao Qingling with a livid face: "That day it rained, you saw the puddles in the yard and walked around them, but you didn't think the child would fall?"
Even though she was mentally prepared, and even though she knew how fiercely Zhan Xingzhuo would protect Zhou Zhining, Qingling still felt cold in her heart when faced with his accusations.
She suppressed the lump in her throat, clenched her fists, and stared at him coldly and calmly.
"...You go out every day, don't you know how to get someone to fix the land? My birthday isn't a big deal, focus your attention on what you should be doing!"
birthday?
Qingling was almost laughing in anger, wondering how he could have thought that she went out to be busy for his birthday.
However, she did indeed meticulously plan his birthday celebrations for the past three years.
Their wedding day was the day after the Lantern Festival. Princess Deyang specially consulted the Imperial Astronomical Bureau to determine an auspicious day, saying that the moon on the 16th was rounder than the one on the 15th, and that it was more in line with their birth charts.
In their first year together, when their feelings for each other were just beginning to blossom, Yao Qingling started preparing a month in advance to make him happy. At that time, they were still living in the Duke's mansion, and the whole family praised Qingling, saying that the two were a match made in heaven.
The following year, Zhan Xingzhuo brought Zhou Zhining back to his residence to recuperate after childbirth. He was unhappy and wore a sullen face every day. Qingling hoped to cheer him up and also wanted him to reconcile with the Duke, so she meticulously prepared his birthday banquet once again.
But on that day, neither the Grand Princess of Deyang nor the Duke came to the new residence. The Grand Princess of Deyang only asked her maid to bring a bowl of longevity noodles.
Nobody was in the mood to eat that day; the longevity noodles and all the fancy dishes ended up in the slop bucket.
In the third year, Yao Qingling knew that the Duke would not back down on Zhou Zhining's matter, so she didn't hold a grand celebration for his birthday, but simply prepared a table of seasonal dishes herself. However, on this particular day, Zhan Xingzhuo returned home very late and went straight to sleep. She later learned that he had been dining out with some friends, including Zhou Zhining.
Qingling waited for him, going hungry all night, and then ate repeatedly reheated, rotten vegetable leaves in the small kitchen.
Zhan Xingzhuo's anger continued, and he said a lot more scolding words. Yao Qingling's ears were ringing, and she didn't listen to much. Her gaze went past his shoulder and looked at Zhou Zhining in the room.
She stood behind the threshold, behind Zhan Xingzhuo.
The shadows inside obscured her face, making it impossible to see her pitiful little face, and she didn't say anything to stop Zhan Xingzhuo.
But Zhou Zhining seemed to notice Yao Qingling's gaze and shrank back behind the door.
Yao Qingling turned her gaze back to Zhan Xingzhuo's face, her eyes growing even colder.
For this woman, he betrayed his parents and his wife. Now, in front of others, he disregards his wife's dignity and harshly rebukes her.
Her face was deathly still.
But the man didn't notice at all. All he knew was that Xiao'er was injured. He was so young, what if he damaged his brain?
What interrupted Zhan Xingzhuo's speech was the sound of a child crying.
Xiao'er nestled in his arms, crying so hard that the cloth on her forehead was soon stained with blood. Zhou Zhining rushed out and took the child, comforting her while advising Zhan Xingzhuo, "Brother Xingzhuo, don't scold Qingling. She's never had a child and doesn't know how much care parents give their children. She'll understand when you have your own child."
Everyone knows that Zhan Xingzhuo and Yao Qingling have been married for three years but have not had a child, not even a pregnancy.
Since Yao Qingling had decided to leave, there was naturally no need to announce her pregnancy. However, her face was frighteningly cold.
Zhou Zhining glanced at her, as if realizing she had said something wrong, and quickly apologized: "Qingling, it's not your fault, it's just that Brother Xingzhuo was too worried about Xiao'er."
Yao Qingling took a deep breath, her palms clenching painfully, but she simply said to Zhou Zhining, "Of course this isn't my fault. Madam Wang just said that parents are very careful with their children, afraid they might bump or fall, but how could Madam Wang let the child fall? How could she be so careless?"
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