Chapter 14 Even if she were naked in front of him, he wouldn't touch her.
She turned to look at Zhan Xingzhuo: "Zhou Zhining has sent things to the Duke's mansion several times, but on which one of them did the Duke's mansion accept them?"
"Me, competing with Zhou Zhining for the Grand Princess's favor? Don't you find that ridiculous?"
She almost said that if Zhou Zhining were to step into the Duke's mansion, Xiao'er would probably be his child, not Wang Xuan's.
Zhan Xingzhuo frowned, but still insisted, "Mother used to love Zhi Ning very much. In recent years, Zhi Ning has never stopped being filial to her mother. Even if her mother didn't want her things, her mother never made things difficult for her."
"It was you! You were the one who wanted to use Mother's hand to get rid of Zhi Ning!"
Yao Qingling chuckled speechlessly.
Sure enough, everything she said was wrong; he believed everything Zhou Zhining said unconditionally.
After three years of marriage, how could things have come to this?
She took a deep breath, abandoning her conversation with him, and looked at him coldly: "Zhan Xingzhuo, what do you want to do to me?"
"Let me tell you in advance, if you lay a finger on me, or imprison me and prevent me from leaving, the consequences will not be something you can't handle, but something Zhou Zhining will face!"
Zhan Xingzhuo's pupils suddenly contracted, and he thought that Yao Qingling would turn around and bully Zhou Zhining even more, so he clenched his teeth.
He exerted his strength through his fingers, pinching Qingling's arm so hard that the flesh was deeply dented. Qingling felt the lower half of her arm go numb and lose all feeling.
Yao Qingling scratched and clawed at his hand in pain, but to no avail. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the dried ink on the table and grabbed the paper: "Zhan Xingzhuo, the Grand Princess of Deyang instructed me to help my sister-in-law prepare for the Spring Festival Banquet. If I don't go to the Duke's Mansion tomorrow, or if they see that I have injuries, do you think Zhou Zhining has something to do, or I have something to do!"
Zhan Xingzhuo stared intently, making sure he could see what she had written, and his tense breathing eased.
It turns out she wasn't practicing calligraphy, but writing these things.
Ha, she even planned this out.
The man glared at her coldly, crumpled the paper into a ball, threw it out the door, and said in a cold voice, "Don't think that just because you have the Duke's mansion backing you up, you can bully Zhi Ning. If I see you like this again, I will never forgive you."
He added, "I'll keep track of this debt!"
He left those words in a huff and stormed out.
Yao Qingling breathed a sigh of relief, her body swaying as she slumped. She raised her hand and slammed it on the table to steady herself: "Stop!"
Despite having little strength, he forced out a burst of energy, and his soft voice carried an imposing air.
Zhan Xingzhuo reached the steps and was about to go down when he heard this. He turned around and looked at him coldly: "What, you still want me to stay?"
He thought Yao Qingling was just competing with Zhou Zhining, trying to get rid of Zhou Zhining's affairs and use a woman's gentle words to win him back, resorting to the old trick of fighting in bed and making up in bed.
Hmph! Even if she were naked in front of him right now, he wouldn't touch her!
Yao Qingling had no idea what he was thinking. After catching her breath, she said calmly, "Today, my mother asked me how to deal with Zhou Zhining. I remember you said you would talk to Wang Zheng and have Wang Xuan come and take her away. When my mother heard me say that, she didn't say anything more."
She reminded Zhan Xingzhuo to remember what he had said.
Zhou Zhining's injuries have healed; with the Spring Banquet approaching, Zhan Xingxiang is currently looking at potential suitors, and it would be inappropriate for Zhou Zhining to remain at the new residence, lest she cause gossip.
Zhan Xingzhuo's gaze darkened, and he said nothing more. He called out to Minglu, and Minglu immediately released Taoye and followed him.
Once free, Tao Ye immediately ran into the house and asked anxiously, "Miss, how are you? Are you hurt?"
She lifted Qingling's sleeve and saw that part of her arm had turned purple from being constricted.
Tao Ye gasped, tears welling in her eyes with anger: "I can't stay in this mansion anymore, how could he treat you like this..."
Taoye wiped away her tears while searching for ointment.
Yao Qingling sat there numbly, her eyes vacant, and tears that she had held back for so long finally streamed down her face.
My heart was pounding and aching.
They say she's become vicious, that she's jealous of Zhou Zhining and uses underhanded tactics to get rid of her maid.
When they moved to the new mansion, Qingling couldn't bring any of the maids and servants from the Duke's mansion. In order to save some money, she only added two maids and a few servants to serve her.
Zhan Xingzhuo gave the jade pendant to Qingling, probably having discovered a way to make money, so he simply pawned other things as well—he pawned his items, but Qingling bore the brunt of his bad reputation.
The owner of Fangmanyuan Garden was a palace maid who had reached the age to leave the palace. After leaving the palace, she made a living on her own, opened a garden, and bought young and beautiful girls from slave traders. After training them, she sold them to wealthy families at high prices.
Both maids, Jin Kui and Xiang Yun, were bought from Fang Man Yuan.
Qingling knew about it when they entered the new residence.
According to the rules, all new servants entering the household must be inspected by Qingling before she assigns them to serve elsewhere.
They bypassed Qingling and went directly to the west courtyard, to Zhou Zhining's place.
Qingling turned a blind eye and let him be.
If she couldn't tolerate others, even if those two maids entered the manor, she could resell them to other manors. Why would she give them to Zhou Zhining?
Tao Ye applied ointment to her hands, rubbed them together to warm them, and began to massage Qing Ling. She choked back tears as she said, "Miss, when we go to the Duke's mansion tomorrow, you must tell the Grand Princess. We can't bear this injustice."
Even if you're going to leave, you can't leave with a belly full of anger.
Yao Qingling cried for a while, then calmed down, wiped away her tears, and shook her head: "No."
"Why? Are you going to put up with this?" Tao Ye was worried that after the Spring Banquet, the son-in-law would settle scores later, and then no one would be able to stop him.
Qingling shook her head. She wouldn't hold back, but she also wouldn't say anything to the Grand Princess Deyang.
For the past two years, the Grand Princess Deyang has only supported her from behind the scenes, but has never spoken or done anything to Zhou Zhining.
The Grand Princess did this because she didn't want to escalate the conflict between the Duke's Mansion and Zhan Xingzhuo; secondly, she wanted to train Qingling.
Life is a long journey. Even without Zhou Zhining, Zhan Xingzhuo will have other women by his side. The Grand Princess's intention is to hone her cunning and skills so that she can better manage the second wife's household in the future.
Yao Qingling no longer wanted to be with Zhan Xingzhuo, regardless of whether he had Zhou Zhining or other women by his side; but she wanted to repay the kindness she had shown to the Grand Princess of Deyang.
Qingling drank some tea and calmed down.
Just as Zhou Zhining's injuries had almost healed, Xiao'er bumped his head and broke it open.
The child was injured at the new residence. If Wang Xuan came to pick him up and saw it, he might accuse the Zhan family of bullying his son and causing trouble. Zhan Xingzhuo must have thought of this, which is why he didn't talk to Wang Zheng.
However, Zhan Xingzhuo and Zhou Zhining were very close, and he must have told her that he would have Wang Xuan apologize to her. If Zhou Zhining didn't want to leave, she would do something to prevent Zhan Xingzhuo from going to Wang Zheng for the time being…
Once you think about it this way, you'll understand.
Zhou Zhining used Xiao'er's injury to stir up trouble, making Zhan Xingzhuo dislike Qingling; secondly, she wanted to stay in the new mansion.
She achieved both of her goals!
Thinking of this, Yao Qingling clenched her fists.
"...Taoye, I won't let myself be taken advantage of," she said through gritted teeth.
The next day, Qingling went to the Duke's mansion as usual. She didn't say anything, but discussed the preparations for the spring banquet with Cui Shi. She took Cui Shi's opinion as the main one and played a supporting role.
Cui repeatedly suggested that Qingling take the lead, saying that the child was too young and she didn't have enough energy; Qingling, on the other hand, said that she was too young and inexperienced and was afraid of messing things up and losing face for the Duke's mansion.
After several rounds of back and forth, it was finally decided that the Cui family would take the lead.
Qingling stayed all morning. Cui invited her to stay for lunch, but Qingling declined and took a carriage back home.
As Cui watched Qingling's carriage depart, she breathed a sigh of relief.
Seeing her mother-in-law's protectiveness towards Yao Qingling, she felt that her mother-in-law preferred Yao Qingling.
She had been the one who hosted the Spring Festival banquet for the past few years, but this year she invited Yao Qingling as well.
She knew her mother-in-law meant to use the spring banquet to support Qingling and dispel rumors of discord between the second wife and her husband.
But Cui did not want to be overshadowed or suffer this injustice.
Yao Qingling was a sensible person and did not take the opportunity to monopolize the Spring Festival banquet.
Cui thought, no wonder her mother-in-law liked her; she had a good personality, was smart, and knew how to navigate social situations.
She couldn't help but think that Zhou Zhining was also so worldly-wise and likable. If it weren't for that incident in the Zhou family...
She shook her head, then suddenly smiled.
It would be better if Zhou Zhining kept making things difficult for them, so that Yao Qingling wouldn't return to the Duke's Mansion.
In her mother-in-law's eyes, she was always the eldest daughter-in-law, relied on, and given more responsibilities, which allowed her to accumulate more prestige.
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