Meeting at the villa
In the evening, Yu Haoying returned to his residence after drinking with his colleagues. Guo Sulan found him and briefly explained the situation to him.
"Damn it, you bastard!" Yu Haoying's heart was pounding, and her mind went blank as she slumped into her chair, almost unable to catch her breath.
Guo Sulan quickly stood up and helped him pat his chest to help him catch his breath, "Master, Master, it's important to take care of yourself."
Yu Haoying caught her breath: "Bring that rebellious daughter over here."
Yu Yadan had changed out of her maid's outfit and into her own regular clothes. When Yu Haoying saw Yu Yadan enter the room, he was furious and slapped her hard across the face.
Yu Yadan covered her burning cheek, her eyes filled with obvious disbelief.
"father?"
"Don't call me dad!" Yu Haoying roared, veins bulging on his neck and eyes bloodshot. He hit hard, and Yu Yadan's face immediately swelled up, with clear finger marks.
"You've completely disgraced the Yu family. It's common for men to have multiple wives and concubines. How can a woman who isn't even a mistress make you so angry?"
Yu Haoying was furious. His face was ashen and his eyes were bloodshot: "Hired someone to kill someone? Who gave you the guts? Huh?"
Yu Yadan knelt quietly on the ground, her hair slightly disheveled, covering her burning cheeks in silence, feeling wronged and embarrassed.
"Quickly apologize to your father, look how angry you've made him." Seeing that the atmosphere was getting tense, Guo Sulan quickly stepped in to mediate.
Yu Haoying was panting heavily, glaring at her as if waiting for an explanation.
Yu Yadan moved her mouth, but no sound came out of her throat, as if she had aphasia.
"What a misfortune for our family! What a misfortune for our family!"
Seeing Yu Yadan standing there like a block of wood, Yu Haoying slammed her fist on the table in anger and vented her rage on Guo Sulan, saying, "Look at the good daughter you raised! She's capable of hiring someone to commit murder and handing over her own weakness to the other party. She's a useless piece of trash who's good for nothing."
Guo Sulan: "My lord, please calm down. The best course of action now is to resolve this matter as soon as possible. I believe that Your Highness is still unaware of this matter."
“Of course the Prince is unaware of this. If he were, what would be left for me?” Yu Haoying frowned, her teeth grinding together. “The Crown Prince has handed the initiative to us. This marriage has no choice but to be called off.”
“If we’re going to call off the engagement, then so be it. We’ve always wanted to call off the engagement anyway,” Guo Sulan continued, following Yu Haoying’s lead.
"Foolish woman! Is it the same as us wanting to break off the engagement? Our reason for breaking off the engagement is that the Crown Prince is suffering from a rare poison and has difficulty having children. What about the Prince's family?"
Yu Haoying sneered, "What is the reason the Prince's Mansion wants to annul the engagement? It's because the Yu family's daughter is petty and intolerant, and even before the marriage, she wants to hire someone to kill her future husband's concubine!"
Guo Sulan felt heartbroken when she saw Yu Yadan's swollen face, but Yu Haoying was in a fit of anger, and her pleading for mercy would only add fuel to the fire.
"The Crown Prince is suffering from a rare poison and has difficulty conceiving. Originally, our family had a reason to break off the engagement, but now, because of this rebellious daughter, we have become the unreasonable party. At this critical juncture, if we take the initiative to break off the engagement, we will definitely be burdened with the reputation of being heartless and ungrateful. But if we don't break off the engagement, the Crown Prince will probably hand Sun Chi over to the government. He is forcing me to make a choice."
"The young master is already being lenient by speaking to you first. Otherwise, he would have handed you over to the authorities directly. Once the authorities investigate, they will find out that my eldest daughter hired someone to murder her fiancé's mistress. In that case, you can go find a rope and hang yourself!"
"She's not dead, so I'm not a murderer!" Yu Yadan still held a sliver of hope.
Yu Haoying glanced sideways at Yu Yadan, who was kneeling on the ground, and said condescendingly, "Still trying to deny it? This isn't about whether she's dead or not."
"Once the evidence of hiring someone to commit murder is exposed, your life will be ruined! Who would dare to marry you after that? I, Yu Haoying, can't afford to lose face like that!"
If you break off the engagement, you'll be branded as someone who can only share the good times but not the bad.
If she doesn't break off the engagement, the Crown Prince will hand Sun Chi over to the authorities, ruining Yu Yadan's reputation before she breaks off the engagement.
No matter which option you choose, the final result will be the same.
The situation is now beyond repair, and the reputation of the Minister's Mansion is also in jeopardy. Thinking of this, Yu Haoying's aura of murderous intent was faintly revealed.
Yu Yadan lowered her head, tears falling silently.
Feeling the person in her arms trembling all over from crying, Guo Sulan felt an overwhelming pang of heartache and suggested, "Why don't we go and plead with the young master? The fact that he didn't hand over Sun Chi immediately shows that he doesn't want to make a big deal out of this."
Yu Haoying remained silent for a while, then nodded in agreement, as there was indeed no better solution at the moment.
Before leaving, he glared at Yu Yadan, turned his face away, and stormed off.
"Yadan, it's alright. Your father was just saying that in anger." Guo Sulan looked at Yu Yadan, who was kneeling on the ground helplessly, with heartache, and patted her head to comfort her: "What's past is past. Don't do anything foolish again."
*
On a late autumn morning, a thin mist still shrouded the world, making the mountains and trees appear and disappear.
The gates of Wenyuan Villa were opened early in the morning.
Although Xie Zhuo did not allow Fu Zhi Qiao to go out, he did not say that Yin Xing was not allowed to go out. So Fu Zhi Qiao assigned Yin Xing to help her contact Tai Bai Lou and Fu Yun Ge.
Sheng An wanted to stay by her side to protect her safety, so Fu Zhi Qiao asked Sheng An to assign a bodyguard to Yin Xing to escort her in and out of the villa every day.
Yinxing went out today to deliver a message to Xiaoyue at Fuyun Pavilion. Xiaoyue has already secured her position as the head chef at Fuyun Pavilion. Fu Zhiqiao wrote down some recipes for nourishing sweet soups for winter and gave them to her, asking her to try making them according to the steps in the recipes.
After delivering the letter, Ginkgo brought back some news from the outside world.
"What?"
Fu Zhi Qiao had just eaten two pieces of chestnut cake and wanted to drink some tea to cleanse her palate, but she almost choked on the tea. Yin Xing quickly came over to pat her back.
"Really?"
"Whether it's true or false, this servant doesn't know," Yinxing shook her head, then added, "However, this servant went to several teahouses to find out, and the people there spoke with such detail that it didn't sound like a lie..."
Fu Zhiqiao was so shocked that she couldn't come to her senses for a long time.
Yinxing, who had been following Fu Zhiqiao, knew that Xie Zhuo was indeed poisoned and unconscious and had not shown up for a long time. She asked worriedly, "Miss, what should we do if the young master really...?"
Fu Zhiqiao's expression was inscrutable, but she said, "It should be fake."
Xie Zhuo explained to her last time that the story about him being poisoned was false, so the rumor that he couldn't have children should also be false...
"What do you mean, real or fake?" a deep, pleasant voice asked.
Xie Zhu strode in from outside the door, wearing a brand new snow-white straight-collar robe with embroidered auspicious cloud lace peeking out from the cuffs. His posture was upright, like a bamboo shoot, and his long, ink-black hair was tied up with a mutton-fat jade hairpin, which made his features appear gentle and refined.
"Why are you here?" Fu Zhi Qiao blinked in surprise. She thought she was seeing things. Xie Zhuo usually came at night to avoid suspicion, but today he came before dark.
Xie Zhuo waved his hand, signaling Yin Xing to step back.
As Xie Zhuoyue approached, Fu Zhiqiao's gaze unconsciously focused on his lower body.
Xie Zhuo felt very uncomfortable under her gaze. "What are you looking at?"
Fu Zhi Qiao withdrew her gaze and shifted it to his face. "You really can't have children anymore?"
Xie Zhuo was stunned for a moment before he reacted and answered without thinking, "No!"
Seeing Fu Zhi Qiao's disbelieving look, Xie Zhuo's face turned green, and he said solemnly, "The rumors outside are all false, don't believe them!"
"Yes, it's all fake." Fu Zhi Qiao said it was all fake, but her amber eyes clearly shone with a smile, as if to say, "Don't try to deny it, I know you can't do it."
Xie Zhuo squinted and glanced at it, the veins on his forehead throbbing: "I'm very capable."
He was absolutely certain of his abilities!
Xie Zhuo is not a person who shows his emotions. This is the first time Fu Zhi Qiao has seen him in such an embarrassed state. Her eyes instantly curved into crescent shapes.
"Okay, you're very capable."
Fu Zhi Qiao's giggling appearance completely angered Xie Zhuo. In order to show that he was capable, he leaned down and whispered in her ear with a seductive breath: "Whether you can do it or not, you'll know once you try."
A low, husky voice sounded in her ear, and warm breath sprayed on her earlobe, making the air feel hot. A tingling, itchy sensation traveled from the tip of her ear to the bottom of her heart.
Before Fu Zhi Qiao could react, she was already in his arms.
Her face was burning hot, and she tried to move away from the heat source, but Xie Zhuo naturally held the back of her head with his hand, not giving her any room to escape.
Their eyes met, and Xie Zhuo's eyes burned with a fierce flame. His determination made Fu Zhi Qiao feel uneasy.
Xie Zhuo was like a hunter on a hunt, waiting for his prey to make a mistake. His previous lying in wait was only for the purpose of striking the target in one fell swoop.
Fu Zhi Qiao stammered, a rare occurrence for her: "I...I..."
She was a little dumbfounded. How did this guy suddenly become so good at flirting?
Xie Zhuo gazed at her intently. The girl had beautiful eyes and a delicate nose, her lips were red, and her eyes were like waves. Every feature of her was just right and touched his heart. Even though she didn't wear any makeup, she was still radiant. Her simple clothes could not hide her beauty.
Feeling the soft body in his arms, Xie Zhuo's throat moved almost imperceptibly, and he thought to himself that she seemed to have grown up a bit more.
Just as he lowered his head to kiss him, Fu Zhi Qiao blocked his lips with her hand.
"Ahem!" Fu Zhi Qiao sat up straight, her eyes flickering slightly, and awkwardly changed the subject: "What exactly is going on with the rumors outside?"
After hearing Xie Zhuo's explanation, Fu Zhi Qiao was so surprised that she couldn't close her mouth, and even felt that she had never understood him at all.
She never expected Xie Zhuo to pull this stunt.
For a moment, she felt a strange, inexplicable stirring within her.
In the patriarchal society of the Great Wei, infertility is a great disgrace for men, let alone someone of Xie Zhuo's noble status. Knowing that Xie Zhuo did all this so that he could be with her, Fu Zhi Qiao was moved, but at the same time, she was also somewhat amused and exasperated.
"Young Master, aren't you worried about your reputation for doing this?"
"It doesn't matter, those people don't know me anyway."
"Then you shouldn't use infertility as a reason."
"Only in this way can we solve the problem once and for all." Xie Zhuo smiled faintly. In order to be with her, he was willing to pay a greater price.
A one-time solution?
Indeed! With rumors circulating that he was unfavorable for having offspring, Xie Zhuo suddenly went from being a highly sought-after catch to a neglected nobody.
"That's true, but with such a reputation, how will you face your colleagues in the future..."
Killing eight hundred enemies while losing a thousand of your own is a truly enormous sacrifice.
Fu Zhiqiao thought that Xie Zhuo was probably pretending to be relaxed now. His infertility was already common knowledge in the capital, which was practically a social death!
Xie Zhuo saw the complicated look on her face and remained silent for a moment: "Don't worry! No one will dare to gossip about me to my face."
To be honest, Xie Zhuo wasn't too worried about his reputation being damaged. Even if many people said he couldn't do it, he wouldn't get angry because he knew very well that he had no problems.
Moreover, the negative reputation caused by the lack of offspring is more of a disadvantage than a benefit to him at present.
After breaking off his engagement with Yu Yadan, he will have some time to recuperate. With a reputation that is not conducive to having children, at least during this period of recuperation, his mother will not be in a hurry to arrange another marriage for him.
Xie Zhuo had planned everything out. In any case, once he and Zhi Qiao got married and had a child, the rumors would fall apart on their own.
"Once we get married and have children, the rumors will be dispelled."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
