The family of Guangling.
The Qi family was having dinner together. Qi Yuan sat in the seat of honor. Although he was over fifty years old and his hair was turning white, he was obviously in good health, with a smile on his face, and he was embracing a beautiful woman.
Lady Qi sat gracefully beside him. Though she had aged and her temples were slightly gray, time had never diminished her beauty. The passage of time had only made her more gentle and dignified.
The rest of the women seated were all newly acquired concubines of Qi Yuan, each with a different style, but all of them were great beauties.
Since the Qi family has no branches, and its only two sons have entered the palace as concubines, the only masters of the entire household are Qi Yuan and his women.
Qi Yuan flirted incessantly with the beauty in his arms, while Madam Qi remained indifferent, showing neither joy nor sorrow, and the other beauties kept their heads down and remained silent.
The mealtime passed in an awkward atmosphere. Qi Yuan waved his hand to dismiss the beauties, leaving only Madam Qi to talk.
Qi Yuan instructed Madam Qi, "Yan'er, you've been with me for so many years, you should understand what I mean, right?"
A few days ago, Qi Yuan took another beautiful concubine named Feng Li, the beauty he had just been holding. He had been infatuated with her for several days and even wanted to make Feng Li his secondary wife. When he mentioned this to Madam Qi, she refused. Now he has brought it up again, hoping that Madam Qi will understand.
Madam Qi Ruyan looked sorrowful. "Master, you've already sent Shang'er and Yun'er away. Now that so many new sisters are entering the household, why don't you send me away too? That way, Sister Fengli can become the principal wife instead of a secondary wife!"
Upon hearing this, Qi Yuan knew that Qi Ruyan was angry because he had sent both of his sons into the palace, and now that he had taken a new concubine, the matter of having offspring was naturally a given, while Qi Ruyan had lost all hope.
Thinking of this, he softened his attitude somewhat without hesitation.
"Yan'er, you've been with me for over thirty years, so you naturally know my difficulties. Although Chu Qianyun forgave me back then, the guilt still makes me feel terrible."
Now that her niece has ascended the throne, my congratulatory letters have all gone unanswered, and I don't know what her attitude is. So I had no choice but to send Shang'er and Yun'er into the palace to show my stance.
"Yan'er, I know you're reluctant to part with the child, but there's nothing I can do! As the matriarch of the Qi family, you'll naturally understand my good intentions!"
Qi Ruyan felt disgusted when she heard him mention Chu Qianyun. What a scoundrel! How dare he bring up Chu Qianyun!
If Chu Qianyun hadn't come to her back then, she would still have been kept in the dark.
Looking back, from her perspective, she met and fell in love with Qi Yuan when she was 15. At that time, Qi Yuan was still born out of wedlock and was not valued by his father. When she was 17, she miscarried, and Qi Yuan went to the capital, bringing royal resources to the Qi family. When she was 22, she became pregnant again, and Qi Yuan suddenly became the legitimate son and the head of the Qi family, and married her.
At the time, she felt incredibly happy, having met such a wonderful person.
Later, at the age of 27, she gave birth to a son. This son was sickly from birth, which worried her greatly. She sought good doctors for her son everywhere, but to no avail.
Qi Yuan, perhaps annoyed by her or perhaps disliking his sickly son, actually suggested throwing the child away.
Just as she was shocked, furious, and at a loss, Princess Qianyun found her and said she could help her contact the imperial physician, but Yun'er needed to be brought to the capital for treatment, and the return date was uncertain.
She didn't understand why the princess would travel so far to help her. Seeing that she was unaware of the situation, Chu Qianyun told her everything.
Only then did she realize that Qi Yuan had deceived both of them; she had no idea of the existence of the Eldest Princess!
She suppressed her emotions and apologized to Chu Qianyun.
But Chu Qianyun said the child was innocent and she had let go of the past.
Upon seeing such a pure and beautiful person, Qi Ruyan was overwhelmed with mixed feelings. She asked herself honestly, even she herself couldn't do it.
Helplessly, she told Chu Qianyun about Qi Yuan's feelings for Yun'er. Chu Qianyun was furious and wanted to rush to the Qi family to yell at them, but she stopped Chu Qianyun, laughing and crying at the same time.
A moment of silence.
Chu Qianyun looked at her for a long time, sighed, left her a token, told her that she could go to the capital to visit her child at any time, and then took Yun'er away.
In the fifth year of the Chongqi reign, Princess Qianyun adopted a boy. When someone discovered the boy's identity, their past romance was exposed, and Princess Qianyun's husband and daughter Yuanyin were the subject of much speculation.
Later, the speculations became increasingly outrageous, eventually reaching Chu Yanxi's ears. The emperor was furious, severely punished those who spread the rumors, and publicly praised the princess for her virtuous and beautiful heart, thus putting the matter to rest.
Qi Ruyan had naturally heard about it as well, and she couldn't put words into words to describe the image of Chu Qianyun in her heart.
She was an orphan, and in her life, only Qi Yuan was kind to her, but it was all fake. Chu Qianyun was the first person to treat her so genuinely well, even though they were complete strangers before, and she was even willing to be implicated because of it.
Recalling the past, Qi Ruyan's eyes welled up with tears, but such a wonderful person had long since passed away.
Qi Yuan didn't get a reply from Qi Ruyan. Seeing her red eyes and sad expression, he felt inexplicably irritated, and all his tenderness disappeared. He turned cold and said...
"Qi Ruyan, don't be ungrateful. If you hadn't contacted Chu Qianyun behind my back, would Yun'er still be alive and have entered the palace as a concubine? If it weren't for this, Yun'er would have been dead long ago! It's all your maternal heart that ruined him!"
Even though this matter caused such a big stir in the capital and affected the Qi family's business, I did not divorce you, nor did I hold a grudge against Shang'er!
I've provided Shang'er with a life of luxury for over twenty years, so what's wrong with ordering him to enter the palace now? I'm his father, it's what he should do!
And as for the matter of taking a concubine, I know you're unhappy about it, but I haven't taken one in our twenty years of marriage! As a wealthy merchant from Guangling, can't I enjoy myself in my old age?"
Qi Ruyan was thinking about her past with Chu Qianyun when she was suddenly interrupted. She could only obediently say, "What you say is true, sir. I understand this matter. I will make Feng Li my second wife and arrange everything properly so that outside speculation will not affect your reputation. As for the child, I will just consider it a case of being destined to be apart from him!"
Qi Yuan nodded in satisfaction upon hearing this, stood up and took Qi Ruyan's hand, "It's good that you're so obedient, Yan'er. I've wronged you this time. The shop on West Street is yours. Don't be so polite with me."
Qi Ruyan feigned a smile and pretended to be touched, then quickly left under the pretext of helping Feng Li improve his status.
The Qi family shop on West Street is the worst-performing and smallest of all the Qi family's shops. It's on the verge of bankruptcy, and even if it's sold at a high price, it will only fetch a few taels of silver, which is less than a fraction of the monthly salary of a servant in the Qi family.
Qi Yuan, that scoundrel, is incredibly generous.
Nobody knows how she could have been so blind to fall for him. And what kind of charm did this scoundrel have that could attract Chu Qianyun? Even now, there are still so many young and beautiful women, most of whom are just of marriageable age, who are willing to enter the mansion to serve an old man who is over fifty.
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