At that time, Bai Mudan was fourteen years old, an age when she was just beginning to experience romantic feelings.
Ye Qingyuan was already twenty-four years old and had a wife at home.
Given Bai Mudan's background, even if he were unmarried, she could never be his legal wife.
Ye Qingyuan and his first wife had an arranged marriage, and they could only be described as respectful to each other. After meeting Bai Mudan, their feelings for each other grew stronger as they spent more time together.
That year, the Dragon and Phoenix Theater encountered an unprecedented crisis. A local tyrant took a fancy to Bai Mudan and wanted to force her to become his concubine.
Bai Mudan refused to comply even at the cost of her life, and in a fit of anger, she ran and jumped into the Luo River. Fortunately, Ye Qingyuan arrived in time with his men and rescued her.
Later, in order to protect her, Ye Qingyuan proposed to take her as a concubine.
But Bai Mudan was a girl with high aspirations, so how could she be willing to be someone's concubine?
However, her status was too lowly, and even ordinary families would be reluctant to marry an actress as their principal wife.
No matter how high her ambition was, she ultimately succumbed to reality and became Ye Qingyuan's concubine.
Ye Qingyuan treated her very well, and the two had a happy and sweet time together during those years.
Unfortunately, her good fortune didn't last long. In the third year of Bai Mudan's marriage as a concubine, she finally became pregnant as she had wished.
Although Ye Qingyuan already had two sons and a daughter with his wife at that time, he still looked forward to the arrival of this child.
This is his first child with his loved one…
In order to give the child a better start, he even kept it a secret from Bai Mudan and went to see Old Madam Ye first.
"Mother, after Lizhu gives birth, I want to promote her to a secondary wife!"
His tone was very confident; it was not uncommon for ordinary merchants to have wives of equal status.
But the Ye family has always been a family that places great importance on rules and regulations, and he originally thought his mother would refuse outright.
Ye Qingyuan had already prepared a speech...
To his surprise, Madam Ye's reaction was unexpected; she readily agreed.
“Li Zhu has been well-behaved since entering the manor. I think she is a good girl who knows how to behave. I also know that you like her. I have no objection to you wanting her to be a secondary wife, except for one condition.”
"Mother, please speak!"
"Wenxiu is your first wife. As the saying goes, harmony in the family brings prosperity in all things. This matter must be approved by Wenxiu!"
Liang Wenxiu also came from a prominent family in Furong County, and she was quite assertive.
Back then, Ye Qingyuan insisted on taking Li Zhu into his family, which made her so angry that she stayed at her parents' home for half a year.
In the end, it was the old lady who spoke up, telling Ye Qingyuan to personally go to his father-in-law's house to apologize, before they were able to bring her back.
Liang Wenxiu's willingness to return was conditional on something Ye Qingyuan had to do.
That means that Bai Mudan is not allowed to have children within three years of entering the household.
She will be expelled from the Ye family if she breaks this agreement!
That's why she didn't conceive until the third year after he entered the household.
It took a lot of effort just to get Bai Mudan into the mansion, and now Ye Qingyuan still has to discuss the matter of having a secondary wife with Liang Wenxiu.
He suddenly felt a headache coming on.
His legal wife was never easy to talk to. But when Ye Qingyuan went to Liang Wenxiu's courtyard and explained his purpose,
Wenxiu's reaction was far beyond his expectations. He had thought that this woman would cry, make a scene, or threaten to hang herself, or go back to her parents' home to threaten him again.
But Liang Wenxiu remained calm, as if he knew he would make this request to her, and even agreed to let Bai Mudan be his secondary wife.
This surprised Ye Qingyuan greatly, and he couldn't help but ask her, "Are you really willing?"
At the time, Liang Wenxiu replied that when he initially wanted to take Bai Mudan as a concubine, the reason she made a fuss about returning to her parents' home was because she didn't understand Bai Mudan and was afraid that Ye Qingyuan would be blinded by lust for a woman and ruin their happy family.
But after three years of getting to know each other, she realized that Bai Mudan was a docile person, so Ye Qingyuan wanted her to be his concubine, and Liang Wenxiu had no objection.
After hearing Liang Wenxiu's words, Ye Qingyuan breathed a sigh of relief.
In the days that followed, Liang Wenxiu also frequently showed concern for Bai Mudan.
He even specially assigned his two most capable nannies to take care of her.
However, Bai Mudan suffered an accident when she was six months pregnant and miscarried.
“That time, I almost didn’t make it through. After I lost the baby, Ye Qingyuan was also very sad, but he always comforted me by saying that I could have another baby in the future. I knew he was lying to me.”
"That miscarriage severely damaged my body. I asked the doctor privately, and he said that it would be extremely difficult for me to conceive again in my lifetime!"
At this point, Bai Mudan's voice choked with emotion, perhaps because she was thinking of her unborn child.
Liu Yingying raised her hand and gently held the back of her hand, softly comforting her.
"Don't be sad, it's all in the past... But since Ye Qingyuan cared about you so much, how did you leave the Ye family later?"
Bai Mudan wiped her eyes, revealing a bitter smile; "Even though the child is gone, Ye Qingyuan still wants me to be his secondary wife, so Liang Wenxiu is unhappy, and it caused quite a stir at home."
"I originally thought Liang Wenxiu was just a bit strong-willed, but not a bad person. However, her later actions made me have to re-evaluate her."
"I remember what my father said before he passed away: if a person's words and actions are very different from before, then there must have been a period when he was pretending!"
"Liang Wenxiu's later madness was definitely not an act, so the kindness and concern she showed me in the previous three years must have been problematic."
"It was only after I realized this that I began to suspect her motives and the two nannies she had placed by my side. Later, after my investigation, sure enough, the reason why my unborn child was miscarried was because they had tampered with my food!"
As Bai Mudan spoke, her hands unconsciously clenched into fists, and even her eyes flashed with intense hatred.
It's clear that even after all these years, she still can't let go of the past.
"I want to avenge my child, but I am just a powerless orphan, and a concubine at that. How can I possibly fight against Liang Wenxiu?"
"Liang Wenxiu also couldn't tolerate me, and the stalemate continued for more than a year. Ye Qingyuan was also disturbed by these trivial matters in the inner quarters."
But he was a man, and the inner quarters were only a small part of his life.
If he's unhappy, he can simply stay away from the inner quarters and find his own amusement elsewhere.
Liang Wenxiu and I, however, are different. We were born and raised in the inner quarters of the house, and we will eventually die there.
After realizing this, I understood that I didn't want to become like Liang Wenxiu, a resentful woman trapped in that small world, a madwoman!
"So I proposed ending this relationship with Ye Qingyuan."
Upon hearing this, Liu Yingying couldn't help but ask, "Would he agree?"
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