Chapter 29 Exchange Conditions
After the words were spoken, silence fell in the room.
Looking at their surprised or happy gazes, Qingwu thought she would be heartbroken and angry, but she actually slowly breathed a sigh of relief.
This breath of resentment may have existed since she returned to the Xi family, and it became even stronger after she got married. It had been stuck in her throat, but now that she had removed the restraints from her body, she actually felt her whole body begin to relax.
She originally thought that if she really didn't want to, she could use her father as pressure and write a letter to Jingzhou. She firmly believed that her father would not agree to such an absurd thing.
But now Qingwu felt that following the deposed prince who was demoted to a commoner might be more suitable for her than being the mistress of this big family.
Qingwu grew up in the countryside and could never become "Xi Qingwu", the noble lady of the Xi family.
As she listened to her mother and twin sisters thanking her after they came to their senses, her heart was no longer moved. All the friendship they once had was completely dissipated by today's incident. From now on, she would no longer consider them as her mother and sisters in her heart.
As for Song Yunhe, Qingwu had thought about living a good life with him and had tried her best. Since he only treated her as a substitute, then the fate between them was over.
Qingwu wasn't the type of woman who cared about chastity. She was born in the countryside, where birth, aging, sickness, and death were common. How could ordinary people care about chastity or being faithful to one man? A widow would remarry if her husband died, and if a couple divorced, they would remarry.
Not to mention the distant past, let’s just talk about her adopted grandmother. In her memory, the number of men who had changed around her grandmother exceeded the number on one hand. When her grandmother was completely old and she also grew up, there were no more men around her grandmother.
Qingwu once asked her grandmother why she didn't choose a man to marry and settle down. Her grandmother was surprised that such a young girl would ask such a question. She touched her head and smiled, "Grandma doesn't like them anymore."
After the joke, grandma said to her seriously, "True love is common in this world, but it is hard to keep it forever. When two people are in love, they need to treat each other with sincerity. If one party changes their mind, there is no need to be sad. You can choose another one."
At that time, there was an emotion in grandma's eyes that Qingwu could not understand. Now he thinks that grandma must have experienced a lot when she was young to have such an sigh. After all, even though grandma is old, one can still see what kind of elegance she must have had when she was young.
With Grandma as her role model and her words, how could Qingwu still be attached to Song Yunhe? This fate ends here.
Seeing Qingwu hesitate to say the next word, Xi Qingtong was afraid that she would regret it, so she quickly comforted her, "Don't worry, even if His Majesty doesn't allow the Crown Prince to take anything, you won't be short of food or clothing. My dowry in the East Palace is 600 taels of gold, and the other treasures and jewelry also have 200 taels of gold. Now they are all yours!"
On the day of Xi Qingtong's wedding, Qingwu witnessed the ceremony in person. Because she was a concubine, only twenty-six loads of dowry were carried away from the Xi family that day. However, she did not expect that although the dowry boxes were small, the things inside were of great value.
Qing Wu couldn't help but chuckle bitterly. Her dowry was worth less than four thousand taels of silver, or four hundred taels of gold, less than half of Xi Qingtong's. Although her husband's status was different, to say the least, less than half? It turned out that partiality had long been hidden in the details.
Sensing Qingwu's mood, Madam Zheng turned her head away as if she had been caught with something. After a few breaths, she dared to look at Qingwu and agreed, "I don't think His Majesty would withhold a woman's dowry. With this dowry, it's more than enough for you to have food and clothing..."
"not enough."
Qingwu suddenly said.
Everyone was shocked again and looked at her in surprise.
She wiped away the tears from her face thoroughly, and all the emotions just now were gathered in her phoenix eyes, which finally became as quiet as a deep pool, making the people who looked at her feel a little strange.
"Since she wants to trade status with me, those things should have been mine. But is it worth it for me to exchange with her? If she did, she would be the wife of the third-place scholar, and she could even go one step further and become a royal consort. She would have accumulated more than a thousand taels of gold in her lifetime. But I am just a commoner's wife, and my husband has a broken leg and can't work. Am I supposed to live on these six hundred taels of gold for the rest of my life?"
Since he no longer considers them as family members, Qingwu will naturally not show them any mercy and must give them the compensation they deserve.
Xi Qingtong immediately looked at Madam Zheng and Song Yunhe pleadingly, "Mother, cousin..." She called out to them respectively, and they immediately became determined again.
"Then I will give you all the gold from the betrothal gift that the deposed Crown Prince gave me, a total of eight hundred and eighty-eight taels. How do you do that?"
Song Yunhe also expressed his opinion and agreed to give Qingwu two hundred taels of gold as compensation.
Qingwu also asked that the gold be delivered to the temporary palace after she and Xiao Ji left the palace, and that the original maid be brought along. Madam Zheng and Xi Qingtong agreed to both requests.
The maids were not a big deal. The gold, silver, precious and jade beads were all slaves born in the family for generations. The four of them were related by blood and looked somewhat similar. Moreover, it was a time of turmoil in the Eastern Palace. Who would care about two slaves?
Seeing that all their requests were met, Qingwu and Xi Qingtong moved to Madam Zheng's bedroom to exchange clothes.
Since we are going to exchange identities and future lives, then the outfits must naturally be exchanged one to one.
The two of them took off their clothes at the same time, revealing the biggest difference between the twin sisters. Xi Qingtong pursued the beauty of Xizi, so she had a slender figure, with narrow shoulders and a thin back, as if it would break if bent.
Qing Wu had been practicing martial arts since she was young to strengthen her body. Although she had neglected to exercise after being detained for several years, she still practiced in private in her room. Therefore, when she stretched her limbs slightly, there were faint undulations under her skin, like a silk string, seemingly light and fragile, but actually holding hidden tension.
Fortunately, neither of them had consummated their marriages with their husbands, so the slight difference in their body shapes did not matter. Their servants exchanged their clothes and helped them put them on.
Although Yuzhu was calm and composed, she couldn't help but panic when she heard this shocking thing. Her hands kept shaking when she was dressing Qingwu. Qingwu smiled and comforted her, and his eyes quietly moved to the opposite side.
The twin sisters used to be required to wear gorgeous clothes, but now they were a little impatient when wearing her clothes. Qingwu curled the corners of her lips and lowered her eyes. Then Jinzhu helped her to comb the bun of Xi Qingtong's hair and put on her gold hairpin.
Looking at the phoenix hairpin shining on her temples in the mirror, Qingwu was a little dazed. Xi Qingtong used to be proud of it, but now she has discarded it. Qingwu couldn't help but stroke it gently, with indescribable emotions in her heart, not knowing whether to be happy or sad.
When the two girls finished their make-up and came out together, everyone in the room was stunned for a few breaths. Madam Zheng couldn't help but walk up to her two daughters and observe them carefully, then clapped her hands and praised:
"It's so similar. If he didn't speak or move, even I, his own mother, would have a hard time telling for a few seconds."
At this moment, her face was full of smiles, without a trace of guilt or remorse.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
