Chapter 568

Chapter 568 – Cannot be a Concubine

Lu Lingzhi was extremely opposed to Old Madam Lu’s decision of asking the abbot of the Huguo Temple to read Yaoyao’s fortune. He couldn’t explain why he was this resistant, but he always felt that the result was definitely not what he wanted to see.

Even so, he seemed incapable of stopping his grandmother. The matriarch and Tang Zhen had quickly finished the discussion and swiftly arrived at an understanding not giving him even the tiniest chance to intervene.

After sending Tang Zhen away, Lu Lingzhi went back to find Old Madam Lu. “Grandmother, why do you suddenly want to get Yaoyao’s fortune read?”

“If I don’t ask a fortuneteller’s help, I will always be uneasy. Plans for Yaoyao’s marriage have not been successful for a few times now. Originally, she was about to get married to Marquis Jing Ning, but the emperor… I had thought that Yaoyao would enter the palace after she came back from Zhao Jia island, but unexpectedly the emperor wants to bestow a marriage for her. Ah, I’m not hoping that Yaoyao will have the fortune to become an empress now, I just want her to find a good husband. And today, there were so many misfortunes when we visited the Wu Manor, so I’m really feeling uneasy.” Old Madam Lu finally bore out her heart.

The things that were worrying the old lady were the very ones putting the young man at ease. Lu Lingzhi wished Ye Zhen would have such impediments in her marriage, he needed time after all, and what better way to have it than this?

“Grandmother, Yaoyao is still young, don’t worry, are you willing to marry her off?”

“Even if I can’t bear to, how can I keep her here?” Old Madam Lu said helplessly. “Now, we must slowly start looking for a suitable candidate, but we’ll wait till Yaoyao is at least seventeen before she can get married.”

“Grandmother, why are you so anxious? You even took Yaoyao to the Wu Manor today. Fortunately, Yaoyao is fine,” Lu Lingzhi said not understanding what his elder was up to. To him, as long as Yaoyao stayed at home, he would have a chance.

Upon the mention of the Wu family, the old madam was furious again. “Hereon, I will not have any contact with the Wu family, they only agreed to let Jing’er become Wu Congmin’s concubine, I would never agree to this,” she declared.

“Why should a young lady from our Lu family be someone’s concubine?” Lu Lingzhi snorted coldly. “In a few days, we will send Jing’er to Jinkou City and have Second Uncle and Second Aunt find a marriage for her.”

Old Madam Lu sighed. Among all my granddaughters, I had thought Shuang’er* was the most blessed, but the girl ended up with a terrible fate. **Fang’er insisted on marrying into the Liang family, so her life must be very difficult now. And of course, there is Yaoyao, there have been many twists and turns, and so far she hasn’t been able to find a marriage that suits my heart. Today, it was ***Jing’er’s turn to encounter a mishap. It’s really…

[*Lu Wushuang’s nickname, ** Lu Fang’s nickname, ***Lu Jing’s nickname. The ‘er is a kind of endearment]

“I don’t know what gods our family has offended. The past two years have not been smooth.” She sighed again.

“Grandmother, don’t worry, everything will pass.” Lu Lingzhi comforted her in a low voice.

Old Madam Lu smiled and said, “Yes, it will pass.”

“Grandmother, Yaoyao—” Lu Lingzhi hesitated, wanting to tell her about Yaoyao’s true identity, but given the current situation of the family, once the old madam knew that Yaoyao was not her son’s biological daughter, would she think that Yaoyao had brought about the family’s misfortune?

He wanted his grandmother to happily accept and treat Yaoyao as her eldest granddaughter-in-law and not resent the little girl.

Old Madam Lu eyed her grandson who seemed to be lost in thoughts and said, “What’s about Yaoyao?”

“It’s nothing.” Lu Lingzhi shook his head with a smile and concluded that it was not time yet. Only when Yaoyao had accepted him could he tell her about her parentage.

“Have you been to Liang Residence?” Old Madam Lu asked.

Lu Lingzhi nodded. “I have and even told Liang Chun off. Grandmother, with our Lu family here, Liang Chun wouldn’t go overboard or treat Fang’er too badly.”

“What’s the use of him not ill-treating Fang’er? The most important thing between a husband and wife is harmony. Liang Chun, he… Sigh, your mother is really a sinner.” When Old Madam Lu mentioned Liu Shi, she was full of anger.

“Grandmother, children, and grandchildren have their own blessings. It was Fang’er’s own choice at the beginning,  what’s more, you even tried to stop it.” Lu Lingzhi tried to calm her.

Old Madam Lu sighed. “Go and write to your second uncle about what happened to Jing’er today, and see what he thinks.”

“Yes, Grandmother.” Lu Lingzhi nodded slightly, told her some interesting things, and then left from the upper hall.

♚

After Ye Zhen left Lu Jing’s place, she went to find Pei Shi. She was going to stay in Chengde Mountain Villa for a few days, so had to tell her about it.

Lu Jing’s incident today had shaken the people of the mansion. What was supposed to have been a harmless banquet had turned into a nightmare. Pei Shi couldn’t help but sigh in her heart when she saw her daughter coming. There was a time when she was worried about this child being a wild girl, but now that she had grown up to be an overwhelming beauty shedding her feral traits, she still worried.

“It’s good if you are away from the capital for a few days, lest people gossip about you,” Pei Shi said helplessly.

Ye Zhen smiled, took the worried woman’s hand, and said, “Mother, how about you and I go to the hot spring villa to stay there for a few days?”

“The family is full of troubles now, how can I get away?” Pei Shi sighed. Back when she lived in the border town, life was leisurely, the family was peaceful, and there were not as many things to worry about. But things here in the capital were different. The matriarch was dissatisfied with her eldest daughter-in-law and refused to leave the family affairs in her hands. As for the said daughter-in-law, Liu Shi*, she attributed all her misfortunes to her husband’s family. Needless to say, every time these two women met, things would end up in a bad verbal spat upsetting the entire household. So, Pei Shi had had to step in and assist the old madam in taking care of the household affairs, albeit temporarily.

[*Liu Shi = Eldest Madam Lu, her maiden surname is Liu.]

“Mother, will we ever go back to the border town?” Ye Zhen asked in a low voice. In fact, she really felt that life in the border town was much easier than here. The joy a simple life brought was priceless.

Pei Shi turned sullen. “I want to go back too… your father and brother have already entered the court as officials, how can we go back now?”

Yes, Lu Shiming was no longer the young man who ran away from home without any ambition. He had found himself a footing the court, even if he was not holding an exemplary position, he was steady nonetheless. What’s more, Lu Xiangzhi, was this year’s Tanhua*. As long as the lad didn’t falter (err), he wouldn’t have to worry about his future. As such, it was already a bit hypocritical to say that either of them would return to the border town.

(*翰林院  Hàn lín yuàn: Imperial Hanlin Academy, lasting from Tang dynasty until 1911; they conducted examinations for scholars to be court officials.  状元 zhuàng yuán = top scorer; 榜眼 bǎng yǎn = second place; 探花 tàn huā (Tanhua)= third place. Also, this is the same exam where Wu Congmin came second.)

“Mother, what did the Wu family say?” Ye Zhen knew that this was what worried Pei Shi the most. Which mother wouldn’t? Although Lu Jing wasn’t Pei Shi’s daughter, the latter still cared.

Anger rose on Pei Shi’s face as she said, “Old Madam Wu actually said that she wants Jing’er to be her grandson’s concubine. How is this possible? Even if Jing’er is a concubine’s daughter, there is no reason for her to be a concubine!”

Wasn’t Lu Wushuang a concubine too? Although Ye Zhen thought so, she didn’t say it out loud. “She just fell in the water and was rescued by Wu Congmin. In the end, it’s nothing. It’ll only take a few days before the people will naturally forget about it.”

“I hope so. But Mother wants to send Jing’er to Jinkou City,” Pei Shi said in a low voice. “She wants your second uncle to decide.”

Ye Zhen knew what the Wu family thought about Lu Jing. Since she was a merchant’s concubine-born daughter, she was absolutely unworthy of their exemplary Second Young Master*. She reckoned they felt they were on the losing end for having to give Lu Jing the position of concubine.

(*fellow’s come second after all… )

“Mother, this is right. No one can be blamed for what happened to Jing’er. It’s best to let Second Uncle decide,” Ye Zhen said.

Pei Shi patted her head, she knew her daughter didn’t want her to worry and was reassuring her. She was touched. “You have to go to Chengde Mountain Villa early tomorrow morning, go back early and rest.”

“Yes, Mother!” Ye Zhen smiled sweetly. As she thought of going to Chengde Mountain Villa to spend a few peaceful days, she suddenly looked forward to it.

“Your brother will be back soon. You should meet him. He must have heard about that incident today and must be worried about you,” Pei Shi said with a smile.

Ye Zhen returned the smile.

♚♚♚