Chapter 550: Choosing to Protect Her Daughter

Chapter 550: Choosing to Protect Her Daughter

"All of you, listen carefully. This is the mistress, Lady Zheng, your master. When your master is seated, you stand. When your master stands, you kneel. When your master eats, you stand by and serve. If I ever find out that any of you is being disrespectful to the mistress, I will sell her away, to the highest bidder, understood?"

Four of them responded, but Fang Erya, who didn't respond, remained silent.

Lu Shen felt a complex mix of pity and resentment for her immaturity.

At a time like this, she still doesn’t know how to submit.

Their relationship had indeed grown distant. In the past, he would have scolded Fang Jinxiu for bullying her.

"Enough, all of you may leave now."

"Yes!"

That night, Lu Shen stayed in Fang Jinxiu's room. After just a few moments, it was over, leaving her utterly repulsed. She ended up chasing him to the room of one of his concubines in the middle of the night.

It wasn’t something she wanted, originally.

But Lu Shen’s actions stirred her heart and made her restless, bringing to mind the fleeting night of passion she had once shared with a stranger.

She wondered if she would ever see him again in this lifetime.

She knew it was wrong to think like this. If she ever did see him again, it would lead to trouble. Forcing herself to stop thinking about it, she closed her eyes to sleep.

But sleep eluded her. The more she tried not to think, the more her thoughts persisted.

She thought not only of the stranger but also of Xie Peiyu, to whom she had once been betrothed.

Xie Peiyu was much stronger and more formidable than that man.

If only Zheng Jinyu had never returned. If she hadn’t, the person who married into the Princess's mansion would have been her, and now it would be she who was Empress.

Damn Zheng Jinyu! She stole the life that was rightfully mine and ruined my future.

……

Madam Zheng was furious when she found out that Fang Jinxiu had silently returned with Lu Shen and his mother without a word.

"How could she defy me? I’ve made countless decisions for her, all for her own good, haven’t I? Why won’t she listen?"

Lady Luo poured her a cup of tea.

Madam Zheng drank it in one gulp and continued to rant.

"When her identity was about to be revealed, I suggested she return to her hometown and marry a suitable young man, ensuring no one would ever discover her true identity. That would have been her best option, don’t you think?"

Lady Luo nodded.

Madam Zheng angrily continued, "But she insisted on returning, claiming she couldn’t bear to leave us. Fine, I believed her. If she didn’t want to leave, then she wouldn’t. I introduced her to Yongnian. Yongnian is an exceptional man, but she found him inadequate, saying she didn’t want to marry far from home."

"Well, I didn’t expect Yongnian to be that exceptional either. If they had gotten together, I would have felt guilty. But never mind that. That year, I also arranged for her to meet Madam Xie, intending for her to marry into the Xie family as a second wife."

"But what did she do? She wanted to have it all, seeking Lu Shen’s affection while always wavering. If she had been more decisive, nothing would have happened at the temple."

"Lu Shen, who would do something so despicable as to ruin her reputation, could he possibly be a good man? I warned her then that Lu Shen was no good and that she shouldn’t marry him. I even suggested terminating the pregnancy with medicine and sending her to the countryside to marry a decent man, which would have been better than this chaos. But no, she had to interfere with his child..."

Madam Zheng was merely putting on a brave front; growing up in a large household, she was well aware that Fang Jinxiu was behind the miscarriage of Fang Erya.

It was common in large households for the wife to handle matters concerning the children of a concubine who had a poor relationship with her. She didn’t find it particularly wrong.

If she could handle it, it was her right.

What she found unfair was the entire family blaming her for the miscarriage. It was a typical case of bullying.

"Sigh! Forget it, let’s drop the subject," she said, too exhausted to be angry anymore.

"Reflecting on it, it seems she never followed any decision I made for her. Everyone has their own destiny. It was her destiny; even if I exerted all my efforts, I couldn’t change it. I said before that if she went back, I would wash my hands of her. Alo, don’t mention her affairs to me anymore."

Exhausted, Madam Zheng closed her eyes, no longer wishing to deal with Fang Jinxiu’s issues.

Still, deep down, she hoped things would turn out well for her. She hoped her intuition wasn’t accurate and that the Lu family wouldn’t encounter trouble.

……

After Wang Fuzhen moved her dowry out of the Lu family and settled it safely, she returned to the Wang family with a divorce letter.

Lady Wang had lost her former luster; her face was ashen, and her eyes were dull and lifeless.

She had probably anticipated that this time, everything was finished.

"Why have you returned?"

Wang Fuzhen walked up to her and crouched down. "Mother, I have divorced Lu Shen."

Lady Wang gripped the hem of her clothes and closed her eyes tightly.

After a moment, she opened them again. "I told you not to cause trouble, but you wouldn’t listen. You already had the Lu family under your control; why did you insist on the divorce?"

"This time, it wasn’t me who wanted the divorce; it was Lu Shen. He was afraid of being dragged down by my father. He didn’t even have time to remove his official robes before writing the divorce letter."

At this, Lady Wang’s previously lifeless eyes widened in anger.

"Is the Lu family planning to fly separately in the face of disaster?"

Wang Fuzhen lowered her head and remained silent.

Lady Wang suddenly thought of something and pulled Wang Fuzhen, who was kneeling by her legs, up forcefully.

"You can’t go back; you have to leave."

Wang Fuzhen was momentarily startled and blinked at her.

Lady Wang suddenly became stern and pushed her away firmly.

"Since you’ve already been abandoned by your husband’s family, how dare you return to the Wang family? Go, leave now."

Wang Fuzhen was briefly taken aback, but when she saw the determination and reluctance on Lady Wang’s face, she understood her intention.

Lady Wang didn’t want to implicate her, which was why she was driving her away.

"Mother..."

Madam Wang said coldly, "Don’t call me Mother. Once a daughter marries, she is no longer a member of the Wang family. If you were still the wife of the Lu family, we could still maintain a relationship as relatives. But since you can no longer keep your status as Lady Lu, there’s no point in pretending to have any familial ties. Leave. I will announce that we are severing all ties."

Wang Fuzhen bit her lip so hard it turned white, nearly drawing blood.

She then knelt down and kowtowed deeply before Madam Wang, the force causing a bump on her forehead.

Tears streamed down Madam Wang’s face as she watched.

Wang Fuzhen slowly rose and, with all her remaining strength, said two words: ‘Take care.’

Wang Fuzhen knew that Madam Wang truly cared for her. Yet, she also truly pitied her elder sister, who, like their father, had her own ambitions.

Ambitions that led her to forsake her family for personal gain.

Yet, when disaster loomed, she chose to protect herself.