Chapter 30: The Qiao Family

Chapter 30 Qiao Yunshu

"But come to think of it, it's actually a good thing that Xu Ruojin didn't become the queen of a fallen kingdom. That scoundrel in the palace truly isn't worthy of the jewel of the Xu family!"

At the mention of that disgusting creature, Zhao Yu'e's face showed clear disgust. Qiao Yunshu glanced at her and considerately brought the conversation back.

"What's the girl's temperament like? I'm not too particular about looks; after all, our third son is quite handsome himself. As long as his wife isn't presentable, it's fine. The key is that her character must be good, to avoid unnecessary trouble in the future."

Qiao Yunshu's words carried an implied meaning, and Zhao Shi understood.

"Don't worry. From what I've observed, the girl has been well brought up and has what it takes to run a household. After all, her stepmother is also from the Xu family—Xu Ruoyu couldn’t possibly neglect teaching the child essential skills."

As she spoke, the look in her eyes shifted slightly, and her tone couldn't hide a trace of guilt.

"Yun Niang, in my eyes, the third and fourth sons are treated equally with their eldest brother. Rest assured, I won’t deceive you."

Qiao Yunshu's expression remained unchanged, and she simply nodded.

"Elder sister, there's no need to feel guilty. Back then, I willingly stepped down to let him marry you—it was a decision we made after thinking it through.

In this world, not everything can go as one wishes. I am really grateful to you and your Zhao family for helping him lead the uprising and saving us from death in Guangping Prefecture."

Zhao Yu'e nodded, not dwelling further on the past.

What was there to argue about?

No matter how you looked at it, she was the one who had married Li Zhanghuai back then, thereby taking Qiao Yunshu's position as the principal wife.

Just as she was about to suggest inviting the Jiang mother and daughter over for a visit someday, she saw her maid enter.

"Madam."

Jin Xiu bowed properly and only spoke softly after being given permission to rise.

"Just now, the study hall reported that our fourth young master and the eldest Miss Jiang were fighting!"

"What?"

The two women looked at each other, wondering if they'd heard right.

"Are the children alright?"

Zhao Shi felt a little awkward. She had just been considering betrothing the girl to the third son, and now she was fighting with the fourth? What kind of future household manager would be so fierce?

Qiao Yunshu also frowned and asked, "That worthless fourth son, with all his raw strength—did he hurt the young girl somewhere?"

"Reporting to both madams, the eldest and third young masters have already gone over and separated them. The eldest Miss Jiang has some bruising on her face, but our fourth young master seems to be more seriously injured."

Zhao Shi quickly instructed, "Hurry and send the house doctor to check their injuries, especially the fourth son—make sure he’s checked thoroughly. No, younger sister, why don’t we both go take a look..."

"Look at what? Elder sister, don’t baby him!"

Qiao Yunshu grabbed Zhao Shi’s sleeve, pulling her back down just as she was about to stand.

"Let the physician tend to Miss Jiang’s injuries. As for that worthless fourth son, ignore him!

A boy his age, daring to hit a young girl—and what’s more, he didn’t even win?

That hopeless case! Let him hurt a while longer to learn his lesson!"

Qiao Yunshu was furious, her beautiful face filled with anger.

"Just as useless as his foolish father!"

Zhao Yu'e didn't know what to say to that. In all the years of conflicts between Qiao Yunshu and Li Zhanghuai, every single one had ended with Li Zhanghuai’s defeat.

"Younger sister, no matter how strong the fourth son is, he’s still a child. What if he ends up with some serious injury..."

"How much damage could a young girl from the Jiang family possibly do? Don’t spoil him all the time—don’t you know that a coddling mother ruins the son?"

Since the real mother had spoken like this, what could she, as the stepmother, possibly say?

Zhao Shi could only give a look at her subordinate, signaling Jin Xiu to quickly warn the fourth son. Otherwise, if he came running happily to Ruijing Hall, he might very well get another beating from his still-furious biological mother.

Qiao Yunshu, fuming, picked up her teacup and drank the cold tea in one gulp, feeling a little better afterward.

The most regrettable things she had ever done in her life were marrying that scoundrel Li Zhanghuai and giving birth to that little brat Li Laosi.

Every time she saw those two acting foolishly, she felt that life wasn't worth living.

"Elder sister, let’s hold off on matching that Jiang girl to the third son for now. I’ll see for myself when I have the chance."

"Alright."

Bringing up the topic again made Zhao Shi feel somewhat awkward, so she quickly changed the subject.

"Since your cold has healed, you should take back your responsibilities.

I’ve been managing the household affairs, looking after the children, and finding time to help him with the military accounts. Day after day, I’m spread too thin.

Besides, you’ve been managing the family’s businesses all these years. I can’t figure them out right away, and putting it off might not be good. What do you think, younger sister?"

Qiao Yunshu nodded.

"Understood. Send the account books back to me."

In the Li household, the first and second wives each had their roles: one managed the internal affairs of the Li residence, while the other managed the family’s businesses.

All these years, they had never turned against each other. Whenever they were truly angry, they directed their frustrations at the man, but they never harmed each other or the children.

This was their unspoken understanding, a final bit of respect two proud women preserved for each other.

The sun, which had enthusiastically seen off the three Jiang siblings in the morning, was setting as they lazily returned home in the evening.

When Xu Shi saw the injuries on her eldest daughter’s face and the bite marks on her son’s chubby hand, she frowned with worry.

"What happened? Did someone bully you at school?"

"No, I just got into a sparring match with someone and accidentally got hit. It doesn’t hurt much, Mother, don’t worry. I’ll explain the details to you later."

After reassuring her mother, Jiang Wan turned her gaze to the second and third children. She had already heard from them what happened at school, so she smirked.

"As for the third son’s injury, Mother, don't worry about it. I saw the injuries on the Sun family’s little girl too—your chubby boy bit her on the neck. Her older brother was so upset he came to me asking me what happened!"

"What? Third son, you bit a little girl?"

Xu Shi was so angry that she wanted to grab his ear, but the nimble little chubby kid quickly stepped back several paces. He didn’t forget to defend himself.

"She bit me first! If you don’t believe me, ask my second sister. It really was Sun Qingqing who started it, not me!"

Then, his second sister chimed in coolly, twisting the knife.

"It’s true that Qingqing hit you first, but if you hadn’t run your mouth and called her a 'big fat girl' and said her whole family was ugly—such a punch-worthy thing to say—would she have hit you?"

Now Xu Shi was truly furious.

"Jiang Yaozu! Is this how we raised you at home? How dare you use such nasty language and even pick a fight with a little girl? You..."