Chapter 036

Chapter 36: Gossiping Cost Him His Fiancée

Looking at Yu Zhi Yi’s light yet stunning smile, Red Luan froze and quickly turned her eyes away, not daring to look again. [What is going on? Why is my heart beating so fast for a friend I have known for years with no strange feelings? I cannot keep looking, I cannot. My heart does not feel like my own.]

Yu Zhi Yi paused, then lowered her gaze; a dim shade crossed her eyes. [So it really is dislike after all.]

She pressed down her feelings and said in a low voice: “The showcase banquet will run into trouble. Be careful of the seamstress in the white dress. If you return to your room now, it is still not too late.”

The moment Red Luan heard the banquet would not go well, her drifting thoughts vanished. When Yu Zhi Yi mentioned the woman in the white dress, she at once thought of Bai Tian’er, a Silver-Ranked Seamstress. She said: “Go sit inside first, I will take a look,” then lifted her skirt and hurried into the back courtyard of the Splendid Brocade Pavilion.

Zi Yuan opened her mouth, then closed it again. She knew the rules. Because Zi Yuan was close to her, the miss would sometimes tell her secrets others never heard, but only after everything was neatly solved. Before a matter was settled, the miss would speak only to the fated client. Even if Zi Yuan asked, the miss would answer at a price: the miss would have to bear backlash.

While Yu Zhi Yi was calculating the follow-up of Red Luan’s matter, she did not notice Zi Yuan’s hesitation. After a short while, she withdrew her hand and her face returned to calm. Though there would be bumps, the result would be good.

The two were about to enter the building when a familiar, annoying voice sounded behind them: “Isn’t this my sister, the one a farm girl rides over to act all high and mighty?”

Yu Zhi Yi turned and saw Yu Jiao Jiao walking over with slow, graceful steps. She had grown thinner in this short time. If outsiders were present, Yu Jiao Jiao would surely put on a show of sisterly affection while speaking like a knife. But there were no outsiders here, so she did not bother to hide her malice: “I did not expect you still have the mood to attend a showcase banquet. I thought you would be crying your eyes out.”

Unfavored at Yu Manor, unwelcome even after entering Chancellor’s Manor; if she were this imposter, she would have found a rope long ago.

Seeing the gloom between the other’s brows, Yu Zhi Yi smiled faintly and said: “You have not collapsed even with a whole courtyard of concubines riding your head, so why should I cry?”

Because she grew up in the Yu Clan, Yu Zhi Yi had karmic threads with them, but with her rebirth and marriage, those threads had faded. Soon they would sever completely. In this life she would never again worry and work for them. They should not think they can tie her up with so-called family affection.

Even though a light mist still veiled Yu Jiao Jiao’s face, it was not hard for Yu Zhi Yi to see her marriage line. It showed that Yu Jiao Jiao’s other half was covered in rotten peach blossoms, and the children palace had already changed. This meant she would soon have a child in the house, but it would share no blood with her. In other words, she would soon become the legal mother of a child she did not bear.

Whether one can accept becoming the legal mother in this way is personal. Yu Zhi Yi herself did not wish to give birth, so she was happy to let concubines bear children to continue the Du family line; she just needed to enjoy cultivation and life. But Yu Jiao Jiao, proud as she was, would never accept it. Just like Yu Zhi Yi could accept Du Zi Heng being loving if You Bing Yue did not provoke first, but Yu Jiao Jiao could not accept that Zhang Tian Shun kept a full courtyard of beauties.

Yu Jiao Jiao had come to pick a fight and got kicked instead. She took a deep breath and sneered: “My husband may have some concubines, but they all act like mice before a cat when they see me. I tame them well. Unlike you, who gets beaten down by a farm girl!”

Yu Zhi Yi did not care to trade spit: “Right, right, you are so right. Dozens or even hundreds of concubines call you sister; as long as you are happy.”

Yu Jiao Jiao said: “No matter how calm you pretend to be, the fact is Du Zi Heng does not care about you. The more you act, the harder you will cry later at home!”

Yu Zhi Yi said: “Right, right, you are so right. Dozens or even hundreds of concubines call you sister, and in three days you will add a few more sisters. As long as you are happy.”

Yu Jiao Jiao said: “Just you wait. Du Zi Heng will dump you sooner or later for that woman. He might even dot on the concubine and suppress the wife because you are an eyesore!”

Yu Zhi Yi said: “Right, right, you are so right. Dozens or even hundreds of concubines call you sister, and in three days you will add a few more sisters. Your mother-in-law will even advise you to be generous and tell you to urge your brother-in-law to add heirs to the house quickly. As long as you are happy.”

Yu Jiao Jiao almost spat blood. She had wanted to crush Yu Zhi Yi and nearly got angered to death herself. Afraid she really would cough blood from rage, she snapped her sleeve and left: “We will see how long you can be smug!”

Although things were a bit different from the past life and Zhang Tian Shun had not dismissed the women in his rear courtyard, still, he would one day be ennobled and honored. And Yu Zhi Yi would be plotted to death by Du Zi Heng, just as in the past. Why bother arguing with someone doomed? She only needed to wait and watch with a smile.

Their quarrel should not have been heard, but by chance, a noble young master was escorting his fiancée to watch the showcase. Yu Zhi Yi and Yu Jiao Jiao had not lowered their voices, so the young master and his fiancée caught every word.

The fiancée stared and said: “Young Master Du is such a person?”

The noble young master was named Shen Yun Jing, the legitimate second son of the Minister of Personnel, and one of the few friends Du Zi Heng could truly confide in. He did not yet realize how serious this could be. Though his fiancée’s question felt like betraying a friend, he could not lie: “It is not that bad. Miss You is indeed remarkable, only her birth is low and Madam Du dislikes her.” Then, trying to defend his friend, he added: “But there has been no doting on concubines and suppressing the wife. Do not listen to Third Young Madam Zhang making things up. Zi Heng is not like that.”

He wanted to salvage his friend’s image, but he had stirred a hornet’s nest. The fiancée gave a cold laugh and said: “Leaving his legally married principal wife aside to favor a woman with no status is not ‘like that’? Shen young master, do you agree with Young Master Du’s behavior? It seems you also might neglect your own wife someday for a woman your family will not accept. Hah. I will report to my parents. Our engagement is canceled.”

Never in his dreams did Shen Yun Jing think that by saying two lines for his friend, he would talk his own bride away. He tried to chase his fiancée, but her bodyguards held him outside the carriage. Only after the carriage vanished did they let go.

Shen Yun Jing stood there stunned and thought: “Du Zi Heng, you owe me a wife!”

Yu Zhi Yi had no idea someone, after eating her gossip, nearly ate his own marriage away. By then she had already taken her seat.