Chapter 037

Chapter 37: Just Because They Have More “Sisters”?

Yu Zhi Yi did not know a man was about to lose his fiancée because of her, nor that Shen Yun Jing failed to explain himself, then ran to give Du Zi Heng an earful. At that time, she was seated in the Splendid Brocade Pavilion, sipping tea and eating snacks.

As the most famous tailor house in the city, often serving high officials and nobles, the Splendid Brocade Pavilion offered the finest tea, pastries, and fruit.

Yu Jiao Jiao sat not far away. After being stung outside, she still wanted to scratch Yu Zhi Yi’s face with hate, but she could only avoid looking. When others came to flatter her, she even had to act like a loving sister. She truly did not want to hear Yu Zhi Yi say again that she had hundreds of concubine “sisters.”

But even if she kept quiet, others did not. The real-and-fake daughter scandal had shaken the noble circle back then; everyone knew Yu Zhi Yi was a barnyard hen that flew onto a high branch. Some felt dirty when they remembered they had played with a fake heiress for ten years. What angered them more was that this “hen,” lucky in fate, had been sent into Yu Manor and, because Minister Yu and Madam Yao were kind, had even married into the top house, Chancellor’s Manor.

Many noble ladies who desired either Du Zi Heng himself or the Du family’s status decided to drop their masks. Unfortunately, Yu Zhi Yi rarely attended social gatherings. Even when the circle’s ladies hosted banquets or handled etiquette affairs, Madam Yao did it for her. Having finally caught her here, how could they miss the chance?

A noble lady in a red dress took a refined sip of tea, set down her cup with elegant grace, and said: “Young Master Du is being carried off by a man, yet Young Madam Du still has the mood to shop for clothes?”

Yesterday, the sight of Du Zi Heng carrying a small, pretty young man into a clinic had spread through the nobility. Du Manor could no longer cover the matter. Because of this, the noble ladies’ eyes toward Yu Zhi Yi were extra mocking. Even if you fly to a high branch, they thought, a barnyard hen is still a barnyard hen; even in a phoenix’s nest, she cannot be a phoenix. Did you not see even Young Master Du treating her like nothing?

Yu Jiao Jiao shot over a look of gleeful theater. She had not said the words, so the blame would not fall on her. She was happy to watch the imposter be mocked.

Yu Zhi Yi glanced at her and said: “Put away your schadenfreude. No matter what, I am the nominal Eldest Miss of Yu Manor. If I am mocked in public, it also shames Minister’s Manor. As the second miss of Minister’s Manor, your face grows dim too. I do not know why you are baring your teeth in joy.”

Yu Jiao Jiao said with a soft face: “What did I laugh at? Sister, you misunderstand me. I am worried about brother-in-law, he…”

But Yu Zhi Yi did not let her play: “Since when did helping the injured become shameful? If you saw a wounded person bleeding on the street, would you look away and let them die?”

They were all noble ladies and needed face. Few here put the lives of commoners in their hearts, but none would admit it. The red-dressed lady choked and said, looking uneasy: “Of course not, but…”

Yu Zhi Yi said: “My husband was only answering Your Majesty’s call to be diligent and frugal. Unlike you all, he does not travel with a large entourage. With no retainer at hand, he could only carry the injured himself. Is that so hard to understand?”

When Du Zi Heng reached the third floor, this was the sentence he heard. He stood still. After being left behind, Shen Yun Jing had first rushed to his fiancée’s house to beg forgiveness, even though he had done nothing. The fiancée had told the gatekeeper not to let him in. No matter how he pleaded, he could not enter, so in anger he ran to Du Zi Heng.

After scolding Du Zi Heng, Shen Yun Jing told him that Yu Zhi Yi was here and was being mocked by Yu Jiao Jiao. He urged him to come. After a day of rumors, everyone in the capital knew he had carried a small, handsome man to the clinic. He had become a topic and a joke. Shen Yun Jing, one of his few close friends, even while blaming him for costing him his fiancée, knew Du Zi Heng was not entirely at fault. He offered a warning: “I think Eldest Miss Yu is not simple. She might use this chance to push Miss You to the front. Then everyone will call you adulterer and adulteress. You are the young master of Chancellor’s Manor and can bear it, but Miss You is a woman. She may not be able to stand the slander.” He never expected that Yu Zhi Yi would not smear them but instead cover for them.

Before Du Zi Heng could recover, another noble lady tried to poke through Yu Zhi Yi’s “strong face” and said: “I heard the one he carried was not some injured stranger but his lover.”

Yu Jiao Jiao feigned shock at once and said: “Impossible? Sister, how long have you been married, and he already keeps a lover?” Then she puffed with righteous anger: “Sister, do not be afraid. When we go home I will tell Father and Mother. They will stand up for you!”

Yu Zhi Yi took a calm sip of tea and said: “I do not object to my husband taking concubines. Why would he keep a lover outside? Chancellor’s Manor has few heirs. If someone can add more mouths to the family, I will be delighted. Why would I stop it?” She looked around at the noble ladies and asked: “Do you stop the concubines in your houses from giving birth?”

The noble ladies said: “Naturally not.” They would, but who would admit it out loud?

A hundred years ago, after Eldest Princess Jia Luo took charge to protect the realm, women’s status in the Great Sheng Empire rose a lot. But men’s privilege of taking multiple wives and concubines had not been erased. The only real power a wife could hold in a marriage was the right to divorce. The law existed, but few dared to take that step. As long as they did not dare to leave, they had to accept that their husbands might have other women and other children. You could sulk in secret or scheme with your closest confidants to remove rivals, but you would never declare it openly in public.

Seeing the noble ladies silenced, Yu Jiao Jiao ground her teeth and cursed in her heart: “Useless!”

Watching them deflate, Yu Zhi Yi found it amusing. They were all mistresses of households with piles of “sisters” waiting to compete for the same husband. Where did their sense of superiority come from? Just because they had more “sisters”?