Chapter 102: Kneel and Apologize, But I Won’t Forgive
This novel is translated and hosted only on Bcatranslation
The crowd fell silent instantly. Over everyone’s head appeared a large and collective “?”
What’s going on here?
How does this involve His Majesty? And what does she mean by Yu Jiao Jiao causing the Yu Family to rely on the Imperial Pardon Token to save their lives?
Yu Jiao Jiao’s smug expression froze.
Yesterday, when she left the Imperial Palace, she hadn’t even been allowed into Duke Courage’s Mansion before being unceremoniously kicked out.
At the time, Zhang Tian Shun wasn’t home, and Madam Meng, having been banished to the “cold palace” by Duke Courage due to her disgrace at the palace banquet, had lost all power over the household. The one currently managing the inner courtyard was Concubine Fan.
Concubine Fan had her servants block Yu Jiao Jiao and told her outright that the third young master had long decided to divorce her.
She dared not accept the divorce letter. Operating under the belief that if she never saw the letter, it didn’t count, she ran straight back to the Yu Mansion.
But the once-flourishing Yu Family was now a mess. When they saw her, although no one said anything unpleasant, their faces betrayed irritation and resentment.
Embarrassed and furious, she had to swallow her anger and work hard to pacify the family.
After much effort, she finally managed to smooth things over with them. However, she was seething inside and decided to go out to relieve her frustration.
Seated by a window, she caught sight of Yu Zhi Yi and her servant walking down the street. Rage flared within her, and without considering the consequences, she acted impulsively.
She had intended to repeat her old tricks, using public scorn to bury Yu Zhi Yi under a tide of accusations.
But she had forgotten one thing: actions speak louder than words.
The dismissal of Minister Yu was a huge event. Though the details hadn’t yet circulated, it was only a matter of time before the upper circles and eventually the public learned the truth.
Yu Zhi Yi, with her upright character, was no longer inclined to tolerate this family’s antics.
As a result, Yu Jiao Jiao’s schemes had backfired spectacularly.
When she noticed the skeptical gazes directed at her, a sense of dread began to creep in. Even if her lies were exposed later, that was a problem for the future. As long as she didn’t hear it, she could pretend it hadn’t happened.
She absolutely refused to end up like Yu Zhi Yi, standing in the street and being publicly humiliated.
“Stop trying to change the subject!” Yu Jiao Jiao said in a panic. “The matter at hand is how the Yu Family treated you kindly and arranged an excellent marriage for you, only for you to repay them with treachery!”
Yu Zhi Yi’s gaze turned mocking. “Sometimes, I genuinely wonder if there’s something wrong with your brain. Knowing what I’m capable of, you still dare to spout such nonsense in front of me.”
She paused, her tone growing sharper. “Don’t tell me you think I don’t know which family Madam Yu initially wanted to marry me into?”
Yu Jiao Jiao’s expression froze again, her eyes filled with disbelief. “How could you possibly know?!” she blurted.
Of course, Yu Zhi Yi knew.
Though she had been reborn after her disastrous marriage, her life before the wedding had played out just the same.
Yu Jiao Jiao, having been reborn several months earlier, not only snatched Zhang Tian Shun, the future duke, but also attempted to push Yu Zhi Yi into ruin. She persuaded Minister Yu and Madam Yu to marry her off hastily.
Her reasoning was that, since Yu Zhi Yi wasn’t the true daughter of the Yu Family, marrying her to a prestigious family might offend future in-laws who would feel deceived by being given an impostor.
But a lesser match would be different. Even if the other party was dissatisfied, they wouldn’t dare show it and might even feel grateful.
Her parents were swayed.
If not for Madam Yao’s visit to a temple, where she received a marriage divination indicating Du Zi Heng must marry a Yu daughter, Yu Zhi Yi would have been married off to a merchant family related to the Yu clan.
Though Yu Zhi Yi hadn’t revealed which family it was, the crowd, observing Yu Jiao Jiao’s reaction, quickly pieced things together.
“Unbelievable! Simply unbelievable!”
“I used to think the Yu Family treated their adopted daughter well. Turns out, that wasn’t the case at all!”
Others chimed in, defending the Yu Family: “Even if the Yu Family didn’t treat the fake daughter well, so what? Isn’t that expected? The fake daughter occupied the rightful daughter’s place for so many years, causing the family to be separated. It’s only natural they wouldn’t treat her kindly.”
“Bah! Sure, it’s understandable if they treated her poorly. But to malign her, spread rumors that she stole the true daughter’s favor, and claim they found her a good husband… that’s just using her to boost their reputation!”
“The fake daughter’s mother might be terrible, but the Yu Family isn’t any better.”
Hearing these mocking and disdainful comments, Yu Jiao Jiao’s face burned. Seeing the piercing gazes directed at her, she wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear.
Desperate to escape, she turned toward the restaurant, hoping to hide. But in her rush, her feet tangled, and she fell to her knees.
The crowd couldn’t see her lower half through the window, but her awkward posture left no doubt.
In the restaurant’s bustling hall, several onlookers had witnessed her strange fall. Someone called down to Yu Zhi Yi: “Young Madam Du, your sister is kneeling and apologizing to you!”
Yu Zhi Yi smiled faintly. “Seems she finally realized how vile and malicious she’s been, and is sincerely repenting. But I don’t want to forgive her.”
Yu Jiao Jiao’s kneeling direction, coincidentally, was toward Yu Zhi Yi and her maid, Li Rou. It did indeed look like she was bowing to them.
The crowd erupted in laughter.
Yu Jiao Jiao, humiliated and furious, glared at Yu Zhi Yi, her eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets. She screamed, “Yu Zhi Yi! You set me up!”
Yu Zhi Yi spread her hands. “You always do this. You take things entirely unrelated to me and somehow blame me for them. Back at the mansion, people sided with you, choosing to believe your lies. But the people here aren’t from your Yu Family, nor are they fools. Did you really think your old tricks would still work?”
With that, she turned and left with Li Rou, heading back to the Du Mansion to change clothes, ignoring the chaotic crowd behind her.
Her parting words left the onlookers buzzing.
“So, all those stories about the fake daughter bullying the true daughter were lies?”
“And the claims about the fake daughter stealing the true daughter’s favor were also lies?”
“The idea that the Yu Family adored the fake daughter was the biggest lie of all?”
Yu Zhi Yi’s brief remarks had detonated a long-simmering scandal. For years, the capital had taken as gospel the narrative of the fake daughter usurping the true daughter’s place.
After all, given her mother’s reputation, it made sense to assume the fake daughter was cruel and conniving.
But today, Yu Jiao Jiao had personally revealed herself to be the true villain, staging a performance of the thief crying thief.