Shuangyun Court was the place that Sima Lingyun prepared specially for Yun Yiqiu. The name of the court could tell what it meant.
In Sima Lingyun’s arms, Yun Yiqiu frowned slightly and looked a little uncomfortable. Sima Lingyun rubbed her belly gently and coaxed, “Qiu’er, are you feeling well now? Is it still hurt?”
“Cousin, I’m okay. I just walked so fast that I got a pain in my belly.” Yun Yiqiu nestled against Sima Lingyun’s chest and answered softly. She held Sima Lingyun’s hands and said sadly with crystal eyes, “Cousin, you should go to see your wife, and don’t let her find you here with me…”
Yun Yiqiu would never forget that b**ch who dared to have a tryst with cousin. That slut had entangled cousin into a perplex relationship before marrying cousin, and now she did marry her cousin and tried to suppress me as the legal wife. Thinking about how arrogant the woman used to be, Yu Yiqiu would not let cousin leave tonight, and a glint of insidiousness flashed in her eyes.
“Today, I will make the woman stay alone in the vacant room and see if she dares to swagger before me!
“Just at the wedding night, her husband has disregarded her. Mo Xuemin is unable to keep her chin up from now on. Thus, she would not dare to put on airs as a legal wife in front of me!”
The love and admiration shown by the sick beautiful woman lit up Sima Lingyun’s gloomy mood, and made him feel warm.
He touched her head and snorted coldly, “What a slut! No one knows how many people she has slept with! Dare to hope to be my wife! Doesn’t she know herself?”
Thinking of the various disgraceful rumors about Mo Xuemin, the ambiguous relationship between Mo Xuemin and You Yuecheng, Mo Xuemin and Li Youmo, Mo Xuemin and Yu Mingyong… Sima Lingyun could not help getting angry. Today, he married the cheapest woman in the capital, but he had to pretend to be happy all day long in others’ presence. Although those noble young masters did not speak it openly, their eyes betrayed them and said they were here for a show.
Whenever he thought of this, he felt sick!
As for Mo Xuemin, he had no intention of treating her as his real wife from the moment when their marriage had been settled.
A loud noise rang outside. Before Yun Yiqiu replied, the door was kicked open.
Mo Xuemin dressed in a red embroidered dress stood at the door, and her face turned livid with rage. Her eyes moved from Sima Lingyun to Yun Yiqiu. The sight of the bewitching face made Mo Xuemin recall the unpleasant night, and she almost rushed up to tear that delicate face.
“Sima Lingyun, who is she?” Mo Xuemin snapped.
“Cousin…” Yun Yiqiu shuddered and huddled herself into Sima Lingyun’s arms with a terrified look.
Feeling the delicate woman shivering, Sima Lingyun patted her on the back to comfort her and raised his head to say in a sullen tone, “Come here and see. This is Qiu’er. She comes to the family earlier than you. So in the future, you two should discuss the things in the manor together and share my burden.”
“Comes to the family earlier, the things in the mansion, you two should discuss…”
Mo Xuemin glared at them more coldly. Sima Lingyun dared to bring his cousin into the manor ahead of me! And judging from his words, he even intended to elevate her to enjoy the equal status as me and asked them two to discuss with each other.
The veins on Mo Xuemin’s forehead popped. She remembered what Sima Lingyun had told her in the past that he planned to bring Mo Xuetong into the manor, and when the Duke Zhenguo’s manor was rejuvenated, he would divorce Mo Xuetong immediately and marry her. He even promised that he would not have any concubines, because having her was enough!
That was one of the important reasons that Mo Xuemin came around and agreed to marry Sima Lingyun.
But out of her expectation, on her wedding day, Sima Lingyun had already brought a new woman into his backyard. He seemed to have forgotten his commitment to her. But Mo Xuemin herself had also forgotten her past love affairs, instead, she just vented all her anger to Yun Yiqiu. All in Mo Xuemin’s mind was that the woman in front seduced Sima Lingyun by dirty means and made him forget her!
At the thought that when she had been locked in the house by her father and not allowed to go out, Sima Lingyun had pleasure with the woman in his manor, Mo Xuemin clenched her fists in the sleeves. Her mind was crowded with her being locked, Auntie Fang’s being adrift, and her elder brother’s being imprisoned… All of the things were caused for assisting Sima Lingyun.
“Sima Lingyun, you promised me that after marrying me, you would not have any concubines or other women.” She said resentfully, stressing each word.
Sima Lingyun did promise to her, but he just wanted to curry her favor and pleased her ears. And he did plan to make use of Mo Xuetong to get promoted, and then get rid of Mo Xuetong and marry Mo Xuemin at last. It could also fulfill his dream. However, at that time, Mo Xuemin was a gentle and virtuous lady, totally different from what she was now, a loathsome and discredited woman.
“Cousin, will you abandon Qiu’er?” Yun Yiqiu clenched Sima Lingyun’s clothes and asked timidly. Her watery eyes turned a bit reddish. She bit her lips, and tears dropped out of her eyes instantly. She looked at him helplessly, as if they were going to part forever, and said, “If cousin doesn’t want Qiu’er, Qiu’er has no way but to…”
She even choked with sadness and burst into tears.
The pretty sick woman was sobbing tenderly. How could thrusting Mo Xuemin compare to her? Today, Mo Xuemin wore heavy makeup which made her beautiful face ghastly and disgustingly white. Obviously, delicate and charming Yun Yiqiu gained the upper hand.
“Qiu’er, don’t cry. How can I abandon you? No matter where you go, I will keep you by my side. See, don’t cry, as it is bad for your body, and my heart will ache for you.” Sima Lingyun lowered his head and comforted her gently. He wiped away the tears in the corner of her eyes, totally ignoring Mo Xuemin as if the woman had not stood there.
“Yun Yiqiu, I am talking to His Excellency. How can you, a humble concubine, intervene our talk? How can the great Duke Zhenguo’s manor not discipline a concubine?” Staring at Yun Yiqiu, Mo Xuemin chipped up slightly with commanding eyes and asked severely.
“She’s not a humble concubine, but a noble concubine. After she gives birth, Mother said she would let Qiu’er enjoy the same status as a wife. So you should not put on airs as a matriarch in front of her.” Sima Lingyun said to Mo Xuemin impatiently, as he saw Yun Yiqiu being bullied and crying sadly in his arms.
“Noble concubine, enjoy the same status as a wife, child…
“She dares to conceive the eldest son!
Sima Lingyun dared to betray me and had another woman conceive his child. I had done so much for him, even at the cost of my reputation. Now, I had no alternative but to marry him. It was forgivable that he was not grateful to me, but how could he still have pleasure with another woman instead of thinking about how to help me when I was in trouble?
Had it not been for him, how could I have been ended like this…
Staring at Yun Yinqiu’s inconspicuous belly, Mo Xuemin was gut-wrenching and resentful. Her eyes turned red with anger. She could not control the rage in her heart, so she rushed up to pluck Yun Yiqiu’s hand back and thundered, “Since the mistress hasn’t entered the manor, how can a concubine conceive and give birth to the eldest son? The rules in Duke Zhenguo’s manor are really different from others.”
Looking at the delicate face, Mo Xuemin was burnt with anger. So her other hand threw out a slap fiercely. Then, the voice of “Dear me!” rang. Yun Yiqiu’s frail body ran into the bed edge, and she screamed, “Husband, cousin. Ah! Qiu’er’s belly hurts. Cousin, child, save our child quickly.”
The people in the room fell into a sudden silence and looked at the fallen Yun Yiqiu in astonishment.
“Blood, Concubine Yun is bleeding!” A little maid shouted.
Yun Yiqiu fell on the ground, and blood flowed out of her skirt. Sima Lingyun was shocked at the winding and thick blood, then collected himself immediately.
He pounced and shoved away the stunned Mo Xuemin, and then, he held Yun Yiqiu up and called anxiously, “Qiu’er, are you okay now? Is it hurt? How about you now?”
Seeing her face turning pale with pains and she was unable to say a word, Sima Lingyun urged the servants beside anxiously, “Hurry up! Find the doctor! Find the doctor right now!” After finishing words, he held Yun Yiqiu up and rushed out of the door, without casting a glance at Mo Xuemin.
The people in Shuangyun Court were all in a panic, and most of them ran out after Sima Lingyun. No one took notice of the bride who was supposed to be the matriarch.
Tonight, Duke Zhenguo’s manor was bound to be a new topic.
Early in the next morning, everyone was talking that at the wedding night, Sima Lingyun stayed in the concubine’s room instead of the bridal chamber, which irritated the Mo Manor’s first miss, so the first miss made a terrible scene there, even beat the concubine to miscarry.
Speaking of this matter, even though Mo Xuemin did something wrong, Sima Lingyun did not do the right thing. Why did he not stay in the bridal chamber at the wedding night but choose the concubine’s place? The fight between his wife and concubine did disgrace him completely. Besides that, the wedding banquet and the legend of the pure white tofu added more ludicrousness to the wedding of the Duke Zhenguo’s manor.
When the words reached the Mo Manor, Mo Huawen just waved his hand to signal the servant to leave, and continued to read over the official documents, completely indifferent to the words.
Since the master of the Mo Manor did not say anything, the duchess of the Duke Zhenguo’s manor gave harder punishment on Mo Xuemin.
Mo Xuemin had been kneeling on the ground from last night until this morning, even unable to take a sip of soup. She just knelt in a trance in the ancestral hall. Her head was wrapped in a piece of white cloth which obviously was torn off somewhere randomly. Blood still oozed from her forehead. Last night, she was knocked to the table corner. But for two maids’ quick reaction, she would have been knocked to death.
Then, no one came to see her. What’s worse, the duchess even coldly punished her to kneel in the ancestral hall.
In the history of Great Qin, there was no new matriarch as being humiliated as her—kneeling in the ancestral hall at the wedding night. Mo Xuemin gnashed teeth in anger and thought her humiliation could only be washed away by blood.
“Your Highness, the Duchess asks you to serve tea to the relatives in the front hall.” Qingxiang came in and said timidly. Mo Xuemin’s furious look last night frightened her and made her more fearful of Mo Xuemin. So she stopped at a long distance away from Mo Xuemin.
“Come here, help me up.” Mo Xuemin said calmly. She struggled to stand up, but failed because she had been kneeling for a long time. Then, she fell down heavily.
“Qingxiang, come to help hurriedly.” Qiuqiao stepped up and helped Mo Xuemin in advance.
Seeing Qiuqiao come to help, Qingxiang took the courage to help Mo Xuemin’s other side. The two exerted themselves to help Mo Xuemin up.
“How is concubine Qiu now?” Mo Xuemin asked about Yun Yiqiu first, even if Mo Xuemin’s legs got stiff and merely a stretch could twitch her legs.
“The child in her belly could not be kept, and her body is injured. Whether she can conceive a baby in the future has to depend on…” Qiuqiao helped Mo Xuemin move a few more steps and panted.
“Is His Excellency still in her place?”
Looking at Mo Xuemin’s deadly calm face, Qing Xiang trembled and almost failed to support her. For some unutterable reasons, Qingxiang thought what Mo Xuemin looked now was more ruthless than a look of cold sternness, so timid Qingxiang did not dare to look at her master, but just lowered her head immediately to shift her eyes to the ground, afraid of making any sound.
“His Excellency has been staying by the concubine’s side, but he has gone to the front hall and asked young madam to go there quickly,” said Qiuqiao.
He was telling me that he had to see the relatives in the front hall with me. A wan smile flashed on Mo Xuemin’s face. It was the marriage that I determined to build up, and it was the marriage that Mo Xuetong gave me…
Smile on her face, but coldness in her eyes! All her hatred was on Mo Xuetong!
