577 Was a piece of cake
Tu Lihuan nodded.
“I’ll go change my clothes first.”
“Alright!” The head maidservant said it with a smile.
After a while, Tu Lihuan came out in a new set of clothes.
He looked like a handsome and sunny young man again, as if he wasn’t the ruthless young man who had just whipped others.
On the way to the main courtyard, Tu Lihuan asked the head maidservant about the situation of the banquet today.
The head maidservant didn’t hide anything and angrily recounted how Shi Qingluo had embarrassed Madam Tu today.
This made the originally smiling Tu Lihuan’s eyes turn gloomy.
He narrowed his eyes. “Shi Qingluo actually dared to bully my mother. How arrogant.”
Since she dared to use her status to bully his mother, he naturally had to help her take revenge.
When they entered the main hall, the gloominess on Tu Lihuan’s face had already disappeared.
“Mother, is there something you need me for?”
Madam Tu shot him a look. “Can’t I find you for no reason?”
Tu Lihuan walked over and sat down with a smile. “Of course you can.”
He then said a lot of things, which made Madam Tu, who was originally in a bad mood, beam with joy.
After chatting for a while, Madam Tu also got to the main topic.
“Did you know that your father wanted you to marry into the Xiao family?” she asked.
Tu Lihuan nodded. “I know. My father said that he wanted to leave a way out for our family.”
“What do you think?” Madam Tu asked again.
“I understand my father’s considerations, so I don’t object,” Tu Lihuan replied without hesitation.
“Previously, I didn’t bother about marrying Xiao Baili. Even if I did, it was for the sake of the family.”
Then he changed the topic and said coldly, “But I really want to marry her now.”
Madam Tu was stunned.
At first, she thought that her son had fallen for Xiao Baili, so she was a little unhappy.
However, from the cold smile on his face, he didn’t seem to like her truly and wanted to marry her.
“Why is that so?” she asked.
Tu Lihuan did not hide anything.
“On the way here, I heard that Shi Qingluo embarrassed you on purpose. She even mocked the quality of the apricot wine you brewed.
“She is simply going too far.
“I can’t take this matter lying down because of you.
“I heard that Shi Qingluo is very good to her sister-in-law, Xiao Baili. Their relationship is also very good.
“That’s why I want to marry Xiao Baili. We can do whatever we want with her.
“We will not pay attention to her on a day-to-day basis.
“We will deliberately ignore her and mock her, making her feel inferior and sad.
“She’ll be alone in the yard and wash her face with tears every day.
“You don’t have to punish her in public.
“You don’t have to be nice to her every day. Just use filial piety to make her serve you, her mother-in-law, and let her suffer silently.
“She won’t be able to voice it out.”
He knew that his mother had always been covering matters well.
If Xiao Baili married into the family, she wouldn’t let Xiao Baili have an easy time, but she wouldn’t let outsiders know either.
On the contrary, outsiders would think that her mother was very good to her daughter-in-law.
He continued, “If she’s not doing well, Shi Qingluo will naturally be worried and sad.
“When the time comes, in order for her sister-in-law to live well, she will have to lower her voice and admit defeat to you.
“You’ll be able to make up for all the anger you’ve suffered today.”
To him, his mother was the most important, and no one could bully her.
He was an expert at playing mind games.
If he wanted to take revenge on Shi Qingluo, he could totally start with her sister-in-law.
It just so happened that his father would be satisfied.
Madam Tu didn’t think there was anything wrong with her youngest son’s words.
Instead, her heart warmed.
She reached out and held Tu Lihuan’s hand. “You’re so sweet.”
She also narrowed her eyes and said, “Initially, I looked down on Xiao Baili’s identity.
“Even if her mother married Prince Yi, it doesn’t change the fact that she was born a farmer’s daughter. She also has a shameless mother.
“If it weren’t for your father’s decision to let you marry Xiao Baili, I don’t think she’s even worthy of being your concubine.
“It’s just that your father has a plan.
“I was originally against it and wanted to let our family’s useless second young master marry Xiao Baili.”
She was referring to her weak and timid illegitimate son that she raised deliberately.
“But your father also told me that marrying Xiao Baili was to leave a way out for the Tu family, so only our family’s firstborn legitimate son could marry her.
“Furthermore, what you said just now was right.”
“Hmph! When Xiao Baili marries into our family, she’ll be at our mercy,” she snorted coldly.
“I’m curious how Shi Qingluo can be so arrogant in front of me when her sister is here.”
She said in a low voice, “If Prince Jin can achieve great things, our Tu family will also have the credit of serving the leader.
“In the future, when Xiao Baili dies of illness, you can just marry the legitimate daughter of a big family in the capital city as your step wife.
“Your father has the same idea.”
If Prince Jin was defeated and the Tu family was finished, her youngest son should be able to keep his life and continue the bloodline of the Tu family because he married Xiao Baili.
The reason she had invited Xiao Baili to the banquet was because she wanted to take a look at her.
She was quite good-looking, and her etiquette was no worse than that of the young ladies in Northern City.
However, because of Shi Qingluo, she could not bring herself to like her.
If he married her, she would be disgusted.
However, the Tu family’s bet on Prince Jin was indeed risky, so they had to use Xiao Baili to leave a way out for their family.
She could only let her youngest son suffer.
Hence, her initial plan today was to quietly lead Shi Qingluo to embarrass herself and then pretend to help her out of her predicament.
In the end, Shi Qingluo would be embarrassed, but she still had to remember her favor, and the marriage would be settled naturally.
She could also answer to Ruan Songling, killing two birds with one stone.
However, she had never expected that Shi Qingluo was not the ignorant village woman she had imagined.
Instead, she had used Madam Zhu’s words to establish her might.
She even knew her intentions and repeatedly slapped her in the face, making her unable to leave the spotlight.
And because of that, all of her plans had been ruined.
Tu Lihuan didn’t think there was anything wrong with what his mother said.
If Prince Jin were to take that position, their family would also be able to become a first-class family in the entire Daliang.
By then, Prince Yi would be a prisoner, and Xiao Baili would have no value.
It would be best for her to die of illness and he could marry a useful girl from a noble family.
“I’ll listen to you, mother,” he said with a filial smile.
The smile in Madam Tu’s eyes deepened.
What she was most proud of was that she had two good sons.
Then her expression turned sour.
“It’s just that Shi Qingluo and I didn’t get along very well today. We didn’t fight, but we have a negative impression of each other.
“If that’s the case, will the Xiao family still let you marry Xiao Baili?”
Tu Lihuan was not worried. “I will use my sincerity to move Xiao Baili.”
“As long as Xiao Baili insists on marrying me,” he said with a confident smile, “I don’t believe Shi Qingluo can do anything about it.”
Madam Tu was very confident in her youngest son. “That’s true.”
She chuckled and nodded.
“She’s just a farmer’s daughter. It’s her good fortune that my son wants to marry her. Why would she reject you?”
She knew that her son had a good reputation in Northern City.
Many young ladies from aristocratic families wanted to marry him, and there were many young ladies who liked him, both openly and secretly.
Therefore, coaxing a farmer’s daughter was a piece of cake.
