Chapter 29: A Doomed Couple

Xu Qingyi was completely unaware that all the servants in the house were worried she might be straying from the path of marital fidelity.

Really, enough! How could that be possible?

Even if she enjoyed looking at handsome men, it was purely for her own amusement.

If she were to seek a second spring in her life, it would be after the Eldest Young Master woke up and she was divorced, not now.

The accommodations for the two teacher were quickly arranged.

Xu Qingyi invited Physician Chen, who had been treating the Eldest Young Master, to examine Scholar Shen’s mother.

She had a cold with persistent coughing, and as expected, Physician Chen diagnosed it as lung disease.

In ancient times, this was a disease that struck fear into the hearts of people. It was difficult to treat and also a disease of affluence.

Shen Zhijie and his mother both looked pale and distraught.

Fortunately, Physician Chen said, “Don’t worry too much. It’s not particularly serious yet and can be treated.”

“That’s good,” Xu Qingyi breathed a sigh of relief for Scholar Shen and his mother, then instructed Physician Chen, “Please use whatever medicine is necessary to cure Mrs. Shen.”

Physician Chen nodded.

“Thank you…” Shen Zhijie bowed again, deeply grateful, unsure how to express his gratitude.

Xu Qingyi quickly stopped him. “Scholar Shen, you’re too kind.”

She thought to herself, what kind of repayment was needed?

All he had to do was to teach the future pirate leader to become a good, upright citizen—that would be the best repayment!

However, there was no rush to start the lessons. Xu Qingyi patted Heng, who was always by her side, and smiled. “Heng, shall we start the lessons tomorrow?”

Heng, clinging to his mother’s leg, said, “Okay.”

Shen Zhijie quickly agreed, “Yes.”

“Mm,” Xu Qingyi looked around. “Mrs. Shen is still ill, I’ll send a maid over to help later.”

Cleaning and tidying up were essential tasks.

They could also help take care of the ill Mrs. Shen.

“This…” Shen Zhijie instinctively wanted to decline, feeling he had already received too many favors from her.

“Let’s leave it at that,” Xu Qingyi feigned an unhappy expression and said sternly, “Are we really going to make Mrs. Shen do the work herself?”

Shen Zhijie fell silent, his face filled with gratitude.

“Heng, we’re going back now. Will you say goodbye to your teacher?” Xu Qingyi said.

Heng nodded but didn’t let go of Xu Qingyi’s hand. He said, “Goodbye, teacher.”

“…” Xu Qingyi felt quite embarrassed; standing like this while talking to a teacher was rather disrespectful.

She explained to Shen Zhijie, “This child usually has good manners; I don’t know why he’s suddenly acting this way today.”

“It’s fine,” Shen Zhijie waved his hand and smiled. “Goodbye, Young Master Heng.”

Then, he quietly watched the figures of Xu Qingyi and her son as they walked away.

He sighed inwardly.

This Young Madam Xie was indeed very tolerant and considerate, no wonder Young Master Heng was so close to his new stepmother.

In fact, he had noticed Heng’s unusual closeness to Xu Qingyi since their meeting yesterday.

Their affection was extraordinary.

Passing by the courtyard, Xu Qingyi pointed to the newly installed seesaw, slide, and other play equipment.  “When it’s cooler in the mornings and evenings, Heng can come out to play.”

“Will Mother play with me?” Heng asked expectantly, looking up.

“Of course, I’ll play with you when I have time,” Xu Qingyi smiled.

Heng nodded seriously. “Then I’ll wait until Mother has time to play.”

Xu Qingyi showed a look of helplessness, tinged with a subtle surprise: “…”

Why did she feel Heng was becoming increasingly clingy?

Of course, she didn’t mind at all.

Heng was still young, and his need for his mother was naturally greater than that of his two older brothers.

The sudden appearance of a mother who cared for him made his dependence perfectly normal.

“Mother, piggyback!” Heng walked a few steps and then refused to walk any further, demanding a piggyback ride.

Xu Qingyi was helpless against him and could only squat down to carry him.

She sighed with a smile, “Heng, you weren’t like this before. You’re becoming spoiled.”

Heng, nestled on his mother’s back, his small arms wrapped around her neck, giggled happily.

He wasn’t usually like this; he had only become this way since he realized Xu Qingyi was willing to indulge him.

This was Heng’s true nature.

He was perceptive and knew how to push his boundaries.

*

The entire household knew that two handsome teachers had arrived at the manor today.

This news quickly reached Xie Huaian and Du Jinyun.

At the moment, this ill-fated couple were both injured.

One, Xie Huaian, was lying in bed with a whipped back, the other, Du Jinyun, had swollen cheeks and couldn’t show her face.

Upon hearing the news, Xie Huaian said with malicious intent, “Grandmother and Father are so foolish. Allowing her to act so recklessly, how can they be sure the future child will be a Xie family heir?”

Du Jinyun hadn’t considered this aspect; upon hearing this, her eyes lit up.

“Second Young Master means, she’s involved with those two men?”

Du Jinyun had previously been worried about finding a way to deal with Xu Qingyi, but now she had been handed a perfect opportunity.

“What if she isn’t?”

Xie Huaian said with a sinister chuckle, “Even if she isn’t, we can still smear her with mud, making it impossible for her to clear her name, even if she jumped into the Yellow River.”

But there was no rush.

It would be best to wait until Xu Qingyi was pregnant before acting.

The most pressing matter was to obtain Du Jinyun’s deed of contract.

“Jinyun, I’m sorry you have to go through this,” Xie Huaian held Du Jinyun’s hand.

He had already learned about Du Jinyun’s plan to apologize to Xu Qingyi by serving her tea, and his hatred for Xu Qingyi, that vicious woman, intensified.

If possible, Xie Huaian wouldn’t want Du Jinyun to apologize.

But he had no choice.

If they waited any longer, he feared the deed of contract would fall into the hands of his mother.

Madam Qin, a Old Madam from a wealthy family, would never look favorably upon Du Jinyun, who had slept her way up from being a servant girl.

If she got the deed, she would hold onto it tightly.

“It’s not a hardship,” Du Jinyun clasped her beloved’s fingers, her smile sweet. “For you, I can endure hardship and humiliation; I don’t care about temporary setbacks.”

For the sake of love, Du Jinyun felt that facing the upcoming embarrassment was no longer so daunting.

She loved Xie Huaian, and it had taken great effort for them to be together openly.

Even for the sake of the baby in her belly, she would endure.

“Mm.” Xie Huaian’s eyes brimmed with affection as he reached out to touch Du Jinyun’s injured cheek. “Does it still hurt? Have you been using ice to soothe it?”

At the same time, he cursed Xu Qingyi in his heart.

That vicious woman, he would definitely take revenge on her, making her pay for what she had done to Jinyun.

Du Jinyun shook her head. “As long as I can be with you, Second Young Master, everything is fine.”

“It’s my fault. If I had been willing to put effort into keeping her in check back then…” Xie Huaian spoke with regret. In fact, there had been an opportunity on their wedding night, but he had been overly confident.

He hadn’t expected Xu Qingyi to have a second option to pursue.

When Xie Yunzhi was still awake, he had pushed him down; now that he was lying down, it was the turn of his wife to take charge!

This made Xie Huaian extremely angry.

“Second Young Master, don’t blame yourself. I wouldn’t want to see you coaxing her; it would be more painful than death for me,” Du Jinyun covered Xie Huaian’s lips.

How could she bear to see Xie Huaian coaxing Xu Qingyi?

Knowing she was jealous, Xie Huaian curved his lips and looked at her intently.

Feeling embarrassed, Du Jinyun pushed Xie Huaian gently. “I’m going out now; you should rest.”

Then, she put away her smile and instructed Mama Chang, “Mama Chang, go to Danhuai Courtyard.”

Xie Huaian lay in bed with a gloomy expression, feeling somewhat worried.

If Xu Qingyi, that foolish woman, suddenly became clever and gave the deed of contract to his mother…

He hoped Xu Qingyi wouldn’t do that.

But unfortunately, his hope was likely to be dashed.

Because that was exactly what Xu Qingyi intended to do.

Not opposing the main characters didn’t mean she wouldn’t use others to achieve her ends.

If the Marquis Mansion remained unchanged, and Xie Huaian and Du Jinyun continued to stay confined to the inner house, she didn’t believe they would ever grow stronger.

Upon learning Mama Chang’s purpose, Xu Qingyi casually agreed. “Tell her, let it be tonight.”

Mama Chang replied, “Yes.”

Mama Chang felt uneasy, reflecting on her behavior. Had she done anything wrong these days?

Had she displeased the Young Madam?

It might have been Mama Chang’s imagination, but she felt the Young Madam was becoming increasingly imposing.

The Young Madam’s calm and composed demeanor made Mama Chang almost forget that the Second Miss had once been a timid and unassertive person.

That seemed like a distant memory.

At dinnertime, the entire Marquis Mansion gathered.

Even Xie Huaian, despite his illness, was present.

Because the Marquis didn’t indulge him.

He had only received two lashes; how could he be so weak as to not get out of bed?

One must remember how his elder brother used to…

Never mind, thinking of his elder brother only made the Marquis feel more disappointed in his second son—there was no comparison at all!

Xu Qingyi noticed the Marquis’s disdain for Xie Huaian and couldn’t help but feel gleeful.

Until Xie Huaian matured, no one in the Marquis Mansion would recognize him; he would always live in the shadow of Xie Yunzhi.

But so what?

As someone who had been bullied by him, Xu Qingyi felt no sympathy for him at all.

After they had eaten enough, Xu Qingyi put down her chopsticks and said at the dining table, “Grandmother, earlier my maid, Du Jinyun, sent someone to find me, saying she wanted to apologize to me in front of the whole house by serving tea. Do you think that’s appropriate?”

The Old Madam was a bit surprised and replied, “Why wouldn’t it be appropriate? Of course, it is. She has wronged you, so it’s only right that she apologizes.”

Even if the maid hadn’t taken the initiative, she would have brought it up eventually.

Moreover, it was indeed the maid’s fault; even if it wasn’t, the entire family sided with Xu Qingyi.

“But she is, after all, the future concubine of my second brother, and she’s carrying a Xie family child. Wouldn’t it be inappropriate?” Xu Qingyi said with a worried expression.

The Marquis coldly snorted, “There’s nothing inappropriate. She did something wrong behind her master’s back; apologizing is only right. You don’t need to worry.”

“Oh, then I’ll prepare the tea and the deed of contract,” Xu Qingyi explained with a smile. “The other day, my second brother came to ask me for the deed, and I thought there should be a proper procedure, but it seems to have displeased him, so I’ve been feeling uneasy.”

“What does he have to be unhappy about!” The Marquis was still furious at the mention of this. “It’s a good thing this didn’t get out; otherwise, how could he face the ancestors of the Xie family?”

Xie Huaian, who was being scolded, had a sullen expression and reluctantly admitted his fault. “It’s son’s fault. I shouldn’t have been so reckless.”

Privately, however, he glared fiercely at Xu Qingyi.

This woman was definitely doing it on purpose, deliberately adding fuel to the fire!