“Mother, you’re different from her.”
Qiao Bao’er said this, yet felt deeply moved inside.
“Yushu, my good daughter, I know your filial heart, but I can’t spend all your money and cling to you forever. You’re different from me now. You’re Madam Pei of Duke Yongyi’s manor. Don’t ruin your bright future helping me.”
Xie Yushu couldn’t say outright that she despised the position of “Madam Pei.”
She had her sights set on becoming the Emperor, the Empress Dowager.
That might scare Qiao Bao’er to death.
So she just held Qiao Bao’er’s hand and said, “Mother, you’re different from her, but I have me—a capable daughter. If I say it can be done, just trust me.”
Qiao Bao’er began to cry again.
“Yes, Yushu has always been capable since childhood. I trust you. Whatever you say, I believe.”
“Really?”
Xie Yushu gripped her cold hand and said the words she had been preparing for a long time: “What if I ask you to terminate this pregnancy? Will you trust me?”
Qiao Bao’er froze, stunned before her.
Mai Dong was shocked too and said, “Miss Yushu, please don’t tease Auntie. This is the Marquis’s child. If Auntie chooses to abort, the Marquis wouldn’t let it go easily.”
“Doesn’t he know?”
Xie Yushu looked at Mai Dong.
“Yes, but it hasn’t been reported to the Marquis yet,” Mai Dong explained honestly.
“But some time ago, when Auntie started bleeding, I begged the Marquis, who sent Meng Dafu from Xinglintang. I guess Meng Dafu will report Auntie’s pregnancy to the Marquis. Such ‘good news’ wouldn’t go unreported. So he probably knows but hasn’t told Meng Min yet, maybe waiting for the fetus to stabilize or for it to be a son. What kind of man still wants children from him?”
“If he knows, then so be it.”
Xie Yushu no longer beat around the bush, addressing Qiao Bao’er directly: “I only want to know if you want to abort this child and live with me, or insist on giving birth for Xie Zhi’an?”
Qiao Bao’er’s heart pounded hard from hearing the Marquis’s name directly.
Suddenly, she realized Yushu was no longer the same.
The girl before her had become a sharp blade, every word striking hard.
“You don’t need to worry about anything else. I’ll handle it for you,” Xie Yushu decided to force her to choose: “Mother, I just want to know what kind of life you want. Will you choose me or Xie Zhi’an?”
What kind of life?
Qiao Bao’er looked into those determined eyes.
Her inner turmoil hadn’t ceased since she was a young kitchen maid, counting coins and calculating how long it would take to buy freedom for herself and her sister.
Once freed, they could start a small business—anything was better than being servants…
No one wanted to be a servant or a concubine.
Of course, she wanted to be freed and live with Yushu!
But that path was so difficult, and to make her daughter Yushu fight alone?
How could she…
“I’m not only doing this for you,” Xie Yushu seemed to see through her heart and spoke frankly, “I’m also doing it for myself. No one wants their mother to be a servant or concubine. I don’t want my own mother to be a concubine who has to hide whenever she comes to see me. I want you to be freed and start anew.”
These words struck Qiao Bao’er deeply.
Her trembling hand could not stop the tears.
“Mother, if we’re united, no difficulty is insurmountable,” Xie Yushu’s words whipped Qiao Bao’er like a lash, “As long as you dare to risk everything and stand with me…”
“I dare!”
Qiao Bao’er clenched Xie Yushu’s hand tightly, crying as she firmly said, “For Yushu, I dare anything! Mother may be foolish, but she will always be with you. How could I not want to see you openly and not let anyone mock you for having a concubine mother…”
She sobbed uncontrollably.
Xie Yushu held her close, hearing her cry, “Mother will listen to you. Whatever you say, mother will do. If I had a choice, why would I choose to be a concubine? But mother never had a choice…”
Xie Yushu’s heart shattered.
Yes, Qiao Bao’er had no choice.
Female antagonist Yushu had no choice.
These servants living in the shadows of a story had no choice at all.
The room filled with crying.
Outside the door, Qiao Miao’er washed clothes and cried quietly, rubbing the fabric as if squeezing her own and her sister’s broken lives.
Before leaving, rain began to fall lightly.
Xie Yushu instructed Mai Dong to take good care of Qiao Bao’er and to secretly have a doctor come to examine her pulse and prepare abortion medicine.
Before that, no one must know about Qiao Bao’er’s pregnancy.
Mai Dong nodded hurriedly.
As Xie Yushu was about to get into the carriage, Qiao Miao’er chased after her and handed her a package, gesturing something.
The system translated quietly into her ear: “She says: This is newly made this year; it was your favorite treat when you were little.”
Xie Yushu opened the cloth bundle and found a bottle of freshly brewed Guihua Mi.
The rain was light but damp and bothersome.
Xie Yushu returned to the Pei family manor late at night.
Guessing when Song Jie would come to pick her up, she carefully applied a full face of makeup before the dressing table.
This time, it was different from usual—she deliberately imitated Xie Jia Ning’s appearance to perfection, even covering the mole on her nose.
Her hair and clothes were styled to resemble Jia Ning’s former look.
When she finished, Song Jie’s carriage arrived, stopping directly outside the Pei manor’s main gate, without any attempt to avoid attention.
The front yard was so quiet that even the lights were out.
Anyone unfamiliar might think Pei Shilin and his son weren’t home.
But Xie Yushu’s “green hat” value instantly rose by 2 points—all thanks to Pei Shilin.
Let him watch her from whichever room he wished.
She decided to just be a shrinking turtle.
Xie Yushu took Jin Ye’s hand and stepped out of the manor.
Cang Shu came to help her into the carriage.
The moment she got in, she was startled to see Song Jie already sitting inside.
“What are you doing here?”
Her heart pounded fiercely as she frowned.
“Aren’t you usually waiting inside the manor?”
Song Jie’s gaze fixed on her face, looking dazed for a moment before blinking and frowning, “Xie Yushu, why are you dressed like this today?”
Xie Yushu adjusted her pink hairband and deliberately imitated Xie Jia Ning’s tone, “What? Does the little Daoist think I look bad like this?”
In Song Jie’s mind, Xie Jia Ning’s image surfaced clearly.
What Yushu wore and how she was styled were exactly the same as when Jia Ning reunited with him at the Spring Banquet—pink flowing satin blouse, a pink hairband in a flowing cloud bun, fluttering like colorful butterflies.
That day was the first time he met her as Prime Minister.
She had walked slowly in the garden with hands behind her back and said, “Why are you staring at me so much? Does the little Daoist think I don’t look good today?”
At this moment, Xie Yushu almost overlapped with the Jia Ning he remembered.
Today, she resembled Jia Ning more than ever before.
But for some reason, Song Jie felt uneasy.
He averted his gaze to the window and frowned, “You don’t have to imitate her in everything. I just wanted to have dinner with you today.”
“I know.”
Xie Yushu kept Jia Ning’s tone.
“I just don’t know if the little Daoist still remembers what I like to eat?”
Song Jie’s discomfort deepened.
He hated to admit that today he wanted to have a quiet meal with Xie Yushu, not watch her play Jia Ning.
He personally came because he feared Pei Shilin and his son might go too far in troubling her.
But these true feelings pricked his heart like needles, wrapped in secrecy.
He neither wanted to admit nor accept that he was actually caring for Xie Yushu…
He kept reminding himself, all this was to help Xie Yushu be a better fake, just to keep her by his side for amusement.
The carriage stopped in front of Fanlou.
Xie Yushu glanced at it but didn’t get out.
She frowned, “Aren’t we going to the Prime Minister’s Mansion? What if someone sees me here?”
Song Jie frowned and sneered, “I don’t mind. You’re the one who cares.”
“Of course. You, a dignified Prime Minister, being seen is just another scandal. But if I’m seen, I’d drown in spit and ridicule.”
Xie Yushu refused to get out.
Even when Song Jie said he had rented out Fanlou to avoid encounters, she refused, insisting, “I only accept going to the Prime Minister’s Mansion. No amount of money from you can change that.”
Song Jie clenched his molars in frustration, losing all interest, and coldly ordered Cang Shu to return to the manor.
In the carriage, neither spoke, both wearing cold expressions and avoiding each other’s gaze.
Song Jie grew angrier, feeling like he was paying money just to be insulted.
How could Xie Yushu dare to quarrel with him?
She was merely a fake he hired!
The angrier he got, the more he coughed, deciding that once the carriage reached the Prime Minister’s Mansion, he’d tell her to get off and go back to the Pei manor.
But Xie Yushu spoke first: “You don’t have to suffer for me today. You don’t have to pay for today’s meal.”
Song Jie turned his head to look at her in the dim carriage.
She sat by the window, head lowered, wiping off her lipstick and the stuff around her eyes with a handkerchief.
Her eyes were red at the corners, her face wet.
He was inexplicably startled and asked, “Xie Yushu, are you crying?”