Chapter 51 Giving Up All Hope

When Lady Luo rushed into Qi Ruofeng's courtyard, she was so infuriated by the wild and licentious sounds coming from inside that her face turned ashen.

"Who is in there with the Second Master?"

She demanded with an angry roar, causing all the maids and matrons in the courtyard to drop to their knees in unison.

"Marquise, please calm your anger. Inside is... the Second Young Mistress's personal maid, Hongxia."

Nanny Zhong had been sent by Lady Luo to temporarily oversee Qi Ruofeng. Who could have imagined that while she merely stepped away to pour a pot of tea, in the blink of an eye, the Second Master had gone inside and entangled himself with Hongxia.

Lady Luo was so enraged she staggered backward, trembling as she pointed a finger at the door. "Go! Drag that seductress out for me! Feng'er is still inside!"

The poor child had just lost his mother, yet his father was dallying with a maid right before his eyes.

Lady Luo shuddered to think that Qi Ruofeng was already five years old, bright since childhood, and entirely capable of remembering things.

Qi Xiuyu... Qi Xiuyu, oh!

Nanny Zhong took the lead and hurried forward to knock on the door. "Second Master, the Marquise has come to see the eldest young master."

Inside the room, Qi Xiuyu's muddled mind snapped back to clarity.

Seeing Hongxia weeping and begging beneath him, he gave a start and scrambled up to pull his inner garments together.

On the bed, Qi Ruofeng had been awake for a long time, hiding behind the bed curtains and staring at him with wide-open eyes.

It was over!

Qi Xiuyu hastily fastened his belt while Hongxia knelt by his feet, weeping softly, "Second Master... I beg you, in consideration of the fact that this maid has served you, spare my life."

The hairpin pinned in her hair was the very one Xie Wanqing used to wear when she was a maiden, which had later been bestowed upon her.

Looking at Hongxia's face, Qi Xiuyu saw a trace of Xie Wanqing's exotic beauty, combined with the soul-stirring experience just moments before...

His thoughts fluttered, and the lingering effects of the alcohol still at work, he hurriedly shouted toward the outside to suppress the wild heat surging through his body.

"Understood, I'm coming right now!"

With that, he lowered his head and urged Hongxia, "Hurry up and put your clothes on. What kind of spectacle is this?"

Enduring the soreness between her legs, Hongxia scrambled up and tidied her garments.

Qi Xiuyu donned his outer robe, strode over to the bed, and patted Qi Ruofeng's head. "Feng'er, when Grandmother comes in later, just say you didn't see anything, understand?"

Qi Ruofeng stared at him in a daze, unable to fathom why his father had suddenly changed into a completely different person.

Frightened, he tightly clutched the quilt and nodded.

Reassured, Qi Xiuyu finally opened the door. Confronting Lady Luo's ashen face, his gaze flickered.

"Mother."

Just as he bowed in greeting, Lady Luo snatched up a nearby vase and hurled it straight at his head.

"You soulless beast! Your wife has only just... and you dare pull this kind of stunt! How could I have ever given birth to such a wretch like you!"

Even though she had never favored Xie Wanqing, it was human nature; news of Xie Wanqing's death had arrived only this morning, and mere hours later, Qi Xiuyu was dallying with her maid...

Lady Luo felt chilled to the absolute bone.

"Mother, have you lost your mind?!"

Qi Xiuyu dodging Lady Luo's blows in a disheveled flurry, shouted loudly, "Your son hasn't done a thing! What is the meaning of this?!"

Lady Luo had already been pulled back by the matrons working together, yet her fury remained unappeased.

"You still dare claim you've done nothing? What is she doing here?!"

Pointing at Hongxia, she roared furiously, "Tie up this seductress and drown her in the pond!"

"Second Master! Second Master, save me!"

Terrified, Hongxia hid behind a pillar, tears streaming down like blossoming spring flowers, looking anything but pitiful.

"Let go! Who dares touch her?!" Roaring fiercely, Qi Xiuyu stepped in front of Hongxia, his eyes red as he glared at Lady Luo. "Mother, do you even regard me as your son at all?"

Stung by his cold shout, Lady Luo felt as though a basin of icy water had been dumped over her, piercing her heart bitterly.

"What did you say?" Calming herself, her lips trembled, her face turning an eerie, ghostly pale. "Qi Xiuyu, say that again!"

Consumed by rage and knowing full well he had spoken out of turn, Qi Xiuyu nevertheless felt the wild fire in his heart flare even higher. Coupled with Hongxia's soft, pathetic sobbing beside him, which frayed his nerves, he could no longer hold back.

He blurted out once more, "I may not be as good as Qi Jingshan, but you go too far! Everything is tilted toward the main branch—who on earth is your biological son?!"

Lady Luo staggered, collapsing against Nanny Zhong as her entire body trembled.

She favored the main branch?

Because Xie Wanqing had acted too outrageously and she refused to cover for her, that made it favoring the main branch?!

"Unfilial son! Unfilial son!" She clutched her palms tightly, unable to believe this was the only son she had raised through bitter hardship.

To think he would view her that way!

When she was pregnant with Qi Xiuyu, she suffered relentless morning sickness, her feet swelling until she couldn't stand, enduring every conceivable hardship.

After his birth, his constitution was frail, and her mother-in-law forced her to send him away to the country estate to be raised. Defying the pressure of the Marquis's Mansion, she stubbornly kept Qi Xiuyu by her side.

For his sake, she went from never lifting a finger to begging step by step at the threshold of divine physicians, pleading with gods and Buddhas to take her life instead of her son's.

He was a child she had raised piece by piece with her blood, her flesh, and her sweat!

Lady Luo's heart grew cold and desolate, inch by inch.

The Marquis of Shunqing was right; this son's heart had long since warped beyond recognition.

Overcome with disillusionment, she said, "You are nearly thirty. It's time you had some sense of propriety in your own heart."

With a rigid expression and in a fit of stubborn spite, Qi Xiuyu retorted, "Mother might as well spend her worries on the main branch. At least your son has an heir; no matter how poorly I do, it won't be worse than that!"

Lady Luo's face froze into a terrifying mask. Falling silent for a moment, she acted as though she had heard nothing, turned to Hongxia, and said, "Since you've taken her, keep her in your quarters so you aren't left without someone who understands your warmth."

Human hearts are made of flesh. Hearing those words from Qi Xiuyu, Lady Luo's heart died completely.

The thought of the young Qi Ruofeng and the strong possibility that Qi Xiuyu would remarry filled Lady Luo with such overwhelming agitation that she suddenly felt utterly exhausted.

She was done caring.

Let him wallow in his filth and squalor; as long as the reputation of the Marquis's Mansion remained untarnished, she would simply pretend not to see!

Knowing Lady Luo was angry, Qi Xiuyu's heart softened for a moment, and he placated, "Mother, just now your son spoke in a moment of panic and let his thoughts run astray. Your kindness to your son, I keep in my heart."

"Mm, as long as you have a sense of it."

Lady Luo pressed her lips together, her tone flat and devoid of fluctuation.

Seeing no lingering anger on her face, Qi Xiuyu dismissed the matter.

What mother ever held an overnight grudge against her son?

He hurriedly beckoned Hongxia over.

"Hold a concubine-welcoming ceremony later and have her kowtow and serve tea to you. Hongxia, from now on you must serve Mother attentively, understood?"

After all, Hongxia had given him her body, was Xie Wanqing's former attendant, knew how to please, and was familiar with Qi Ruofeng. Having initially been annoyed at being bewitched by her, Qi Xiuyu now reconsidered and decided that taking her as a concubine wasn't a bad idea after all.

He couldn't possibly keep his quarters entirely empty.

Hongxia immediately knelt with absolute subduction. "Xianger pays her respects to Mother."

The mere sight of her irritated Lady Luo, yet she could not wash her hands of the matter entirely.

As long as she remained a daughter-in-law of the Qi family, she had to manage this household.

She had to keep the bigger picture in mind.

She had lived through the greater half of her life this way; did she have any other choice?

None.

Sighing inwardly, Lady Luo wished to avoid further anger and merely raised a hand.

"Get up. We will speak of this at the ceremony later."

Taking a concubine was no grand affair; reading the room and sensing Lady Luo's displeasure, the servants arranged the proceedings perfunctorily.

When Xie Mingyue arrived at the front hall, Madam Jin and Madam Ma from the Western courtyard were already seated. Lady Luo's face was expressionless until she saw Mingyue enter, whereupon she forced a trace of a smile.

"Mingyue..."

Before the words could fall, a hurried figure suddenly burst through the outer doors.

"Third Master! Third Master!"

A servant tried desperately to block the way, failing entirely to hold him back.

The female guests were all startled as Qi Haosong ran in breathlessly, his eyes bloodshot as he threw a punch straight at Xie Mingyue.

"It was you! You vicious woman who drove the Second Sister-in-law to her death!"