Chapter 834 A Vision of Eternity
After being provoked by Shao Wanru, Shao Jieāer immediately raised her head and refuted, āWhy would I not dare? Letās go and find her out! What will you do if I find her?ā She had always been unwilling to let off Shao Wanru, and she was in full confidence, so she was completely not afraid of Shao Wanruās verification.
āIf you point her out, Iāll consider believing that you have no intention of framing me!ā Shao Wanru said with a slight smile. She seemed to be smiling, and seemed to be not.
āThat I point your servant girl out means that I donāt intend to set you up? Fifth Sister, you really take advantage of such a statement.ā Shao Jieāer said with a sneer. She had decided to listen to Old Madam and tried to avoid arguing with Shao Wanru about this matter. But the more Shao Wanru said, the more Shao Jieāer became annoyed with her.
Holding a strong conviction that she would be sure to win, Shao Jieāer finally decided not to make any compromise anymore.
āWhat do you mean, Second Sister?ā Shao Wanru asked.
āI mean if I cannot find her, I will admit that itās my fault and then in person kowtow and apologize to you. If I can, Fifth Sister will have to kowtow and apologize to me in front of grandma!ā Shao Jieāer said with a sneer.
Shao Jieāer thought in her mind that she would definitely win!
Old Madam showed no intention of stopping her, just sitting high on the main seat with a gloomy face, which abetted Shao Jieāer to be more conceited. She looked at Shao Wanru with an increasingly complacent face.
In a bet where she must be the winner, she wouldnāt let Shao Wanru go so easily. Of course, she didnāt intend to do anything evil to Shao Wanru. All she wanted was to prove that Shao Wanru had sent someone to her, but not to say that she had seen Shao Wanruās servant set the fire. No one else than Shao Jieāer knew better how the fire broke out.
āSecond Sisterās condition sounds fair, but it is not. Can your apology be the same as mine?ā Shao Wanru said with a faint smile.
In aristocratic families, the lineal system always had its hierarchy and order. The identity of a daughter of the legal wife always overwhelmed that of a concubineās daughter. Shao Jieāer, as the daughter of a concubine, was inferior to Shao Wanru. If a concubineās daughter did something wrong to a daughter of the legal wife, the former must apologize to the latter. However, when the opposite happened, the latter did not have to apologize to the former in public.
From this point of view, Shao Jieāerās conditions were indeed not fair.
Shao Jieāerās face turned red due to her vexation. As a concubineās daughter, she was inferior to others in the entire Duke Xingās Mansion. And Shao Wanru had just emphasized it again in front of so many people, which made Shao Jieāer feel deeply ashamed and her blood rush up to her face. She glared at Shao Wanru with hatred as if Shao Wanru had done something heinous.
āFifth Sister, what do you mean?ā Shao Jieāer gritted her teeth but could not suppress the anger in her heart.
Shao Wanru glanced at Shao Jieāer with a calm attitude, which formed a sharp contrast with Shao Jieāerās anger and hatred. āI donāt mean anything else but that your method is unfair. If I am wrong, I will apologize to you. But I wonāt kowtow to you! If you are wrong, I donāt need your kowtowing to me either.ā
Though Shao Jieāer was a concubineās daughter, she was the elder sister. So only her apology was enough for her mistakes. If she was required to kowtow to Shao Wanru, other people would gossip about it. Moreover, Shao Wanru did not mean to suppress Shao Jieāer. On the contrary, she even intended to create opportunities for Shao Jieāer to promote her status.
āCo-wife? If Uncle Jing had a co-wife, many problems could be separated to deal with.ā Shao Wanru thought of Shao Jieāerās mother as the āco-wifeā she needed.
In fact, Shao Jing had several concubines, among whom only Concubine Lu had given birth to a child, Shao Jieāer. It was said that she was once a servant girl of Jiang family, and later she became a concubine of Shao Jing because of her masterās positive recommendation. She had always kept a low profile in the mansion.
She was very respectful to Jiang family and also got along well with other concubines. Although she was very inconspicuous, at least she could safely give birth to Shao Jieāer, who was Shao Jingās only daughter of a concubine.
It was not bad for an inconspicuous person like her to live such a life in Duke Xingās Mansion. The fact that she could give birth to a child under the pressure from Jiang family and Shao Jing indicated that she was a scheming person.
Recently, Concubine Lu had been helping the Third Madam manage the household. Shao Wanru had inquired that she was excellent at keeping everything well in order. It was said that she had got the experience from observing Jiang family manage the mansion before when she was still a servant girl of Jiang family.
She had followed Jiang family for a long time and then became a concubine, who was the one giving birth to a child, though the kid was a daughter. That showed Concubine Lu was not a naive woman.
Now it was the right time and there were two right people. But someoneās ambition was needed. Judging from Concubine Luās daily behaviors, she cannot be a reckless person, but someone else can be. Shao Jieāer was reckless enough to expose her ambition. However, it was hard to tell if her ambition could convince Concubine Lu.
Of course, she would not let go of such a good opportunity to humiliate Shao Jieāer.
Only by provoking Shao Jieāer could she provoke Concubine Lu.
After hearing Shao Wanru, Shao Jieāer gnashed her teeth secretly, but she had to agree on it. It was just fine to have no Kowtow. As long as Shao Wanru apologized to her, at least in the mansion, from then on Shao Wanru would avoid her whenever they met, which, as she believed, could help her to get the goods on Shao Wanru.
āOkay! Letās do it!ā Shao Jieāer nodded hard, turned to Old Madam and said, āGrandma, since Fifth Sister doesnāt believe what I said, Iāll go to Fifth Sisterās to point that servant girl out! At that time, the result will prove that I am not telling a lie!ā
When she was proved to be right, Shao Wanru would be confirmed to be guilty. With her long eyelashes fluttering, Shao Wanru raised her head and looked at Old Madam who was with a gloomy face.
Old Madam did not say a word to stop her, which meant that she had agreed. Wanruās eyes were full of coldness, without a trace of warmth.
āWanru, have you really decided to allow Jieāer to identify that person?ā Old Madam finally spoke and glanced at Shao Wanru with an unpleasant look.
āYes, I have. Grandma. Let Second Sister send someone to find the servant. Anyway, I didnāt really ask anyone to talk to Second Sister.ā Shao Wanru looked at Old Madam calmly and said.
Then she half closed her eyes with the long eyelashes fluttering down. She seemed to be a little tired and helpless. The uneven shadow cast down from the lamplight made her gorgeous face look as pale as snow, which inexplicably gave out an aura of delicacy. Standing in a corner, she seemed to be an outsider, totally different from the people around her. She was lonely, even many people were standing around.
Wen Xichiās sight fell on the teacup in front of him. It looked like that he was focusing on the patterns on the teacup. but only he knew that after a glance at that delicate girl, he suffered severe and painful twitches on his heart, as if it was heavily pressed by something. He felt very sad and uncomfortable.
He tried his best to ignore that feeling by staring at the teacup. However, he still saw the delicate young face, the smile and the anger shown on it. They were just like a painting and seemed to have been deeply engraved in his memory. No matter how he looked at the teacup, everything in his mind was still about her.
However, Shao Wanru looked rather sorrowful. Even her smile revealed loneliness, sadness and helplessness. It seemed that she couldnāt rely on anyone even if she wanted to, which was always the sadness shared by women. Everything around her was filled with liveliness and happiness, but they belonged to others. She was alone to enjoy the lonelinessā¦
An uncontrollable feeling for her was quietly coming into being in his deep heart. The glance just now seemed to have taken him to travel through the past a thousand years, and slowly gathered all his previous emotions. First came the indifference, later the suspicion, and finally the antipathy, all of which were mixed up together. That was a vision of eternity.
He had always been smart. He had never thought about things like that before, because he felt it impossible and had never considered developing a relationship with her. Now, all his dormant thoughts and feelings were aroused and became complicated because of that glimpse. His feeling for her became clearer and clearer, and he also started to realize it.
His heart, which had always been calm, lost its usual rhythm and beat at an abnormal pace.
Wen Xichi slowly reached out his hand to hold the teacup and took a sip. With his serene eyes, he raised his head and quietly listened to the conversations in the room. He didnāt look at Shao Wanru anymore.
āIf it is so, go and find her out!ā Old Madam, who was a little impatient, waved her hand and said.
āYes, grandma, Iāll go and do it right away!ā Shao Jieāer nodded and was about to turn around and leave. But she was stopped by Shao Wanru. āSecond Sister, you donāt have to go to my chamber. Itās late. Itās not appropriate for you to go there like this!ā
Shao Jieāer stood still and looked at Shao Wanru with a sarcastic smile on her face. āFifth Sister, are you afraid? Itās fine. You will just need to apologize to me later. I canāt let you kowtow to me, can I?ā
She thought that Shao Wanru stopped her because of guilty.
Shao Wanru shook her head with a smile and said, āSecond Sister, why do you think Iām afraid? How can it be possible that I am? Itās neither my servant girl nor my calling for her. Iām just worried that you will be tired of going and coming everywhere at night. Why not ask one of your servant girls to do that for you?ā
Shao Jieāer didnāt keep up with Shao Wanruās thoughts. After being stunned for a while, she asked subconsciously, āWhom should I send?ā
Shao Wanru glanced at Shao Jieāer and said with a smile, āI recommend your private servant girl Liuxiang. She can go there to find the servant girl out so that you donāt have to do that in person. Liuxiang was also that one always staying with you, so she should have seen her before!ā
āā¦ā Shao Jieāer opened her mouth, intending to say something. Her complacent look immediately turned nervous. First, she planned to tell Liuxiang about it, but she hadnāt got a chance to do that, for it happened so suddenly that she and Liuxiang fainted, and they were companied by others as soon as they woke up. There was no chance for them to have a secret conversation. How could Liuxiang know which servant girl she should point out?
Shao Jieāer had been flurried in her heart. They both passed out before she told Liuxiang.
However, she had an inspiration and hastened to say, āWhen your servant girl came to me, Liuxiang had not come back yet. Liuxiang happened to not see her!ā
āWhat about the moment you went out of that house? Did you go out alone before Liuxiang came back? ā Shao Wanru continued to ask.
Seeing that Shao Jieāer was aggressively questioned by Shao Wanru and was frightened in a cold sweat, Old Madam heavily put down the teacup in her hand. When she was about to speak, she was cut in by another clear voice, āSecond Miss Shao, when you were in the pavilion, you said that your servant girl also saw her, and she also testified for you. Are you going to withdraw your confession?ā
If you find any errors ( Ads popup, ads redirect, broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.