Unparalleled Beauty

Chapter C126 pt1

Bailu?

Wushuang had almost forgotten this name.

Looking at her now, where was the freshness and cleverness of yesteryear? She had become bloated and vulgar. From that somewhat distorted, fleshy face, Wushuang could vaguely see Bailu's former appearance.

Bailu was her personal maidservant before she left the maiden's chambers. Besides Bailu, there was also Jianjia. It was a pity that neither of these two maidservants, who had grown up with her, ultimately accompanied her as a dowry, but instead went their separate ways.

Later, Wushuang understood that these two were both people of the eldest branch, seemingly her maidservants, but in reality, they were helping others to deceive her, manipulate her, and control her.

Bailu's excuse for not accompanying her as a dowry was that she was going to marry Granny Zhao's son, Shunzi, who worked for Old Madam.

At that time, Bailu cried to her with genuine sincerity, saying that she and Shunzi had been in love for many years.

It seemed that being in love did not necessarily mean a good match.

"Third Miss, I am Bailu. Don't you remember me?" Bailu lay at Wushuang's feet, blinking her eyes as she spoke.

"Is there something?"

Seeing Wushuang's indifferent expression, Bailu was slightly stunned, but she absolutely could not allow the Shi Wang family's woman to seize her.

Her mother-in-law, Granny Zhao, was Old Madam's person. Since Old Madam fell ill and no longer managed affairs, the Madam had replaced her subordinates one by one, replacing them with her own confidantes.

Like the Shi Wang family's woman, who was the Madam's confidante.

Once she was caught with a mistake, it would inevitably implicate her mother-in-law, Granny Zhao.

She was not afraid of implicating that old hag, but recently, Shunzi had been wanting to divorce her and marry someone else. If she offended her mother-in-law again, she might really be divorced. Now that she saw a savior, she would naturally not let it go.

"Third Miss, this servant has been serving you since childhood. This servant has a hard life. Ever since I got married, my days have been bitter..." Bailu cried, wiping away tears and snot.

There was some sincerity in her crying. Only after getting married did she realize the benefits of not being married. When she was with Third Miss, she was in charge of all the affairs in the courtyard, and she could enjoy half the life of a lady in terms of food, drink, and supplies.

Later, after she got married, the first year was fine, but after she gave birth to a child and her figure changed, her deadbeat husband hooked up with those young maidservants in the mansion, and even kept a widow as a lover outside.

Originally, she was just putting on an act, but as she cried, Bailu became truly sentimental.

On the side, the Shi Wang family's woman frowned.

She knew that Bailu had previously served Third Miss, so it was now difficult to reprimand her directly. After all, she hadn't forgotten that Madam wanted to win over Third Miss.

"Enough, stop crying. For the sake of you having served Third Miss, I'll let it go this time. But if you break the rules again, I'll definitely take you to see Madam!"

Bailu quickly wiped her tears, scrambled to her feet, and said she understood, then looked at Wushuang expectantly.

Wushuang ignored her and left with Shi Wang's wife.

After they left, one of the old women sneered at Bailu, saying, "Still crying about your bitter fate? You had the good fortune but didn't seize it. If you hadn't married Shunzi back then and had gone as part of Third Miss's dowry, with that childhood connection, your future would be quite promising now."

The entire mansion knew that Bailu was unwilling to be part of Third Miss's dowry back then, preferring to marry Zhao Mama's son for a life of ease. Privately, many people laughed at Third Miss for being useless.

Bailu sensed something and asked suspiciously, "What do you mean?"

The old women exchanged knowing glances. One with a thin face said, "Well, we can't say we didn't give you a hint. Do you know what Third Miss came back to the mansion for today?"

"What for?"

After Third Miss married, she hadn't returned many times. There must be a reason for her return.

"Don't you know that Third Miss is now very successful? Do you know what status our Eldest Miss has?"

Of course, she knew, the current Empress.

When Eldest Miss was first made Empress, the Mei family was glorious for a while, but it was only for a while. As time passed, everyone in the capital could see that Her Majesty the Empress was out of favor.

Why do you say that?

Which family that produces an Empress isn't lavishly rewarded by His Majesty? Only the Mei family got nothing.

There were rumors outside that Consort Hui, formerly a Secondary Consort in the Prince's mansion, was favored, which naturally made the Empress pale in comparison. However, the Empress's reputation for virtue was known to all.

But what good is virtue alone?

There were no benefits at all, the Marquis Changyang's title was still not settled, and the Master and Young Masters had no good prospects.

Some people in the mansion said that Her Majesty the Empress rejected His Majesty's rewards to the Mei family in exchange for a reputation for virtue. Of course, these were just rumors passed among the servants and shouldn't be taken seriously.

However, the servants of the Marquis Changyang's Mansion did know one thing: Eldest Miss's life as Empress was outwardly sweet but inwardly bitter.

Why would these old women suddenly mention Her Majesty the Empress?

Bailu looked at them with a puzzled gaze. The old women beckoned her closer to whisper a series of things, then added, "Now, who doesn't know that our Third Miss is favored by His Majesty? What else would Madam call her back to the mansion for, if not to help the Empress consolidate her favor, and preferably even help her bear a prince?"

Bailu gasped, finally understanding.

No wonder these wretched old women said she had good fortune but didn't seize it. If she were still serving by Third Miss's side, wouldn't she also be able to gain His Majesty's favor and become a concubine? Why would she need to be so obsequious as she was now, fearing being divorced and ending up being swept out the door?

Bailu couldn't be bothered to listen to them any longer. She gritted her teeth, and dashed out.

The old women exchanged glances, and one asked, "What is she going to do?"

"What else could she do? She's not good grass; our Third Miss won't turn back to eat her. She's just dreaming."

***

"Third Miss!"

The carriage was suddenly stopped. Zhuzi, still in shock, exclaimed, "Where did this madwoman come from!"

Wushuang lifted the carriage curtain to look out, only to see that it was Bailu who had stopped the carriage.

"Do you have something to say?"

"Third Miss..."

"I am returning to the mansion."

Seeing that Wushuang was about to lower the curtain, Bailu quickly said, "Third Miss, I have something to tell you."

"What is it?"

Bailu looked around, then said, "This main road is crowded with people coming and going. Could Third Miss allow this servant to get into the carriage?"

Wushuang thought for a moment and allowed her to get into the carriage.

The carriage continued forward. To give Wushuang time to talk, Zhuzi deliberately drove the carriage around the vicinity.

"Speak your mind."

In truth, Bailu wasn't surprised that Third Miss was so cold towards her; after all, it was she who had behaved disgracefully in the past.

For neither of the two head maids to follow along as part of the dowry, such a thing would become a laughingstock. It would imply that the young lady's character was flawed, so much so that even the maids who had served her since childhood wouldn't accompany her.

Therefore, Bailu understood clearly that if she didn't say something useful, Third Miss would certainly not give her a kind look, and might not even listen to her.

Thinking of this, Bailu looked at Wushuang's increasingly delicate and beautiful face. She cursed her own blindness once more in her heart, before gritting her teeth and saying, 'The reason you fell for Second Young Master Zhao back then, Miss, wasn't so simple.'

Wushuang wasn't surprised by this matter, but she was surprised that Bailu would actually say such a thing to her.

"How so?"

"'Back then, Eldest Miss always brought up Second Young Master Zhao in front of you, asking us to say good things about him. In truth, Eldest Miss did it intentionally. The poetry collections of Second Young Master Zhao that she gave you were all specially bought. She also instructed Jianjia to say more good things about Second Young Master Zhao in front of you, and to say more bad things about the current... about His Majesty...'"

With Bailu's words, Wushuang seemed to return to those years.

At that time, Cao shi never took her out, unless it was absolutely necessary. Most of the time when she was able to go out to other family's mansions, it was mostly Eldest Sister who took her.

Once, she accidentally saw Zhao Jianzhi and couldn't help but ask Eldest Sister who he was. From then on, Eldest Sister took her out even more frequently, and always to occasions where Zhao Jianzhi would be present.

Even though men and women were to be kept separate, and she might not necessarily see him, Eldest Sister would often intentionally or unintentionally mention how Second Young Master Zhao was, and would often mention him at other times as well.

But at that time, it was precisely when Prince Wei was sending letters home, saying that he would soon return to the capital for his grand wedding.

Thus, all sorts of rumors about Prince Wei were poured into her ears, such as him being a wife-killing butcher, slaughtering the innocent, being inherently violent, and many other things.

The past was unbearable to recall. Wushuang was not actually surprised by these things, because she had figured it all out over the years. Bailu's explanation was merely a direct confirmation of her suspicions.

"'These things were all done by Jianjia. This servant was only following orders because I didn't want to offend Jianjia. At first, this servant didn't know why they were doing this, until...'"

Speaking to this point, Bailu hesitated as she looked at Wushuang.

Until 'she' did something shameful with Eldest Sister's help.

Actually, thinking back carefully later, how could designing against a Duke's Young Master be so easy? Eldest Sister probably put in countless efforts in the middle. She still remember that after that incident happened, Eldest Sister stopped associating with Sixth Miss Chen.

At that time, Eldest Sister said that Sixth Miss Chen was blaming her for this matter. At that time, she felt full of guilt towards Eldest Sister, feeling that it was all because of her that Eldest Sister had lost a friend of many years. Thinking about it now, she was actually the only fool in it.

"'Jianjia is Eldest Sister's person, and these things were all done by Jianjia. You were forced to follow along. Then, whose person are you, and what have you done?' Wushuang suddenly asked."

Bailu froze, not expecting Third Miss to ask such a question.

She stared stiffly into Wushuang's eyes, which gleamed with an all-knowing light. A sudden feeling washed over her that Third Miss actually knew everything, and her own performance was undoubtedly that of a clown.

"I..."

"If you don't want to talk, then get out of the carriage. It's time for me to return to the mansion." Wushuang glanced at Meifang. Meifang stood up, intending to ask Zhuzi to stop the carriage.

Bailu grew anxious and said, "This servant is Old Madam's person!"

Once those words were spoken, everything else became much easier.

"Actually, this servant isn't really Old Madam's person. Perhaps you didn't understand your own situation back then, Miss, but everyone in the mansion knew it clearly. Naturally, we wouldn't dare to go against Madam, Old Madam, and Eldest Miss. When this servant first came to your side, Jianjia was already here. This servant simply learned from Jianjia's actions and gradually gained a foothold by your side. Old Madam and Madam also showed this servant a great deal of appreciation."

"Later, this servant was registered with Mama Zhao, and some interaction was unavoidable. If you ask if this servant did anything specific on their orders, I really can't say. Like Master Qin, she was invited by Old Madam to teach you. We, we only helped to ensure that you obediently listened to her teachings and didn't cause any trouble."

She couldn't say specifically because there were too many trivial matters in every aspect, but in short, there was only one aim: to teach her to be submissive and obedient, and to listen to the arrangements of the First Branch in everything.

"Also, there's Great Aunt. This servant mostly accompanied you whenever you went to see Great Aunt, because Mama Zhao instructed us not to let you have too much contact with Great Aunt. The things we usually said about Great Aunt in front of you were actually, actually all meant to distance you from Great Aunt..."

Great Aunt!

Wushuang felt a wave of piercing pain in her heart, yet she was also utterly lost, because the face of Great Aunt had already become blurred in her mind.

She was suddenly enveloped by immense sorrow and didn't want to hear Bailu continue.

"You should go back for now. After a while, I'll have someone find you again."

After speaking, she had Zhuzi stop the carriage and let Bailu get out.

"Miss..."

The carriage quickly sped away.

Meifang didn't know how to comfort someone, and could only look at Wushuang with some worry.

"Miss..."

Wushuang forced a smile and said to her, "I'm fine. I just find it all so laughable. My whole life has been so laughable."

"N-no, Mi-Miss, actually, Great Aunt..."

At that moment, the carriage stopped. They had arrived, naturally interrupting Meifang's words.

After getting out of the carriage, Wushuang did not head towards the small courtyard, but instead went to Fufeng Yard.

Fufeng Yard was Zhao Jianzhi's residence, and also his study.

The servants of Fufeng Yard were quite surprised to suddenly see the Second Madam arrive.

"Madam."

"Is Young Master in?"

"Madam, is there something you need Young Master for?" Seeming to realize that his question was presumptuous, the man stammered.

Wushuang glanced at him knowingly and said, "I was looking for him to discuss the matter of separation. Since he's not here, then forget it. Help me pass the message to him; it's indeed awkward to discuss such things face-to-face."

The other party seemed stunned by Mei Wushuang's words, and it took him a long while to recover.

"Yes."

After Mei Wushuang left, this person ran inside as fast as his legs could carry him, clearly Zhao Jianzhi was not absent.

After hearing the servant's report, Zhao Jianzhi was stunned on the spot.

Mozhu revealed a look of joy and said, "Young Master, the matter of separation was brought up by the Madam herself, you..." The joy on his face abruptly stopped after seeing Zhao Jianzhi's expression.

Zhao Jianzhi gave a desolate smile: "Separate? How can we speak of separation!"

How could his family possibly allow him to separate now!