Chapter 123

Chapter 123: The Past The common folk lined the roads, surrounding the procession. The Duke of Dingguo tried to push forward but found no opportunity. "Your Grace, please be careful!" his attendant warned, noting the crowd was too large. But the Duke of Dingguo paid it no mind. Watching Xie Yunting and his men already disappearing into the distance, he turned toward another road. "Come, we're going to the Xie residence!" Though the attendant didn't understand why his master wanted to go to the Xie residence, he followed along. When the Duke of Dingguo arrived at the Xie residence, he was told that Xie Yunting had already gone to the palace to meet the Emperor. "Your Grace, as you know, when a military general returns to the capital, he must first pay respects to the Emperor. If His Majesty is pleased, he might even keep the General for a meal. If you have some matter, you might tell me, and when the General returns, I will be sure to relay it." said the steward. The Duke of Dingguo had no desire to go home now. His mind was fixed on that soldier beside Xie Yunting—the more he looked, the more familiar he seemed. "No matter. I'll wait here." said the Duke of Dingguo. Seeing the Duke's insistence, the steward could say nothing more and had tea served. "If there's anything you need, please don't hesitate to say. I'll go attend to my duties." The Duke of Dingguo waved his hand, sitting and standing restlessly, until the sky turned dark and Xie Yunting finally returned, thoroughly drunk. "Is... is that the Duke of Dingguo? Why have you come?" Xie Yunting had dined at the palace and drunk several cups. He sprawled carelessly into a chair and pried his eyelids open with his fingers. "Xie Yunting, the soldier who returned with you today—who is he?" the Duke of Dingguo asked urgently. Xie Yunting furrowed his brow. "You mean Shuanzi? What, does Your Grace have a daughter to marry him off to?" "Shuanzi?" The Duke of Dingguo thought for a moment—he had seen Shuanzi before—then quickly said no, but by then Xie Yunting had started snoring. He shook Xie Yunting, but no matter how he tried, he couldn't wake him. Just then the steward came running over. "Your Grace, you can see the General is drunk. Why not come back tomorrow? If you keep shaking him like that, our General won't be able to take it." The Duke of Dingguo had waited an entire afternoon just to get an answer, and now Xie Yunting was dead drunk. His temper flared to his head, and he wished he could douse Xie Yunting with a bucket of cold water to wake him—but this was the Xie residence, not the Duke of Dingguo's own manor. The steward signaled to a servant, and the two of them helped their master away. Watching Xie Yunting being carried off, the Duke of Dingguo could only return home in frustration. When he arrived back at his manor, he stepped through the door to find Madam Qin seated upright. His expression soured. Madam Qin's eyes were bloodshot. The moment she saw the Duke of Dingguo, she shot to her feet. "What have you done to Qin Pei?" Qin Pei was her distant nephew. Because he couldn't succeed in his studies and lost money in business, he had come to rely on Madam Qin, handling her shady affairs ever since. The Duke of Dingguo let out a cold snort. "You really are quite skilled—planting someone at my side without me even noticing." "And what skill is that? Aren't you the same?" Madam Qin replied with equal sarcasm. The person she had planted beside the Duke of Dingguo had already been beaten to death. What concerned her now was her nephew. "I'm telling you, have Qin Pei come back, and I won't pursue certain matters." "You won't pursue? Since when is it your place to decide what gets pursued?" The Duke of Dingguo was furious at the thought. At this point, there was no need for pretense between them. "I merely went to buy some cloth, and you had someone killed over it. Madam Qin, do you really think the Qin family is so powerful that they can cover for you no matter what?" "Fine, Lu Zhong, you've finally said it. If you weren't guilty yourself, why would I have suspected anything?" Madam Qin pointed at the Duke of Dingguo. "You heartless man! I've been married to you for over thirty years, managing every big and small matter in this household, and yet you kept a woman in a hidden residence outside. And you have the nerve to blame me?" "If it weren't for your jealousy, and my fear that the Lu family would have no heir, would I have kept a concubine's hidden residence at all?" The Duke of Dingguo saw no fault in himself. Had his eldest son not been frail and sickly, he would never have kept an outside mistress. At the mention of jealousy, Madam Qin's pent-up anger burst forth. "Lu Zhong, when I married you, you were nothing! It was only through my family's support that you achieved what you have today. When you married me, you promised we'd be together, just the two of us, for life. But you betrayed me—how dare you call me jealous?" The Duke of Dingguo refused to back down. "Yes, your father and brothers did help me. But if I didn't have ability myself, no amount of help from the Qin family would have gotten me where I am today!" That he had initially relied on the Qin family, he admitted. But everything after that was through his own ability. As for the Qin family—they had only declined further and further. Madam Qin looked at the Duke of Dingguo with disappointment. At the spring banquet, she had fallen in love at first sight with the handsome, dashing Duke of Dingguo. Even knowing he was an unfavored son of a concubine, she had still begged her parents to arrange the match. In the early days of their marriage, because Lu Zhong was not valued by his parents, she had endured many slights alongside him. She came from a distinguished family and had grown up in luxury. Whenever she felt wronged, Lu Zhong would hold her close and comfort her, telling her, "Don't cry. Once I make something of myself, we'll see if that old woman still dares to bully us." And later, Lu Zhong did make something of himself. Their lives grew better and better, and those who had once said she married poorly began to fawn over her again. Madam Qin had believed she married the right man. It was only later, after the birth of her son—which had damaged her health, while the boy himself was frail—that she gradually began to notice that Lu Zhong was no longer as attentive as he once had been. When a woman begins to doubt her relationship, she becomes most observant. At first, Lu Zhong had not kept a hidden residence for a concubine. He merely proposed taking a concubine, but Madam Qin flew into a rage and cursed him viciously. The two began to quarrel—making up, then fighting again, then reconciling once more. Round and round it went, their feelings slowly worn away in the endless disputes. It was not until she discovered that Lu Zhong not only kept a concubine in a hidden residence, but that the son born of that union was already quite grown—that Madam Qin's world came crashing down. Only when she realized it was no dream did she begin her frenzied revenge. "Fine. You're so capable, aren't you? Then why don't you dare divorce me?" Madam Qin's eyes could have devoured a person. "Because you've done something shameful. If people found out—that you not only kept a concubine, but that she was the betrothed of your dead subordinate—you'd be ruined!" The Duke of Dingguo's face flushed red. He was indeed guilty. If this ever came to light, he would be disgraced beyond recovery—otherwise, why would he let Madam Qin hold him by the throat like this? "I can't reason with you. As for Qin Pei, hah." The Duke of Dingguo sneered coldly. "The things he did on your behalf—death would be too good for him!" "You killed him?" Madam Qin grew frantic. "Killed him? That would be letting him off far too easily!" The Duke of Dingguo looked at the woman who had been by his side since youth, his heart filled with both anger and bewilderment. "I'll keep him alive, and make him regret everything he's done for the rest of his life. As for you—if you want to burn the bridge and sink the boat together, by all means, try." He kicked the door open and told her to get out. Madam Qin looked at the heartless man, tears welling in her eyes. "Fine, Lu Zhong. But I'm curious about one thing—whether Cui Zeyu is your son or not, you will never, in this lifetime, acknowledge that bastard. If you've got the guts, kill me. Otherwise, I will never agree!" Madam Qin left. The Duke of Dingguo stared at the pitch-black courtyard, his brows knitted tightly. He still did not believe he had done anything wrong. As for his son—he was determined to bring him back. Meanwhile, Cui Zeyu and Xie Yunting had been sitting face to face for some time. "What exactly is going on between you and the Duke of Dingguo?" Xie Yunting was not drunk—he had been pretending. Seeing that Cui Zeyu remained silent, he had no choice but to speak up. Otherwise, the weight in his chest would be unbearable.