Chapter 343

Chapter 343: The Truth After hearing this, Lou Hefeng refused to believe it and wanted to go ask his mother directly. Madam Xia clung desperately to her husband's arm. "If you don't believe me, that's fine. Tomorrow Mother will come to you herself. Will you still not believe it then?" "How could such a thing happen?" Lou Hefeng still couldn't bring himself to believe it. "I felt the same way you do. If I hadn't heard it with my own ears, I wouldn't have believed it either." Madam Xia felt as if the sky were about to collapse. "Don't go see Mother yet. Just wait—when Mother comes to you to help Zhao Susu, you'll know it's true. What will you do then?" Help or not help? If they helped, the Lou family was merely a small household—how could they possibly help? But if they refused, and Old Madame threatened them with death, then not complying would make them unfilial and disobedient. Lou Hefeng sat down in despair. "How... how could this be?" He truly could not have imagined that such a thing existed in this world. "Who says otherwise." Madam Xia took a deep breath. "Listen to me. The best course of action is to stay out of this entirely. Even if Zhao Susu is of Lou family blood, so what? She was sent to Jing'an Hall, which means she committed no small number of misdeeds. Even the Rong Commandery Prince Mansion couldn't stop it. If we acknowledge this sister back into the family, the Lou family's reputation will be ruined." Madam Xia continued, "No one else knows about this yet, so let's pretend we don't know either. Let the Jiangyuan Marquis Mansion and the Rong Commandery Prince Mansion fight it out among themselves. Whether Zhao Susu lives or dies, we want nothing to do with it. If she dies, even better—we can breathe a sigh of relief. If she's still alive, we must stay even further away." "But if Mother brings it up, how can I refuse?" Lou Hefeng asked. Madam Xia clicked her tongue and raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you stupid? When Old Madame calls for you, you can just avoid her. The longer this drags on, the more likely Zhao Susu will run into trouble first. When you can't stall any longer, ask Old Madame directly—using yourself and every generation of the Lou family—whether this entire household matters more, or Zhao Susu alone matters more." She snorted and darkened her expression. "If Old Madame insists on having Zhao Susu, we should cut ourselves clean as soon as possible and inform the Rong Commandery Prince Mansion first." Madam Xia could only think that Old Madame had lost her senses. All because she was jealous of Princess Consort Rong, she swapped the daughters. And what was the result? Zhao Susu was still sent to Jing'an Hall. Meanwhile, Lou Wanxian's circumstances only improved day by day. Thinking back now, Old Madame was truly vicious and cunning—deliberately finding Lou Wanxian a harsh and unkind marital home. And on the day Lou Wanxian moved to her new residence, the things Old Madame had said—it turned out they all had their reasons. Compared to the infamous Zhao Susu, Madam Xia would far rather acknowledge Lou Wanxian as her sister-in-law. She only prayed now that no one else knew, that only they knew. That night, neither Lou Hefeng nor his wife could sleep. The next morning, Madam Bai sent someone to summon Lou Hefeng, but he had already gone out and didn't return until dark. He deliberately waited until Madam Bai had fallen asleep before coming by, telling Mama Zhou, "Since Mother is asleep, I'll come again another day. There's been a lot of work at the yamen lately, and I'm truly busy. Take good care of her." One day passed like this. After four or five consecutive days without seeing her eldest son, Madam Bai realized he was avoiding her. She had been taking her medicine for several days, and on this day she had Mama Zhou support her as she waited at the front gate to intercept her eldest son. Madam Bai sat in the drafty doorway. Lou Hefeng frowned and asked, "Mother, what are you doing? Your health hasn't recovered yet—how can you sit here?" "If I didn't wait here, how could I possibly see you, such a busy man?" Madam Bai snorted coldly. "Now that you've all grown up, I've become a useless person." "How could that be?" Lou Hefeng's heart sank—his mother was about to play hardball. "Mama Zhou, take Mother back at once. If anything happens to her, you're finished!" "You needn't scold people in front of me." Madam Bai rose with Mama Zhou's support. Only after returning to the courtyard did Madam Bai have Mama Zhou close the doors. "You've been avoiding me these past few days. It's because Madam Xia overheard something here, isn't it?" "No... no such thing. I've truly been busy, son." Lou Hefeng kept his head lowered. Madam Bai snorted. "In that case, I'll tell you myself. When I gave birth to your little sister, I was at the same estate as that wretch, the Princess Consort Rong. I swapped our daughters. I thought that with the Rong Prince Mansion being such a grand household, your little sister would enjoy a lifetime of wealth and honor once she was exchanged over." "Mother, how could you do such a thing?" Lou Hefeng feigned shock. Madam Bai's gaze turned fierce. "Why couldn't I do such a thing?" "You—" "What do I lack compared to that wretch? Why should she marry into a prince's mansion while I married your father, that good-for-nothing? Even if I was a concubine's daughter, with the Bai family's standing, I could have married into a distinguished household as well. But that ruthless legitimate mother of mine stuffed me into the Lou family instead, condemning me to half a lifetime of hardship!" Speaking of her stepmother, Madam Bai was filled with endless resentment. "Mother, Father may not have accomplished much, but he has respected you his entire life. If you were so dissatisfied with him, why did you stay in the Lou family at all?" Lou Hefeng admired his father and could not bear to hear his mother call him useless. Madam Bai retorted, "It's because he's incompetent that he treated me this way! I'm not here to argue with you today. Your own sister is in trouble now—shouldn't you help her?" "Does Mother not know how terrible Zhao Susu's reputation is in Bianjing?" Lou Hefeng said with disappointment. "You placed her in the Rong Commandery Prince Mansion and gave her decades of good life—you've done more than enough for her. Right now, outsiders don't know she's a daughter of the Lou family, so the family can continue to survive. Once the Rong Commandery Prince Mansion discovers something is amiss, do you think the Lou family will fare well?" Taking a deep breath, Lou Hefeng asked word by word, "Surely you wouldn't sacrifice the entire Lou family for a daughter you never even acknowledged?" "You... you unfilial son!" Madam Bai coughed violently, pointing at her eldest son. "I bore you and raised you, not so you could defy me. I only asked you to think of a way—I'm not forcing you to die!" "What Mother is doing is no different from forcing the entire Lou family to die." Lou Hefeng trembled all over. "Would you really watch your sons and daughters come to a bad end for the sake of such a daughter?" Madam Bai was stunned. She had thought her son would understand her at least a little. Instead, he reacted so strongly. "How am I forcing you all to die? What have I asked you to do? I only wanted you to help your poor sister—is that too much to ask?" Madam Bai didn't understand. She clutched her skirt tightly, her eyes nearly bulging out. "I've racked my brains for all of you. Is it too much to ask you to help me just once?" Lou Hefeng shook his head. "When you say you've racked your brains, did you ever ask us whether we wanted you to do such things?" Given the Lou family's standing, offending a prince's mansion, a marquis's mansion, or even the current Cui family was like throwing an egg at a stone. Mother and son faced each other in silence. Mama Zhou couldn't get a word in. The room fell quiet. Just then, Lou Wanxian's voice came from outside, and a maid knocked on the door. Lou Hefeng quickly wiped his tears and rose from the ground. He opened the door. "Sister, you've come to see Mother today?" "Yes, I heard Mother wasn't feeling well, so I came specially to check on her. Brother, your eyes are red—have you been crying?" Lou Wanxian asked. Lou Hefeng said no. "Just got some wind in my eyes." Watching her eldest brother leave, Lou Wanxian entered the room. Seeing Old Madame's grim expression, she guessed they had just argued. The matter of Zhao Susu at Jing'an Hall had been deliberately spread by Lou Wanxian through others to reach her mother's ears. Today, she came to add more fuel to the fire. "Mother, are you feeling better?" "I don't need your fake concern. I'm perfectly fine." Madam Bai gave Lou Wanxian no kindness. "Mother, saying that truly wounds my heart." Lou Wanxian sighed. "Since Mother doesn't wish to see me, I won't stay long. But I came to tell you something—Zhao Susu has gotten a mutual divorce, and I heard she's been sent to a country estate. With her background, she actually petitioned for a mutual divorce. Who knows what she did. This is good news—Princess Consort Rong is dead, and her daughter has gotten her comeuppance. Isn't Mother happy?" How could Madam Bai be happy? But Lou Wanxian said it deliberately. "You... get out of here!" Madam Bai hurled her teacup. Lou Wanxian sidestepped to dodge it. "Why is Mother angry? Such wonderful news—you should be happy. Someone like Zhao Susu, if you ask me, being sent to a country estate is too good for her. She should be sent to a nunnery, tormented endlessly, to make up for all the people she's harmed." "Get out... get out!" Madam Bai screamed wildly. When Madam Xia arrived, she saw this scene and quickly pulled Lou Wanxian out. "What happened between you two? Why is Mother so furious?" "I don't know either. I came to see her, and she said I was being fake. I mentioned that Zhao Susu being sent to the estate was her comeuppance, and Mother told me to get out." Lou Wanxian was secretly delighted, but she put on a hurt expression. "Sister-in-law, I truly don't understand why Mother treats me this way." Madam Xia thought to herself, Because you're not the Lou family's biological daughter. But Madam Xia didn't want this secret exposed. She pulled Lou Wanxian out and soothed her gently. "Don't overthink it. Mother is old, and her mind isn't clear. Don't bother with her from now on. Your eldest brother and I will take care of her." With that, Madam Xia changed the subject and asked about the Zeng family. Lou Wanxian answered each question. Being perceptive, she noticed that her sister-in-law was unusually warm today—she hadn't been like this before. She wondered whether her sister-in-law also knew she wasn't the Lou family's biological daughter. After finishing tea with her sister-in-law, Lou Wanxian said at last, "Sister-in-law, you're the one who treats me best. No matter how Mother is, you and eldest brother will always be my dearest brother and sister-in-law. I'm glad you two haven't lost your senses, or with Mother in such a state... alas..." Lou Wanxian didn't say more and rose to take her leave. Madam Xia's calculations were thrown into disarray again. She wondered whether, if her sister-in-law learned the truth, she would forgive the Lou family and speak well of them. But Madam Xia didn't dare take that risk for now. After leaving the Lou residence, Lou Wanxian went to a nearby alley. Before long, a maidservant from the Lou family arrived. Lou Wanxian handed her a pouch of silver. "You've done well. If anything else comes up, you may inform me in the same manner. When you return, tell Mama Zhou that someone at Jing'an Hall is forcing those women into prostitution. Say no more than that—just that you heard it from someone else." The maidservant nodded. She knew better than to ask questions that were not hers to ask. Lou Wanxian watched the maidservant leave, thinking to herself: Just wait. Wait until Madam Bai can no longer hold back and goes to rescue Zhao Susu. Wait for the truth to come to light. Wait for Zhao Susu to be cast aside by the Rong Commandery Prince Mansion. And wait for the Rong Commandery Prince Mansion to take its revenge on Madam Bai. She wanted to see with her own eyes Madam Bai and Zhao Susu suffer torment, and finally die a miserable death.