Chapter 20: Chapter 20: Discuss This Matter Before Your Majesty
The force of the kneel sent Ji Qingwu’s hem flying, and hearing the sound made her own knees ache for Zizhu.
"Fifth Missy, please save me! I don’t want to be sold! Please, have pity on me, I beg you..."
Lu Juan’s jaw tensed. He looked to Ji Qingrong, who in turn was looking at her younger sister.
’It seemed the decision was being left to Ji Qingwu.’
Zizhu clutched at her hem as if it were a lifeline.
The Grand Dowager had a string of Buddha Beads on her wrist. She rolled them between her fingers, sighed, and said, "Anyone can see that Fifth Missy has a kind disposition. This girl’s life rests on your decision."
Despite the pitiful cries and the Grand Dowager’s appeal for mercy, Ji Qingwu’s gaze only grew colder. She snatched her hem back.
"You think you’re pitiful? What about my sister?!"
’If I hadn’t happened to see through the scheme with the soup at lunch, what kind of torment would Ji Qingrong have had to endure for the rest of her life?’
’This black-hearted Grand Dowager and her maid deserved none of her sympathy.’
Any intelligent person could read between the lines.
Lu Juan, who had started to rise, sat back down. His eyes narrowed. "What grievance has Qingrong suffered that she can only speak of it through you, Fifth Missy?"
’Good question! And the grievance is a huge one!’
Ji Qingwu bent down, looming over Zizhu. "Let me ask you, did you know that the soup you delivered at noon contained a vicious drug?"
Zizhu’s face went white as a sheet. She shook her head violently. "I-I didn’t know. I swear, I really didn’t know."
Ji Qingwu didn’t believe her for a second. "For the past three years, the thousands of bowls of soup you’ve delivered have all been laced with burnet root. If you didn’t know, then the Grand Dowager certainly did!"
The Grand Dowager’s years of meticulous scheming were suddenly laid bare by Ji Wu.
Her hand could no longer hold the Buddha Beads. The strand hit the floor, the string snapping and sending green sandalwood beads scattering everywhere.
Seeing their reactions, Lu Juan’s heart sank. His gaze deepened. "Fifth Missy, explain everything."
Ji Qingwu clearly and articulately explained the real reason her sister had been unable to conceive all these years.
She omitted any mention of the birth control pills, speaking only of the problem with the soup.
No matter how unflappable Lu Juan was, he could never have imagined his own mother would stoop to this, let alone using such a venomous method.
He summoned a trusted aide, his voice devoid of emotion.
"Search."
Half an incense stick later.
The aide returned, holding several packets of herbs and dragging in a kitchen maid.
Lu Juan had served in the Ministry of Justice, and the men under his command were all master interrogators.
He looked over. "The witness and the evidence are both here. Mother, do you have anything to say?"
The Grand Dowager remained silent.
’At this point, words were useless. She knew what her son was capable of—he could pry the truth from a dead man’s lips. She didn’t want her personal servants to suffer for it.’
This was as good as a confession.
"You are all dismissed," Lu Juan said, his voice still calm.
Ji Qingwu quietly found a chair at the far end of the room and sat down.
’From here on, this was a private matter for the Duke Zhongyong’s Mansion. Her brother-in-law was a discerning man; it wouldn’t be appropriate for her to interfere any further.’
Ji Qingrong’s emotions were in turmoil. She was surprised that her husband hadn’t sided with his mother and had stood by her instead. She was also stunned by how quickly he had gathered the evidence and left his mother with no room for denial.
’If only I’d known it would be this simple, I wouldn’t have endured it in silence for so long.’
Ji Qingrong’s gaze toward Lu Juan softened with affection, and a sweetness bloomed in her heart.
As for the Grand Dowager, having been publicly shamed and stripped of her dignity, she seemed to age years in an instant.
She said, defeated, "Ziyou, can’t you see I did this for your own good?"
Lu Juan looked back at her, his voice laced with sarcasm. "For my own good? By making Qingrong barren and leaving me without an heir?"
"I’m your mother! How could I truly leave you without an heir?" the Grand Dowager said, agitated. "The concubine I selected for you is a destitute young lady from a respectable family. Aside from her family’s status, she is in no way inferior to Ji Qingrong. If she can’t bear a child, then naturally, other women can!"
Hearing this, Ji Qingwu frowned and pursed her lips in distaste.
’The Grand Dowager was a married woman herself; she should know the hardships women face in the inner residence. Yet here was a woman making things difficult for another woman.’
Ji Qingrong watched her mother-in-law with cold eyes. ’If her plan had succeeded, a few more years would have passed with me still childless. As the primary wife unable to produce an heir, I would have been forced to accept a concubine bearing my husband’s child, leaving me completely at the Grand Dowager’s mercy.’
She ground her teeth. "What a brilliant scheme, Mother-in-law."
The Grand Dowager could still speak calmly to her son, but the moment Ji Qingrong uttered a single sentence, she seemed to snap.
She spat hatefully, "A woman from the Ji Family is utterly unworthy of bearing the primary heir of this marquisate!"
There were two women from the Ji Family present.
They exchanged a glance, their wide eyes filled with the same confusion. When had the Ji Family ever offended the Grand Dowager?
’From the Grand Dowager’s tone, Ji Qingwu felt as though she viewed the women of the Ji family as villainous sirens bent on destroying the country.’
’But if the Grand Dowager had opposed the marriage from the start, she could have easily prevented Ji Qingrong from marrying into the family. With Lu Juan’s status, position, and handsome features, half the noble ladies in Lin’an City would have been eager to marry him.’
Lu Juan’s expression darkened. "Mother," he said coldly, "Qingrong is the wife I personally sought from the Ji Family, observing every formal rite and courtesy. She is a woman of the Lu Family now!"
Hearing this, the Grand Dowager clutched her chest, gasping for air, clearly incandescent with rage.
She spat. "How could she possibly be worthy!"
Years ago, the Grand Dowager’s own elder sister had married into the former Marquis Yong’an Mansion, only to die young from an illness. But Marquis Yong’an, Zhao Shichang, had hastily married a new wife from the Ji Family before his first wife’s body was even cold.
And now, that woman, Ji Fangmin, sat on the Empress Dowager’s throne, second only to the emperor himself, seizing the glory that should have belonged to the Cui clan.
The Grand Dowager harbored a venomous hatred for the Ji Family, and her eyes now burned with unconcealed resentment.
"Ziyou, do you remember what you told me?"
Lu Juan’s expression tensed. He wanted to stop his mother from saying more.
But the Grand Dowager’s years of suppressed emotions burst forth like a beast breaking free from its cage.
"Three years ago, on that day you came home late, covered in snow, you came to me and said you wanted to marry the eldest daughter of the Ji Family. I refused. But then you told me that if Ji Qingrong were to marry the scion of another great family, the Ji Family’s power would grow and become a threat to the throne. You said you wanted to marry her only to stop the Ji Family’s power from expanding."
The Grand Dowager’s voice rose. "You were the one who said it! You said your marriage to her had nothing to do with love—it was for a greater purpose!"
Lu Juan’s back went rigid. He immediately whipped his head around to look at Ji Qingrong’s face.
Ji Qingrong felt as if she had been struck by lightning.
This was even harder to accept than her mother-in-law poisoning her.
’A moment ago, she had been so moved by her husband’s defense of her. But now, after hearing what his mother said... who could she possibly believe?’
Ji Qingrong’s mind was in a complete turmoil. Having lost her anchor, she turned to her sister as if her very soul had fled.
Ji Qingwu pulled her elder sister into an embrace and faced the other two. "Since the Grand Dowager feels that a woman of the Ji Family is unworthy of being the Heir’s wife, then I shall take my sister home today."
Lu Juan’s face was grim. "Fifth Missy, this is a private matter of the Marquis Mansion. Qingrong is my wife."
"Prince Lu, this is not merely a private matter of the Marquis Mansion. It is a matter of state."
Ji Qingwu’s form of address had changed; she no longer called him "Brother-in-law."
She said defiantly, "Do not forget, the Ji Family is also part of the royal family. We can petition the Emperor and debate the rights and wrongs of this matter before His Majesty himself!"
