“Second Sister, what’s wrong?” Lu Lingyun took a sip of tea and asked calmly. “We’re all family. Big Sister, you don’t need to put on a brave face. If you’ve suffered any grievances in the Houfu, just say it. No one will laugh at you.” Lu Han Yi spoke with a sarcastic tone.
“What are you saying, sister?”
“Who doesn’t know that Cheng Yunshuo brought a prostitute back from the brothel and spoils her rotten? Big Sister, you wouldn’t dare say you don’t know this kind of person, would you?” Lu Han Yi looked at Lu Lingyun with a look of amusement.
How could she possibly hide anything from her? In her past life, she had been driven to death by Xing Dai Rong, that vile woman. Now, the wheel of fortune had turned. Lu Lingyun was experiencing the same humiliation and frustration she had endured in her previous life. Just thinking about it made her want to laugh. Lu Lingyun still dared to put on a facade in front of her, to act. Did she not know that she was reborn? No one could fool her. This time, if she didn’t thoroughly mock her, drag her through the mud, she might as well not have come back!
Sure enough, everyone in the room shifted their gaze towards Lu Lingyun.
“Yun’er, you must have been wronged after marrying into that family, haven’t you?”
“I heard before that the Ningyang Hou’s son favored his concubine, and it’s said that he even made the old Houye’s wife sick with worry.”
“It seems that life in a wealthy household isn’t as good as it looks. It’s better to marry someone of equal standing.”
“Lingyun, you’re such a meek girl. Even at home, you were the easiest to get along with. Once you’re there, you’ll inevitably suffer. If you have any grievances, be sure to tell us. Your aunts and uncles will definitely seek justice for you!”
The women in the room all chimed in. Their expressions ranged from sympathy to excitement. How many people in this world genuinely hoped for another’s happiness? Compared to seeing Lu Lingyun thrive, it was more entertaining to see her marriage into a wealthy family fall apart.
“Yes, yes, you just tell us, your family is all here!”
“We may not be as powerful as the Houfu, but we can’t let them bully our daughter like this!”
Lu Lingyun scanned the expressions of everyone present. A slight smile played at her lips. “A mere concubine, nothing so dramatic. Which of you, my aunts and uncles, doesn’t have a concubine in your own household?”
Her lighthearted remark immediately quashed the gossip that was about to erupt. The third thing to do as the mistress of the house was to keep your mouth shut and not easily complain to others. If you had family members who truly cared, you could seek their help when things were bad. But if you couldn’t tell the difference and just wanted to vent your frustrations for a moment, your dirty laundry would eventually come back to haunt you. You’d end up miserable and alone, only to be laughed at by everyone.
Lu Lingyun knew this all too well. She had no true family, only a bunch of people who were eager for a good show and ready to seize the opportunity. Especially Lu Han Yi.
She was proud and foolish. She was also relying on the fact that she was reborn, thinking that this time, she could trample Lu Lingyun under her feet and laugh at her. Sadly, she was going to be slapped in the face.
Lu Lingyun had just brushed the matter aside, but Lu Han Yi immediately revealed her hand, pressing her advantage. “Don’t pretend. Just tell us, on your wedding night, did Cheng Yunshuo abandon you and go to his concubine?”
Lu Lingyun lifted the lid of her teacup, her eyes half-closed as she looked at her through the steam, smiling. “Second Sister, where did you hear these things?”
Lu Han Yi, who was in the middle of tearing down Lu Lingyun’s facade, was taken aback. She couldn’t speak.
“I…”
“Alright,” Liu Shi quickly stepped in to smooth things over. “Yun’er, Han Yi is just concerned about you.”
“Mother is right. It’s okay that my own sister said this, so everyone won’t misunderstand. If it were someone else, everyone would think they were just jealous of me living a good life.” Lu Lingyun smiled and set down her teacup.
Her words were simple and straightforward. Everyone present was a shrewd person and understood immediately. Wasn’t she basically pointing out that Lu Han Yi was jealous of her good fortune?
Come to think of it, from the beginning, Lu Han Yi had been saying that Lu Lingyun wouldn’t return, yet here she was, back in all her glory. She had kept insisting that Lu Lingyun was suffering in the Houfu, that her husband had abandoned her on their wedding night, but she couldn’t provide any proof. The whole time, she had been saying one thing and another, but wasn’t it all just because she couldn’t stand the fact that Lu Lingyun was doing better than her?
Immediately, the gazes of everyone present shifted to Lu Han Yi.
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