flstandardbreds Chapter 417: Using the Child to Slander Mu Yao
Chapter 417: Using the Child to Slander Mu Yao
In the first year of their marriage, their relationship was incredibly close, often attending banquets together. Many people were envious, and one scholar even wrote a story about their love. After marrying into the Shangshu Mansion, Mu Yao helped manage the household expenses for the Pingxi Marquis's Mansion. However, the Pingxi Marquis's Mansion was extremely poor and could not afford any money, so Mu Yao often used her dowry to subsidize the Shangshu Mansion's expenses.
Later, the old lady became bedridden and had to take traditional Chinese medicine year-round. The medicine was expensive, and the Shangshu Mansion was short of money. Mu Yao used her own dowry to subsidize the old lady's medicine. Whenever the old lady was ill, it was Mu Yao, the younger daughter-in-law, who often helped care for her at her bedside. On the other hand, their eldest daughter-in-law was often ill and could not help with household chores. She also rarely came over when the old lady was ill, leaving Mu Yao essentially alone to care for her.
But what did Kong Lin do? Mu Yao was helping him take care of his elderly mother at home, while he fell in love with a woman outside. He often went to the teahouse to listen to her singing. The woman also noticed that the official was interested in her, so she took the initiative a few times. Before long, the two of them developed feelings for each other and were secretly together, completely forgetting that he had a childhood sweetheart, his wife, who was still helping him take care of his elderly mother at home.
Not long after, Lianren became pregnant. Knowing her predicament, she made a bold decision. She knelt before the Shangshu Mansion and begged the Shangshu and Konglin to help her. She told them she was pregnant. Konglin hadn't expected her to be pregnant.
If they had just had sex, the Minister and his wife would have kicked them out. But now that the woman was pregnant with their child, they couldn't just kick her out and leave their grandson stranded outside.
[So the family persuaded Mu Yao to accept the compassionate man and his child.]
At that time, Mu Yao and Kong Lin had been married for less than two years when Kong Lin fathered a child outside her home. If he had taken her in as a proper concubine, it would have been fine, but she was such a pitiful person. Mu Yao was heartbroken for a long time, and although she was unwilling to accept it, she could not bear the moral blackmail of Kong Lin's family using his own child against her.
The old lady even suggested that they take the woman into the mansion first, have the child born, and then raise the child by her side. They could then find a random excuse to kick the poor woman out. This way, there wouldn't be any rift between her and Kong Lin, and they could still live happily together. She even suggested that their family was being unfair to Mu Yao.
Even Kong Lin knelt before Mu Yao, begging her to accept Lianren, not for anything else but for the child. Kong Lin also said that he had failed to control himself and that he knew he was wrong. He repeatedly assured Mu Yao that such a thing would never happen again. He also promised that apart from the child, he would never look at Lianren again and would live a good life with Mu Yao. He only hoped that Mu Yao would tolerate Lianren and the child, after all, the child was innocent.
Seeing Kong Lin personally kneeling down to plead for a pitiful person and a child, Mu Yao was deeply saddened. After all, they had grown up together as childhood sweethearts and had been in love since they were young. However, things had come to this point and there was no way they could leave it alone.
In the end, Mu Yao compromised for Kong Lin and accepted Lian Ren, taking her into the mansion as Kong Lin's concubine. It was just a concubine, and Mu Yao didn't want to make things difficult for her. She felt that Lian Ren was a woman and quite pitiful, and a concubine couldn't threaten her position, so she ignored it. Furthermore, both the Kong family and Kong Lin felt that they were at fault in this matter, so they compensated Mu Yao in every way. Since Lian Ren entered the mansion, Kong Lin hadn't visited her once, staying with Mu Yao every day. Seeing Kong Lin's behavior, she also thought that Kong Lin was truly repentant.
But the good times didn't last long. Although Mu Yao didn't fight with Lian Ren, Lian Ren wasn't one to keep to herself. At first, she was content to be a concubine, but gradually, she developed ambitions. So Lian Ren started to make trouble. Every now and then, she would use the excuse of feeling unwell and the baby in her belly making noises to invite Kong Lin over. However, the doctor would examine her and find nothing wrong.
At first, Mu Yao was worried that there was something wrong with the child, but after seeing this happen many times, she finally realized that it wasn't the child who had a problem, it was clearly the concubine who didn't want to stay in her place and was trying to win favor.
From a young age, Mu Yao was taught by Lady Pingxi how to be a qualified and excellent mistress of the household, rather than being jealous and vying for favor. However, since living in such a prostitute-like environment, Lianren has learned these little tricks to seduce men.
Mu Yao didn't make a scene, but instead asked Kong Lin to accompany Lian Ren. Upon hearing this, Kong Lin couldn't help but blame himself again towards Mu Yao.
If he truly blamed himself, he wouldn't have been running to Lianren's room so often. Instead, he would have warned Lianren to stop messing around and to maintain his relationship with Muyao. He's just a carbon-based creature whose actions outstrip his thoughts. He only felt guilty a few times in his heart, but his actual actions had already sided with Lianren. Muyao had seen through him. Although he had given his heart and felt bad, his heart had already left. Pulling him back wouldn't be sincere anymore. He just wanted to live a good life with mutual respect.
[Just being favored by Kong Lin wasn't enough for Lian Ren, because human greed is constantly growing. Once you have something, you'll want more and more. Lian Ren not only wants to be favored by her husband, but also wants to step on Mu Yao.]
[Lianren is really out of her mind. She should never, ever, touch Muyao.]
[They moved Mu Yao and even dragged down the entire Shangshu Mansion. However, the Shangshu Mansion ended up like this, and it was their own fault.]
Xie Ci'an frowned even deeper.
Since Lianren had the idea of stepping on Muyao, she took action. She ran to the old lady every day, tending to her illness, serving her, and making her happy. Originally, the old lady disliked Lianren, but after Lianren's constant kindness, her opinion of her changed a little.
[Gaining the old lady's special treatment was only the first step. Then, Lianren tried to find ways to make mistakes in front of Muyao, even provoking her with words, just to get Muyao to punish her. She wanted to use the child as a scapegoat to slander Muyao. She felt that she was still young and could get pregnant again if she could gain her husband's favor, but she only had one chance to step on Muyao.]
However, Mu Yao had a good temper. Considering that she was pregnant, she didn't bother with it. She even closed the door and refused to see the concubine. She also warned Kong Lin to tell his concubine to behave herself and not to come around her.