To Be A Virtuous Wife

99

Chapter Ninety Nine, Decay

The four candidates who had been bestowed by the Emperor were all taken in. Only after they had become yiniang did the people of the wang fu find out the shocking reality – wang ye had been demoted. Since he wasn't a qin wang anymore, the allowances in the fu and the number of servants had to decrease. The size of the wang fu had to shrink so some people were going to be thrown out.

Just as the servants were worried for their future, they heard another piece of news. Wang ye had been banned from court, and his salary was to be docked for five years. Additionally, he had to admit his crimes in writing to the public.

The servants who had been reluctant to leave the palace weren't reluctant anymore. They waited for the notice to come so they could find a new employer. As for the taijian and palace maids who had came out of the Department of Household Affairs, they wanted to go back to the department to be assigned again. They would rather find another master than to serve one who had no future. At the very least, anything would be better than now.

Qin Bai Lu hadn't thought that such an event would happen. She listened to Ru Hua recite the happenings, and choked for a long time before stammering: "Didn't he want to divorce me? Now that he's like this, how can he divorce me?!"

Ru Hua sighed in helplessness. Not speaking of the ego that wang ye had, even if a normal person heard what wang fei had said, they would have been angry. In the beginning when wang fei just entered the wang fu, she rashly sorted out the concubines in the fu. When wang ye said a word, the two started to fight there and then, a subject of much mockery by the servants in the fu.

Now that it was like this, wang ye and wang fei had nothing to say to each other, and wang ye had lost power. Wang fei should be thinking of how to comfort wang ye or secure the people of the houyuan. But she was rejoicing in the misfortune. To keep going like this, would there be any feelings left?

Seeing Ru Hua wanting to speak but kept restraining herself, Qin Bai Lu uttered coldly: "Since wang ye doesn't want me to manage anything in the wang fu, then whatever happens in the fu, I don't need to spend the effort for nothing. If anyone begs to see me, just say that I'm ill."

"Yes, wang fei." Having served wang fei for almost a decade, Ru Hua was clear about wang fei's personality. She wouldn't have appreciated any more conversation. She bowed and silently stood to one side.

But Qin Bai Lu couldn't remain calm for too long. Because the Qin Family had passed on the news that her cousin had been reproached by the Emperor in front of all the noblewomen. Earlier, she had called in sick to avoid attending Qu Qing Ju's chrysanthemum banquet, so she hadn't thought such a thing would happen.

Listening to the cause of the matter, Qin Bai Lu was irritated. No wonder wang ye would speak of her Qin Family's daughters that way. So it had been because of this. It was also no wonder that her paternal family hadn't sent in their cards to her. So they had wanted to climb on the high branch that was the Emperor. She was only a failed wang fei, what use did she have?

After managing to clearly figure out the matter, Qin Bai Lu felt her heart becoming cold. Both her family and her husband were like this. She had no hope left in her life. Thinking about the pregnant Qu Qing Ju, she lowered her head to touch her own empty belly. She didn't understand why all the good things of the world happened to Qu Qing Ju. A good popo, a good husband, a good birth, even more, she would soon have a child.

Who said that the heavens had eyes? Some people lived well and others didn't.

"Ru Hua, pass my orders, Qu shi is seriously ill. To prevent her from infecting others, she will not live in Xi Ce Yuan. Today, she will move to the Xi Ping Zhai in the western corner to recuperate." She didn't believe all the women of the Qu Family would be lucky.