As soon as Ji Hyotani returned home, he went to the courtyard. Old Lady Ji had heard from the servant who came to report that Yu Shu had been found. When she saw her third son, she didn't look as serious as usual, but she still didn't smile.
"Mother."
"Have you found her?"
"Yes."
"Keep an eye on her. Don't let her run away. Send someone to teach her etiquette, so that she won't embarrass the Ji family in front of the Xue family."
"I know." Ji Hyotani said goodbye and went back to his courtyard. He went to the small west pavilion to find Aunt Cui.
***
"Humph."
Yu Shu was sitting cross-legged on the bed and throwing copper coins. Hearing a cold snort, she turned her head and saw a beautiful woman standing at the door. She was wearing a pomegranate skirt, a cherry bikini, and a silver pearl flower on her temples. She was staring at her.
The number of times Yu Shu had seen Concubine Cui was less than five fingers. Her biggest impression of Concubine Cui was that Concubine Cui was too self-righteous and treated her biological daughter like a stepmother. It was incredible. If it weren't for Aunt Liu's testimony, Yu Shu really doubted that she was her biological daughter.
Stepping out of the bed, Yu Shu couldn't pretend to be kind, so she said angrily, "Mother."
Aunt Cui walked into the room, glanced at the empty furnishings in the room, snorted again, stepped forward, reached out to poke Yu Shu's head, and screamed, "You damn child, where have you been? It's so hard to find you. You're so troublesome. Look at you now!"
Yu Shu was poked by her unguarded, and the feeling of fingernails on her forehead was not good. Seeing her poke again, she hurriedly turned her head to avoid it, "Mother, the Ji family drove me out. Why did they ask me to come back?" Yu Shu couldn't figure it out, so she simply asked Aunt Cui, hoping to get some information from her.
Aunt Cui said grumpily, "It was Old Lady who asked. It was you who did bad things. Otherwise, how could you be beaten and driven out?"
Yu Shu sat back on the bed, "At that time, I didn't know that fish was so precious. A fish was worth a human life. Now I know I was wrong."
Concubine Cui did not understand the meaning behind her words. She was still blaming Yu Shu for not being sensible. She had been ignored by Ji Xiaogu for a long time because of the trouble she had caused last time. Looking closely at her daughter, she only felt that apart from her well-behaved appearance, there was nothing likable about her. When she thought that the Xue family might not like her and that she had lost a chance to climb the ladder of riches, she was filled with anger. "Listen to me, I don't care how you misbehaved in the past, but from now on, you'd better behave yourself and don't talk nonsense. If you dare to run away from this marriage, I'll teach you a lesson!"
Hearing this, Yu Shu raised her head and said vigilantly, "Marriage? What marriage? "
Speaking of this, Aunt Cui was a little proud. She raised her chin and said, "You are lucky. Minister Xue's family in the capital wants to connect with our Ji family by marriage. He likes the fourth daughter of Second Master's family. However, the fourth daughter's fate is too good, and the Xue family is afraid that the opposite will not be good. So, before the fourth daughter gets married, they want to choose a poor girl from the family to replace the fourth daughter's fate and become the concubine of the Xue Family. This will temporarily suppress the fourth daughter's fate, so they choose you."
"What?" Yu Shu suddenly stood up from the bed, and her eyes widened. Aunt Cui was so shocked that she took two steps back before she could stand firm.
Yu Shu now understood why Ji Hyotani coaxed her back on the street. She felt annoyed and ridiculous. The Ji family actually wanted her to be a scapegoat for their precious fourth daughter.
Concubine? They actually had the nerve to send her, a stepdaughter who was kicked out of the family, to be a concubine. Moreover, she was sent to the Xue Family to be a concubine. The Ji family was a group of shameless people. What else could they not do?
"What are you shouting for!" Aunt Cui covered her chest. Looking at Yu Shu's fiery face, she remembered the worries that Ji Hyotani had told her in the room before. Her face changed and she asked suspiciously, "You, you don't want to?"
When Ji Hyotani mentioned it to her, she thought that he was worried for nothing. She knew her daughter well. She was a lazy and vain girl. If she could be a concubine of such a family, as long as she worked hard and won the Xue Family's favor, she would have no worries about food and clothing in the future. How could she not want to be a concubine of such a family?
How could she be unwilling? Yu Shu took a deep breath. Looking at Aunt Cui's expression, she didn't want to lose her temper with the birth mother of this body. She could only say patiently, "Mother, think about it. Will good things really happen to me? Not to mention what kind of family the Xue family is and whether the Xue Family's Master is missing an arm or a leg. I am a helpless girl. If I become a concubine of their family and temporarily replace the fourth daughter's position, how many people will look down on me? Will my life be easy? In the future, when the fourth daughter marries, how will I live? Mother, do you think this is a blessing? It is clearly a fire pit that no one wants to jump into. That's why the Ji family pushed me out. "
Mistress Cui was stunned by her daughter's words. Seeing that her daughter was reasoning with her and even blaming herself, she couldn't help but say angrily, "Do you think others want to pick you? If it weren't for the fact that you're the only one in the family, such a good thing wouldn't have happened to you!"
"Good things?" Yu Shu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She couldn't reason with her mother, who had long hair and short knowledge. She narrowed her eyes and said in a low voice, "The marriage between the Xue family and the Ji family has nothing to do with me. Their surname is Ji, and my surname is Yu. If they want to send someone as a concubine, why don't they send their own daughter? Whoever wants to be a Fengshui ornament can do it. Mother, you'd better tell Third Master now so that they don't have to worry about it."
In order to plan to go to the capital city to find the Book of Fantasy Fairy Six Rens, she still had a lot of things to prepare. How could she have the time to pretend to be polite to the Ji family? She might not even be an ant in the eyes of the big Yi Xue family, but if they really treated her as a fish on the chopping block, it would depend on whether they could swallow a hard bone like her.
"You, you —" Aunt Cui was so angry at her words that her face was almost crooked, "You don't know how to appreciate favors!"
"Yes, I don't know how to appreciate favors," Yu Shu bent down to pick up her shoes and put them on. She stood up and straightened her clothes. She glanced at Aunt Cui and walked out. When she walked out of the room, Aunt Cui hurriedly chased after her —
"You wicked girl, where are you going!"
Yu Shu said without looking back, "The Ji family drove me out a long time ago. I'm not a member of this family. Why should I stay here? I'm going back."
"You —"
"Why aren't you a member of this family?"
Behind her, Aunt Cui was furious. When Yu Shu walked to the door of the courtyard, she was stopped by Ji Hyotani who was entering the courtyard. He asked with a cold face.
Yu Shu looked at her nominal stepfather and coldly said, "Third Master, have you forgotten? Three months ago, I stole Old Matriarch's Eight Treasures Fragrant Carp and was whipped 30 times. Old Matriarch personally ordered me to be thrown out. I am a girl, injured, wandering the streets. If not for a kind person taking me in, I would have died long ago. Let me ask you, what relationship do I have with your Ji family?"
Hearing her resentment, Ji Hyotani's face turns cold. He glances at Aunt Cui who is trembling behind her and says sarcastically, "When your mother begged me to bring you and your brother into the Ji family, I pitied you and your brother, so I brought you back, provided you with food and lodging, and sent you to school. But you didn't care about all these good things. Just because you did something wrong, I beat you up and drove you away for a few days. Now you don't care about my kindness and still say that you are not a member of the Ji family. Did the Ji family raise you for nothing? "Third Master, do you want to settle accounts with me?" Yu Shu nodded. "Alright, I'll calculate it with you. My brother and I ate and lived together in the Ji family. We ate thin soup pancakes, salted vegetables, and beans. That's twenty copper coins a day, and six hundred copper coins a month. We moved to the Ji family for half a year, so that's a year. That's seven thousand two hundred copper coins, or seven taels and twenty cents, right?"
As Yu Shu calculates, she fishes out the purse that was robbed before. She fishes out a bank note from a pile of copper coins and silver jiao. She shakes it open and hands it to Ji Hyotani, who looks gloomy, and says sternly, "Take it. Here are 10 taels. You can keep the extra as interest. But remember this time, I have nothing to do with the Ji family. I will take care of my brother. From now on, he will live with me. The Ji family doesn't need to worry about him."
Then she turns to Aunt Cui, who is in a panic, and says, "Mother, if you don't like living here in the future and the Ji family can't tolerate you, you can come to me. You are my biological mother. You gave birth to me and raised me. This can't be changed. I will serve you until you grow old."
Hearing this and looking at Ji Hyotani's gloomy face, Aunt Cui doesn't dare to promise her. When she is about to scold her, she hears a tearing sound. Ji Hyotani tears the bank note in his hand, and his eyes show a chilling sharpness, "I will pretend that I didn't hear what you said just now. The names of you and your brother are still in my household register. Your marriage is naturally decided by me. You can be disobedient and go against my will, but the consequence will definitely not be as light as 30 lashes."
After saying this, he throws the torn bank note in his hand to Yu Shu's face. He points at her and says to Aunt Cui, "Take her to the yard to have a look. Xiaoxiu is disobedient and has been running around for a few days. Today, someone found him on the street and sent him back just now. I whipped him according to the family rules. This child can't stand it and fainted when he saw blood. It's the fault of the mother for not teaching the child well. If they make any mistakes in the future, I will hold you responsible."
Hearing this, Aunt Cui and Yu Shu's faces change at the same time. One is scared, and the other is angry.
"Ma, Master …"
Aunt Cui still wants to say something to Ji Hyotani, but Yu Shu has already run out with a livid face. The guard at the gate of the yard doesn't need Ji Hyotani's order and follows her.
Ji Hyotani looks at Aunt Cui who is still standing stupidly in the distance. He sighs softly, and his face softens. He goes forward to hold her slightly trembling shoulders, lowers his head, and coaxes, "Did I scare you? Don't be afraid. Children need to be taught a lesson to be sensible. Don't worry. As long as your daughter is obedient and doesn't make trouble for me, how can I bear to punish you? "
Aunt Cui shivers. She leans against Ji Hyotani's chest and nods obediently. Tears are swirling in her eyes, but she doesn't dare to fall down.
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