"Shut up." The old lady suddenly slammed her chopsticks on the table and said angrily.
Lu Youping choked.
A cold smile flashed across Lu Xiang's lowered eyes.
Heh… This was her biological father.
In the past, she thought that her father and mother respected each other and had some feelings for each other, but after seeing his interaction with Madam Liu, she realized that this man did not like her mother at all. Although he respected her, her husband had no feelings for her. To a woman, it was cruel.
Just because Madam Liu cried and complained, he came over without thinking to scold her.
"Father!" Lu Xiang raised his head. Her beautiful big eyes were filled with innocence; they were so beautiful that it was endearing. "As the daughter of the first wife, how can I lower myself and defer to your concubine and concubine's daughter? Wouldn't it be a disgrace to your reputation if word got out?"
Lu Youping was so angry that he blurted out, "Who said that their status is one of a concubine and daughter of a concubine?"
Lu Xiang's eyes turned cold. "Father, are you saying that you want Aunt Liu to be your legitimate second wife and Lu Mingzhu to be your legitimate daughter?"
She would help him remove all pretense.
As Lu Youping's thoughts were exposed by Lu Xiang, his expression suddenly changed and he quickly looked at the expression on the Old Madam's face.
He had not mentioned it recently because he wanted his mother to be mentally prepared. After all, he had already expressed this through his words and actions. He was just waiting for a suitable opportunity to mention it.
The Old Madam looked at Lu Youping and sneered, "Heh, if you want to make Madam Liu your legitimate wife, you'll have to wait until I'm dead. Elevating a mistress to become the Matriarch of the Lu family. You're shameless, but I'm not."
Lu Youping couldn't bear to hear others say anything bad about Madam Liu and hence he retorted, "Mother, Madam Liu used to be from a scholarly family. In terms of character, cultivation, and social skills, she's not inferior to anyone else."
"Would the daughter of a really good family become a mistress? Even if you praise her like an angel, it won't change the fact that she used to be a street performer," the old lady said coldly.
Lu Youping replied, "That's because her family had fallen from grace. That's why she ended up performing on the streets. I feel that there's nothing shameful about her relying on her own abilities to support herself." On the contrary, he liked Madam Liu's tenacious temperament.
The Old Madam pinched the space between her eyebrows with a headache. "I agree to let you bring her into the manor. Giving her the status of a concubine is my greatest concession. Don't think about anything else."
Lu Youping looked like he was determined to defend his beloved to death. "Mother, I don't want her to suffer."
"Lu Youping, you…"
The old lady was so angry that she slammed the table. Suddenly, a pair of soft hands covered hers. Then, Lu Xiang's voice sounded, "Father, I always thought that you doted on me. Now, you want to degrade me to become an illegitimate daughter?"
In her previous life, in order to give Madam Liu the status of the matriarch of the family, her father and grandmother had a fierce argument. She assisted her father from the side, and so in the end, her grandmother could only nod in agreement.
The father-daughter duo's coercion must have broken Grandmother's heart then.
But in the end, she let a wolf into her house, harming herself and the people around her.
With her rebirth, she would never allow Madam Liu to become the matriarch of the Lu family.
Her father claimed that he truly loved Madam Liu and was willing to do anything for her. However, no matter how much he liked her, his selfish and timid nature couldn't be changed.
Well, to put it bluntly, he would retreat once it involved his own interests.
Lu Youping looked at his daughter's teary eyes and felt a little guilty. After all, he had rushed over with a murderous aura and scolded her without much thoughts. With that, he couldn't say that he had in fact doted on her.
However, how could he degrade her to an illegitimate daughter?
"Xiangxiang, what nonsense are you talking about? Why would I degrade you to an illegitimate daughter?" Even if his favorite daughter was Mingzhu, he could not degrade his legitimate daughter like this.
Lu Xiang raised his head and looked at Lu Youping. "Although I rarely socialize, everyone knows that the third daughter of the Lu family is the only legitimate daughter. Now that Father wants to support Concubine Liu as the legitimate wife, Lu Mingzhu would then become your legitimate daughter as well. And since she is half a year older than me, she will naturally become the third daughter of the family. How will me, your real third daughter, retain my social standing? In the future, when I go out to socialize, who will think that the fourth daughter is also a legitimate daughter? Isn't Father doing this to degrade your daughter to an illegitimate daughter?"
Lu Youping said, "Well… we're going to the capital soon. No one would misunderstand."
Ha, a new environment and a new interpersonal relationship. As long as the servants whose services were retained kept their mouths shut, who knew if the mistress of the household was the first or the second legitimate wife? Why would they care about your legitimate daughters? It was quite a dream that he had.
In her previous life, this was indeed the case. She devoted herself to Madam Liu and her daughter, so why would she care if people address her as the Third Miss or Fourth Miss?
"I'm still young and don't understand other principles. If a good legitimate daughter is demoted and treated as an illegitimate daughter in the future, she will definitely feel indignant. She will say whatever she wants under her resentment. If word gets out accidentally, it will be disadvantageous for Father to gain a foothold in the capital."
Not to mention that he had not gone to the capital yet.
"I've been the Third Miss of the Lu Family for 14 years, and now you wanted to turn me into the Fourth Miss for no reason. Don't blame me for saying something nasty in a fit of anger then. After all, I'm still young and insensible," she said.
When Lu Youping heard this, his face darkened. "Lu Xiang, as a daughter, how dare you threaten your father like this? How improper!"
"So what if she's threatening you?" The old lady glared at Lu Youping and said angrily, "You had threatened your own mother. What Xiangxiang did was to learn from you. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. What right do you have to teach her a lesson? You thought that by going to the capital you could deceive everyone. Do you take others for fools? I don't know what's in your head. Get lost. I'm angry just by looking at you."
After cursing, she immediately turned to look at Lu Xiang. "Xiang Xiang, I'm not scolding you. I'm scolding your father."
The old madam was referring to her previous statement of "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."
Lu Xiang nodded obediently. "Grandmother, I know."
Lu Youping: "…"
To the Old Madam, the granddaughter was of her blood and precious, but he must have been adopted to have such differential treatment.
Lu Youping was embarrassed from being scolded. He did not dare to say anything else and quickly said, "I'll take my leave."
When the Old Madam thought of how stupid her son is for loving that Madam Liu to such extent, she subconsciously rolled her eyes.
"Grandmother, don't be angry. Father just hasn't thought it through yet." Lu Xiang's soft little hand stroked the old madam's back to calm her down. "This matter is just a family matter. Father wants to compensate Aunt Liu and Lu Mingzhu, so he was not afraid of how awful the gossip may be in the future. I'm a junior. I don't have the right to question whether Father wants to marry a wife or take a concubine. I'm just thinking of my aunt, who has struggled to survive in the palace and finally climbed to the position of an imperial concubine. There are many in the imperial harem just waiting for her to slip up. There can't be any mistakes. The Emperor values filial piety and places emphasis on their character especially of his officials. I'm afraid that someone will magnify Father's affairs infinitely and make the Emperor dissatisfied with Aunt. That would kill Aunt."
Lu Youping created a ruckus in the family for a mistress. What kind of person would a daughter raised by the same mother be?
The old lady did not dare to think too deeply about it.
Her daughter finally climbed up the rank to become an imperial concubine after five years in the palace. As her elder brother, he might not be able to help her where she is, so the very least that he should do was not to drag his younger sister down.