Before Liu-shi was promoted to the main wife in the Luo family, Luo Shuyu had referred to her as Liu-yiniang, and never showed her any disrespect. In his previous life, he still held expectations for his so-called father, so he had changed his address to 'Furen'¹. Now knowing that his mother was married to such an inhumane person, and wrongfully lost her life, he was no longer willing to give her face.
Regarding the cause of his mother's death, he is now naturally suspicious of Liu. There were simply too many affairs in the back of the yard.
Currently, he is questioning whether or not his mother really died of illness, or if she had actually been murdered. If it was indeed the latter, he must seek justice.
When he was young, his mother had always been healthy. She was talkative, and would laugh heartily. She rarely, got a cold, let alone get sick. Suddenly, one day, his mother couldn't stop coughing blood. Her face quickly became bloodless and pale. He heard from others that she had contracted tuberculosis, of which there was no cure. Due to its infectiousness, the mother and child were separated. It wasn't long after that she passed away.
Thinking back carefully, his mother illness really came too suddenly, and without any warning.
After being reborn, he no longer believed in what he had heard in his past life. Sometimes, what you see and hear are only the things that others allow you to see and hear. From the day that he entered the Third Prince's mansion, he had been plotted against by Luo Renshou. Perhaps his father had never wanted his birth, after all, he had only married his mother as a way to further his career.
Counting the days, there was still more than a month left before his and Li Mingjin's wedding. He still had time to investigate some things.
Liu stood before him, with a bunch of young faces behind her. There were handsome gers and beautiful maids, each of whom were exquisite in appearance. They were not brought to him with the intent of being useful people, but rather to sneak into the bed of the Third Prince.
The 'Yiniang' from earlier made Liu so angry that she felt the urge to vomit blood, yet she still maintained the smile on her face, pretending not to notice for the time being.
"Shuyu, that girl, Qing Quan, is ignorant. I will definitely punish her properly. Since you have decided to let them go, I have prepared some people as replacements. You can keep whichever ones you like."
Luo Shuyu casually glanced over them, and said with a warm smile, "You don't need to prepare anyone Liu-yiniang. If I were to bring these people into the Third Prince's mansion, what will others think of me? I'm afraid they will say that our Luo family can only be served by beautiful people. In the future, your daughter and ger will also marry. Although I am not your own child, you should not show your intentions so clearly. I did not care about you in the past, but don't think that that means I am easy to deal with."
He really used to be so easy to bully, easily providing people with opportunities.
Back then, when he brought this group of people with him to the Third Prince's mansion, they each tried to climb into the Third Prince's bed. In the end, the Third Prince had enough and beat them to vent his anger. Because of this, Luo Shuyu was angry with him for a while, feeling like Li Mingjin didn't take him seriously. Looking back on it, he realized that Liu had been sowing the seeds of discord so early. He could only blame himself for his stupidity.
Such a tactless response only fanned the flames of Liu anger. Luo Shuyu had firmly grasped her weakness too. Her children were her lifeline.
He has nothing left to lose, and is no longer afraid of those in power. He wants to do what he couldn't in his previous life, and now he can't be bothered to show a good face to Liu.
Liu wasn't a good person either.
"Okay, if you don't want them, then don't take them You don't know what's good or bad for you." Liu also revealed her true face, saying in a low voice, "Don't think that you're such a great person just because you're about to enter the Third Prince's yard. We're leaving." As she left, she didn't forget to throw out, "Who doesn't know that you're only a substitute for Shen Mingyun."
As soon as Liu shed her submissive pretense, a flash of malice appeared on her previously gentle face. Her gaze towards Luo Shuyu was murderous. Her talent in sowing dissent was first-rate. If it were anyone else, or if he didn't have the experience from his first life, he may have taken her statement to heart.
But Luo Shuyu was not angry at all. He only smiled and said, "Really?" He prefers to hear the truth from Li Mingjin himself.
Liu didn't understand why Luo Shuyu's temperament had changed so drastically. She didn't think he was stubborn, only thinking that he was a fool who thought that by entering the Third Prince's yard, he could get away with whatever he wanted. What a joke. She would just wait for him to embarrass himself when he gets rejected by the Third Prince.
Liu sneered to herself and left Ruyi courtyard, unaware of what Luo Shuyu was actually thinking.
The two of them had torn through all pretenses. It was no longer possible for them to return to the amicable appearance of the past.
Most days, Luo Shuyu's behavior wasn't taken seriously by the other members of the Luo family, and it's expected that they won't care much about his recent actions.
It was inconvenient for him to go out, so he mostly relied on Qing Wang to take care of things for him.
Qing Wang was an orphan, and had worked in the Luo Estate since he was a child. He was personally chosen by Luo Shuyu's mother as a servant, and has taken care of Ruyi courtyard along side Qing Quan ever since. Now, Luo Shuyu needed him to manage some other things.
In the evening, Luo Shuyu ate alone in his courtyard, but he didn't feel lonely, because there was good gossip for dinner.
Qing Wang poured Luo Shuyu a cup of peach blossom wine that had been brewed in the spring. "Young Master, do you know what happened at the poetry meeting this afternoon?"
Luo Shuyu squeezed the small porcelain wine cup in his hand, "What happened?"
Qing Wang spoke mysteriously, "You must not have heard, young master Shen ignored etiquette and directly crashed the poetry meeting held by the Eldest Young Master. He said that he overheard them composing poems while he was passing by, and thought he'd join. The princes were even there too. Young master Shen even took the chance to compose a poem and compete with everyone else!"
"Oh? And then?"
"In the beginning, the friends of the Eldest Young Master praised him, even the Eldest Prince said that he would share his poem with the Emperor. But who would have thought that just as young master Shen was basking in glory, the Second Young Master of Grand Secretary Zhou's family said that the poem wasn't written by young master Shen at all! Then, when young master Shen confronted him, asking who wrote it, Second Young Master Zhou said that he had found this poem in an ancient poetry collection and that the author was someone named Li Bai."
"Oh? Then how did Cousin Shen answer?"
" Young master Shen choked, and didn't offer a word of rebuttal for a long time. His face went pale and he fainted on the spot. He even had to be carried out by the maids. I heard from the servants that were present that the faces of the Eldest and Second Young Masters were ruined by him."
"At the beginning, the two of them both have praised him?"
"That's right. The Eldest Young Master and the Second Young Master praised him a lot, saying that they were honored by young master Shen talent."
"Did any of the princes speak for him?"
"Apparently, the Fourth Prince and the First Prince spoke up for him a little, but the Third Prince just kicked over the table on the spot. Many of the scholars felt ashamed and followed the princes to leave the Luo Estate."
"Interesting, what about now?" Luo Shuyu liked the flavor of this peach blossom wine, and squinted his eyes in delight.
Li Mingjin kicking over the table really seemed like something he would do. He had always been seen as "unlearned and tactless".
"After the Master came back and heard of this matter, he summoned them all to the study for a scolding. Young master Shen was even confined to his courtyard by the Master and told him not to run around anymore. The shops opened by young master Shen are quite well-known in the capital, so they will definitely be affected if the word gets out."
"Well, probably not." This fake cousin of his has a lot of ideas, and he has the System to help him become famous. However, regardless of his spirit, the Shen Mingyun in the book never suffered setbacks. Even if something went wrong, there was always some gentleman who would come to his aid. But what if there were no more gentlemen?
After eating and drinking his fill, Luo Shuyu took a walk around the courtyard, before asking Qing Wang to grind some ink.
His memory had always been good, so he copied down all the poems by Li Bai that had appeared in the novel.
He ordered: "Find an opportunity tomorrow to send this collection of poems to the Third Prince's for him to deal with."
Qing Wang replied: "Young Master, will it be okay for me to go just like this?"
"It'll be fine. Just go and dig out another jar of peach blossom wine and send it there tomorrow."
"Oh! I see." Qing Wang teased, "Young Master, do you want to write a letter to the Third Prince as well?"
Luo Shuyu thought for a while: "…No need."
Qing Wang had also seen the Third Prince this afternoon, and found that the Young Master wasn't afraid of him at all. The Third Prince didn't whip anyone either, which seemed to be different from the rumors going around outside.
____________
Third Prince's Mansion
Li Mingjin, who had just finished practicing a set of sword techniques, was dripping with sweat. It dripped down from his neck, soaking into his thin practice clothes.
He took the towel handed over by An San, "Why didn't he write?"
An San bowed his head: "This subordinate does not know."
After wiping himself off, Li Mingjin threw the towel on the shelf and said: "Useless."
An San felt wronged. What does it have to do with him if the future Wangfei doesn't write a letter?
Li Mingjin wasn't upset about Luo Shuyu not writing to him, but was vaguely looking forward to the peach blossom wine he sent.
Li Mingjin: "He made the wine himself?"
An San wanted to shrink back: "This subordinate thinks so."
After making Li Mingjin happy, the shadow guard brought up the matter of Liu again. Li Mingjin's eyes darkened slightly and ordered: "Send him some useful people tomorrow."
Those bastards dared to bully his wife like this?
An San: "Yes."
Li Mingjin: "Also, you go and bring back the wine yourself."
********
The next day, Luo Shuyu got up early. The flowers and plants were bathing in the morning light, making them look more vibrant.
He stretched contentedly.
Qing Wang personally went to the small kitchen to bring him breakfast.
After he finished eating, there was a commotion outside.
At the front was the butler, followed closely by an old momo² and a young royal bodyguard. Behind them were six maids. They were all well-behaved, with no obvious faults. Before the butler could speak, the serious-looking momo beside him said: "Greetings, young master Luo. I am here on the orders of the Third Prince to serve by your side. If there is anything you need to be done, you can rely on me."
Luo Shuyu was a little confused by this scene, with a surprised expression said: "Third Prince?"
The old momo replied: "Yes."
The guard at the side stepped forward and handed him a letter, "Young master Luo, this is a letter from the Master, please send a reply after reading it."
Luo Shuyu took the letter stupified: "…"
The people and the letter were quite sudden. In his last life, he and Li Mingjin never interacted before getting married.
Could it be that because he cried so badly yesterday that he missed him?
Luo Shuyu received the maids, then said to the guard: "Wait a moment."
He opened the letter Li Mingjin wrote to him. There were only seven characters written, three of which were for his name:
Write me a letter.
– Li Mingjin.
Luo Shuyu wrote back without much thought.
A while later, the guard received Luo Shuyu's dried letter, a jar of peach blossom wine, and a thin collection of poems before leaving the Luo Estate.
________
At noon, it was rare for Li Mingjin not to go out to drink and listen to music, but he was currently waiting front of his yard for Luo Shuyu's reply.
Seeing the letter, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly. But upon opening it, they dropped back down, his face becoming a bit gloomy.
All right.
– Luo Shuyu.
The shocked Li Mingjin said after awhile : "...Where's the letter?"