Chapter 21: Lifting a Rock to Crush One’s Own Foot

These words, He Lingyi did not wish to share with his mother. To avoid troubling her thoughts, he found an excuse to add, “Madam Zong is a figure from the Wang Mansion; even Minister Chi trusts her words to some extent, let alone the women of the inner quarters. I suppose Lady Chi understands this well, which is why she spoke up on behalf of eldest sister. However, nothing is certain yet, and things may still change. Eldest sister must remain cautious—Madam Guo and Chi Guiying will not let this matter drop so easily.”

Chi Guiwan nodded. Just thinking of the Lu Yi she had encountered at the gate earlier sent a chill of revulsion through her body. Strangely, though it was their first meeting, she felt an instinctive loathing for him. This thought unsettled her more than she cared to admit.

Watching He Lingyi carefully tend to her wound, Chi Guiwan felt an inexplicable affection and tenderness reserved only for close kin. Perhaps it was fate’s blessing that sent someone like He Lingyi to her aid and rescue. The more she thought so, the more fond she became of him.

After the Lu family’s visit, life in Shijin Courtyard went on unaffected. The ailing continued their recovery; those attending school carried on as usual. The real disturbance came from the Lesheng Courtyard, where second young lady Chi Guiying repeatedly rebelled, refusing to marry into the Lu family at any cost, turning the minister’s household upside down.

One day, Chi Yunjing happened to be home on leave, and the dramatic self-threat played out again.

“I will not marry! If Father forces me, then I will die!” Chi Guiying clutched a strip of white silk and scanned the beams above, threatening to hang herself as a show. Chi Yunjing watched coldly, unconvinced by the spectacle.

Madam Guo sobbed until her eyes were swollen, wishing she could bear the grievance on her second daughter’s behalf. Between her tears and pleas, she begged, “Master, please consider that I have lived in this household for over ten years without fault. Help my second daughter. The Lu family’s match was meant for eldest sister—why must my second daughter be sacrificed? Why?”

“Exactly! If Father does not love his daughters, he might as well let them die!”

Mother and daughter put on a grand performance in Lesheng Courtyard. Even Chi Guizhao came, kneeling beside them and occasionally echoing that second sister was innocent and should not be used as the family’s scapegoat.

Amid the chaos, Chi Yunjing for the first time took the mother and daughters seriously. How had he never noticed their acting skills before? If they truly wished to die, they could hang themselves in their own yard—why make such a scene before him? And that son of his, usually silent, now revealed himself as weak-willed. With such character, there was no hope of him upholding the family’s honor.

So he sipped his tea quietly, letting them make a fuss.

Nearly an hour passed without a word from Chi Yunjing. The mother and daughters grew increasingly anxious. If even a hanging threat failed to move him, how could they proceed?

Unexpectedly, Chi Yunjing finally spoke calmly, “Had your fill of noise?”

“Father, how can you be so heartless, caring so little for your daughter’s life?” Chi Guiying wept copiously, her sorrow genuine and pitiful.

In the past, Chi Yunjing might have yielded, but not now. His own future and the minister’s household’s prospects were at stake—he would not relent.

His icy gaze fixed on the mother and daughter, then shifted to Chi Guizhao kneeling nearby. His knees ached, but without parental permission, he dared not rise. The stern look from his father made him tremble and bow his head in silence.

“I never expected such commotion in my house. Second sister, you asked why I don’t care about your life and death; but isn’t this path chosen by your mother?”

Madam Guo’s face turned pale with shock. How could this be? Had her husband discovered something?

Chi Guiying, frightened, shrank into her mother’s embrace, crying softly, no longer holding her earlier resolute stance.

“If your mother hadn’t brought the Lu family here, you could have waited until your coming-of-age ceremony to choose a husband carefully. Given the minister’s household’s current standing, though you might not marry into a grand family, it would be easy to select a modest one. But your mother fixated on eldest sister’s match and deliberately brought the Lu family to vex us. If so, let her taste the pain of her own schemes backfiring.”

Hearing this, Madam Guo was thrown into panic.

“Master, what nonsense have you heard? I never did such a thing! If I had such schemes, wouldn’t it have been quicker to deal with eldest sister directly? Why wait until now? This is slander—utterly slander!”

Chi Yunjing sneered and then recounted in detail when she had sent people to contact the Lu family.

Madam Guo collapsed to the ground, her face deathly pale.

She had never imagined her tightly woven plot would be uncovered so thoroughly. She hadn’t even devised a counterplan yet when Chi Yunjing clapped his hands, and Cai Ping, battered and bruised, was dragged in—no doubt already forced to confess.

Madam Guo looked desolate, unable to find words to defend herself.

“I said nothing before, not because I was unaware, but to keep peace in the household. But now that you have plotted against me, disregarding eldest sister’s future and threatening my own career for your selfish desires, Guo, you have underestimated the Chi family’s wisdom. Do you think we would allow a woman to manipulate us so easily?”

“Therefore, second sister must marry—whether willing or not. If she prepares happily, considering she has suffered enough, I will allow her to take that farm on the city outskirts as dowry to the Lu family. But if she insists on causing trouble, then she may die if she wishes. Even in death, I will send her spirit tablet to the Lu family, fulfilling this decades-old agreement.”

Chi Yunjing’s piercing gaze revealed his knowledge that Chi Guiying dared not actually die, so his words were especially harsh, leaving her too drained to cry.

“As for you,” he said to Chi Guizhao, “so easily swayed by trivial matters, no wonder you have such a weak character. From tomorrow, you will move to the outer courtyard. Once I arrange a school for you, you will study there. You must mingle more with outsiders to realize how narrow your world truly is. Get out—don’t make me waste more words!”

Blushing with shame, Chi Guizhao hurried away.

Madam Guo, seeing her son so useless, felt the situation was hopeless and could only weep silently.

Chi Yunjing noticed but never cared for family tears. When Lady Hai died, he only felt the loss of a great support—how much more so for Guo’s tears.

He then spoke to Madam Guo:

“Ignorant woman, harming my children. From now on, stay quietly in the inner quarters and prepare dowry for second sister. As for household affairs, I have other plans. By the way, my superiors sent two beautiful maids a few days ago. I initially did not want to accept them, but it seems your good days have been too long. If you insist on stirring trouble, then you shall suffer. Soon, these two maids will serve you tea. I have decided to keep them as concubines of the second and third branches.”