The Legend of the Concubine in the Harem

As Zeng Suqiu was talking, before Lin Qiao could express her opinion, the light in her eyes dimmed.

Zeng Suqiu, who lost her mother at a young age and lived under the care of others, actually always had a feeling of floating in the clouds. Although her aunt was the mistress of the Anguo Marquis Mansion, she was sick all year round. She could only take her sister's daughter out of the Zeng family, but she seldom had the energy to take care of Zeng Suqiu's daily life personally.

Although the Second Lady, who was temporarily in charge of the internal affairs of the Anguo Marquis's Mansion, treated Zeng Suqiu very warmly on the surface, she only regarded her as a poor relative who came to the mansion to beg for money. The Lady of Anguo Marquis ordered that a portion of her monthly salary and the shop's money be set aside for Zeng Suqiu's daily life, and she also secretly deducted most of it to subsidize her own children.

The Anguo Marquis's Mansion, a long-standing noble family, has already raised a lot of servants who love to change their ways according to the wind and cannot be ordered around without rewards. Zeng Suqiu was originally a guest, and she was very young when she arrived at the Anguo Marquis's Mansion. She didn't have anyone close to her. Even though she knew that her monthly allowance was deducted by the Second Madam, she didn't dare to tell her aunt, fearing that she, a foster child, would make trouble and make it even more unfair to her already sick aunt...

No one had ever taught her how to deal with servants who abused her secretly, and no one had the kindness to guide her on how to save herself. All she had was a small shadow curled up under her aunt's broken wings. The only way she could think of to avoid further harm was to curl up her body as much as possible, become gentle, become quiet, and become... submissive.

The Anguo Marquis Mansion was not her home, but the Zeng Mansion, which was connected to it by blood, seemed to leave no place for Zeng Suqiu to stay.

She was just a bird that lost the chance to learn to fly before its wings had fully grown. She didn't even need a cage. A glance from others could scare her into imprisoning herself.

Zeng Suqiu thought.

What happened today was originally forced by myself. I don't know Lady Lin at all, and I just came up to her and asked her to help me, which was already very offensive... So let it be, don't make any more mistakes, put away this fleeting delusion, go home obediently as usual, and accept their arrangements.

This is the lifestyle that I am most familiar with!

Zeng Suqiu forced her pounding heart to calm down.

"......So, you want me to save you." Lin Qiao finally saw clearly the predicament of this woman, but she was still wondering about the "Fu Qingsu" who appeared due to Zeng Suqiu's soul-leaving syndrome. But now was obviously not the time to worry about that.

"......Nu Nu......" Zeng Suqiu clasped her trembling hands and was about to reject it.

But Lin Qiao said in her slightly low voice: "But I am just a small scholar now. I have harmed your family. From what you said, it should be the Anguo Marquis Mansion in the capital, right?"

Zeng Suqiu raised her head abruptly: "It's not like that. Nunu just lost control of her emotions for a moment. Mr. Lin... don't worry, it was just Nunu's insane nonsense. You are a kind person, you..."

Lin Qiao suddenly laughed and said, "I am not Mr. Lin. My name is Guanying. If you don't mind, you can call me Guanying."

Without waiting for Zeng Suqiu to respond, Lin Qiao continued talking to herself. There was a sense of power in her voice that Zeng Suqiu envied but could not understand for the time being, which gradually made her feel at ease.

"I am only a juren now. I will take the next spring examination and have a chance of being on the list. But even so, I am new to the officialdom and I am afraid it will be difficult for me to fight against the Marquis' Mansion on my own. I may not even be able to deal with Doctor Zeng."

"I need time to accumulate strength. This is not something that can be solved in a day or two, or even a year or two..." Lin Qiao looked into Zeng Suqiu's eyes, "You may never be able to wait for me to save you in your entire life. Even so, do you still want to ask me for help?"

"slave......"

"If you really decide to ask me for help, I will definitely not abandon you."

"Wait that long..."

“Maybe I won’t be able to wait for a lifetime.”

"..."

"I will wait." A line of tears ran down Zeng Suqiu's cheeks, but she smiled instead, "I will wait. Just having your words is enough. With these words, no matter what I have to face after I go back, I will try my best to live. I am a fool who doesn't know how to save myself and can only rely on the kindness of others to survive. I..."

"You still know how to ask for life, which is not too bad." Lin Qiao pulled out a plain white silk handkerchief from his sleeve and handed it to Zeng Suqiu.

Zeng Suqiu took the handkerchief with care and raised her sleeves to wipe her tears. Halfway through, she realized that this was not her ordinary clothes. Suddenly, her tears stopped, but her cheeks turned red uncontrollably.

"I found your clothes. You can change first." Lin Qiao said, pointing to a bundle on the bedside.

The wedding dress that Fu Qingsu wore when she appeared was an old thing left by Lin Qiao's mother and Lin's father when they got married. Because the latter cherished it very much, it was well preserved. It was dug out again today, which made Lin's father wonder if his wife really came back to life and wanted to take him away...

Knowing Lin Qiao's true identity, Zeng Suqiu changed back into her original clothes without hesitation, although she was shy. She lowered her head to adjust her clothes, and suddenly said to Lin Qiao, who was standing by the window with her hands behind her back, observing what was going on outside, "You are the fourth person who said that you would help me."

The first one was her aunt who took her out of Zeng’s house.

The second one is her cousin Ruan He, who is closer to her than ordinary siblings.

The third one was her cousin Ruan Xiang'e, who originally secretly rejected her but then suddenly changed her attitude for some unknown reason.

Lin Qiao is the fourth one.

The aunt said that she would help her poor niece and raise her well for the sake of Zeng Suqiu's mother so that she would not be bullied by her stepmother. Zeng Suqiu was very grateful to her aunt for protecting her and sincerely placed her kindness to her in the most important position in her heart.

Ruan He said that he would help his helpless cousin, give her care, love and a bright future. Zeng Suqiu believed him at first, and was secretly attracted to this cousin who was only a few years younger than her. But when the eldest princess and Ruan He's marriage decree came down, Zeng Suqiu gave up the idea and began to deliberately avoid suspicion, but... When he broke into Zeng Suqiu's room drunk that day, the feeling of floating that the world was vast but there was no place where she could rest in peace completely overwhelmed Zeng Suqiu.

Ruan Xiang'e said that she would help her cousin who had to separate from her lover, and would plan for her and cheer for her. Even if she was a princess of the royal family, she should not be so condescending as to break up a pair of lovers, not to mention that they were all women, and women should live in harmony and help each other. She would find a way to make the eldest princess accept Zeng Suqiu as a concubine.

But these good intentions made Zeng Suqiu more confused.

To the point of despair.