The Rebirth of a Daughter: My Lord, I Will Never Be a Concubine

If Su Bin were here, he would definitely punish Xu Qing, but now the person sitting in the lobby who could punish him fairly was Old Lady Su, the old lady who hated Jiang Youbai and disliked Su Yanhua.

They thought that Old Madam Su would definitely protect Xu Qing, because Xu Qing and Su Ruoxi, mother and daughter, were the people Old Madam Su valued. Once Xu Qing was punished, it would be tantamount to losing face in front of Su Yanhua, whom she disliked. They were saying, look, the person you like did such a shameful thing, and your vision is not very good. What's more, this happened in front of her former servants. Everyone knew that Old Madam Su cared most about face.

Old Mrs. Su would never allow such a thing to happen. She thought about it, and excuses were already lingering in her mind.

"Not only did you harm my mother, you also want to harm my grandmother—"

After she finished speaking, Old Lady Su quickly took back the words that had come out of her mouth. Xu Qing looked at Su Yanhua in shock, as if she was an evil person between heaven and earth.

"Su Yanhua, you are framing me."

Su Ruoxi's voice was particularly loud, and it hurt the maid's eardrums.

It's no wonder that Su Ruoxi reacted strongly. The wealthy and powerful are complicated by nature. It's normal for people in the family to fight fiercely for the status of the direct line. But once this idea is extended to the person in power in the wealthy family, it becomes unfilial and disloyal, and becomes the topic of conversation for people all over the world. It's a loss of face for the entire wealthy and powerful family, and it's difficult for one's own official position to be kept.

After all, the current emperor is the most filial person. Not to mention Mrs. Su, who was born in the royal family. She is a royal relative, of noble status, and has more face than any powerful person. If something like this happened, wouldn't it be trampling on her proud face?

Mrs. Su's thoughts just disappeared in an instant. She looked at Su Yanhua and her tone suddenly became cold: "What do you mean by that?"

Cui'er came forward with a porcelain bowl in her hand. Old Mrs. Su recognized it. This was the medicine bowl she used all year round. It suddenly disappeared a few days ago, and she didn't take it seriously. Now it appeared in Su Yanhua's hand. She was stunned and immediately understood what Su Yanhua meant.

"The last time I came to pay my respects to Grandmother, Madam Li said that you've been sleepy and in poor health since Madam Xu fell ill. I became suspicious and took your medicine bowl to Jishitang for inspection. They discovered that you've added Kongqing ingredients to your herbs. If Grandmother doesn't believe me, the master from Jishitang is right outside the door. You can ask him to come in and examine them again."

As soon as she finished speaking, Xu Qing felt a cold gaze coming at her, almost shooting a hole in her body.

Su Yanhua ordered the owner of Jishiditang to come in. The owner bowed to Old Madam Su, took the medicine bowl and sniffed it carefully before saying, "Old Madam, this medicine bowl must have been used for more than ten years. The angelica, thousand-leaf flower, blood vine, and whitehead can dissolve blood stasis and are very tonics. But a few years ago, Kongqing was added. The first few herbs are tonics, and Kongqing is effective for those with mental fatigue. Mixing these herbs together is harmful to the old lady's illness and has no benefit. I don't know who is brewing the herbs. They are harming the old lady's body."

After he finished speaking, he looked surprised, as if he was describing an unforgivable sinner.

There was no way to quibble this time. Everyone in the mansion knew that Xu Qing was the only one who took care of Old Madam Su's medicine. It was an established fact.

The looks people gave her were filled with pity, disdain, and strangeness. These looks were like a sharp sword that almost pierced through her, and the taut string in her brain broke with a "bang".

"Mother, I did use Kong Qing, but I only used it because you were in poor health. The dosage was not large at all. Mother, you have to believe me."

Xu Qing was confused. She had obviously joined Kong Qing out of concern for Old Madam Su's health, so how could it be considered murder? She had no idea at first that these herbs were already tonics. She was afraid of alarming the old lady and asking about Kong Qing's whereabouts, so she never called a doctor. Unexpectedly, she ended up making things worse.

She didn't believe it. She didn't believe that the old lady would punish her for this matter. She had served her for several years and she was the daughter-in-law she was most satisfied with. Thinking of this, she begged desperately.

Su Yanhua looked at this scene, and her memory came back. In her previous life, the thing she feared most was facing Old Lady Su. She always knew that this grandmother, who was closer to her by blood than water, did not like her, and even hated her. She did not understand, and she would not think about it at that time. Her world could only accommodate one Mo Celong. The happiest time for her was the day when she was going to marry Mo Celong as a concubine. Her grandmother came and evacuated everyone. After the door was closed, a slap fell on her face. She was cold from head to toe, and all her joy was shattered.

She accused her of bringing shame to the Su family, and to herself. Grandmother brought her a cup of poisoned wine, forcing her to commit suicide. In that moment, she suddenly felt that so-called kinship was worth less than a piece of waste paper, so unbearable and cruel. She begged for mercy, wept bitterly, but only those cold eyes remained in her memory. Just as she thought she was doomed, her grandmother's illness recurred. She collapsed to the ground, her face awash with pain. For the first time, she pleaded with her, like a baby desperate for life, to save her. "Save her!" she pleaded.

She looked at the cup of poisoned wine and had a thought. She recalled the cold eyes and the accusing and cruel words that echoed in her mind over and over again. It was then that she realized that her grandmother was most afraid of two things in her life: one was shame and the other was death.

She didn't know whether Xu Qing joined Kong Qing intentionally or not, but there were too many loopholes in it. Now Old Madam Su's health was indeed affected, and the person who caused all this was Xu Qing. As a rational person, she dared not be sure whether Xu Qing's intentions were good or bad, not to mention that Old Madam Su was a ruthless person who valued life and death.

In her previous life, she was the only legitimate granddaughter of Old Lady Su, but she was killed by a cup of poisoned wine. What's more, she was just a concubine who was superficially loved. After all, concubines were just playthings of powerful people.

Old Mrs. Su looked at Xu Qing coldly, and the friendly relationship between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law no longer existed.

"Come here, beat Xu to death with a stick, and imprison Su Ruoxi for a month."

Old Madam Su was as cruel as ever, worthy of being a woman who survived the royal family. If Old Madam Su had not fallen ill, she would have had to drink the poisoned wine obediently in front of Old Madam Su in her previous life and be buried in the earth. But she could never be as good as her grandmother who wanted to kill her. The moment she chose to frantically shout for help outside the door, she was a soft-hearted person, and being soft-hearted leads to failure.

But now, she never does that again.

"Wait—"

Xu Qing's shouting and Su Ruoxi's pleas for mercy came to an abrupt end. Su Yanhua looked at Mo Cerong who was walking towards her step by step. He was still dressed in a noble purple robe, looking very noble. At this moment, she suddenly felt so disgusted with him, and her eyes were fixed on him.

He is Su Ruoxi's light, a shield that protects her from any harm and grievance, but in Su Yanhua's eyes, every step he takes is a torture and whipping of her hope. Her eyes become extremely cold, as if countless flying swords are shooting at the purple-clothed man.

Su Yanhua forgot to salute and just stared at Mo Cerong. No matter how time passed, he didn't see any change.

Mo Cerong also looked at her closely, without showing any emotion, and seemed to have a hint of guilt.

Su Yanhua stood quietly by the side. She didn't need this kind of guilt. She begged him not to shatter her hope. After her rebirth, she had been carrying the responsibility of revenge. She woke up from the nightmare of her previous life every day. When she thought she could finally end all this, he came.

Mo Cerong didn't have the ability to read minds, so he couldn't hear the fear in her heart. Even if he did, he still chose to do this. He took out the imperial edict.

"According to the imperial decree, the Empress is preparing a sacrifice at the Fulan Temple in the palace, and has come to summon Madam Xu to the palace for three days of prayer."

He read out each word, his voice so low and deep.

In her memory, his voice was extremely cold, but for some reason her heart was filled with joy. This state of mind could last for several months, but now hearing this cold voice she felt it was so hypocritical and disgusting.

This imperial decree came at a very coincidental moment. The palace only allowed noble ladies from Zhaoling City to pray during the sacrificial ceremony. Xu Qing, as a concubine, could not even enter the palace, let alone participate in the ancestral sacrifices.

She saw the servants' surprised expressions, the compromising expression of Old Lady Su, and she also saw Su Ruoxi's smug expression and Mo Cerong's calm and composed expression.

The difference was that Su Ruoxi and Mo Cerong both looked at her, and their eyes were as disgusting as in her memory, and her heart trembled a little.

She remembered what Su Ruoxi said proudly.

She said that Mo Cerong took her to the northwest, which was the place she had always wanted to go.

She said that Mo Cerong gave her ten boxes of pastries, which were the pastries she learned from a master by working day and night.

She said that Mo Cerong had made a wedding dress for her, which was her lifelong wish in her previous life.

She said that Mo Cerong would only have her in his life, which was something she couldn't even dream of as a concubine.

There were many more, too many to count. These were obviously the things she least wanted to hear, but they were so deeply engraved in her mind.

This time, in order to save Xu Qing and her daughter, her hopes were ruthlessly shattered.

Mo Cerong, are you really so heartless!

It seemed that Su Yanhua and Mo Cerong were the only two people left in the room.

Mo Cerong was stunned. He had never seen Su Yanhua like this before. Her eyes were as calm as water, as if nothing could disturb her heart.

He opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say, and finally said something weakly.

"I'm sorry, I can't let you hurt Ruoxi."