Favoring a concubine and destroying the wife? I'll abandon my husband and children and wipe out

Leaving Guantang Courtyard, Zhuyu said, "Miss, Madam treats you so well; she can't tell at all that you're not her biological daughter. If things continue like this, your future looks bright."

Zhu Yu has been with Zhao Huaiyu since she first entered the mansion, and has been doing so for several years now, always thinking of Zhao Huaiyu.

Zhao Huaiyu said smugly, "My mother only has one daughter, so if she's not good to me, who else would she be good to?"

Granny Yu, who was standing nearby, couldn't hold back any longer. She told the servants to move a few steps away and stepped forward to whisper, "Miss, Madam probably guessed what Miss Biao said to you. You should see Miss Biao less often in the future."

Zhao Huaiyu was puzzled: "I've already told my mother what Aunt Ye said, of course she knows, so what's the big deal?"

"No, that's not it. Miss Biao has ulterior motives; she's trying to sow discord between you and Madam," Granny Yu patiently explained to Zhao Huaiyu, trying to dissuade her from Ye Ruyue's actions.

Having spent a long time with Ye Ruyue, Zhao Huaiyu had developed deep feelings for her. Upon hearing this, he not only refused to believe it but also frowned in displeasure.

"Aunt Ye is not the kind of person you described, Granny."

Yes, Aunt Ye did have designs on Father's relationship with his wife. However, Aunt Ye was kind-hearted and didn't want to ruin Father and Mother's relationship or hurt Mother's feelings, so she kept her distance from Father.

She has never seen Aunt Ye and her father alone together again, which speaks volumes about Aunt Ye's character.

Aunt Ye would not be jealous of her mother, so why would she do anything to sow discord?

"Granny, if I hear you speaking ill of Aunt Ye again, don't blame me for scolding you without any mercy."

“...Yes.” Granny Yu had no choice but to reply.

Zhu Yu dared not say anything upon seeing this.

Zhao Huaiyu was in high spirits and didn't return to his secluded residence. Hearing from his servants that Zhao Ye had returned from court, he excitedly went to the study to find him.

"My lord, Miss has arrived," Qian Yidong reported from the study.

Zhao Ye put down the document he was writing, somewhat surprised.

Zhao Huaiyu rarely comes to the study, so why did he suddenly come?

"Bring her in."

Zhao Ye put what he had written aside.

"Father!" As soon as Zhao Huaiyu came in, she happily rushed over and threw herself into Zhao Ye's arms, wanting a hug.

Zhao Huaiyu resembled Ye Ruyue even more than Zhao Shize, especially their eyes, which were equally bright and captivating.

Zhao Ye's expression softened upon seeing her. He picked her up and placed her on his lap, asking gently, "Did you come to see your father because of something important?"

Zhao Huaiyu nodded and said directly, "I also want Father to give Yu'er a few books to read."

"You finished watching the last one so quickly?" Zhao Ye asked in surprise.

"...I've finished reading it, but there are still many things I don't understand. I'd like to ask Father for help. Then I'll take a few more books back with me." Zhao Huaiyu said with a lack of confidence. In fact, she had only read a small part of it, but she was very excited and wanted to get more so that she could be like Zhao Shize as soon as possible.

Zhao Ye also became interested and asked Zhao Huaiyu what he didn't understand.

Fortunately, Zhao Huaiyu had really looked at it carefully a few days ago and was able to point out a few points.

Zhao Ye patiently answered his questions, and after several rounds, he looked at Zhao Huaiyu with satisfaction, believing that Zhao Huaiyu had truly finished reading. He wasn't surprised that Zhao Huaiyu had read so quickly. His Yue'er was an exceptionally talented woman, so it wasn't surprising that their daughter had the same talent.

"Wait, Daddy will get you some new ones right away." Zhao Ye put her down and asked Qian Yidong to bring over a few primer books.

He brought this back from the clan school last night.

Since Madam Zhao refused to pay, he had to find a way. He reluctantly took a few items of some value from the storeroom to pay the money, and then went to the clan school to check and decided that the exterior of the clan school only needed to be repaired to look presentable, without needing to do anything more elaborate.

Firstly, there wasn't enough time, and secondly, he genuinely couldn't come up with any more money.

As he left, Zhao Ye casually picked up a few books to give to Zhao Shize for studying, but he had previously decided to give them to Zhao Huaiyu.

Zhao Huaiyu's face fell when she saw this: "Father, I don't want this kind of book. I want the book my brother reads!" She had heard Zhao Shize complain to her about how hard he worked and mentioned the books he read, which were clearly not these.

Zhao Ye said, "The books Ze Ge'er is reading are not suitable for you. These few are good. After you finish reading them, your new tutor will arrive. Then you can ask the new tutor to teach you about the rules for women."

Zhao Ye thought this arrangement was very good.

Zhao Huaiyu said, "I don't want to! I want to read the same things as my brother. Why can he read them, but I can't? What's the difference between us? Is it just because I'm a girl?"

"Father, you can't be so biased." Zhao Huaiyu tugged at Zhao Ye's hand and pleaded, "You'll treat me and my brother equally, just like Mother did, right?"

Zhao Ye was taken aback. Looking at his beloved daughter, he patiently explained, "Yu'er, you and Ze'er are different. You can't do what he can do, so naturally you'll learn differently. Your mother and I can't be lumped together either. It's only right that she's good to both of you."

"Alright, you don't have to work as hard as Ze Ge'er. You can live a relaxed and happy life from now on. Isn't that good? Father is doing this for your own good."

Zhao Huaiyu's eyes reddened: "You're not! If working as hard as my brother is a bad thing, why do you all force him to jump into the fire? Of course, it's because it's actually a good thing! You all care more about my brother and don't value me, that's why you won't let me compete with him for this good thing!"

She dared to say to Zhao Ye what she wouldn't dare to say to Old Madam Zhao, because she relied on Zhao Ye's affection for her.

To everyone's surprise, Zhao Ye's face darkened upon hearing this.

"Who taught you all this?!"

His official demeanor was far beyond what a child like Zhao Huaiyu could withstand.

Zhao Huaiyu felt fear, but ultimately her sense of grievance overcame it.

"Nobody taught me. I want to fight for what I want myself, isn't that right?"

"If you think it's wrong, then you're not my good father!"

After Zhao Huaiyu finished speaking loudly, tears instantly rolled down her cheeks, and she turned and ran away, choking back sobs.

Zhao Ye was already incredibly annoyed by a series of unpleasant events, and now, unable to contain his anger any longer, he slammed his fist on the table.

"When did this child become so insensible!"

Qian Yidong trembled slightly, then forced himself to say, "Sir, please calm down. Miss just had a momentary lapse in judgment. She'll soon be sensible and understanding of your good intentions."

Zhao Ye felt a pang of sympathy. He had been so focused on Ze Ge'er's affairs these past few days that he had neglected his daughter. He hadn't even noticed that his daughter had misunderstood; he was an incompetent father.

Immediately afterwards, Zhao Ye complained that Cheng Nanzhi had not fulfilled her duty as a legal mother in raising her child.

"Send those books to Yu-jie, and while you're at it, pass on a message to Madam: she's really not doing a good job as mistress." Zhao Ye was furious.

Qian Yidong gasped, indicating that he should go out.

Zhao Huaiyu ran crying to the backyard, where, by sheer coincidence, she ran into Zhao Shize, who had skipped school to play.

"What's wrong with you? Did I make you cry?" Zhao Shize asked, his expression displeased.

Zhao Huaiyu and he had a good relationship. He would usually tell Zhao Huaiyu about his grievances and ask him to stand up for him.

But at this moment, Zhao Huaiyu didn't want to say a word and walked past Zhao Shize.

Zhao Shize became even more displeased and directly stopped her.

"Zhao Huaiyu, I'm asking you a question, didn't you hear me?"

At this moment, Zhu Yu and Granny Yu finally caught up. Upon seeing the situation, they hurriedly said, "Young Master, please forgive us. Miss went to the Master's study just now. Perhaps she couldn't answer the Master's questions about her studies. It's a small matter, no need for you to worry about it."

Granny Yu was outside the study at the time and vaguely heard Zhao Huaiyu and Zhao Ye arguing, which seemed to be related to Zhao Shize.

This is not something that can be discussed, so Granny Yu wanted to skip it and leave quickly.

Zhao Huaiyu didn't want to see Zhao Shize at this time, so she coldly said that she wanted to go back to rest and walked past Zhao Shize.

This time, Zhao Shize didn't stop him, but just clicked his tongue lightly.

"As expected, not everyone can be as intelligent and capable as me. Father has never said anything against me."

Zhao Huaiyu stopped abruptly, his resentment reaching its peak, and turned around abruptly.

"Father didn't scold me because of my poor grades! But you, brother, are you really that talented?"

"Regarding the apprenticeship banquet, everyone could see you were a fake! Since you're a fake, you should honestly study and become real, instead of doing nothing but playing around like before. What, do you really think you're the real one?"

Zhao Shize's eyes widened: "What did you say?"

Granny Yu and Zhu Yu turned pale with fright and went to pull Zhao Huaiyu away.

Feeling wronged, Zhao Huaiyu shook them off and said, "I said you're a fake, a fake! I really don't understand why Father and Grandmother would rather value a fake like you than let me learn what I want!"

Zhao Shize was so angry he laughed, and then he started to speak recklessly.

"Because you're a girl, you're destined to only help me in the future! If I'm unhappy, you won't even have anyone to back you up when you get married. You actually think you can settle down and build a career like me? Dream on! The Zhao family is mine! You should learn to be useless!"

Zhao Huaiyu's eyes immediately turned red with anger, and he pounced on Zhao Shize without a care in the world, scratching and clawing at him.

Zhao Shize was not to be outdone, and the two quickly got into a fight.