I Have My Own Plans

"Secondly, I'll be sixteen in two months. My older brother won't leave me at home to eat and drink for free for long; he'll definitely marry me off within the next six months. The marriage proposal will be in the next two or three months. So if you want to take me in, you'll have to take me away within two months," Zhao Ruyu added.

Upon hearing this second condition, Fu Yunlang found himself in a dilemma.

The reason he came to confront Zhao Ruyu at this time, instead of avoiding her as before, was because he was already engaged to the Cen Family, and the wedding was scheduled for next month.

Zhao Ruyu demanded that he bring her into his mansion within two months. Doesn't that mean he'd take a concubine just one month after marrying Miss Cen? Miss Cen has married him; the deed is done, so naturally nothing will happen. But Fu Yunlang is worried that the Cen Family will be dissatisfied with him.

The best solution would be for him to marry Miss Cen for six months, and if Miss Cen did not become pregnant, he could use this as an excuse to take Zhao Ruyu into his household.

He said, "Can it be done by the end of the year? Try to find a way to delay it."

Zhao Ruyu's face immediately turned cold. "No. If you can't do it, then forget it." With that, she turned and left.

"Ruyu." Fu Yunlang quickly reached out to pull Zhao Ruyu, but Fushu stopped him.

He simply shouted at Zhao Ruyu's retreating figure, "I promise you."

Zhao Ruyu then stopped and turned around.

"One last condition," she said, "My elder brother would absolutely never allow me to become someone's concubine; it would be a disgrace to the family. So, I hope that once you leave this room, you will act as if you never came today, and you are not allowed to mention it to anyone. After you have been married for a month, you should send someone to deliver a letter to me, and we will arrange a specific time. Then you can send a sedan chair to pick me up. At that time, I will not tell Father or my elder brother; I will just leave a letter for Father."

She gave a bitter smile, "Anyway, I'm an adopted daughter of the Zhao Family. If I marry you as a concubine, it's as if I have no family of my own anymore; I won't take anything from the Zhao Family. The Zhao Family can completely disown me. You'd better treat me well, otherwise I'm truly finished."

"Don't worry, I will definitely treat you well, I will treat you well for the rest of my life." Fu Yunlang wished he could make that vow one more time.

Zhao Ruyu nodded slightly. "Then that's settled. Let's not contact each other for a while."

With that, she walked out without looking back.

Fushu was afraid that Fu Yunlang would chase after her and ruin her daughter's reputation, so she kept blocking Fu Yunlang until Zhao Ruyu walked out the door. Only then did she turn around and jog to catch up.

To her relief, Fu Yunlang was sensible enough not to chase after her.

The master and servant went downstairs and got into the carriage. Fushu looked at Zhao Ruyu, hesitant to speak.

She always felt that her daughter was too foolish.

With Fifth Sister's reputation, it shouldn't be a problem for our daughter to marry into a good family. At least our daughter is better than Fourth Sister; she's talented and beautiful. If we find an opportunity to meet those newly appointed scholars, perhaps even the Duan Chen Young Master Duan, will marry her because of her beauty.

The younger sister of the top female scholar was not only a talented woman from the Capital Women's Academy but also incredibly beautiful. She Youyu match for the second-place scholar, not to mention the other newly appointed scholars.

Even if she didn't marry the newly appointed top scholar, many sons from minor families and low-ranking officials were willing to marry their daughters.

With the support of the Earl of Suiping's Residence and the Fifth Miss, no matter who she marries, no one will dare to bully her.

But her own daughter seemed to be bewitched, dressing up extravagantly every day to seduce the fourth young master of the Prince Jingping's Estate, yet turning around and agreeing to become the concubine of the Young Master Fu Er. Her actions were truly incomprehensible to her.

No matter how much she tried to persuade her, the girl insisted that she had her own ideas and that she didn't need to worry about it.

Fushu sighed inwardly and turned her gaze to the outside of the carriage, peering at the street scene through the cracks in the carriage, no longer wanting to worry about the girl's affairs.

Zhao Ruyu closed her eyes, her expression inscrutable, lost in thought.

Back at the mansion, the two women, mistress and servant, had just entered the inner courtyard when they heard Zhao Rurui scolding the maid.

Turning her head and seeing Zhao Ruyu, Zhao Rurui's lips curled into a mocking smile, "Oh, all dressed up like a fairy, where have you been flirting with men again? Zhao Ruyu, can't you be a little more discreet? I don't care if you ruin my reputation, but don't drag that young lady of the Earl's mansion down with you. Even the slightest bit of bad reputation will make you regret it."

Although the second house was small, the inner and outer courtyards were still somewhat separated. Unless there were special circumstances, Zhao Yuanliang and his two sons would never set foot in the inner courtyard. Therefore, Zhao Rurui didn't fear that the three of them would overhear her sarcastic remarks about Zhao Ruyu.

Zhao Ruyu gave her a cold look, then ignored her and turned to enter her own courtyard.

Ever since Zhao Ruyu and Zhao Ruxi switched identities and the second branch of the family separated, Zhao Rurui changed her attitude of fawning over Zhao Ruyu and started to mock and ridicule her.

However, Zhao Jing'an had protected Zhao Ruyu in the past, and Zhao Yuanliang still had feelings for this adopted daughter. Zhao Ruyu might even marry into the Marquis of Pingnan's Residence as the second wife, so Zhao Rurui didn't dare to go too far.

Now that she has learned that Zhao Ruyu's engagement to Fu Yunlang has fallen through, and that Zhao Rurui's own marriage is also not going well, she is in a bad mood and starts to take her anger out on Zhao Ruyu.

Zhao Ruyu used to talk back, but ever since her engagement fell through, she has become increasingly silent, basically pretending not to hear. This has made Zhao Rurui's attitude even more arrogant.

Once inside, Fushu couldn't help but ask, "Miss, why don't you tell the eldest young master about how the fourth young lady bullies you all the time?"

Although the eldest son never liked girls when he was still in the main family, and still doesn't, he is at least fair in his dealings. He absolutely has to stop Zhao Rurui's behavior.

Zhao Ruyu gave a mocking smile, "So what if I told her? Even if the young master scolds her, do you think she'll change? Once the young master can't see anymore, won't she become even more outrageous?"

Fushu remained silent.

No matter how bad the Fourth Miss is, she is still the master's own daughter, and the elder sister of the eldest and second young masters; the Sixth Miss, in the end, is Xu Family.

The reason the girl wasn't looked down upon for staying here before was simply because the second young master always treated her like a twin sister and protected her.

However, not long ago, the second young master came and berated the young lady, his words revealing his disappointment in her.

Without the protection of the second young master, if the eldest young master finds her troublesome, he can simply send her back to the Xu Family without any problem. In this way, the second branch of the family won't need to prepare an extra dowry, the eldest young master's burden will be reduced, and the master and the second young master won't say anything about it.

Thinking of this, Fushu felt a deep sorrow welling up in her heart.

So, is it because the girl has no other choice but to become the concubine of the Young Master Fu Er?

"Fushu, don't worry, I will definitely make sure you live a good life," Zhao Ruyu said.

In both her past and present lives, the only person who has always been kind to her and never had any ulterior motives is Fushu.