Side Story: Zhao Ruyu 4

"I'm not joking." Zhao Ruyu straightened up and respectfully bowed to Consort of Prince of Jingping.

"At first, I admired the prince's charm and was willing to abandon my family and status to be with him. I thought that mutual love meant nothing else mattered. But I've realized I was wrong."

"Now the young master has his beloved Concubine Qiao, and in the future he will have a wife to spend his life with. As for me, I also want to live the life I want."

She bowed again. "So, Ruyu went out these two times to seek the support of her family."

A smile appeared on her face, "Fortunately, whether it's the Crown Princess, my father, my eldest brother and sister-in-law, or my second brother and sister-in-law, they all support me in starting a dignified life again."

Zhao Jingli told her to just say she wanted a divorce, but Zhao Ruyu knew that leaving wouldn't be so easy. If this matter escalated, it wouldn't be good for Zhao Ruxi either. So she simply brought up Zhao Ruxi, the big shot, from the very beginning.

Anyway, she did see Zhao Ruxi yesterday, and Zhao Ruxi did support her leaving the Prince Jingping's Estate, so she wasn't lying. She brought up Zhao Ruxi to put pressure on the Consort of Prince of Jingping, and she figured Zhao Ruxi wouldn't care.

Consort of Prince of Jingping was stunned.

At first, she was startled, but then she realized she had seen through Zhao Ruyu's trick.

What do you mean by wanting a divorce! It's nothing more than a scheme to force her to step down and use Zhao Ruxi's power to make her the official wife.

But hearing her speak so earnestly now, she began to have doubts: Did Zhao Ruyu really want to leave the Prince Jingping's Estate?

However, she immediately dismissed the idea.

Where could Zhao Ruyu go after leaving the Prince Jingping's Estate?

Although the Zhao Family had divided its property, the reputation of the Crown Princess being sent back after being married off as a concubine would certainly be affected. The reputations of the Zhao Family's married daughters and the next generation would also be damaged. How could the Zhao Family possibly agree to her returning?

Zhao Ruxi is a person of strong character and acts with integrity. Although Consort of Prince of Jingping has not had much contact with her, she knows that when Zhao Ruxi says she will not care about Zhao Ruyu, she really means it. She would never collude with Zhao Ruyu to put pressure on her.

Given Zhao Ruxi's status, there was no need for her to do this. She only needed to give a hint, and the Prince Jingping's Estate would have no choice but to officially recognize Zhao Ruyu his wife.

Therefore, this should not be Zhao Ruxi's fault. Rather, it was Zhao Ruyu, taking advantage of Zhao Ruxi's return to her parents' home, conspired with the second branch of the Zhao Family to put pressure on their household.

Having come to this realization, Consort of Prince of Jingping had to admit that they had made the right move, even though she felt extremely uncomfortable.

If Zhao Ruyu uses a strategy of retreating to advance, she really won't have a chance.

No matter how bad the relationship is between Zhao Ruxi and Zhao Ruyu, they are still family.

If the Prince Jingping's Estate doesn't give the Zhao Family face, Zhao Ruxi will definitely be Gao Xing when she finds out.

In that instant, she understood what was going on, and her gaze toward Zhao Ruyu carried a hint of disgust.

This time, she would do as Zhao Ruyu wished and elevate her to the position of official wife. But did Zhao Ruyu really think that her life would be easier after being made official wife?

Even after Zhao Ruyu's miscarriage, Xiao Sijie, though still infatuated with Concubine Qiao, would occasionally visit Zhao Ruyu's room because of Zhao Ruyu beauty.

However, Zhao Ruyu has not become pregnant again after so long. Although the miscarriage damaged her body, the main reason is the attitude of Consort of Prince of Jingping.

If Zhao Ruyu has a child, especially a son, and Xiao Sijie doesn't formally marry a wife, then the Prince Jingping's Estate's Mansion might be seen as disrespecting the Crown Princess.

Therefore, Consort of Prince of Jingping never allowed Zhao Ruyu to get pregnant.

She directly tampered with Zhao Ruyu's medicine for recuperating.

In any case, Zhao Ruyu only Fushu her own person in the entire mansion. As a concubine, even drinking a sip of water required the help of servants from the Prince Jingping's Estate. Making her unable to conceive was not difficult at all.

So what if she's made the official wife? As long as Zhao Ruyu doesn't have a son, she won't be able to cause any trouble in the mansion.

Having made up her mind and believing she had seen through Zhao Ruyu's tricks, Consort of Prince of Jingping did not want Zhao Ruyu to achieve her goal easily.

A slight smile played on her lips as she asked, "Are you sure you want to leave? You're not the prince's legal wife, there's no marriage certificate. If you want to leave, I can't stop you. If you've made up your mind, then please have your family come here so we can talk things out in person and have them take you back."

Zhao Ruyu imagined countless scenarios, but she always felt that the Prince Jingping's Estate would not let her leave easily.

Upon hearing Consort of Prince of Jingping's words, she was overjoyed and quickly bowed again, saying Gao Xing, "Thank you, Your Highness. I will immediately send someone to tell my family to have my father and elder brother come over."

Consort of Prince of Jingping: "..."

Why is this script wrong?

Seeing that Consort of Prince of Jingping remained silent, Zhao Ruyu, worried that things might get complicated, turned to Fushu and instructed, "Go back to the Zhao Family now and have the eldest and second young mistresses come over."

Fushu was also very Gao Xing, agreed, and turned to leave.

"Wait," Consort of Prince of Jingping called out.

The maids and servants quickly stopped Fushu.

Zhao Ruyu's heart sank, and she looked at Consort of Prince of Jingping.

"I will naturally not object to your leaving. However, you were brought into the manor by the heir apparent; now that you want to leave, he needs to agree. So you should make this clear to him to avoid me being blamed."

Consort of Prince of Jingping was certain that her son would not let Zhao Ruyu go.

Regardless of whether Zhao Ruyu was telling the truth or not, they cannot let her go.

"Then I'll trouble Your Highness to invite the young master here. It would be better to clarify things in Your Highness's presence."

After Zhao Ruyu finished speaking, she added, "My mind is made up. If my family doesn't receive a letter from me tomorrow, they will definitely send someone to fetch me. So even if Your Majesty doesn't invite me, my family will still come tomorrow."

"Your marital affairs are best discussed privately by the two of you." Consort of Prince of Jingping was unwilling to grant Zhao Ruyu's wish. She asked a servant, "Is the young master in the manor?"

Her head Daya, who understood her best, quickly said, "The young master has gone out. He said there's a poetry gathering and he'll be back later."

They didn't really know whether Xiao Sijie was home or not; he was free to come and go as he pleased.

But the Daya knew that the princess wanted to drag out the matter and let the young master resolve it in the inner quarters. So even if they were at home, they had to say they weren't.

"Look, I can't get him to come even now." Consort of Prince of Jingping said to Zhao Ruyu, "You should go back first. Such a big matter, don't act impulsively. Go back and think it over carefully. Talk to the young master properly when he returns. Husbands and wives shouldn't hold grudges overnight; what can't be discussed calmly?"

After thinking it over, she worried that Zhao Ruyu wasn't just playing a trick on her, but genuinely wanted to leave the Prince Jingping's Estate. The Consort of Prince of Jingping no longer dared to act coy.

She continued, "You are also a daughter of a respectable noble family, a student at the Capital Women's Academy, well-educated and reasonable, unlike those of lowly birth like Concubine Qiao. I have always had a good impression of you. After Lady Lin passed away, I wanted to elevate you to the position of principal wife more than once. However, if we were to elevate you to the position without any reason, people would say that our Prince Jingping's Estate is opportunistic and only elevates you because the Crown Princess is in power."

"So I've been hoping you'd be lucky enough to give birth to a son soon. If you do, it would be perfectly natural for me to make you my official wife."

She sighed, "Perhaps the time isn't right for the heir to have a child, or perhaps the child in your womb doesn't want to be born as an illegitimate child, so it's been delayed. Now I don't want to delay any longer. I plan to make you the official wife of the heir of the Prince Jingping's Estate's residence. So, I advise you to forget about leaving the residence."