To Stay Alive, Unless-She Was No Longer a Qiao

In the distance, Qiao Shuqin stopped in her tracks.

What was she seeing?

Qiao Shuyi, who had been insufferably arrogant all her life, was leaning against a corridor pillar, a trace of melancholy on her face that Qiao Shuqin had never seen before.

Qiao Shuqin could hardly believe her eyes.

Qiao Shuyi, who got wind when she wanted wind and rain when she wanted rain, whom no one in the household dared provoke, whom even their father cherished in the palm of his hand-did she have troubles too?

An indescribable feeling surged in Qiao Shuqin's heart.

By the time she could remember anything, she was already a concubine's daughter, but over the years, her mother had kept telling her that Liu Jinyu and her daughter had stolen everything from the two of them.

On top of that, Qiao Shuyi had lived ten thousand times better than she had all these years, so naturally, she had come to hate Liu Jinyu and her daughter too.

It wasn't that she and her mother had never complained all these years.

Qiao Shuyi had snatched her jewelry, and she had complained. It was no use. Father said her younger sister was little and told her to give way.

Liu Jinyu had treated her and her mother harshly, and she had complained. It was no use. Father said it was only proper for his wife to manage the inner household.

Qiao Shuyi had beaten and scolded the servants in their courtyard, and she had complained. It was still no use. Father said, what was so surprising about a legitimate daughter disciplining a few servants?

Even if she and her mother had meddled in some of those matters, their father never bothered to find out right from wrong, siding with Liu Jinyu and her daughter in every single case.

That favoritism hurt all the more.

Later, she learned her lesson and stopped complaining.

She endured, gave way, and lived with the utmost caution.

But whenever she saw Qiao Shuyi flaunting herself, with everything she could want, she still couldn't help feeling jealous and resentful.

Why?

Why could Qiao Shuyi live so freely, so arrogantly, so recklessly?

Being made to kneel yesterday had fanned the hatred in her heart to its peak.

She had only been passing by, only said a few words, only felt the tiniest bit of compassion-

And Qiao Shuyi had made her kneel for two hours.

Two hours!

Though in the end, she had feigned a faint, and they had sent her back to her courtyard after she had knelt for only one hour.

But the humiliation in her heart hurt even more than the pain in her body.

Qiao Shuqin bit her lip, a shadow flashing in her eyes.

If one day she could drag Qiao Shuyi down from her pedestal and make her taste what it was like to be trampled underfoot-

She was willing to do anything.

Anything at all.

Qiao Shuqin took a deep breath, concealed the emotions in her eyes, put on a concerned expression, and walked gracefully toward her.

"Shuyi, why are you leaning against the pillar in a daze? Has something upset you?"

As she spoke, she covertly studied Qiao Shuyi's expression.

Qiao Shuyi couldn't hide what was on her mind.

Ever since she was little, whenever she was happy, she was happy, and whenever she was unhappy, she was unhappy. It was all written on her face.

If she could sound something out...

Qiao Shuyi looked up at the sound of her voice. The melancholy on her face had vanished completely, replaced by her usual radiant smile.

"Have you recovered, Sister? I heard Fuzhi say you fainted last night. Why are you out for a walk today?"

The smile on Qiao Shuqin's face stiffened slightly, and she said awkwardly,

"Yes... I still feel a little unwell, but the spring banquet is the day after tomorrow. I wanted to try on the newly arrived clothes and see if they fit."

Qiao Shuyi looked into Qiao Shuqin's eyes-

Fear was hidden in them, as well as hatred. She was like a cat driven into a corner, afraid to bare her claws yet unwilling to stay cowering there.

She suddenly smiled.

Perhaps... she knew how to save Mother.

"Then you must choose carefully, Sister. I heard Mother say she's planning to choose a husband for you at the spring banquet. You've reached the age to start making arrangements for your marriage."

When Qiao Shuqin heard this, she nearly failed to keep the smile on her face.

She lowered her eyes, her nails quietly digging into her palms.

Liu Jinyu was choosing a husband for her?

Over the years, she and her mother had complained to Father so many times and thrown so many obstacles in Liu Jinyu's path. How could Liu Jinyu not know?

She simply hadn't shown it, out of consideration for Father.

Now that she had finally found a chance to meddle in her marriage, who knew what sort of man she would choose for her?

She bit her lip and answered softly,

"Mm... I know."

Qiao Shuyi nodded, watching Qiao Shuqin turn and walk away.

She stood where she was, the smile on her lips gradually deepening.

For a capital crime like treason, the household would be seized and the entire clan exterminated, with no one spared.

To stay alive, unless-one was no longer a Qiao.

And the only way to keep Liu Jinyu alive was to have Qiao Nanyu divorce her.

As long as she was no longer a Qiao wife, the Qiao family's crimes would not fall on her head.

When the court seized the household and exterminated the clan, it would not reach a divorced former wife.

But how could Qiao Nanyu possibly let her go so easily?

Liu Jinyu was his treasury, the source of the silver he used to maintain his troops.

Unless something happened that made him think he could no longer keep this woman, that he had to divorce her at once, immediately, without delay-

For example, if he were made to wear a green hat.

Qiao Shuyi gazed in the direction Qiao Shuqin had disappeared, the light in her eyes gradually gathering.

Qiao Shuqin and her mother hated her mother. They had hated her for so many years.

If they were given a chance, a chance to bring Liu Jinyu down with every justification-

Wouldn't they be tempted?

Wouldn't they seize it?

How could someone as concerned with his reputation as Qiao Nanyu endure it?

As for the Liu family's money, with her, Qiao Shuyi, there, Qiao Nanyu could still take money from the Liu family with every justification.

Qiao Shuyi took a deep breath, then slowly let it out.

She knew what doing this meant.

It meant she would personally splash Liu Jinyu with dirty water, leaving her mother to bear the disgrace of being called "unfaithful."

But compared with death, what was this bit of injustice?

Only by living could there be a future.

Only by living could she explain, clear her mother's name, and make her understand the pains she had taken.

As for what Qiao Shuqin and her mother would think or do-that was their affair.

She was merely giving them a chance.

A chance to take revenge on Liu Jinyu.

A chance to make them think they had finally won.

As for what lay hidden behind that chance, they would never know.

Qiao Shuyi turned around and looked at the last sliver of sunset on the horizon, the smile on her lips gradually spreading.

Apart from Mother, she cared about no one.

Those in the Qiao family who were innocent, who knew nothing, who would be implicated-

She couldn't save them.

That was how the laws of this world worked.

Even if they knew nothing, even if they had never taken part, what of it?

The law showed no mercy.

And she was no savior.

She only wanted to save that one person.

The woman who had cherished her in the palm of her hand for sixteen years.

That was all.