Chapter 259: The Negotiation

“Tell…the first master.” Leng Yan repeated Rou’er’s words and started to think about the feasibility of this suggestion.

Rou’er nodded repeatedly and looked more excited. “Right, right! If the first master knows this matter, he wouldn’t let Princess Royal and the others fulfill this plot. Then you just need to ask him to show mercy and you won’t marry him with a grievance. Perhaps he will make you get rid of the identity as a slave and find a place for you as he is soft-hearted.”

The words “get rid of the identity as a slave” mentioned what Leng Yan desired most.

She felt tempted involuntarily, but thinking of Mo Shujun’s methods, she was scared and shook her head repeatedly. “If Princess Royal knows that I reveal the secret, she won’t let me go!”

She would be skinned alive at least, and she might even have a living death.

Leng Yan had been working for Mo Shujun for so many years and seen her punish the servants who didn’t listen to her, and she didn’t want to experience it in person at all.

“No! The first master is so nice and you help him out of this embarrassment, so he would surely protect you. After everything is settled, we will leave this cage which traps us for half a lifetime and live a life freely outside. Isn’t it great?” Rou’er was optimistic.

And she thought that once Shi Junhe heard about this matter, he and his mother would become enemies. Shi Junhe would protect somebody that Mo Shujun wanted to kill.

In the beginning, Leng Yan was moved by Rou’er’s words, yet hearing that they would leave Duke Shi’s mansion, she felt terrified.

She was not like Rou’er who was stupid and didn’t know the hardships. The common people outside were poor, and it was better to be a maid in a powerful and wealthy family.

Leng Yan was a high-grade maid in Duke Shi’s mansion. Although she was not spoilt, at least she didn’t worry about her food and clothes, and she could get rewards from the master occasionally. Even the clothes they wore and the quilt were what the poor people couldn’t afford to use all their lives.

She wouldn’t get rid of the identity as a slave yet live a poor life.

Leng Yan knocked at Rou’er’s head crossly and rebuked, “What’s the good of the life outside? I don’t want it even if you give it to me. It’s more comfortable to be a maid in the Shi family! What’s more…”

She suddenly thought that if she really married Shi Junhe as his concubine, wouldn’t she get rid of the identity as a slave and almost become a master in the East House?

“And I am carrying a baby of the Shi family now. Logically, Princess Royal would protect me. After the baby is born, my position in the East House would be steady, and if I give birth to a boy, with her support, my baby would be the heir of Duke Shi. After the first master dies, my son would be Duke Shi, and I would be Duke Shi’s mother!”

While thinking, Leng Yan got happier. In the end, her eyes lit up, and it seemed that she had seen the beautiful future when she became an old lady in Duke Shi’s mansion.

Hearing that, Rou’er got more worried and couldn’t help reminding her, “Yan, don’t forget that Madam is also pregnant now. The doctor has said that her baby is likely to be a boy. After you get married, you might become a thorn in Madam’s flesh, let alone enjoying a good life.”

Thinking of the women’s fight in order to make their sons inherit the title of nobility, Rou’er couldn’t help trembling.

Leng Yan was also scared to think about it, yet the temptation that she could be the mistress in Duke Shi’s mansion soon excited her more.

She forced herself to calm down and then stated casually, “Then we will make her unable to give birth to the baby. Isn’t it fine?”

Rou’er was stunned.

Next morning, Mo Shujun told somebody to bring Shi Junhe to the Shou’an Hall and said that she had something important to discuss with him.

Because the mother and son had more conflicts gradually these days, Shi Junhe seldom came to sit around in the Shou’an Hall with the excuse that he was busy with work.

In order to win back Shi Junhe, Mo Shujun specially told the servants to prepare his favorite breakfast and invited him to eat with her.

It was a great favor. Mo Shujun thought that she rarely softened first and Shi Junhe should cool down this time.

However, when Shi Junhe came to the Shou’an Hall and saw the delicacy on the table, he just glanced at it and then asked, “Mother, what can I do for you?”

Mo Shujun was irritated by Shi Junhe’s coldness and got mad again, but thinking of what she would say next, she restrained her anger and showed a gentle smile. “Kid, I haven’t had a meal with you for a long time, so I specially prepared your favorite food and want to have a chat with you. Don’t you give me the chance?”

Shi Junhe paused for a while and then answered impassively, “I dare not.”

After replying, he sat down obediently.

They had breakfast quietly. Mo Shujun wanted to start a conversation several times, but seeing that Shi Junhe looked indifferent, she didn’t know what to say.

She was used to being lofty. Generally, others said something nice to make her happy, and although she could soften occasionally, she could never lower herself to please a younger generation all the time.

She also kept silent and lowered her head while having breakfast.

After breakfast, a pot of hot tea was served on the table, and Shi Juncai finally asked unhurriedly, “Mother, what do you want to tell me? If there is nothing, I am busy with work…”

“You work all day long. Would you disown your mother when you are working?” Mo Shujun was irritated as Shi Junhe temporized and reproached him in a loud voice involuntarily.

Shi Junhe didn’t flatter Mo Shujun in fear as he did in the past. He just lowered his head and replied, “I dare not.” Then he stayed silent again.

Mo Shujun was helpless because of Shi Junhe’s distant attitude.

For the first time, she knew that her eldest son that she had brought up personally would be angry. If they confronted the tough with toughness, they wouldn’t need to say anything.

The Princess Royal had to lower her honorable head and soften her tone again. “It’s just that I know that as you put down the rebellion and kill the rebel army these days, you must be tired, so I want to ask how you have been recently. Won’t you give Mother so little time?”

Perhaps it was the first time for Mo Shujun to forget her identity in front of Shi Junhe. Even though he couldn’t forget what his mother had done, he was unable to be completely indifferent.

“I…dare not! Thanks for your concern, Mother!” Shi Junhe responded in a hoarse voice.

His tense face started to soften slightly.

Seeing that, Mo Shujun was clear that it was a good omen, so she kept up the good work. “Right. We are mother and son after all. How would we bear a grudge against each other? Mother did something wrong in the past, and I apologize to you. Don’t be mad at me, okay?”

Shi Junhe had never heard that Mo Shujun spoke to him so gently, so he was stunned and all his anger had gone in an instant.

He finally raised his head and looked at Mo Shujun, feeling moved. With emotions in his eyes, he nodded and expressed hoarsely, “Okay.”

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The tense atmosphere in the room relaxed immediately, and they talked in peace, almost as harmonious as before.

Mo Shujun suddenly asked, “Junhe, you have finished everything these days, and you should put something on the agenda, right?”

The smile on Shi Junhe’s face faded. “Mother, what do you mean?”

“Have you forgotten that you promised me that you would marry Leng Yan?”

Since Mo Shujun said that, she wasn’t afraid that Shi Junhe would be unhappy, and she continued unhurriedly, “At that time, you said that you would go to Yang City to settle the rebellion and you didn’t have time to consider this matter, so I agreed with you, yet now the problem in Yang City has been solved. Would you want to break your word again?”

Shi Junhe finally found an excuse then that he would go to settle the rebellion to avoid marrying another woman. However, he could avoid it for a moment but not for a lifetime. He couldn’t escape from this thing.

At this time, Duke Shi couldn’t help but want to curse Mo Junyang.

That bloke had promised to handle this matter. However, a reason that he would settle the rebellion was not enough.

Now Shi Junhe was forced by Mo Shujun to this level, yet he was unwilling to surrender.

He gazed at Mo Shujun and begged seriously, “Mother, please observe clearly. I really don’t want to marry Leng Yan. Hope that you won’t make things difficult for me.”

Shi Junhe feared that he would make Mo Shujun angry because he was against her will, so he hurriedly added, “Mother, if you really care about Leng Yan, I can look for a good husband for her. It would be much better than marrying me, an old man anyway.”

If she sincerely considered for Leng Yan, she wouldn’t refuse Shi Junhe’s offer.

It was better to be a poor man’s wife than to be a rich man’s concubine.

Moreover, the family that Shi Junhe would introduce wouldn’t be too bad.

However, Mo Shujun wouldn’t think so. She was determined to marry Leng Yan and her baby to Shi Junhe.

Obviously Shi Junhe’s decision made her lose face. She stared at him with displeasure and looked cold, asking while stressing each word, “What if I insist?”

“Mother…” Hearing that Mo Shujun mentioned her identity again, Shi Junhe felt a chill and then sighed helplessly, “Why?”

Mo Shujun sneered and questioned, “I will ask you once more. Will you marry her or not?”

Shi Junhe was pushed in this way repeatedly and got furious. He showed a cold face and shook his head, refusing in silence.

“Great, great!” Mo Shujun burst into laughter but soon her face darkened all of a sudden, and she stated gloomily, “Then we will talk about what Dong has done.”

Shi Junhe got nervous yet restrained his restlessness, pretending calm while asking, “What did Hui do to make you unhappy?”

Mo Shujun didn’t beat around the bush and stared at Shi Junhe sternly with her sharp eyes. “I won’t say anything pointless to you. Dong Hui is not loyal as your wife and doesn’t respect her mother-in-law. She is not gentle to her children. I want you to divorce her!”

“Mother, you…” Shi Junhe was anxious and wanted to defend Dong Hui.

However, Mo Shujun directly waved her hand and interrupted him, asking coldly, “Or do you want me to spread the news all over the city that she secretly dated another man in the Valentine’s Pavilion at midnight and make her and her family unable to keep a foothold in the capital city?”

Shi Junhe’s breaths paused and he had never expected that Mo Shujun would be so heartless.

Nevertheless, Mo Shujun told him in a cold voice, “If you don’t believe it, you can see whether I would do that.”

Shi Junhe couldn’t reply.

It was because the expression on her face told him that she would really do that.

Then, even if Shi Junhe could resist the pressure from the public opinion and insist on refusing to divorce his wife, probably the saliva of the noblemen in the capital could drown Dong Hui.

Moreover, if he didn’t satisfy Mo Shujun, perhaps she would cope with Dong Hui in a worse way.

For example, she might accuse Dong Hui in front of the emperor and the Empress Dowager, and then Dong Hui would be doomed eternally.

Shi Junhe was scared with sweat by his imagination and looked at Mo Shujun, with bitterness and helplessness in his eyes. “Mother, you know that Hui is innocent. Even if you are mad at me, why would you aim at her? Would you be happy only after ruining her?”

“I don’t want to ruin anybody, but somebody insists on refusing to satisfy me. Then I won’t make him live in peace,” Mo Shujun replied distantly.

She looked at Shi Junhe and snorted. “It’s not too much to deal with somebody like he deals with you. What’s more, both of us know if Dong Hui is innocent. Do you joke around when you don’t talk with her these days?”

Shi Junhe was rendered speechless, feeling anxious and helpless. At last, he just sighed.

He gave up in the end. “What do you want me to do? Just tell me.”

Mo Shujun nodded with satisfaction and didn’t keep him in suspense. She stated, “I have said earlier that as long as you marry Leng Yan, I can let it pass. Moreover, even if she gets married and moves to the East House, she is a concubine and won’t shake Dong’s position. Is she so jealous that she can’t even accept a concubine?”

“It’s none of her business. I don’t want to have a concubine.” Shi Junhe defended Dong Hui by instinct, while Mo Shujun laughed at him.

He shut up resentfully.

Then Mo Shujun responded, “Since it’s your business, you can decide if you will marry her. Give me a definite answer today!”

Shi Junhe was forced to a corner. He was unwilling, but thinking of Dong Hui, he had to surrender.

“I am willing to marry Leng Yan…”

Mo Shujun was overjoyed. However, before she “praised” Shi Junhe as he was sensible, he added unhurriedly, “But, I have a request.”

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