I just want to live a good life

The spring breeze came slowly, bringing with it a drizzle, making this early spring morning unusually cold.

In the old house of the Xia family, an old woman holding an oil-paper umbrella came to Cui's door tremblingly.

"Cui family, it's time to eat!"

The old woman stood outside the door and shouted twice but seeing no one answered, she reached out and pushed the door open.

The spring breeze blew into the room, causing a female corpse hanging from the beam to swing back and forth.

"Ah!" The old woman screamed, echoing throughout the Xia family's old house.

"Oh no! Someone's dead!"

Other people in the old house rushed over after hearing the noise.

Two younger men rushed forward and lowered Cui from the beam.

One of them reached out to feel Cui's breath, but an old man leaning on a cane sighed and said, "No need to feel, she's already dead!"

"This Cui family is really miserable. They became widows at a young age and raised a child all by themselves for so many years. Now they are about to see their son marry the general's daughter and become rich. Unfortunately, both mother and son are unlucky!"

"Old man Li, don't talk nonsense. Who said her son is going to marry the general's daughter? It's like a toad wanting to eat swan meat! Cui Shaoyuan drugged the eldest lady's wine and took advantage of her. They and his mother were so shameless that they asked the general for marriage. It's only because the general was kind that he didn't bother with them. If it were me, I would have kicked them out of here long ago."

"Widow Zhang, please be more careful with your words. The mother and child are already dead, and you still say this to them. Be careful that you will be hunted down by ghosts at night."

"Go away, stop saying such unlucky words."

"Okay, stop arguing, and tell the general about Cui's suicide as soon as possible."

Soon, the news that Cui had hanged herself was sent to the general's mansion.

Xia Lian scolded his eldest daughter immediately.

Xia Qingyao was not convinced, "It wasn't me who asked them to commit suicide, why would Daddy scold me?"

Xia Lian said angrily, "How dare you ask me what you did? I thought I didn't know. You said that she was not worthy of you and that proposing marriage was like a toad wanting to eat swan meat. You also pushed the blame on Shao Yuan for your own ugly deeds, saying that he coveted you and planned the secret meeting in the garden. Shao Yuan was a thin-skinned kid and couldn't stand being pointed at, so he committed suicide. It's all your fault."

"Dad, if you want to blame someone, you should blame my little sister. Otherwise, how could there be so many problems if she dragged Cui Shaoyuan into this?"

"That's because you had evil thoughts first. As a sister, you didn't set a good example for your sister and did these shameful things. You harmed yourself, your sister, and caused the deaths of innocent people. Now you still don't repent and want to put the blame on others. How could I raise a daughter like you? From tomorrow on, you will go to Jing'an Temple to burn incense and worship Buddha. You are not allowed to come back to the Xia family."

Mrs. Xia, who was standing by, saw that Xia Lian was really angry, and quickly tried to persuade him, "Master, calm down. Qingyao is young and ignorant. Don't bother with her."

"Qingyao, why don't you admit your mistake to your father quickly."

Seeing Madam Xia winking at her again and again, Xia Qingyao reluctantly said, "My daughter is wrong!"

Xia Lian got even angrier after hearing this. "Look at her. She doesn't seem to admit her fault at all. You are the one who spoiled her. A loving mother often spoils her son. You don't have to stay in the mansion tomorrow. Go to Jing'an Temple with her."

Upon hearing this, Madam Xia frowned, her eyes turned red, and tears immediately fell, "Are you going to drive me away too? You and I have been married for so many years, and you are finally tired of me, right? Ever since Xu came into the family, I knew this day would come. You said that you would help take care of General Xu's sister after he died, but that was all a lie. You just changed your mind because I am old and ugly."

"Why are you bringing up the Xu family again?" Xia Lian's arrogance diminished when Xu was mentioned.

"I got it right. You feel guilty, don't you? You don't have to use Qingyao as an excuse. I'll make room for you. Tomorrow I'll take Qingyao and Changze back to my hometown in Danzhou."

Xia Lian sighed, "Madam, please don't make things worse, okay? The Cui family's mother and son committed suicide one after another, and before that, Cui family spread rumors that we forced Shao Yuan to death. There must be a lot of fuss in the imperial city during this period. I asked Qingyao to go to Jing'an Temple to let her go out and hide, and I asked you to go with me so that I can take care of her. Why don't you understand?"

Mrs. Xia wiped her tears and said, "If you had said that earlier, I would have understood it."

.

Just as Xia Lian had expected, the news of the death of Cui's mother and son soon spread throughout the imperial city.

But what is unexpected is that the topic raised by the death of Cui's mother and son did not revolve around the cause of their death.

Perhaps the topic of "the general's mansion abused its power to bully and force an orphan and a widow to death" could no longer meet people's needs, and the focus of discussion had shifted from the death of Cui's mother and son to the two young ladies of the general's mansion.

It is said that they are in love with the Prince of Yongping, and the two sisters are jealous of each other.

The elder sister's reputation was damaged due to the younger sister's scheme, and the younger sister was forced to marry the prince due to the elder sister's scheme.

Outsiders only know that Xia Qingyan was forced to marry the prince because the eldest daughter of the Xia family had a secret meeting with a man and lost her position as the crown princess, and her younger sister took her place as the crown prince's concubine. However, no one except the Xia family knew the inside story.

Now that the inside story has been leaked, the most anxious person is Xia Lian, because this concerns the happiness of his youngest daughter. He is afraid that the prince will hear the rumors and know that Xia Qingyan has another lover, which will be detrimental to Xia Qingyan.

But he couldn't really take rumors seriously. He couldn't go to the prince and say, "Don't believe the rumors out there. They're not true."

Maybe the prince didn't care about the content of the rumor at first, but went to check it out after being reminded by him.

Just as Xia Lian was upset by the rumors, in the house outside the imperial city, the men in brocade clothes were also paying attention to these rumors.

There is still a bead curtain separating them.

The man in brocade clothes threw the teacup and the scalding tea in it at his men, "Yinglang, you have no brains, right? I asked you to make Cui's death an accident, but you made it a hanging. Haven't you heard of other ways of death?"

Shadow Wolf, who was hit by the teacup, said in defense, "I wonder if Cui has noticed something and is hiding at home. I am afraid something bad will happen if I am too late, so I have no choice but to hang her."

"So what's the matter with the rumors spreading all over the city now?" asked the man in brocade clothes.

"I have checked. Although there is no definite evidence, it is most likely related to the young lady of the Prime Minister's Mansion."

"Cheng Ansu? It's her," the man in brocade clothes said, "That makes sense. Miss Cheng is infatuated with Mu Yunting, so it's reasonable for her to do something like this."

"Master, do you want to send more people to the Crown Prince's concubine?"

"Don't touch her yet. Last time I tried to kill her, Mu Yunting didn't do anything. This is a bit strange. Let's wait and see."