Chapter 97: You’ve Become Rebellious

In the house, blue and white porcelain cups and bowls were shattered on the ground. It was a mess.

Yu Qingning was kneeling on the ground, one hand covering the right side of her face. Her hand was still stained with blood from when Yu Zongzheng smashed the cups and bowls earlier at her. The flying fragments had scraped her face, and she was bleeding.

Yu Qingning was originally very afraid, but she did not dare to contradict her father.

However, her face was injured. Not only was it bleeding, but it also hurt a lot. She didn’t know if it would leave a scar. Yu Qingning was both panicked and afraid, so she lost her composure and started to ignore everything else.

She straightened her neck indignantly. “Father, why do you say that about me? In the past, Big Sister often skipped school too, and she didn’t go to school for a month. Why don’t you punish her instead of me?”

How dare she still talk back? Yu Zongzheng was so angry that his face turned ashen. He said angrily, “Your big sister was naughty and mischievous in the past. The teacher punished her, but she never refused to be taught. Ms. Ye didn’t chase her out of school.”

Yu Qingning’s eyes widened. “Father, you’re making it sound so dignified. Eldest Sister is the eldest daughter of the first wife and has Grandmother’s protection. Even Ms. Ye won’t do anything to her. I’m just a concubine’s daughter. I can’t make any mistakes. Otherwise, I’ll just be the daughter of a concubine. I have no manners and upbringing.”

“You…” Yu Zongzheng suddenly stood up from his chair. He raised his hand and pointed at Yu Qingning angrily, scolding, “You vile creature, how can you speak like that? Although you’re the daughter of a concubine, when have your grandmother, mother, and I gave you anything less? Look at the clothes you’re wearing. Are they inferior to Jia Jia and the others? Your big sister gave them all the same gifts. Which concubine’s daughter has such a good life like you?”

“It’s just some superficial things.” It seemed that she had learned the rules from a nanny for a while and had suffered a lot. Yu Qingning had lost a lot of weight, and her personality seemed to have become much more extreme. Her entire body exuded a sense of indignation.

Yu Zongzheng was so angry that his fingers were trembling. “Shut up. I originally thought that you had always been smart and quick-witted, and that you had only made a mistake because of a moment of folly. I didn’t expect that not only did you have no respect for your elders, but you also didn’t even know how to respect your teachers. You’ve completely forgotten about my usual principles and don’t even take me, your father, seriously. Previously, I punished you to kneel in the ancestral hall for three days for nothing.”

Seeing her father’s furious expression, Yu Qingning calmed down and felt a little regretful. She shouldn’t have contradicted her father just now. Not only had she completely angered him, but she had also displeased him.

She knew very well that she could enjoy the treatment of a legitimate daughter as the daughter of a concubine because her father doted on her very much.

However, Yu Zongzheng was still furious. “Even though you’ve made such a huge mistake, your mother is still thinking for you and helping you change your courtyard. Your grandmother is worried about your upbringing, so she spent a lot of effort to hire a nanny from the Education Department to teach you how to behave. However, you didn’t reflect on yourself and actually quarreled with the nanny, even hitting her. Are you trying to rebel?”

It would have been better if she hadn’t mentioned this. For a moment, Yu Qingning felt dizzy and her eyes turned completely red. “I’m stubborn? Father, why don’t you ask that old woman how she treats me?”

The words “old woman” were too unruly. Yu Zongzheng frowned when he heard this, but before he could say anything—

Yu Qingning broke down and shouted, “That old woman is not a good person. She put red beans, green beans, soybeans, and black beans into a big basket and asked me to sort out the beans in the basket one by one. If I didn’t pick them out, she wouldn’t let me sleep. If I picked the wrong one, she would ask me to pick from the beginning. I picked from morning to night, and then from night to night. My eyes were swollen, and the tips of my fingers were red and swollen from pinching the beans.”

As she spoke, Yu Qingning rushed forward and spread her hands in front of her father. Indeed, both her thumbs and index fingers were red and swollen.

Yu Zongzheng frowned.

Yu Qingning continued anxiously, “Also, she was picky about how well I learned the rules and deliberately made me kneel and learn how to serve tea. When I couldn’t learn it well, I kept kneeling and learning. My knees were broken from kneeling, and blood seeped out. My body was sore and painful, and I couldn’t even stand straight. She even asked me to learn how to walk with a book on my head. When I couldn’t walk well, she made me keep walking. I kept falling, and my body was bruised and swollen…”

Yu Zongzheng couldn’t bear to see her like this, so he thought of his eldest daughter.

Yao Yao used to be very naughty and mischievous, and had learned some rules from Nanny Xu. Now, she was behaving more and more like a legitimate elder.

Wasn’t a nanny from the palace less strict than a nanny from the Education Department?

Seeing that Eldest Master did not look well, Wen Zhu quickly served him a cup of tea.

Yu Zongzheng took it and took a look. The light brown tea was clear like amber. There was a faint medicinal fragrance to it. When he drank it, after the faint bitterness, his teeth and cheeks felt sweet again, and he felt much more refreshed.

He remembered that this was the medicinal tea that Yao Yao had sent over.

She had learned how to make it from Nanny Xu. It was a recipe from the palace. Her mother had also been drinking this medicinal tea recently, and she looked much better.

Why was Yao Yao able to endure hardship? Not only did she learn the rules well, but she had also learned many skills from Nanny Xu. Fourth Sis just couldn’t take the hardship and ended up making a fuss with her nanny. How was that reasonable?

Yu Zongzheng’s expression turned cold. “This isn’t an excuse for your lack of manners. The nannies in the workshop have good manners. Perhaps they feel that you’re too unruly and unwilling to be taught, so they’re stricter with you. In the future, you should learn from them obediently. If you don’t learn well, don’t leave the Hanlu Courtyard again.”

“Father, you can’t do this to me.” Yu Qingning looked at her father in disbelief, as if she did not know him. He was like a father who doted on her.

Yu Zongzheng waved his hand. “Get out!”

Yu Qingning shouted, “Father, I don’t want to learn the rules from the nannies in the Education Department. They’re not good people and always try to torture me…”

When Yu Youyao heard her father shout, “Get out!” in the inner room, she was immediately shocked. Then, she saw Yu Qingning rushing out from behind the cloud-and-sea-patterned screen.

Yu Qingning did not expect Yu Youyao to be outside. She covered her face and shouted, “Yu Youyao, why are you here?”

Yu Youyao said calmly, “I came to see Father.”

At this moment, Yu Qingning was ashamed and exasperated. How could she possibly have heard such words? She glared at her angrily. “Yu Youyao, are you very proud to see me being scolded by Father? Are you very happy? Do you think that if Father angers me, you’ll have a chance to take advantage of it and use all sorts of methods to please him and snatch away his love for me?”

Yesterday, she had happily accepted the gifts from Yu Youyao. Just as she was thinking about what to make, she heard the maidservants in the courtyard whispering.