The Comeback of the Cannon-Fodder Supporting Actress

Chapter 1055: Chapter 1032: Glory Amid Chaos 100

Su Yu was crying as she knelt down.

Madam Mei was trembling with anger.

She couldn’t help but cry as well.

”You girl, you... it’s all my fault, my fault, I didn’t teach you well. In the future, I will have no face to meet your parents.”

Su Yu lowered her head, covering the coldness in her eyes, and lamented mournfully: ”Grand-aunt, just help me this once, just this once, help me, I really like the Third Master, in this lifetime it’s only him for me.”

Her pleading made Madam Mei’s heart grow increasingly cold and hard.

Madam Mei wiped her tears with the handkerchief: ”Su Yu, do you know what a concubine is?”

Su Yu was stunned for a moment.

Madam Mei continued: ”A concubine is bought and sold; once you become a concubine, you are no longer a person. You are an object, there for men to seek pleasure, for the mistress to beat and scold at will. If anything goes wrong, you can be sold off. It’s somewhat better nowadays, but do you know, when the Daqi Dynasty was newly established, the treatment of concubines was even harsher. To enter a house as a concubine, you had to knock your head on the ground step by step as you entered, and had to kneel respectfully, serving tea to the mistress, calling yourself the lowly concubine humbly offering tea to the Madam. Su Yu, can you bear that?”

Su Yu was dazed for a long while before she gritted her teeth and nodded: ”For the Third Master, I can endure it.”

She thought, if she could really gain the Third Master’s favor and have his protection, what could Mrs. Liu, a mere housewife, possibly do? How many Empresses throughout history were not trampled by favored concubines? How many were not eventually deposed? When the Third Master ascends the throne, with a few pillow-side whispers, who knows, she might replace Mrs. Liu.

Madam Mei, experienced and perceptive from the many things she had seen, understood Su Yu’s thoughts.

Precisely because she understood, she felt even more disheartened.

However, Su Yu was, after all, her grandniece, and no matter how much she disapproved of Su Yu, she still needed to make the stakes clear.

”Su Yu, do you really think Anning is easy to deal with?”

Madam Mei’s words stunned Su Yu.

Madam Mei sneered: ”You probably look down on Anning in your heart, thinking that she farmed in the countryside when she was young and only got lucky later to marry into the Duke Ping Mansion. But do you know, Anning was very smart from a young age. She had a photographic memory, and when your granduncle taught her, she learned faster than his smartest student. She read all the Four Books and Five Classics, historical writings and collections, and was also skilled in mathematics. Moreover, she learned some mechanical skills from a carpenter in the village. Can you deal with such a clever woman?”

Seeing Su Yu was taken aback, Madam Mei coughed and continued: ”In the Duke Ping Mansion, Anning and the Third Master have five children together. For so many years, she has managed to keep there from being even one concubine in the inner house. She accompanied the Third Master from the Capital to the Southern Yi. Was that journey easy? She has always ensured the Third Master stays by her side. Do you really think she’s a dull country girl?”

”I, I...” Su Yu didn’t know what to say.

She thought for a long time: ”The smarter and more capable a woman is, the less a man likes her, or maybe the Third Master is already tired of her.”

”Hehe.”

Madam Mei couldn’t help but laugh in exasperation: ”You are foolish. No matter what happens between them as a couple, Anning is the legitimate wife of Mr. Xiao, and solely based on her thirteen talented children, her position is unshakeable as the Third Madam.”

Su Yu fell silent.

She thought of the historical records, where the Jing Grand Ancestor indeed had only Mrs. Liu as Empress all his life, and their children received considerable favor.

Regardless of what the Third Master thought, he was outwardly respectful towards Mrs. Liu.

Madam Mei took a sip of water to calm herself, lowering her voice, ”You, a young girl with little experience or scheming, how dare you venture into the Third Master’s backyard? Aren’t you afraid of dying without a sound? If you were to enter as a concubine, even if you died, we couldn’t even ask a question. Do you understand?”

”No, it can’t be.”

Su Yu was terrified.

At first, she just wanted to be close to Xiao Yuan, wanting to approach her idol, fantasizing about receiving all of Xiao Yuan’s favor, never thinking about what she would face if she really entered the inner house.

Madam Mei looked at her bewildered expression, feeling too exhausted to be angry.

Why bother arguing with such a simple-minded girl? Getting angry with her could drive others to frustration.

”Do you know what happened when the Zhang Family wanted to send a woman to the Third Master?”

Madam Mei patiently explained many things to Su Yu: ”The result was that soon after, the entire Zhang Family fell. A noble family with a history of hundreds of years was wiped out just because they tried to use a honey trap on the Third Master. Anning wouldn’t tolerate it, and without much effort, she destroyed such a noble family. As for you, a mere girl, are you worth their trouble? If you really enter the Xiao family’s inner courtyard, even if Anning doesn’t take action, her children are no pushovers. Just one of her daughters could make you suffer silently, ensuring you leave however you entered.”

When Madam Mei spoke only of Anning, Su Yu wasn’t that frightened.

But when Madam Mei mentioned the five daughters Anning raised, Su Yu was thoroughly scared.

She had previously been infatuated with Xiao Yuan without much thought.

But now, Madam Mei had awakened her to the reality.

She thought of the records of the founding of the Jing Dynasty with its five distinguished princesses, shaking with fear.

Those five were no ordinary people.

Characters that could stir politics and call the shots when the Dajing Dynasty was newly formed. Even the gentle-recorded Xiao Fu was known to address the court with a bloodied treasure sword. Records state that Xiao Fu married a noble family son, and although they were initially affectionate, later on, the Prince Consort had other ideas, bringing a beautiful peasant girl into the house. Xiao Fu had conflicts with the Prince Consort over the girl, and after the Prince Consort spoke harshly, Xiao Fu meant to strike the girl. The Prince Consort stopped her, threatening Xiao Fu and even raising a hand against her. Furious, Xiao Fu killed the Prince Consort with a sword and carried the bloodied sword into the palace, storming into the Jinluan Palace as the court was in session. The Jing Grand Ancestor was discussing court affairs with ministers, and Xiao Fu openly declared she had killed the Prince Consort.

What happened afterward?

Su Yu thought for a moment and remembered.

It seems the Jing Grand Ancestor did not scold the princess, even feeling heartache for her grievance, reprimanding the Prince Consort’s family instead.

Thinking of this, Su Yu shrank into a ball with fear.

Someone like Xiao Fu wouldn’t tolerate any concubine or housemaid. If she really entered the Xiao family’s rear court, who knows...

Moreover, apart from Xiao Fu, there was the even more ruthless Xiao Yin, along with three other fostered princesses who were no saints, and just those five girls could tear her apart alive.

”Grand-aunt.”

Su Yu was genuinely terrified, bursting into tears: ”Grand-aunt, save me, save me, I was momentarily confused, I... I dare not anymore.”

She hugged Madam Mei, hiccuping as she cried: ”I was wrong, I truly know I’m wrong, I shouldn’t have disregarded dignity and propriety for the sake of a man.”

In reality, she hadn’t truly realized her errors but was simply scared out of her wits.

Nonetheless, as long as she dismissed that unacceptable thought, it was a relief.