bestfiction Chapter 423: Cheap status
Chapter 423: Cheap status
Yu Wan paid a heavy price for her careless remark that she "couldn't guarantee she wouldn't fall in love with someone else."
She was tortured to the point of near death.
By the next morning, when the sun was high in the sky, Yu Wanren was awake, but every cell in her body was still listless and she couldn't muster any strength.
She lay limp on the bed, looking utterly hopeless.
Seeing that her young mistress had not yet gotten up at this hour, Xizhu couldn't help but worry and came in to take a look.
Then she saw that her daughter looked listless, lying on the bed with her eyes open in a daze, as if all her energy had been drained and she was exhausted to the extreme.
Upon seeing this, Xizhu was startled and quickly stepped forward, "Miss, what's wrong?"
Yu Wan laboriously lifted her eyelids, glanced weakly at Xizhu, and whispered, "Tired."
Xizhu was even more confused, her face full of doubt, "Didn't you go to bed early last night? Could it be that you didn't sleep well last night?"
Yu Wan couldn't explain to Xi Zhu that it was because a philanderer had broken into her room last night.
She was thoroughly tormented by the flower thief.
She could only manage a wry smile. "I didn't sleep well; I had a nightmare."
"I dreamt that I was punished for my careless words."
Xizhu had no doubts whatsoever. With a concerned expression, she reached out and touched Yu Wan's forehead, only feeling slightly relieved after confirming that she did not have a fever.
She muttered to herself, "Don't overthink it, young lady. It's just a dream. I'll make you some calming soup later. Drink it and I guarantee you'll sleep well tonight."
Yu Wan forced a smile that looked more like a grimace and nodded weakly.
She closed her eyes again, slowly pulled the covers over herself, and planned to stay in bed all day.
As for asking Xie Jingyao for information, let's talk about that tomorrow.
Seeing how tired she was, Xizhu gently lowered the bed curtains again. When she looked down, she inadvertently caught sight of a conspicuous red mark on Yu Wan's neck.
Yu Wan's skin was as white as snow, so this sudden red mark stood out glaringly, like a stain on a white canvas.
Xizhu couldn't ignore it and couldn't help but ask, "Miss, what happened to your neck?"
Yu Wan was so sleepy that she could barely keep her eyes open. She subconsciously reached out and touched her neck, and her mind instantly and uncontrollably recalled the erotic scenes from last night.
Yu Wan: ...
Not just her neck, but her entire body was covered in marks.
She silently pulled the blanket up to cover her neck, turned over, and hummed softly to the inside of the bed, "It's nothing... I guess I was bitten by mosquitoes."
Xizhu didn't detect her guilty conscience.
Mosquito?
Zhu glanced at the corners in the room where mosquito repellent incense was placed, and was puzzled.
She didn't see any mosquitoes inside the house, and since she was sleeping in the outer room, there should have been more mosquitoes there, but it was her own daughter who was being bitten.
Does her daughter have a special attraction to mosquitoes?
Xizhu felt a pang of heartache when she thought of the red marks she had just seen.
He secretly thought that he must ask Mr. Feng for some more ointment later to apply to the girl, so that no scars would be left.
……
Yu Wan felt like she had just fallen asleep when Xi Zhu woke her up again.
Xizhu didn't really want to wake her young lady, but there was a real reason for it.
"Miss, the young master has arrived."
"Miss, wake up! Young Master is here and waiting in the front hall."
Yu Wan opened her eyes groggily, feeling dizzy. It took her a while to come to her senses after hearing the words "Young Master Cousin".
"Xie Jingyao is here?" She was a little confused.
Xizhu nodded, "Young Master said it's urgent."
Yu Wan's spirits lifted instantly, and she immediately thought of the favor she had asked Xie Jingyao for yesterday. Ignoring the soreness in her body, she forced herself to sit up.
"Help me with my makeup."
Xizhu quickly helped Yu Wan with her makeup. Seeing Yu Wan dozing off while sitting, she couldn't help but feel sorry for her and said, "Miss, if you're too tired, don't force yourself. Let Young Master come another day."
Yu Wanqiang roused himself and shook his head.
"It's okay, I'm not sleepy."
Xizhu: Why don't you look in the mirror? You're so sleepy you can barely keep your eyes open.
Finally, Yu Wan splashed cold water on her face to barely muster her spirits.
After quickly getting ready, Yu Wan met Xie Jingyao, who had a somber expression, in the front hall.
Her heart skipped a beat, and a bad feeling welled up inside her.
She dismissed all the servants in the hall, and before she could even ask anything, Xie Jingyao quickly stepped forward and said in a low voice, "Cousin Wan, I haven't been able to find Miss Yunxi's household registration."
Yu Wan's heart sank.
"It's already been taken by Li Zhuoyue?"
“It’s most likely one of his people.” Xie Jingyao nodded with a sullen face. “There’s no record of it in the household registration book, but officials don’t usually go to collect household registrations. I asked my colleagues at the household registration office, and no one went in yesterday or today, only the day before yesterday.”
The day before yesterday?
Although Yu Wan had long anticipated that Li Zhuoyue would be difficult to deal with, she never expected her to act so quickly.
The day before yesterday, the day Li Zhuoyue went to the Yun residence to pay her respects, after seeing Yun Xi, she immediately ordered someone to retrieve her household registration.
Yu Wan couldn't help but suspect that Li Zhuoyue had ulterior motives from the very beginning, intending to use Yunxi's identity to manipulate her.
Yu Wan's thinking was correct; Li Zhuoyue did indeed intend to use Yunxi's household registration to manipulate her.
Yesterday, the steward he sent to the Yun family to propose marriage returned home to complain. Upon learning that the Yun family had driven away the person he sent, Li Zhuoyue was not angry.
After calmly finishing his work, he finally found some time today to send something to the Yun family.
Yunxi received the item handed to her by the gatekeeper, glanced at it, and trembled with anger.
Shen noticed her unusual behavior and, feeling puzzled, took a look at it. Upon seeing it, her face turned pale.
What Li Zhuoyue sent was Yunxi's household registration, which had been altered.
They were changed from being registered as good citizens to being registered as lowly citizens, but the official seal of the government had not yet been affixed.
Household registrations without an official seal are invalid.
Shen clutched the household registration book tightly in her hand; the thin paper seemed to weigh a ton. She looked up and met Yunxi's gaze, her voice strained, "What does he mean by this?"
Yunxi stared intently at the household registration in Shen's hand, gritting her teeth as she said, "Li Zhuoyue is warning me that if I don't agree to the Li family's marriage proposal, he can change my status from good to lowly at any time."
In the Great Zhao Dynasty, people of low social status were extremely low, practically treated like commodities, even lower than slaves.
The life and death of people of low social status are entirely determined by their masters. Masters can beat, scold, and kill them at will, leaving them with no dignity or freedom whatsoever.
In recent years, in an effort to appease the soldiers, the imperial court even conscripted women of low social status to serve as military prostitutes…
Shen's face grew increasingly pale.
Shen's face grew increasingly pale, as white as paper.
Once Yunxi is classified as a lowly person, her future will be bleak with no hope of ever rising above it.
Because once someone is registered as a lowly person, they can never change their registered status for the rest of their life.