Chapter 78 Stepping Stone
It was a small corner far away from the main house. Guo's new residence was just a very simple two-bedroom side room, standing there all alone.
Pushing open the creaking wooden door, a smell of dampness and mold hit me in the face. The room was empty and lonely, and the few pieces of furniture looked shabby.
Guo was lying on a rickety bed. The sheets had turned yellow due to years of disrepair, and the quilt was covered in mold due to moisture, giving off an unpleasant odor.
Her face was pale, her eyes stared blankly at the ceiling, and the corners of her cracked lips seemed to still retain the bitterness of the past.
"Mom!" Zheng Yinyin's voice broke the silence in the room. She almost rushed into the room, and her footsteps echoed in the empty space.
An imperceptible joy flashed across Mrs. Guo's eyes. Her children were her only concern in this world. As long as they could make a name for themselves one day, she would have hope of turning her life around.
However, Zheng Yinyin stood in front of her with an angry face, her words full of resentment: "Mother, why did you put my second brother and I in such a situation! It's all because of you. We have no place to stand in the capital. Who will dare to marry me in the future?"
Guo's gaze was fixed on the daughter she had raised for more than ten years. Her eyes were slightly red, her cracked lips were trembling slightly, and bloodstains from yesterday's argument could still be vaguely seen at the corners of her mouth.
"Yin'er...you..." She hesitated to speak, feeling mixed emotions.
Zheng Yinyin raised her head and looked around the dim and narrow room. "Mother, how could you do such a foolish thing! Now that father has let the third concubine remarry, she has become the legitimate wife of the Marquis of Changping, then what about me and my second brother? Are we going to become illegitimate children of the side branch? Or should I change my name to call you concubine?"
"How can this be!" Guo suddenly sat up and shouted, slapping the bed with one hand. Zheng Yinyin stumbled back involuntarily, "How can you speak to your mother in such a tone?!"
Zheng Yinyin's eyes were full of innocence and grievance. She stared at Guo and complained in her voice, "This is all your fault. If you hadn't lost face at the birthday party, how could I have fallen into such a state? Mother, when can you think about me?"
Guo's face was covered with tear marks, her eyes were red, and her voice was choked with sobs: "Yin'er, someone deliberately framed me at the birthday banquet. Go and beg father to find out the real culprit behind this. As long as that person is still alive, you and your second brother will never have peace!"
Zheng Yinyin glanced at Guo coldly, her tone full of disdain: "Mother, in this deep mansion, the strong are respected and the weak are enemies. Do you think you can overthrow that Madam Zheng? She is pregnant now, and her position is as solid as a mountain."
In the minds of mother and daughter, the culprit hiding behind the scenes naturally pointed to Xiao Guo. They firmly believed that apart from her, no one would have the motive to harm them.
As for Su Wanyu, as Zheng Chengyan's wife, she should have been their ally.
Guo's eyes were cast into the distance empty, and she waved her hand, accidentally knocking over the half bowl of watery porridge beside the bed, splashing all over the floor.
"If I had known this, I should have gotten rid of the boy in her belly earlier. Without that child, what qualifications does she have to be so arrogant?"
She murmured to herself, then tightly grasped Zheng Yinyin's wrist, "Yin'er, you still have a chance."
Zheng Yinyin's eyes were as cold as ice, revealing indifference: "Mom, do you want me to help you get rid of that evil seed?"
Guo's brows were furrowed, and the strength of her hands increased: "Yin'er, if this is accomplished, we can all usher in a turnaround."
Zheng Yinyin sneered and broke free from Guo's hand. "Mother, I am not stupid. If I touch that evil woman's child now, I will be digging my own grave. What does her child have to do with me? Even if I get rid of her child, will those unbearable rumors disappear? Impossible! I don't need to inherit the family business like my second brother. I just want to marry into a good family."
As soon as she finished speaking, her eyes suddenly became confused, as if she had thought of something, her eyes dulled: "Or do you want me to be a sacrifice to pave the way for my good second brother?"
There was a hint of evasion in Mrs. Guo's eyes, and she didn't dare to look directly at her daughter.
Zheng Yinyin stared at her mother coldly, then slowly stood up, her eyes red, but a sarcastic smile appeared on the corner of her mouth: "I know, mother, in your eyes, my second brother and I are just stepping stones to climb the ladder of power."
Guo didn't think she had done anything wrong: "As a daughter, isn't it natural for me to plan for my brother's future? Yin'er, I've come this far step by step. If it weren't for your uncle's future, how could I have become a member of the Zheng family? This is our fate as women, and we must accept it."
Zheng Yinyin asked in a deep voice: "Mom, have you really accepted it?"
Guo was silent and had no words to say.
Zheng Yinyin raised her voice, her tone sharp: "You don't accept it! If you really accept it, how can you be entangled with those men? If you really accept it, how can you still be obsessed with the young master of the Chen family? Mother, don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you. I don't want to repeat your mistakes. I want to fight for a future for myself."
"You want to be the queen?" Guo had heard about her daughter's ambition, but she didn't expect that she would not give up even in such adversity.
"Given the current situation of the Zheng family, do you think you still have the opportunity to enter the palace and become queen?" Guo asked back.
Zheng Yinyin restrained her previous frivolity and became calm: "Are you talking about King Liang?"
"Humph!" Guo sneered, "Prince Liang failed in his attempt to assassinate the Regent. How long can he live? Mother, a man who knows the current situation is a hero. This time, I have my eyes on Emperor Xuan."
"She has been in the palace for so many years. If she was destined to become the queen, she would have done it long ago." Guo knew clearly in her mind that her daughter might not have that destiny.
Zheng Yinyin said nothing more.
A few days ago, she accidentally learned from the casual conversation of several old palace servants that Emperor Xuan had a sister from the same mother, and he had been secretly looking for her all these years.
If she could help him find this sister, perhaps Emperor Xuan would be impressed by her and give her a chance to change her fate.
The princess's gratitude to her made every step of her promotion in the harem seem natural and without the need for excessive embellishment.
"Mother, please handle the matter regarding Third Aunt on your own. I will find time to visit you in the future."
Zheng Yinyin's dissatisfaction with Guo was hard to conceal in her words.
Every inch of the air here seemed to be filled with depression and unhappiness, making her unwilling to stay any longer.
Not only did she have no interest in helping Guo fight against Little Guo, but even the idea of pleading with her father on Guo's behalf was extinguished after a few pauses.
At this moment, her mind was completely focused on her son, hoping that he could be a turning point in her destiny and pull her out of this quagmire.