Qi Zhenzhen met Qi Mingzhu smoothly.
Just as Madam Qin had said, she was listless, having lost a lot of weight. Upon seeing Qi Zhenzhen, her calmness was almost frightening. Previously, Qi Mingzhu had exuded an air of superiority whenever she encountered Qi Zhenzhen, but now that superiority was gone.
"What are you doing here?" Qi Mingzhu frowned.
"Naturally, I've come to see how you're doing," Qi Zhenzhen said slowly. "I thought you would be doing very well, but seeing you like this, it's clearly not going well. Qin Xuan was someone you pursued yourself, so why..."
She shook her head as she spoke, her tone laced with regret, yet her eyes held a hint of schadenfreude.
It was the kind of feeling that said, "I pity you, and you deserve it."
"Qi Zhenzhen, you!" Qi Mingzhu gritted her teeth.
"You're pregnant, don't get so agitated. Getting too excited isn't good for the child in your belly," Qi Zhenzhen advised with a feigned concern.
To Qi Mingzhu, these words were a reminder: my child will be born the legitimate heir, while your child will be born a concubine's son.
"Qi Zhenzhen, if it weren't for you, how could I have ended up like this?" Qi Mingzhu's eyes were about to split open.
"Elder Sister, how can you blame me for this? Lu Chen was something you snatched, and I didn't say a word. You wanted me to marry Gu Sinian, and I married him," Qi Zhenzhen said with a smile. "I didn't compete, nor did I block your path, so how can you blame me?"
"You curried favor with Grandmother, making her only have eyes for you, and having her support you in everything," Qi Mingzhu's voice was sharp.
"Your mother is the legitimate wife, and my mother lived cautiously under your mother's constant torment. For the sake of my mother and myself, and the two of us to live better in the manor, is it wrong for me to seek Grandmother's protection? Moreover, Grandmother is my own grandmother, and I genuinely respect her. There's no such thing as 'currying favor' as you say," Qi Zhenzhen said slowly. "Qi Mingzhu, don't you understand even now? These kinds of relationships require sincerity. I treated Grandmother with genuine affection, and only then did Grandmother reciprocate my sincerity. You relied on your status as the legitimate daughter, paying respects to Grandmother, but it was always just a formality. I ask you, have you ever done anything for Grandmother with genuine care, even once?"
Qi Mingzhu opened her mouth. "The things you did, servants could have done them."
"But I was willing to do what servants do for Grandmother, and that is my sincerity," Qi Zhenzhen retorted. "Grandmother saw this and naturally felt that I cared about her."
"You're being opportunistic, you're calculating and scheming," Qi Mingzhu said indignantly.
"Even if I'm opportunistic, even if I'm calculating, even if I'm scheming. If you weren't opportunistic, weren't calculating, weren't scheming, I wouldn't be able to compare to you. But look at yourself, how are you living now? And how am I living?" Qi Zhenzhen said mercilessly.
Qi Mingzhu was speechless. How was she living? She felt that her maternal grandmother had abandoned her and her mother, so she harbored resentment. She had spared no effort, even at her own expense, to enter the manor and fight for her mother and herself. But in reality?
"Qi Mingzhu, a little bit of yielding, putting aside your pride, there's nothing lowly about it," Qi Zhenzhen said slowly. "Your self-abandonment will worry your mother and harm the child in your belly. No matter what decision you made at the time, you must take responsibility for it. Otherwise, you'll only be looking up at me for the rest of your life. I, a concubine's daughter, live like the bright moon in the sky, while you, an originally high and mighty legitimate daughter, live like mud on the ground."