Su Qi stood at the doorway, glancing at the master bedroom spanning over a hundred square meters. She couldn't help but recall her first visit here. Back then, Qin Xue had assigned her a back room, dark and cramped, with an environment even worse than a servant's quarters, as if it had been converted from a storage room.
How ironic.
Su Qi placed her luggage down, knowing she wouldn't be able to leave the Huo family anytime soon. She'd just stay a few days and then find an excuse to go out and run back.
As a servant helped her unpack, Su Qi pushed open the door and stepped onto the balcony. The early winter wind rustled the floor-to-ceiling curtains behind her.
"Why is this woman living back at the Huo residence?"
"Exactly. She's flaunting her pregnancy and moved back in so brazenly."
"I heard she's the daughter of a humble family, and an adopted one at that. Her adoptive parents are dead. What a jinx!"
"Isn't that the truth? If she weren't pregnant, why would the young master bring her back to live with them!"
"She's sullying the Huo family name. The Huo family is the foremost prestigious family in Shencheng. How can this woman be worthy?"
"My daughter is more suited than this discarded wife. If this woman can marry in, I feel like my daughter can too."
"Shh, speak softer. Aren't you afraid of death..."
The wind blew the curtains aside, and when the servants entered the room and didn't see Su Qi, they began whispering behind her.
Su Qi pulled her thoughts back. Hearing these unbearable discussions, she frowned.
She knew that not only the relatives but even the servants in the Huo family disliked her.
But she hadn't expected them to speak so maliciously.
The curtains were pulled back, and Su Qi appeared at the junction of the balcony and the bedroom.
Several servants looked over. Upon seeing Su Qi, their faces changed in unison. Two of them lowered their heads and busied themselves with their chores. Another servant, seemingly emboldened by her many years of service in the Huo family, felt indignant. Glared at by Su Qi, she gritted her teeth and glared back.
"Did you hear everything? Are we wrong? Aren't you an adopted daughter? You don't even have parents. Marrying into the Huo family is simply a blessing from your past lives!"
"Stop talking..."
The two servants next to her were trying to placate the indignant one.
However, the servant seemed unyielding and continued, "You're just pregnant. No one even knows whose child is in your belly..."
Su Qi's face darkened. She took a few steps forward, raised her arm, and slapped the servant across the cheek with a resounding sound.
"You... you hit me!"
A few minutes later, in the living room downstairs, Su Qi was lounging on the sofa. The servant knelt before Qin Xue, tears streaming down her face, as if she had suffered an immense injustice.
"I've been working in the Huo family for so many years; I'm practically half a Huo family member. I've never been wronged like this before, Madam. You must seek justice for me!
The servant covered her cheek, crying like a drowned rat, her heart filled with grievances.
Qin Xue frowned and looked at Su Qi, who seemed unfazed, calmly playing with her slender fingers, not even glancing in their direction.
Her gaze fell on Su Qi's belly. Qin Xue sighed softly. "The young madam is heavily pregnant, so it's normal for her temper to be volatile. Since you're an elder in the family, please bear with it! This month, I'll ask the butler..."
Hearing this, anyone sensible would understand who Qin Xue was siding with.
No matter how unwilling the servant was, she had to endure it.
"This won't do. If someone with such a foul mouth remains in the Huo family, what if it affects my pregnancy?"
Su Qi looked up, blinking her eyes, appearing utterly innocent.
"Mom, I think it's best to dismiss her directly!"
Qin Xue was taken aback by Su Qi's directness and ruthlessness, failing to react immediately.
"If she doesn't leave, then I will. After all, I'm just a newcomer, and she's an elder in the family..."
Su Qi said, supporting herself with one hand on the sofa and the other cradling her pregnant belly, making a move to get up and leave.
"Wait. Since you dislike her, then dismiss her. Butler, come here, pay this auntie her wages, and give her some compensation!"
The servant's eyes widened in disbelief. She thought the matter was settled, but Su Qi was actually asking for her dismissal!
How heartless!
"Madam! You can't dismiss me because of this woman! We don't even know if the child in her belly is truly young master's flesh and blood—"
As soon as these words were spoken, even Qin Xue's expression changed. She raised her foot and kicked the servant in front of her fiercely. "Presumptuous! Do you know what you're saying? If it's not Tingyun's child, could it be yours?! Butler, why are you standing there? Get this person out of here!"
Qin Xue hailed from a noble family and valued family honor above all else. From childhood, she regarded reputation as paramount.
Even if the child in Su Qi's belly wasn't Huo Tingyun's, a servant couldn't speak such nonsense!
After all, Su Qi was still the Huo family's daughter-in-law!
"Madam, Madam, I was wrong. Madam, please don't send me away, I don't want to leave the Huo family—"
Before the servant could finish her last word, she was dragged out by the butler.
Her voice gradually faded. Su Qi's face remained placid, her expression unchanged.
After the door was completely closed, Su Qi yawned and got up. "Mom, since everything is settled, I'm going up to rest and take a nap. Thank you for standing up for me!"
She turned and went upstairs, her retreating figure exceptionally graceful.
This move was called "killing the chicken to scare the monkeys."
It was also called "using the emperor to command the feudal lords."
If she weren't pregnant, she wouldn't have received this treatment.
However, since Qin Xue wanted this child, she had to stand up for her.
After today, she presumed no servant in the Huo family would dare to trouble her.
Su Qi slept until three or four in the afternoon. Drowsily, she reached for her phone and saw a missed call from Gu Tangxue.
Gu Tangxue had been very busy lately, with no time to send messages or update her social media. It was rare for her to call.
Su Qi immediately called her back.
"Xiao Su, have you seen the news?"
"What?"
Su Qi, just waking up, became slightly more alert upon hearing Gu Tangxue's words.
"Xu Linyun... the child she's carrying isn't Huo Tingyun's at all. That male model has come forward to tell reporters, and he's provided evidence. Although it's pixelated, you can still tell it's Xu Linyun."
Due to the engagement, Xu Linyun had already been blacklisted, and even her previous dramas and movies had been taken down.
Fans, as well as the lead actors, producers, and directors of the dramas and movies, were in despair.
Being taken down meant that the copyright for the films and television series could no longer be collected.
In other words, she could no longer earn money.
Su Qi listened calmly, her lips twitching. "Isn't she bringing this upon herself?"
It was unexpected, but not surprising.
Huo Tingyun always kept his word.
The fact that he had touched Xu Linyun beforehand had puzzled her.
She hadn't expected her father to have other intentions.