Chapter 249: Chapter 249: The Unchanging Servility
When Xie Pan’Er said this, tears began to fall from Luo’s eyes, large and incessant. Her silent crying made Xie Pan’Er’s heart ache even more.
"Mother! If you don’t want to talk about it, then don’t. But I will not be returning this servitude contract.
I will wait for my brother to return. Once he’s back, we will go to our Eldest Uncle, retrieve the family registry, and strike our father’s and grandfather’s names from it. We will take the properties that rightfully belong to our fifth branch and establish our own household."
Xie Pan’Er’s unyielding stance was fully taken in by Luo, whose body involuntarily trembled even more.
"Pan’Er, no, I beg you! If you want your freedom, just find someone to marry, and you will be free.
You can go live your own life and not worry about your father and me. But this servitude contract, we cannot accept it, let alone be removed from the clan. Pan’Er, please listen to me."
Luo was stubbornly refusing to see reason; Xie Pan’Er was extremely disappointed.
Zhu Xiuxiu also shook her head helplessly. Even after she had prompted her to that extent, the woman was still so obstinate. She didn’t want to involve herself any further. If Xie Pan’Er couldn’t accompany the Princess, then they would just find someone else. She was sure they could find other girls with intelligence and wisdom comparable to Xie Pan’Er.
As Zhu Xiuxiu was thinking this, she heard Xie Pan’Er roaring at Luo inside the room.
"Marry someone and live my own life? Mother, you make it sound so easy! If I don’t leave the Xie Family, do you think Eldest Aunt will let me choose my own husband?
Will she allow me to marry into a good family as the primary wife?
That Lu Yunsheng has already said that while he marries Xie Yingying as his primary wife, he will also take me as his secondary wife.
Do you know why he would say such a thing?"
Upon hearing this, Luo abruptly raised her head to look at Xie Pan’Er. "What... What are you saying? Why would Lu Yunsheng say such a thing to you out of the blue?"
"Why would he say this to me?
It was Eldest Aunt! It was her idea! I found out from Lu Yunsheng’s page. She said that no matter who marries Xie Yingying in this life, they must also take me as a concubine, marrying me off as a dowry girl."
Xie Pan’Er suddenly roared, and this roar seemed to unleash over a decade of accumulated grievances and unwillingness from the depths of her heart.
"Mother! Regarding the matter of leaving the clan today, whether you and Father agree or not, I am going to do it!
If you won’t consider my brother’s and my well-being, then I will! My brother is clearly a better scholar than Xie Yingning and Xie Yinghui, yet to secure their own rankings, they brazenly prevented him from taking the examinations.
And to torment him, they constantly make him do the work of a study attendant, sometimes even resorting to beating or berating him.
If this continues, my brother will never have a chance to rise; he’ll be downtrodden for life! You are his parents, yet you don’t plan for him. I am his biological sister; I must plan for him!"
"No!
Pan’Er, don’t!
Mother begs you, don’t concern yourself with this matter anymore!
Since you’ve gained the Princess’s favor, beg her for a boon. Let her keep you by her side; you can be her Maid, her servant—anything! Just don’t return to the Xie Family.
Just pretend you don’t have parents like us! As long as the Princess agrees, I’m willing to sever ties with you."
Xie Pan’Er felt as if struck by lightning. Her mother was truly beyond redemption.
Tears of disappointment streamed down her face as she suddenly burst into raucous laughter.
"What a good servant you are!
You are truly loyal to your Master to the core!
Because of your ingrained servility, you actually want your own daughter to become a servant for others!"
Luo’s words not only left Xie Pan’Er disappointed and heartbroken, but even Zhu Xiuxiu and Huo Xing’Er felt she was beyond saving.
Zhu Xiuxiu stood up from the stool and said to Huo Xing’Er, "It’s getting late. Xiaosuisui should be taking her nap."
With that, she reached into Huo Xing’Er’s arms, took Xiaosuisui, and turned to leave.