淫欲的代价

"Cao Yuemei, what gave you the right to thwart my orders?!" He Yuan had barely entered the greeting hall when the matriarch\'s angry voice came at him.

Chen Bi and her mother were standing some steps away from the matriarch, who was still sick, and they had reproachful looks on their faces as they stared down on the disrespectful Cao Yuemei.

Cao Luomei was by the table at the centre of the hall making tea and trying her best to look elegant but she also kept sending He Yuan gloating looks and mocking smiles.

Cao Feng was at the other end of the hall, doing his best ice block imitation but the seven year old child looked like he\'d rather be anywhere but here.

Cao Long was not present and the servant from yesterday, who was supposed to send Cao Xiwang to the Liang courtyard, was currently shivering and prostrating on the floor in front of the matriarch\'s high chair.

He Yuan took this all in and gracefully walked forward and gave a perfect curtsey. He was dressed in flowing pink robes and his sleeves swayed beautifully as he took his stance.

He had the urge to pat himself on the back when he saw Cao Luomei\'s and the matriarch\'s slight frown. He really worked hard to improve his etiquette these past nine months. As much as they craved something to nitpick at, he wouldn\'t give them that satisfaction.

"Greetings grandmother, may your days be long and blessed with good health." He Yuan\'s voice was calm and unhurried as opposed to the matriarch\'s outburst earlier.

The matriarch visibly calmed. Even a six year old could be this calm, she felt slightly embarrassed for her earlier outburst but she also felt even more dissatisfied with this daughter of Wan Ruo.

"I had given strict orders yesterday, why did you disrupt my orders? How could you be so unfilial?!" The matriarch\'s voice rose at the end. She really couldn\'t stand this child that looked so much like that arrogant Wan Ruo.

He Yuan showed a distressed look. On the face of a six year old, it was especially pitiful. "Grandmother, everyone knows that the Liang courtyard is forbidden. So I thought you had forgotten as you were sick and sent my younger brother to the spare room in my courtyard instead."

The matriarch smacked the arm of her chair. "Cao Yuemei! Are you accusing me of muddleheadedness?!"

He Yuan gasped dramatically. "How could I dare? I just didn\'t want father to get angry at you and another reason was because you had put the child in the care of servants.

-The proprietress had repeatedly told me that as a noble lady, I must watch my every action whether or not I\'m in the presence of people. The walls have ears, what would people think of our Cao family if they find out that we had given a descendant to a bunch of servants to raise, even if it\'s for a short time?

He Yuan groaned inwardly. He was really giving that proprietress of his too much credit.

The matriarch frowned. What this granddaughter of hers said... Was not wrong. She was someone who valued her image a lot and if such a thing got out, then it wouldn\'t be good for her image.

She calmed down and observed He Yuan closely. This granddaughter of hers had been throwing a lot of tantrums but she realized that since Wan Ruo tried to sell off Cao Luomei, Cao Yuemei had become quite well behaved.

If the child continued like this then it wouldn\'t be a bad idea to nurture her. Just now, she had shouted at her once she came in but instead of looking aggrieved like she normally would, she was calm and knew to pay her respects first. Calmness was a good quality a noble lady should have.

"This grandmother of yours is quite old and is not feeling too well so it is normal for some things to skip my mind. Cao Yuemei, it\'s good that you\'ve diligently learned to become more reliable. Send someone over to the store house later to retrieve two bolts of butterfly brocade for your use."

The eyes of Cao Luomei, Chen Bi and her mother all widened at the same time. What was this? They had hoped that Cao Yuemei would be punished for being impetus so why was she rewarded with good fabric instead?!

Cao Luomei observed He Yuan for sometime. She\'d noticed that this half sister of hers seemed to place a lot of importance on her little half brother. If she could look for a way to separate them for an extended period of time then that would be good.

After all, that mother of theirs had done even worse to her. She felt no satisfaction when Wan Ruo had died a natural death. It\'s only right that her children paid for her sins!

Her eyes trailed to Chen Bi. She disliked this woman a lot too. She\'d lived in a courthouse for over ten years so she could easily spot pretenders. This woman was quite delusional if she thought she\'d allow her father marry her!

What if she gave birth to children that distracted her father from her and her brother? Cao Yuemei and the newborn were already enough, she didn\'t need more siblings to compete for favour with. Although at this moment, it wasn\'t a bad idea to make use of this delusional woman.

She picked up the tea she just made and walked over to the matriarch. Her walking step was as relaxed as the evening breeze and it was quite intriguing to watch. Even as a child, it was this good. Once she grew up, it would be even more perfect.

"Grandmother here, have some tea," Once the matriarch sent her servant forward to take the tea, Cao Luomei pouted her lips and gave her a worried look.

The matriarch noticed this so she took a sip of the tea and asked, "Luomei, what\'s wrong? Do you feel unwell?"

Cao Luomei shook her head then paused and spoke hesitantly. "It\'s a good thing that Cao Yuemei cares a lot for our baby brother but I\'m just worried. Cao Yuemei is a child herself, how could she properly look after the second son? What if something happens in a moment of carelessness?"

Once the matriarch started frowning Cao Luomei smiled. The matriarch was quite old and at this age, her thoughts were usually all over the place unlike when she was much younger. It was very easy to influence the old woman\'s thoughts with a few deliberate words.

So Cao Luomei looked to Chen Bi and her mother and her eyes lit up like she just stumbled upon a brilliant idea. "Miss Chen is good with children, she plays with me all the time and Auntie is experienced and a relative of yours. Grandmother it would be a great idea to have them watch over the second son!"

The matriarch looked over to Chen Bi and frowned. "Luomei, it\'s not a bad idea but Miss Chen has her reputation to care about. It\'s not-"

"Auntie," Chen Bi cut in quickly. "I know I said it would harm my reputation but at this point, you\'re quite sick and there is no one else to look after the second son. I\'m willing to put my reputation aside and help out."

The matriarch smiled at Chen Bi warmly. This woman was truly too good. What kind of noble lady would put her reputation aside for the sake of others? It would be good if Cao Long falls for her.

He Yuan chuckled in his mind when he saw this. This matriarch was truly too muddleheaded. Chen Bi had repeatedly refused to look after the child a week ago to make it seem like she was an upright woman who diligently protected her reputation.

Doing this now would make the matriarch value her even more for her \'sacrifice\' but how could He Yuan allow them to turn Cao Xiwang into collateral damage in this game of wits?