The Tyrant's Beloved Empress

6

"I remember Ge'er has reached the age to be betrothed, hasn't she? She is not a child anymore," An Chang Qing looked at his half-sister who was younger than him by four years without any affection.

He remembered the winter when he was ten, the doll-like and innocent An Xian Ge had giggled as she pushed his sister, An Xian Yu, who was one year older than herself into the lake.

Like him, An Xian Yu had been bullied since childhood which had caused her to develop a timid and weak personality. And because they were not well-provided for, she was much skinnier and weaker than the younger An Xian Ge who had shoved her into the lake effortlessly. An Chang Qing was lucky to have witnessed it and jumped down to save her, almost drowning in the process. After that, he was inflicted with a high fever and it had been since then that his body became averse to the cold.

As for An Xian Ge, An Zhi Ke only said that she was still young and did not pursue the matter.

An Chang Qing lowered his head and sneered, he was not going to swallow this insult in silence. Bestowed with a second chance, he was not going to let anyone trample over him.

"If she is still this insolent after entering her husband's family, I'm afraid she would implicate her in-laws with the crime of disrespecting the royal family." He looked towards An Zhi Ke and smiled faintly, "Father, as a minister serving in court, you should know the danger of thoughtless words and how it could bring disaster to the whole family."

Looking at the An family's distorted looks, An Chang Qing daintily sipped his tea, "Although we're a family, we should still maintain a separation of status. Even if I'm not bothered by it, Wangye, who has always attached great importance to rules might be angered should he find out about this."

"Wangye's temper... I'm sure you're all aware," An Chang Qing fixed his gaze upon the pale-faced An Xian Ge and smiled deviously, "If Wangye's wrath was incurred and he wanted to pass out punishment, even I dare not stop him. Ge'er, do you think I'm right?"

An Xian Ge looked at him in disbelief. She opened her mouth to retort but was pinched by Lady Liu sitting next to her. She bit her lips and almost tore off her handkerchief before grudgingly saying, "Wangfei is right, Ge'er was wrong."

An Chang Qing nodded. He then ignored her and turned to talk to An Xian Yu. At present, only his sister, An Xian Yu was present. His mother, Lady Yu, had stayed in the backyard and did not come.

According to the rules, his mother could be present but she wasn't. As An Chang Qing's biological mother, the An family would've let her come if they had respected him as a Wangfei. But no one in the An family took him seriously and naturally, they did not call for Lady Yu to attend his homecoming.

An Xian Yu was just as he remembered, quiet and shy. She was obviously beautiful like their mother but she always held her head low and never dared to speak up. An Chang Qing sighed and touched her head with much heartache and asked about her studies.

The An family came from a long line of scholars. Even the misses were all academically equipped before they were married off. An Xian Yu was quiet by nature. Her only hobby was reading and writing which she had excelled in.

But when An Chang Qing raised the question, she drooped her head and answered skittishly, "I... I've stopped going to the classroom."

An Xian Ge finally found the right nerve to poke at. She interjected with a sneer, "An Xian Yu cheated in a test and was expelled by the teacher," She continued, "It's true that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

She was referring to the fact that An Chang Qing had also once been expelled from class. The An family's classrooms were divided by gender and separated by a brick wall. The male students were all from prestigious backgrounds and were taught by famous scholars to be specially trained for the imperial exams.