Adding Fuel to the Fire

Thus, under his constant urging, Concubine La put on a difficult expression and slowly said, "Just now, I took the young lady and the young master to the Madam's room to pay respects. It so happened that this girl has sharp eyes and saw Second Miss walking in a hurry and bumping into Fourth Miss. As the eldest sister, seeing Fourth Miss as the youngest, she felt pity and reported it to the Madam as a major matter. But the Madam did not even spare a glance at the girl, nor did she say a word to her, only speaking with Second Miss and Fourth Miss."

Seeing Xue Boming's face darken, Concubine La added, "Seeing this, the girl felt aggrieved, feeling that the Madam does not have her, a shu-born child, in her heart. But on the way back, I already spoke to her, telling her not to be childish..."

"Mother indeed does not have me in her heart," Xue Qingxue suddenly interrupted her, crying with grievance. "Just like earlier, I saw that the clothes Fourth Sister wore were of the finest quality, brand new, and even the hairpins on her head are things I do not have."

"You child!" Concubine La hurriedly said to her, "Why are you comparing yourself to Fourth Miss? Fourth Miss was born of the Madam, while you are only..."

"Why can't I compare myself to Fourth Sister?" Xue Qingxue interrupted her once again, crying as she said to Xue Boming, "Clearly, both Fourth Sister and I are Father's daughters, and we both call the Madam 'Mother.' Why does the Madam discriminate between Fourth Sister and me so much? Like this year's autumn clothes, and the jewelry too, clearly all the daughters of the Xue family should have equal shares, but I only received two very simple sets of clothes, and my jewelry consists of only a few silk flowers. Yet the clothes Fourth Sister wears are made of Hangzhou silk, and her hairpins are made of pink tourmaline."

After saying this, she cried even more bitterly.

Concubine La's eyes also reddened, and she stepped forward to pull her into her arms. "This is not to blame the Madam, but only to blame your lack of fortune for being born from my womb. If you had been born from the Madam's womb, naturally, the things you deserve would be just like Fourth Miss's."

Xue Boming highly disapproved of her words. "They are both my daughters, what difference does it make whose womb they were born from?"

Seeing Concubine La and Xue Qingxue crying so heartbreakingly, he grew even angrier.

As the legal mother, how could she discriminate between di-born and shu-born children like this? Even the portions they were supposed to receive had such a huge difference.

The more he thought, the angrier he became. He turned around and stormed out.

Concubine La hurriedly pulled his hand and asked, "Where is the Master going? Are you going to find the Madam? Please do not go! After all, Fourth Miss is her biological child, so it is only normal for her to be a little biased."

Hearing this, Xue Boming's face darkened. "Qingning is my child, and Qingxue is also my flesh and blood. Why make a distinction between di and shu? As the mistress of the house, she must treat everyone fairly. If she only blindly favors her own biological child, how can she manage this household well in the future?"

Forcefully pulling his arm from Concubine La's grasp, he continued to stride angrily toward the main chambers.