Chapter 7, a tragic story featuring three people playing a closed loop.

At first, Li Lianniang was worried that her mother-in-law was coming to Yunzhu Garden to make things difficult for her, but after spending so many days together, the days with her mother-in-law were actually the most comfortable she had ever been.

Her mother-in-law, who used to love lecturing her, hasn't said a word of rebuke to her these days, nor has she said anything wrong with her.

Instead, they hired a midwife to take care of her, had a small kitchen built to prepare medicinal meals, and sent her cloth and gold and silver jewelry.

They said she had worked hard giving birth to children for the Jiang family.

This was the first time Li Lianniang had heard such a statement; at least, it had never been heard in the Li family before.

Because Xiu'er is a daughter, she was worried about being scolded by her mother-in-law.

"Mother, I never imagined that you would come to take care of me during my postpartum period."

Zhao Xian refused to take credit: "We have servants and a female doctor in our household, why would I need to do it myself? I just thought that Yunzhu Garden and Haitang Residence are far apart. If anything happens, the servants have to go and tell me before they go out, which is too troublesome. Last time I heard from the maid that you had a major hemorrhage, I was really scared. If Wei'er hadn't angered you, I wouldn't have wanted to do this thing that would give people something to talk about. It would be so awful if people said that the mother-in-law was living in the daughter-in-law's room."

Li Lianniang hesitated for a moment before finally speaking, "Mother, you've worked so hard. The female doctor has been taking my pulse every day and says my daughter-in-law is out of danger. You don't need to toil at Yunzhu Garden every day anymore..."

Zhao Xian sensed something was wrong. "Are these your own thoughts, or did Jiang Wei make you say them?"

Li Lianniang parted her lips and looked to the left, avoiding Zhao Xian's gaze. "Yes, it's because your daughter-in-law doesn't want you to bear more infamy for her sake."

Got it, that bastard Jiang Wei made her say it.

There are quite a few similar incidents in the book. Jiang Wei didn't want the concubines that the original owner of the body had arranged for him, so he instructed Li Lianniang to refuse them without even asking himself.

It seems that Jiang Weifu's act of being a virtuous father these days has all been an act.

Wow……

The child's loud cries rang out from outside.

Li Lianniang almost instantly threw off the covers and was about to get out of bed when her maid, Chi Lan, knelt down to put on her shoes.

"It's normal for a child to cry, don't worry, I'll go see what's wrong."

As Zhao Xian comforted Li Lianniang, she got up and went to the outer room.

Then a second-class maidservant came into the room carrying a swaddled baby. The wet nurse quickly took the baby and tried to soothe her for a while, but Xiu'er kept crying.

"Let me hug you." Zhao Xian reached out and hugged Xiu'er. The little baby looked even more aggrieved when she saw her, and tears kept falling, but her crying subsided a lot.

She wondered if it was just her imagination, but she felt as if the little baby had suffered a great injustice.

"Where is the eldest son?"

He took the child out, but now that the child is crying, a second-class maid is bringing him in.

The second-class maid, named Cuiya, knelt down upon hearing this and said, "Qingfan, who serves the eldest young master, has come to report that Miss Cui has fainted..."

Before the maid could finish speaking, a sound came from behind her; a small bottle on the shelf had been knocked over.

Chi Lan caught it with lightning speed, but it shattered before hitting the ground.

Zhao Xian, holding Jiang Shuxiu, turned her head and saw Li Lianniang's heartbroken expression and swaying body. She quickly said, "Quickly help the young mistress back to bed."

Chi Lan and Dan Ruo hurriedly helped Li Lianniang back to the inner room.

Zhao Xian turned around and handed Jiang Shuxiu to the wet nurse, saying, "Sister Xiu should eat now, take her away."

With a loud cry, Jiang Shuxiu burst into tears in her wet nurse's arms, but Zhao Xian did not hold her again and waved her away.

Half a month! Zhao Xian can confidently say that she put a lot of effort into treating the female lead in the angst-filled novel, taking care of her in every aspect.

As a result, Jiang Wei left because Cui Tingyue fainted, and she immediately looked miserable.

The carefully cultivated energy and spirit, like a punctured balloon, leaked out in an instant.

Zhao Xian felt a little tired. She bit her lip, thinking that she hadn't done enough. She should have made Li Lianniang realize sooner that love is the most insignificant thing in a person's life.

“Miss Cui has always been frail. Doctor Liu has been staying at Yunzhu Garden these past few days, so I suppose she has run out of medicine. I’ll go and see her too.” Zhao Xian patted Li Lianniang’s hand. “You should rest and recuperate. You’re still in your postpartum period, so you don’t need to worry about Miss Cui’s illness. Have a maid come in and read to you. After listening to the reading, take a nap.”

After leaving the inner room, Zhao Xian thought about having the servants buy some storybooks.

I wonder if there are any stories that make people heartless and indifferent.

Arrived at Zhuqin Garden by sedan chair.

Helped off the sedan chair by Granny He, she had barely entered the courtyard when she heard Jiang Wei's cold rebuke.

"Tingyue can't stand blood, how have you been serving her? Get out of here now."

A short while later, a maidservant emerged with her hands wrapped in an embroidered handkerchief, on which bloodstains were still visible.

Upon seeing Zhao Xian, he hurriedly bowed and said, "This servant greets Madam."

Zhao Xian glanced at a winnowing basket beside the steps, where a pile of broken porcelain lay, its edges stained with blood.

"What happened?"

The maid with the injured hand was named Xiyu, and she was originally a second-class maid serving the original owner of this body.

When Cui Tingyue first arrived at the Jiang residence, Jiang Wei asked for it for her, saying that she was unfamiliar with the place and had no maids to help her, and was worried that she would be bullied.

Xi Yu clenched her other hand, which was wrapped in a silk handkerchief, and knelt down, saying, "Reporting to Madam, the eldest young master gave Miss Cui a cat to keep her company. When the cat was playing, it broke a porcelain vase on the flower table. When Dong'er and I went to clean it up, we accidentally pricked our hands, and Miss Cui fainted from the blood."

He fainted after seeing blood?

In the book, Li Lianniang was often criticized, which made her depressed and caused her to develop a habit of vomiting blood. Cui Tingyue fainted repeatedly, and Jiang Wei blamed Li Lianniang for it all.

So, the three of you created a closed loop for the sake of the plot?

Zhao Xian waved her hand at Xi Yu and said, "Go down and get it bandaged and treated, so it won't leave a scar."

"Thank you, Madam." Xi Yu got up and left.

Enter the house.

Jiang Wei stayed outside and did not rashly barge into the unmarried woman's boudoir.

Upon seeing Zhao Xian, Jiang Wei was somewhat surprised: "Mother, what brings you here?"

“Miss Cui’s father and brothers saved your lives. Miss Cui lives alone in the manor; how could I not come when something happened to her?” Through the beaded curtain, Zhao Xian looked towards the inner room and asked, “Is Miss Cui seriously ill? Have you called a doctor?”

"Dr. Liu is taking Tingyue's pulse."

Hearing his words, Zhao Xian raised an eyebrow. He didn't have time to turn around and go into the house to tell her and Li Lianniang, nor did he have time to hand the child to the wet nurse. However, he did have time to call the female doctor away.

Does he really have no romantic feelings for Cui Tingyue? He doesn't seem this attentive to his own wife.

Meow~

A pure white cat appeared at Zhao Xian's feet and meowed around her.

What is its name?

"First Snow, named by Tingyue."

Bending down to hug the cat, Zhao Xian sat on the stool, gently stroking the cat's head. "I heard from the servants that you gave this cat to Miss Cui to cheer her up?"

Jiang Wei nodded: "Tingyue must feel quite stifled in the mansion. Having a cat to keep her company will prevent her from overthinking."

"..."

Zhao Xian now truly felt sorry for Li Lianniang, saying he was a clueless straight man who didn't know how to give gifts? Look at what he gave Cui Tingyue, isn't that quite good at pleasing people?

Is that all? How can he possibly win back his wife after going through a "wife-chasing-after-the-cremation" ordeal?

Shouldn't we just raise it directly?

"Madam, young master, Miss Cui has woken up."

The female doctor, Liu, came out to report.

Zhao Xian grabbed Jiang Wei's wrist, stopping him from going into the inner room: "What are you doing in a woman's boudoir?"

After handing the cat to Jiang Wei, Zhao Xian went into the inner room.

Although Cui Tingyue was awake, her complexion was not good. She struggled to get up, saying, "Madam."

"Lie down quickly." Zhao Xian was powerless against a beautiful woman and couldn't bring herself to be angry.

And can this be blamed on Cui Tingyue? No.

She didn't have a good ending either.

The root of the problem lies with Jiang Wei, that scoundrel who ruined two good girls.

Zhao Xian looked at the female physician in the manor: "Is Miss Cui alright?"

As the female doctor packed up the cloth bag containing the silver needles, she said, "Replying to Madam, Miss Cui is fine for now; she just needs some rest."

Turning her head, the female doctor said to the maid Dong'er, "Your young lady's hemophobia is not congenital. You should pay more attention in the future to avoid such things from happening again."

"If this happens too often, you're bound to bump into something while fainting, which could injure you."

Dong'er nodded repeatedly as she listened.

After confirming that Cui Tingyue was alright and leaving the female doctor to take care of her, Zhao Xian took Jiang Wei away.

If she hadn't been so firm, Jiang Wei probably wouldn't have wanted to leave.

He didn't seem worried when his wife was giving birth, and he didn't seem to care when she got so angry that she bled. But he certainly knows how to act when it comes to Cui Tingyue.

That's putting the cart before the horse.

If she hadn't known the plot of the book, Zhao Xian would have really wanted to ask him when he planned to take the man into his household.

Even so, they still said they only treated Cui Tingyue as a younger sister.

Is she a biological sister or a romantic sister?

“Xiu’er changes every day. You’re just idling at home anyway, so after you finish copying the Buddhist scriptures, draw some portraits of Xiu’er. You can look back on them later and have lots of memories.”

Since there were no cameras in ancient times, this was a good idea, and it could also give Jiang Wei something to do.

In the book, Jiang Wei is indifferent to his daughter, which means they spend little time together.

Relationships are built through spending time together.

However, Cui Tingyue is always an important supporting female character who stands between the male and female protagonists in the tragic romance novel, driving the plot of their deep and tragic love.

Jiang Wei thought of the matter of asking Lianniang to persuade his mother to move back to Haitang Residence, but when the two returned to Yunzhu Garden, there was no sign of the servants, and Lianniang had also stopped at her place and was not seen by him.

Jiang Wei originally intended to return to his study, but at the last moment he turned around and went to see his daughter.

The wet nurse brought the child out: "Young Master An."

"Ahhhhh..." Jiang Shuxiu howled without tears; she didn't want this father to hold her.

Jiang Shuxiu was resisting with all her might, but unfortunately, she was still just a baby.

In the end, she fell into Jiang Wei's arms.

Jiang Shuxiu, who had previously smiled at Jiang Wei after listening to her grandmother's words and being held by him, had a sour face today. If her grandmother hadn't said that her father was a man and that holding her wouldn't be tiring, she would have wanted to cry.

What kind of father is this? In his past life, he hurt his mother deeply because of Cui Tingyue, and he's still the same in this life. When he heard that Cui Tingyue had fainted, he abandoned her and ran away.

No, she had to get her mother divorced as soon as possible; she couldn't keep this father.

Jiang Wei was unaware of what his daughter was thinking. He could only watch as the child cried incessantly without shedding a tear, as if she were talking to him.

His usually cold face softened slightly at this moment.

"Father, draw a picture for Xiu'er."

His mother had previously asked him to paint a picture of Xiu'er, but he was reluctant. The child was so young, what was there to paint? But now he was itching to do so.

Jiang Shuxiu was completely bewildered by her father's trick, but she was still a baby and soon began to feel sleepy, so she didn't see the drawing her father made of her.

The next day, when Li Lianniang heard about this, the tightness in her chest eased considerably.

Unfolding the sketchbook that Jiang Wei had sent yesterday, looking at her daughter's adorable face reminded her of the portrait Jiang Wei had drawn for her when she was little.

His resentment towards Jiang Wei completely disappeared.

--

After finishing dealing with the pile of ledgers, Zhao Xian finally got a moment of relaxation.

Granny He brought in another stack of invitations.

Zhao Xian's brow twitched as she read the invitations. Granny He opened the invitations and categorized them into birthday banquets, 100-day celebrations, wedding banquets, etc., on one side, and tea banquets and flower banquets on the other. She also arranged the invitations according to the status of the adults in each family.

After tidying up, Granny He asked with some doubt, "Madam, we've received many more invitations for the flower viewing banquet and tea tasting banquet than usual."

Zhao Xian casually flipped through two books of posts, and an idea suddenly popped into her mind.

If she took Cui Tingyue out on blind dates and got her married...

A note from the author:

----------------------