Chapter 252 Night Raid on the Earl's Mansion
Upon hearing Yingge say that Madam Qiao had sent someone to deliver a message, Granny Pei hurriedly said:
"No one from the Earl's Mansion came to our door that day. What is Madam Qiao trying to do? If anything happens to the Madam, not only will the Earl not forgive her, but our General's Mansion will not let her off the hook either!"
Yu Qingci had calmed down by now. After listening to Yingge's words, doubts arose in her heart. No matter what Qiao Shi wanted to do, her mother's illness was of utmost importance and could not be delayed. She frowned and pondered for a moment before lifting the curtain and saying to the coachman:
"parking!"
The coachman stopped the carriage.
Yu Qingci summoned the head guard who was accompanying her and handed him a letter from the General's Mansion, saying: Yu Qingci:
"Take this notice and go to the Imperial Hospital immediately."
After thinking for a moment, he instructed, "At this hour, apart from those on duty in the palace, there are probably only a few imperial physicians remaining at the Imperial Hospital. Most of them should be at home. Go back to the General's Mansion and bring a few more people with you. Invite all the top-notch imperial physicians from outside the palace to the General's Mansion. Be quick!"
The guards received the order and turned to leave.
Yu Qingci then summoned another guard: "Go back to the General's Mansion and find Steward Lu to gather a team of guards. Also, send a few more nimble old women to the Earl's Mansion to see me as soon as possible. Anyone who dares to block the way, just take action!"
Granny Pei looked at her nervously: "Madam?"
Yu Qingci's face was cold and icy: "The Earl's Mansion is Qiao's territory. With her saying that it might be contagious, the people around Mother are powerless to resist. Father is not here at the moment, and Qiao holds the power to manage the family. She calls the shots in the entire Earl's Mansion. In that case, we should bring more people with us, just in case."
She secretly vowed: Once she arrived at the Earl's mansion, anyone who dared to block her way was courting death!
They arrived at the Earl's residence in silence. Knocking on the gate, ignoring the stunned expressions of the servants, Yu Qingci led her people through several doors to Mingyue Residence, where Su Chengniang lived.
Two guards from the Earl's mansion stood outside the courtyard. Upon seeing Yu Qingci, they quickly stepped forward, cupped their hands, and said:
"Third Miss, Madam Qiao said..."
"Get out of my way!"
Tong'er and Lianqiao rolled up their sleeves and stepped forward to push the two men aside. They were well aware of the situation and knew that they should always put their masters first.
Seeing that they couldn't stop her, the two guards didn't dare to stop her anymore. After all, everyone knew that the Third Miss was now of noble status, and who would dare to go against the General's Mansion?
Hearing the commotion, the people inside opened the courtyard gate. Those in the courtyard were all elderly people whom Su Chengniang had brought back to the Earl's mansion. Upon seeing Yu Qingci, they reacted as if they had seen their pillar of support, excitedly calling her "Third Miss."
Yu Qingci entered the room without stopping. Su Chengniang lay on the bed with her eyes closed, her face ashen and her lips pale, unconscious.
"Mother, your daughter is here."
Yu Qingci shed tears and gently shook Su Chengniang, but she couldn't wake her up at all.
Granny Liu, standing to the side, also said to Yu Qingci with tears in her eyes:
"Third Miss, you're finally back! Madam has been unconscious for quite some time, and we can't wake her up no matter what we do."
"Where is the imperial physician?"
Granny Liu pointed to the outer room, and Yu Qingci turned and went out.
The physician guarding outside bowed his head and replied tremblingly, "Third Miss, Madam's illness has been treated by Physician Zhao recently. Physician Zhao said he would go back to discuss Madam's condition with others, and Madam Qiao has instructed me to stay here and keep watch."
Yu Qingci sneered: "You just stand by and watch my mother get up no matter how much you call her, and you do nothing about it?"
The physician trembled and knelt down: "I am incompetent. The lady's illness is urgent and severe. My medical skills are too shallow to do anything about it."
Yu Qingci: "Who said my mother's illness is contagious?"
The physician said, "Zhao, Imperial Physician Zhao."
As they were questioning, hurried footsteps sounded from the courtyard gate. Qiao Shi, accompanied by a group of old women and maids, arrived before her voice, her tone carrying just the right amount of surprise and concern:
"Who's making such a racket in the dead of night? Can you afford to take responsibility if this disturbs my sister's illness?"
Yu Qingci couldn't help but sneer even more. With such a commotion just now, not only Qiao Shi, but the entire Earl's Mansion was probably woken up. Who wouldn't know that she had returned?
After entering the room, Qiao seemed to notice Yu Qingci only then, and said with surprise:
"Third Sister? Why are you back? You didn't even send someone to let me know beforehand, so I could have..."
Yu Qingci: "Shouldn't I be asking Madam Qiao this? My mother is so ill, why hasn't Madam Qiao sent anyone to tell me?"
Unfortunately, I received the news too late and could only return at this time. I'm truly sorry to have disturbed Mrs. Qiao's rest.
He said apologetic words, but his expression remained completely unchanged.
Madam Qiao was even more surprised and said, "No one was sent? I remember I specifically sent Granny Wu to arrange for someone to deliver the message. Granny Wu, what's going on?"
Granny Wu stepped forward with her head down, raised her hand as if to slap herself across the face, and said:
"It's all my fault. I was busy during the day following Madam's orders to fetch the imperial physician. I must have confused my mind and thought I had instructed someone to inform the Third Miss. I didn't expect that the Third Miss didn't receive the letter. Please forgive me this time, Third Miss."
Yu Qingci, no longer wanting to watch their act, asked:
"Isn't it said that my mother's illness is contagious? How come Mrs. Qiao just walked in like this? Aren't you afraid of getting infected?"
How could Madam Qiao not hear the sarcasm in her words? Her face darkened as she said:
"It's probably contagious, as Physician Zhao said, but it's not certain yet. As for the Third Sister, she led a group of people to knock on the door and barge in in the middle of the night. If this gets out, people will think that our Earl's Mansion has offended the Third Sister and that she has brought people to attack us."
Besides, I'm an elder, and your accusatory attitude is really ill-mannered.
Yu Qingci: "Is Madam Qiao teaching me manners and etiquette? A concubine really thinks she's someone important, lecturing the legitimate daughter of the first wife on manners? Who gave you the audacity?"
Qiao was furious: "Insolence!"
Meeting Yu Qingci's mocking gaze, Qiao suppressed her anger and put on a smiling face:
“I know you’re worried about my sister’s sudden illness, so I won’t hold it against you. You know that my sister has had a cough for a month now. We’ve consulted the imperial physician many times and used up a lot of expensive medicine, but there’s been no improvement. Who knew that the illness would suddenly worsen yesterday? Unfortunately, the Lord is away on a disaster relief mission ordered by the court and is not at home. As a woman confined to the inner quarters, I have no other choice but to ask the imperial physician to come to our door. Even Physician Zhao is at a loss for what to do. You can’t blame me for this, can you?”
However, since no one sent a message to the General's Mansion, how did Third Sister know?
Yu Qingci retorted, "You want me not to know?"
Qiao Shi also lost her patience and said coldly:
"Even though you are now the general's wife, I am still your elder. You suddenly barged in with people in the middle of the night. What, am I not allowed to ask you anything, as the mistress of the house?"
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