Chapter 269 Conflict Resurges
Emperor Xiaozhao felt his blood rush to his head, his eyes rolled back, and he fainted.
"Someone come here! Quickly summon the imperial physician!"
The chief eunuch Liu Xin was terrified. He supported Emperor Xiaozhao while shouting towards the door.
The crown prince was also terrified and hurriedly tried to help, but he tripped and couldn't get up for a long time.
Soon, people were carrying Emperor Xiaozhao to bed, helping the Crown Prince to his feet, summoning the imperial physicians, and informing the Empress Dowager and the Empress...
The palace was thrown into chaos.
***
In the Zhenguo General's mansion, Madam Min Qiao arrived at the residence of Old Madam Yuan.
Madam Yuan sat on the bed, looking haggard, while several ladies and old ladies sat around her, keeping her company.
As soon as Madam Min entered, she saw Madam Zheng sitting by the door.
The side with the door is the furthest from the bed.
Logically speaking, given Madam Zheng's status, she shouldn't be sitting so far away.
Madam Min Qiao didn't want to ask right now, so she nodded to Madam Zheng and walked past her to the bedside.
Madam Min sat down on the edge of the bed, took Old Madam Yuan's hand, and asked softly, "Are you feeling any better? I heard you were sick, so I came to see you."
"If there's anything I can do to help, just let me know. I'll do everything I can to help."
Madam Yuan looked at Min Qiaoshi with surprise, as she had never had any interaction with Min Qiaoshi before.
Moreover, she had witnessed firsthand how Madam Min would publicly confront people. Naturally, she knew that Madam Min was no pushover.
Therefore, each time they met, she and Madam Min would simply nod to each other to maintain appearances.
Seeing Min Qiao's sudden concern, Old Madam Yuan felt a jolt in her heart. Was there some kind of conspiracy waiting for her?
Although she had doubts in her heart, Old Madam Yuan showed no sign of them. Instead, she grasped Min Qiao's hand with a grateful expression and said thank you, "You're so kind. Thank you for coming to see me. Please have a seat."
As he spoke, he had a maid bring a round stool into the room for Madam Min Qiao.
There were already seven or eight people sitting in the room. The seats near the bed were occupied by the wife of the Earl of Annam and the wife of the Minister of Personnel.
The others then moved outwards in turn towards the doorway.
Before Madam Min could put the stool down, she said with a smile, "Put the stool next to Madam Zheng, and I'll sit next to her in a bit."
The maid looked at Old Madam Yuan, and seeing that Old Madam Yuan nodded, she obediently placed the stool next to Madam Zheng.
However, after the stool was placed, Madam Min Qiao did not immediately get up and sit down. Instead, she looked at Old Madam Yuan with a troubled expression, "Old Madam, my eldest granddaughter has always admired heroes. Yesterday, when she heard that Second Young Master Yuan had died in battle, she cried all night."
“They were waiting at my door early this morning, ready to come with me to your residence to pay our respects.”
"When she heard me say I wanted to come and see you, she wanted to come along and kowtow to you."
"They're right outside the door right now."
Madam Yuan was unaware of the situation, but her first instinct was to refuse.
Like Min Qiao herself, the eldest granddaughter's reputation was truly unappealing.
Sometimes, she wondered just how thick-skinned this grandmother and grandson were, completely disregarding the opinions of outsiders.
The eldest daughter of the Min family has gone through so much trouble. If it were anyone else, they would probably have died of shame and indignation long ago. But she can pretend that nothing happened and go out to attend the banquet.
She really didn't have a good impression of Miss Min, who acted so wickedly and shamelessly.
Since Madam Min had already said so, she couldn't refuse outright, so she could only nod and say, "This child is thoughtful. Let her in."
The little girl went out to deliver the message.
Soon, Min Yuexi walked in.
"Yuexi greets all the ladies and mistresses."
After entering the room, Madam Min Qiao first curtsied to everyone before slowly walking forward to the bedside. She then knelt down, lifted her skirt, and kowtowed to Old Madam Yuan on the bed.
"Yuexi kowtows to the old lady, wishing her a speedy recovery. May the general in heaven bless the old lady with all things going smoothly and a long life."
Min Yuexi was very polite, kowtowing sincerely and speaking earnestly, which made Old Madam Yuan feel somewhat favorably toward her.
However, upon hearing Min Yuexi mention her deceased son, Old Madam Yuan's eyes welled up with tears.
Although she had known about her son's death for more than a month, and even her current feigned illness was to cooperate with the Emperor's arrangements, Madam Yuan still could not let go of her grief over her youngest son's death.
However, seemingly afraid of upsetting her, everyone who came to visit her tacitly avoided mentioning her son. But heaven knows, what she fears most right now is everyone ignoring her son.
Her son was a hero who died for Dayan. Everyone should remember him and respect him, instead of making excuses to ignore him!
"Good child, get up quickly."
"Thank you, Madam." After saying thank you, Min Yuexi did not stand up, but instead kowtowed to Madam Yuan again.
"Madam, Yuexi has a request, please grant it."
Upon hearing this, Madam Yuan unconsciously frowned, and the slight goodwill she had felt for Min Yuexi just now vanished instantly.
Lady Annam, who had been silent until now, finally seized her opportunity and said sarcastically, "Oh dear, why are you asking for favors just for kowtowing? If all the benefits in the world were so easy to obtain, who would bother to work hard?"
The wife of the Minister of Personnel, Madam Zhong, the eldest sister-in-law of Old Madam Yuan, also looked coldly at Min Yuexi, "Little girl, if you knew it was an unreasonable request, you shouldn't have said it. If you came to pay your respects sincerely, the Yuan family will appreciate it. If you have ulterior motives, I'm afraid you will leave disappointed today."
The words were addressed to Min Yuexi, but anyone with eyes could see that they were actually meant for Min Qiaoshi.
After speaking, Madam Zhong glanced at Min Qiaoshi with disdain.
Whether it was Lady Min Qiao, Lady An'nan, or even the former Lady Sun of the Minister's Mansion, in her eyes, none of these people were respectable. Their shrewish behavior of cursing and throwing mud at each other was even more despicable.
Therefore, she disdained associating with them, and even more so, she disdained participating in their childish games.
However, underestimating does not mean ignoring.
If Madam Min Qiao has already set her sights on her sister-in-law, and she continues to sit idly by, Madam Min Qiao will think that the Zhong family has no one left.
Faced with the two's difficult behavior, everyone else remained silent.
Seeing that Min Qiaoshi and Min Yuexi had been lifted up, Madam Zheng couldn't help but speak up to smooth things over: "Old Madam Zhong, Madam Bo, Min's eldest daughter hasn't finished speaking yet, and you're already so quick to condemn her, saying that she has ulterior motives. Isn't that a bit inappropriate?"
Lady Annam used to be somewhat wary of Madam Zheng, but now she is not afraid at all.
Seeing that Madam Zheng spoke up to help Min Yuexi, she immediately feigned shock and said sarcastically, "Oh dear, Madam Zheng, you haven't left yet? Old Madam Yuan is already ill and weak. You don't look too well either. I don't know if the poison in your body has been completely cleared. You should make sure that Old Madam Yuan's condition doesn't worsen."
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