After Lu and Shen Tingsi had a scene at the palace banquet, they returned to the Marquis' Mansion and were called to the main hall by the old lady.
Old Madam Qin sat upright in the main seat, looking at Lu who was standing in front of her with her head lowered. The more she looked, the angrier she became.
"Before entering the palace, I told you to keep a close eye on that little girl and not to cause any more trouble and make others laugh at our Jiang family."
Madam Qin shouted angrily, "How could you be so good? You actually took the initiative to stir up trouble in public, and were silenced by a girl who was still wet behind the ears. In no time, the entire capital will know that you, the mistress, took the lead in abusing your own flesh and blood. You have ruined the reputation of the Marquisate!"
Lu thought, was it me who ruined the reputation of the Marquisate? It was clearly Jiang Xiancao who went too far, too presumptuous!
She couldn't help but feel a little resentful. It was her mother-in-law and husband who condoned the girl's previous rude behavior, allowing her to become more and more arrogant and even dare to disrespect her, her mother, in public, which led to this situation.
But she would never utter these complaints in front of Old Madam Qin.
"Mother, I really wasn't trying to cause trouble. That little girl was so cold and rude in front of Princess Wenyi, and I couldn't stand it. I was afraid she would offend both the princess and the empress, so I kindly reminded her. This was also for the good of the Marquisate."
Mrs. Lu wiped her tears and said sadly:
"My daughter-in-law just said something to her, asking her to remember her status as the daughter of a marquis and not to lose her manners in front of the noble.
But that girl suddenly went crazy, and started accusing me of mistreating her in front of outsiders. She even dragged the entire mansion into it, saying a lot of treasonous nonsense. If it weren't for the Empress's intervention, I can't imagine what others would think of our Jiang family because of her one-sided words.
After hearing this, Old Lady Qin's expression became even gloomier.
She still felt that her daughter-in-law, Mrs. Lu, was incompetent and stupid, but there was one thing that Mrs. Lu was right about. That stinky girl, Jiang Xiancao, was now relying on the support of the Empress Dowager and was determined to ruin the reputation of the Marquis' Mansion.
"Do you think the Marquis and I really don't want to deal with her?"
After a moment's silence, Madam Qin spoke in a deep voice:
"If I could, I would have imprisoned this jinx in a rural village and never let her show up in the capital again. But if I were to touch her now, it would be tantamount to openly disobeying the Empress Dowager's wishes. Our Jiang family's bad reputation of abusing our legitimate daughter would be completely ruined."
Hearing this, Mrs. Lu clenched the handkerchief in her hand. "Even if we have to consider the Empress Dowager's face, we, as the elders, can't let her ride on our heads and humiliate us. We have to think of a way and can't let her go on like this."
Madam Qin sneered:
"Do you even need to say that? Children are always closest to their mothers, but you, as a mother, can't even control your own daughter. If I, as a grandmother, go over your shoulder and teach her, I'm afraid she won't listen."
Mrs. Lu was speechless, and then she heard Mrs. Qin say bluntly:
"In the final analysis, you are useless. Even your own daughter doesn't listen to you.
The Marquis is walking on thin ice in the court, working so hard to maintain the reputation of the Marquisate, and I, as his mother-in-law, am so old and in poor health. It was originally your job to keep everything in order at home, but now it seems that I can't rely on you after all.
"If we really talk about the methods of managing the household and raising children, you, the mistress, are not as good as the concubines in the mansion. Second wife Yi'er's mother is just a concubine who was promoted from a maidservant, but she has raised Yi'er so well. Look at you, how about you?"
Mrs. Lu's face flushed red, and she increased the strength of her hands, wishing she could tear the handkerchief into pieces.
"But the only good thing right now is that the Queen Mother appeared for our Jiang family at the palace banquet."
Old Madam Qin acted as if she didn't see her embarrassed expression and continued slowly, "If the Queen is willing to speak a few good words for the Jiang family in front of the Queen Mother, asking her to stop staring at Cao Ya'er, it would be able to solve our current predicament."
At this point, Madam Qin's eyes suddenly became fierce.
As long as the Queen Mother stopped paying attention to Jiang Xiancao, she would immediately make that girl disappear from the capital.
As for the Ninth Prince, she left it to her eldest son to deal with.
Her eldest son is so outstanding and smart, there must be a way.
Mrs. Lu hesitated to say something when a maid suddenly came in hurriedly, "Madam, Madam, someone is coming from the palace!"
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law hurried out and saw Qingluan, the female official beside the queen.
Qin's old face was full of smiles as she invited Qingluan into the room and took a seat.
Qingluan smiled and gave up the main seat, sitting to the lower right of Qin. Lu quickly asked the maid to serve her tea.
"This time, I am here on the orders of the Empress to deliver the news to the two ladies. I will leave now and will not drink tea."
Qingluan smiled faintly and refused. She glanced at the maids in the room, and Old Madam Qin immediately understood and asked them all to leave.
When there were only three of them left in the room, Qingluan smiled and said:
"Young Master Jiang of your family is a scholar in the Eastern Palace. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has always respected and admired his talent. Now that he is under house arrest, His Royal Highness is very worried about him and has discussed this matter with the Empress more than once."
Hearing this, Lu was about to speak, but Qin glared at her calmly and she held it back.
Qingluan took in all the little movements of the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, but pretended not to see anything and continued in a gentle voice:
"The Empress felt very sorry for Young Master Jiang's current situation and didn't want such a knowledgeable person like him to be delayed any longer. So she decided to plead with the Empress Dowager to revoke the imperial decree."
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