Chapter 439 Curiosity (Part 1)
No wonder the witch-monkey incident happened. Xu Lingyi didn't even ask a single question and directly dealt with all the people involved.
If you keep checking, it will just be like dominoes falling down.
This brings up Madam Wen again.
"Fourth Madam," Aunt Yi was afraid that Eleventh Lady would not believe her. She spoke louder and louder. "Aunt Qin has had evil intentions for a long time. All these years, she has been obsessed with how to make the second young master she gave birth to ascend to the throne of the crown prince. She invited Zhu Dao Po and tattooed the villain. All of these were her doings. It really has nothing to do with me. I am also a victim." She knelt on the ground with a plop. "Fourth Madam, I have no grudge against you in the recent days or in the past. What good will it do me to harm the Fourth Young Master? But Aunt Qin is different. If anything happens to the Fourth Young Master, although it has nothing to do with you, as a stepmother, you may not be able to avoid being careless. You were sitting in the room and suddenly such a natural disaster came from the sky. Even if you have a broad mind, you will be so angry after suffering such an injustice. Just stay in bed for two or three days and take some medicine to regulate your qi.
After talking to her personal maid, the matter gradually passed. But you are pregnant, and you are not feeling well, and the fetus is not in a stable position. Can you bear this? Can the unborn Sixth Young Master bear this? If the Sixth Young Master in your belly gets upset because of this... She paused and kowtowed like a garlic. "Fourth Madam, from the beginning to the end, it was only Aunt Qin who got away with this. You must open your eyes and see clearly. You can't let your relatives suffer and your enemies be happy, and let those villains get away with it!"
Amber, who was listening nearby, had her heart pounding.
What Aunt Yi said makes sense.
Everyone knows that the Fourth Young Master is weak. He would be sick for several days if he was held in the air by the Fifth Young Master twice. If he died of fright or was in a trance and could not take on the role of the Crown Prince, Eleventh Lady would probably be held responsible for her negligence. If Eleventh Lady was so anxious and angry that she had a miscarriage...
Thinking of this, she suddenly remembered that Aunt Qin had always asked about Shiyi Niang's health a few days ago.
Could it be that Aunt Qin had planned this since that time?
Amber looked at Eleventh Lady worriedly.
"Madam Yi, please stand up and talk!" Eleventh Lady's expression was solemn. "I understand what you mean. I will tell the Marquis about this matter. If there is nothing else, I will take my leave first. The Fourth Young Master will rest for some time, and I have to go back to take care of him." After saying that, she winked at Amber, turned around and left the room.
"Fourth Madam, please listen to me..." Aunt Yi's unwilling voice followed closely.
Eleventh Lady whispered to the rough and beautiful woman who came forward quickly, "Don't let Yi Yiniang talk nonsense." Then she took Amber and walked out of the yard quickly.
The sun had risen, shining brightly on the thick camphor tree next to the steps in the backyard. The unique fragrance of the camphor tree was baked even more intensely.
Eleventh Lady stood on the steps. The mottled sunlight shining through the gaps in the camphor tree's leaves fell quietly on her moon-white dress, which was clean and tidy, and the air even had a sense of freshness.
Amber, who was following behind her, didn't know why she stopped here. She paused and followed her gaze, and it happened to land on the green trumpet creeper vine climbing on the pink wall.
Inside the whitewashed wall lived Madam Wen.
"Madam." Amber guessed what was on Eleven Niang's mind, "Should we go to Auntie's place? Speaking of which, you haven't seen Qiuhong's box yet? It's better to go today than to wait for a day. I think we should go today!"
Eleventh Lady thought for a moment and said, "Go open my mirror case and put the pair of red gold lilac hairpins in a purse. Consider it a gift to Qiuhong as an extra box!"
A breeze blew by, and the entire East Courtyard became quiet.
The door of Qin's courtyard was tightly closed, while that of Qiao and Yang's was half-closed. Two maids were playing with sandbags under the big tree between the two courtyards. As if they heard something, one of them suddenly jumped up, said something to the other, and then flashed into Yang's courtyard, and the door was closed with a creak.
Another little maid slowly stood up and walked into Aunt Qiao's yard with her head down and sad.
Eleventh Lady smiled slightly.
Eleventh Lady did not open it. She nodded and went to Madam Wen's yard with Amber.
Madam Wen was counting Qiuhong’s dowry. There were things on the table, chairs, and tea tables…”
"Let's sit in the inner room!" Eleventh Lady went to the inner room with a smile.
The inner room was not much better. On the east side of the big kang next to the window, there were dozens of pieces of silk and satin neatly laid out.
Aunt Wen hurriedly moved Shiyi Niang to the west side of the big kang. She pushed the cloth inwards and half sat on the east side.
"Madam, what can I do for you?" She took the teacup from Donghong's hand with a smile and placed it respectfully in front of Shiyi Niang.
"I've been busy these days." Shiyi Niang said with a smile, "I'm not in the mood to come and sit with you." Then, she motioned to Amber to give the new box of things to Madam Wen. Madam Wen thanked her again and again. She also called Qiuhong out and kowtowed to Shiyi Niang three times.
Eleventh Lady accepted it with a smile, picked up the teacup and sipped the tea slowly.
Madam Wen was a smart woman. She signaled the servants in the room to leave.
Eleventh Lady asked her softly, "I heard that when Concubine Wen first came into the family, she lived in the west wing of the backyard of the old residence of the Marquis, and lived in the same courtyard with Concubine Qin and Concubine Tong.
Madam Wen's smile faded slightly, and she sighed secretly in her heart.
There are some things that you can't avoid even if you want to!
But that's fine.
Instead of always keeping it in my heart, I might as well tell Shiyi Niang and let her find out what happened. Then I can sleep peacefully.
She nodded and said, "No one in my family has ever thought that I would become the concubine of the Marquis. The dowry that was originally prepared is no longer needed, but the maids and old women who serve me are reluctant to let me go.
Because I was married from the south to the north, my living habits were different. My family talked to the lady-in-waiting about it. She agreed to let me bring my accustomed people with me. She also arranged for me to have maids and servants according to the custom of the mansion. Since I had many people around me, I lived alone in the west wing. Aunt Tong and Aunt Qin had two maids and two servants who did rough work. Since they were short of manpower, they lived in the east wing.
According to custom, a concubine should have a third-class maid, two young maids, and two old women by her side.
"Why didn't Aunt Tong and Auntie be given maids and old women as per custom?" Eleventh Lady put down the teacup in her hand.
The slight sound of the porcelain hitting the wall is crisp and clear.
"The family was not very stable at that time. Today and tomorrow, someone would leave. The Madam was ill. The Third Madam was pregnant. They needed help. The Second Madam had to take care of the Madam and help her manage the outer courtyard. The late Fourth Madam had just taken charge of the imperial court. It was inevitable that there would be some things that she could not take care of properly. She had to let the people in her own room take care of them first. She transferred a few people who had just entered the mansion from the outer courtyard to serve in the rooms of Aunt Tong and Aunt Qin. She was afraid that these people would not know the rules, so the late Fourth Madam specially sent a mother who used to serve her to go there."
Madam Wen had a clear gaze and a frank attitude, which was very different from her usual expression of alienation and caution when she was laughing.
Shiyi Niang knew that what she said was from her heart, so she didn't want to beat around the bush with her. She said frankly, "Although I have only met my eldest sister a few times, I think she is a smart, capable and clever woman.
Normally, let alone during such a turbulent time in the Marquis' Mansion, even in normal times, when the concubines are pregnant, they should be carefully taken care of. How can the concubines be allowed to set the rules? I wonder how these rules are made?"
"The late Fourth Madam set rules for us, which were nothing more than visiting her every morning and evening, setting the table and placing chopsticks, serving soup, and doing needlework," said Madam Wen. "It's just that I'm new here and I'm used to being a young lady at home. I couldn't change it all at once. In addition, I got pregnant not long after entering the mansion, and it wasn't good to be pregnant, so I just served the late Fourth Madam for a few days. Unlike Madam Tong and Madam Qin, they have been used to it since they were young. They were at a loss when they were asked to take a break. Also, I saw the late Fourth Madam busy day and night, and now that she is no longer in serious condition, I went to serve her." As she spoke, she paused and continued. "After the Marquis left, he handed the affairs of the outer courtyard to Chief Steward Bai. But at that time, people outside were saying that the Yongping Marquis's Mansion was going to fall. Several stewards in the outer courtyard gradually became restless when they saw that the head of the Xu family was away and there were only women and children. They managed their own business very well, hoping that they could leave when the Xu family fell into decline. Chief Steward Bai was a newly promoted steward. Some of these restless stewards had worked for the old Marquis, and Chief Steward Bai gradually became unable to control them. The old lady had to drag her sick body out to manage the affairs. The second wife, who was taking care of the old lady, was good at arithmetic. When the old lady was not in good spirits, she occasionally helped to calculate some small accounts. Later, the old lady's illness became more and more serious, and some affairs of the outer courtyard were handed over to the second wife and Chief Steward Bai.
"When the housekeepers in the inner courtyard saw the situation in the outer courtyard, some of the senior ones became disloyal. They said they had run out of incense and wanted to add more. Then they said they had broken things and wanted to buy more. They kept asking for money but couldn't pay. Some of them were originally trusted by the second wife, but suddenly they changed their master and behaved completely differently. They didn't know if they could keep this job for long. They just did their job day by day and watched the fun from the side. They didn't seek credit for anything they did, but only wanted to avoid mistakes. They were always procrastinating.
The deceased Fourth Madam pressed this and that floated up, and ten fingers were not enough. After a long time, I couldn't help but feel anxious. When she was in the hands of the Second Madam, everything in the mansion went smoothly, why is it that I can't turn it around when I am in my hands? I didn't tell anyone. I was afraid that others would know the joke. I held my breath and argued with several mothers in charge. I went back to the room and lay down to sleep. I didn't even want to say more. I rarely went to the Madam's place. How could she have the energy to take care of us? Everything in the house was entrusted to Mother Tao!"
Eleventh Lady was a little surprised.
Somehow, I thought of the first wife.
"So how does Mother Tao treat you?