Chapter 441 Curiosity (Part 2)

Madam Wen's voice lowered a few notches.

"My mother and I stood facing each other for a while, then I leaned on the window frame to look outside.

"I saw the east wing opposite was brightly lit, with shadows of people reflected through the window lattices.

Mother Tao came in with two maids with gloomy faces. After a while, the first wife also came. After about an incense stick of time, the second wife came with the old lady... Within two quarters of an hour, the heart-wrenching cry of Aunt Qin and the sobbing of the little maids came from the west room.

"My mother couldn't sit still. She sent someone to inquire. She said that the aunt was gone, and a baby boy was left behind!"

Madam Wen looked up at Eleventh Lady and said, "Later, Madam Qin followed Madam Tai and Second Lady empty-handed to Madam Tai's residence."

Eleventh Lady had been listening attentively. When Madam Wen had finished, she lowered her head and thought for a long while, then said in deep thought, "There are a few things I don't understand."

Madam Wen leaned forward slightly and said, "Madam, please tell me."

"You said that Aunt Tong and Aunt Qin were used to serving my eldest sister, so they also served her when she was pregnant. What about you? You have your mother brought from Yangzhou by your side, and pregnancy is a special period, so why did you also serve her?"

Madam Wen felt awkward for a moment: "I am one, and they are two..."

Eleventh Lady shook her head gently: "Madam Wen, do you know why I am here?" Without waiting for Madam Wen to answer, she told Madam Wen that Madam Yi had asked the maid to bring her a message.

Madam Wen didn't expect that Eleventh Lady would tell her such a secret, she was very surprised.

"Although aunt is very charming, she has never said anything that she shouldn't say. I know that aunt knows what's going on. There are some things that I won't hide from aunt." Eleventh Lady said, and quickly changed the subject to the past. "I heard from aunt before that my eldest sister tamed aunt Tong and aunt Qin as soon as she came into the house. If I'm not mistaken, my sister must have been very strict with the two aunts, which made the two aunts feel scared from the bottom of their hearts. So when they felt a little better, they went to serve my sister, and my sister did not refuse. The mother you brought from Yangzhou was watching closely and knew the pros and cons, so she also persuaded you to go with her to serve. Am I wrong?" She thought of the aunts of the Luo family.

Madam Wen was silent for a while and responded with a low "yes".

That's right, otherwise there is no way to explain what happened afterwards.

"There's one thing I don't understand." Eleventh Lady pondered, "According to reason, when my sister married, she should have brought her own personal maid with her. Why did she choose Tong as her concubine instead of finding one from her own maids?"

She really wanted to know what caused the conflict between Xu Lingyi and Yuanniang.

"The Marquis has never paid much attention to such matters." Madam Wen said somewhat awkwardly, "I heard that when the former Madam first married, she also arranged for her personal maid to sleep with her, but the Marquis found it troublesome and preferred to go to Madam Tong and Madam Qin, and the matter was left unresolved." As she spoke, she thought of the sharpness of Eleventh Lady's questions and her frankness, and felt that she was being evasive, which made her look petty. After a little thought, she simply spoke frankly, "Later, the two families decided that I would marry in. Madam Tai was afraid that I would act coquettishly after I married in, so she wanted to find someone to suppress me. She was also afraid that the former Madam would not be able to control me, so she pointed out Tong, who was gentle and good-looking, as the madam. There was no need to marry a new person, and one of the two obedient concubines could be promoted, and the former Madam would be happy to see it happen."

This was the second time that Shiyi Niang had heard Madam Wen say that Tong was gentle in nature: "So, Tong was able to become a madam because of her gentle nature?"

"Yes!" Madam Wen nodded, "It was Madam Qin, because she looked plump and fertile, and honest and dull." Speaking of this, she said with some emotion, "Otherwise, not to mention the late wife, even the dowager wife would not have spared them. For example, the two concubines around the third master were sent away by the third wife because of jealousy. There were also two concubines around the second master. After the second master died, the second wife decided to marry them. If it weren't for this incident, Madam Tong and Madam Qin would have had the best ending."

From being honest and dull to hiring a Taoist priest to cast a spell on Xu Sizhe, this is what is commonly said as "greed is greedy and desire is unacceptable"!

Eleventh Lady sighed softly.

Both of them fell silent.

"You said that Aunt Qin went to the main house alone to report the news." After a while, Shiyi Niang said, "I remember that you lived in the backyard of the main house at that time, and it took no more than a cup of tea to get there. But you said that you knelt until your feet were stiff and you didn't see anyone coming. How could Aunt Qin be gone for so long?"

"Mrs. Tong gave birth to a boy, and two lives were lost. The Madam, because the first wife was mentally weak, had no choice but to hand over Mrs. Qin to the care of the second wife." Mrs. Wen said, "The second wife has been taking good care of Mrs. Qin's daily life until the second young master was born. Mrs. Qin and the second young master moved to the west wing where the second wife lived. At first, I didn't go to see Mrs. Qin to avoid suspicion. Later, when Sister Zhen was born, the second young master became the only child of the marquis, and I couldn't live there anymore. When we met at the old lady's house in the morning and evening, we just nodded and left in a hurry without saying a word. Gradually, we stopped communicating. Later, when the Marquis came back and rebuilt the main courtyard of the Xu Mansion, Aunt Qin and I moved to the east courtyard of the main courtyard, and then we started to communicate again. But the things that happened back then were too complicated, so neither of us mentioned it again. Some of the things were found out by my mother, and I don't know if they are true or not. "

Madam Wen took a sip of tea and found that it had already gone cold. She smiled apologetically at Shiyi Niang and went to make a pot of hot tea herself.

"When Aunt Tong got red, the mother in their room was furious. She only questioned the maidservant who was serving Aunt Tong at the time. Aunt Tong felt very uncomfortable, so she asked the maidservant who was serving Aunt Qin to call Aunt Qin back." She changed a cup of tea for Shiyi Niang, and Shiyi Niang thanked her in a low voice. "After Aunt Qin went back, she saw that Aunt Tong's panties were constantly soaked with blood. She was shocked and did not dare to instruct the mother in the room. She told two maidservants to take care of Aunt Tong and went to the main room herself."

Madam Wen sat down and drank a sip of tea.

"The late Madam had just come back from the Second Madam's place and had just gone to bed. Aunt Qin said that Aunt Tong was not feeling well, so she asked the maid to report it. The maid said that the late Madam had just lost her temper, and if there was nothing important, it would be better to talk about it tomorrow, or to find Madam Tao. Aunt Qin asked where Madam Tao was, and the maid said that Madam Tao had just returned to her room. Aunt Qin asked again. Went to Madam Tao's place. Madam Tao was washing up, and the maid asked her to wait for a while before going to report. Madam Tao asked Aunt Qin what was going on. Aunt Qin was not good at speaking, and Madam Tao looked very stern. She stammered and couldn't make herself clear after talking for a long time. Madam Tao got annoyed and asked her to stand in the yard and come back to tell her when she figured it out.

"Mrs. Qin had no choice but to kneel down and beg Madam Tao to go see Madam Tong."

"Mother Tao then changed her clothes and followed Aunt Qin to the east chamber."

"But it's too late!" Eleventh Lady said in a deep voice.

"Mrs. Tong has gone into labor and the bleeding has not stopped. She has also passed out."

Madam Wen nodded. "Mother Tao was anxious at this point, and she sent someone to report to the late Madam. The late Madam hurried over, and Madam Tong was already in and out more often than she was breathing, and she was about to die. The late Madam did not dare to hide it, and she sent someone to report to the Madam Dowager...

"At that time, the Xu Mansion was in a critical moment." Eleventh Lady murmured, "The old Marquis passed away, the Seventh Prince was involved in a dispute over the succession, and the Marquis' future was bleak. What the Marquis' Mansion needed most at this moment was a boy. First, the Marquis inherited the title, so he would be the direct branch, and the Third and Fifth Princes would all become collateral branches. The Marquis had descendants, and the direct branch's bloodline would continue; second, if the late emperor was unwilling to let the Xu family go, the Marquis had descendants, so at least he could find a way to deal with it and keep the Xu family's title. Otherwise, the Marquis would have no heir, and he would have no reason to do so, so even if he had the power, he would be powerless. The Yongping Marquis' Mansion would just be history."

"Well!" Madam Wen nodded slightly, "At that time, the Fifth Master was still young and had no children; the Third Master only had an eldest son, and he couldn't pass the eldest son to the Marquis and cut off the incense of the Third House, right? So when the Madam saw it, she was so angry that she trembled all over, and turned around and left without saying a word. Madam Qin, who was lying beside Madam Tong's bed crying her heart out, suddenly fainted..."

"Fainted?" Eleventh Lady looked at Madam Wen in surprise.

"She fainted!" Madam Wen said confidently, "It was the Second Madam who saved her by pinching her Ren Zhong acupoint and pricking her middle finger with an embroidery needle."

"So the Madam decided to hand Concubine Feng over to the care of the Second Madam?" Eleventh Lady thought, "In the end, the Second Madam lived up to the Madam's trust, and Concubine Qin safely gave birth to the healthy and lively eldest son Xu Siyu."

At this point, the matter has already taken shape.

Yuanniang was very strict with the two concubines who were born as maids, which in turn affected the attitudes of the female servants towards the two concubines. When the accidental factors met the inevitable results, a qualitative change occurred.

Although Qin Yi Niang was a little dull, she was not confused. She was a little timid in front of such shrewd masters as the Madam, the Marquis, and the Second Madam, but Shiyi Niang had heard her talking to Wen Yi Niang. Although her words were not eloquent, they were clear. Tong Yi Niang was upset. For such a big thing, even if she was scared, she should cry for Yuan Niang. Why did she go to Tao Mama obediently after the little maid said so? And the little maid beside Tao Mama asked her to wait, so she waited there obediently?

Then I thought of what Yi Yi had said, and the guilt I felt when I asked Qin Yi to go and pay respect to the fifth concubine who had passed away...

Eleventh Lady was slightly moved and asked Aunt Wen: "After something like this happened, when the Marquis came back, how did the Madam reply to him? Do you know?"

"I know." Madam Wen said, "Madam Tai said that Madam Tong was not pregnant well. She miscarried when the baby was four months old. Because it was at night, the doctor didn't come in time, and the lady couldn't save the baby."

"What about the Marquis?" Eleventh Lady asked, "Didn't the Marquis ask any more questions?"