Madam Wen lowered her voice a few notches.

"My mother and I stood face to face for a while, then I leaned over the window frame to look out.

"I saw the east wing opposite was brightly lit, and the window lattices reflected the interweaving figures in the room. Mother Tao came in with two maids with gloomy faces. After a while, the first lady also came. After about an incense stick of time, the second lady came with the dowager 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 wing.

"My mother couldn't sit still. She sent someone to inquire. She said Aunt Tong was gone, and that a baby boy was born!"

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 finished speaking, she lowered her eyelids and pondered 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 ask."

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

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

Eleventh Lady shook her head slightly: "Madam Wen, do you know why I came 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 good at dealing with people, 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 topic to old things. "I heard from aunt before that my eldest sister tamed aunt Tong and aunt Qin as soon as she came home. 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 didn't refuse. The mother you brought from Yangzhou saw it all and knew the pros and cons, so she also advised 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, then thought of how Madam Tong and Madam Qin were trembling in front of Yuan Niang when she first entered the room, and she responded softly, "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, my sister should have brought her own personal maid with her when she got married. 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 in, she also arranged for her personal maid to sleep with her, but the Marquis thought it was 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 in her words, and felt that she was being evasive and petty, so 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, but 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 take in a new person, and one of the two obedient concubines was picked, and the former Madam would be happy to see it happen."

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

"Yeah!" Madam Wen nodded, "It was Madam Qin, and it was because she looked plump and fertile, and she was honest and dull." At this point, she said with some emotion, "Otherwise, let alone the late Madam, even the dowager Madam would not have spared them. For example, the two concubines around the Third Master were married off by the Third Madam because of jealousy. And the two concubines around the Second Master were married off by the Second Madam after the Second Master died. If it weren't for this incident, Madam Tong and Madam Qin would have had the best ending."

From being honest and dull to bribing a Taoist priest to cast a spell on Xu Sizun, this is what is commonly known as "greed is like a snake swallowing an elephant"!

Eleventh Lady sighed softly.

Both of them fell silent.

"You said that Concubine 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. Why did Concubine Qin take so long?"

"Mrs. Tong gave birth to a baby boy, and there were two deaths. Madam Tai handed Mrs. Qin over to the care of the second wife, on the grounds that the first wife was mentally weak." 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. I didn't go to see Mrs. Qin at first to avoid suspicion. Later, Zhen Jie'er was born, and the second young master became the only heir of the marquis, so I couldn't get close to him. When I met Mrs. Qin at the first wife's house during the morning and evening visits, we just nodded and hurriedly dispersed without saying a word, and gradually we stopped communicating. Later, the marquis came back and rebuilt the main courtyard of the Xu Mansion. Mrs. Qin and I moved to the east courtyard of the main courtyard, and then we started to communicate again. But the events of the past were too involved, so neither of us mentioned them 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 Eleventh Lady 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 maid who was serving Aunt Tong at the time. Aunt Tong felt very uncomfortable, so she asked the maid 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 underwear was constantly oozing blood. She was shocked and didn't dare to instruct the mother in the room. She told the two maids to take care of Aunt Tong and went to the main room herself."

Madam Wen sat down and drank some tea.

"The late Madam had just come back from the Second Madam and rested. 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 go to find Mother Tao. Aunt Qin asked where Mother Tao was, and the maid said that Mother Tao had just returned to her room. Aunt Qin went to Mother Tao again. Mother Tao was washing up, and the maid asked her to wait for a while before reporting. Mother Tao asked Aunt Qin what was wrong. Aunt Qin was not good at speaking, and Mother Tao looked very stern. She stuttered and couldn't make it clear after talking for a long time. Mother Tao got annoyed and asked her to stand in the yard and come back to talk to her when she figured it out.

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

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

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

"Mrs. Tong has had a miscarriage, and the bleeding has not stopped. She has also fainted." Madam Wen nodded. "Mrs. Tao then became anxious and sent someone to report to the late Madam. The late Madam hurried over. Mrs. Tong was breathing more than she was breathing in. It was obvious that she was dying. The late Madam did not dare to hide it, and sent someone to report to the dowager..."

"At that time, the Xu Mansion was in a critical moment." Eleventh Lady murmured, "The old Marquis passed away, the Seventh Prince was caught up in a fight for the throne, and the Marquis' future was bleak. What the Marquis' Mansion needed most at the moment was a boy. First, the Marquis inherited the title, so he was the direct branch, and the Third Master and the Fifth Master were all side branches. The Marquis had descendants, and the direct branch's bloodline could be continued; 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 had no heir, and he had no name, 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 adopt the eldest son to the Marquis and cut off the incense of the Third House, right? So when the Madam Dowager saw this, she was so angry that she trembled all over, turned around and left without saying a word. Madam Qin, who was lying beside Madam Tong's bed crying bitterly, 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 piercing her middle finger with an embroidery needle."

"So the Madam decided to leave Concubine Qin to the care of the Second Madam?" Eleventh Lady pondered. "As a result, the Second Madam lived up to the Madam's trust. Concubine Qin gave birth to the healthy and lively eldest son Xu Siyu safely."

At this point, things have already taken shape.

Because Yuanniang was very strict with the two concubines who were born as maids, this also affected the attitude of the female servants towards the two concubines. When 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 and understandable. Tong Yi Niang was moved. For such a big thing, even if she was scared, she should make Yuan Niang cry. Why did she go to Tao Mama obediently after the little maid said so? And the little maid next to Tao Mama asked her to wait, so she waited there obediently?

Thinking back to Aunt Yi's words and the guilt I felt when I asked Aunt Qin to pay respect to the fifth concubine who passed away...

Eleventh Lady was 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's pregnancy was not going well and she miscarried when the baby was four months old. Because it was at night, the doctor didn't come in time and the mother couldn't save the baby."

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

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Let me make up for yesterday’s update first!

hehe!