Looking at Cui'er's feet swinging in the air, Aunt Qin understood everything.

Although malaria is serious, it is not without medicine. She is so young, why would she die?

Aunt Qin felt stars in her eyes, her head buzzed, and she passed out.

When she woke up, it was already dusk.

The room was quiet. The two maids who usually served her were sitting outside the door chattering.

"I saw three ninesou on the table, so I played a ninesou as well. Who would have thought that Mrs. Wu would win. Do you think this is bad luck?"

"At least you won four games in a row and made up for the money you lost. As for me, I won more than 200 coins at the beginning, but I lost 100 coins in the end. In total, I lost more than 300 coins."

"Speaking of which, Mrs. Wu has been really lucky these days. You see, the four of us played cards together, but why did she get singled out to help Xiao Lian? I heard that she was rewarded with two taels of silver!"

"There's nothing to envy about making money from the dead. After all, that child is a pitiful person. She lost her life at such a young age. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been rewarded with a beechwood coffin."

That little bitch actually got a beech coffin!

Aunt Qin couldn't bear it any longer, she jumped up from the bed, ran to the door, and pulled the bolt hard - the door didn't move at all, obviously it was locked.

She was so angry that her whole body was shaking and her face was burning like fire.

"Open the door, open the door for me!" He pulled the bolt again randomly.

She wanted to pull that little bitch out of the coffin, open her heart and see whether it was red or black.

It was in vain that she was so good to her. She gave her all her old clothes and never forgot to give her red envelopes during festivals. What good did she get from Shiyi Niang that she would frame her like this?

She was puzzled at the time. She was fine, why did that little bitch insist on saying that she had a fever and blurted out the word "malaria". You know, she heard about this disease from the second wife, and she also said that this disease can be transmitted to humans. When the second wife said this, there was a human plague in Shanxi that year, otherwise, she would not remember it. Cui'er, an illiterate little maid, how could she know so clearly. Looking back, it was clear that she was instructed by someone.

It's a pity that no matter how hard I tried to guard against thieves in my own house, I still couldn't. In the end, I was defeated by Cui Er, that little bitch.

Aunt Qin's shouting brought the two maids' idle chat to an abrupt end.

One of them said awkwardly, "Aunt, please don't make things difficult for us. We are just following orders."

Another one echoed, "Yes, Auntie. If you have anything to say, just tell us and we will pass it on for you. As for opening the door, we dare not. If we are infected, we are not like you, Auntie, who can invite the imperial physician to consult and eat ginseng and Polygonum multiflorum as much as you want. We don't have such wealth."

"Bah!" Aunt Qin slammed the door angrily, "I'm not sick at all. Who said I was sick? When my son comes back, be careful that he comes to settle accounts with you."

"Son!" A woman sneered, "How can Auntie have a son? Even if she gave birth to a son, he was the Fourth Madam's son. When did he become your son? I think you are not only sick, but also seriously ill..."

Before the old woman finished her words, another old woman advised, "Why are you talking to her about this? You might as well take care of your spirit instead of wasting time." Then she said, "By the way, today old woman Wu said she would set up a gambling game at her house tonight. Are you still going?"

"Go, of course you should go. If I don't go, how can I get back the money I lost?"

The two of them chatted back and forth, pretending not to hear Aunt Qin slamming the door.

Aunt Qin's hands were sore from clapping, but the two maids outside just ignored her. Her heart gradually sank.

Those maids are the best at bullying the weak. In the past, those people saw that she gave birth to the second young master, and the second young master was liked by the marquis, so even if they didn't flatter her, they didn't dare to say anything cold to her...

She glared at the two old women outside the lattice, then looked at her palms that were red from knocking on the door, and sat down on the ground.

"How could this happen? How could this happen?"

If it was in the mansion, the Madam would be more restrained for the sake of the family's Feng Shui. But now, it was in the remote villa of Luoye Mountain, and no one would respond to her. Not to mention killing a few people, even if she set a fire, I'm afraid no one would notice it unless it burned for a long time.

How could I be so stupid?

As the thought flashed through my mind, I felt like a fish on a chopping board, unable to escape the fate of being gutted no matter how much I jumped.

No, no, no.

She couldn't admit defeat, nor could she afford to lose. Besides, she still had the Second Young Master.

The letter has been sent. As long as the second young master comes back, they won't dare to do anything to her.

As the thought flashed through her mind, her heart, which had just been at ease, began to tighten again.

The letter was asked to be delivered by Cui'er. What if Cui'er didn't deliver the letter at all?

Then, then she can only wait to die.

But how could the Bodhisattva let her die?

Over the years, the Bodhisattva has fulfilled all her wishes, and this time, he will definitely fulfill her wish as well.

Thinking of this, she immediately stumbled into the warm room at the back.

The warm room is empty, there is nothing!

Only then did she realize that this was the villa in Luoye Mountain, not her home in the Yongping Marquis's house.

But what about her Bodhisattva?

Where did her Bodhisattva go?

She stayed at her home in Yanjing... She forgot everything when she left... Is that so the Bodhisattva thought she was not sincere enough and wanted to punish her.

Yes, that must be the case. Otherwise, how could she be so careless as to be fooled by Cui Er? And how could she end up being trapped in Luoye Mountain?

Aunt Qin could not help but kneel in the middle of the warm room, facing the east with her hands clasped together, and chanted with her eyes closed: "Buddha, I, the believer Qin, have devoted myself to Buddhism for so many years, and have never stopped burning incense and flowers. I didn't bring you along this time, all because of that Luo Shiyi Niang..."

Before she finished her words, there was a creaky sound of a door opening outside the warm room.

Aunt Qin jumped up and rushed out, and saw a familiar face.

"Mom Du!" She was surprised.

"Aunt Qin!" Mother Du's smiling face was still so kind and amiable, but her appearance at this time and place made Aunt Qin shiver. "I'm here on the orders of the lady to see how Aunt Qin's illness is!" Mother Du said as she took a step back. Immediately, two burly old women like men came over and held her arms, one on the left and one on the right.

"Mother Du, you can't do this!" Aunt Qin understood immediately, she struggled and shouted, "When the Second Young Master comes back, he won't let you go!"

Mother Du smiled, took out a palm-sized glass bottle from her bosom, uncorked it, stepped forward and pinched her jaw...

* * * * * *

At this time, Eleventh Lady received the news of Mother Tao's death.

She went to the lady's place.

Since the shock, Xu Sizhun has been bedridden and has not been attending classes. He is even more timid than before, and nervously pulls the sleeves of those around him at the slightest sign of trouble.

The weather was very hot, and out of concern for Xu Sizhun's health, the lady only placed a piece of ice in the northeast corner of the wall. After staying in the house for a long time, she didn't feel it, but when she came in from outside, she still felt a slight chill.

The brothers Xu Sijie and Xu Sizhun were leaning on the pillow with their shoulders side by side and their heads close together. The former was chattering something to the latter.

Hearing the noise, he looked up and saw that the person coming in was Shiyi Niang. Xu Sijie immediately slipped down from the kang and ran towards her: "Mother!"

Xu Sizhun, who was lying on the bed, also called out "Mother" weakly.

Eleventh Lady touched Xu Sijie's head, nodded to Xu Sizun, and asked the two brothers, "What are you doing?"

"Tell Fourth Brother about Mr. Zhao's class." Xu Sijie took Shiyi Niang's hand and asked her to sit on the kang, then he climbed onto the kang and sat next to Xu Sizhun.

"Oh." Eleventh Lady smiled and chatted with them: "What did Mr. Zhao say?"

"Mr. Zhao told me the stories of Sun Zhongmou, Cao Cao, and Sun Quan."

Eleventh Lady thought for a moment and said with a smile, "Mr. Zhao has already told you about the chapter on brothers in "Youth Learning"?"

Xu Sijie nodded, his eyes showing admiration: "Mother is amazing. I know what Mr. Zhao told us right away."

"That's because my mother has also read 'You Xue'!" Xu Sizhun interrupted, "So naturally I knew what Mr. Zhao was striving for."

Xu Sijie chuckled.

Eleventh Lady asked about Xu Sizun's health.

Everyone was talking and laughing, and the atmosphere was very harmonious.

The news of Mother Tao's death circled around Shiyi Niang's tongue several times and then returned to her throat.

Things dragged on like this until dinner time, when Eleventh Lady came to say goodbye to Xu Sizun.

"Mother, do you have anything to say to me?" Xu Sizun looked at Shiyi Niang seriously with his dark eyes.

"You figured it out!" Eleventh Lady said frankly, but she was also a little curious, "How did you figure it out?"

Xu Sizhun smiled and said, "Because my mother is a little absent-minded today."

What a perceptive child.

As the thought flashed through her mind, Shiyi Niang felt even more reluctant. But if he heard the news of Mother Tao's death from others, he would probably be even more sad!

"I have something I want to tell you, but I don't know how to start." Although Shiyi Niang's tone was hesitant, she still told him, "At noon, Tao Cheng came to report the death. He said that Mother Tao passed away!"

As she spoke, she carefully observed Xu Sizhun's expression.

Xu Sizhun's peaceful expression froze there, then slowly turned into surprise, and slowly turned into pain...

Eleventh Lady hugged him tightly in her arms: "He has dysentery, and Chief Steward Bai even asked the imperial physician to come and see him..."

Xu Sizun's body trembled and he choked up and said, "That's why I was sick and Mother Tao didn't come to see me!"

It's an affirmative sentence, not a question.

Eleventh Lady felt sad.

Xu Sizhun was just a child waiting for love.

"No!" Eleventh Lady's voice was low and calm, "She came to see you. You were unconscious at that time!"

The truth will come out sooner or later.

Instead of explaining it later, it’s better to be honest now.

Xu Sizun raised his head, his face was covered with tears and his eyes were full of confusion.

"When Mother Tao saw you like this, she cried so hard that she fainted." Shiyi Niang explained softly, "We were afraid that she would bother you, so we let her go back the next day."

Xu Sizhun was immediately relieved.

The lady hated to hear people crying, especially when he was sick, saying it was unlucky.

"Then, can Cha Xiang come back and serve me?"

He looked at Eleventh Lady eagerly.

※

O(∩_∩)O~

Finally finished writing today's update.

PS: Draft, I’ll catch bugs tomorrow!