Chapter 18 Not That Smart
After returning, Zhang managed to calm down and slowly think about the whole process of the matter, wondering which link had gone wrong that led to the failure.
However, no matter how hard she tried, she would never have thought that Qing'er had turned over a new leaf. After returning home last night, she told Jiang Lan about her plan. So Jiang Lan used the same trick against her today, not only making her lose face, but also planting a seed of doubt in Jiang Cheng's heart.
"Madam, will the master find out...the medicine..." Tan Xiang hesitated and said the word "medicine", but was immediately shut up when Zhang glanced at her sharply.
"Remember, that was all Bi'er's doing. It has nothing to do with us. Besides, she was just a maid. Do you really think the master will pursue the matter? Family disgrace should not be made public. The master values his reputation the most. It's best to make a big deal out of a small one." Having said this, Zhang felt more confident and no longer panicked. "If we fail to bring down that girl this time, it will be even more difficult in the future."
Thinking of this, Zhang was filled with hatred again. Jiang Cheng had already made it clear today that if anything went wrong with Jiang Lan in the future, it would be blamed on her. She could no longer use the medicine and had to think of other ways.
"How come the names were switched?" Zhang was puzzled.
"Could it be that Qing'er was seen by someone when she put the box away?" Tanxiang asked.
Zhang thought that this must be the case. She was so angry that she called Qing'er a fool, saying that she could not do anything and was more likely to cause trouble. She wanted to have someone call Qing'er over and scold her. After she calmed down, she ordered, "Find a chance to teach her a lesson later. If she dares to say a word..." Zhang narrowed her eyes, and her ruthlessness was self-evident.
Tan Xiang nodded in agreement and brought up another matter, "Madam, don't you find it strange that the Second Miss would actually protect Qing'er?"
Zhang also felt that something was amiss when Tan Xiang mentioned this. Thinking about it carefully, she felt terrified and thought that Jiang Lan was plotting a bigger conspiracy. But then she changed her mind and realized that she was scaring herself. Jiang Lan was not as smart as she thought. She was just pretending to be magnanimous in front of others in order to gain a good reputation of being magnanimous and forgiving.
"Since she wants to pretend to be a good person and keep him here, then let Qing'er serve him well. Maybe he can be useful in the future."
"Madam is really thoughtful. How can the second young lady be your opponent~" Tan Xiang flattered her.
Zhang said proudly, "How dare a sickly girl like her fight me? Even if we don't fight, she won't live for many years."
On the other side, Jiang Lan knew that the matter was not over yet. Her father still had a question that was not answered, and she had already prepared an answer that could justify herself.
After dinner, Jiang Cheng came to visit Jiang Lan and asked her indirectly about the fairy lady. He seemed still uneasy, afraid that she would be bewitched and go astray.
Jiang Lan said that she dreamed of her mother a few days ago, but after waking up she could not remember what her mother said to her, and she never dreamed of her mother again, so she asked Qing'er to secretly invite a fairy to come and ask.
The fairy lady also had a kind heart of a bodhisattva. Seeing that she missed her mother so much, she taught her a method. She should put something her mother liked under her pillow. If the mother and daughter have a deep bond, they can meet in their dreams. So she went to the yard and picked a branch of pear blossom that her mother liked and put it under her pillow. Sure enough, she dreamed of her mother again that night.
Jiang Cheng thought to himself that what Qing'er had said before was consistent, so he felt relieved.
"Mom told Dad to take good care of himself and not to work too hard. She also told my brother and me to be filial to Dad and Mom, and to love my younger brothers and sisters. If my brother and I meet a good man in the future, we must bring him to Mom to see so that she can feel at ease..." When Jiang Lan said this, her eyes turned red and she turned her head away to wipe her eyes with a handkerchief.
Jiang Cheng was also moved. Thinking of Zhang's aggressive look in the morning and his deceased wife in the afterlife, he felt even more guilty towards Jiang Lan. "Don't worry, Lan'er. With daddy here, no one will dare to harm you again. Daddy will definitely find you a perfect husband so that your mother can rest assured in the afterlife."
At night, Jiang Cheng rested in the study, and the lotus seed and white fungus soup that Zhang had sent to him was returned by Jiang Cheng intact.
The next day, Jiang Cheng left without having breakfast with Zhang.
In order to win back her husband's heart, Zhang went to Jiang Lan in the morning to ask about her well-being, gave her clothes and daily necessities, and said a lot of nice things. Jiang Lan got goosebumps after hearing them, but she had to act along.
Zhang sat there until almost noon before leaving.
When leaving, Tanxiang secretly winked at Qing'er, and then Qing'er quietly left.
After the two met secretly, Tanxiang asked her if she was accidentally seen by someone when she put the box there. Qing'er swore to God that she was very careful and was sure that no one had discovered it.
"Didn't the Second Miss dream about the late Madam before? Could it be..." Qing'er paused, glanced around, and lowered her voice, "Did the late Madam tell the Second Miss something in her dream last night?"
Just then, a gust of cold wind swept past the two of them from behind, like a gust of chilly wind. They felt a chill on their backs and shivered suddenly.
Tan Xiang warned Qing'er not to talk nonsense, scolded her a few times and left in a hurry.
After returning, Tanxiang was still a little uneasy and told Zhang about Qing'er's guess.
Zhang also became a little suspicious and couldn't sleep well at night like the Duke's wife.
Early the next morning, she took a carriage to the Duke's Mansion and spoke well of Jiang Lan in front of the Duke's wife.
Jiang Yao was very depressed, thinking that her mother had taken the wrong medicine today. She actually came to make excuses for Jiang Lan. It was really outrageous.
When the mother and daughter were talking privately, Zhang was too embarrassed to tell them that she had lost more than she gained, and she was even more embarrassed to admit that she was afraid of the ghosts coming to her death. She said that she had her own plans and that she would know later, thus fooling Jiang Yao.
In the following days, Zhang took great care of Jiang Lan. She came to check on her health every day and sat in her room for half a day before leaving. She also invited many famous doctors to treat her, and specially found thousand-year-old ginseng and ten-thousand-year-old Ganoderma lucidum to nourish her body. She treated her more attentively than Jiang Rui.
Faced with Zhang's meticulous care, Jiang Lan cooperated with the acting. It was not time to break up with her yet, and there was only one word left in her mind: annoyance.
When Ling Feng reported the situation in the Shangshu Mansion to Qi Wuhan, he was listening to a beautiful woman playing the piano in Wanhua Tower.
The Golden Lotus Platform is surrounded by golden gauze curtains, on which golden lotus flowers are woven with gold threads, sparkling brightly under the light. The beautiful woman sitting inside and playing the piano has a hazy and elusive figure, which has a unique charm of being like a woman holding a pipa with her face half covered.
"If it were me, I would make him kneel down and pour tea to admit his mistake, and then slap himself a hundred times, shouting "I was wrong" after each slap." Qi Wuhan said with a hint of doting, "The little girl's heart is still too soft."
"If I were the Marquis, I would have torn that man's bones into pieces long ago." Ling Feng said the truth.
"Am I so heartless?" Qi Wuhan put down his teacup, fanning himself gracefully with an innocent look on his face.
Ling Feng glanced at the bone fan. The evidence was already in his own Lord's hands, so what else could he say...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
