Chapter Fifty-Seven: Sisters' Dispute
The Changxing Marquis's Residence.
Not long after Meng Jinyao left, the steward of the Yongchang Marquis's Mansion arrived at the Changxing Marquis's Mansion and had been waiting in the front hall for a long time. When he did not see Meng Jinyao for a long time, he was also anxious and paced back and forth in the hall to pass the time.
The maidservant serving tea watched him walk back and forth, and wondered to herself: With the way the Yongchang Marquis's family behaved, the madam probably wouldn't even come back to see him.
The butler glanced up casually and saw Meng Jinyao. He immediately stopped in his tracks, then quickly went to greet her with a beaming smile, almost fawning, and said, "Young Miss, you're finally back."
Meng Jinyao nodded expressionlessly, walked to the seat of honor and sat down. She glanced at the steward with a cool look in her eyes. When she saw the steward's smile falter and his nervous expression and uneasy gaze, she didn't make things difficult for him. She asked directly, "Today is the tenth day. Have my father and Madam Sun prepared the required silver notes?"
The butler's lips twitched when he heard her mention money so readily, and he quickly replied, "Young lady, everything is prepared. Because of this matter, the madam's dowry has been pawned."
Meng Jinyao smiled with satisfaction. As for what the steward said next, she ignored it. What did it have to do with her that Sun Shi pawned her dowry? It wasn't her who asked Sun Shi to pawn her dowry. It was her good father and good grandmother who were willing to use Sun Shi's dowry, even though the Yongchang Marquis's mansion could have scraped together the money.
I wonder if Sun regrets it now. She took her mother's dowry, but devoted herself to her husband's family. In the end, she didn't get any benefits. Instead, she lost all of her own dowry and was even accused of misappropriating her stepdaughter's mother's dowry.
Her tone softened slightly as she said calmly, "That's good. Give it to me first, and I'll check if the amount of silver notes is correct."
The steward responded, took out a stack of silver notes from his pocket, and then took out a few taels of loose silver and copper coins from his purse, which he respectfully presented: "Young lady, please see if there is anything you need."
Upon seeing this, Meng Jinyao was slightly taken aback, then took the bag and counted it carefully.
Very well, they were genuinely afraid of going to jail, and they really did return every penny to her. No wonder there were a few taels of silver and thirty-odd copper coins; that's because the amount was too small, and banknotes didn't have such small denominations.
The butler asked nervously, "Young lady, is there any error in the amount?"
Actually, he had secretly counted the money on the way here, and the amount was fine. If he was short a little money, he could easily cover three or five taels himself. As long as he completed this arduous task today, everything would be fine. Otherwise, when he returned to the Yongchang Earl's Mansion, he would inevitably be questioned by the Earl.
Meng Jinyao nodded and said, "The amount is not a problem. Thank you for your hard work, housekeeper."
The butler breathed a sigh of relief and quickly shook his head: "It's no trouble at all, it's all my duty." As he spoke, he glanced at Meng Jinyao and hesitated, "Miss, both Madam and the Old Madam have fallen ill."
Meng Jinyao said without changing her expression, "I'm not a doctor, what's the use of you telling me? Do you think their illnesses will be cured without medicine just by telling me?"
Seeing that she remained unmoved, the steward knew that she truly hated the Madam and the Old Madam, and hurriedly said, "What the eldest young lady says is true, I was confused."
Meng Jinyao added, "If there's nothing else, you should go back. I imagine they're all waiting for you to return and report back."
"Okay, sure."
The steward nodded in agreement, bid farewell to Meng Jinyao, and then left the Changxing Marquis's residence to return home and report back to his master.
Meng Jinyao glanced at the few taels of silver and the thirty-odd copper coins, and immediately distributed the silver equally among the three head maids, Chunliu, Qingqiu, and Ningdong. The thirty-odd copper coins were given to the little maid who had been serving tea on the side.
The group received the reward money and quickly expressed their gratitude.
On the way back to Wei Rui Xuan, Ning Dong asked curiously, "Madam, do you think they are really sick, or are they faking it?"
Meng Jinyao curled her lips and gave a mocking smile: "When have they ever encountered anything without falling ill? They're probably just too weak to handle anything, and they get sick as soon as something happens."
Upon hearing this, Ning Dong instantly understood. Pretending to be sick could not only gain sympathy but also allow her to stay home and avoid being ridiculed—a win-win situation.
After passing through the moon gate and the covered corridor, Meng Jinyao suddenly heard the sound of two girls arguing. She stopped and looked in the direction of the sound, and saw Gu Xuanyi, the eldest daughter of the main branch, and Gu Xuanling, the second daughter of the concubine. She didn't know what they were arguing about.
Both were fifteen-year-old girls, one with an arrogant face and the other timid and cowardly. The difference between a legitimate daughter and a concubine's daughter was not small; their temperaments were worlds apart.
Seeing this, Chunliu whispered, "Madam, the eldest and second young ladies have never gotten along, but it must be the eldest young lady who is bullying the second young lady."
Meng Jinyao nodded slightly and continued to observe. She saw Gu Xuanling with red eyes, her eyes brimming with tears, accusingly saying, "Big sister, you did this on purpose!"
Gu Xuanyi kicked the pastries that had fallen to the ground, tilted her head back, raised her chin slightly, and looked at Gu Xuanling with a smug expression, saying contemptuously, "I did it on purpose, what can you do about it?"
"You...you've gone too far!"
Gu Xuanling managed to squeeze out a sentence after a long while, her voice trembling with anger, and tears streaming down her face as she felt utterly wronged.
Gu Xuanyi said sarcastically, "A concubine's daughter is a concubine's daughter, always scheming. What's the use of you trying to please your grandmother? She's not your biological grandmother, and besides, you're born out of wedlock. You expect her to genuinely care for you?"
"I've already sent the pastries I made for my grandmother. These are for my mother." Gu Xuanling was too lazy to argue with her. She squatted down to pick up the pastries that had fallen on the ground, put them all into the food box, and also put the broken plate in.
"Mother?" Gu Xuanyi chuckled as if she had heard a joke, but she didn't hold back and continued to mock, "Don't forget that you are born out of wedlock. Your second aunt is not your biological mother. Your unfortunate aunt died a long time ago. We don't know if she has been reincarnated yet. If she has been reincarnated, she is probably ten years younger than you."
Even a rabbit will bite when cornered, let alone a person.
Gu Xuanling had tolerated everything that had happened before, but when she heard her cousin mention her deceased birth mother and speak rudely, she finally couldn't hold back anymore. She suddenly stood up, pushed Gu Xuanyi hard, and yelled at her, "Big sister, don't go too far!"
Caught off guard, Gu Xuanyi was pushed to the ground with a startled cry. Her maid was also frightened and quickly helped her up, asking with concern, "Miss, are you alright?"
Gu Xuanyi's palms were scraped, and her buttocks hurt when she landed. She gasped for breath after standing up and gritted her teeth, saying, "Gu Xuanling, how dare you! I think you're courting death!" The more she thought about it, the angrier she became, and she raised her hand to slap Gu Xuanling's face.
"stop!"
At the critical moment, a rather authoritative voice suddenly rang out. Gu Xuanyi's hand froze in mid-air, and she stared blankly at the source of the voice.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com