Chapter 28: Punishment: She was asked to kneel for an hour and reflect on her mistakes...
Qi was stunned when she heard this, her face darkened, and she coldly said to Qiu Zhi, "Speak!"
Qiu Zhi did not dare to hesitate, but after all, it concerned her aunt's wife, and her aunt's wife's inappropriate words made her feel uneasy, so she could only tell the story hesitantly.
As she expected, as soon as she finished speaking, Qi slammed the table in anger and stood up from her seat.
"What nonsense! I treated you well, but my sister-in-law framed me like this and made me feel so ashamed. She must have a conscience!"
Qi was so angry that she reached out and pushed all the teacups on the table to the ground.
The teacup fell to the ground and shattered, making a crisp sound.
Nanny Jiang waved her hand, signaling Qiu Zhi to retreat.
Qiu Zhi didn't dare to stay any longer, so she tiptoed out.
Only Mrs. Qi and Nanny Jiang were left in the room.
Nanny Jiang soothed her, "Madam, there's no need to be so angry. My uncle's wife came from a merchant family. She only gained some respect these days because she married into the Qi family. How can she be treated the same as the wives of the wives of respectable families? It's totally unworthy to get angry over this."
Qi was so angry that her body was shaking. She said bitterly, "How dare she fabricate a story between me and the master, saying that I was only concerned with power and fighting for the harem, and that's why Concubine Liu stole my favor. How could she understand that I didn't want to be close to the Marquis? It's not like I haven't humbled myself before and sent people to invite the Marquis over, but twice out of three times, Concubine Liu found an excuse to keep him in her room. I'm the mistress of the house, so why should I compete for favor with a lowly concubine? Even if I were to sacrifice my dignity, wouldn't I still be able to consider Bo'er and let people laugh at him because of this?"
"The Qi family only sees me living a life of luxury as a marquis's wife these past few years. How could they know how much I've suffered behind the scenes? How much suffering have I endured? If my sister-in-law and Ruorou's words spread throughout the mansion, I wonder how many people in the mansion will laugh at me, and laugh at my sister-in-law and niece for being so greedy and insatiable."
Qi was so angry that she wanted to question Zhan right now, but if she made a big deal out of it, she would lose even more face.
So, he could only endure it for the time being and ordered Jiang Ma Ma: "Pick out a few of the old women who were gossiping today and give each of them twenty lashes of the board. Drive them out of the inner courtyard. If there are daughters or daughters-in-law serving in the mansion, drive them out as well!"
Nanny Jiang's heart sank, and she subconsciously asked, "Will the Madam's handling of this matter cause a big disturbance if the news reaches the old lady?"
Qi said coldly, "It's alright. The old lady hates these rumors in the mansion the most. Besides, the news spread so quickly, I don't believe there's no one behind it. Gao doesn't have the guts to do it, so it's probably someone from the second house."
"Bian has long been dissatisfied with me being the sole manager of the household affairs. Perhaps she is using this incident to embarrass me and argue with the old lady."
Madam Jiang's expression changed. "But, the old lady has always been partial to the second lady."
Before she could finish, Madam Qi continued, "If the marriage hadn't fallen to Yan, I would have suffered a great loss this time. But now Yan is about to become the wife of the Duke of Wei's son. The old lady will not let me, the Marquis' wife, lose face at this critical juncture."
"Not only that, the old lady will most likely tacitly allow me to punish those servants and kick a few of them out. From now on, the people in the mansion will behave better."
Hearing what she said, Madam Jiang nodded and said, "If that's the case, it would be great. I'll go down and make the arrangements right away."
Qi nodded and waved her to go down.
After she left, Qi sat back on the couch. Seeing the broken teacups on the ground, Qi's face was still ugly.
She had worked hard over the years and finally gained a respectable status in the Marquis' Mansion. She never expected that her sister-in-law and niece from her natal family would come to the mansion and make her lose face so quickly.
She had to think of a way to ask Mrs. Zhan to move out of the house, otherwise, she didn't know what kind of trouble her sister-in-law would cause.
Moreover, Zhan was still thinking about finding a good marriage for Ruorou. For this, she, as an elder, had the nerve to speak to Yan Yatou. She was truly shameless. If she continued to live in the mansion, she might set her sights on the two young masters of the mansion.
She didn't want Zhan to set her sights on the Ningshou Marquis' Mansion. It wasn't that she looked down on the Qi family, but the Qi family girl was simply not worthy of the young master of the Ningshou Marquis' Mansion.
If something scandalous happened, she would not only lose face, but would also have a hard time explaining herself to her mother-in-law.
But it was not so easy for her to drive people out of the mansion. In the eyes of the world, Zhan had helped her take care of Yan girl for so many years. Both she and the entire Ningshou Marquis Mansion owed a favor to the Qi family. It was not something that her mother-in-law could get rid of by simply saying that she had to stay with her grandmother to fulfill her filial piety.
Because of this concern, she couldn't take action, and couldn't even express her thoughts. She just ignored all the rumors she heard today.
"It's really annoying. If I hadn't sent Yan girl back to the Qi family, we wouldn't have to go through so much trouble today and be so restricted." Qi murmured, with a hint of fatigue in her eyes.
......
By the evening, the news that Madam Jiang, Qi's servant, had punished the two gossipy maids and driven both families out of the mansion spread throughout the Ningshou Marquis's mansion.
Upon hearing this news, Madam Zhai frowned, her face darkened, and she asked with dissatisfaction, "Why make such a big fuss? For a family like ours, it's fine to punish the servants if they make mistakes. Who doesn't make mistakes? Why drive everyone out and make them lose their livelihood?"
"If this gets out, who knows what those people outside will say about our Ningshou Marquis Mansion?"
"Do you know what exactly happened?"
Although Madam Zhai said this, she also knew the temperament of her eldest daughter-in-law, Qi. If there was no reason, Qi would not use such cruel means.
Daimao was also worried when he saw the old lady getting angry. When he heard the old lady ask this, he quickly replied, "Madam, I heard it has something to do with my aunt and my cousin."
Daimao reported the whole story to the old lady in detail.
After hearing this, Madam Zhai's expression darkened, and her eyes revealed a hint of unconcealed disdain: "People from humble backgrounds are simply not up to par! Do you think our mansion is just some small-town gentry?"
"It's also because Qi didn't care about Yan girl. If she hadn't sent anyone to pick her up, why would she have asked her aunt Zhan to accompany her all the way to the capital? Now that she's living in our mansion, can she really be kicked out?"
"Alas, I shouldn't have allowed the eldest brother to remarry Qi. I agreed to let Qi come in, and look how much trouble you've caused me over the years."
Madam Zhai complained, "Having twins, a boy and a girl, is a good thing, but Bo'er is sickly, and Yan was sent to the Qi family at the age of six, causing people in the capital to talk about our Ningshou Marquis's Mansion. I usually give face to the Qi family and don't want to embarrass her. Don't I feel dissatisfied?"
"Now that Zhan has said this, I regret it even more. If I had known this would happen, why would I have agreed to this unequal marriage? Even if I had married a concubine's daughter from a prominent family in the capital, it would have been better than what I have now! At least my family wouldn't be so upset and disgusted after I die!"
Madam Zhai's words were a bit harsh. All the maids and servants serving in the room held their breath and no one dared to speak, for fear that the old lady would vent her anger on them.
Madam Zhai was angry for a while, then regained some of her sanity and asked, "These rumors are spreading so fiercely, is there someone pushing them behind the scenes?"
She asked Daimao, "Have you asked anyone about it?"
Daimao didn't dare to hide it and replied, "I asked someone to make thorough inquiries. I heard that my uncle's wife and my cousin came out of Chuyun Court today and talked about this on the way. The second young lady, who was hiding behind the rockery, heard it."
When Mrs. Zhai heard this, she understood that the second branch of the family was involved.
Cui Lingyin didn't have the courage to do so, and she must have reported the matter to her stepmother, Bian, who made the matter escalate to this extent.
Old Lady Zhai's expression grew increasingly gloomy. She was dissatisfied with Qi, the eldest daughter-in-law, and also blamed Bian for being so tactless and selfish that she had damaged the reputation of the Marquisate. However, she was not in a position to call Qi over and reprimand her.
Even if she didn't do it for the sake of the eldest brother, she would still be more tolerant of Qi for the sake of Yan, the future wife of the prince of Weiguo.
As for Bian, although she was annoyed with her second daughter-in-law, she had gotten along well with Bian over the years. Cui Shensi, the son born to Bian, was also her eldest grandson, whom she valued very much. She didn't want to punish him and make her eldest grandson lose face.
Madam Zhai was furious, but she couldn't vent it on her two daughters-in-law. After a moment's thought, she instructed Daimao, "Go to Yin and tell her what I said. Have her kneel for an hour and reflect on herself. From now on, she'll know what to say and what not to say."
Daimao was a little surprised, but he also understood that the old lady was really angry. He also knew that the old lady had to vent her anger, otherwise she would get sick from anger.
Besides, the aunt and cousin were wrong to make up stories, but wasn't the second girl at fault for hearing about it and spreading it? In the old lady's mind, the second girl, Cui Lingyin, was even more wrong.
Moreover, the second girl was born out of wedlock, so she was a little lower in the old lady's heart, so there was no need to think too much about punishing her.
Daimao did not try to persuade her. After hearing the old lady's instructions, he just replied "yes" and left to go to the courtyard where Cui Lingyin lived.
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