Chapter 68: Guilty Looks Gentle and Quiet, Never Thought of Getting Angry...
Lu Danyan had such thoughts in her mind, and she couldn't help but waver a little. She forced herself to suppress these thoughts, and talked with Cui Lingyan for a while, then stood up and said goodbye, leaving Wutong Courtyard.
The maid, Amber, breathed a sigh of relief. After they had walked a little further, she couldn't help but speak out, "Young Lady, the Young Madam seemed so gentle and kind before, but I didn't expect her to be so disrespectful today. I was trembling in fear in the room just now, barely daring to breathe. It's a blessing that Young Lady was able to stay and talk to the Young Madam."
Lu Danyan's eyes were filled with complex emotions as she spoke, "I didn't expect my sister-in-law to be so frustrated and directly kick my second sister out. Logically, marrying into the Duke's Mansion is considered marrying up. Even if it wasn't our Duke's Mansion but someone else's, a bride should always be tolerant of her sister-in-law. Even if she's spoiled and willful, she has to tolerate it for the sake of her reputation. But my sister-in-law acted like this today. It's truly astonishing. If I had known this would happen, I shouldn't have asked my second sister to come with me today. Who could have imagined something like this would happen?"
Amber nodded in agreement, but couldn't help but say, "The Young Madam's actions are surprising, but the Second Miss's words are too harsh. Even clay figures have tempers. The Second Miss mentioned the Qi family in front of the Young Madam and said that she was incompetent. She even slapped the Young Madam in the face in front of the maids and servants. The Young Madam is right to be angry."
"Things have come to this, and the second young lady is the one who has lost the most face. In the Peony Courtyard, the eldest lady must be extremely angry after hearing this. Her face is being trampled on by her own daughter-in-law. What mother-in-law in the world can tolerate this?"
Lu Danyan had a headache and rubbed her brows tiredly. She said, "She's not my biological mother-in-law. Besides, my grandmother will probably protect my sister-in-law. Let's wait and see how she reacts."
Seeing her daughter looking tired, Amber knew that she was unhappy. She had come here to make friends with the young lady, her sister-in-law, but now it was so awkward. It was possible that the eldest lady, Cen, would blame her daughter if she knew about this.
"Girl, let's go back first. We can't do anything about it, so why not wait and see."
Lu Danyan nodded. She couldn't go to Lu Danruo at the moment, for fear that her sister-in-law Cui would blame her. She could only go back to her own courtyard first.
Tomorrow she will ask someone to send an apology gift to Cui and settle the matter.
As for Lu Danruo, she couldn't think so much about it for the time being.
Thinking of this, Lu Danyan took Amber all the way to the courtyard where she lived.
In the house
Bi Tao looked at Cui Lingyan with some uneasiness. "Is it really okay for the young lady to be so disrespectful to the second young lady, her sister-in-law? Wouldn't that offend the eldest lady, her mother-in-law? Besides, the young lady has just married into the family. If a sister-in-law doesn't respect her sister-in-law like this, who knows what the maids and servants in the mansion will say about her. What will happen if her reputation is damaged?"
"Also, although the Second Young Lady and the Crown Prince are not born of the same mother, they are still step-siblings. If the Crown Prince knew about this, I wonder if he would think that what the Young Lady did was inappropriate? It would be totally unworthy to cause the Crown Prince's displeasure over this."
Bi Tao had served Cui Lingyan since she was a child, and she was furious that Lu Danruo disrespected her sister-in-law. However, despite her anger, she was unwilling to let the prince become unhappy with them because of the Second Miss's affairs, and felt that the Second Miss was not a virtuous and generous wife.
The prince is so good to the girl, so she doesn't want him to misunderstand her.
Cui Lingyan saw Bi Tao's anxiety, and her eyes were filled with worry. She sighed softly and said, "I don't want to offend her so soon. I also want to be a generous sister-in-law, but she didn't give me face today. If I put up with it, I don't know how much trouble will be waiting for me in the future."
"I am her sister-in-law, and my reputation also represents the prince's reputation. Don't worry, the prince won't blame me for this."
After hearing her daughter say this, and thinking about how good the prince had been to her daughter in recent days, Bi Tao felt a little more at ease.
The girl is right. If the second girl is indulged with her temper, the girl, as her sister-in-law, will have to give in to her younger sister-in-law in everything in the future.
Moreover, these private account books and vaults were not from the public palace, but from Songxue Hall and Wutong Courtyard, and were considered the prince's private property. Why would the second young lady, a sister-in-law, worry so much about the prince? Moreover, they were not born of the same mother. If the second young lady cared so much about it, someone who didn't know would think she was treating the prince's private property as her own. Where did she get such a big face?
Birou smiled softly and stepped forward to clear the teacups while saying, "This servant thinks the young lady did the right thing. For a noble family like the Duke's Mansion, reputation is of paramount importance. If you give in once, you should always give in in the future. Besides, the young lady is smart and knows that the second young lady can't stand being provoked. She provoked the second young lady to say those disrespectful words, even saying that the young lady's marriage was a gift from someone else. If this word gets out, the second young lady will be in the most unreasonable position, and it will also be an insult to the prince. In this case, no one can blame the young lady as his sister-in-law."
"If my guess is correct, the old lady will be furious when she hears about this and will punish the second young lady to serve as a warning to others."
Cui Lingyan thought of Madam Dou's usual temper and shared the same thought. She nodded and said, "That would be perfect. Let's wait and see."
......
Peony Courtyard
Looking at her daughter whose eyes were red from crying, Cen was shaking with anger. "How dare she? She's only been married for a few days and she's already bullying you, her sister-in-law, like this. It's clearly an insult to me as her mother-in-law! Even if she's angry that you said something wrong, she shouldn't have just chased her away. If this gets out, how will we, mother and daughter, maintain our dignity in the mansion?"
Lu Danruo felt unwilling and cried as she said, "What was I saying wrong? Cui grew up in a humble family. How could she be qualified to manage the affairs of Songxuetang's private treasury? Mother, you don't know how conspicuous that thick book on the table is. Lu Bingzhi's private property is probably more than our entire Duke's Mansion. Before, he was wary of his stepmother, mother, and we couldn't get any benefit from him. But Cui got this honor as soon as she entered the family. Does she deserve it?"
"Father is so partial. Those things were gifts from the palace, but he must have given a lot to Lu Bingzhi privately. Maybe most of our eldest son's things were moved to Lu Bingzhi's place. We are the fools, mother and daughter."
Mrs. Cen was already angry because her daughter was humiliated by Cui Lingyan and now, hearing her daughter say this, she found the words even more harsh and immediately stood on her daughter's side, completely ignoring the fact that her daughter was kicked out because she was disrespectful to her sister-in-law, Mrs. Cui.
Cen said coldly, "Ms. Cui is so insolent! I need to have a good talk with her and ask her if she really values me as her mother-in-law."
"Come here! Go call the young lady to the Peony Courtyard and tell her I have something to say to her!"
The maid Luo Mei hesitated for a moment, and just as she was hesitating, she heard footsteps outside. It was Madam Sun, who was beside Old Madam Dou, coming over.
Nanny Sun was the most capable person around Old Madam Dou. When Cen heard her coming, her expression changed slightly and her heart couldn't help but skip a beat.
When Nanny Sun came in and explained her purpose, Mrs. Cen's face suddenly changed.
Lu Danruo's face turned even paler, and she couldn't help but say with grievance, "It was Cui who bullied me, her sister-in-law, and kicked me out in front of so many people. How could Grandmother still accuse me of being arrogant and willful and disrespectful to Cui, her sister-in-law, and even order me to kneel in the ancestral hall as punishment? I deny it. I'm the one who has lost face. Why is Grandmother so partial to Cui?"
Nanny Sun listened to Lu Danruo's nonsensical words and sighed softly in her heart. Her face was serious and she said, "Second Miss, let me be frank. You keep referring to the Cui family. This is disrespectful to the young lady. I have not wronged you in the slightest by punishing you to kneel in the ancestral hall."
"You said the old lady was partial. The old lady punished you to kneel in the ancestral hall for the sake of the young lady. She was already partial to the young lady, her own granddaughter. Otherwise, for what you said today, the family law should be enforced!"
Lu Danruo was stunned for a moment. She had never thought that her grandmother, Madam Dou, would even consider invoking family rules. Her face turned even paler, tears welling up in her eyes. Besides feeling aggrieved, she also felt a bit frightened.
Lu Danruo subconsciously looked at his mother, Cen.
Cen's heart skipped a beat when she heard the word "house rules." Before she could speak, Nanny Sun said to her, "I'm afraid Madam, you don't know what kind of nonsense the Second Young Lady said. These words are too disrespectful, and I, an old servant, can't say anything. Madam, please ask the Second Young Lady privately to see if she has explained everything to you, Madam."
As soon as Nanny Sun finished speaking, Cen suddenly looked at Lu Danruo.
Lu Danruo had only said half of what she had said and kept the other half, only talking about how much she had been wronged, and only saying a little bit about her disrespectful words towards Cui.
To the extent that Cen felt that her sister-in-law Cui Lingyan was too petty and not generous enough, and she kicked her daughter out in front of a room full of maids and old women for some trivial words.
When she thought about her daughter's embarrassment at that time, how could she not feel sorry for her only daughter?
When Lu Danruo met Cen's questioning gaze, she couldn't help feeling guilty and subconsciously avoided her sight.
No one knows a daughter better than her mother. When Mrs. Cen saw her like this, she couldn't help but face turning pale and she couldn't say a word.
Nanny Sun didn't give Cen any face and said, "Second Miss, please follow me to the ancestral hall."
Lu Danruo felt aggrieved, but seeing that Cen did not offer any help and seemed to tacitly allow Nanny Sun to take her away, she knew that no matter how much trouble she made, she would have to kneel in the ancestral hall, so she could only follow Nanny Sun away with red eyes.
After she left, Cen stood there for a long time without saying a word.
Luo Mei knew that his wife was unhappy, so he didn't dare to step forward to persuade her.
After a long while, he finally spoke to comfort her, "Madam, did you ask me to find out what happened in Wutong Courtyard today? What did our young lady say?"
Cen's face was grim. She waved her hand and walked towards the couch. She sat down before speaking, "Forget it. I know Ruorou's temper. Nanny Sun said those words again. I know she must have said something she shouldn't have said, angering the old lady. That's why she treated her so badly and ordered her to kneel in the ancestral hall as punishment."
"The old lady is supporting Cui, the granddaughter-in-law, and warning the others in the mansion?" She laughed bitterly and added, "How can she be warning others? She is clearly warning me, the successor wife."
"Old Madam, by doing this, you completely disregard the dignity of Danruo and me. Who in the mansion will respect me as the Duke's wife in the future?"
Mrs. Cen's face was grim, and her voice was choked with sobs and self-blame. "It's all my fault that I didn't give birth to a son. Otherwise, considering that I gave birth to a son for the Lu family, the old lady wouldn't be so disrespectful to me as a daughter-in-law, and Mrs. Cui wouldn't be so disrespectful to me as a mother-in-law right after I entered the family!"
Song Xuetang
After hearing Guanyan's report, Lu Bingzhi's face suddenly darkened, and there was a hint of coldness in his eyes.
"Who the hell does she think she is? How dare she be so presumptuous? Does she think she has a share of the things in the private vault?"
Lu Bingzhi said this, stood up and walked outside.
Guan Yan hurriedly chased after her, feeling deeply moved. Anyone with a simpleton's intelligence could see what the Second Young Lady was thinking, but she and the Crown Prince weren't even born of the same mother, and yet she still had the nerve to think about those things? She was truly incredibly foolish, unable to even conceal her own thoughts, yet still daring to express them so openly. She didn't act like a girl raised in a Duke's mansion at all.
The young lady, on the other hand, seemed the most gentle and quiet, but she was so disrespectful when she got angry!
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