Chapter 41 Severe Punishment (II)
Meng’s words were a little too straightforward, making Sheng Hong feel a little uncomfortable. Dong Rong looked at his master’s flushed face and lowered his head again.
Zhou Xuenniang continued to pester him, “This girl should not talk nonsense. You said that I drugged the master. Do you have any evidence? The master came to our West Courtyard to send our fourth girl to find our young lady. Maybe it was in the dark and he mistook me for our young lady. Master… I also struggled when the master hugged me. The master refused to let go. Now think about it, I’m afraid that you drugged the master, and it happened that our girl was not feeling well, so the master sent our girl back. You followed because you saw that your evil plan did not succeed. Otherwise, how could you appear in our West Courtyard? Our West Courtyard is separated from your East Courtyard by a whole... "Where are the Sheng Mansion? Will Wei Xiaoniang and this girl say that they have taken the wrong road?"
Meng was furious at Zhou Xuenniang's counterattack. She rushed up to her and wanted to have a fight with her, "You want to kill me to silence me! You are so angry that I said it and you want to kill me to silence me!" The ropes on Zhou Xuenniang's feet were loosened when she was brought here. In order to avoid Meng's attack, she stood up from kneeling and ran around the yard, shouting "kill me" as she ran. Sheng Hong looked at her shrewd appearance and remembered that he had hugged such a woman yesterday. He wanted to vomit blood even more. He held his forehead and didn't want to close his eyes.
Several servants restrained the two men. Meng was held back by two servants and was not allowed to get close to Zhou Xuenniang. She could only stretch out her feet angrily and try to kick Zhou Xuenniang. Zhou Xuenniang was also forced to kneel down again.
Sheng Hong wanted to end this farce as soon as possible, so he asked Dong Rong to bring over the maid who had met Zhou Xuenniang in the main hall yesterday, along with the tea bowl from yesterday. The maid fell to her knees after being brought over, shouting, "Master, I am innocent. Yesterday at the family banquet, I did hear someone shouting for a cup of strong tea for you, and the sisters who were guarding outside the door with me heard it. I went to prepare the tea, and met her halfway. Her sudden appearance scared me so much that I almost knocked over the tray, and she shirked the responsibility, saying it was my fault. She must have put the medicine in when I wasn't paying attention. Master, please be fair!" The maid pointed at Zhou Xuenniang angrily, accusing her of her behavior.
Zhou Xueniang was panicked for a moment when she saw the maid, but she soon thought of what to say, "My Lord, please be clear! This maid keeps saying that she bumped into me, but I don't know her at all. I have never seen her. She is slandering me. Maybe someone has sent her to frame me." She looked in the direction of Meng with a meaningful look.
Meng's chest was heaving with anger. When she was at home, she could also argue with her neighbors. But when she met Zhou Xueniang, it was like a scholar meeting a soldier. She couldn't explain herself even if she was right.
The maid was still capable of fighting, "Don't think about biting back at this mother. Mother said she didn't recognize me because she thought no one saw you doing it. But many people saw mother yesterday. We can find out with a simple check."
"My lord, I did go to the main hall yesterday, just to see the fourth young lady and the third young master. Our young lady was spending New Year's Eve alone and missed her children, so I went to see them for her. This can't prove that I was the one who gave the medicine, right? This maid has a sharp tongue and you can tell at first glance that she is not a good person. Someone must have bribed her to frame me." Although the maid was sure that it was Zhou Xuenniang who did it, there was no definite evidence to prove that she was the one who gave the medicine. Even if she implicated more people, it could only prove that she had been to the main hall. She insisted that she went to see the third young master and the fourth young lady, so they couldn't do anything to her.
"I just saw her quarreling with the fourth young lady, and the fourth young lady felt uncomfortable after coming back. Since she also said that she was going to see the fourth young lady, why not ask the fourth young lady to come over and ask her?" Meng seemed to have suddenly grasped the key point and quickly reported it to Sheng Hong.
Before Sheng Hong could react, Zhou Xuenniang jumped up, "Who do you think you are? Do you think you can get close to the fourth lady? I went to see the fourth lady just to talk to her. The fourth lady is weak and young, and it's possible that she couldn't stand the New Year's Eve. Why bother her for such a thing? My master, the fourth lady is a girl, it's not good for her to be involved in these dirty things." It would have been fine
if she didn't say this. As soon as she said this, Sheng Hong got even angrier, "You also know that the fourth lady is a girl, she shouldn't be involved. Then you took advantage of her young age and her deep friendship with you to help you succeed! Do you think you are worthy of her in this way? It's time to let her see the face of you, a shrewd slave!" Sheng Hong ignored Zhou Xuenniang's begging and asked someone to invite Molan.
Molan was really confused when she was invited. When she went to her mother's room this morning, her mother was still sleeping alone. She didn't see her father or Mother Zhou. She just thought that Mother Zhou didn't stop her father yesterday, and her father still left. She couldn't figure out why her father asked her to come to Minglan's yard. It couldn't be that he wanted to bring up the last incident.
Molan entered the yard with a nervous heart. As soon as she entered the door, she saw Mother Zhou kneeling in the yard with tears on her face. She shouted and walked forward, "Mother Zhou! Father, what did Mother Zhou do wrong? Why did she tie someone up?"
Without waiting for Sheng Hong to speak, the quick-talking Meng dumped out all the words like a bamboo tube pouring beans, without giving others a chance to react, "I'm afraid the fourth lady is not... You know, this mother drugged the master, and used you to invite the master over, intending to do something bad to the master!"
Meng's words made everyone explode. Molan was just shocked. Sheng Hong didn't expect Meng to be so blunt and say everything in front of Molan. Others thought that this maid was really bold. The master hasn't spoken yet, but she dared to talk nonsense. Zhou Xueniang didn't expect Meng to do this. Her face turned red all of a sudden. How did this word spread like this? She wanted to pick the little girl out before, but how did she end up seducing the master?
Molan looked at Zhou's mother's blushing face and couldn't believe it. Could it be that what the maid said was true? Didn't Zhou's mother say that her mother missed her father? Molan thought again that when she came, her mother was still asleep. She could smell alcohol when she was close. She must have drunk a lot last night. Even if her father came, he would not be happy to see her mother like that, right? Thinking about the scene yesterday when Zhou's mother tried desperately to get her to go back to her room and she went to get her father, even though Molan had always trusted Zhou's mother, she began to waver.
However, the uncontrolled Meng was even more aggressive, "The fourth girl is still young, and she probably doesn't understand how evil this person is. This mother probably saw that Lin Xiaoniang had been punished by the master these days, and felt that Lin Xiaoniang could not be relied on, so she wanted to betray the master and take the position herself! Bah, don't you see what kind of character you have!" Meng's words were of course nonsense. When she came, the young master told her that no matter who instigated yesterday's incident, she should pin the blame on Zhou Xuen Niang.