Chapter 110 Marriage (Part 1) Unparalleled Stealth
In ordinary matters, Lady Wang might have listened to advice, but she had suffered countless losses at the hands of Jia Min and Lin Daiyu, and now that she was a bit too hot-tempered, how could she possibly hold back?
Madam Wang kicked Wu Xing's wife and angrily shouted, "Whose side are you on?"
Wu Xing's wife dared not persuade her any further. She then came up with another excuse: "Madam, that's not what I meant. How can you let Madam handle this personally? Miss Lin is just a junior, and she's just a maid. If Madam goes to find her, wouldn't that be giving her face? It's enough to have Second Madam Lian make the trip."
Madam Wang was a person who valued appearances, and hearing this made sense, her expression softened: "Please invite your Second Madam Lian here."
Wu Xing's wife hurriedly replied, "Yes," and gave the old woman a wink, then gagged Musk Moon and Bihen and locked them in a small, dark room that had been converted from a side room in the back.
Wu Xing's family walked quickly to Wang Xifeng's room.
Wang Xifeng is no longer as powerful as she once was, and spends all her time resting at home. However, she is strong-willed by nature, and although she is resting, her mind is still full of things to think about. As for recuperating, she has at least managed to do so somewhat.
Wu Xing's family busied themselves inviting Wang Xifeng over.
No matter how Wang Xifeng asked, Wu Xing's wife remained tight-lipped. She thought to herself, what if she told her and the Madam blamed her? In any case, Second Madam Lian was quick-witted and a mistress, so she wasn't afraid of the Madam saying a few words.
Her behavior aroused Wang Xifeng's suspicion. She went in, greeted the guest with a smile, and then praised the tea and Bao-ge for being obedient.
When Lady Wang was young, she was straightforward and outspoken. Now that she's older, she doesn't need to be subtle anymore. She said directly, "That maid Qingwen has been in Baoyu's room for over ten years. All the maids in his room say that Baoyu likes her. Since Lin is going to have her accompany her in her dowry, shouldn't she at least have her body checked before she leaves? Even though she's just a maid, if she's not a virgin, what will happen if the Marquis of Zhongyong blames her in the future? It will also tarnish your reputation, Lin sister."
Wang Xifeng had only one thought in her mind: The Madam has finally gone mad!
“I advise you, Madam, to give up this idea.” Wang Xifeng also spoke quite bluntly. “What good would it do if the test came back positive? Could you stop her? If the test didn’t come back positive, you would have offended Lin Daiyu for nothing, and you would have offended the Marquis of Zhongyong as well.”
Madam Wang frowned: "Isn't it better to go out with a clean reputation? It will also prevent the Marquis of Zhongyong from blaming us for disrupting his family's bloodline in the future. You just need to quietly call the person out, and you don't need to worry about the rest."
I--
Wang Xifeng felt a lump in her throat, and she felt that she had never felt so bad even when she was sick.
How to refuse... Wang Xifeng had an idea, stood up and said with a smile, "Exactly—"
Then she made up her mind, gritted her teeth, and threw herself down.
Startled by this sudden turn of events, Madam Wang's heart pounded. After a moment of stunned silence, she called out, "Quickly, fetch a doctor! Call Ping'er! Carry her back!"
Wang Xifeng was carried halfway when she met Ping'er, who was rushing over.
Ping'er hurriedly had her own servant take the sedan chair. After Madam Wang's people left, Wang Xifeng immediately instructed Ping'er: "Go and talk to the old lady—" No.
"Go find Miss Lin—" That won't work either. This matter absolutely cannot be known to Lin Meimei. Otherwise, the Madam will offend her terribly, and the entire Rongguo Mansion will suffer the consequences.
"Madam has gone mad!" Wang Xifeng decided to go all out: "Go find the Second Master and tell him that Madam wants to examine Qingwen's body. Lin Daiyu is getting married in three days, and we can't afford to have any mishaps at this time!"
Upon hearing this, Ping'er hurriedly ran to the outer courtyard.
Wang Xifeng asked several old women to carry the sedan chair to a shady place, where she felt the breeze and slowly rubbed her chest.
When Jia Zheng first heard that Ping'er had come, he refused to see her. Only after the messenger said that there was something important did Jia Zheng let her in.
After Ping'er explained the matter, Jia Zheng sneered repeatedly: "I know, you may leave now."
After Ping'er left, he didn't go to find Madam Wang first, but went to the inner room to look for Jia Baoyu.
"You unfilial son!" Jia Zheng roared, "How many maids have you ruined this time!"
Jia Baoyu shuddered in fright. In fact, he had felt uneasy when Musk Moon and the others were summoned that morning.
When Qiuwen returned, Mushe was nowhere to be found. No matter how he asked, Qiuwen remained silent, and Jia Baoyu knew that Mushe was also doomed.
Now, even more so after being scolded by the master, Jia Baoyu shrank into a ball, lowered his head, and dared not speak.
The more Jia Zheng looked at him like this, the angrier he became.
Zhu'er married at this age, and she also had two concubines in the house.
Two days ago, Aunt Zhao wanted to ask Caixia to serve in Huan'er's room. He also asked Huan'er about it. What did he say at the time? "I don't like her. There will be better ones in the future."
"How did you develop such a temper!" Jia Zheng scolded again. "The old lady spoils you, and the mistress pampers you, raising you to be utterly irresponsible. No wonder people often say that a man should not be raised by a woman!"
But as soon as he said this, Jia Zheng immediately thought of a counterexample: Lan'er had been raised in Zhu'er's wife's room and only moved out a few days ago, but he didn't do that.
Jia Baoyu trembled and dared not argue.
Jia Zheng said, "Let me ask you, what's the story with that maid named Qingwen?"
Jia Baoyu trembled and said timidly, "Qingwen? She was given to me by the old lady and does needlework in my room. She just told me to pretend she was dead."
Jia Zheng snorted coldly again: "Don't try to intimidate me with the old lady!"
Jia Baoyu's voice trembled: "She...she has a bad temper and doesn't listen to discipline. She has offended many people. If she does anything wrong, Master and Madam, please punish her as you see fit. It's for her own good."
"I'm asking you, did you have an affair with her?"
Jia Baoyu shuddered again: "No, no, I saw her a couple of days ago, and she told me to stay away from her." Then, feeling that wasn't enough, he added, "She told me to pretend she was dead."
Jia Zheng was so angry his beard bristled. How dare they make such a mocking remark to him? He sneered twice: "I know. You'd better study hard. If I come back and see you standing there in a daze—"
Jia Baoyu hurriedly said he dared not, and then saw Jia Zheng out.
Jia Zheng went directly to Madam Wang's room and said, "Madam has made a great vow these past two days to observe a vegetarian diet and chant Buddhist scriptures. You are not allowed to disturb her. Keep a close watch on both the front and back gates. Aunt Zhao and Aunt Zhou are not allowed to use this side either. Let Madam have some peace and quiet."
"Master!" Madam Wang exclaimed in shock, dropping her handkerchief to the ground. "You're going to lock me up?"
"It's to fulfill a vow." Jia Zheng gave the order and left without looking back.
Two more maids were missing from Jia Baoyu's room. When Jia Lian returned in the afternoon and heard the news, he angrily cursed, "Serves him right! He moved to the front courtyard and now only has four people to serve him, and he's doing just fine. Before, he had almost forty people serving him all by himself. What right did he have to take up so many people?"
The Rongguo Mansion has now changed its rules again. Any servants who exceed the permitted number must be supported by their masters at their own expense, and the public funds will not provide a single copper coin.
But Jia Baoyu still has so many people around him.
Wang Xifeng didn't participate in the topic, but instead rubbed her temples: "I've really offended Madam this time, but I have to wait a while before I can tell Lin Daiyu about it. I'll have to pretend to be sick for a while."
However, she didn't care too much. There was one very important thing for a woman before she got married: she needed a married elder to teach her how to have sex.
Wang Xifeng considered all the members of the Jia family and wondered who else could it be but herself.
The old lady is too old to talk about these things in a dignified way, and besides, she is actually a widow.
Sister-in-law Zhu is even less suitable.
And what about the first wife and the second wife? Is she really inferior to them?
Just as Wang Xifeng was thinking this, Ping'er rushed in with a panicked look: "Grandma, someone from the palace has come and said that Her Majesty the Empress wants to take Miss Lin away."
"What!" Wang Xifeng was truly in a bind now. "Does she not want to marry out of the Rongguo Mansion? What would that make us?!"
Jia Lian chuckled twice: "We? We were just laborers who moved her family property from Suzhou to the capital. We have neither merit nor hard work."
The dowry had already been sent away, and Lin Daiyu only had a few things she needed. She packed up very quickly, and as dusk approached, she moved to the residence of the Imperial Clan Court. There was also an imperial decree that bestowed upon her the title of County Lady.
The Rongguo Mansion was shrouded in gloom, so much so that people didn't even eat dinner.
Grandmother Jia cried and beat her chest, "They're trying to take my granddaughter away!" Now that things had come to this, Grandmother Jia didn't care much about what she said. She looked at Jia Baoyu and said, "From now on, you can forget about ever seeing your Lin sister again."
Jia Baoyu's eyes reddened as he listened to her words.
Wang Xifeng regretted it somewhat. She should have known better than to stick her neck out and incur the Second Madam's resentment for no reason.
Jia She chuckled and comforted her, saying, "Mother, don't be sad. How can a marriage be a robbery?"
Madam Xing chimed in softly, "Yingchun was also taken away, why don't you seem sad?"
However, Grandmother Jia was filled with mixed feelings at the moment, and she didn't react much when she heard it.
She regretted everything. She regretted marrying into the Lin family, regretted raising Lin Daiyu, regretted not urging her to marry Baoyu sooner, and regretted being bewitched by the Wang family to marry into the Wang family.
In the grand hall, which still appeared to be magnificent on the surface, not a single person was smiling.
However, Lin Daiyu was laughing, but after laughing twice, she quickly lowered her head to cover it up: "Third Brother, you should go out quickly. What kind of behavior would it be if someone saw us like this?"
Mu Chuan looked at his attire again in surprise: "How can I let anyone see this? I specially had someone make clothes for a servant of the Imperial Clan Court. You still need someone to serve you, right? I'll bring in hot water for you to use. What's wrong with that?"
Lin Daiyu glared at him angrily, but two dimples still appeared on her face: "With your size, who wouldn't recognize you?"
"I'm the best scout in Pingnan Town," Mu Chuan said proudly. "None of the maids, servants, and boys outside recognized me."
Lin Daiyu was so frightened that she rushed to the door to take a look. She hadn't forgotten how her third brother had worked as a scout. He probably wouldn't dare to go on a killing spree in the capital. She was afraid he might knock people unconscious.
Fortunately, upon closer inspection, everyone outside seemed to be alive and well, though their expressions were slightly awkward. After exchanging a glance with Lin Daiyu, the awkwardness intensified.
Lin Daiyu chuckled, turned around and said, "It's pointless for you to wear anything. Do you really think no one will recognize you?"
"Then I'll take it off?" Mu Chuan asked back, and then went to pull at his belt.
"Be serious!" Lin Daiyu blushed and threw a comb at him, but Mu Chuan hid the comb in his bosom.
"People say combs are for betrothal gifts, and so are mirrors. We're about to get married, and you haven't given me any."
Lin Daiyu sat down in the chair without looking at him, and said with a slight upturn of her lips, "Then give me back my purse." She paused, then asked with a smile, "You also gave me a hairpin, a jade pendant, earrings, and a bracelet, didn't I accept them all?"
"Can these be considered the same?"
"How is this different?" Lin Daiyu gently nudged him. "You should go back quickly, it will get dark soon."
Mu Chuan sighed, picked up the two large wooden barrels he had brought for stealth, and left.
Lin Daiyu stood at the door and looked around. To be honest, the people outside really didn't recognize him.
Lin Daiyu's face ached from smiling so much, and she called out from afar, "Third Brother!"
Mu Chuan turned around, and Lin Daiyu waved to him: "Come early the day after tomorrow."
She entered the Jia family mansion when she was six years old that winter, and now she is seventeen years old in the autumn.
Thank you, Third Brother, for bringing her out alive.
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