In the early morning, Ruan Yumu woke up to find that, as usual, the person beside her was gone.
"Miss, please pack your things. The clan has invited all the non-pregnant ladies and young women to the New Year's Eve reunion."
“Okay!” Ruan Yu Mu knew that if his mother didn’t attend today, people would definitely ask about it. He would stir things up and make sure his mother came back.
The lady looks quite glamorous today, adorned with gold hairpins and jade belts.
"Madam, do you think this is alright? I guarantee you'll be the most beautiful woman in the Qi family clan." Jiang Meng looked at herself in the mirror and suddenly felt nauseous.
"That's fine then."
Yuqing looked at Jiang Mengyi's dissatisfied expression and didn't know what to say.
The group of people went to the ancestral hall in a grand procession.
Ancestor worship ceremony
The altar was set up with cattle and sheep. The men were all there, but the women were not allowed to enter the ancestral hall. Except for the first time when the main wife came to worship the ancestors, the women would only come if they had committed a serious crime.
May our ancestors bless our family with abundant prosperity, generation after generation, for thousands of years, free from illness and disaster!
"bye!"
The crowd, holding incense sticks, joined in the chanting of their uncles and elders. This was the first time Qi Jingxuan had stood here openly and honestly. Even at her wedding, the Qi family had never allowed her to pay her respects; perhaps they had never treated her as the matriarch of the Qi family.
At this time, he had achieved numerous military exploits and naturally stood at the forefront of everyone.
Back in the courtyard, the ladies at the table were all showing concern and asking after each other.
Unlike others, Qi Jingming brought his concubine Lin Shuang. Although his wife had died young, it was still inappropriate for her to enter his home like this. Lin Shuang was originally a woman from a brothel, but she was furious with her uncles.
"What's going on with your lineage? Where is Old Madam Qi? How could she allow this boy to bring prostitutes into clan gatherings?"
Seeing that no one answered, Old Master Qi raised his voice again.
"Where is Old Madam Qi?"
"Uncle!"
Upon hearing this, Ruan Yumu immediately knelt down, and this was the perfect opportunity.
"Uncle, you are wise and understanding. My mother is suffering at the mountain villa. Please, please speak up and allow her to return!"
"I'd like to see who dares!" Qi Jingxuan slammed his fist on the table, furious. He knew that the only way to get that old hag back was for him to die.
When everyone saw Qi Jingxuan speak, Old Master Qi, who had intended to ask why, fell silent. Seeing that he was at a disadvantage, Ruan Yumu started making things up again.
"Uncle, Mother has been ill for several days due to the cold at the mountain villa, and there is no good doctor to help her. What should we do?"
"General Qi, your mother is already in such a state, how can you not let her return home? This would be a violation of filial piety!"
"Hmph!" She was lecturing him about filial piety, and now she's talking about it? No one talked about filial piety when she was bullied before? Qi Jingxuan was determined not to let Old Madam Qi return.
"Meng'er, let's go. If any of you don't like it, then take it. Don't even think about entering General Qi's mansion!"
After uttering a harsh remark, Qi Jingxuan pulled Jiang Meng away, leaving Ruan Yumu alone to deal with the situation.
Seeing that this plan was useless, Ruan and Mu then tried to secretly bring the old lady back.
Then he quietly slipped away.
Back at the manor, Ruan Yumu tried to find out about the old lady, but Ziling kept her mouth shut.
I heard the other day that the old lady has been seriously ill at the villa for a long time, and there are no maids or servants there to take care of her. I'm afraid she's not doing well now either.
"Young lady, I spend all my time at home just like you. How would I know anything about that manor?"
Ruan Yumu thought so too, so he secretly had someone prepare his horse and went to the mountain villa alone.
"Mother! How did you become like this?" Ruan Yumu arrived at the villa in complete silence, and it took her several turns in several rooms before she finally saw the old lady.
The old lady lay alone and forlorn on the bed, covered with a thin quilt despite the cold weather. Her face was ashen, and if she hadn't slightly lifted her eyelids, one might have thought she was dead.
"It's you! It's actually you?" Now that he's fallen on hard times, he never expected that it would be Ruan Yu Mu who came to visit him. "You've come to laugh at me, haven't you? I don't have many days left to live, are you happy now?"
"No, Mother, Xuan'er, I am Xuan'er! That woman used some kind of sorcery to possess me. I am Xuan'er, Golden Butterfly! Mother!"
"Ah? You really are Xuan'er? How is this possible? Xuan'er! Why are you so unlucky?"
The old lady gasped for breath, finally seeing Xuan'er before she died, but Xuan'er looked like this.
"Mother, I'm here to take you back!"
"No, Xuan'er, I've been holding on to my last breath, just waiting for you! Now that you're in this state, what will become of the Qi family's fortune? Won't it all fall into that vile woman's hands?"
"Mother, I will take everything away from her! I will avenge you."
Old Madam Qi reached out and touched Ruan Yumu's face. Her fingertips were cold, indicating that she had been waiting for Qi Jingxuan for a very long time.
"You must wait patiently for the right opportunity, for the opportune moment! Mother! I...I...can't...help...you...anymore!" With that, Old Madam Qi's hand fell down.
Ruan and Mu hurriedly returned to their residence to report the situation, hoping to give their mother a dignified burial.
"Bury him? Sure, I'll agree if you become my concubine." Qi Jingxuan was overjoyed to hear this news.
"What? Qi Jingxuan, how can you be so heartless?"
"I'm heartless? So you didn't see when I was showing affection? Think carefully, that's your mother."
"You! Okay, I promise you."
"You just agreed like that? How pathetic. I thought you had some backbone. Xu Yunchuan, go and announce the death!"
The old lady's funeral was arranged by Ruan Yumu, but Qi Jingxuan did not make her a concubine, even though the funeral was the kind of funeral befitting a matriarch.
Ruan Yumu seemed to be overwhelmed with grief, and actually fainted in front of the coffin.
"Girl!" Zi Ling quickly helped her up.
"Help Consort Ruan back to Yunxiang Tower." Jiang Mengyi, watching from the side, was speechless. The old lady treated her like this, and she was still crying here for whom? She guessed that the general was just into this act.
"Come on, girl, let's go back and rest for a while."
Back at Yunxiang Tower, Ziling quickly found a military doctor. The girl's face was pale, and she wondered if there were any other problems.
"It's alright. Madam Ruan is only in the early stages of pregnancy, and this is due to excessive grief. She will be fine after resting and taking some medicine to prevent miscarriage."
"Thank you, military doctor."
"Girl, did you hear that? You're pregnant again!" Zi Ling was overjoyed when she returned after seeing the military doctor off.
"You mustn't grieve for the old lady anymore. Have you forgotten your previous child?"
Ruan Yumu turned away and stopped talking. Seeing that the girl was in a bad mood, Ziling tactfully left as well.
"What? Pregnant again? My child is only six months in my womb, that bitch is really lucky with her pregnancy! Is the news true?" Liu Ruhua threw down her teacup and smashed it on the ground.
“Miss, Xi Yun has already bribed the military doctor, there is no doubt about it!” Xi Yun answered truthfully.
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