"Last night, the crown prince fainted. I stayed in the East Palace all night and didn't come back until now. I thought you must have waited for me in vain yesterday, so I came to comfort you. Who would have expected to see such a scene? So your usual straightforwardness and generosity are all pretended for show? You blame me, but why do you vent your anger on innocent people? Don't you think about how much pain it will leave in Maoming's heart if you really drive Mi away today? No matter how much Mi loves Maoming, can she surpass you as a mother? You can't keep your temper and beat someone up for such a small matter. You don't have the demeanor of a mistress anymore?"
"What? You said you went to... the East Palace?"
Xu Ranyun's face turned pale, then purple again, and he said angrily, "Then why did I ask Fengxian to find out this morning? Xiangyun in Chunfeng Garden said that you were happy last night and stayed there?"
Duan Tingxuan was startled, and then he heard Fengxian beside him say, "Yes, Master, I specifically asked Xiangyun this morning, and she said that you were so happy after eating ice cream last night that you stayed at Chunfeng Garden. She made it sound very convincing."
"You just believed what the girl said? Since you care about me so much, why don't you ask Nuannuan?" Duan Tingxuan looked at Xu Ranyun and Fengxian helplessly: They were obviously very smart before, why are they so stupid now? It would be fine if they were stupid once, but they showed this stupidity again in front of him. He really didn't know what to say.
Xu Ranyun and Fengxian's faces also flushed. Perhaps because of their dashed hopes for the past few days, they could not calm down for the whole day. Fengxian trusted Xiangyun and now made a fool of herself in front of Duan Tingxuan. She felt ashamed. Xu Ranyun also wanted to go to Chunfeng Garden and strangle Su Nuannuan to death. In her mind, Xiangyun teased Fengxian like this because of Su Nuannuan's instruction.
"Okay. You've been angry today, so calm down. I'm going to Chunfeng Garden." Duan Tingxuan sighed. He knew that he should stay with Xu Ranyun at this time, but he had to discuss the prince's affairs with Su Nuannuan. And thinking of the vicious kick Xu Ranyun had just given Mi, he felt like he had eaten a fly. So he didn't even drink a sip of tea. He turned around and was about to leave.
"Master."
Xu Ranyun was anxious, stepped forward and grabbed Duan Tingxuan's sleeve, aggrieved, "It was my fault today. It's just that in four days, it will be the old lady's birthday. I have made some arrangements. When will you come to take a look? If there is anything wrong, please give me some advice."
Duan Tingxuan stopped dead in his tracks after hearing this. After a long pause, he looked back at Xu Ranyun's pleading face, sighed, and his heart softened. He held Xu Ranyun's hand and said softly, "Okay, I'll help you when the time comes. Actually, it's okay to say anything else, just let me tell you. You'd better transfer Xue's wife back to the kitchen to manage it as soon as possible."
"Why?"
Xu Ranyun was shocked and angry, and instantly forgot her policy of appeasement. She screamed and shook off Duan Tingxuan's hand, her face flushed and she said angrily: "I have been worried for so many days, and the old lady and the master didn't make any move. I thought you guys still remembered my face, but it turned out that I was just being sentimental. If I could please the eldest lady, why would the master care about me? Do you care if I lose face? Do you care if I will be laughed at by those servants?"
Duan Tingxuan's expression gradually turned cold, and after a long while he said in a deep voice: "If I really didn't care about your face, the Xue family's daughter-in-law would have returned to the kitchen the next day. Don't you know why she was transferred to the laundry room that day? It's obvious that you transferred her away to retaliate against Nuannuan, which is extremely unreasonable. What did I say about you? Isn't it because you are the housekeeper who has worked hard, so I want to give you some face? As a result, what is the situation in the kitchen now? The old lady just endured it and didn't say anything. Do you really think that I don't eat the food in the kitchen every day in Chunfeng Garden? If this continues, not only me and Nuannuan, but also the old lady will not be able to bear it. By then, the old lady will speak up, and what face will you still talk about?"
Xu Ranyun was exposed by her husband for her dark thoughts of transferring Xue's daughter-in-law away. She was flustered and angry. She gritted her teeth and said, "If that's the case, forget it. I don't have the face to manage this family anymore. There are so many people in the mansion anyway, so there is no need to worry about no one to manage the family. Second Madam has always been dissatisfied with her incomplete power as a housekeeper, and she has always wanted to take half of it from me."
Duan Tingxuan said coldly: "Don't think you can threaten me by using the second wife. Yes, I can't give all the housekeeping power to the second wife, but the first wife won't be without a housekeeper after you leave. This is the advantage of having many wives and concubines. Even if Nuannuan doesn't want to be the head of the family, there are still Zhilan and Jing'er. Which one is more important? Think about it yourself."
After saying that, she left in a huff. Xu Ranyun was trembling here. After a long while, she fell on the chair and took a few deep breaths. Fengxian looked at the panic on her face and knew that her master had finally realized the seriousness of the matter. She quickly advised: "Grandma always says to keep calm, keep calm, why do you lose your temper when you see me? You shouldn't have yelled at me just now..."
"How could I not know all this? But just now... just now he said it out loud, and I was just angry and couldn't hold it back." Xu Ranyun interrupted Fengxian impatiently, wiped her tears with a handkerchief, and sat there with a gloomy face without saying a word. Fengxian didn't dare to say anything more. After a long while, she suddenly stood up and said bitterly: "No, I can't let things develop like this. I can't lose the power of the housekeeper, absolutely not."
"What can Grandma do?" Fengxian's eyes lit up, thinking that the master had come up with an idea, but she heard Xu Ranyun grit his teeth and said, "From what your master said, he only wants me to be the housekeeper now, so he didn't interfere in the affairs of Xue's daughter-in-law. Once he interferes, I'm afraid I won't have this power. I was wondering why that woman has been quiet for so many days and is close to Aunt Jing. It turns out that the housekeeper she chose is not Xue Zhilan, but Aunt Jing. Haha! So smart, knowing that Xue Zhilan pleases the wife, if she has the power to run the family, it will be even more difficult to control. Aunt Jing is different. She has no family, and she can be said to have no foundation in the mansion. She is of humble origin, so it is impossible for her to climb over her head. Using her to suppress me and Xue Zhilan is really a clever move. No, I can't do what she wants. Fengxian, let Xue's daughter-in-law go back to the kitchen tomorrow. Say what I said, the previous things have been investigated and have nothing to do with her, so let her go back to the kitchen to manage."
"Is grandma overthinking? If the eldest grandma really wants to suppress you and grandma Lan, she can just take over the power of the family. Why does she want to win over Aunt Jing?" Fengxian felt that her master was already confused. It was she who drove the daughter-in-law of the Xue family out. Now she wants to bring her back. Isn't this a slap in the face? The reason for this confusion is that she feels that the threat from the eldest grandma is getting bigger and bigger, so she hurriedly advised.
"What do you know? Why did she become an abandoned woman before? Wasn't it because of her pride and arrogance? Who in this mansion doesn't hate her? So this time she learned her lesson. Look at how many days she has been back to Chunfeng Garden? How many helpers has she got? Aunt Lin, the second lady, and now Aunt Jing. Fengxian. She has become too smart now. She just said in front of the master that she didn't want to be the housekeeper. If she breaks her promise again today, what will the master think? Is she still trying to play hard to get? So in order to keep her words and deeds consistent. She must not be in charge of this family. Even if she wants to, she has to wait until this period of time. Although it seems like I am slapping myself in the face by transferring the Xue family's daughter-in-law back today. But it is better than being slapped twice in the face by her, and it can also let the old lady and the master see my repentance. As long as I don't lose my power as the housekeeper, she can't trample me to death. If the servants are disobedient, I can manage them and beat them. I can earn my face back. But without the power of housekeeper, I'm completely finished."
"Grandma is really thoughtful. Since you see it clearly, you should calm down and think about the future. Goujian slept on firewood and tasted gall, and Han Xin endured humiliation and bore heavy burdens. In the end, they both turned over and became kings and marquises. Grandma, you must not be discouraged because of this temporary setback."
Xu Ranyun glanced at Feng Xian and sighed, "Now you are the only one I care about. You don't need to persuade me. If I were really discouraged, I wouldn't have made these arrangements. It was because I was a little too proud of myself these days that I let that woman turn over and put myself in such a situation. I will learn from this lesson in the future. Once I have the opportunity to bring them down, I will definitely trample them into the abyss and make them unable to turn over forever, so that I can vent my anger."
Feng Xian heaved a sigh of relief after hearing this, and said softly, "In that case, I will go find Xue's wife and go back to the kitchen. But what about the Qin family? After all, she paid a lot of respect to grandma in order to get the position in the kitchen."
Xu Ranyun said with disgust: "If she was willing to put half of her efforts to curry favor with me in the kitchen, how could there be such a thing today? In the final analysis, it was because she did not do well that I was scolded by the master and had to slap myself in the face. I can put down my face, but she wants me to explain to her? Forget it, for the sake of her loyalty to me, I will let her go to the sewing room and take care of the purchase of fabrics."
"Yes, I understand." Fengxian bowed slightly and left.
Let's talk about Duan Tingxuan. After leaving Xia Yuxuan, he went to Chunfeng Garden. As soon as he entered the yard, he saw Xiangyun watering flowers in the corner of the east wall, so he called out, "Xiangyun, come here."
"Hey!" Xiangyun agreed and moved over with some trepidation. She had played a trick on Fengxian this morning. When she came back and told Honglian about it, she was scolded by Honglian, saying that she was making trouble out of nothing. If Grandpa and Grandma knew about this, they would definitely punish her. So when she heard Duan Tingxuan calling her, Xiangyun was afraid that the truth would be revealed. She wished that she could take one step forward and three steps back, but she didn't dare to.
"Why are you lying to Fengxian today?"
As expected, the truth was revealed. Xiangyun felt her heartbeat stop for a moment. She lowered her head and whispered, "In the past...in the past, Fengxian always boasted to us that you stayed at Xia Yuxuan, so...so when she came to ask me today, I couldn't help it...you...I won't dare to do it again. Please forgive me this time."
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