Chapter 33 Rumors Spread
After Mother Yuan finished speaking, Xie Rongying did not react at all, but Yunniang and Cuizhi were embarrassed.
"Mother Yuan, what do you mean by this? The young marquis has been married to the young mistress for less than a month, and he wants to marry a concubine?" Cuizhi said indignantly: "This is too disrespectful to the young mistress and the Xie family."
Mother Yuan laughed, and Cuizhi's reaction was not surprising: "This is what the young marquis meant. Why do you ask a servant like me what I mean?"
"You!" Cuizhi was furious and wanted to say something but was stopped by Yunniang.
Yunniang said with a smile, "Cuizhi is being too talkative. I hope Mother Yuan doesn't mind."
Mother Yuan was not afraid of Cuizhi, who was straightforward, but she was afraid of Yunniang, who was a soft-hearted person with a smile. She thought that it was Yunniang that Xie Rongying brought with her to Kaibao Temple, so she became a little cautious.
"Why would I mind? Madam is just worried that Young Madam will be dissatisfied, so she asked me to ask Young Madam's opinion." Mother Yuan's eyes fell on Xie Rongying, who looked relaxed. "Young Madam, what do you think?"
Xie Rongying was silent for a moment, then said in a serious tone, "What did Mother mean by asking you, Mother Yuan, to ask me this?"
"What?" Madam Yuan was surprised. "Madam just asked me to come and ask Young Madam what she thinks about this matter."
"What do you think?" Xie Rongying chuckled. "What do you want me to think, mother?"
Mother Yuan clenched her hands slightly under her sleeves. She thought Xie Rongying would be angry when she heard that the young marquis was going to marry a concubine. She even thought of how to mock Xie Rongying.
I didn't expect Xie Rongying to respond so lightly.
"Auntie Yuan?" Xie Rongying raised her voice a lot when she saw that Mother Yuan was in a trance.
Mother Yuan came back to her senses. Why did she feel that Xie Rongying had no other emotions at all?
She said, "Young Madam, Madam just asked me to come and ask you if you can't accept the young marquis marrying a concubine for the time being, so we can arrange it later."
Xie Rongying seemed to have heard something funny. She looked Yuan's mother up and down and chuckled, "Why can't I accept it for the time being?"
"Ah?" Mother Yuan stared at Xie Rongying questioningly. She didn't believe that Xie Rongying really didn't care about anything. Even if she didn't have a deep relationship with the young marquis, who in the whole Bianjing didn't know that Xie Rongying was marrying the young marquis of Yongyi Marquis's Mansion?
"I can accept that," Xie Rongying chuckled. "It just so happens that the young marquis's backyard is too deserted. When you marry a concubine, I'll find a few for you. That way, the backyard will be lively, and it won't be so lonely when you go to pay your respects to your mother every morning and evening."
Every time Xie Rongying spoke, Mother Yuan's face became stiffer. It seemed that this was not causing trouble for Xie Rongying, but for the young marquis.
"Is there anything else, Mother Yuan?" Xie Rongying glanced sideways and sneered.
Mother Yuan came back to her senses and said, "I have nothing else to do."
"Then go back and tell mother that your daughter-in-law would like to see a younger sister come into the mansion to accompany the young marquis and expand the Qin family." Xie Rongying said nonchalantly.
As the eldest daughter-in-law of the Yongyi Marquis, there is really nothing wrong with such a statement.
Seeing this, Mother Yuan thought about how she would mock Xie Rongying on the way to Dongyuan, thinking that she would be angry, but she didn't expect Xie Rongying to just blow it off so easily.
"Is there anything else, Mother Yuan?" Xie Rongying's tone began to become impatient, and the look in her eyes as she stared at Mother Yuan became a little colder.
Madam Yuan noticed Xie Rongying's displeasure and said behind her back, "I will go back and tell Madam."
"Then I won't send you off." Xie Rongying's tone became much colder.
After the master and servants in the room watched Mama Yuan leave, Cuizhi angrily said, "Miss, what do they mean by this? They're not even going to act anymore, are they? Equal wife? How dare they do such a shameless thing!"
"Alright, alright." Xie Rongying knew Cuizhi was speaking up for her, so she smiled and said, "If they want to do this, can you stop them? Since they have decided on this, then let them marry."
"Young lady," Cuizhi said, feeling disappointed, "the young marquis is just trying to embarrass you and make you a laughing stock among the ladies of Bianjing."
Xie Rongying raised her eyebrows slightly and said calmly, "Stop nagging."
Cuizhi wanted to say something else, but Yunniang interrupted her: "Young lady, you know what's going on. We don't need to worry. It's getting late. Let's get some rest."
As Yunniang spoke, she respectfully said to Xie Rongying, "Miss, please take a rest first."
After saying that, Yunniang took Cuizhi and walked out of the room.
After closing the door, Yunniang dragged Cuizhi out to the courtyard and whispered, "Did I tell you that the young lady and the mistress had fallen out?"
Cuizhi was stunned, then nodded.
"Since we've fallen out, do you think the young marquis's sudden decision to marry a concubine was simply his own idea?"
Cuizhi suddenly understood: "It was Madam's idea."
"That woman has long been kept by the young marquis. Madam previously forbade the young marquis to marry her simply because she wasn't worthy of him. Now that Madam and the young lady have fallen out, she deliberately sent that old hag to come and tell her off, wanting to upset her. Once that woman enters the house, she's sure to be even more unhappy."
The more Yunniang spoke, the angrier she became. Finally, she said in a cold voice, "As the young lady's closest relatives, all we can do right now is to surround the East Garden like an iron wall and prevent anyone from taking advantage of any loopholes. As for matters outside of the East Garden, neither you nor I can make decisions for the young lady. Do you understand?"
"I understand, sister." Cuizhi couldn't suppress the anger in her heart after hearing this and said, "How could Madam and the young marquis be so shameless?"
Yunniang just smiled faintly when she heard this. She didn't respond directly to Cuizhi's words and said, "Go and rest."
——
Mother Yuan returned to the North Courtyard in a hurry.
As soon as he entered the main room, the maids in the room retreated one after another.
At this time, Jiang had finished washing up and was wearing her middle clothes. She seemed to have been waiting for Mother Yuan for a long time.
"Madam." Madam Yuan's face was not happy. "Young Madam said that if the young marquis wanted to marry a concubine, he could marry one. She even wanted to take a concubine for him. Look at that! This is not the reaction of a newlywed wife."
Jiang was not too surprised by what Mother Yuan brought back.
The current Xie Rongying completely overturned what Jiang had known before. Jiang even began to suspect whether Xie Rongying had other purposes in marrying into the Yongyi Marquis Mansion.
After all, how satisfied he was with Xie Rongying before, how much he hates her now.
"Madam?" Mother Yuan called out when she saw Jiang was in a trance.
Jiang slightly tilted her eyes and said, "In that case, let's pick a good day to let Shangguan Yao come in."
Mother Yuan frowned: "Madam, does the young lady have any backup plan for this matter?"
Mother Yuan never believed that a first wife or a principal wife would mind her husband taking a concubine.
A co-wife is not a concubine.
"I think Xie Rongying has a backup plan." Jiang chuckled, thinking about Shangguan Yao's identity. If Shangguan Yao died at the hands of Xie Rongying, she wouldn't have to do anything, as someone else would naturally take care of Xie Rongying.
"Ma'am, what do you mean?" Mother Yuan felt a little uncomfortable.
Jiang sneered: "Of course, we sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight."
Mother Yuan's expression changed slightly.
Jiang continued, "Send someone to Guixiang now and tell Shangguan Yao that if she wants to gain a foothold in the Yongyi Marquis's mansion, she must get the approval of Xie Rongying, the legal wife. Have her come to the house tomorrow and serve tea to Xie Rongying first."
Mother Yuan's eyes flashed with surprise, and she immediately understood what Jiang meant and said, "Yes, I know what to do."
——
At the end of the Xu hour, Guixiang.
Shangguan Yao was surprised that someone from the Yongyi Marquis' Mansion arrived so quickly, and she didn't expect Jiang to agree so easily.
As for the small things like asking Xie Rongying to nod and serving tea at home, they were within her expectations.
The only thing that surprised Shangguan Yao was Jiang's attitude.
She did not forget that Jiang had wanted to kill her after learning about Qin Junyi's relationship with her.
Originally, she wanted to take Qin Junyi away from this place of trouble and let Jiang know that her son Qin Junyi was no longer under her control. But later she thought that the Yongyi Marquis Mansion should have belonged to Qin Junyi, so why should she give it to Jiang's other son?
Could it be that Qin Junyi's contribution was to pave the way for Jiang's other son?
Why!
Even if Qin Junyi had to sacrifice himself, it was for her and their son.
"Madam, Jiang asked you to serve tea to Xie. Is there something else going on?" Xueqing said worriedly as she combed Shangguan Yao's loose black hair.
Shangguan Yao's eyes paused slightly, thinking that Jiang was not a pushover, and said, "I do know a little bit about Xie Rongying."
Why didn't Shangguan Yao get angry when Jiang forced Qin Junyi to marry the eldest daughter of the Xie family?
However, she knew very well that Qin Junyi would never go against Jiang's wishes. In order to let Qin Junyi know her virtue, she persuaded Qin Junyi to follow Jiang's wishes and also investigated Xie Rongying at that time.
This person attaches too much importance to the rules and regulations of the clan. Even if he has no feelings for Qin Junyi, he will choose to marry her for the benefit of the family.
As the eldest daughter of the Xie family, she must be very capable, otherwise she would not have been favored by the Jiang family.
However, what Qin Junyi learned about Xie Rongying during this period seemed to be biased towards what she knew about Xie Rongying.
How can a person change his character so easily?
Either he was pretending before, or he was just possessed by evil spirits...
He was definitely not pretending before, and the changes later definitely weren't caused by evil spirits.
A meaningful smile appeared on Shangguan Yao's pretty face. She glanced sideways and waved to Xueqing.
Xue Qing stepped forward and asked, "What's wrong, Madam?"
"Go and do something for me tomorrow." As Shangguan Yao spoke, Xueqing bent down to listen.
——
The next day.
A new batch of top-quality rouge and powder arrived today at Chunzhi Pavilion in a small water lane east of Bianjing City.
Early in the morning, the maids serving the ladies of the noble families came here to pick up the rouge and powder that they had ordered last month.
In the lobby, people coming and going are almost all beautiful young ladies.
At this moment, in a small private room separated by a screen in the corner of the lobby, it was so quiet that it was a little eerie.
After an unknown amount of silence, one of them said, "Is it really that weird?"
"I think she's really possessed by an evil spirit. Otherwise, why wouldn't the young marquis enter her room during their wedding?"
"It's not just that the young marquis won't sleep with her, there are other things as well."
"Anything else?"
"Did you know that the wife of the Marquis of Yongyi went to Kaibao Temple a few days ago?"
Everyone else nodded. You know, the Sixth Master of the Earl of Yongqin's Mansion was sent from Kaibao Temple to Kaifeng Prefecture, and later died mysteriously in Kaifeng Prefecture.
"The wife of the Marquis of Yongyi brought Xie to Kaibao Temple to exorcise the evil spirits."
Everyone had different expressions when they heard this.
"When Xie was still unmarried, all the ladies in the capital praised her." The veiled woman spoke in a low, soft, alluring voice. "But why is it that after entering the Marquis of Yongyi's mansion, she seems like a completely different person?"
"You know, when the eldest daughter of the Xie family got married, the lavish dowry she wore was not fake. Why would the young marquis ignore such a wife?"
"How do you know that Young Marquis Qin has neglected the Xie family?" one of them retorted.
"Sister, don't be impatient. Listen to me first." The veiled woman spoke casually, without exaggerating at all. "Mr. Jiang Liu of the Yongqin Earl's Mansion was away from Bianjing when the young Marquis Qin married Mrs. Xie. After returning, Mr. Jiang Liu went to the Yongyi Marquis' Mansion to have a meal with his family."
"At that time, Sixth Master Jiang also gave Mrs. Xie a priceless white jade hairpin, saying it was a wedding gift for her and Young Marquis Qin."
Everyone listened in a trance, their expressions very solemn.
"Guess what? On the morning of the day Sixth Master Jiang was imprisoned in Kaifeng Prefecture, the wife of the Marquis of Yongyi was searching for Xie in the temple. I heard she even mobilized many monks from the temple to look for her. As a result, Sixth Master Jiang was sent to Kaifeng Prefecture that afternoon. No one knows why Sixth Master Jiang was imprisoned in Kaifeng Prefecture."
"Here comes the point." The veiled woman picked up the teacup beside her and said in a much colder voice, "When Mr. Jiang Liu died, the thing stuck in his forehead was the white jade hairpin given to Mrs. Xie."
As the words fell, a hint of panic appeared on everyone's faces.
"Oh my god, this is too scary."
"I heard about it too. I heard that Mr. Jiang Liu's body was torn into pieces, even his internal organs were exposed. It was a very strange death."
"I've met the Xie family's daughter before. She's a very well-behaved girl. How did she get into trouble?"
"The Yongyi Marquis's Mansion is really unlucky."
People are always more generous to the dead, even though they did all sorts of bad things while they were alive.
Just like the evil deeds done by evil people will disappear after they die.
People are even more obsessed with the truth about the death of the deceased, and subconsciously transfer the evil in their hearts to another person.
"Is that white jade hairpin in the Earl of Yongqin's mansion now?" someone suddenly asked the veiled woman.
The veiled woman said, "It's in the hands of the wife of the Marquis of Yongyi."
"Then the wife of the Marquis of Yongyi must hate Xie to death."
The veiled woman continued, "It's said she's possessed by an evil spirit. Xie is a very good person. The wife of the Marquis of Yongyi shouldn't treat her daughter-in-law so carelessly."
"Is there no other way?" one of them asked with a frown, "Is there no other way to get that evil spirit to possess Xie?"
"Yes, there is. I'm afraid it would take a highly respected and virtuous person to remove the evil spirit from Xie's body."
Mother Kang, who was listening to the conversation in the small private room, hurried out of Chunzhi Pavilion and got on the carriage. She said to the coachman, "Let's go to the Yongyi Marquis' Mansion."
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