Madam Wen was too weak to get out of bed, so she quickly gave the head maid a look. The head maid understood and whispered in Pei Jing's ear, "Madam, you are thinking of the Marquis's mansion. Although we all know that the young mistress's marriage was not clean, we have already betrothed her. If we say these things, wouldn't we be disgracing the Marquis's mansion?"
“Grandma, as you know, our Madam values face the most, and so does the Old Madam. It’s one thing for others to gossip and use this to humiliate our Marquis’s mansion, but we ourselves must never say anything about it.”
Hearing her say that, Pei Jing understood the point. She gritted her teeth, pointed her index finger at Jiang Shuwan, and the ruby ring on her finger gleamed brightly.
"Then what about your sarcastic remark calling your wife an old fox?"
"I'm so wronged, sister! Madam doesn't like bright furs, so I found a fur with a more subdued color and gave it to her. It's just that the fox fur was a bit old. I meant well, and I presented the good fur to Madam as soon as I got it. How did it become me using this to insult Madam?"
Jiang Shuwan started crying again as she spoke.
Life is like a play, and it all depends on acting skills.
She pounded her chest and cried so hard that it moved all who heard her to tears. "I never imagined my wife would doubt me like this. From now on, I will never dare to be filial to my wife again."
"You...you mean this is Madam's fault?" Pei Jingqi trembled with anger.
Jiang Shuwan sobbed and clutched her handkerchief with a wronged expression. "How could I dare? I'm just a new bride, and I still have to beg for food under Madam's command. I dare not disobey Madam's orders. If Madam tells me to go east, I will never go west."
"Lies! Does this sound like you're being obedient?"
"Let me ask you, what does it mean to have power in the household? You're a new bride, and after only six months in the family, you don't know how to be filial to your mother-in-law or make her happy. Yet you dare to covet the power in her mother-in-law's hands. You really don't understand filial piety at all!"
"Disrespecting your mother-in-law—for that alone, I can divorce you!"
Pei Jing spoke sharply and sternly, his eyes flashing with a fierce light, causing Qingxing's legs to tremble. The little girl tugged at Jiang Shuwan's sleeve worriedly.
Jiang Shuwan smiled faintly, still maintaining her gentle and polite demeanor. "Elder sister, you're really blaming me. Madam is busy every day, running around taking care of the whole family's needs. If she weren't working so hard, why would she keep falling ill?"
"As a new daughter-in-law, I feel heartbroken to see my mother-in-law getting thinner and thinner every day. Even the old lady sighed that my mother-in-law had a hard time and asked me to help her share the burden. That's why she entrusted me with the shop. I dared not slack off for a single day and tried my best in everything. Now I am also in charge of the accounts. I work hard every day, braving wind and rain. I have endured all the hardships and fatigue. I never expected to receive a word of praise from my elder sister. Instead, she said that I was disobedient and was eyeing my mother-in-law's power."
As she spoke, her face was streaked with tears, and her words were sobbing and incoherent, making her sound incredibly pitiful.
"What a terrible injustice! Everything I've done here was to ease my mother-in-law's worries..."
"Heavens above, how could you wrong me like this..."
"I am more wronged than Dou E..."
"You, you, you...you're such a smooth talker..."
Pei Jing was furious with her affected manner.
You slut!
She's exactly the same as those lowly concubines in the Duke's mansion; all she knows is to shed tears and act pitiful, and she's even better at it than those lowly women!
Pei Jing stared at her resentfully, her eyes filled with venom, and then she heard Jiang Shuwan ask her with an innocent look on her face.
"But then again, my elder sister has been married into the Liu family for more than five years. Why don't we see her helping to manage the household and letting the Duchess rest?"
"You bitch! How dare you mock me for not getting the power to manage the household..."
Pei Jing instantly flew into a rage. She rushed to Jiang Shuwan and slapped her across the face.
"You bitch! No matter who you are, I dare to criticize you!"
"stop!"
Just then, Madam Pei entered in a grand procession with a group of maids and servants.
"Grandma, what brings you here?" Pei Jing looked utterly shocked. She quickly put her hands behind her back and glared resentfully at the gatekeeper.
You lowly servant, you didn't even announce the arrival of the old lady!
The gatekeeper and the maids outside immediately knelt down.
It's a misunderstanding! The old lady wouldn't allow the message to be sent; what could they, as servants, do?
Standing in the middle of the room, leaning on her dragon-headed cane, Madam Pei watched the exchange of glances between Pei Jing and the servants. Disappointed and angry, she looked at Pei Jing and said, "You ill-mannered thing, you haven't improved even after getting married. No wonder the Duchess didn't give you the power to manage the household!"
Pei Jing's face turned deathly pale instantly. She looked up at Old Madam Pei, tears welling up in her eyes, "Old Madam, I..."
"Shut up! I heard it all, I saw it all. You're incredibly arrogant, daring to hit your innocent sister-in-law and even accusing her of being unfilial and wanting to divorce her. You really are... you really are..."
Madam Pei trembled as she angrily slammed her cane against the ground repeatedly.
Born into a prestigious family, she couldn't bring herself to do something as undignified as a shrewish woman yelling in the street. Besides, Pei Jing was a junior and already married, so she couldn't bring herself to yell at him. She could only look at Pei Jing with immense disappointment, and then pointed at Wen Shi and cursed, "It's all your fault for spoiling her so much that she's become lawless!"
"Look what you've raised her into! I told you to keep her in my yard, but you wouldn't listen..."
As she spoke, Madam Pei began to blame Madam Wen.
Pei Jing was actually raised by her when he was young. She taught him to be polite and intelligent. Later, when Pei Yanzhi was almost abused to death by the servants, she had someone bring Pei Yanzhi to her side. Then, Wen Shi took Pei Jing away.
Moreover, she resolutely refused to bring the children back, saying that since both her son and daughter were born to her, why should they be raised by the old lady?
After she said this, Madam Pei had no choice but to act cautiously.
"I truly regret my past actions. I should never have let you take Pei Jing away." The old man angrily pounded his cane.
"What does the old lady mean by that? Does the old lady think I didn't teach Jing'er well? The old lady is too biased. Jing'er clearly didn't say anything wrong. Jiang Shi is a new bride, why should she be the one to get ahead of me?"
Madam Wen stared at Old Madam Pei, harboring resentment towards her as well. "And the accountant too! How can the accountant be managed by Madam Jiang? I am the head of the household, and she is the daughter-in-law. As the mother-in-law and the head of the household, I have to ask her for permission to withdraw money. I ask you, in the capital, whose head of household is as pathetic as me?"
"I've completely lost all my dignity!"
Wen pounded the bed and burst into tears.
That's terrible!
She's so pitiful!
She had never been this miserable since she married into the Marquis's household.
"Your lack of authority is your own doing. Have you already forgotten so quickly why I put Wan'er in charge of the shop?"
Wen's face paled as she immediately remembered the matter of checking the accounts.
It was only after her embezzlement was discovered that the shop was given to Jiang Shuwan to manage...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
