Chapter 229 Jin Xiaoniang
If a boy is born, he will be a member of the Cui family in the future and can support the Song family forever.
But if it is a girl, she can be married off with a dowry. In the future, she will have a husband's family, her own family, and her maternal grandparents' family, so she will have to stand aside.
The child was a little weak and needed careful care for a few days. Old Mrs. Xu took her two granddaughters to see the child and then left.
On the morning of the next day, Cui Si asked someone to prepare a gift and went to visit Jin Xiaoniang.
Jin Xiaoniang and Kang Xiaoniang both lived in a courtyard quite away from the main courtyard. The courtyard was neither big nor small, and there were maids to serve them. It was spacious enough for one person to live in. There was no floor heating in the house, but there was a charcoal fire, so it was not too cold in winter.
Jin Xiaoniang was too sick to get up. When she learned that Cui Si had come, she was flattered and hurriedly asked her maid to help her up.
Cui Si walked into the bedroom and saw that she was about to get up, so she said, "No need to be so polite. You are still sick, just lie down."
"Thank you, Sixth Lady." Jin Xiaoniang felt a little panicked, but she really couldn't get up, so she had to give up.
Jin Xiaoniang was only thirty-six years old this year. She was originally a girl from an honest family, but her family could not make ends meet and wanted to sell her off. It happened that Yan wanted to take a concubine for Mr. Cui Erye, and seeing that Jin Xiaoniang was fair-skinned and gentle, she decided to keep her.
She had ordinary facial features, but she was fair and skinny, like dough, and her temperament was indeed gentle. Over the years, she had been humble and cautious in the mansion, and never dared to offend her master.
Because she was seriously ill, she lost a lot of weight, her eyes were sunken, and she looked anxious and very sad.
A maid brought a chair and asked Cui Si to sit down and talk. Cui Si asked her, "Have you asked the doctor to come and see me?"
Jin Xiaoniang nodded and said, "Thank you for your concern, Sixth Lady. Mr. Ping is a filial son. He has already asked someone to come and see him. He is taking medicine. It's just that my health is not good enough, so I have caused him trouble."
When Jin Xiaoniang said this, she felt very guilty and thought that she was a burden to her child.
Cui Si advised her, "We are mother and son for a lifetime, so why bother with each other? You gave birth to him and brought him into this world, so it's only right that he respects you. If I really care about Brother Ping, I should take good care of myself and get better quickly."
"As long as you are here, Brother Pingzu has a biological mother. If you are gone, who will care for him?"
Jin Xiaoniang shuddered and burst into tears: "Sixth Lady is right, right..."
Her son was just a bastard. Perhaps he would have enough food and clothing in the big clan, but no one would really care about him.
Mr. Cui didn't even take care of his legitimate children. Cui Ping probably didn't see them all year round. Old Lady Xu might have some love for her illegitimate grandson, but only a little.
If we say that the five fingers have different lengths, Cui Jing, Cui Yi, and Cui Si are fingers, and Cui Ping is just a fingernail.
"I'm just afraid that I'll be a burden to him. It's all my fault. It's all my fault..."
Jin Xiaoniang cried sadly and desperately. Cui Si frowned slightly, feeling that something was not right. She looked at the maidservant beside her and asked her, "What's wrong with Jin Xiaoniang?"
The maid hesitated for a moment, bit her lip, and suddenly knelt down: "Sixth Lady, please forgive me, please save me."
Upon hearing this, Jin Xiaoniang stopped crying and called out, "Xiaozhi."
Cui Si glanced at her and said, "Miss Jin, don't be afraid. Let her talk. If you've been wronged, I can't help you with small matters, but if it's a big deal, I can help you out."
As a concubine, it is normal to suffer grievances. If you want to live a better life, you need to protect yourself. No one else can help you.
But if it was a matter of life and death, and unless she had made a serious mistake, Cui Si would be willing to help her.
The maid named Xiaozhi said, "Sixth Lady, it's... because of Madam..."
When Xiaozhi talked about Song Rou, she felt a little nervous and waited for a long time before continuing.
"There were rumors earlier that Second Master and Third Master wanted to adopt Ping Master as the successor to Fifth Master's lineage.
Mr. Ping was a little hesitant at first. If he was adopted, he would only be the son of the Fifth Master and the Fifth Madam, and no longer my own.
"Ping Langjun is also a filial person. He was afraid that he could not take care of me. It was my repeated persuasion that finally made him decide."
"But how could I have known that Madam actually disagreed with this matter? She even came to me a few days ago and used me to threaten Mr. Ping, forcing him to reject this matter himself."
"I disagreed, and I felt that I had caused trouble for Mr. Ping, so I fell ill. These days... Although the doctor prescribed medicine, I didn't drink a single sip."
"Sixth Lady, please save me and my dear Ping."
Jin Xiaoniang just sat on the bed and cried. She cried and tried to wipe her tears with her hands but couldn't. Soon her face was covered with tears.
"I...I'm just afraid of dragging him down..."
In aristocratic families, there is a clear distinction between legitimate and illegitimate sons. The legitimate son is the real boss, while the illegitimate son is just a foil, the legitimate son's left arm and right arm, a servant or a housekeeper.
It is absolutely impossible to make a concubine the legitimate heir without a great opportunity.
Cui Ping now has this hard-to-get opportunity.
If Cui Ping was adopted by Master Cui Wu, his offspring would be the legitimate heir in the future and the head of the Cui family, and would no longer be a bastard who was half master and half servant. This was the key to changing the fate of Cui Ping and his descendants.
Therefore, Jin Xiaoniang would rather die than become a burden to Cui Ping.
It was precisely because she was really ill that after Mr. Cui Er came back that day, Cui Ping invited Mr. Cui Er to visit her. Unexpectedly, when Song Rou found out, she started to make a fuss, and then she had a miscarriage, and the baby was born a few days prematurely.
I have to say that there are indeed some causes and effects of good and evil in our lives.
Song Rou also deserved it.
I don't know how the Song family brainwashed her. Even if Cui Ping was adopted by Master Cui Wu as his legitimate son and a share of the family property was given to him, how much would that be for the huge Cui family?
Cui Si felt a headache and sighed, "Speaking of which, I also have some responsibility in this matter. When my wife was pregnant, my father discussed with her and said that if the baby was a boy, he would be adopted by my fifth uncle."
"Madam disagreed, saying her child couldn't call anyone else their parents. If they had to adopt someone, then my fifth brother should be adopted. The two of them started arguing, and I went to mediate. I mentioned my third brother's intention to adopt my fifth uncle, thinking that would resolve the issue. However, I didn't expect that it would sow the seeds of trouble instead."
Things are accomplished through secrecy, and are ruined through disclosure.
If she hadn't exposed the matter, none of this would have happened later. When the time came, Cui Ping would have been adopted smoothly.
After hearing this, Jin Xiaoniang shook her head repeatedly: "How can we blame Sixth Lady for this? It's a blessing for Ping Langjun that Sanlangjun and Sixth Lady are willing to promote him. It's probably because we're unlucky that so many things are happening now."
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