Chapter 9 The Big Fish Arrives
"My wife! Something terrible has happened!"
When Mrs. He rushed in with a panicked expression, she kicked the threshold and fell inside.
Jiang Shiyao patted her daughter, who had been startled awake.
She frowned in displeasure. "What's the matter that you're in such a panic!"
Mother He lowered her voice, trembling, "The master has gone gambling again... and Chang Shun from the outer courtyard even reported him to Madam!"
Jiang Shiyao suddenly stood up, but she calmed down after a moment.
"Has He Dayou been brought back?"
"Not yet. I just heard about it from Changshun, but he thought it was the master who stole the money for the flower seeds in the manor."
Jiang Shiyao's gaze fell on the bamboo poles drying silk threads in the courtyard.
“Take a bamboo stick and stop him. While hitting him, tell him that the money you borrowed to treat your mother back home was gambled away.”
As she spoke, she brought her eyes close to Mrs. He's, "Remember, it's a loan!"
At the side gate of the Duke's mansion, He Dayou was escorted by two servants.
He was dragged across the threshold, his face pale.
Where would a gardener like him get so much silver to lose? He paid back fifty taels last time, and today he gambled away another hundred taels.
The secret in the bamboo grove is about to be exposed.
Could he voluntarily confess in order to atone for his sins...?
"He Dayou! You're gambling again!" A green shadow flashed at the corner of his eye, and a burning pain shot through his face!
He was about to start cursing when his mother rushed over and started hitting him while crying.
"You heartless bastard! You gambled away all the rice in the house, and you still keep gambling!"
"This money was borrowed from my wife with great difficulty for my mother! What will I do if you gamble it away?!"
He Dayou didn't react for a moment.
Mrs. He started hitting and punching him, yelling, "You heartless bastard!"
"Don't you think about me? Don't you think about Little Stone back in our hometown?!"
"Alright, stop wailing!" Chang Shun impatiently pushed He's mother away.
He didn't care whether the money was borrowed or stolen; what he wanted was to drive He Dayou out of the Duke's mansion.
The gardener was making a good living, so if He Dayou wasn't driven away, how would his mother send him to the flower shop?
He Dayou looked at his wife who had fallen to the ground, and finally his mind came to a head.
Jiang Niangzi is the prince's concubine. If the matter in the bamboo forest is exposed, it will most likely fall on him.
The lady was ruthless and decisive. Knowing that he had concealed the theft of money, she knew that death was probably the only thing waiting for him.
Rather than courting death, it's better to conceal your past and gamble on a path to wealth!
In the flower hall.
Lady Zhao, the Duchess of the State, is looking at the account books.
When He Dayou was brought in, she frowned. Why did such a trivial matter have to bother her!
"If the evidence is conclusive, just hand them over to the authorities. Why send them here to offend my eyes!"
Madam Chang immediately stepped forward, "Madam, He Dayou is a compulsive gambler! But this old servant has not found anything unusual in the flower room's accounts, which is the biggest suspicion!"
Zhao looked up and exclaimed, "This little gardener actually has such skills."
He Dayou immediately kowtowed, "Replying to Madam, even if I had the greatest courage in the world, I would not dare to use the money from the flower room!"
"This money was borrowed by my wife... from Fu Jie'er's wet nurse, Mama He, and Madam Jiang!"
Madam Chang: "Borrowed? Madam Jiang borrowed one hundred taels?!"
Zhao asked, "How much is the monthly allowance for Jiang and the young lady?"
Madam Chang: "Ten taels for the lady, five taels for the young lady."
Zhao leaned forward slightly, "Jiang is so generous, lending you a hundred taels of your ten-tael monthly allowance."
She demanded sharply, "Tell me! Where did the money come from?!"
He Dayou shuddered, his heart pounding.
"Yes, it was borrowed by my wife..."
Madam Chang turned her head and said, "Madam, this..."
Zhao pinched the bridge of her nose. "Go and invite Jiang."
Rather than dealing with a mere gardener, she wanted to use Jiang to get back at her good-natured mother-in-law!
When Jiang Shiyao arrived, He Dayou was kneeling at the entrance of the flower hall, his back soaked with sweat.
She strode into the flower hall without looking to either side.
"Greetings to the Madam."
Zhao's face was displeased. Jiang Shiyao was someone her son had personally promoted back then, so she turned a blind eye to this matter.
But now he's bypassed her and gotten involved with that old woman!
She gently blew on the teacup, without raising her head or asking Jiang Shiyao to get up.
After a long while, Zhao slowly raised her head and said, "Get up."
"I called you here to see how you, Madam Jiang, make money. You have a monthly allowance of ten taels of silver, yet you can still lend a hundred taels to your servants."
Jiang Shiyao lowered her head and said, "In reply to Madam, I am merely a woman confined to the inner quarters; how would I know anything about making money?"
“A few days ago, the young master gave me some silver. My mother back home was sick, and I lent it out because of how well she took care of Fu’er.”
Zhao snorted coldly, "I think you've climbed the social ladder and forgotten who you are."
In that instant, Jiang Shiyao realized that Zhao Shi was deliberately making things difficult for her, and it wasn't because of the gardener.
This was because Old Madam Zhou prepared birthday gifts without consulting the head mistress, and instead went directly to one of her concubines.
She immediately knelt down, saying, "Madam, you are wise."
Zhao glanced at the person who was kneeling obediently in front of her.
If it weren't for her honest and obedient nature, she would have been kicked out the day she climbed into Xian'er's bed.
"You embroidered a birthday gift for the old lady; I heard it's an auspicious beast."
Jiang Shiyao: "Yes, the auspicious beast offers a peach."
She paused, then said, "Today, when I showed the embroidery to the old lady, a strange thing happened."
"Oh? What's so strange?"
Jiang Shiyao's lips curled into a faint smile. "Miss Song is also here. She thought that I had served the young master yesterday and said that my embroidery was dirty, so she presented me with a new design."
"Strangely, the new design is exactly the same as the one on the concubine's auspicious beast offering peaches."
"What a shameless wretch!" Madam Zhao slammed her hand on the table. "He hasn't even stepped inside, yet he dares to interfere with the people in my son's room!"
She took a breath. "And then there's more."
Jiang Shiyao continued, "After I explained, Mama Gao said that since we both thought of the auspicious beast offering peaches, it must be the will of Heaven, and we will surely be favored by the Empress Dowager."
"I think Miss Song also wants to express her feelings, so I suggest that I complete the auspicious beast, and Miss Song can do the final peach and eye-dotting."
Zhao snorted, "Let Song Jiyun embroider? Aren't you afraid she'll ruin it..."
Her voice paused, then as if she suddenly remembered something, a smile appeared on her lips.
She winked at her confidante, who was looking at her mother.
Mother Xiang immediately dismissed all the maids, including He Dayou who was at the door.
Once she was alone, she said slowly, "Madam Jiang, I also have a birthday gift for you to prepare."
Jiang Shiyao pretended not to understand and looked up.
Zhao's smile grew even wider. "Just focus on becoming even better. You can withdraw your money from Zhonggong anytime!"
"Do this secretly, and don't tell anyone."
"yes."
Jiang Shiyao's downturned lips curled up.
Here comes the big fish.
Even without He Dayou's affair, she would still pass on what happened in the old lady's courtyard to Zhao Shi's ears.
Each had their own agenda, and this struggle between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law was a good opportunity for her to make money.
The better the product, the more expensive it is.
The old lady instructed Shuangjiang to keep an eye on her accounts, but Zhao, who was acting discreetly, would no longer send anyone to keep watch.
"Mother!"
Jiang Shiyao almost thought she had misheard.
A tall shadow was cast in from outside the door and landed beside her, then a smaller shadow was lowered down.
"Your son greets his mother." A deep voice sounded from above.
Jiang Shiyao glanced sideways; her black boots were spotless.
Little Fu'er, standing beside him, clenched her chubby little hands and bowed in a sweet, childish voice.
"Fu'er, greet your grandmother."
Zhao slammed down her teacup in annoyance. "I haven't even done anything yet, and you've already arrived!"
Zhou Congxian touched the top of his daughter's head. "Fu'er showed our son the calligraphy she had practiced these past two days. He remembered how you used to force him to practice calligraphy with a cane when he was little."
Zhao snorted, "So you've decided to seek revenge on Mother?"
"Jade must be carved to become a useful object; the son is grateful for his mother's hardships."
Zhou Congxian picked up Fu'er.
“Jiang gave birth to Fu’er for my son and raised her so well. Even if she has made mistakes, please forgive her for the sake of my son.”
Zhao rolled her eyes at her son, "Alright, alright, my precious child, how could I dare to make things difficult for you?"
It wasn't easy for her to have this son; she lost two children before finally having him, and she raised him like a precious jewel from a young age.
But the old woman also liked to compete with her for her son.
The concubines were one thing, but the son insisted on marrying a woman from the Song family.
What was the old woman's intention in letting her maternal grandniece marry into the family? Did she really not know?
"Xian'er, your eldest sister has arranged to go to offer incense to Miss Li tomorrow. Why don't you go with her?"
Zhou Congxian knew what his mother wanted to do. "Mother, it is inconvenient for your son to go with you."
Zhao was dissatisfied, saying, "Why is it inconvenient?"
Her gaze fell on the mother and daughter beside her. "The incense at Baima Temple is very effective. Why can't you, as the father, go and ask for a peace charm for your daughter?"
Zhou Congxian said, "Let my second brother go."
Zhao's eyebrows almost shot up. "I'm going tomorrow too! I'll accompany my mother to offer incense, let's see how you refuse then!"
Zhou Congxian said helplessly, "My son's marriage to Miss Song has already been approved by my grandmother and father."
"You cannot disregard the reputation of both young ladies for your own selfish desires."
"My selfish desires?" Zhao's lips trembled slightly as she looked at her son, whom she had raised with such care and love, with disbelief in her eyes.
"Zhou Congxian, how dare you say I did it for my own selfish desires?!"
"That day, Song Jiyun dragged you into the bustling city and rode with you. Did you really think I didn't know what she meant?!"
Zhou Congxian sighed almost imperceptibly and handed his daughter to Jiang Shiyao.
"Take Fu'er back first."
Jiang Shiyao immediately hugged her daughter, curtsied, and then turned and left the flower hall.
It is an unchangeable fact that Zhou Congxian is going to marry Song Jiyun.
But hearing his words again still causes a dull ache in my heart.
She just hoped that the March deadline would come quickly.
I left this place with my daughter.
The next day, while Jiang Shiyao was still asleep, holding her daughter, she was grabbed by a pair of large hands.
"ah--!!"
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