"You had Xueqing call me over, did you sense something?"
Chi Yan turned to ask her, only to see Shen Tangning narrow her eyes slightly: "Shen Xiwei's mood is not right. I'm worried that she's up to something, so just to be on the safe side, I had Xueqing go and call you."
Chi Yan nodded thoughtfully: "We should be wary of your second sister; she has ulterior motives." He then chuckled, "And you too, why did you suddenly decide to expose Chi Jingyu's secrets in front of the Old Madam?"
Shen Tangning gently pursed her lips: "It's the New Year, and the old lady insists on making me unhappy, so I can only let her be unhappy."
He turned his head to look at her, somewhat amused: "You're quite vindictive, aren't you?"
She curved her lips into a smile and gave me a meaningful look: "Yes, you'd better be careful not to offend me."
Chi Yan coughed lightly, his lips pressed together: "With you being so fierce, who would dare offend you?"
Although it was clearly a sarcastic remark, perhaps his lazy attitude revealed a hint of intimacy, and she inexplicably felt her ears burn, turning her head away uncomfortably.
...
The two arrived at the East Courtyard. Since Chi Yan couldn't go in, Shen Tangning told him to wait outside.
As she entered, she heard voices coming from inside. The old woman, who was the wife of the Marquis, saw her and gave a slight curtsy: "The Second Young Mistress has arrived."
As soon as the conversation inside stopped, Shen Tangning walked into the inner room with a relaxed expression and saw that Madam Hou was leaning against a pillow, with Madam Chi sitting opposite her.
It was clear that she had dressed up specially, but even the makeup couldn't hide the Hou lady's haggard appearance.
Shen Tangning stepped forward to greet her, her eyes filled with concern: "It's only been a while since we last met, how did you become so ill?"
Lady Hou forced a smile: "Everyone eats grains and other foods, how can they not get sick?"
She didn't want the second wife to laugh at her, so naturally she couldn't reveal the truth.
Shen Tangning knew perfectly well what was going on, but didn't expose her: "When I first saw Aunt Qiu just now, I was quite puzzled. I almost didn't recognize her because of her spirit and energy."
On important occasions like holidays and festivals, if it weren't for a lack of ability, how could Lady Hou allow a concubine to take charge?
Her words implied that Aunt Qiu had become somewhat arrogant after taking charge of the household, which was exactly what Lady Hou was wary of.
Provoked by her words, Lady Hou felt even more suffocated. She pretended to be calm and said, "I've just been feeling unwell these past few days. This is a good opportunity to broaden her horizons and prevent her from being so short-sighted."
She spoke lightly, but Shen Tangning knew that resentment had already arisen in her heart, and she subtly curled the corners of her lips.
Before long, a servant rushed in to report: "Madam, something terrible has happened! The young master has somehow offended the old lady, and there's a commotion at Furong Courtyard. Now the old lady wants to invite the Marquis back!"
Lady Hou's expression changed: "How could this be?!"
As she thought of something, her heart sank to the bottom.
Could it be that the old lady found out about that matter?
Seeing this, Chi's mother smiled awkwardly and stood up, saying, "Sister-in-law, please go ahead with your work. We also have things to do at home, so we'll be leaving now."
It's not appropriate for them to stay any longer under these circumstances.
Shen Tangning had watched the spectacle long enough and had no objections.
Aunt Qiu saw the whole family out, apologizing profusely, "What bad luck! How could this happen! I haven't been a good host, and you've all had to see this..."
Shen Tangning glanced at her and said that when she said Aunt Qiu was getting arrogant, it wasn't just to put the Hou lady in her place. Look at her, she's just a concubine who's only been managing the household for a few days, but now she acts like the mistress of the house.
If she were the wife of a marquis, she certainly wouldn't tolerate such a person.
She curved her lips into a smile, looking completely at ease: "It must have been tough on Aunt Qiu to leave such a mess."
The latter frowned, hesitated, and finally just sighed, "Every family has its own problems."
Shen Tangning sighed, "Isn't that right? But Aunt Qiu should still be cautious."
Aunt Qiu paused, "What do you mean by that, Second Young Madam?"
Shen Tangning frowned and kindly reminded her, "If you stand out like this, the Lady of the Marquis will inevitably have some complaints. If she gets better in the future, won't she settle scores later?"
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