Someone snorted and slowly stood up: "I suddenly feel unwell, so I'll take my leave now. Please forgive me, Madam Hou."
That lady came from a general's family and had a straightforward temper; she was never easy to offend. But to leave so abruptly was a blatant disregard for her dignity!
Lady Hou's face turned somewhat unpleasant. Before she could even speak to smooth things over, people began to get up and take their leave.
“I suddenly remembered that I have some matters to attend to at home. Let’s meet another day.”
"Me too……"
Lady Hou stared in astonishment, her eyes wide: "Lady Yan, Lady Zhong, you..."
Most people were opportunistic; seeing the situation, many more came to say goodbye, not even bothering to come up with an excuse.
Her smile faltered, and her attempts to persuade him to stay were futile.
The old lady was startled, her face instantly turning cold. She angrily questioned her, "What happened? How come everyone is gone?!"
Lady Hou felt a surge of emotions, and her body swayed violently twice, not understanding where things had gone wrong.
Someone spoke without lowering their voice, perhaps intentionally saying it to her: "You know you haven't been hospitable enough? You have the nerve to serve up spoiled fruit to your guests!"
"Exactly! I've lived most of my life and never seen anyone so stingy!"
Lady Hou's face turned pale and then flushed. She abruptly pushed away the servants who came to help her and went to the small table to pick up a plate of fruit to examine it carefully.
After a quick glance, she noticed something amiss: seven or eight grapes on a bunch were rotten and covered in flies. Even she would have turned away if such a thing had been served. The Lady of the Marquis's fingertips trembled with anger.
Summer is hot, and fruits and vegetables don't keep well, but the Marquis's mansion is short of money and doesn't have the financial resources to buy fresh ones, so these things are bought two days in advance and placed in the kitchen.
She repeatedly instructed Chi Yue to keep a close eye on the kitchen and keep the food refrigerated with well water to prevent it from rotting too quickly.
Now that things had come to this, Chi Yue realized the enormity of her mistake and stepped forward with a trembling face: "Mother..."
I had barely started when I received a hard slap across the face!
Chi Yue's eyes instantly reddened, and she covered her face, looking up with a wronged expression: "What is Mother doing?"
Even if she was negligent and didn't check beforehand, the fault isn't entirely hers!
Food is prone to spoilage and rotting at this time of year. If we had just bought fresh produce, there wouldn't have been so many problems.
Seeing the resentment on her face, Lady Hou felt a surge of anger and exclaimed, "Fool!"
This was the first major event she had undertaken after recovering from her illness, but she had made such a huge mess of things. How could the old lady and the marquis give her a good look?
Sure enough, the old lady was glaring at her angrily: "Look what you've done! You've completely disgraced our Marquis's mansion today!"
She took a deep breath and gritted her teeth, saying hatefully, "You're supposed to be the mistress of the house, yet you're not as thorough and meticulous as a concubine. I think Aunt Qiu should continue to be in charge from now on!"
For the proud Lady Hou, being accused in front of the servants of being inferior to a concubine was an immense humiliation!
In an instant, all the color drained from her face!
"Madam! Madam, are you alright?"
Whether it was due to the extreme stimulation or not, Lady Hou suddenly felt dizzy and fainted.
The old lady coldly flicked her sleeve: "She faints all the time, her health is so poor, how can she manage the household? She should focus on getting better!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
