Chapter 13 Watering and Fertilizing
Inside the Cihui Pavilion of the Marquis of Anyi's residence, the lights remained on all night.
The first wife, Madam Lin, stayed by the bedside of the old lady, Madam Wang, all night. She was nearly forty years old and her spirits were not good. She was exhausted and was now lying on the soft couch in the outer room, leaning against the soft pillows and barely closing her eyes for a short rest.
In the master bedroom, the old lady, Madam Wang, lay stiffly on the bed, her eyes almost bulging out of their sockets, staring intently at the top of the bed curtains, her eyes unwavering.
The surroundings were eerily quiet, filled with a strong, bitter smell of medicine that made people feel suffocated. The maids coming and going all held their breath, bowing their heads and not daring to make a sound for fear of disturbing the deathly silence.
After all, yesterday, the old lady's most favored servant, Granny An, was beaten and killed by the Third Master without warning, leaving all the servants in Cihui Pavilion in shock and still not back to their senses.
The newly arrived head maid, her face as stiff as wax, reprimanded the servants of Cihui Pavilion for their lack of decorum, establishing rules: speaking too softly was a disgrace to the Marquis's mansion, speaking too loudly was disrespectful to their master, and no flattery was allowed on their faces. Any slight disobedience would result in them being dragged out and sold off immediately.
In just one morning, three head maids from Cihui Pavilion were dragged out.
Second Madam Jiang stood before the bed, a silk handkerchief clutched in her hand, carefully wiping the old lady's cheeks. Her movements were extremely gentle, and her gaze towards the old lady was filled with concern and worry.
Old Mrs. Wang seemed to have had all her energy drained away, and overnight she became withered and listless.
After thinking for a moment, Madam Jiang, the second wife, leaned closer to the bedside and earnestly advised, "Mother, Third Uncle is now a high-ranking official in Fujian and Guangdong. He naturally cannot tolerate any injustice. In the end, he is doing it all for your sake. You must not be so concerned. It would be a waste to damage the bond between mother and son over a servant."
The old lady's eyes suddenly turned to the second wife, Jiang, giving her a cold look. She abruptly sat up in bed, her expression twisted with paranoia and madness. Her voice was hoarse like split bamboo as she shouted, "He resents me! How can he resent me? It's all that old hag's fault for turning him away from me. If it weren't for my methods back then, where would he be? How could he have crawled out of my womb?"
The old lady's sudden outburst of madness terrified the second wife, Jiang, who clutched her chest tightly with both hands. Seeing the old lady's last moments of lucidity, Jiang felt her soul nearly leave her body. Her voice trembled as she stammered, "Mother... Mother."
The old lady exhaled, a tear sliding down her right eye. Her previously obsessive and manic expression vanished like a receding tide, replaced by a strange peace. She affectionately held Jiang's hand, her voice soft and ethereal, proudly boasting, "What is that bastard child of that woman? My third son is the one who looks most like the old Marquis, and his temperament is exactly like his. He is the old Marquis's most promising son. I am the matriarch of the Fu family, with a grand wedding procession and proper betrothal. Only my son can inherit the Fu family's prestige and continue its glory. I have done right by the old Marquis, I have done right by him..."
Second Madam Jiang lowered her voice and cautiously echoed, her heart pounding in her throat, fearing that the old lady, being so old, might suddenly pass away due to such intense emotional fluctuations.
Madam Lin, the first wife, was already awakened by the old lady's shout. She was still in shock, and when she heard the old lady's words becoming more and more insane and frightening, and even involving the shameful secrets of the Marquis of Anyi's mansion, she dared not go forward at all.
She was so frightened by the old lady's shocking words that her legs went weak and her fingers trembled uncontrollably. She was filled with shame, indignation and anger. The old lady had dared to humiliate the eldest son's family in front of all the servants without any scruples. Judging from the appearance, it was probably not the first time.
The servants of Cihui Pavilion were already prostrate on the ground, trembling like leaves, wishing they could gouge out their own ears, fearing that the newly arrived head maid would lead people in to drag them out, beat them to death, and silence them.
Standing in the outer room, the head maid sent by Fu Heng stood indifferently with a frosty expression. After the old lady inside calmed down, she gave a wink to the little maid standing with her head bowed to the side.
The young girl understood immediately, lifted her foot, and ran out of Cihui Pavilion with light but swift steps, heading straight for Wuheng Mountain House.
At this moment, in the Shaoguang Courtyard of Jiang, the second wife of the Marquis of Anyi.
In Jiang's master bedroom, the light pink gauze curtains were bright red, the brocade quilt with mandarin ducks was bright red, and the intoxicatingly sweet incense was everywhere, creating a beautiful scene.
Prince Fu Hongxuan was already used to this and took it for granted. He put his arm around the waist of Jiang's head maid Xiuyu and wandered around her freely, whispering and teasing her with a flirtatious tone: "I haven't pampered you for a few days, and your figure has become even more voluptuous? It's clear that you haven't been idle. The old man has been watering and fertilizing this delicate flower of yours quite a bit."
Xiuyu listened to his foul and vulgar words, not a single one of which she could bear. She twisted her waist and pushed him with a hint of anger and resentment: "You heartless bastard! You made me follow you and then made me serve him. Now you're trying to bully me. You and your son are both masters, and I am a lowly person. If you dislike me, you can just throw me away. Why do you have to treat me like this?"
Seeing her alluring eyes and her soft, delicate voice, which made his heart itch and his body feel a tingling, comfortable sensation, Fu Hongxuan brazenly pressed Xiuyu into his arms and rubbed her against him, his voice slurred: "He's old, he can't take good care of you, so I'll make you feel comfortable this time."
Seeing that Fu Hongxuan was coming at her with overwhelming force and was difficult to stop, Xiuyu gave him a few symbolic punches, but ultimately gave in half-heartedly, and the two of them rolled onto Jiang's bed. In the struggle, there was a soft "thud" as a green embroidered shoe rolled off the bed.
“Good girl, I’ll forgive you this time, so you should forgive me this time too.” Fu Hongxuan was slightly out of breath as he whispered in Xiuyu’s ear, “As long as you do as I say this time, I will make sure you don’t work for nothing.”
Xiuyu was secretly horrified. Fu Hongxuan actually wanted her to do such a heinous thing. She dared not show the slightest bit of anger on her face, but only pretended to be angry: "Master, don't try to fool me. It's easy for you to say. If this gets out, the eldest mistress will be the first to not let me off. It would be easy for her to sell me off. The eldest mistress's job is cheap. Why should I do it? I'd rather you be happy and ruin my own future. It would be worse than being beaten to death like Granny An. I think I've served you wholeheartedly. Master is too cruel."
Fu Hongxuan, unusually good-natured, coaxed her: "Why are you afraid of her? She can't escape my grasp. When the time comes, we'll send her to the old lady's room. She won't be able to get away, so how would she know what's going on in the courtyard?"
Although Fu Hongxuan's words sounded nice, there was a hint of impatience in his eyes. He knew that if she refused again, she would suffer. So she could only lower her eyes and nod obediently.
A deep sadness welled up in her heart again. If one could live a life of integrity, who would be willing to debase themselves and disregard shame? If she did not comply, she would suffer the same fate as those who left the mansion lying down. She could not even protect herself, let alone others.
In the storeroom of Biqiong Garden, Chunxi took Meng Qingci's note and sent a maid to open the storeroom and select and pack out top-quality medicinal materials such as bird's nest, Ganoderma lucidum, Tianshan snow lotus, and Cistanche deserticola.
Chunxi stuffed a handful of melon seeds into Meng Qingci's hand and pulled her to a secluded spot under the corridor: "You don't need to serve the master now, so you probably don't know that Lord Gu (Gu Huaixu) impeached Princess Changning for being disrespectful to the Crown Prince at the Grand Princess's residence, acting erratically, and was reprimanded by His Majesty. Even her fiefdom was taken back, and she was ordered to reflect on her actions in the Buddhist hall for half a year."
Meng Qingci didn't expect that Gu Huaixu's words that day were true, and he was surprised that Gu Huaixu would act so radically because of this, which was not like his usual style.
Seeing Qing'er looking at her in surprise, Chunxi smiled and asked, "Feeling better now?"
He then probed further, "Since Lord Gu has stood up for you like this, you're not tempted, are you?"
"Tempted? Tempted to the point of not knowing how you'll die? Stop daydreaming." Meng Qingci said irritably, stuffing the leftover melon seed shells back into Chunxi's palm, clapping her hands, and leading Qiao'er, who was carrying the medicinal herbs, and several other maids away.
Chunxi pouted from behind, not to be outdone: "Are you a clay bodhisattva with a heart of stone? If it were me, even if it took my life immediately, it would be worth it to get a glance from a god-like gentleman like Lord Gu."
Meng Qingci pretended not to hear. Fu Jingyu was sincere to her at first, and she was sincere in return. But in the last two years, Fu Jingyu has wanted more and more. If it weren't for the conflict of interest between them, and the lingering affection from their past, she probably wouldn't have let her leave the manor so easily.
As they walked through the bamboo forest and entered Wuheng Mountain House, Mo Jian, with his sharp eyes, came up to them with a smile: "Miss Qing'er, have you come to see our master?"
Seeing that Mo Jian exuded a silly aura and his questions were meaningless, Meng Qingci was amused by him: "Young Miss knows that Third Master has a hard time away from home, so she specially prepared some precious medicinal herbs and asked me to deliver them to express her filial piety." Mo Jian glanced at the little maid holding the box, seemingly understanding. Suddenly, he had a flash of inspiration and told two servants to take the little maid to store the items. He then led Meng Qingci towards the main room: "Young Miss is very kind. The master is inside. Please go in and report to him yourself."
A note from the author:
----------------------
This chapter is a bit short; I'll make up for it in the next chapter.
Correct the typos
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
