Su Qing saw that the old madam had an unkind expression and knew what was up. But she was still in a bad mood, so why would she show the old madam a happy expression? Hence, she lazily made an incomplete bow and said in weak voice, “nubi pays respects to laotaitai.”
Inside the room, more than a dozen pairs of eyes stared at Su Qing’s lethargic movements, more than a dozen pairs of ears listened to her impertinent tone; all the servants were flabbergasted at her attitude towards the old madam. For a moment, everyone’s heart boiled in anticipation to see who would emerge the winner in this confrontation.
The old madam naturally didn’t expect that Su Qing would not only arrive late, but also dare to be so disrespectful. Noticing the various thoughts of the servants in the room, she felt that she was losing face. Not even bothering to look at Su Qing, she coldly said, “What kind of respects are you paying? I’m just an old woman from the countryside, so I’ve never seens such an arrogant yiniang. Just whose influence do you have for you to consider everyone else beneath you?”
Su Qing saw the old madam get angry and felt the smothering feelings from the night before ease up a little bit in her heart. She only let the old madam’s superficial criticism in one ear and out the other. She only straightened up and answered with a light smile, “nubi’s maternal family’s fu might be inferior to the xiangfu, but both my gege are second pin officials, appointed as a high minister in the Ministry of Personnel, and also the canal route commissioner! Was this what laotaitai wanted to ask about?”
After Yun Xuan Zhi had left last night, Su Qing had spent a long time thinking. In the past, she and Yun Xuan Zhi found each other compatible and had been ready to give their hearts to each other!
But the road to happiness was strewn with setbacks. The damned old madam had drawn a rift between them, having quickly arranged a marriage with Fu Guo gongfu, making Yun Xuan Zhi marry their second di young miss, Qu Ruo Li!
Su Qing had no choice but to listen to Yun Xuan Zhi’s suggestion, and had come to the xiangfu for the time being, ending up as a yiniang!
However, just according to status, Su Qing felt that she was not in any way inferior to Qu Ruo Li, as both of them were di daughters!
If they were to compare family status, Fu Guo gongfu only became a marquisate after they had assisted the previous emperor in his struggle for the throne. After that, the Qu family’s eldest di daughter was chosen to enter the palace and then became a guifei, leading to their meteoric rise!
If it wasn’t for that, then the Qu family might not even compare to their Su family!
At least the Su family had generations of history as a literary family. How could rough people who only knew how to wave their swords and spears around comprehend their deeply rooted accomplishments?
What’s more, when comparing their appearance, Qu Ruo Li always had a weak and delicate appearance that couldn’t arouse a man’s desires. How could she compare to Su Qing, who had managed to keep Yun Xuan Zhi deeply entranced to this day?
Besides, her two brothers and Yun Xuan Zhi already had a relationship like that between fish and water. As long as she didn’t treat the old madam too excessively, surely Yun Xuan Zhi would not look into the matter too deeply!
After a whole night’s pondering, Su Qing only felt a surge in her own confidence!
Even though her current status was that of a yiniang, with her background, she had more than enough right to be Yun Xuan Zhi’s main wife. Why should she lower herself before others and let them look down on her maternal family?
The old madam felt that Su Qing had become a completely different person with her cold and fearless appearance. She momentarily frowned and couldn’t help but finally turn to look at Su Qing. She only saw that she was wearing a bright red dress covered with a dark red coat. Her hair was adorned with an Eight Treasures glazed jade hairpin, while several golden pins were on her temples. Her appearance showed off incomparable dignity, but against Su Qing’s current sickly complexion, it was somewhat unfitting.
Yun Qian Meng had long since noticed Su Qing’s manner of dress. She was definitely dressed in the fashion of the main wife. Seeing that there was a bit of cautiousness hidden behind her smiling expression, Yun Qian Meng understood that Su Qing had come prepared and would not let the old madam have her way with her!
At Su Qing’s challenging manner, the old madam momentarily made a cold smile and said, “Su yiniang sure is bold! What’s the purpose in coming here to pressure others with your family background? As for what you are wearing, only the main wife can dress like that, right? Su yiniang, you claim that your family education is good, so how can you not understand even these rules? If word gets out, won’t outsiders mock Su fu for failing to teach their descendants?”
Su Qing made a terrified expression as she lowered her head to look at her own clothing. She then somewhat prudently replied, “laotaitai, don’t be angry, nubi really risked a miscarriage yesterday! When nubi was still a young girl, nubi heard from the family elders that brightly colored clothing could stabilize the baby; that’s why nubi dared to wear this bright red dress! If laotaitai cannot stand the sight of it, nubi will just take if off now!”
As she spoke, Su Qing began to undo the buttons on her lapel. The old madam’s face had already turned green at her earlier response, and could only point at Su Qing with a shaking finger, momentarily unable to find any words to say……
Yun Qian Meng knew what Su Qing was doing. Over here, she would take off her clothes, then behind the scenes, a rumor about how the old madam mistreated the yiniang and caused harm to the baby would spread. At that point, not only would the old madam’s efforts from yesterday have been in vain, perhaps Yun Xuan Zhi would turn around and get closer to Su Qing again!
But looking at the circumstances, the old madam was already ready to tear Su Qing to shreds. She was obviously going to be unable to stop Su Qing, so Yun Qian Meng had no choice but to step up!
Yun Qian Meng immediately sent a meaningful glance towards Rui mama and Mi mama. Both of them immediately stepped forward, and pleasantly placated Su Qing, saying, “yiniang, why do you need to make things difficult for laotaitai? laotaitai is only concerned for yiniang, but yiniang twisted laotaitai’s intentions. If word were to get out that the xiangfu’s backyard was not in harmony, and it affects xiangye’s political achievements, can yiniang bear that kind of responsibility?”
Rui mama was one of the old madam’s people after all. If she had spoken, they worried that the old madam would be displeased.
Hence, Mi mama had to show her cleverness. She explained the situation to Su Qing as if it was the result of a virtuous, emotional act by the old madam/
Su Qing did not expect Yun Qian Meng to have such a shrewd heart, able to see through her intentions in the blink of an eye. Realizing that both her hands were already tightly grabbed by both of the mama, she knew she had no choice but to abandon her current scheme. She only questioned the old madam with uncertainty, “laotaitai, is this true? Please blame nubi for being young and stupid, mistaking laotaitai’s good intentions. laotaitai, please don’t take offense!”
At first, having heard Mi mama’s words, the old madam’s expression had slightly improved. However, Su Qing’s question had undoubtedly added oil onto the fire. On the surface, she said that she was young and inexperienced, but there was a mocking undertone about the old madam’s age, leaving the old madam speechless with rage.
For a moment, the old madam’s face darkened. She glared fiercely at Su Qing’s pretentious face, and only felt hatred in her heart.
The atmosphere in the room became awkward, none of the servants daring to make a noise under the silent pressure!
However, Yun Qian Meng only had a calm and composed expression. She only handed the old madam a cup of green tea and gently advised, “zumu, have some tea to moisten your throat! Since Su yiniang has special circumstances, you should just let her go this once! After all, if the family lives in harmony, all affairs will prosper. When the backyard is peaceful and harmonious, father will be guaranteed to rise into nobility! We shouldn’t save a little only to lose a lot!”
The old madam might be able to not give any face to other people, but she had to give face to this di granddaughter of hers. In fact, she didn’t just need to give some face, she had to give enough!
The moment she received the teacup, her vicious expression had already disappeared like smoke. Instead, wearing a gentle and affectionate smile, she lifted the lid off the teacup and took a polite sip. As the previous matter had never happened, she calmly tasted the tea. After she had swallowed the green tea, she nodded in praise, “The tea that Meng’er makes still tastes the best!”
The servants in the room saw that the old madam had finally smiled and all let down their hanging hearts. For a moment, they were all thankful towards the eldest young miss. If she hadn’t softened the atmosphere, they wouldn’t know how today’s situation would have concluded. If xiangye really came to blame them, then the unlucky ones would still be the servants!
Su Qing was no longer as unbridled as before. She only glared hatefully at Yun Qian Meng. It was always this damned girl! She already had everything planned out; she would cause a rift in the relationship between the old madam and Yun Xuan Zhi, then redeem her trust from Yun Xuan Zhi. But Yun Qian Meng had unexpectedly been able to make the old madam beam with happiness with just a few short words, nipping her plan in the bud. Angry, Su Qing forcefully flung Rui mama and Mi mama’s hands away, moving back to her original position to watch the grandmother and granddaughter’s performance with her narrowed eyes.
Right at this moment, Yun Qian Meng coincidentally turned over and caught a glimpse of the hateful glare Su Qing was unable to conceal in time. However, she pretended not to notice Su Qing’s hatred, instead smiling even more brightly while saying sweetly to the old madam, “zumu, sunnü sees that Su yiniang has already paid her respects! See how pale she looks? You should let her go back to rest!”
Yun Qian Meng’s fair consideration momentarily caused Su Qing to lose sight of the bigger picture.
However, hearing Yun Qian Meng say some caring words about herself, and looking at Yun Qian Meng’s widely smiling expression, Su Qing felt a chill rise in the depths of her heart. She only felt that things would not be as simple as what Yun Qian Meng said, almost feeling that this was another trap that Yun Qian Meng was setting for her!
For a moment, Su Qing who had always been able to predict and understand people’s schemes and intentions, was actually having some foreboding feelings from Yun Qian Meng. She almost didn’t dare to look directly into Yun Qian Meng’s bright and beautiful eyes that were filled with warmth.
The old madam heard Yun Qian Meng’s reminder and apparently just realized that Su Qing was still standing in the room. She then swept a cold glance at Su Qing, her vision brushing past her dazzling red clothes. Shrinking her eyes as if blinded by the color, she said in a poor mood, “Standing for a while won’t hurt her! Besides, doesn’t she have these bright red clothes to protect her tummy? If it was so easy to lose a child, wouldn’t that just mean that whatever Su yiniang said before was just a lie? Her real intentions were to covet the place of the xiangfu’s main wife!”
Su Qing heard this and seemed to freeze. Her lowered eyes were completely filled with hate as she repeatedly cursed in her heart. The damned old woman, not only did she curse her to have a miscarriage, she even pushed the heavy responsibility onto her, truly vicious and merciless!
And Yun Qian Meng that was on the side was even more wretched! If she didn’t purposely mention her, why would the damned old woman have brought up the matter of clothing again?
Yun Qian Meng saw that although Su Qing had not shown a displeased expression at the old madam’s words, her arms were hanging beside her with rigid force. It would seem that Su Qing was trying to control herself by tightening her fists. Hence, she generously fanned the flames, continuing with, “But Meng’er feels a bit sorry for yiniang! A pregnant lady still needed to get up early everyday to come and pay respects. zumu, yiniang already tried her best, please have some pity on her!”
It was better if Yun Qian Meng hadn’t brought this up. As soon as she said that, the old madam shot another fierce glare at Su Qing, catching her current obedient appearance. But the old madam had come to know her very well and deeply understood that Su Qing was more cunning and shrewd than any regular person; when she had to, she would back off and admit her mistakes, often fooling others to easily trust her, and then turn behind their backs to ruin them!
Therefore, Su Qing pretending to be obedient was completely ineffective against the old madam. Instead, it was making the old madam hate her even more!
These thoughts had manifested themselves in the old madam’s speech and tone, as she spat angrily, “Get up early to pay respects? Is there any yiniang who waits until it is almost noon before they come over to pay respects? Is she paying respects in the morning or in the afternoon? Or is it morning and afternoon all in one go? If Su yiniang thinks that an old woman like me doesn’t deserve your respect, then I’ll tell laoye, and let you stay in Feng He Yuan for the rest of your life!”
Su Qing’s face blanched at the old madam’s taunt. Her teeth bit down on her lower lip before she managed to force herself to smile, and pleasantly said, “What is laotaitai saying? This was all nubi’s fault, nubi just slept late last night and was late to wake up today! nubi won’t make this mistake again in the future. laotaitai, please don’t tell laoye about this!”
Yun Qian Meng saw Su Qing lower herself like that and also helped to plead for her case. She looked at Su Qing with warm eyes as she told the old madam, “zumu, Su yiniang already admitted her mistake. Please forgive her just this once!”
At Yun Qian Meng’s earnest plea, Su Qing raised her head in disbelief, sending a searching gaze towards Yun Qian Meng!
But Yun Qian Meng had already retrieved her gaze, and was smiling as she suggested to the old madam, “If zumu is worried that Su yiniang will make the same mistake again, why don’t you train her for two months? Every day, have her come and greet you at five o’clock in the morning, twelve at noon, then five o’clock in the evening again! What does zumu think about this?”
When Su Qing heard Yun Qian Meng’s suggestion, she felt like she almost couldn’t breathe. Her eyes were suddenly filled with burning rage as she almost wished she could burn Yun Qian Meng to death with her glare!
Of course this wretched little slut did not have any good intentions!
At first she only needed to pay respects every morning and night. But how clever! She wanted her to come to Bai Shun Tang and pay respects three times a day! And each of these times were planned so precisely; if it wasn’t the first thing in the morning, it was at lunch or at dinner. If she came at these times, the old madam would naturally hate her even more!
Su Qing racked her brains to think up a countermeasure, but before she could respond, Rui mama who had returned to the old madam’s side spoke first.
Rui mama only bent her waist and smiled towards Yun Qian Meng as she said, “da xiaojie might not know, but the old madam won’t be awake at five o’clock in the morning! If Su yiniang came at that hour, won’t it disturb laotaitai’s rest?”
At these words, Yun Qian Meng seemed a little embarrassed as she frowned. After thinking for a moment, she suddenly exclaimed happily, “zumu, how about this? Just let Su yiniang kowtow three times outside Bai Shun Tang, and consider that her greeting. That way, it won’t disturb zumu’s rest!”
When the old madam heard her idea, she nodded and smiled with satisfaction. She then turned and told Su Qing, “This is good! It will help cure your laziness and also teach you some respect. Go back first, remember to come pay respects at noon!”
Su Qing only felt strength leaving from her legs. Her body slightly swayed as she forced down her belly full of rage. Bowing with an unsteady expression, she turned and left the room.
When she was outside Bai Shun Tang, Su Qing’s expression suddenly changed. Looking gloomy as can be, she looked up at the blazing sunlight with eyes that were filled with a bone-chilling expression!
“furen, let’s go back!” Wang mama had been forced to stay outside just now and did not have a clue about what had happened inside. Noticing that Su Qing’s expression was not right, and afraid that the old madam’s people would catch sight of it, she rushed over to support her and planned to ask about the situation after they had returned to Feng He Yuan.
But Su Qing just pushed away Wang mama’s hand and steadied herself, coldly smiling as she said, “Go back? Go back to where? It’s already half past nine! In another hour and a half, we need to come and pay respects again! That old woman is just trying to torment me, but I won’t let things go according to her wishes so easily!”
Wang mama saw Su Qing’s expression and figured that she had definitely suffered under the old madam, and momentarily felt indignant as well.
Su Qing then swept a glance at the servant girls behind Wang mama and noticed that one of them was missing, so she asked quietly, “Did Lü He go to send Xue’er her lunch?”
Hearing Su Qing’s question, Wang mama carefully nodded, but asked with a bit of worry, “furen, the ancestral hall might be clean, but er xiaojie is a precious daughter of the xiangfu, always living a life of luxury from birth, how can she endure that kind of destitute lifestyle? Lü He told me before she went that, just after these few days, er xiaojie has already lost a lot of weight!”
Hearing this, Su Qing’s eyes flashed with a tender expression. However, knowing that the old madam was paying close attention to her, she had to watch her step at all times. She couldn’t make any more mistakes, otherwise, not only would she be unable to help Xue’er, she might even be punished to go in there herself!
After thinking for a while, she still couldn’t feel at ease about Yun Ruo Xue, so she whispered a few things into Wang mama’s ear. Wang mama carefully listened while nodding her head. The master and servant exchanged a few more whispers before they finally separated.
Su Qing saw that it was almost noon, so she left Wang mama behind and brought a few of the yatou with her into Bai Shun Tang. Just as she stepped into the courtyard, she saw Rui mama standing guard at the doorway. As soon as they saw each other, she had planted herself at the door, blocking Su Qing’s path!
“What does mama want?” When Su Qing saw that even a mama dared to stand in her way, she was immediately angry. But, one had to pay heed to the owner before beating a dog. She could only forcefully hold back her rage and ask in a pleasant manner.
Rui mama was an old maid that had followed the old madam for a long time. She had clearly seen the suffering that Su Qing had caused to the old madam many years ago, and was very clear about Su Qing’s insidious two-faced nature. She naturally would not be fooled by Su Qing’s amiable mask!
Rui mama only remained expressionless and solemnly said, “laotaitai asks Su yiniang to kowtow here in greeting.”
A glint of hatred flashed across Su Qing’s eyes. As quickly as it had come and gone, it still didn’t escape the sharp-eyed Rui mama’s attention……
But Rui mama did not change her tone or expression and continued to urge her, “yiniang should quickly kowtow! laonu still needs to return to serve lunch to laotaitai!”
Su Qing tightly grit her teeth and gripped her fists. Still, without a choice, she could only slowly kneel under Rui mama’s close watch, and, on the paved limestone path, kowtow in Rui mama’s direction three times.
Rui mama didn’t waste any time on pleasantries and, without a word, quickly turned to leave. She hadn’t even spared a proper glance at Su Qing, causing her to tremble in rage before returning to Feng He Yuan under the yatou’s support.
Wang mama returned to Feng He Yuan and notied that it was unusually quiet. Feeling that something was up, she quickly entered the main room. She saw that Su Qing had a wet handkerchief on her forehead and was lying on the bed with an ugly expression. Terrified, Wang mama immediately rushed forward and grasped Su Qing’s hand, asking with concern, “furen, what happened? Why are you so angry?”
Su Qing’s eyes showed a violent light, as she hatefully said, “Today’s grudge, I will definitely return tenfold to Yun Qian Meng and those people!”
However, Su Qing’s words had just fallen when Lü He had run into the room in a panic. She pointed towards the door while yelling intermittently, “furen… furen……”
Wang mama saw Lü He’s useless appearance and stepped forward and gave her a slap before angrily saying, “What are you doing? Can’t you see that furen is feeling ill? You actually dare to make such a big muss, do you not want to live any more?”
Lü He suffered a slap for no reason and felt very wronged. She momentarily forgot the reason she had come, and only clutched at her burning cheeks as she cried.
Su Qing saw that she had run over instead of carefully taking care of Yun Ruo Xue at the ancestral hall and momentarily felt panicked. She didn’t care about her own body and immediately sat up, asking sternly, “Quickly tell me what happened!”
At the moment, Su Qing’s body was emitting waves of cold. Her chilling expression frightened Lü He to the point where she retreated a few steps before stammering, “furen, da xiaojie suddenly went to the ancestral hall!”
“What?!” Wang mama momentarily lost control and shouted out. Realizing her impropriety, she hurriedly shut her mouth and looked at Su Qing. Then, noticed that Su Qing had already gotten up, she hurried over to stop her, saying, “furen, your body is not well, let laonu go instead!”
But Su Qing shook her head and commanded, “Help me change into the pale blue skirt. Lü He, come over here to help me do my hair!”
The both of them heard her orders and immediately started to work. In just about five minutes, Su Qing brought them along to rush towards the ancestral hall.
On the way, they saw that Rui mama, the old madam and Liu Han Yu were all heading towards the ancestral hall. Su Qing had no choice and could only pay her respects to the old madam and follow behind them!
Currently, in the ancestral hall, it was unusually lively. Quite a bit of food had fallen onto the mats in the ancestral hall. Yun Ruo Xue was just glaring directly into Yun Qian Meng’s eyes, pointing at the food on the floor and scolding, “You jinx, you cursed your mother to die when you were born, and now you come to spoil my lunch? Why don’t you just die?!”
Yun Ruo Xue dared to scold her older di sister so loudly only because the ancestral hall was usually one of the most remote places in the xiangfu. And at the moment, only she and Yun Qian Meng were in the ancestral hall; these words would probably never spread to the old madam or her father’s ears!
However, Yun Qian Meng was already immune to that level of swearing. She instead lightly smiled as she looked at the spilled food. There was some Eight Treasures Wild Duck, Kung Pao Wild Rabbit, Soy Marinated Quail, Oyster Sauce Sirloin and Pheasant Swallow’s Nest. All of these were premium dishes which would make anyone drool!
But this was the ancestral hall, a place for peaceful and abstinent self-reflection. For Yun Ruo Xue to gorge herself with such a big feast here, it was evidently enormously rude towards the ancestors!
Yet right now, she still didn’t know how to restrain herself and even wanted to argue with her about it. It could be seen that Yun Ruo Xue was just an empty vessel that had a good appearance!
However, since Yun Ruo Xue was being unkind, Yun Qian Meng didn’t feel any particular need to hold back!
Yun Qian Meng counted the time that Rui mama had gone to invite the old madam and reckoned that they would arrive soon. So, she kindly raised the plates in her hand and said, “meimei misunderstood me! jiejie was just worried that meimei can’t get used to the plain food in the ancestral hall, so I asked zumu to prepare and send over some delicious vegetarian food! I didn’t expect to interrupt meimei’s meal, it’s really jiejie’s fault! Why don’t you have some of jiejie’s food. You absolutely can’t starve yourself, that will be disrespectful to our anscestors!”
As she spoke, Yun Qian Meng walked forward carefully without stepping on the spilled food and came to the table by Yun Ruo Xue’s bed. She opened the lunchbox and arranged the vegetarian food on the table before placing down the chopsticks. Then, she smiled and moved to Yun Ruo Xue’s side, intending to help her over……
But Yun Ruo Xue was currently in a foul mood. When she saw that Yun Qian Meng was making a decision for her, she suddenly moved and forcefully pushed Yun Qian Meng aside……
Crash! The food arranged on the table fell onto the floor noisily. Yun Qian Meng’s arm had also knocked against the edge of the table; a trace of fresh blood dripping onto the ground from the wound!
Woosh! Right at this moment, the large doors to ancestral hall had suddenly been pushed apart. Yun Ruo Xue raised her head to look, but only saw the old madam rush over with an angry face. Without questioning, she had immediately given Yun Ruo Xue a huge slap, sending Yun Ruo Xue to the floor with her face slanted to the right, momentarily stunned into silence!
The old madam didn’t spare her another look and immediately moved to Yun Qian Meng’s side and tenderly helped her up, lifting her sleeves to inspect the wound/
Seeing the finger-long cut on Yun Qian Meng’s spotless white skin, the old madam’s rage intensified as she immediately shouted, “Are you all dead? Quickly go and find a physician! If anything happens to da xiaojie, none of you need to stay around any more!”
Nobody dared to delay as they all rushed outside in a flurry……
Su Qing saw her own daughter get slapped and had immediately rushed beside Yun Ruo Xue. Seeing her daughter’s swollen cheeks, she felt the pain of a mother and tenderly pulled the still dazed Yun Ruo Xue into her embrace.
Mi mama and Mu Chun also rushed beside Yun Qian Meng with crying expressions. Carefully lifting her arm, they urgently took out a handkerchief and helped her wrap up the wound.
The two of them were earnestly concerned for Yun Qian Meng. Seeing the relatively large wound, they were extremely worried. The most important thing for a woman’s body was to have spotless and flawless skin. Even though their young miss had only injured her arm, it was still damaging to her beauty. If it left a scar, it would be considered a physical defect; making it difficult for her to find marriage in the future!
Yun Qian Meng saw their pained expressions and thought that they were only feeling injustice for her. Who would have known that the master and her servants had completely different thoughts?
However, to Yun Qian Meng who had already passed through a path raining with bullets, this matter was just a piece of cake. After Mi mama and Mu Chun had finished dressing her wound, she let down her sleeves and worriedly clutched the old madam’s arm. She pointed to the food that had fallen on the mats and explained, “zumu, don’t get angry! This was Meng’er’s fault, it was Meng’er’s mistake! I didn’t think that meimei would be having her lunch, so I had startled her! zumu, please don’t be angry any more. If zumu’s health is affected, Meng’er cannot atone for this mistake!”
The old madam was already heaving in anger. Hearing Yun Qian Meng’s explanation, she only felt that Yun Ruo Xue was nothing good, exactly like her mother!
As the old madam glanced at the dishes that had fallen onto the mats, her face suddenly turned ashen. She shouted abruptly, “Mi mama, properly support da xiaojie!”
Everyone was shocked by the old madam’s sudden imposing shout. Mi mama also immediately moved over and carefully helped Yun Qian Meng up.
The old madam then walked before Yun Ruo Xue and said with a cold smile, “Your father punished you to reflect in the ancestral hall, but you were actually enjoying yourself with a feast here! Showing such disrespect to our ancestors, are you deliberately provoking our ancestors to punish us? No wonder your father has yet to rise to a noble rank, turns out it was because he was raising an ingrate like you! He really wasted his affection on you! I can’t believe that the person holding him back was his own daughter!”
The old madam’s words were like knives that sharply stabbed at Yun Ruo Xue’s face. All the color drained from her face as her eyes suddenly filled with terror!
How could she have expected that just having her usual favorite meals in the ancestral hall would be elevated into an obstruction of her father’s political career by the old madam?
She also couldn’t figure out why there were no problems over the past few days. But today, at lunch, Yun Qian Meng had just happened to barge in. And the yatou standing guard at the door had not given her any warning!
She also only pushed Yun Qian Meng a bit, how was it enough to cause her to fall, let alone injure her arm?! And all of this just happened to be seen by the old madam!
Yun Ruo Xue was completely baffled. She really didn’t understand, really didn’t know anything. She only felt that she was being wronged, only felt that she was being treated with the greatest injustice. Her grandmother must be making things more severe just because she didn’t like her!
Yun Ruo Xue was somewhat regretful now. She shouldn’t have acted out on a whim and push Yun Qian Meng just because there was no one around in the ancestral hall.
She was completely speechless and didn’t know how to start to explain.
Su Qing saw that her daughter had been shocked silly. She could only kneel and beg the old madam, “laotaitai, you’ve accused er xiaojie wrongly! er xiaojie has always been obedient and sensible, how could she do something like sneaking food? This must be the servants fault for coercing her, dragging er xiaojie into harm! laotaitai must investigate carefully and can’t wrognly accuse er xiaojie! Besides, now that everything in the fu is handled by Liu yiniang, we don’t even know if she has been docking food from er xiaojie. laotaitai, please investigate clearly!”
Hearing Su Qing’s explanation, the servants that were standing behind her immediately began to fear for themselves. In particular, Lü He, who was tasked with sending her the food, felt the color in her face drain away!
Liu yiniang who was suddenly dragged into the mud by Su Qing also suddenly had an ugly expression. She only urgently looked at the old madam, worried that she would really investigate her. After all, as Su Qing had said, she really did reduce Yun Ruo Xue’s food!
However, the old madam only laughed coldly after she heard this. She then retorted, “She pushed Meng’er down, how is that not looking down on her older sister? Meng’er is also the eldest di daughter! Where else can you find a concubine’s daughter that will dare to treat their older sister like this? Su yiniang, you really taught your daughter well! With such horrible morality and conduct, how are we supposed to pair her off in the future? Won’t she just cause the xiangfu to lose all its face?”
Yun Ruo Xue heard this last bit and suddenly sobered up.
She recalled that Lü He had told her that the old madam seemed to want to pair the fourth young miss with the legendary Chu Fei Yang and momentarily felt a burning envy!
Her own birth was obviously a hundred times better than Yun Yi Yi, why did the old madam want to match such an outstanding man to Yun Yi Yi? Only she was the proper young miss from the xiangfu; only she was her daddy’s own daughter!
Moreover, it was soon Fu Guo gongfu’s laotaijun’s birthday. In the past, she had taken Yun Qian Meng’s place to participate in all of the events in Fu Guo gongfu!
This time, the birthday feast was definitely going to unprecedentedly grand. At that time, all the great and prestigious families would have their young lords participate. She couldn’t lose this opportunity and had to find an even better man to blow off her steam in front of all of the others!
Thinking like this, Yun Ruo Xue became much more obedient. She crawled to the old madam’s feet and hugged them while weeping, “zumu, everything was sunnü’s fault. sunnü was blinded in her heart, forgetting father’s teachings and made a mistake. zumu, please don’t be angry! sunnü knows her mistakes, won’t do it ever again!”
After that, Yun Ruo Xue crawled to Yun Qian Meng’s feet and similarly hugged them while begging for forgiveness. “jiejie, meimei was insensible! meimei misunderstood jiejie’s intentions, wronging jiejie! jiejie, please, on account of our sisterly feelings, please forgive meimei this once!”
Liu Han Yu saw Yun Ruo Xue undergo such a huge change and was momentarily shocked. She somewhat worriedly looked at Yun Qian Meng, afraid that Yun Ruo Xue was going to play some kind of trick!
But Yun Qian Meng only intimately helped Yun Ruo Xue up and helped her wipe her tears. She gently said, “What is meimei talking about? Us sisters played together and just accidentally fell down, meimei doesn’t need to be so scared! Don’t worry, jiejie take it to heart! However, in the future, meimei must not treat si meimei in the same way! We are jiejie, so we must know how to yield to our meimei, understand?”
These gentle words that passed through Yun Ruo Xue’s ears gave her the coldest chills. But seeing how earnestly and warmly Yun Qian Meng was smiling, she was unable to find anything out of place!
However, the old madam could not stand to see Yun Qian Meng be so kind. She hurriedly commanded Mi mama to send Yun Qian Meng back to Qi Luo Yuan, then ordered Rui mama to invite Yun Xuan Zhi over. Then, she sat down on an armchair the servants had carried over while glaring coldly at Su Qing and Yun Ruo Xue.
When Yun Qian Meng was sent back to Qi Luo Yuan, a physician was already waiting at the side room. After Yun Qian Meng was put back in bed, Mu Chun had to lower both layers of curtains before Mi mama finally let the physician in.
The physician carefully checked Yun Qian Meng’s pulse, then took a look at her wound. He finally concluded, “I will prescribe an internal and external medicine, treating the problem from both sides at the same time, guaranteed not to leave a scar! However, xiaojie must remember not to let the wound touch water!”
After telling Mi mama the foods she would need to abstain from consuming, he went to the side room to write the presription.
In the warm room, Mi mama lifted the curtains and gently helped Yun Qian Meng up. She said with lingering fear, “xiaojie, you really scared nubi to death today! If this left a scar, what will you do? Your future husband will surely turn his back on you!”
Yun Qian Meng heard Mi mama say this so naturally and momentarily laughed out loud. This body had just recently reached marriageable age, how could she be married off so quickly?
However, everything that had happened today was within Yun Qian Meng’s calculations!
First, she had looked at the table full of fine food and mentioned the punished Yun Ruo Xue in front of the old madam. Saying that she was feeling sorry for her little sister, she had brought Rui mama along to visit the ancestral hall!
At the ancestral hall, she had Mu Chun slow down, and, from an angle Rui mama could not see, draw Lü He away by dropping some silver ingots at a corner!
When Lü He returned and saw Rui mama and Mi mama at the doorway, she would definitely return and inform Su Qing, how could she remember to warn Yun Ruo Xue who was inside?
And that fall, was also carefully planned by Yun Qian Meng!
From her interaction with Yun Ruo Xue in the past, it wasn’t difficult to see that Yun Ruo Xue was rash and reckless. As long as she was incited by a few words, she would easily act impetuously!
Today, she had only used her temper against her, then purposely fell and hit her arm on the edge of the table to create the wound!
Otherwise, with her former reputation as the world mixed martial arts champion, how could she have let a weak, precious young miss push her to the ground? And how could the table edge that wasn’t even that sharp not only cut through her clothes but also break her skin?
She had only put on a self-sacrificing act, to force Yun Xuan Zhi to have no choice but to treat Su Qing and her daughter callously. That way, her future efforts would go more smoothly!
Su Qing was also not going to be someone that was easy to deal with. Although she had lost her head today, that was only because things were out of her calculations, momentarily catching her unprepared. If she didn’t spend some capital now, perhaps the old madam wouldn’t have been so furious, nor would she care too much about Su Qing and Yun Ruo Xue!
After all, the West Chu country had always esteemed the values of respecting the old while cherishing the young. The concubines’ children always had to respect the di children!
Today, Yun Ruo Xue had brazenly injured the di daughter. This crime would probably cause Su Qing some headaches for a very long time.
Mi mama saw that Yun Qian Meng didn’t seem to hear her advice and only sighed inwardly. She only felt that she would be more relieved after personally supervising the young miss as she took and applied the medicine.
However, recalling Su Qing’s panicked expression from today, Mi mama also couldn’t help but feel incredibly happy. She only felt that her young miss had incredible foresight. “How did xiaojie know that er xiaojie was sneakily eating fancy dishes?”
If the eldest young miss hadn’t discovered it today, perhaps the entire xiangfu would have been completely kept in the dark!
Yun Qian Meng only lightly smiled and softly answered, “Su Qing loves her daughter so much, how can she let Yun Ruo Xue bear any hardship?”
Just like that, Mi mama immediately understood, admiring Yun Qian Meng’s detailed perception.
And right at this moment, Mu Chun who was preparing the medicine outside had come in. Seeing Yun Qian Meng up in her bed, she said, “xiaojie, Liu yiniang has arrived!”
Yun Qian Meng and Mi mama shared a smile and knew that Liu Han Yu was here to report the outcome. “Let her come in!”