Chapter 117: Lost in the East
Xiao Jun promoted Cuiping to concubine in a sudden manner, which surprised everyone in the hall, including Mengxi. She began to doubt whether the Second Master had a problem with his vision. It would be fine if he was not picky about women, as it is often said that men are animals who think with their lower body. But such a piece of trash was treated like a treasure and promoted to concubine by the Second Master, which was really surprising.
It’s all because Erye has too many criminal records. Mengxi won’t give him high marks no matter what he does now. She will never think that Erye promoted Cuiping to be his concubine just for her. Erye doesn’t know Mengxi’s evaluation of him at this time, and of course he doesn’t know that when he discovers his true feelings, there is only one word to describe his pursuit of his wife: “miserable!”.
In theory, Xiao Jun should have put on a show to save Mengxi so that the servants could see Cuiping's rudeness, and there was no need to promote Cuiping to be his concubine. But Cuiping's intrusion into the east wing today made him alert. Cuiping was not a quiet person. If she lived in the upper room, sooner or later she would irritate his unruly little wife and make her stretch out her claws and do something reckless. It was hard to guard against, so he wanted to drive Cuiping out of Xiaoxiangyuan.
Secondly, his exclusive favor for Cuiping these days made him feel deeply frustrated. He finally understood the fact that even if his backyard was full of women and he had fun every night, his Xier would not blink an eye.
After understanding this fact, he gave up the idea of using exclusive favor to stimulate Mengxi, especially since Cuiping caused Mengxi to be punished. Seeing Mengxi's weakness and paleness, he felt really pained to the bone, and he hated Cuiping to the extreme. So he finally decided to do the same as Mengxi treated Hongyu, to assign her a courtyard, send her far away, and freeze her out, so that she would not cause trouble in this courtyard and complain to her mother.
Although he thought so, he was a master after all. If he wanted to divide the courtyard, it had to be legitimate. He could not do it recklessly like Mengxi. He had to promote a concubine. Especially now that there was an example of Hongyu, if he gave another courtyard to a family, his backyard would be in chaos. Thinking of this, he promoted Cuiping to be a concubine in a swift manner. He would tell his mother and grandmother about it later. He could not bear to severely punish Cuiping, because she was still his mother's person. So he promoted her to be a concubine, and it was too late for his grandmother and mother to object. He also had a hunch that as long as he got Cuiping out of this courtyard, Xier would be happy.
He really guessed Mengxi's thoughts right this time. Because Mengxi was punished, she had been thinking about how to get Cuiping out of this courtyard these days. Today, Cuiping made trouble in the east wing again, and she suddenly decided to make the Xiao family divorce her. She didn't expect that this foolish Second Master didn't even mention the word "divorce". Of course, she didn't see what the Second Master's divorce letter looked like, which made her very disappointed for a moment.
Although she lost something in one place, she gained something in another. Although she didn't get the divorce letter, Mengxi was still very satisfied that Cuiping was moved out of Xiaoxiang Courtyard and could live quietly in the east wing. As for the elevation of Cuiping's status, Mengxi didn't care. Even if the Second Master wanted Cuiping to be his legal wife, she would agree with both hands as long as he gave her a divorce letter. This was the first time Mengxi smiled in front of the Second Master. No wonder the Second Master was so excited when he saw her.
Although there are still misunderstandings, because Xiao Jun began to figure out Mengxi's thoughts, this is the first time that the couple has coincided with each other after so many years of marriage.
Cui Ping raised her aunt, and everyone was very happy. In a word, you are fine! I am fine! She is fine too!
Xiao Jun stood up to leave, but then he remembered something and sat down again, saying to Cui Ping:
"I will be leaving the house in a couple of days to discuss a business in Qingzhou on behalf of the eldest master. It will take about half a month. You must be careful. Although I spoil you in this courtyard, the affairs of the backyard are still under the jurisdiction of the second wife. If you really break the rules, be careful and I can't help you."
He spoke these private words in front of the Second Mistress, and revealed that Zhiqiu was staring at Cuiping. If looks could kill, Cuiping would have been killed by her long ago.
After Xiao Jun finished speaking, he stood up and walked to Mengxi, looking at Mengxi who looked calm, and said:
"Second Madam punished Cuiping severely for no reason this morning. You are jealous and unworthy of a mistress. I punish you to be confined to the East Wing for ten days. Add to the previous ten days, a total of twenty days. Second Madam, stay in Xiaoxiang Courtyard for these twenty days."
After saying that, he walked out without waiting for Mengxi to reply.
Twenty days should be enough for her to recover. He would be back by then. At least his mother would not abuse Xier when he was away. The Xiaoxiang Courtyard he mentioned was not the East Wing. He hoped that the smart Xier would understand what he meant and would go out of the East Wing to get some fresh air when she was fine. It would be nice for him to take a look at her occasionally. He really regretted why he built the backyard of the East Wing so big, as now his little wife could stay there all day long when she had nothing to do, leaving him waiting in the study.
What do you mean by losing your manners? It's obviously because you were afraid that Second Mistress would bully your beloved baby when you were not around, so you confined him to his room. Zhiqiu cursed Second Master in her heart. In Zhiqiu's heart, Second Master was completely sentenced to death.
The old lady and the first wife were shocked when they heard about the second master's promotion of Cuiping. They also heard that all the formalities had been done in front of the servants, which meant that the rice had been cooked and it was impossible to regret it. They shook their heads. This was far beyond their expectations, especially the first wife. After hearing this, she was so angry that she almost died. This bastard son promoted a maid who was born as a slave to a concubine just for a breath. She scolded her son for being stupid and Cuiping for being ungrateful. She did something to deceive her master after just a few days of living with her and made her lose face.
That day, as soon as Si'er was released from the upper room, he came to Yangxin Garden and told the eldest wife about Cuiping's punishment. When she heard it, she was furious. She never dreamed that the second wife would dare to touch Cuiping. Cuiping was her person, and if the second wife touched her, it would be a demonstration to her. This was intolerable. The second wife challenged her dignity again and again and really crossed her bottom line.
The first wife thought that the old lady was old and dim, but she inexplicably believed that this vixen was Jun'er's benefactor and protected him closely. She thought that even if there was irrefutable evidence that the second lady was "jealous", the old woman might not really get rid of this vixen with her methods. But a beating of the old lady would not stop her. So she ordered Zi Yue to secretly promise her a large sum of money. When she told the second lady and ordered the punishment, she would let the person who carried out the beating directly beat the second lady to death. At most, the old lady would die a few more servants in her rage, which would save her the worry.
But when he sent someone to Xiaoxiangyuan to call the Second Madam, the person was sent back by the Second Master, saying that the Second Master said he had severely punished the Second Madam and was afraid that his mother would get even more angry and hurt herself after seeing the Second Madam, so he did not let the Second Madam come.
The people who came back also said that it was because Cuiping had committed a serious crime of bullying the master that the Second Mistress punished Cuiping in anger. The Second Master was watching from the side, but he was in the wrong first and could not stop her. He lifted up the concubine out of heartache. Although the facts were somewhat different from what Si'er had said at the beginning, he called Si'er to ask about the situation in the east wing. Si'er said that she had not entered the east wing at that time, and she knew nothing about anything. Later, when she was asked more urgently, she stammered and could not say anything. The First Mistress believed the words from Xiaoxiang Courtyard.
Cuiping promoted herself to be a concubine. Firstly, she was hurt. Secondly, she also knew that the eldest lady, who always paid attention to family background, would strongly oppose her being promoted to a concubine. How could she dare to come to Yangxin Garden at this time to tell about her punishment? She would not even have time to hide.
The people in the east wing would not gossip about the first wife for nothing. The first wife thought that Cuiping was trained by her, and she would be ashamed if she was exposed for bullying her master, so she let Mengxi go. Mengxi severely punished Cuiping, and the matter of rebelling against her mother-in-law again became a headless case under Xiao Jun's planning.
Cuiping divided the courtyard and moved far away from Xiaoxiang Courtyard. This completely ruined the eldest wife's plan to plant spies in the east wing. At this time, Cuiping was a useless chess piece to her. After all, the second master was the future head of the family. How could he take in a concubine of such a lowly origin? Taking in a concubine was a great blessing. Thinking of Cuiping's ignorance, the eldest wife had already had murderous intentions towards her.
