Chapter 185: Hit the Snake at Its Fistful Points
The eldest wife and Xiu'er worked together to make the second master so upset that he had to apologize to his mother again and again.
After all, it was her own son. Seeing her son like this, the first wife still listened to her and stopped crying. They talked about the second master's life in the south again. Mengxi just accompanied them carefully. After chatting for a while, the first wife looked out the window, turned to Mengxi and said:
"It's getting late, Second Madam, please come back early. There are a lot of things to do in the yard, don't stay here all the time."
Mengxi heard this and quickly stood up and said goodbye to the eldest wife. He glanced at the second master, helped Zhiqiu and turned to walk out. When Xiao Jun saw this, he also stood up and said:
"It's getting late. It's my cousin's first day here, so she had dinner early. Take a rest, mother. Jun'er will go back first."
"The meal will be served soon, Jun'er, please eat before leaving."
"Mother, you don't know that Xiao Zhang, who is in charge of the southern business, has returned. He said that there was a problem with the southern business and there is urgent business waiting to be discussed with your son. He will leave early tomorrow morning. Just now, because of your message, your son put down his work and rushed over. It's late today, so your son will go back to deal with the urgent business first. When you are free another day, you can have dinner with your mother."
The eldest wife's face darkened when she heard this. She was just a servant, so what could she do if she waited a little longer? There was still time for a meal. Just as she was about to speak, she heard Xiu'er say:
"Aunt, my cousin said yes. Business is more important. Aunt, please let my cousin go back first. Xiu'er will live here for a long time anyway. It will be the same if he comes back another day."
It turned out that Xiu'er heard her cousin say that he hurried over as soon as he heard the message from the eldest wife. She thought about the next sentence her cousin didn't say, that is, as soon as he heard that she was coming, he hurried over to see her, and even put down the important things in his hands. Her heart was filled with sweetness for a moment. She thought to herself that it would be petty to hold her cousin back because of a meal. She must let her cousin know that she is a sensible woman who knows how to advance and retreat. Only in this way will her cousin love her more in the future. Seeing that her aunt was unhappy, she hurriedly spoke out to persuade her aunt.
After hearing what Xiu'er said, the eldest wife thought about it and agreed. After all, the business in the south fell on Jun'er's shoulders alone, which was not easy. As a mother, she should also make do with it.
So while praising Xiu'er for her sensibleness, Xiao Jun nodded in agreement, took his leave from his mother, strode out of the west wing, and saw Mengxi at the door from afar, who was about to get into the sedan chair and leave, so he followed her in a few steps.
"If I had come out a little later, Xi'er would have made me walk back to Xiaoxiang Courtyard!"
Erye was really angry at this moment. It was just a few words, but this guy ran faster than a rabbit. Couldn't he wait a little longer? He left without even saying hello to him. What did he think of him?
Oh my god, I really forgot about this. After hearing what the Second Master said, Mengxi paused.
She turned around and looked at the Second Master in confusion. When she went out, she clearly heard the First Mistress asking him to stay for dinner. Why did he come out so soon?
Seeing that the Second Master was looking at her coldly, she realized that she was indeed in the wrong, so she quickly turned around and bowed to the Second Master, saying:
"When I was leaving, I heard that the first wife wanted to keep the Second Master for dinner. I thought that a meal would take some time, so I wanted to go back first and then send a sedan chair to pick up the Second Master. I didn't expect the Second Master to come out so quickly. It was my carelessness."
I don't think so! Mengxi added another sentence in her mind.
After hearing Mengxi's words, the second master didn't say anything else. He just stepped forward and got on the sedan chair. He sat there and looked at Mengxi with a cold face.
Mengxi hesitated for a moment before helping Zhiqiu get on the sedan chair and sitting down next to the Second Master. Seeing Mengxi sitting down next to him, the Second Master's expression eased a lot, raised his hand to signal to lower the sedan chair curtain, and ordered the sedan chair to be lifted.
Sitting in the sedan with his eyes closed, smelling the body fragrance coming from his lovely wife beside him, Erye was infinitely intoxicated. These days, the happiest moment of his day was riding in the same sedan with Xier. At this time, he was closest to her. Although Xier never answered him in the sedan, smelling her faint body fragrance and listening to her shallow breathing made him feel at ease. Only at this moment did he have a real feeling that his Xier was by his side and would not leave him.
…
A year ago, the old lady had clearly agreed to her marriage with her cousin, and she was waiting to become a bride. But when she woke up, her groom was gone without even saying goodbye. She thought he would only be away for a few days, but later she heard from her aunt that her cousin would be gone for more than a year, which completely shattered Xiu'er's dream of a couple.
Her cousin's sudden departure made Xiu'er go from great joy to great sorrow, like riding a roller coaster. She made a big fuss and finally blamed all the sins on her cousin's wife. She believed that her cousin must have been unable to divorce her and was afraid of ruining her life, so he slashed his relationship with her with a sword and left sadly. She heard that her cousin fell ill as soon as he left the Xiao Mansion, which made Xiu'er even more convinced of this.
Xiuer hated her cousin's wife even more, so she wanted to work with her aunt to drive her out of the Xiao Mansion while her cousin was away. But since her cousin left, the old lady's attitude has changed drastically, and she has become particularly protective of her cousin's wife. There were even a few times when her aunt scolded her, but the old lady blocked her face, saying that it was not easy for the second wife to be alone when the second master was not at home, so there was no need to talk about so many rules.
The old lady's capriciousness and unpredictable ways made Xiu'er frightened. She thought she was smart and could guess what her aunt was thinking and doing at a glance, but she could not guess the old lady's mind at all. It happened that the old lady was the one who really made the decisions on major affairs in the mansion. The old lady's protection of her cousin's wife made her plan to expel her cousin's wife completely bankrupt, and she finally left the Xiao Mansion sadly.
In more than a year, Xiu'er has matured. The lesson she learned a year ago has made her realize that the cooked duck will sometimes fly away. As long as her cousin's wife doesn't really leave the house, nothing can be true. This time when she entered the house, she did not make trouble in Xiaoxiangyuan like last time, but was much more restrained.
It won't be too late to mess with those concubines when she really becomes the second wife. You have to hit the snake at its most vulnerable part. This time when she makes a comeback, she must not just fight with her cousin's wife like she did last time. If she wants to fight, she must be ruthless and hit her with one blow, so that her cousin's wife can never get back on her feet. She is 17 years old. Her cousin's wife can wait, her cousin can wait, but she can't wait!
I had heard that my cousin's wife was not faithful to her husband before marriage. Last time, when my brother came back from drinking, he occasionally mentioned as a joke that my cousin's wife had had affairs with several young men before marriage, and ridiculed his cousin, Mr. Xiao Erye, as a living coward. At that time, she almost turned against my brother, but later, my brother bowed and coaxed her for a long time by calling her his sister's virtues. Finally, she gave up.
Sitting in the ear room and thinking about this, she suddenly had an idea. If she could find those young men and come to the Xiao Mansion to prove that her cousin's wife was promiscuous before marriage, she would not have to worry about her cousin's wife being divorced. This idea made her very excited and she began to plan carefully.
During this period, she carefully tried to make the old lady happy, while at the same time she placed spies in Xiaoxiang Courtyard to monitor her cousin's whereabouts. She also secretly asked her brother to find out about the young man who had an affair with her cousin before marriage. With her father's authority as the imperial censor and promised a large sum of money, she would have no trouble finding evidence of her cousin's premarital promiscuity. Even if they were afraid of the power of the Xiao family and dared not come out, there was still the King of Yan, who was a hidden trump card in Xiu'er's hand.
It turned out that some time ago, Prince Yan visited the Censor's residence and accidentally saw Xiu'er coming out of her mother's room. He was shocked by her beauty and even wanted to take her as a concubine. Censor Zhang knew his daughter's thoughts very well. Facing the powerful Prince Yan, although he also wanted to curry favor with him, he was henpecked by nature and told this to his wife. His wife had heard that Prince Yan already had seven or eight concubines, and she cried and made a fuss, refusing to let her daughter marry Prince Yan, and the matter was shelved.
Although the King of Yan promised that he would make her a concubine after he became emperor, Xiu'er would not marry the King of Yan. A concubine! She didn't want to marry anyone other than her cousin, but that didn't mean she couldn't use the King of Yan's obsession with her to achieve her goal.
Mengxi didn't know that Xiu'er had secretly set a trap for her. Since entering the mansion, Xiu'er has been more low-key than ever, and she can get along well with her. This makes Mengxi smell a hint of danger, but she doesn't want to waste her energy on Xiu'er. You have thousands of tricks, but I have certain rules.
After all, they both have a common goal - she is divorced from the Xiao Mansion. This is not only Xiu'er's unremitting pursuit, but also the result she wants. She might as well help Xiu'er when the time is right, right? There are no eternal enemies in this world, only eternal interests.
…
Xiao Jun sat at the desk, looking at Mengxi's portrait obsessively. The painting showed Mengxi's lazy look at the moment she woke up on the first day of his and Mengxi's wedding. Erye was indeed a master of painting. He used only black and white to depict Mengxi's naive and cute face just waking up from a deep sleep. Anyone who saw it would stop and think that it would be enough for their lifetime if they could just catch a glimpse of the beauty's true face.
I wonder when he will be able to see Xi'er like this again? The Second Master was staring at her in a trance when Xiao Xia pushed the door open, stepped forward and saluted, and said:
"Second Master"
"whats the matter?"
Xiao Jun asked as he put away the paintings on the table.
"The Second Master asked me to find out about the Second Madam's headgear a few days ago. I found out that not long after she got married, she pawned all her headgear, even the jade pendant given by the First Master."
After hearing this, Xiao Jun stood up and asked:
"Xi'er is the head of the family. The Xiao Mansion is so big, but she still lacks food and clothes. She pawned those things. What does she need so much money for? If she really needs money, just tell me. Can I not give it to her?"
"Second Master..."
"explain!"
Seeing that Xiao Xia seemed to be somewhat confused, Xiao Jun was really angry. Could it be that Xier really had some unspeakable secret behind her?
"Second Master, calm down. I just heard that since Second Madam married into the mansion, the monthly allowance that the mansion should give to Second Madam has not been complete. It is either missing this or that. Second Madam has to send Zhiqiu and Zhichun to buy things outside the mansion every month. This is no longer a secret in the mansion. The servants all know about it, even the concubines in each room know about it, but they just hide it from Second Master. I guess the old lady probably knows about it, but she just doesn't say it. I heard from Zhidong that the old lady would reward Second Madam from time to time, all of which are from the allowance. If she didn't know that Second Madam was short of money, would she have rewarded her so frequently? I just don't understand. Since the old lady knew about it, why didn't she stop the servants from doing so, but only helped Second Madam secretly. Is the old lady afraid of something?"
"Who is so bold as to treat my wife like this?"
