Chapter 194: Punishment
The Second Mistress left the house and was discovered by Liu'er. She was sent to Yangxin Garden by the First Mistress. Zhichun went to the upper room to wait for the Second Master, wanting to ask him to save the Second Mistress. While chatting with Hongzhu, she looked up and saw the Second Master walking in. They hurriedly stood up to greet him. After greeting each other, Hongzhu saw that the Second Master's face was flushed. She handed him a handkerchief to wipe his sweat and said:
"Master, I think you have been drinking again. I will ask the kitchen to make you some hangover soup."
"Okay, pour me a cup of tea first."
Hongzhu responded and turned to walk out. Erye sat down on the chair . Seeing Zhichun here, he looked around and asked casually:
"Where's the Second Grandma?"
When Zhichun saw Hongzhu go out, he stepped forward and knelt down to beg:
"I beg you to save my second wife."
When Xiao Jun heard this, he sat up straight and looked at Zhichun who was kneeling on the ground.
"What happened to the second grandma?"
"The Second Madam saw that the weather was fine today, so she wanted to go out for a walk. She had planned to be back soon, but the Second Master happened to be out, so she didn't ask for permission. But when she came back, Liu Er, who was by the side of the cousin, saw her and was called away by the First Madam. I think she was punished."
"How long has Second Grandma been gone?"
“It’s been a while.”
"I beg you..."
Before Zhichun finished speaking, he saw that the Second Master had already stood up and walked out quickly. Seeing that the Second Master had left, Zhichun sat down on the ground and secretly breathed a sigh of relief. The Second Master had Second Wife in his heart.
… …
Mengxi helped Zhiqiu to the Yangxin Garden and asked someone to pass on the message. Baozhu came out and took them directly to the west wing. When the master and servant entered the room, they saw the eldest wife leaning on the kang with her eyes closed, her back against a green satin pillow, her face a little pale. Ziyue was kneeling beside her and massaging her legs. Liu'er was standing on the ground. To Mengxi's surprise, Miss Xiu was not here.
After being punished, they finally came to terms with the situation and were no longer afraid. The master and servant looked at each other and calmly followed Baozhu to the eldest lady. Baozhu stepped forward and replied:
"Replying to the First Madam, the Second Madam is here."
The eldest wife closed her eyes and nodded.
"I'm here to pay my respects to the Madam. I wonder what the Madam wants me to do?"
Mengxi stepped forward and bowed softly, pretending to be stupid and asked. Zhiqiu also followed suit and greeted.
The eldest wife seemed not to have heard and did not open her eyes. Baozhu turned and walked out. Liu'er was looking at them with a smile.
Mengxi didn't seem to notice Liu'er. The master and servant stood there calmly waiting for the eldest wife to speak. The room was quiet. After about half an hour, the eldest wife opened her eyes. She did it on purpose today. After hearing Liu'er say that the second wife also saw her, the eldest wife asked Liu'er to stand here. She deliberately didn't say anything, just to let the second wife stand there and look at Liu'er, so that she would be nervous, terrified, and put some psychological pressure on her, so that she couldn't help but kneel down. Let her kneel for a while before talking.
She was looking forward to seeing the second wife kneeling and begging. When the time was about right, she opened her eyes and saw the master and servant standing there as if nothing had happened, looking at her. They didn't look scared at all, let alone kneeling. She was so angry that she sat up and said coldly:
"Second Grandma is coming"
"Yes, the eldest lady sent for my daughter-in-law to come over. What instructions do you have?"
After hearing this, the eldest wife became even angrier. "You are so good, Second Madam. It seems that you won't cry until you see the coffin. I want to see how you defend yourself."
"I heard you went out today?"
"Yes"
"Who gave you permission? Or did you leave the house without permission to meet someone?"
Seeing Mengxi remained silent, the eldest wife suddenly shouted:
“Kneel down!”
Mengxi and Zhiqiu both knelt on the ground:
"My daughter-in-law is wrong, please punish me, Madam."
After hearing Mengxi's words, the first wife felt it was boring. The cat-and-mouse game was all about the chase. Seeing the prey struggling in fear was exciting. But the second wife didn't argue at all, which made her feel empty inside. She said coldly:
"I didn't want to punish you because you were young and ignorant, but if you didn't punish me today, everyone would follow my example and this family would be out of control. Come, let's get the family rules!"
But he left the house without permission, and was punished by the family law right away. When Zhiqiu saw this, he kowtowed and said:
"I beg you, Madam, to spare Second Madam's life for the sake of her youth and ignorance. I am willing to take the punishment on her behalf."
"Zhiqiu, I usually see that you are a careful person, so I asked you to follow the Second Grandma and give her some advice. I didn't expect that the Second Grandma is young and ignorant, and not only did you not advise her, you also instigated her to do it. Do you know your crime?"
"I know my crime and am willing to be punished. I only ask the First Madam to spare the Second Madam. The Second Madam is weak and cannot stand the punishment. I beg the First Madam to forgive her."
At this time, two maids came in with the family rules and showed them to the eldest wife. The eldest wife glanced at it and nodded, with the corners of her mouth slightly raised. She said coldly to Mengxi and Zhiqiu who were kneeling on the ground:
"As the mistress of the family, Second Madam actually did not observe the code of conduct for women and left the house without permission. Even if I wanted to forgive you, it is against the family rules. Considering that Zhiqiu pleaded for you, I will punish you less severely to serve as a warning to others. Come, punish Second Madam with ten strokes of the board and Zhiqiu with fifteen strokes of the board."
Damn, so cruel, it's just a trip out of the house. Looking at the eldest wife, Mengxi was furious. She wanted to stand up and make a scene with her, and leave the Xiao Mansion forever. But when she looked up and saw Zhiqiu with a pale face, her heart sank. The eldest wife was too cruel. She was afraid that Zhiqiu would die if she made a scene. She calmed down, kowtowed to the eldest wife and said:
"My wife was wrong. I am willing to be punished, but the matter of leaving the house has nothing to do with Zhiqiu. I beg the Madam to forgive Zhiqiu."
The eldest wife looked at the second wife lying on the ground. The glimmer of fire in her eyes just now made her very excited. Just because she left the house secretly was not enough to divorce her, but disobeying her parents-in-law was different. She was so cruel just to force her to resist so that she could take the opportunity to divorce her.
Since entering the mansion, this second wife has done everything perfectly, and she is deeply loved by the old lady, so she has never let her make any big mistakes. Now her son seems to like her too. The first wife even suspects that Xiao An's affair was instigated by the second wife. During the days when she was bedridden, she has transferred all her resentment towards her son to this daughter-in-law, and can't wait to divorce her.
But the fire in Mengxi's eyes was extinguished in an instant, which made her feel disheartened. After hearing what Mengxi said, how could she let it go? It would be strange if she gave her any face!
He spoke to the old woman holding the family law:
"Moving House Law"
The two maids holding the family rules responded and walked towards Mengxi and Zhiqiu. They had stayed in the mansion for a long time and knew that the eldest wife did not like the second wife. The second wife had no roots in the Xiao mansion, so when they saw that the eldest wife asked them to take action, they would do their best to show their performance.
When Zhiqiu saw that the old woman was really going to do it, he rushed forward and hugged the Second Mistress from behind, protecting her back, and said to the First Mistress:
"Please, Madam, spare Second Madam. I am willing to take the punishment for you."
The two maids glanced at the eldest wife and saw that she was sitting there with a cold face and didn't speak, so they came forward to pull Zhiqiu, trying to pull her away. The two maids were strong enough, but Zhiqiu was determined to protect the second wife at the risk of her death. According to her, no one could touch the second wife unless she was beaten to death. After struggling for a long time, even though Zhiqiu and the second wife's clothes were torn, they still couldn't pull her away. She just held the second wife tightly and refused to let go. Mengxi also advised her to let go, but Zhiqiu just shook her head desperately and refused to let go.
The two maids were helpless and turned to look at the eldest wife. Seeing this, the eldest wife sneered:
"What a loyal servant! Let's fight together!"
At the eldest wife's words, the old woman in charge of the household rules raised the family rules and started beating Mengxi and Zhiqiu on the head. Zhiqiu desperately used her body to protect the second wife's head and back. After a few beatings, blood was seeping out of Zhiqiu's clothes on the back.
"Zhiqiu, let go quickly, someone will die ."
Mengxi also became anxious and shouted, but Zhiqiu refused to let go. While he was beating her, Baozhu came in and replied:
"Replying to Madam, the Second Master is here"
The eldest wife signaled the two maids to stop and said to Baozhu:
"Why is Jun'er here? Send the message quickly."
After a while, Baozhu led the Second Master in. The Second Master came in, glanced at the two people on the ground, and walked a few steps to his mother:
"Mother is well"
"Look, it's a hot day. If you need anything, just send a servant over. Baozhu, quickly wipe the sweat off the Second Master with a handkerchief and serve him tea."
After all, he was his own son. Although he was angry about Xiao An's matter, the matter had passed after all. Seeing his son walk in with sweat all over his forehead, he still felt very distressed. He kept blaming him while letting him sit down.
"My son is fine. I am sorry to have made you worried. I came back early today because I was concerned about your health and came to check on you."
After hearing her son's thoughtful words, the eldest wife finally smiled. Just as she was about to speak, she saw the second master, who seemed to have just discovered Mengxi on the ground, and hurriedly walked towards them, talking as he walked.
"Mother, what did Second Grandma do to make you angry?"
When he came to Mengxi, Xiao Jun bent down, lifted her chin with his hand, and looked her up and down carefully. After looking for a long time, he seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and met her eyes. She was also looking at him, but her eyes were full of stubbornness. His heart trembled, his face sank, and he said in a cold voice:
"But just now, I have made my mother angry. Second Madam is becoming more and more powerful, hmm!"
After saying that, he turned to look at the first wife, and seeing that she was also looking at him, he casually asked again:
"Mother, what did Second Grandma do to make you angry?"
"What did Jun'er just say about the front and back feet?"
The eldest wife did not answer her son's question, but asked instead.
"Mother, you don't know that Li Zan invited me and Master Tao to a banquet at Fenglai Pavilion. Because they heard that Xi'er was a good poet, Li Zan and Master Tao insisted that my son bring Xi'er to the banquet. Only then did my son bring Xi'er out of the house. Who knew that Xi'er had stayed in the house for too long and couldn't even enter the elegant hall. In front of the masters, she called herself a 'maid', which made my son very embarrassed. But it was difficult to scold her in front of everyone, so I had to let her go back first. Jun'er drank for a while before coming back. Who knew that in just a short while, Xi'er made mother so angry that she even used family rules to punish her."
With the Second Mistress's shrewdness, she must have been taken out of the house by the Second Master. She had said so long ago, so why would she wait here foolishly to be beaten? The First Mistress heard this and shook her head in confusion, looking up at Liu'er on the side.
