Chapter 202 It turns out that the Xiao family has ancestral teachings
Seeing Mengxi pretending to be deaf and dumb, the first wife told her in a particularly good-tempered manner that Mengfei came to the mansion to ask the old lady to help her correct her status as a legitimate daughter. When the first wife said this, she glanced at Mengxi and saw that she was listening seriously. She sneered and continued:
"After hearing what Meng Fei said, the old lady and the eldest master said that this matter involves serious matters. How can they easily believe an outsider who came to the Xiao Mansion and said nonsense, not to mention that the identity of the person who came was suspicious. That's why they hurriedly summoned you here to verify whether this person is the second lady's sister and whether her words are true. Second lady, don't worry. As the saying goes, what is true cannot be false, and what is false cannot be true. If this person has wronged you, the old lady and the eldest master are here and will definitely make the decision for you."
The eldest wife said this on purpose to mislead Mengxi, making her think that she could get away with it and deny it. She and Xiu'er had spent a lot of money in the past ten days and had made sufficient preparations. In addition to Mengfei, they hid it from the old lady and the eldest master. Not only did they find another witness, but they also relied on the power of the Imperial Censorate to copy a copy of Mengxi's birth document from the government. In short, Mengxi would not be able to escape this time. They would just wait for her to struggle and argue, and then torture her. She hated this daughter-in-law so much that it would be too easy to let her go or execute her. Only by watching her kneeling at her feet in blood and wagging her tail like a dog would she feel a little pleasure.
After hearing this, Zhixia's face turned pale, her body swayed, and she almost fell down. She hurriedly held on to the chair with her hands, and felt the slight tremor from the back of the chair. Mengxi patted her gently.
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Mengxi slowly stood up, took a step forward, knelt on the ground , and said:
"Replying to the old lady , granddaughter-in-law didn't see the person coming up the second gate. She really doesn't dare to say whether it's my sister, but she is right. Granddaughter-in-law is indeed the seventh daughter of the Li family, born to my father's fifth concubine, Aunt Zhao. It was my sister, Li Mengfei, who had an engagement with the Xiao family. It was because the second master was critically ill, and the old lady wanted to use a legitimate wife to bring good luck. My mother was worried, so she asked a fortune teller to tell my sister's fortune. As a result, the fortune teller said that my sister and the second master were not compatible. If she married into the Xiao family, the second master would die!"
"Nonsense, street fortune tellers are just low-class people, how can we trust them?"
When the eldest wife heard the second mistress say that the second master would definitely die, she felt disgusted and interrupted Mengxi's words immediately regardless of her status.
The old lady was disgusted when she heard this, but she suddenly remembered that the "fifteen-day period" mentioned during the Second Master's wedding really saved the Second Master's life. So she glanced at the First Lady and said,
"Don't be impatient, Madam. Let Xi'er continue speaking first. Xi'er, you go on."
Mengxi glanced at the eldest wife, and seeing that she stopped talking, he continued:
"Later, my mother asked the fortune teller to read the horoscopes of my granddaughter-in-law and two younger sisters. But the fortune teller said that my granddaughter-in-law and the second master's fate were compatible, and that marrying my granddaughter to bring good luck could save the second master's life, and he also proposed a deadline of fifteen days. At that time, my granddaughter-in-law also thought that the fortune teller was talking nonsense. She believed that her birth as a concubine was not worthy of the second master, and she would rather die than obey her mother's order. But her sister wanted to commit suicide and refused to marry. My mother tried to comfort my granddaughter-in-law in every way, saying that the Li family had no choice but to do this in order to save the second master's life. She also promised that when the second master recovered from his illness, my father would come to the house in person to explain the matter of the substitute marriage. As the saying goes, one cannot refuse the orders of his parents. My granddaughter-in-law had no choice but to marry to bring good luck, and it was just as the fortune teller said, and the second master's illness was cured."
"Second Madam said that Master Li would come to explain the matter of the proxy marriage in person. How come it's been two years and no one from the Li family has come to explain this matter?"
It turned out that after all the fuss, the Li family had concealed the truth and used a concubine's daughter as a substitute for marriage, but not only did it fail, but it became a successful minister. After hearing the second wife's irrelevant words, the first wife was really furious and seized the opportunity to question her.
Hearing the eldest wife's question, Mengxi looked at the old lady and the eldest master in confusion and said:
"Didn't my father clarify this matter to the old lady and the master?"
Seeing Mengxi asking a question, the master asked in confusion:
"Why do you say that, Xi'er?"
"My granddaughter-in-law has always thought that my father had clarified the matter after the second master recovered from his illness. It was only because the old lady was grateful to my granddaughter-in-law for saving the second master's life and could not bear to blame the Li family that she acquiesced to the matter. She was afraid that it would be bad if this matter spread, so she cut off my granddaughter-in-law's contact with her natal family. Otherwise, my granddaughter-in-law has been married for two years, why would the old lady not let her return? I think my father and the old lady have reached a tacit understanding. In the past two years, he has not come to the mansion to pick up my granddaughter-in-law. So my granddaughter-in-law has always thought that the old lady cherished her granddaughter-in-law's face and did not make it clear in the Xiao Mansion that my granddaughter-in-law was a concubine's daughter. I didn't expect that the old lady didn't know about this. I hope the old lady will understand it."
Meng Fei is in the Xiao Mansion. Meng Xi dared to lie because Madam Li did consult a fortune teller for Meng Fei's marriage. Although the content was different, if the eldest lady asked Meng Fei to come for confrontation, she only needed to ask Meng Fei whether he had consulted a fortune teller. As for what the fortune teller said, it was fulfilled in the Xiao Mansion later, so she was not afraid that the old lady would not believe her.
So even though she knew Meng Fei was in the Xiao Mansion, Meng Xi still dared to lie in front of everyone in the Xiao Mansion without batting an eyelid, completely shirking the responsibility of marrying in place of her, and implicitly blaming the Xiao family.
In short, Mengxi's words were a little false, but they were also true. With the power of the Xiao family, if they coughed, the whole Pingyang City would catch a cold. For two years, they didn't even know that their daughter-in-law was a concubine's daughter who married in place of them. This was really new. Who would believe it if they told others!
Mengxi's ethereal and clear voice and unhurried tone were like beads of jade, rumbling on everyone's hearts and making their ears buzz. Especially the old lady, her hands holding the chair could not help but tremble.
What Mengxi said was true. She knew her identity early on, but she had been hiding it, not because she cared about Mengxi's face, but because she cared about the Xiao family's face. She also believed that Mengxi was Jun'er's benefactor, and Jun'er hadn't taken over as the head of the family yet, so she stayed for the time being. Now that she had been exposed by her selfishness in a few words, she couldn't help but feel her old face flushed as she sat there.
According to what Mengxi said, if he admitted that he knew her identity long ago, it would be tantamount to admitting the fact that he had used Mengxi, and also tacitly acknowledged her background. In this way, her background violated the ancestral teachings, and he could not bring himself to divorce her.
If they refused to admit that they had known about this matter in advance, the great Qi family would be played around by a small businessman. For two years, they didn't even know that the young mistress they married as the legitimate daughter was a concubine's daughter. That would have become a huge laughing stock. The Xiao family really couldn't afford to lose face for that person. What's more, she now keeps saying that she listened to the fortune teller and acted in an emergency to save the second master. In fact, she really saved the second master. This has implicitly put a big hat of ungratefulness on the Xiao family.
He glanced at the eldest wife in reproach, secretly blaming her for not keeping a low profile and exposing such a shameful matter in public. Mengxi's identity went against the ancestral teachings, and the day the Second Master took over as the head of the family, he could have just found an excuse to divorce her. Not only was she embarrassed by Ye, but she would have felt even more ashamed if the matter got out.
The eldest wife was sitting there at this time, her face turning red and white, and she was extremely depressed. She and Xiu'er had spent a lot of money and prepared a lot of vicious words, but now she couldn't say a word. The hard evidence she found was of no use at all. There was no need to torture the second wife at all, she just admitted it frankly, and said it nonchalantly, and even said that she thought the Xiao family knew about it a long time ago and blamed the Xiao family.
The first wife was also overwhelmed by her hatred for the second wife, and with Xiu'er's instigation, when she learned the secret of the concubine's substitute marriage, she felt strangely excited when she thought that even the old lady could not stop the second wife from being divorced this time. She even forgot to consider the face of the Xiao family. Mengxi's words cooled her fanatical mind. When she saw the old lady's reproachful eyes, she secretly regretted putting this matter on the table with great fanfare. It was a bit thoughtless.
Looking at the servants standing on both sides, this was all specially arranged by her. One was to make the matter bigger to prevent it from being covered up by the old lady and causing unnecessary trouble. The other was to humiliate the second wife in public. Now it seemed more like she was shooting herself in the foot.
She looked up at the eldest master, who also had a gloomy expression and didn't say a word. The second master had an even more expressionless face. At this moment, she had no idea what her son was thinking.
The eldest wife was silent for a long while, then she made up her mind. Now that things had come to this, she had no choice but to go all out today and divorce the second wife first. As for the reputation of the Xiao family, this was the inner residence after all, so she could just keep it secret afterwards. How could such a huge Xiao Mansion allow a concubine's daughter of a merchant to cause trouble!
The eldest wife thought of this, glanced at the old lady, and said to Mengxi:
"Second Madam said this because something went wrong. Since Second Madam got married, the in-laws have never visited us. Even on major occasions such as the New Year, festivals, the old lady's birthday, and the eldest master's birthday, they only sent gifts. The in-laws never showed up. There is no way to talk about this matter, which has caused Second Madam to have many misunderstandings. Now that things have come to this, it's better not to mention it. Second Madam has been married into the Xiao Mansion for more than two years. Don't you know the ancestral precepts of our Xiao family?"
After the first wife finished speaking, she stared at Mengxi closely. Seeing that she looked at her doubtfully, she asked:
"Ancestor's precepts? What ancestral precepts? I really don't know."
No one in the mansion had told her about this except the Third Master. Anyway, the Third Master was not around, and Ouyang Di said that the Third Master wanted to see her, the God of Medicine, and was still wandering around the Baicao Garden. Naturally, Mengxi felt at ease and boldly played dumb with the First Wife.
"My cousin's wife has been in the mansion for two years. How could she not know the ancestral precepts of the Xiao family?"
"You should know this after two years in the mansion, right? But the old lady, the first master, the first mistress and the second master have never mentioned this to Xier!"
Mengxi's words made Miss Xiu speechless. After hearing Mengxi's words, everyone looked at each other and shook their heads. Finally, their eyes were focused on the Second Master. Seeing that he also shook his head, they were secretly surprised. The Second Madam had been in the mansion for two years, but she really didn't know about this.
Seeing this, the eldest wife smiled. No wonder she was so calm just now. Now that you know the ancestral precepts, can you still be so calm? Thinking of this, she couldn't wait to say:
"It seems that Second Madam really doesn't know the ancestral precepts of the Xiao family. There are two ancestral precepts of our Xiao family, and one of them is really related to Second Madam, that is, the legitimate wife of the head of the Xiao family must be a legitimate daughter!"
