Chapter 221 The Second Master is Critically Ill
When the eldest wife saw the third master coming, she asked him about his visit to the second sister-in-law at Qingxin Temple. Without saying anything, she gave him a lecture. The third master listened and said quickly:
"Mother taught me, Yun'er has taken note of it."
Seeing that the Third Master had admitted his mistake, the First Wife softened her tone and asked:
"Since you've gone to see me, I want to ask if your sister-in-law is doing well in Qingxin Temple. Is she feeling uncomfortable? If there's anything she's missing, I'll have someone deliver it to her."
"My second sister-in-law is doing well there, and mother specially arranged for someone to serve her. Unfortunately, mother's kindness was ruined by a few servants. They actually served her cold and raw food without your knowledge. Fortunately, Yun'er met them when she was delivering the food, otherwise, mother's wisdom would have been ruined by a few servants."
"What? How could this happen? These treacherous slaves, seeing that I have been ill for the past two days, dare to bully their master. Someone, come here..."
Seeing the eldest wife acting so pretentiously, the third master sighed secretly and advised:
"Mother, calm down. Yun'er has already taught them a lesson for you. I asked them to prepare food for my second sister-in-law again. They are just a few servants. It is not worth getting angry at them. Let it go this time. Yun'er thinks they will not dare to do it again."
"I was afraid that Second Madam would be spoiled and uncomfortable going to Qingxin Temple, so I specially sent people to serve her. But I didn't expect that this bunch of servants who looked down on me would take advantage of my illness and inability to manage things and do such things behind my back. If someone didn't know, they would think that I treated Second Madam harshly. I had to kidnap someone and go to the old lady to apologize in person. Come..."
"It's just a few servants. Mother, there's no need to make a big fuss and cause unrest in the whole family. People who don't know would think something has happened in our family. Besides, which blind servant would dare to report such a small matter to the old lady and make her worry."
After hearing what the Third Master said, the First Wife secretly breathed a sigh of relief, her heart finally at ease, and she continued:
"Yun'er is right. It's not nice to make a fuss over such a small matter and make the old lady worry. I'll remember this for them. When I recover, I'll deal with these blind servants. It's a pity that Yun'er has to worry about this."
After the first wife finished speaking, she saw that the third master had agreed, and then she ordered:
"I think Third Master is hungry. Come on, serve the food!"
…
The eldest wife hasn't gone to Shouxi Hall to pay her respects these past two days. Firstly, she is really ill, and secondly, she has a guilty conscience about the Qingxin Temple incident and is afraid that she won't be able to answer if the old lady asks about it, so she has to use the excuse of illness to stay in hiding. When the second wife's incident comes to light, she will use the excuse of being ill and not in charge to shirk all responsibility and then come forward to clean up the mess.
Zi Yue walked in carefully carrying a bowl of medicine and said:
"Madam, the medicine is ready, drink it while it's hot."
Zi Yue put down the medicine as she spoke, went forward to help the first wife up, and put a pillow behind her. Looking at the first wife's pale face, Zi Yue sighed secretly. This time, the second master and the second mistress really made the first wife suffer a lot, and she really couldn't hold on any longer.
After drinking the medicine and rinsing her mouth, Zi Yue brought over a plate of candied fruit. The eldest wife picked one and put it in her mouth, then said:
"How is the Second Master's illness these past two days? Hongzhu didn't even ask anyone to come back to let her know. This girl usually looks after him carefully, but why is she becoming more and more unruly? Send a maid to check on him later, and tell the maids to take good care of him."
After hearing what the eldest wife said, Zi Yue's hands trembled, and the plate of candied fruit almost fell to the ground. She quickly turned around and put it down, picked up the handkerchief and wiped the water marks on the eldest wife's mouth while saying:
"Hongzhu sent someone over just now. Seeing that you finally fell asleep, I didn't wake you up and sent them away first. Madam, don't worry, the Second Master is fine. She also sent someone to tell you to take good care of your health and not to worry about him."
"I'm glad Jun'er is okay. I've been worried these past two days. No matter how unfilial Jun'er is, he is still my flesh and blood. Even if his bones are broken, they are still connected by tendons. I feel sad even if he is hurt a little. I don't know when he will understand my painstaking efforts."
After hearing what the eldest wife said, Zi Yue turned pale, turned around and found a thin blanket from the cupboard, changed it for the eldest wife, and tidied it up before speaking:
"Madam, please don't let it get to the point of being upset. Second Master was just momentarily distracted, and in the end..."
As they were talking, Baozhu came in. When the eldest wife saw her, she asked casually:
"How's Qingxin Temple going? Is anyone going to visit Second Grandma today?"
"Replying to the eldest lady, when the third master came to pay his respects, he asked the old lady for permission, saying that the second lady said she was not used to the food in Qingxin Temple and asked the eldest lady to send it to her. The old lady has agreed. The eldest lady went there this morning. Because the old lady had something to say, the maid at the door did not dare to stop her."
"What!"
After hearing this, the eldest wife sat up straight, feeling dizzy, and almost fell down. Zi Yue hurried forward to support her, looked at Bao Zhu with dissatisfaction, and said:
"But we have sent you a meal. Madam, please don't get excited. Your body can't stand it any more."
"I'm not that delicate!"
After the first wife finished speaking, she turned to look at the panicked Baozhu and asked:
"The Third Master told the old lady about his visit to Qingxin Temple. What else did he say to her?"
"Replying to the Madam, I heard from Shihua that the Third Master did not say anything except asking the First Aunt to bring him food. Instead, he was scolded by the Old Lady, who said that it was against etiquette for him to go to Qingxin Temple to see his sister-in-law without permission, and strictly ordered the Third Master not to go there again."
After hearing Baozhu's words, the eldest wife let out a long sigh, leaned back, pondered for a long time, sneered, and said fiercely:
"Okay, this is even better. These past two days I have been thinking about the death of Second Madam in Qingxin Temple. No matter how clean the treatment was, it could not escape the suspicion of the old lady. It would take some effort and death for several servants. Third Master is helping us by doing this. The meal was not cooked by our people, so if someone dies after eating it, we cannot be blamed. Baozhu, tell the servants of Qingxin Temple to put some laxatives in the water used by Second Madam. Once Second Madam becomes ill, have the door guarded tightly and no news be leaked. When First Madam goes there again, have someone check and follow her in. Do not bring even a note, let alone talk to each other."
After the eldest wife finished speaking, a hint of viciousness flashed in her eyes. Baozhu couldn't help but shudder. She nodded quickly and turned to walk out.
Just as Baozhu left, the maid came to report that Miss Xiu had arrived. Upon hearing this, the eldest wife hurriedly said, "Please come in."
After a while, Xiu'er came in supporting Bingxin. She looked much more haggard after not seeing her for a few days. Until now, she didn't believe that her cousin liked his wife. Suddenly, she realized that this was a dream.
She walked slowly to her aunt's bedside and greeted her. Ziyue had already moved the embroidery cushion. After Xiu'er sat down, the first wife noticed that her eyes were red and swollen. She sighed secretly and said that it was all Jun'er's fault. Before Xiu'er could speak, the first wife advised:
"Xiu'er has suffered a lot. You should be more open-minded. Xiu'er is gentle and generous. After a long time, Jun'er will always see your good side. Men are like this. They like new and exciting things. After a long time, they get bored. Your uncle and Aunt Zhang were also very aggressive in the beginning, but now they are cold to each other."
"What my aunt said is true. Xiu'er doesn't believe that my cousin would change his mind. He is just fascinated by my cousin's wife for a while. When he has had enough of her, he will change his mind. But Xiu'er just can't understand why my cousin would give up his position as the head of the family for her without seeing how he and his cousin's wife are doing! It is said that beauty is a disaster, and it is absolutely true. My cousin's wife really has the heart to let my cousin cause unrest in the whole family because of her, and become a disloyal, unfilial, unkind and uncaring person."
After Xiu'er finished speaking, a deep hatred flashed in her eyes. After hearing Xiu'er's last words, the eldest wife gritted her teeth and said fiercely:
"That's enough. Second Madam will never have a future!"
After hearing what her aunt said, Xiu'er was startled, then overjoyed. She pressed her hand to her chest, trying to suppress her excitement, and said in a reluctant tone:
"Aunt, please stop saying that. If something really happened to my cousin's wife, I'm afraid it's my cousin..."
Xiu'er choked up when she said this. Looking at Xiu'er, the eldest wife sighed and said:
"Xiu'er is good in every way, but she is too soft-hearted. She only cares about Jun'er's good. As the saying goes, a serious illness requires a strong medicine. Keeping the second wife is always a disaster. Jun'er can't change his mind for the time being. As time goes by, he will understand my painstaking efforts. Xiu'er just needs to know this in his heart. It's okay in the future. Just persuade Jun'er more and Jun'er will change his mind."
"Xiu'er, just follow your aunt's instructions."
At this point, Xiu'er knew that her aunt had made up her mind to get rid of her cousin's wife. She was so excited that she didn't dare to say anything more. She nodded in agreement. Suddenly, she remembered the purpose of her visit today. Her eyes turned red and she said:
"Aunt, Xiu'er came here today to ask you to go..."
When Xiu'er said this, she began to sob and wiped . Seeing this, the lady was startled and asked hurriedly:
"Xiu'er, if you have anything to say, just tell me. Auntie will take care of it for you."
"Aunt, my cousin hasn't seen Xiu'er these two days. Xiu'er understands that my cousin is in a bad mood and doesn't want to see anyone. I didn't want to disturb him, but Xiu'er heard from the maid in Xiaoxiangyuan that my cousin hasn't eaten or drunk anything since he woke up the day before. He's already... Xiu'er can't see my cousin and can't persuade him, but Xiu'er is really worried that something might happen to him, so I came here to ask my aunt to persuade him to eat more and not to be depressed."
"What! It's been two days and Jun'er hasn't eaten or drunk anything. Didn't he just say he was fine?"
The eldest wife said this and looked at Zi Yue, only to see that Zi Yue's face turned pale in an instant, and she fell to her knees with a plop and said:
"Please forgive me, Madam. I lied. When Madam was in a coma the other day, the old lady summoned me to ask about your condition. She specifically told me not to tell you about the second master's condition, as she was afraid that you would worry again if you knew about the second master's condition. That's why she told me to keep it a secret, hoping that you would recover quickly and come out to manage the affairs. I saw that the house had been tormented by the second master and mistress, and if anything happened to you, the sky would fall. So I listened to the old lady and kept it a secret from you."
"How is Jun'er now?"
After hearing this, the eldest wife had no intention of pursuing Zi Yue's concealment and asked anxiously . Zi Yue saw this and dared not hide it anymore. She kowtowed and said:
"Hongzhu sent someone to tell me this morning that the Second Master has not eaten or drunk anything since the Second Madam went to Qingxin Temple. No matter how we persuade him, he just won't eat or drink. Later, he even refused to take his medicine. Several concubines knelt outside the door for an entire afternoon yesterday, but the Second Master didn't see any of them. This morning, the Second Master has been in a coma. He is awake less often than he sleeps. When he wakes up, he doesn't speak, but just lies there, staring at the roof in a daze. I am also worried, but I heard that Hongzhu has already reported back to the old lady..."
