Chapter 40: The truth comes out
Li Cui was helping her father prepare medicine in the front hall when she was spotted by the bully Zhang Damao who came to prepare medicine for his concubine. Li Cui felt disgusted when she saw that Zhang Damao did not prepare medicine but just stared at her lustfully. After all, she was a girl, so she couldn't angry. Her face sank, and she hurriedly prepared the medicine in her hand and turned around to go into the inner hall.
Zhang Damao liked Li Cui even more because she was so bold and lively. His heart felt itchy as if it was scratched by a cat's claws. He wished he could marry her home immediately, hold her in his arms and kiss her to his heart's content. From then on, he really started to think about Li Cui.
Not long after, Zhang Damao found a matchmaker, wanting to take Li Cui as his sixth concubine. Zhang Damao had long been notorious in the village, and no daughter of a respectable family dared to marry him. They would not even let him be his wife, let alone his sixth concubine. How could Li's father agree to this? He rejected the matchmaker outright and scolded her.
The matchmaker was very upset, so she went to Zhang Damao and exaggerated the story. Zhang Damao was immediately furious and ashamed that his marriage proposal failed. He consulted with his usual bad friends and they came up with a vicious plan. They set a trap and falsely accused Old Man Li of killing someone with his medicine. Poor Old Man Li was no match for this notorious street bully. Li Du was just a weak scholar, and his family was involved in a lawsuit, so Old Man Li was thrown into jail.
At this time Zhang Damao sent people to lobby again, saying that as long as Li Cui was willing to marry him as a concubine, he would spend money to find someone to rescue Old Man Li. However, Li Du and his sister were unwilling to agree. Zhang Damao was worried about Li Cui, and came to the pharmacy to cause trouble every few days. Seeing that the pharmacy could not continue to operate, the brother and sister decided to sell the pharmacy, and they also collected some silver and money, and asked the clansmen to make arrangements, and finally got Old Man Li out.
As the saying goes, good fortune never comes alone, and misfortune never comes singly. The Li family had sold the pharmacy and had no way to make money. After this ordeal, Old Man Li was so angry that he fell ill and could not afford to grow up. The family, which was originally a small family, became penniless within a few days. Zhang Damao would come to the door every now and then to make trouble. Seeing that the family had no way to make a living, they heard that the Xiao Mansion, one of the four great families, was buying a maid. They also heard that the Xiao Mansion was very kind to their servants. If they were chosen by the master to be a personal maid, they would be more respectable than the ladies of ordinary families.
Li Cui discussed with her father and brother about selling herself to the Xiao family, but her father refused to agree. Finally, Li Cui knelt on the ground and threatened to die, saying to her father that this was the only way out for her, which was to sell her. On the one hand, she would have money to treat her father's illness, and on the other hand, when she was not at home, Zhang Damao would give up. At least her father could rest and recuperate. Otherwise, the whole family would be doomed.
Li Cui was a strong-willed woman. She knelt on the ground and swore to the sky that she would rather be a slave than a concubine. If her father did not agree to her selling herself, she would kill herself in front of her father and put an end to it all. In desperation, he had to sell his daughter to the Xiao Mansion in tears on the basis that his daughter promised to sign a living contract.
After hearing Zhiqiu's life story, several people sighed. Zhichun was already in tears, saying that the world is unpredictable and it is difficult to be a good person.
Mengxi, who lived in the 21st century, had never seen such a thing before and felt extremely sympathetic. She took out some loose change and gave it to Zhiqiu, asking her to ask someone to send it to Zhiqiu to buy medicine for her father's treatment. She would then go home to visit her father and brother when there was a chance in the future. Although the amount of silver was small, it was a timely help for Zhiqiu. Zhiqiu was also a person who knew how to repay a favor. Knowing that she had met a good master, she knelt down and kowtowed, and from then on she devotedly served the Second Madam.
Mengxi listened to the other three maids talking about their life stories. They were all children from ordinary poor families. If they were not so poor that they could not even have food to eat, who would be willing to sell their own daughter to someone as a slave?
After hearing the life stories of several people, Mengxi hated this evil feudal society. Although she hated it, she knew that she could not change the situation by herself. Coming here, she could only go with the flow.
She also briefly explained the rules of the mansion to several maids, telling them that the four of them would be her personal maids from now on and could only be loyal to her. She especially emphasized that although the Second Master was also the master, the four of them only had to be loyal to her and did not need to consider the Second Master in anything.
The four maids were all very smart. They naturally understood what the Second Madam said. They quickly expressed their loyalty in front of the Second Madam and vowed to be filial and loyal to her. Seeing how serious the maids were, Mengxi wanted to laugh. It had been more than half a month since she traveled to the Great Qi. She knew the binding force of the oath on the ancients, so she did not laugh in the end.
…
After lunch, the old lady leaned on the bed in the side room with her eyes slightly closed, while the servant beside her was stroking her legs and talking in a low voice.
"You are telling the truth. Is this news reliable? Isn't it just some gossip?"
"To reply to the old lady, it is true. My information is absolutely reliable. My cousin from my aunt's family is the childhood friend of Second Madam's biological sister Mengfei. Second Madam is indeed the daughter of Master Li's fifth concubine. Because Madam Li heard that Second Master had been ill for a long time, she was afraid that it would be inappropriate and she was reluctant to marry her legitimate daughter to him for good luck, so she let Second Madam marry in his place. Master Li was afraid that the news of the concubine's daughter replacing the legitimate daughter would leak out. After Second Madam got married, he kept the legitimate daughter Mengfei under house arrest and watched her closely, for fear that she would be recognized by the neighbors if she came out. Seeing that Second Madam was fine after getting married these two days, Master Li relaxed his watch, and Mengfei found an opportunity to slip out of the Li Mansion, and happened to meet my cousin. When they were chatting, they happened to mention this matter."
"Did you see the Yuanpa that Xiaoxiangyuan Hongyu sent me that day?"
"The maidservant and the nanny have carefully checked and it is true that she has seen bleeding. The Second Madam and the Second Master have consummated their marriage."
"What a sin! Our Xiao family has an ancestral precept that the wife of the head of the Xiao family must be a legitimate daughter. Xier is a concubine's daughter, so she has no right to be Juner's legal wife. If the marriage was not consummated, we can still find a good family for Xier to marry and give her more dowry. But now she is being carried in through the main gate in a sedan chair carried by eight people, and the marriage has been consummated. What should we do?"
The old lady sat up straight and spoke tremblingly.
Thinking of the deceased Old Master Xiao, he said with his feet drooping and his chest stomping:
"Old man, you see, this is all your fault. If it is heaven's fault, it can be forgiven, but if it is one's own fault, you cannot escape!"
It turned out that Mengxi's grandfather, Old Master Li, had accidentally saved Old Master Xiao's life. The two hit it off immediately and had a great time talking to each other. They admired each other's talents and felt a great sense of mutual appreciation. From then on, they became close friends.
In order to express his gratitude, Old Master Xiao arranged the marriage of his daughter and his daughter after drinking. As the Xiao family had an ancestral precept, the Xiao family's head's wife must be a legitimate daughter. Xiao Jun had been designated as the next head of the family, so Old Master Xiao told Old Master Li about this and arranged the marriage of Old Master Li's legitimate granddaughter. At that time, Old Master Xiao was also cautious. Although Old Master Li was an upright and upright man with great potential, his granddaughter would definitely be the right one, but after all, there were two generations between them and they were born from the same mother, so there would be good and bad ones. If Old Master Li had many legitimate granddaughters in the future, it would be best for Jun'er to have room to choose when he grew up. Anyway, this daughter-in-law was not afraid of being young. Therefore, the marriage contract only stipulated that Xiao Jun would marry Old Master Li's legitimate granddaughter, without writing the granddaughter's name and birth date. When Old Master Xiao mentioned this to the old lady, he proudly said that he was quick-witted and left room for Jun'er to choose, so that Jun'er would not blame him when he grew up.
Unexpectedly, his own selfishness allowed the Li family to take advantage of the opportunity and sow the seeds of today's disaster.
Seeing the old lady's gloomy face, the secretary rolled her eyes and came up with a clever plan:
"Old Madam, this is a simple matter. You just need to find a fault, demote the Second Wife to a concubine, and then marry a legitimate daughter to the Second Master, and everything will be solved. Anyway, it was the Li family who made the mistake of replacing the legitimate daughter with a concubine, so how dare you say no?"
