Chapter 47 Preparing Gifts
The old lady agreed to Mengxi's request to leave the house. The eldest wife felt that it was unreasonable and hurriedly stood up to dissuade him.
After hearing what the first wife said, the old lady secretly thought: I understand this logic, but when Jun'er gets better, it will be the day for her to leave the house. It is impossible to take her out of the house. She has done nothing wrong but is forced to leave the house. The Xiao family has also ruined her innocence. This girl will have no choice but to stay in the temple and die. It was my Xiao family who let her down. How can I refuse this small request now? Wife, you don't know my painstaking efforts.
After thinking for a long time, the old lady said in a calm but unquestionable tone:
"Jun'er is being taken care of by Hongyu, so it's okay. Xi'er fainted yesterday, and I think she was bored in the mansion. It would be good for her to go out and relax. If your wife is worried, send more maids and old women to follow her and remind her from time to time."
After hearing this, the eldest master and the eldest mistress knew that it was useless to say more. The eldest mistress looked at Mengxi with a gloomy face, indicating that she rejected the matter.
Meeting the eldest lady's gaze, Mengxi of course understood what she meant. What a joke! If she were to refuse, then her long request would be in vain. Mengxi pretended not to understand what the eldest lady meant, and briskly stepped forward and bowed to the old lady:
"Thank you, old lady, for your help. I will go back and prepare now. I will take my leave now."
Ignoring the suddenly cold gaze of the first wife, she said goodbye to everyone calmly, and walked out slowly with Hongzhu. Since she couldn't win the favor of the second master and the first wife even if she gave everything, and couldn't change her fate of being divorced, it would be better not to do it from the beginning. Whether the second master and the first wife treat her well or badly, it doesn't matter. She just lives her life watching the clouds roll by and the clouds fade away.
Seeing Mengxi ignore her hint, the first wife was furious and gnashed her teeth secretly: "Li Mengxi, let's go first. I don't believe you can turn the world upside down in the Xiao Mansion. Let's play slowly."
The hand hidden under his sleeve trembled, and he turned back to sit in the chair, his face looking back to normal.
Eldest Master Xiao Qing and Third Master Xiao Yun looked at Meng Xi's departing figure and thought to themselves: The old lady really worships this Second Wife to the skies, this way her life will be a little easier.
Hongzhu helped the Second Mistress out of the door before she collapsed and realized that she had just broken out in a cold sweat:
"Second Madam was really a bit abrupt today. Judging from the expression on First Madam's face today, I'm afraid Second Madam's life will not be easy in the future."
Hongzhu really couldn't stand their Second Madam. She couldn't have a moment's peace. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that the Second Master and the First Madam did not favor this madam. She should have stayed in the mansion and served the Second Master well, and thought of ways to please him and his mother-in-law. Why did she do such a weird thing? If she returned to Xiaoxiang Courtyard, the Second Master would definitely have a tantrum. It was just hard for them, the servants, to have such a master. Not only could they not get any good out of their affairs, but they also had to worry about the whole world. So she said coldly to the Second Madam.
Mengxi knew that she was worried about him. He felt that her hand that was holding him was shaking. He knew that she was frightened, but he did not blame her for being rude to him. He just held her hand and got into the sedan chair. Hongzhu lowered the curtain, ordered the sedan chair to be lifted, and walked towards Xiaoxiangyuan.
The eldest wife returned to her courtyard from the old lady's place and started smashing the tea sets on the table. Baozhu and Ziyue tried to persuade her:
"This bitch, she doesn't even have me, her mother-in-law, in her eyes. She didn't think of me when she had something good. It would have been fine if she didn't send it to me, but she actually pretended not to understand my expression. She's really getting more and more lawless."
"Madam, please calm down. Seeing how arrogant she is today, I don't think she is a scheming person. Madam, you are just slowly finding faults with her. I heard from the people in the Second Master's room that the Second Master doesn't favor her at all. Since she married Hongyu, she has been staying in Hongyu's room every day. She fainted yesterday, and the Second Master didn't even go to see her. I think the Second Master won't interfere if we deal with her. The First Madam is a noble person, and there is no need for her to get hurt over such a small matter."
As Zi Yue spoke, she signaled the maid to pick up the broken teacups on the floor.
When the first wife heard Zi Yue say that the second master did not favor the second wife, her anger subsided a little. She thought: So what if the old lady favors you? How long can the old lady live? Little bitch, you are obsessed with tying Jun'er in your room. So what if you give Jun'er a concubine? You still won't go to your room.
"Zi Yue, tell the butler Xiao An that the situation in the mansion is getting increasingly tight. Apart from the requests from the Second Madam, all requests that are not too important are not urgent matters. Let him handle them."
When Mengxi returned to Xiaoxiang Courtyard, the concubines were already waiting. Mengxi walked all the way to the hall and sat down. He asked the concubines to come in and greet him. He served the meal. After eating with the concubines' service, he cleared the table, sat down again, and served tea. Mengxi looked at the four concubines standing on both sides and said:
"Who is in charge of the money and property in our courtyard now?"
"Replying to Second Madam, these are temporarily managed by me. The accounts have been sorted out in the past two days, and I am thinking of handing them over to you in a day or two," said the eldest concubine.
"No, you continue to manage it."
Everyone was shocked, wondering what the Second Madam was up to. As soon as Mengxi opened her mouth, everyone knew that the Second Madam wanted to take back the power. The eldest aunt heard what Mengxi said and wondered if the Second Madam was angry that she had delayed handing over the power, so she hurried forward to speak.
"Second Madam, you have done me a disservice. In the past, there was no mistress in this courtyard, and the Second Master saw that I was the first one to come in, so he let me take charge. Now, the mistress has come in, and these things should have been taken over by the mistress. However, on the one hand, I wanted to clear the accounts and hand them in, and on the other hand, the Second Madam had been taking care of him because the Second Master was ill, and had no time to spare, so it was delayed for a few days. Now that Second Madam has time, she should take over."
As the eldest aunt spoke, she glanced viciously at Hongyu who was standing aside, thinking to herself, since the Second Master has this girl serving him, the Second Mistress will now take action. The four aunts all hated Hongyu equally. After all, the Second Mistress was the mistress, and they could not compare to her. Even if they worked together to get the Second Mistress out, they still could not be the mistress . But Hongyu was different. She was just a concubine, but now she dominated the Second Master every day, which took away their favor. It was heard that the Second Master had been staying in Hongyu's room every day. In the past few days, they had transferred their hatred for the Second Mistress to Hongyu, especially Aunt Li. She wished she could tear that pretty face into pieces and crush it to see how she could seduce the Second Master.
"There's no rush for this matter. Auntie, just keep taking care of it. I asked about this because I thought that when Master leaves the mansion tomorrow, we should prepare some gifts for him. I wonder if there is any precedent for this kind of thing in the courtyard?"
"Second Madam, there is no custom. It is all given according to Second Master's wishes. It is nothing more than some brocade or something like that."
"Among all the cottons, Yunmian, Sumian, and Gongduan are the best. Do we have any of these in our hospital?"
"Second Madam, we already had palace satin. It was given by the Imperial Concubine in the palace. But last time my cousin came, she said she liked palace satin the most, so Second Master ordered my maid to find it and send it to her."
The eldest aunt glanced at the second mistress as she spoke.
