Chapter 68: Kneeling
Zhiqiu was helping the second mistress comb her hair when a little maid came in and reported that the eldest mistress had sent someone to call the second mistress over to tell her something.
At this time, Zhiqiu had simply tied a heart-shaped bun for the second wife. Mengxi sat in front of the dressing mirror and carefully looked at her makeup for today. She stood up and was helped put on the pink narcissus flower cloud cotton wedding dress. Outside, Zhixia had already asked someone to prepare a sedan chair, and she and Zhiqiu got in the sedan chair and walked towards Yangxin Garden.
After marrying into the Xiao family for so long, this was the first time Mengxi came to her mother-in-law's residence. She turned around the south hall and saw a large courtyard inside the ceremonial gate. There were five main rooms on top. There were wing rooms with deer roofs at both ends of the main rooms. There were three side rooms on the east and west sides. It was magnificent. There was a large blue plaque on the main hall with three big characters "Yangxin Garden" written on it. Mengxi, led by the mother-in-law, held Zhiqiu's hand and entered the main room. After turning around a huge ink-and-wash landscape gold-threaded nanmu screen, she saw the eldest wife sitting in the hall and the housekeeper Xiao An standing there. Mengxi walked forward slowly, knelt down and kowtowed, saying:
"I greet the Madam. Hello, Madam. I wonder why the Madam called me here?"
Zhiqiu also knelt down.
The eldest wife, Cui, glanced at Mengxi, responded, and continued to listen to what Xiao An had to say. Mengxi was kneeling there listening. It turned out that the second son of the Ouyang family, one of the four major families in Da Qi, was getting married, and they were preparing gifts. The eldest wife and Xiao An were discussing the details of the gift list one by one. After an unknown amount of time, they finally finalized the gift list. The eldest wife ordered Xiao An to present it to the eldest master for review, and then asked about some daily matters before letting Xiao An leave. Xiao An excused himself for disturbing the lady, glanced at Mengxi who was kneeling on the ground, and left.
After Xiao An went down, the eldest wife picked up the tea on the table and took a sip. She put the teacup on the table and raised her head. Only then did she see Meng Xi who was still kneeling on the ground. She hurriedly said:
"Second Madam, why are you still kneeling here? Get up quickly!"
Then he shouted to Baozhu and Ziyue who were standing aside:
"You blind man, don't you see Second Grandma is still kneeling on the ground? Hurry up and help her up, sit down, and serve tea."
The maidservant Ziyue hurried forward to help the Second Mistress to stand up. Mengxi's legs were numb from kneeling. She thanked the mistress and, with the help of Ziyue, she reluctantly sat down on a chair beside her. The mistress then turned to Zhiqiu, who was kneeling on the ground, and said:
"Zhiqiu, get up too. I was just talking about something and forgot about you guys. You didn't even remind me and made your master suffer for nothing."
Zhiqiu quickly apologized, and with the help of the little maid, he stood up and stood behind the Second Madam. Zhiqiu was very angry, but he dared not say anything. However, he secretly made up his mind that as long as there was a glimmer of possibility, he must find a way to help the Second Madam leave the Xiao Mansion. This was really not a place for people to stay.
Seeing the second wife sitting down, the first wife spoke:
"I called my wife here for no other reason. I just heard Cuiping come back and talk about the Second Madam's allowance, so I sent someone to call Xiao An to ask about it. The new tea leaves and rouge collected in the mansion this year have not been shipped back yet, so it's late to send them to the Second Madam. Look, mine hasn't been distributed yet. If my wife is really short of money and needs it urgently, and I haven't used up my allowance from last month, my wife can use it first. When the new goods come, let Xiao An send someone to deliver them to my wife immediately. My wife can use them first. Don't cause unrest in the inner house over such a small matter and make people laugh at me. People who don't know will think that I treat my wife badly."
As she said this, she ordered Baozhu to pack up the tea and bird's nest that she had left over from last month so that Second Madam could take them back later.
Mengxi quickly stood up and replied:
"Madam, you are too worried. I just found out about this. It was because the maids Zhixia and Zhidong were young and ignorant that they frightened me. Fortunately, you are magnanimous and will not treat two ignorant maids like that. I have just married into the Xiao Mansion. Old Madam, you are so caring for me that how can you treat me badly? I have brought Zhixia and Zhidong here. Let them come in and apologize to you. As for those things, I still need them now. It won't be too late to come to you to get them when I need them."
As he said that, he ordered Zhiqiu to call Zhixia and Zhidong who were waiting outside the door.
"You ignorant servant, you have caused the Madam to come in and ask about such a small matter. Fortunately, the Madam is magnanimous and will not argue with you. Why don't you apologize to the Madam!"
When Mengxi saw Zhixia and Zhidong come in, she was afraid that the two would be awkward and cause trouble again and be punished by the eldest wife, so she hurriedly spoke to them, and Zhiqiu also winked at her.
Zhixia and Zhidong waited outside for a long time and heard some of the things that happened in the house. They secretly regretted their recklessness and made the second grandma suffer. After hearing what the second grandma said, they hurriedly knelt down and apologized to the first wife. The first wife had nothing to say at this time.
She didn't expect that the Second Mistress would just accept it like this. She hadn't been given any share of money since she got married. She had thought that she would take advantage of this incident to make a scene and report it to the Old Madam. In this way, she could take the opportunity to accuse her of being rude to her mother-in-law and causing unrest in the inner house as soon as she entered the mansion. She would be severely punished and humiliated . This time it was indeed the First Mistress and Xiao An who had set up a trap. The things of the mistresses of each courtyard were really held back and not distributed, just waiting for the Second Mistress to make a scene. Mengxi just accepted it like this, and the excuses she had prepared were useless. She felt like she had thrown a punch but had nowhere to put her strength, and for a moment she didn't know what to do.
She sat there depressed, looking at the two maids kneeling on the ground. She wanted to order someone to punish them, but then she remembered what Second Madam had just said. If she really punished them, she would be no better than the two ignorant little girls.
After a while, the eldest wife said calmly:
"Get up. I'll spare you this time because you've just entered the mansion and don't know the rules. If you dare to cause trouble again and make people laugh at your grandmother, don't blame this mansion for not letting you stay."
Zhixia and Zhiqiu hurriedly thanked them and went out to wait for the second grandmother.
The first wife talked to Mengxi for a while, then said that she was tired and asked her to leave. As for the things prepared for her, it was just an excuse. The second wife said no, and she never mentioned it again.
Mengxi stood up and said goodbye and left. What she didn't know was that because of her unwillingness to fight, she narrowly escaped a disaster.
The first wife looked at the second wife's back, a hint of viciousness flashed in her eyes. Since you are so generous, I will let you be generous to the fullest and see how long you can last.
When Mengxi returned to Xiaoxiang Courtyard, it was already time for dinner. Zhichun came over and reported: The Second Master had gone to Aunt Li's Chrysanthemum Garden and sent someone to tell her that the Second Madam didn't need to serve him dinner. Mengxi nodded and asked a maid to bring him a bowl of porridge prepared in the kitchen, saying it was for the Second Master to replenish his body.
Mengxi returned to the east wing and had a hasty dinner. He ordered someone to clean up the mess and called Zhiqiu into the bedroom. After Zhiqiu sat down, he asked:
"How much silver do we have now?"
"I still have thirty-two taels. Last time, I pawned six hundred and two taels as a reward from Second Madam. I used four hundred taels to make up for the loss to the pharmacy. Adding the one hundred taels that Second Madam gave me as a deposit, I still have three hundred and two taels left. I need to spend money to decorate the pharmacy, prepare things for the opening, and buy servants. I was afraid that Second Madam would need it urgently, so I kept a small amount. The rest was given to my brother. If Second Madam needs it urgently, I will ask my brother for more."
"How could such a small collection of ornaments be pawned for so much silver? My headgear was only pawned for seven or eight hundred taels."
"Second Madam also said that this aristocratic family is incomparable to ordinary people. The jade pendant that the eldest master casually gave to Second Madam was pawned for more than four hundred taels, which is almost as much as Second Madam's headgear. The others are fine, but I think the jade bracelet awarded by the old lady is more valuable. However, since I saw that I had enough silver, I kept the things awarded by the old lady."
As Zhiqiu spoke, he looked at the Second Mistress with blue eyes, which made Mengxi feel that if things went wrong, he might even want to pawn her off for money.
