Chapter 95 The Wife is Blamed
When Mengxi heard the old lady asking, he replied in a hoarse voice:
"My granddaughter just caught a cold and has gotten much better these days. Thank you for your concern. I think the servants in the mansion felt sorry for her and didn't inform her that she was back. I just sent someone to Xiaoxiang Courtyard to tell her that she was back. Only then did I know that she was back. I washed up and hurried over. Please punish me for not welcoming you."
After Mengxi finished speaking, he pretended to stand up and kneel down, but as soon as he stood up, his feet were weak and his body swayed, and he almost fell. Zhiqiu, who was standing beside him, hurried forward to support him.
When the old lady saw this, she hurriedly reached out to stop Mengxi, and ordered the maid painter to help the second wife sit down. She glanced at the eldest lady with dissatisfaction, and remembered that this time when she entered the palace, Concubine Jing had said that Emperor Jin had always advised the prince, implying that it would be best to form an alliance with the prince now and not get too close to Prince Yan easily. After Concubine Jing said so much, didn't the eldest lady understand that Xiu'er's father was a die-hard pro-Yan faction and Prince Yan's death lord? It was a well-known faction in the court and the public. Once Prince Yan lost power, he would be the first to be implicated.
Although Concubine Jing is young and less experienced, now is definitely not a good time to protect the prince, but the second master has already protected the prince, so the King of Yan cannot be protected. Xiu'er must not be married in at this time, even as a concubine. Besides, didn't Master Jingyun say that Xi'er can ensure the prosperity of her Xiao family's descendants? In this troubled time, it is better to be quiet than to move. She knew that Xi'er was born as a concubine and was destined not to become the future mistress, but she let her do what she wanted. It was a pity that this daughter-in-law was blinded by greed and was eager to let Xiu'er marry in.
The old lady thought so, and seeing Mengxi so sick, she didn't even bother to see the wife. She must be scared by the constant troubles of the first wife, so she didn't want to get involved. She thought that the first wife had gone too far and it was time to give her a warning.
Then he said to the first wife:
"These years, I've grown old. I thought my wife was capable and I could enjoy a peaceful life with her. I wouldn't care about the trivial matters in the mansion anymore. But my wife is too kind. She lets the servants do whatever they want without asking any questions. As a result, the servants have become more powerful than the masters. In my opinion, the servants should be taught a lesson. How can a family like ours be like a master who doesn't know who is the master and a servant who doesn't know who is the servant? We've broken the rules and have been laughed at by our relatives and friends."
The eldest wife felt so wronged when she heard this. She had just returned and had not instructed anyone to suppress the news of the old lady's return. The old lady knew everything, but she was embarrassed in front of the younger generation. It seemed that she was really angry. She sat there with her face flushed to the color of liver. She felt so wronged that she wanted to cry. After holding it in for a long time, she stood up, bowed to the old lady, and said:
"What the old lady is saying is that I have been negligent in my supervision during this period. I will definitely investigate this matter and will not show mercy to those who deserve punishment."
The old lady frowned after hearing what the mistress said . She was not referring to this matter. The eldest mistress was pretending to be stupid in front of her. The old lady simply ignored the eldest mistress and left her there, neither sitting nor standing. She just told Shi Hua to go out and see if the doctor had come. After a while, Shi Hua came in and reported that the doctor had come a long time ago and was waiting outside. The old lady then told the eldest mistress and others to leave, let Mengxi get on the kang, lowered the curtains, and then called the doctor in.
No matter how skilled Doctor Ren was, he could not diagnose that Mengxi had a hangover. However, Mengxi was indeed weak, and her voice was hoarse, so she must be sick. So he told the old lady that the second wife was extremely weak and needed long-term care. The old lady was also shocked when she heard this. It seemed that Xier had suffered, and she blamed the first lady for being ungrateful. After all, this granddaughter-in-law, apart from the fact that her birth as a concubine violated the ancestral teachings, was the one who cared the most for her. Just because of the knot in her heart, she let the first lady toss around these days, which made Xier suffer a lot. Thinking of this, she felt sorry for Mengxi.
After the doctor left, the old lady told Mengxi that she didn't need to come to pay her respects during the next two days and just to take good care of herself in the yard. She ordered someone to get some medicine and also sent some supplements such as ginseng and bird's nest.
When the eldest wife heard that the old lady had given the thousand-year-old ginseng she had collected for her birthday last year to the second wife for her health, she was so angry. It was just a minor illness, why did Fan take it so seriously? It was obviously done for her to see. She secretly blamed Xiu'er for being nosy, making her lose face in front of the younger generation, and even hated the second wife, but she also knew that she couldn't be too harsh on this daughter-in-law in the future.
…
Zhiqiu said as she helped Second Mistress change her clothes:
"Look at Second Madam's expression today . She has finally recovered. But I was scared to death. Second Madam, please don't do this to me next time."
Mengxi glanced at Zhiqiu and wondered why she had brought her mother back. She had been nagging about such a small matter for several days.
Seeing that Second Mistress didn't say anything, Zhiqiu continued:
"Second Madam, I heard that the Second Master came back yesterday. After meeting the old lady, he was sent over by the First Madam. He had dinner at the First Madam's place before coming back. I heard from the people at the door that it was late yesterday and the Second Master went directly to the Chrysanthemum Garden."
Zhiqiu said this while secretly glancing at Second Mistress's expression. Mengxi rolled her eyes at her:
"Is there something wrong with my face? I've told you so many times that you don't need to tell me so much about the Second Master's affairs in the future. Just remind me what I should do."
"Second Madam, what I mean is that you have to think of a way out. You can't just let your cousin do what she wants."
"Is the sedan ready? It will be too late to pay respects to the old lady if we don't leave now."
When Mengxi held Zhiqiu's hand and entered the hall, she saw the Second Master was already sitting there. The First Lady and the Old Master had not arrived yet. Mengxi went forward to greet the Old Lady, then came over to pay her respects to the Second Master. When she saw that cold face, she felt amused. Her husband had been back from an outing for two days, and she, the legal wife, was still meeting him at the Old Lady's place.
When the old lady saw Mengxi sitting down, she looked at her face and said:
"Xi'er looks much better today. Didn't I tell you to stay in the hospital? Why are you out so early? You're still taking the medicine. You can't stop taking it. Did you hear me? If you're sick, you should take good care of yourself. You don't have to force everything."
"I have taken note of what the old lady taught me, but I am already well now. I haven't come over for the past two days and I missed you so much. I was afraid you would worry about me, so I hurried over. I will pay more attention in the future."
"Okay, okay, Xi'er is showing filial piety. The ginseng and bird's nest have been eaten. If it's not enough, I have more here. I'll ask Shihua to bring some to you later."
"It's what the old lady gave me last time. I haven't used it up yet, so I won't use it this time. When I'm done, it won't be too late for my granddaughter-in-law to come and get it."
As they were talking, the master, the mistress, and Miss Xiu came in together. Xiao Jun and Meng Xi also stood up to greet them. After the master and the mistress sat down, Xiao Jun and Meng Xi sat down again. Xiao Jun looked at Meng Xi's face and found it was indeed pale. He thought to himself, "She hasn't been home for a few days. What's wrong with her?"
Thinking back to what the doctor said about her being extremely weak last time, he wondered if was still taking those tonics. He had asked the doctor to prescribe the best ones. Looking at Mengxi sitting there calmly, he felt angry and frowned. Couldn't she be less troublesome? She was not in good health and yet she was so careless. The old lady had something to say about her. She didn't know how to take good care of herself in the yard, but came here so early to ruin herself.
