Chapter 99 Seeking Protection
Bing Xin and Yu Xin were beaten. Seeing that there were people all over the yard, no one went to Yang Xin Garden to pass on the message. They thought that they were completely defeated today. A wise man should not suffer a loss in front of him. It is better to leave here first. When Zhi Xia and the others stopped beating again, they dared not argue anymore. They bowed to the second wife and turned around to take the Daotu back. Meng Xi would not let them go easily. Seeing that they were trying to slip away, he said:
"Stop! If you don't tell me clearly who ordered you to come here, no one will be able to leave this hospital."
When the two men saw Zhiqiu and the others blocking their way, they looked up at the maids and old women in the yard who were gloating over their misfortune. They knew that they would not get any good results today, so they had to stop.
Look at the two Taoists again, they just accepted the money from Miss Xiu, made the deductions in advance, and helped with the work. How could they provoke the mistress of the aristocratic family? They had never seen such a powerful mistress who dared to go against her mother-in-law. Seeing that this grandma started fighting without saying a word, how could they dare to say a word? They stood there like two pieces of wood, not knowing how to respond.
Seeing Bing Xin and Yu Xin stopped, Meng Xi asked again:
"Tell me, who ordered you today?"
The two knew that the eldest wife must not say anything, otherwise she would be beaten. They didn't care about it anymore and just dealt with it until they got out of the yard. So they said in unison:
"It was Miss Xiu who asked me to come here."
In theory, this is true. The eldest wife originally sent Zi Yue here, and it was Miss Xiu who persuaded the eldest wife to let them come, so the two dared to say so.
But when the Second Mistress heard this, she said:
"Miss Xiu is the daughter of the current imperial censor and a lady from a famous family. How could she meet this lowly Taoist priest in private and do such a thing that damages her reputation? You must be unable to harm the first wife, so you are trying to harm Miss Xiu. Come on, keep beating her up!"
This doesn’t work either, keep fighting!
The two were really dumbfounded. After the beating, they realized that they couldn't tell Miss Xiu. They looked at each other, and finally gritted their teeth and admitted it.
When Mengxi finally heard the two say that they came here on their own initiative, she stopped fighting and looked up at the maids and servants standing behind her and said:
"You have heard that today's incident was done by these two ignorant maids. It has nothing to do with the eldest wife and Miss Xiu. In the future, if there are any bad rumors, you can come forward to testify. Come, tie up these two Taoists first and find a room to keep them. I will make the final decision after I return to the old lady."
When the maids and servants heard this, they knew that the two girls had been beaten into submission and were scared, and had confessed under torture. But seeing the Second Madam's dominance today, they dared not say anything. With the Second Madam's support, several servants quickly agreed, came over, tied up the two Taoists, and led them away with shoving and shoving.
Mengxi then said to Bingxin Yuxin:
"Normally, I would punish you severely for bringing people to the east wing without permission today. However, I thought that you are Miss Xiu's people after all. Although I am the mistress, Miss Xiu is a guest, so I punished you like this. Miss Xiu will lose face. For Miss Xiu's sake, I will let you go back today and go to Miss Xiu to receive the punishment."
Bing Xin and Yu Xin were so angry when they heard this. What kind of mouth does this Second Aunt have? It's really infuriating and yet she said there will be no punishment. We are women, but she slapped us in the face so hard that even our own parents couldn't recognize us, and she still sat there and said gently that there would be no punishment for Miss Xiu's sake. The two of them wished they could go up and tear that mouth into pieces.
Although they hated her, they were finally scared by the beating and had lost their initial momentum. Now, as long as they were asked to leave the yard and call Second Grandma their mother, they would be happy. They nodded and thanked her repeatedly, fearing that if they spoke too late, Second Grandma would change her mind and continue to beat them.
Mengxi sat there and talked about random things for a while. Then he looked up and saw that the sun was setting, so he let them go.
After the two left Xiaoxiang Courtyard, Mengxi hurriedly ordered people to prepare a sedan chair. She had to rush to Shouxi Hall to meet the old lady and seek protection before Bingxin Yuxin moved in with the first lady. Once it was too late and the first lady spread the news to Yangxin Garden, she would be dead today.
After briefly instructing Zhixia and Zhichun, he helped Zhiqiu get on the sedan chair and told the four maids to start the procession. The four maids carried the sedan chair and headed straight for Shouxi Hall. They had just walked a short distance when Mengxi suddenly had an idea. She felt as if she had missed something, so she hurriedly shouted outside:
"Stop the sedan!"
The sedan stopped and Zhiqiu opened the curtain from the outside:
"Second Grandma, what's wrong?"
"Let's go back quickly"
"Go back? Second Madam..."
"Hurry up, let the old woman walk faster, let's go back and take a detour through the Third Master's garden."
"Second Madam, that road is too far and not often used. I'm afraid that the first wife guessed that you could go to Shouxi Hall and rushed there first. Yangxin Garden is close to Shouxi Hall. I'm afraid that after all this trouble, the first wife will get there first and block you there. Then we won't be able to say a word to each other."
"I know that, but you forgot that although this road is short, it passes by Yangxin Garden. If the eldest wife takes us directly to Yangxin Garden on the road, we will be trapped."
When Zhiqiu heard this, he shuddered violently and said:
"Second Madam has thought of everything. I was really careless. The maids, please work harder. Let's go back quickly and take a detour to Shouxi Hall. Second Madam will reward each of you with 100 Daqi coins tonight."
When the maids heard that there would be a reward, they worked hard. Besides, they knew that if the Second Mistress was really punished, they would be punished too. So they all responded in unison, picked up the sedan chair again, turned around, bypassed the First Mistress's Yangxin Garden, and went straight to the Old Mistress's Shouxi Hall.
Mengxi arrived at Shouxi Hall and waited outside, asking someone to pass on a message. After a while, Shiqi came out and said that the old lady was resting in the east wing, and asked the second wife to go in directly. After that, he took the master and servant into the east wing. Mengxi helped Zhiqiu and followed Shiqi into the room, where they saw the third master was also there, sitting on a chair and chatting with the old lady leaning on the kang.
Mengxi went forward to greet the old lady and greeted the third master. The old lady hurriedly asked Mengxi to sit on the kang. Mengxi didn't dare to sit at this time. He walked to the kang and knelt on the ground with a plop:
"The granddaughter-in-law asks the old lady to make the decision for her"
When the old lady heard this, she was so frightened that she sat up straight: "Xi'er, tell me quickly, what's wrong?"
So Mengxi briefly told her what happened in the afternoon. Seeing that the old lady was deep in thought, Mengxi continued:
"Old Madam, when my granddaughter-in-law heard this, she thought to herself, the fortune teller once said that my granddaughter-in-law and Second Master's horoscopes are very compatible, and it was Second Master's noble person in his life who saved him. But the Taoist priest actually said that my granddaughter-in-law's horoscope is not compatible with Miss Xiu. Doesn't that mean that Miss Xiu and Second Master's horoscopes are also incompatible? Miss Xiu is in Xiaoxiang Courtyard every day, and she hasn't seen Second Master. Miss Xiu will definitely not believe these nonsense, and will not meet the Taoist priest privately to do such a thing that damages her reputation. My Xiao family is a noble family, and the status of the first wife is so noble that she will not believe the Taoist priest's evil words and do such a thing that damages my granddaughter-in-law's reputation. It must be the two ignorant maids Bingxin and Yuxin who did it behind the backs of the first wife and Miss Xiu, slandering them for nothing." "It has humiliated the reputation of the second master and humiliated the innocence of the granddaughter-in-law. Everyone in Pingyang City knows that the granddaughter-in-law is the legal wife of the second master who was brought into the house by the old lady in an eight-man sedan chair. If the Taoist priest really entered the granddaughter-in-law's room, it would be humiliating the second master. If this matter spreads out, how can the second master live in the future, and the granddaughter-in-law will have no face to live in this world. So the granddaughter-in-law slapped the two maids in a hurry. Later, the two maids admitted that they acted on their own initiative. The granddaughter-in-law then remembered that these two people were Miss Xiu's people. Miss Xiu was a guest here. Her people were wrong and she should punish them. It was the granddaughter-in-law who was worried about Miss Xiu's reputation and was anxious for a moment. I hope the old lady will see that the granddaughter-in-law is wholeheartedly for the first wife and Miss Xiu, and for the sake of the second master's reputation, and make the decision for the granddaughter-in-law."
