After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Chapter 555 Small gathering
It was at the end of July, and the rumor that Mrs. Gui was angry with her natal brother and wanted to blame the Duke of Zhen and the third wife of the Zhou family had completely spread among the circles of civil and military officials and gentry from aristocratic families in Chang'an.

Although everyone said nothing publicly, they still showed sympathy and respect when it came to the Wu family, but there was a lot of discussion in private. They all lamented that the Wu brothers and sisters were so unlucky to have such an unreliable elder. If he had to obey her arrangements in everything from now on, wouldn't that be a bad thing? Don’t destroy the two surviving sprouts of the Wu family in her hands! It was better to let her rest in peace and recuperate. It would be more appropriate to leave the two children to the care of the town government.

The Duke of Zhenguo still took good care of Mrs. Gui. It's just that the number of doctors they hired for Mrs. Gui has increased to four. The four of them are all well-known doctors in the city. They are not quacks who are criticized by others. Even if their skills are not comparable to that of the imperial doctors, and they have their own shortcomings in character and temper, they still have no problem treating Mrs. Gui.

However, despite four doctors prescribing and treating her, Mrs. Gui's condition still did not improve and instead tended to get worse. Mrs. Gui complained that the doctors were incompetent, but the doctors refused to take the blame. They complained that she was suspicious, jealous, picky and unwilling to follow the doctor's orders. If a patient refuses to take medicine properly, how can he get better?
If only one person said this, the outside world might still suspect that it was a quack doctor justifying his incompetence. But if four people said this, the public would only think that there was something wrong with the patient himself. Nowadays, people in Chang'an City only think that Mrs. Gui is too arrogant. After being angry at her natal brother, she refused to take good treatment and only vented her dissatisfaction on innocent people. This shows that she and her natal brother are really one of the same family. It's hopeless!
Amid the turmoil from the outside world, Haitang exchanged letters with Zhou Xuejun and Wu Qiong twice and agreed to meet up.

On the last day before August, the weather was fine. Haitang took the newly promoted little girl Pomegranate and took a carriage to the Zhenguo Palace to visit the Zhou sisters and Wu Qiong.

There is no need to pay attention to too many vulgar etiquette in daily gatherings at the little girl’s house. When Haitang arrived at the Zhen Guo Duke's residence, she just went to greet Mrs. Saturday and then was led to the courtyard of the fourth room by the maid. There was no need to go to the main courtyard to see Mrs. Zhen Guo Duke.

There is no male or female owner in the fourth-bedroom courtyard now. It is the domain of brother and sister Zhou Yijun and Zhou Xuejun. Zhou Yijun was not at home today, and Zhou Xuejun was in good spirits. He was also very happy to see his good friends whom he had not seen for a long time, so he impatiently stayed in the house and simply pulled everyone to the yard to enjoy the flowers.

There are several old osmanthus plants planted in the courtyard of the fourth house. They are in full bloom at this time, and the fragrance permeates the entire courtyard, making people feel relaxed and happy. Zhou Xuejun also asked people to prepare exquisite snacks made of fresh osmanthus, paired with this year's Mingqian tea. Everyone tasted it and felt happier.

There was no clear theme for the small gathering, so everyone just drank tea and snacks while chatting about homely gossip.

Haitang talked about some of the things she had been busy with recently and the rumors she had heard from outside. She turned around and was about to draw Wu Qiong into the conversation, but found that she was sitting on the edge in a daze. She didn't know where she had gone, and there was something between her eyebrows. There was a hint of sadness.

Haitang thought of the rumors outside about Mrs. Gui's worsening condition, guessing that she was worried about her mother's health, and wanted to find out more. It's just that sisters Zhou Xuejun and Zhou Huajun didn't seem to notice Wu Qiong's worry, they still chatted and gossiped with their usual expressions, which was not like their usual style of behavior. Haitang was a little hesitant, fearing that he would violate a taboo by speaking.

She didn't say anything directly to Wu Qiong. She only asked Zhou Xuejun in a low voice: "What's wrong with Miss Wu? Are you worried about Mrs. Gui's condition? She has been absentminded for several times today. Should I choose another one?" Why don't you come to visit before the day?" Zhou Xuejun also lowered her voice and replied: "It doesn't matter, she has been like this a lot recently, she will get used to it. She is worried about her mother's illness, but her mother refuses to let her visit. She can't see her mother's face because of her illness, so she thinks about it all day long. In fact, although her mother is seriously ill, her life is not in danger. It's just that she refuses to take medicine, so she can't get better. "

Haitang raised her eyebrows: "Why don't you take medicine? If you are sick, you must take medicine to get better. If you expect the disease to heal on its own, it will only make the disease worse."

Zhou Xuejun curled her lips, and Zhou Huajun also came over and whispered: "Our children's family all understands this truth, how could Sister Wu and her mother not understand? She is just afraid! Too worried! She thinks that our family will harm her! She used to be suspicious Grandma would poison her to retaliate for her rudeness. Now she no longer doubts our family. She is also worried that the Queen Mother and the Emperor will order Grandma Ma to poison her, so she dare not take any medicine. She only ate gruel and hard-boiled eggs, and the girl had to cook them in front of her before she would eat them. She was just suffering from a minor illness. It’s getting heavier and heavier, but she’s even more certain that someone is going to kill her!”

Mrs. Gui's behavior is really speechless.

It turns out that she also knew that her behavior would make the Queen Mother and the Emperor grudge? So why did you do it in the first place? ! If you do it, you must be mentally prepared to bear the consequences!

Zhou Huajun probably couldn't stand what Madam Gui did, and complained: "Actually, anyone with a discerning eye knows that it was her brother who broke her heart, but she still has the courage to say that this matter has nothing to do with her brother, and neither does her brother." We are cheating her by betraying His Majesty the Seventh Prince! We are really treating her like a fool... Aunt Ma has already seen the letter her brother wrote to her. Does she think she can get away with it by burning the letter? What's the use? Sun Yongbai, the one who was arrested, said that her brother had sold His Highness the Seventh. The Queen Mother and His Highness the Seventh, as well as Empress Xu and His Highness the Eighth, knew what was going on. It’s just self-deception.”

Haitang blinked: "Letter? Did Mrs. Gui's brother write to her?"

"Of course she wrote it, otherwise how could she be so sad?" Zhou Huajun curled his lips and said, "Now she cries at every turn, also at night, and cannot eat well or sleep well, all because of that letter. Although I I haven't read it, but the sisters around my grandmother have heard a few words. It is said that the Gui brothers were panicked when they saw Sun Yongbai was arrested, and were afraid that His Highness would retaliate against them, so they wrote to ask Mrs. Gui to help intercede. She just wanted to beg for mercy, but they still coaxed Madam back to her in the letter, asking her to return to the capital as soon as possible! They said that as long as she approached His Highness the Seventh Prince as his aunt and tried to sabotage His Highness's appointment as the heir, Mr. Sun Ge would definitely come back. If you reward them, they will be able to regain their glory when they return home. This sounds disgusting, how can they have the nerve to say such things?"

Haitang was stunned when she heard this: "No...Brother Guijia really wrote such a letter?!" Are they even stupider than her brother and sister expected? ! Even Sun Yongbai was arrested. Where did their confidence in the Sun family come from? ! Are you going to ask the Zhou family to send a message to your sister who is under the protection of the Zhou family, saying this is a shady plot? Aren't they afraid of others peeking into the letter? !
Zhou Huajun looked back at Zhou Xuejun, who hesitated for a moment: "Anyway, it was rumored that there was such a letter. Mammy Ma personally sent it to Mrs. Gui. She burned it after reading it and denied that there was such a letter. She People always say they are lying, but does it matter to Ma Ma? My grandmother had no reason to make up lies. When my father came to give her a birthday gift, he brought His Majesty’s gift along with him. It's normal for Gui's family to be a messenger. When my parents left Chang'an, Mrs. Gui asked them to take care of Gui. Now my father is helping to deliver a message, so what's the surprise? They said they regretted it. If they had known what was written in the letter, they should have cut it off and not let Mrs. Gui see it. "

oh? Is this letter gone now?
(End of this chapter)