good season

After Lord Zhu left, the manor returned to its usual tranquility.

Madam Wei was never a gentle person to begin with, and after falling ill, her temper became even worse than before. She was like a ball about to burst from resentment, ready to explode at any moment.

Everyone in the village dared not breathe loudly, and had to walk carefully, for fear of making a sound and incurring the wrath of Old Madam Wei.

Even Ruan Ruan, who was heavily pregnant, shrank back like a quail in front of this old lady, avoiding her at all costs.

Today, Ruanruan finally got to see Lord Zhu.

Who is Lord Zhu?
Was he her lover or her sugar daddy?
Ruan Ruan dreamed of one day marrying into the Baoqing Marquis's mansion in grand style, holding her son.

So when Ruan Ruan saw Lord Zhu, who hadn't shown up for a long time, she got excited. As a result, she was carried away by two old women like a chick.

Since she was pregnant, the old women didn't dare to do anything to her. They simply took her back to her small courtyard, locked her from the outside, and released her after Lord Zhu left.

In the eyes of the old women, this concubine's status was awkward. She was a concubine, but she didn't even have a concubine certificate. The old lady had never said she would give her a title.

Moreover, everyone in the village knows that this woman used to be a prostitute. She was lucky enough to become pregnant with the Marquis's child, which gave her the opportunity to come to the village with the old lady.

Those old folks who came from the Wei family with Old Madam Wei had heard and seen this kind of thing many times and already knew what was going on. This soft-hearted concubine would most likely never have a chance to be brought into the Marquis's mansion. She would be dismissed after giving birth to a child. If she was smart, she could take the opportunity to ask for more money. Wealthy families are not stingy in this kind of thing. As long as she kept her mouth shut, she would be able to live a life without worry about food and clothing for the rest of her life.

But if this person is not clear-headed and mistakenly believes that he can become the master of the Marquis's mansion just because of his pregnancy, then he is courting death.

"A mother's status rises with her son's" is a positive phrase, but it doesn't apply to everyone.

A woman in the imperial harem rose to become one of the four imperial concubines because of her son; this is the story of a mother gaining status through her son.
The Empress outlived the Emperor and became the Empress Dowager; this was a case of a mother gaining status through her son.

In the capital, there is no precedent for a concubine to gain status through her son. If Lord Zhu really brings Ruan Ruan into the mansion, he himself may not care, but the old lady will definitely not agree.

Therefore, the people in the village had many crickets talking about it behind her back, but Ruan Ruan pretended not to know when she heard it.

From the very first day she started selling herself, she was determined to get rid of him. Even if it meant dying, she would take a bite out of him.

Right now, Ruan Ruan is sulking in her own yard. That old coffin-head still has the nerve to complain about her disgusting. Why isn't he disgusting when he's huffing and puffing on her?

Ruan Ruan grew angrier the more she thought about it. Suddenly, something brushed against her leg. She looked down but couldn't see it; her belly was too big, and she couldn't see her feet anymore.

She adjusted her posture, and with great effort, finally saw the little thing rubbing against her affectionately.

It's a cat!

Orange cat!

A very fat orange cat!
A golden orange cat!
"Oh my, this is a good omen! Even God is telling me that I'm carrying a golden belly!"

Ruan Ruan was overjoyed and was about to send someone to get food for the cat when she saw her maid running over with a feather duster in her hand.

"Where did this stray cat come from? Get lost, get lost now, or I'll beat you to death!"

The orange cat trembled with fear and darted into the soft skirt in a flash. Its movements were so swift and smooth that the maid didn't have time to retract the feather duster in her hand before it struck the soft calf!

That was close! I almost got hit in the stomach!

Even so, everyone was still taken aback.

Ruan Ruan let out a hysterical scream, and then, like a madwoman, she lunged at the maid: "Do you want to kill the young master? You heartless and vicious bitch, I'll fight you to the death! If you have the guts, kill me! Kill me!"

She had long disliked this maid, who, relying on being the old lady's maid, never took her seriously and showed her no basic respect.

The maid was startled and was caught off guard when Ruan Ruan pounced on her and knocked her to the ground. Ruan Ruan then mounted her and began punching and kicking the maid.

Normally, only this one maid serves Ruan Ruan. If it were any other time, the courtyard gate would be open, and anyone passing by would at least come in to see what was going on.

But today, the courtyard gate was locked, and the two old women with the keys didn't come to open it, so even if people outside heard the noise, they couldn't get in.

Her body was soft and clumsy, and her movements were slow. Logically speaking, she should not be a match for this maid.

But that was when both of them were standing. Now that the maid is pinned to the ground, the situation has completely reversed.

She was like a heavy boulder, pressing down on the maid, making it hard for her to breathe and unable to move. She couldn't even cover her face to save herself, let alone fight back.

Ruan Ruan unleashed a barrage of violence, only stopping when she was exhausted. The maid was left on the verge of death, unable to even cry for help.

Ruan Ruan was finally satisfied. She spat, got off the maid while holding her stomach, and kicked her like a dead dog: "Stop pretending to be dead, you're far from dead."

But the maid remained motionless, as if she were dead.

"Could I have really killed her?" Ruan Ruan cautiously reached out to check the maid's breath, and only breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that she was still breathing.

"You bitch, you dare to play dead!"

She kicked the maid, then swayed her plump waist and went inside to rest.

She was pregnant, and the exertion made her feel very tired.

As soon as she entered the room, the maid on the ground opened her eyes. She had indeed been pretending to be dead, trying to scare Ruan Ruan, but she didn't expect that this wretched woman wouldn't even bother to look at her.

The maid felt wronged. In what way was she inferior to these vixens?
She used to live in the old lady's quarters. From childhood to adulthood, she watched the Marquis and the heir come and go, and saw them change one woman after another, but they never paid any attention to her, which made her very sad.

Over time, she developed an equal hatred for every woman of Lord Zhu and Zhu Yu.

You might ask how much she loved that father and son? Not really. She knew they weren't good people, but the fact that even such scoundrels wouldn't look at her made her furious.

However, she was just a maid, and she could only keep her anger to herself.

Finally, Ruan Ruan appeared before her, a woman who was inferior to her in every way.

Of course, if we're just talking about looks, Ruan Ruan was many times more beautiful than her before she got pregnant, but she had never seen her. When she met Ruan Ruan, Ruan Ruan was already a pregnant woman who had gained weight and developed spots.

So the maid felt even more resentful. How could such a lowly woman, who had nothing to her name, be worthy of bearing the Marquis's child? Heaven was so unfair.

Over the past few months, she has bullied Ruan Ruan quite a bit, but only in terms of attitude and words. She has never dared to do what she did today, grabbing a feather duster and shouting threats in front of Ruan Ruan.

She wasn't trying to hit the cat; she was clearly trying to hit Ruan Ruan.

The reason I was so bold today was because Lord Zhu had his servant bring Ruan Ruan back.

See? The Marquis has finally seen through this despicable woman.

She swung the feather duster at Ruan Ruan, but it was an accident that it actually hit her. She only wanted to scare Ruan Ruan and didn't expect to actually hit her. Ruan Ruan was carrying the Marquis's child. Even if the child was born to a lowly woman, it was still the Marquis's child.

The maid was lying on the ground. Ruan Ruan had already entered the room. The maid knew that Ruan Ruan would definitely tell everyone what had happened today, and the old lady wouldn't let her off easily if she found out. Just then, she suddenly felt a tickle in her ear, and then she heard breathing that wasn't human. She turned her head and saw a pair of round cat eyes!
It's that wretched cat!
Everything that happened today was because of this cat!

"Damn cat, I'll beat you to death!"

The maid struggled to her feet, picked up the feather duster that had fallen to the ground, and was about to hit the cat.

How could the cat just sit there and wait to be beaten? When it saw her swinging the feather duster at it, it ran wildly around the yard.

It ran, she chased, it couldn't escape even if it had wings!
The maid chased after it, running around the courtyard several times until she was panting heavily. When she looked down, the cat had run to her feet and was looking up at her with its round head.

She raised her foot to kick, but the cat darted away with a whoosh. The maid missed her kick and, having used too much force, landed on the ground in a split.

For someone skilled in martial arts, this is basic skill and nothing special.

But this maid wasn't a martial arts practitioner, and she strained her muscle, screaming in pain and unable to stand up.

Then, she watched as a slender figure appeared out of nowhere and slipped into the house.

No, no, this person looks slim, but he's actually wearing coarse cloth shorts. He's a man, a real man!

The maid wanted to shout, for she saw the soft-looking wild man, and in broad daylight, they were having an affair in the house!

But the maid dared not shout, for fear of scaring the wild man away. However, she could not stand up, so she could only endure the excruciating pain and use her hands to support herself as she slowly moved toward the door.

Looking at her, who was disabled but determined, Da Pang sadly licked his paws.

"Meow~"

The maid glared at it fiercely, "You dead cat, you wait, I'll deal with that bitch first, then I'll deal with you!"
The maid finally moved to the doorway and pounded on it with all her might. She was worried that the pounding would disturb the adulterous couple inside, but coincidentally, before her hand even touched the door, she heard the sound of the lock being opened outside.

As the old woman with the key opened the door, she muttered to herself that if she hadn't been scratched by a stray cat that had appeared out of nowhere, she would have almost forgotten to come and open the door while chasing the cat all the way here.

The Marquis didn't allow it to be locked, and neither did the Old Madam. Locking it up was their own idea, because they were worried that Ruan Ruan would run out again and get in the Marquis's way, making him unhappy.
Now that the Marquis is gone, if they don't unlock the door and let the old lady find out, they'll be the ones getting scolded.

Who told her to be pregnant with the Marquis's child?

The old woman opened the door and looked down to see the maid sitting there with a bruised and swollen face.

The maidservant, not bothering to explain why she was sitting on the ground, pointed towards the house and whispered, "That slut is having an affair in the house! Quickly, send someone to catch her in the act!"

The old woman was startled; the excitement in her eyes flashed for a moment before fading away.

That's the Marquis's woman. Do you think you can just catch an adulterer like that?

If I try to scratch it, I don't know if the old lady will blame me; if I don't, it really itches, an itch that goes from my heart to my hands.

"Keep an eye on him, don't let the adulterer get away. I'm going to report to the old lady."

The old woman turned and ran towards the old lady's courtyard. She ran away, but the maid couldn't wait any longer. Fortunately, the gate was already open, and soon someone passed by. The maid told her about Ruan Ruan's secret rendezvous with someone. He was a naive young man, and he immediately became energetic.

When the old woman finally managed to reach the old lady's courtyard, the group of people had already broken down the soft roof.

Besides Ruan Ruan, there was only one cat in the house.

The maid pointed at the cat and screamed, "It's that one! It's the one!"

Everyone stared at her like she was crazy. Was her soft-spoken lover a cat?

Ruan Ruan, not one to back down, grabbed the maid and said, "You hit me first, and now you're throwing mud at me. Come on, let's go to the old lady and have her say!"

After seeing her son off, Madam Wei's gloomy mood brightened considerably with his arrival.

In a rare good mood, Madam Wei took a few walks around the courtyard. Her health had not fully recovered, and she still needed to continue exercising.

But this rare moment of peace was soon shattered. First, the old woman came to report that Ruan Ruan was having a secret rendezvous with a man in the house. She was just about to send someone over to check when a commotion broke out outside the door.

Ruan Ruan arrived with a maid, accusing the maid of hitting her and framing her.

Ruan Ruan was not a lady from a respectable family. When she threw a tantrum, she was just as bad as the old lady at the village entrance. Because she was heavily pregnant, she couldn't lie down and roll around, so she simply walked up to the old lady, lay down on her, and pressed the old lady down heavily!
Ruan Ruan was sent back to the courtyard. No one noticed that the old lady had some powder on her hair and body. She shook it off and it was no longer visible to the naked eye.

The old lady called the doctor again.

The doctor took the old lady's pulse and found nothing serious, except that she had almost had her bones broken by the soft pressure.

The doctor prescribed a calming soup for Madam Wei and told her to rest well.

After drinking a bowl of calming soup, Madam Wei finally fell asleep.

In Madam Wei's room, there were usually four people on night duty: one second-class maid, two third-class maids, and one old woman.

The second-class maid on night duty tonight is named Fu Jiao. Her grandmother was a maid who came with Madam Wei as part of her dowry, and Fu Jiao is a servant born into the household.

As a second-class maid, she wasn't really on night duty until dawn. She slept in the old lady's room, but she was a light sleeper and would wake up at the slightest noise.

Now, she's awake.

She heard a rustling sound, and then the sound seemed to come from all directions.

Fu Jiao opened her eyes, turned on the light, and was immediately stunned by what she saw.

Snakes, many snakes, snakes that had crawled in from who knows where, were wriggling toward the old lady's bed!

Fu Jiao let out a hysterical scream. The three maids and old women on night duty outside were dozing off. They were startled awake and ran over, but were too frightened to move by the snakes.

There are no snakes outside.

There were no snakes in the other houses either.

These snakes slithered through the hall and into the room, heading straight for the old lady's bed.

Fu Jiao cried out, "Madam, Madam, wake up!"

Whether it was because they were too far apart, or because Madam Wei slept too soundly after drinking the calming soup, even though Fu Jiao shouted herself hoarse, Madam Wei was still fast asleep.

And those snakes had already climbed onto Madam Wei's bed.

"Go and call for help! Go and call for help right now!" (End of Chapter)