Union

Chapter 82, 081 Tips
After seeing off the Duke, Madam Feng remained lying in bed.

She looked listless and dispirited, staring at the curtains above her head, lost in thought.

When Aunt Ding saw that the lady's lips were pale, her face was haggard and weak, she felt extremely guilty.

She apologized, saying, "It's all my fault. If I hadn't been so blind and let that girl Ruizhu manage the household, Second Master wouldn't have almost been murdered."

Aunt Ding pulled Xiao Feng back to reality. She looked at Aunt Ding and said weakly, "How can you blame yourself? That girl is a virgin, but she always pretends to be honest and simple. Even I didn't see anything wrong with her. It's understandable that you were bewitched by her. Besides, Erlang is lucky to be unharmed. On the contrary, you were poisoned and suffered aftereffects because you went to Lingnan Prefecture for me. I should be the one who feels sorry for you."

Aunt Ding was older than the other three, and the poisoning was more severe in her case. Although the poison was removed, she suffered from long-term effects due to the late treatment.

She can't panic when things happen. If she panics, she'll feel guilty and short of breath, and in severe cases, she'll have heart palpitations.

On their journey back to Beijing, Aunt Ding had already fallen ill once because she was worried that the heavy snow would delay their return. Just now, because Little Feng had fainted from anger, Aunt Ding was shocked and suffered another bout of angina.

Fortunately, she took the medicine in time and recovered.

Even so, Aunt Ding's complexion was still sallow.

Compared to Madam Feng, Aunt Ding seemed more like a patient in dire need of rest. She was trembling, as if she could barely stand.

Madam Feng beckoned Aunt Ding to sit down by the bedside. She said, "I should thank you. It was you who personally went to Lingnan Prefecture to manage the household affairs for Erlang, allowing him to handle matters without any worries. Erlang made a great contribution to the salt smuggling case. Although there will be no reward from above, it has been recorded for him. He received an 'Excellent' rating in this year's evaluation, and he has accumulated some seniority. Erlang's merit is largely due to you."

Aunt Ding quickly declined, saying, "It's Second Master's competence that has nothing to do with this old servant."

At this point, Aunt Ding paused and suddenly brought up Yunying.

"If we really talk about merit, the one who deserves the most credit in this matter is that girl Yunying."

Madam Feng pondered, "But that girl with the aloof appearance and somewhat cold demeanor?"

Aunt Ding nodded, "It's her."

Upon hearing this, Madam Feng said, "I still have some impression of that girl. But how did Erlang's cracking of the salt smuggling case get involved with that girl? And how did that girl even make a contribution?"

Seeing that the lady was interested, Aunt Ding hurriedly told her about how Yunying had been conscripted by the second master, went with him to look at the house, and then happened to stumble upon a mechanism located in the artificial hill.

Aunt Ding added that she learned these things from Second Master.

Second Master had long suspected that Magistrate Fan was engaging in some shady dealings, but he didn't know the specifics. Although he had discovered the location of their secret meeting, the place was heavily guarded, and even someone as skilled as Second Master, whose martial arts were unfathomable, couldn't get in.

It was also Yunying's good luck that she accidentally stumbled upon the door to the secret room, giving Second Master and the others the opportunity to sneak in.

It was also because of that secret passage that Second Master was able to glimpse the secrets inside, lay in ambush in advance, and wipe out those villains when they were making a deal.

Hearing Aunt Ding's words, Madam Feng nodded. "If that's the case, that girl did indeed do well and deserves a reward. By the way," Madam Feng suddenly said, "I heard you say that four of you were poisoned, so doesn't that mean one person is unharmed? Is that Yunying?"

"Isn't that the girl?" Aunt Ding said, clapping her hands.

"That girl is really lucky."

Aunt Ding suddenly realized, "You're right, how come I didn't think of that before?"

After saying this, Aunt Ding smiled and spoke highly of Yunying, "Not only is she lucky and beautiful, but she also has a unique way of managing the household affairs, and she has won the favor of the Second Master."

"Did you gain Erlang's favor?"

Aunt Ding nodded, "This is definitely right. Before I came, I saw that Second Master seemed to have some feelings for Yunying. That girl Yunying also has feelings for Second Master, but young girls are easily shy, so she hides these feelings deep."

"Oh my, what a fine girl. Her only shortcoming is her background, otherwise..." Otherwise, she would be more suitable than Lin Shuqing to be the second wife of the Duke's mansion.

Aunt Ding thought so, but she dared not say it aloud.

No matter how mischievous or foolish Lin Shuqing may be, as long as she is the lady of this Duke's mansion, she will remain the mistress of this mansion.

She was just a servant; how could a servant speak ill of her master?

Aunt Ding shut her mouth, but Madam Feng understood her unspoken meaning.

She was naturally happy, after all, Erlang had a caring person to take care of him, so she, as his mother, could rest easy, and Erlang's days wouldn't be too miserable.

However, "we mustn't produce an illegitimate son first."

Little Feng's words immediately reminded Aunt Ding, who jumped in surprise, "This, this can't be, can it?"

Madam Feng sighed, "Although I look down on Madam Lin's behavior, as long as she is the lady of this household, the household must give her the respect she deserves. It is improper to have a son born out of wedlock before the legitimate son is born; the ancestors of this household would be utterly ashamed."

Aunt Ding hurriedly said, "What can we do? Second Master is a man of principle, he shouldn't, he shouldn't..." "According to your opinion, Second Master is currently very fond of Yunying, so it's not impossible for that girl to give birth to a child. I'll write a letter to Second Master later and mention this matter. No matter how much he dotes on that girl, this illegitimate son must never be born before the legitimate son."

After saying these words, Madam Feng felt that she was being too harsh on the girl.

But the rules are the rules, and she can't be soft-hearted or allow them to act recklessly.

Madam Feng said, "We won't mistreat Yunying. Although we won't let her have children now, she has served Erlang well. In the future, once Erlang has a legitimate son, we will properly elevate her to the position of concubine and let her have two children as well. Besides, it's not convenient for me to give her any rewards here..."

At this point, Madam Feng suddenly stopped talking.

As the mother-in-law, she was giving too much credit to a concubine. How was this any different from openly slapping Lin Shuqing in the face?

In the past, Madam Feng would never have done such a thing.

But this time Lin Shuqing went too far; she actually let the maid who almost harmed Erlang off lightly.

This broke her heart.

Since Lin Shuqing has made a mistake in the first place and doesn't care about Erlang's life at all, why should she, as the mother-in-law, give her too much face?
Madam Feng said, "Send some gifts to that girl later. I remember when I was young, I wore a set of glass jewelry with eight auspicious symbols. The colors were bright and the workmanship was exquisite. It would be suitable for young girls like her. Have someone send that set of jewelry over. Also, select some silk from the silks bestowed by the palace before the New Year..."

"Forget it, let's not choose from the palace's rewards. Go to Zhuqi Pavilion on Zhuque Street and select some fashionable fabrics, as well as some rouge and face powder, and other things that young girls would like. These will be my gifts for Yunying. Don't hide them from anyone, just send them over in a grand manner. I want to see how Lin Shi will feel when she finds out."

Ms. Feng said these things purely out of anger.

But she was truly furious.

She had never made things difficult for her daughter-in-law, Lin Shuqing, and had always turned a blind eye to her outrageous behavior, never being overly critical or controlling.

The results of it?
Lin Shuqing took her indulgence for granted.

Hopefully, this reprimand will make Lin Shuqing realize her mistake. Otherwise, if she chills Erlang's heart and then chills the hearts of the rest of the household, there's no point in her continuing to be the second wife of the Duke's mansion.

Aunt Ding was following Little Feng's orders; she did whatever Little Feng told her to do.

She took a set of jewelry from Xiao Feng's family, and also purchased a lot of ready-made clothes and fabrics. She even took it upon herself to buy a set of dazzling gold-plated silver headdresses to add to the collection.

These items were packed into a large box, and Aunt Ding had them delivered to Lingnan Prefecture that very day.

When the people in the manor saw this commotion, they inevitably sent people to investigate. As a result, within a day or two, they knew everything they should and shouldn't know.

Lin Shuqing also received the letter, and was so angry that she lay on the bed sobbing and crying.

She also smashed a tea set in the room and shattered the valuable eight-panel double-sided embroidered screen in the bedroom.

She cursed wildly, "This is too much! They've gone too far! Do they even respect me, the second mistress, when they fawn over a mere maid like this?"

Upon hearing this, the maids and servants in the courtyard all pricked up their ears, eavesdropping on the sounds coming from inside the room.

They naturally heard Lin Shuqing's shouting and couldn't help but snort and sigh.

It's not that others don't respect you, it's that the things you do are too careless.

The maids and servants whispered among themselves.

“It’s understandable that she didn’t go to Lingnan Prefecture with Second Master before. After all, Lingnan Prefecture is a poor and remote place. We can understand that she, a young lady from a noble family, couldn’t endure that kind of hardship.”

"But your maid embezzled other people's tributes and almost poisoned the Second Master, yet you still favored that maid and only gave her twenty lashes. So, our Second Master's life is only worth twenty lashes?"

“The Duke and his wife must be furious. If it weren’t for the Marquis of Chang’an’s residence, she would probably have been sent back to her parents’ home.”

"This is Madam giving her a warning. She doesn't know she's wrong and even throws things. Just wait and see, once this gets to Madam's ears, she will definitely not tolerate her anymore."

Sure enough, the news quickly reached Xiao Feng's ears. Xiao Feng did nothing else, but she became completely indifferent to this daughter-in-law.

Leaving aside what Xiao Feng was like, Lin Shuqing was not someone who could tolerate being wronged.

Normally, if anyone's bow to her was not respectful enough, she would throw a tantrum. Now that someone had openly humiliated her, how could she stand such an insult?

After smashing her things, Lin Shuqing immediately ordered her maids to pack her bags, as she was going back to the Marquis of Chang'an's residence to seek support from her family.

Currently, Lin Shuqing is served by three maids: Ruixue, Ruizhi, and Ruijin.

(End of this chapter)