Chapter 17 Situation (Part 1)

  Thanks for your pink vote~

  Chun Yao's eyes flashed, and he glanced at the sixth lady's house. Rong Hua also looked over, and at this moment, the eighth lady's door was tightly closed, with a look of refusing people from afar. The fourth aunt's maid, Zhi Hua, didn't know where she had quietly gone to, and except for that one sound earlier, the house suddenly became extremely quiet.

  This is the way of covering one's ears and stealing a bell.

  Ronghua couldn't help but smile.

  Xiang Qiao nervously clenched her fists, but fortunately Eighth Miss smiled warmly and said, "In that case, we won't disturb Sixth Sister's rest."

  They hastily saw each other off.

  Ronghua and Chunyao came out of Liu Xiaojie's courtyard and went straight to Madame's room.

  Mrs. Chai was sitting and chatting with Mrs. Chen, while Mr. Cui's family sat on the kang drinking tea. When they saw Rong Hua enter, Mr. Cui's family hastily stood up and bowed, saying "Good day, Eighth Miss."

  Ronghua bowed to the old lady and then politely bid farewell to the Chui family's servant and Chen Mama, "I've drawn some designs, I'll take them back for Mother to see."

  The big wife smiled and said, "Have you shown it to your sixth sister?"

  Rong Hua's face changed slightly, and she simply said, "Not yet." And that was all.

  The madam took a glance at Chunyao, and Chunyao's gaze was also strange. The madam thought for a moment as if she had already gotten the answer she wanted.

  Chun Yao took the flower patterns over, and Mrs. Dai looked at them one by one, immediately praising them without stopping, "I always said that Chun Yao was hard to find, but I didn't expect our Eighth Miss to be even more exceptional. Just look at how beautiful these flower patterns are, not to mention when they're embroidered."

  Madam Chen and Director Cui hurried forward to take a look, and they both praised, "It's really good, even the famous embroidery shops in the capital can hardly find such patterns."

  The lady smiled and said, "If we do it this way, our relatives will all like it. I think there's no need to pick anymore, let's just make a few of each style." She picked out two patterns from inside and said, "Let's use these two patterns to make two pouches, with more festive colors."

  Ronghua respectfully responded with a "yes" and took over the flower pattern.

  The two pieces picked by Mrs. Big are paired together and look like a pair.

  Dong Yue poured tea and brought it over, and Rong Hua sat down in the chair beside Madame to drink tea.

  A few people talked for a while, and the lady mentioned the daughter of Cui's brother, and Ronghua gently blew open a tender green leaf in her tea bowl.

  The lady of the house has always been strict, and Cui's family is originally from the lady's natal family's household slaves. Cui's older brother was driven out of the mansion by the lady's natal family because he was not useful, and these years have relied on Cui's family to support him. By rights, Cui's niece should follow Cui's family into the Tao Manor.

  "It's her good fortune to be able to serve in a household like the Marquis's."

  Ronghua couldn't help but feel surprised, and unexpectedly, there wasn't a hint of blame in Madame's words.

  Choi's housekeeper was overwhelmed with emotion, "If madam says so, what can I do?"

  The old lady said: "When she has time to come back, you bring her in and let me take a look."

  Choi Jae-shin's family hastily acknowledged it.

  It's rare for someone like Madame to be so magnanimous and generous.

  After drinking two cups of tea, Ronghua, Chunyao and Cui Zhishi's family left together.

  The people left, and then the lady asked Chen's mother, "What really happened with Sixth Miss?"

  Mrs. Chen said, "Tanlan in Sixth Miss's room said that Fourth Aunt left early this morning, and Sixth Miss was quarreling with her aunt. Yesterday Sixth Miss got a nose full of ash, so naturally she would blame it on Fourth Aunt, which is exactly what the mistress wants. In the future, Sixth Miss probably won't listen to Fourth Aunt's words again."

  "Besides, she's still the one who came out of her womb," said Mrs. Dai with a hint of disgust in her eyes. "Xunhua is really not reliable at all. She doesn't have any of the virtues that a good wife should have - gentleness, tolerance, and kindness. I've spent so many years teaching her, but when it counts, she's useless."

  "Madam Chen sighed, 'This is also an unavoidable thing. The other young ladies are either born foolish, or not very pretty, or naturally timid and afraid of things. Only the sixth young lady is still somewhat good.'"

  The lady said, "If the master had let me take charge of household affairs earlier, it wouldn't have come to this. That dead guy Rong Hua, if he had been handed over to me early on, might still have been useful."

  The madam's eyes flashed, "It seems that Eighth Miss must have gone to Sixth Miss's place. When you're free, go ask Chunyao about it."

  "Right," said Chen's mother.

  The old lady thought for a moment, "Isn't Chunyao saying that Eighth Miss believes in Buddhism? You go and bring the Buddhist scriptures I often read to Eighth Miss."

  Chen's mother went to get out the Buddhist scriptures.

  The old lady said: "In these years you have also followed me to read many scriptures, this Buddhist scripture you can personally deliver."

  Mugunghwa and several maids were sitting idly in the garden, chatting while basking in the warm sunlight.

  Mugunghwa has arrived at the Eighth Young Lady's place. Although she is still a third-rate maid, the servants have already seen that she will have a good future ahead of her. The maids who didn't want to talk to her before no longer ostracize her and now chat with her together.

  A few people chatted idly about other things, and Mu Jin suddenly remembered, "The old lady is going to have a grand birthday celebration! The mansion will be lively in a few days."

  "There's a young girl who spoke up and said: 'It's true, the winter solstice is just around the corner. Not to mention the Winter Festival, but also the old lady's birthday is on those few days.'"

  "Third Master is getting married again. The old lady and the second mistress only brought their personal maidservants, but how could we not see Third Mistress this time? It seems that we will finally get to see her."

  "Yes, I also heard..."

  "Do you know what? This new Third Madam of ours is actually..." The speaker was a maidservant from the Tao family, whose brother worked as a servant in the third branch. Just a few days ago, her sister-in-law had brought some things for her, so it seemed that her words were trustworthy.

  Mugwort hurriedly listened carefully to the past.

  Mu Gui returned to Miss Ba's house, lifted the curtain and heard Chen Mama talking to Miss Ba. Miss Ba was probably reciting some Buddhist scriptures, some complicated Buddhist terms she couldn't understand, and couldn't comprehend, but felt that Miss Ba was very patient, Chen Mama asked on one side, Miss Ba explained on the other side.

  After a long time, the eighth young lady's face did not show any impatience, but Chen Mama felt embarrassed. "Look at me, I just came to find fault with the young lady, and it was only because the madam asked me to deliver the Buddhist scriptures. I ended up nagging on and on, and the madam was right, reading Buddhist scriptures indeed requires patience."

  "I think Miss Ba is a good-natured person."

  Ronghua smiled awkwardly, "It's also when there's nothing to do that I take a look. Aunt Chen asked me, and I dared to talk nonsense. Usually at home when there's nothing to do, I also copy Buddhist scriptures."

  Madam Chen was overjoyed, "The mistress asked me to bring the Buddhist scriptures, it's just that she wants Miss to copy a few more times. Seeing that it's almost time for Old Lady's birthday, the mistress wants the young ladies of our clan to copy it a hundred times as a sign of filial piety." She said, taking out a small yellow silk package and opening it inside was a copy of "The Scripture of Peace and Longevity" and several sheets of Buddhist golden-edged silver paper. This first copy is naturally for the young ladies of our manor to write, the mistress said, looking at Eighth Miss as a lucky one, so she asked me to send it to Eighth Miss, who knew that Eighth Miss had copied it before.

  Rong Hua took over the scripture with both hands, "Mother trusts me, I will naturally do my best. Besides, in front of Old Lady, I should also be filial."

  Mrs. Chen smiled all over her face, "Alright." After saying a couple more casual words, she bid farewell and left.

  As soon as Chen Mama left, Mu Jin happily came over and said, "In the past, such matters of showing one's face were usually entrusted to Sixth Miss, but now it seems that Old Madam has already taken a liking to Miss, and when Old Madam's birthday arrives, the first achievement will be Miss', and once Miss formally meets Old Madam, her name will naturally be added to the family tree."

  Gaining the trust of Mrs. Dai, her name was added to the family tree, all of which would be beneficial for her future. However, wanting a good marriage still had those traditional constraints, "A virtuous family has five types of women they will not marry."

  Mu Tong's eyes widened, "What did you just say, miss?"

  "A widow's eldest daughter should not remarry; there is no education or discipline for her either."

  Upon hearing Rong Hua say this, Mu Jin's face was once again filled with worry, "Miss, what should we do then?"

  Rong Hua smiled slightly and changed the subject, "How's the matter I asked you to investigate?"

  Mu Ge glanced outside before daring to quietly tell Rong Hua the news he had gathered, "The new third wife of San Lao Ye's family, her father is a fellow jinshi graduate and currently serves as a lecturer at the Hanlin Academy."

  Rong Hua nodded, such a marriage could also be considered as a good match.

  "But I also heard them say that Third Wife is already twenty-eight this year."

  Rong Hua couldn't help but be shocked, "What?"

  Twenty-eight years old, never had a match before, although there are examples, they are few and far between.

  Most of these older women have been engaged or even married and lost their husbands. If that's the case, there's no way her father would agree.

  To marry the third uncle as the first wife at the age of 28... The father of the third madam was also a jinshi, but only a fifth-grade Hanlin Academy lecturer, and there was nothing that could make the Tao family lower their worth to ask for marriage.

  The Liao family of Kyoto. With a flash of insight, could it be that this was the Liao family who had rendered meritorious service at the time of the ascension to the throne of the previous emperor, Gaozong?

  "Wu Er's brother-in-law was a servant in the third house, and when his sister came to visit him recently, she mentioned that San Tai Tai also came from an official family, but this branch of the family wasn't very prosperous. None of her relatives were unsuccessful, let alone San Tai Tai's elder uncle, who was a fourth-rank assistant commander with a daughter married to Duke An Guo."

  "The Duke of An is no longer here, and the son of the third wife's uncle, brother, sister has inherited the title."

  Rong Hua's heart skipped a beat.

  "Do you know which noble it is?"

  Muxin nodded, "Wu said it was Wu Mouhou."

  Rong Hua was taken aback for a moment. Wu Mu Hou, the one Yan Hua had mentioned in front of her, was indeed Wu Mu Hou. Wu Mu Hou's first wife had passed away before she even entered his household. Could it be that Madame Zhao was plotting to become Wu Mu Hou's primary wife? Although Zhao Xuan Huan was the eldest son of Yi Cheng Hou, he still hadn't inherited the title yet. Wu Mu Hou, on the other hand, was already a noble who had succeeded to his title.

  The madam has only two legitimate daughters.

  The eldest daughter married into the Yi Cheng Hou Fu, but unfortunately, the eldest daughter Shu Hua has become a pawn in the hands of the Hou Ye's wife over the years and hasn't helped the family much. The old lady will not put all her hopes on Shu Hua, she wants to find another way out, and by her side is only the second daughter Yao Hua.

  If the Wu Mu Marquis Manor is indeed as rumored, would Madam be willing to marry off the frail Yuhua to the Wu Mu Marquis? Even if Madam is willing, considering past examples, the Wu Mu Marquis Manor wouldn't want a wife with a weak body, lest they repeat past mistakes.

  So the big madam had no choice but to choose a daughter born out of wedlock from the mansion to marry.

  But how can a concubine's status be elevated to the Hou Mansion? Even if the Wu Mu Hou Mansion has such a reputation outside, there must be a reason for this.

  Unless it's in the name of the madam, as the legitimate daughter...

  Thank you for the pink vote from the anonymous classmate who did a good deed, I'm deeply moved.

  Update in two hours~