Chapter 35: Probing (Part One)

  The next day, the second master sent someone to the government office to report that his trip back to Beijing had been delayed and he would not arrive for another two or three days. The steward of the Cui family hurried into the inner court to inform them.

  Yan Hua and Rong Hua happened to be in the main wife's room paying their respects, and the main wife did not avoid them, directly asking the servant from the Cui family, "Did the people who came say what it was about?"

  Choi Jae-sa's family way: "It is said that they coincidentally met the maternal relatives of the Third Old Master, Lady An Guk Gong, and it is said that they will enter the capital with Lady An Guk Gong."

  Ronghua took a stealthy glance at Madame, and Madame indeed couldn't help but smile.

  It's probably not a coincidence, but rather intentional. Otherwise, how can we explain that the second and third houses have arrived earlier than usual this year? With the help of the relationship with the third wife, things can be done smoothly.

  The An Guo Gong Fu is even bigger than the Yi Cheng Hou Fu, let alone the Wu Mu Hou who has already inherited the title.

  In the future, the Tao family will have two imperial sons-in-law, which will surely intimidate others.

  The old lady said gently: "There are still a few days before the winter solstice, don't worry, we're preparing here, as long as we can return before the ancestor worship, it's okay." She paused and then told Chen Mama: "You go back to Old Lady and tell her that the second and third houses will arrive in a few days, don't let Old Lady wait anxiously."

  Chui's servant went out with the order and arrived at the outer gate of the Weihua Gate, where he told Chui's servant the original words of the old lady. Chui's servant was busy arranging for a small servant from the second house to send a message. Chui's servant did not dare to delay and went straight to the old lady's place.

  The old lady was sitting on a soft couch, and her maid, Rui Qing, was massaging her shoulders beside her.

  Mrs. Chen repeated what Old Mrs. had entrusted her with.

  "Alright, I have something to tell the mistress right now," she said, letting Rui Qing go into the inner room to fetch a letter. "Take this letter and give it to her, let her handle it!"

  Rui Qing handed the letter over to Chen's mother and then returned to attend to Old Lady.

  Her mother didn't even lift her eyelids, "People get old and tired easily, I won't keep you either."

  Mrs. Chen knew that the old lady had never liked her, so even if she said a few auspicious words to coax the old lady, the old lady would say something like "My ears are not good, what did you say? I didn't quite hear it." which left her speechless.

  Old Mrs. Chen thought for a moment and didn't want to make things unpleasant, so she took the letter and quietly withdrew.

  "Alas, I don't know what evil intentions she has again. The people in this mansion are almost exhausted by her antics. Now, under the pretext of celebrating my birthday, who knows what kind of person she will rope in to do her bidding." She paused and continued, "I'm old now, I don't want to worry about these things anymore."

  Rui Qing said: "The old lady is right."

  Taomu had Rui Qing pour her a cup of tea and moisten her throat, then suddenly smiled, "I also can't let her be too pleased with herself."

  Mrs. Chen took the letter to show it to the mistress.

  The mistress received the letter and saw that it was clearly addressed to Mrs. Tao, so she didn't dare open it casually. She hurriedly went to ask Mrs. Tao about it, but Mrs. Tao said she was tired and sleeping. The mistress went a second time, and only then did Mrs. Tao open the letter and read it. Then she said: "Your third sister is coming back in a few days, see if it's convenient or not, if it's not convenient, write her a letter and tell her not to come."

  The lady heard this and hastily said, "Look at what Mother says. If she doesn't come, I'll have to write a letter asking her. Since it's your birthday, having more people at home to help out is just what I wanted." After finishing speaking, she hurriedly went to look at Mrs. Tao's expression.

  The aunt nodded slightly and said "uh-huh", this matter was settled then.

  The lady-in-waiting spoke with the mother of T'ao and also instructed her maid to take good care of the old lady, then came out from the mother's room and walked to a quiet place. The lady-in-waiting said: "Be careful about the old lady over there, don't let another mess happen at a critical moment." In recent years, the old lady has also had some connections in her hands, although she has been in charge of things in the mansion, but on the surface, she did not dare to offend the old lady.

  Ronghua returned to her room from Madame's place and continued with her needlework, overhearing the conversation between two maids, Fang'er and Yue'er, outside.

  Frame said: "In the future, our eldest sister will be the Countess, who can compare with her?"

  Yue'er smiled and said: "That's not necessarily true, there are still several young ladies in the mansion who haven't married yet."

  Although it was a joke between two girls, it seems like it's going to come true after all.

  The eldest son-in-law has not yet inherited the title, and Wu Mu Hou is about to become the second son-in-law.

  Frame again said: "When the eldest uncle inherits the title, what should we call him? Should we continue to call him Big Uncle or should we call him Lord?"

  Yu'er also laughed, "This should be called Big Brother-in-law!"

  The two girls were talking when suddenly, Jing shouted loudly, "Look, what's that? A large flock of birds."

  Yuer said: "What bird is that, it's a magpie with a long tail, how can there be such a group of magpies." Yuer said while loudly calling out, "Come and take a look, a flock of magpies are flying into the courtyard."

  All the maids in the house ran out to see the magpie.

  The maids chattered among themselves, "This is rarely seen."

  "It's already not bad if you can see two or three on a normal day."

  Mugwort also went out to watch the excitement.

  With a loud noise, the magpies in the courtyard were startled and flew away with a "flutter" of their wings.

  Mu Ge smiled and came back to tell Rong Hua, "Just now a group of magpies flew into our yard, they say that magpies are auspicious birds, this group of magpies must be a sign that the young lady will have great good fortune."

  Rong Hua glanced at Mu Jin and smiled: "It's just a flock of birds flying by, yet you've come up with so many words."

  Just as she finished speaking, Chen's mother entered the courtyard and saw the maids chatting on the side. She casually asked, "What are you all talking about?"

  The maids bowed to Chen's mother and it was still Yu'er who spoke up, "Just now a flock of magpies flew by."

  "Alas! A flock of magpies? What a pity I didn't get to see them," she said, still gazing up at the sky.

  Madam Chen entered the house, and Ronghua stood up to greet her. At a glance, she saw the few branches of begonia flowers in Madam Chen's hand.

  Madam Chen smiled and said, "This is the expensive flower 'Hua Gui Fei' that was sent by the Yi Cheng Hou Fu for Miss to put in a vase." As she spoke, she handed the flowers to Rong Hua.

  He hastily fetched a flower vase, inserted the begonias into it and placed them on the table.

  Mrs. Chen sat down for a cup of tea and chatted for a while before leaving.

  Seeing off Chen's mother, Ronghua entered the house and looked at the begonia on the table.

  Before long, Jinxiu returned and said: "Someone from the Hou Mansion came to tell Madame about the recent situation with Big Miss. They brought gifts for all the young ladies in the mansion. The other girls received some trinkets they could wear on their persons, but Miss only got a few branches of begonias."

  What does Mrs. Cai mean by doing this?

  Two days later, Second Miss Yao Hua recovered greatly after taking the medicine from Yi Cheng Hou Fu. Although she was still unable to visit casually, the misses in the mansion prepared gifts for the maids to send over as a gesture of goodwill.

  Jinxiu entered the house and asked Ronghua, "Miss, what gift shall we give to Second Miss? Second Miss has always liked poetry collections and calligraphy paintings. We still have a few paintings in our cabinet, why not pick one out to send over?"

  Ronghua smiled and said, "You reminded me that I still have a good painting. It's the standing screen of silk with the 'Spring Melody', take it out and give it to Second Miss."

  Jinxiu opened the painting and took a look, "This painting is really beautiful." She couldn't help but feel a little reluctant, "There aren't many good things in Miss's room to begin with, no need to give such a good painting!"

  Ronghua took the painting over, looked at it carefully, and said, "It's not a famous artist's work, I just kept it because it looks good." Chunchu's painting was something she and Yaohua both liked, so maybe this gift was well-received.

  Jinxiu handed over a painting and two sachets, and Chu Xiao took them with a polite expression. "Thank you, Eighth Miss. The old mistress has instructed Second Miss to rest quietly, so I won't invite the young lady in."

  Jinxiu smiled and politely declined several times before leaving.

  Chu Xiao brought the things into the house, Yao Hua sat on a chair reading a book, her face already had a radiant glow. Yao Hua seemed to have inadvertently glanced at Chu Xiao, "Who sent these things again?"

  Zhuo Xiao put the painting scroll into the cabinet, "The eighth young lady sent over a painting and two sachets."

  Yao Hua slightly raised an eyebrow, "Eighth sister?"

  Chu Xiao seemed to have remembered something, "Eighth Miss has been in the mansion for a short time, yet she already knows that Miss likes books, paintings and fragrances." At this point, Chu Xiao recalled Madame's warning not to chatter excessively in front of Second Miss, so she stopped talking.

  "These past few days, Mother has been keeping me in the dark about everything that's going on in the mansion, and you're only telling me half of what's going on," Yuhua paused for a moment. "Since you've already mentioned Eighth Miss, then let me take a look at the things she sent over."

  It wasn't until dawn that he brought over the painting and the two sachets.

  They were two sachets made of five-colored silk threads, although they were exquisitely made, the fragrance inside was ordinary ones from the mansion.

  Jinxiu said that Eighth Miss's place doesn't have good incense, and it can't compare to Miss's here. She also asked Miss not to look down on her.

  Everyone in the mansion knows she likes to make potpourri, sending two sachets is normal, but Mu Jin's words were casual or intentional, especially at this time...

  Yao Hua thought for a moment before opening the scroll beside her.

  Seeing this vibrant ink painting, Yao Hua's face changed color.

  These few chapters are Second Miss's showtime, hehe.