Chapter 46: The Chaotic Party (Middle)

  Madam Cai had just left for a short while. The Tao Mansion's gates had just been locked when someone knocked on the door again. After inquiring, they found out that the rebels had launched their uprising ahead of schedule and the capital was thrown into chaos. Madam Cai saw from afar a group of rebels wearing red headscarves on her way to the Yi Cheng Marquis' residence and didn't dare proceed further, so she turned back.

  The housekeeper reported it to Madame, and Madame hastily ordered someone to open the back door to let Mrs. Cai and others enter the mansion.

  Mrs. Cai returned to the Tao residence, and the first wife's heart sank even further, especially when she saw the several maidservants who had accompanied Mrs. Cai, their faces now pale and still shaken.

  Mrs. Cai's face was not looking good, and the elder lady invited Mrs. Cai into the house. Dongrui brought in the tea, and Mrs. Cai held the teacup in her hand, slightly trembling, causing the porcelain to clink crisply, adding to the tension.

  Mrs. Cai had finished her tea before the elder lady asked, "What does it look like outside? When will the imperial court be able to put down the rebels?"

  Mrs. Cai's eyes dimmed for a moment. She put the tea bowl back on the table and pulled her sleeves, earlier she had lifted the curtain of the carriage, saw the dense red scarves, and almost fainted, "Although it's bigger than last time... Now it's not the first few years of the country... I think there won't be too much trouble."

  Mrs. Cai was speaking when a young maid outside overheard the conversation between the maid and the servant who had just come in from outside, and became frightened to tears.

  The lady heard the "wailing" cry, and her heart was even more annoyed. "What are you crying about? This is the capital, and there are heavy troops stationed everywhere. It's just two or three thieves that have scared you like this." After finishing speaking, she called Chen Mama to come over, "Go, take her away for me."

  The lady said so, and the other servants did not dare to make a sound again.

  Madam Tai comforted Mrs. Cai, saying: "Although the madam is not at home, both the Marquis and the Duke are in the capital, they will certainly make proper arrangements. Shu Hua is bedridden with illness, and the second lady is also a very cautious person, so please don't worry too much, madam."

  Mrs. Cai nodded, and things had come to this point, so it could only be like this.

  Ronghua entered the house and also called over the maids and old women from the courtyard, recounting everything that had happened. "Everyone doesn't need to panic. As long as we're cautious and make some preparations, it'll be fine." After finishing speaking, she continued to do her needlework as usual. The young maids came in to serve tea and water, and seeing Eighth Miss's composure, they also gradually calmed down.

  Before long, the lady came over to ask again. Seeing that everything in Ronghua's courtyard was still in order, she entered the house and saw Feicui sitting by the brazier, while Ronghua was doing needlework with Mugun and Jinxiu.

  Ronghua stepped forward and bowed, calling out in a normal tone, "Mother, Chen Mama."

  The old lady nodded in satisfaction, and Chen's mother couldn't help but feel surprised. She had clearly seen that the eighth young lady was timid and weak, so how did she now reveal a calm and composed demeanor?

  The lady was busy arranging the house and didn't say anything else. "I'll bring a few servant girls to serve you."

  Ronghua nodded, knowing it was the mistress who had arranged for a few people to protect her. "Don't worry, Mother!"

  "I'm going to your sisters' place too." He said and walked out.

  Ronghua took a look and indeed, there were two tall and sturdy servant women in the courtyard. Outside the courtyard, many maidservants and servant women stood waiting, following closely behind Daitai as she walked forward.

  Ronghua returned to the house, and Feicui began to fiddle with the hand warmer, looking anxious and hesitant. After a long time, Feicui finally spoke up, "Madam brought so many people, why did she leave only two for us here?"

  Ronghua said: "There are still several courtyards in the government office that need people."

  Jade whispered complaints, "That can't be used so much."

  Ronghua thought carefully about Feicui's words, and it took her half a day to understand the meaning. Feicui felt that because she was a concubine-born daughter, the first wife would allocate fewer servants to protect her, so if something happened in the future, the first wife would definitely take good care of Second Miss with all her heart. In the past, when Feicui was in Second Miss's room, Second Miss was well-protected, and naturally, the maids like Feicui also benefited from it. Now that she had moved to Ronghua's room, Feicui naturally felt unwilling in her heart.

  Rong Hua raised her eyes and looked at Fei Cui quietly, "You used to be in the second miss's room, right?"

  Jade's face suddenly turned red as if her heart had been read, and she muttered: "Yes."

  Rong Hua shifted his gaze away from the emerald face, seemingly unintentionally, "The second miss's side must be short-handed, you go back there to help out!"

  Feicui was taken aback, then looked at Ronghua's expressionless face, especially when Ronghua turned to her again, those eyes as bright as black coral made her feel inexplicably afraid. Feicui's knees went weak and she suddenly knelt down, "Eighth Miss... slave... doesn't dare..."

  Ronghua seemed as if she hadn't heard anything and stood up to walk towards the inner room.

  Jade could only kneel on the spot and didn't dare get up.

  Feicui is so arrogant, thinking that she has Yao Hua backing her up. But now the situation is that no one can afford to care about anyone else. Ronghua smiled and said, "She's not a narrow-minded person, but with so many maids and servants in the courtyard, we can't let Feicui stir up trouble here. Sometimes, punishment is necessary."

  Mrs. Tai came out from this side and went straight into Yan Hua's room.

  Not yet entering the door, I heard someone in the yard shouting, "Catch her and beat her to death."

  The lady frowned, quickened her pace, and saw Yanhua standing in front of the door with his hands on his hips, watching two women pin down a young maid and beat her nonstop. The others in the courtyard had already been scared away, and the younger maids were huddled together crying.

  The old woman slapped the kneeling maid several times, but Yanhua still felt it was not enough, "Hit her again for me." She only took care of dealing with the maid in front of her. She didn't even notice when Madame entered the courtyard.

  The lady shouted loudly, "Stop it, what are you doing?"

  Yan Hua then saw his mother and hastily went to greet her, "Mother, what brings you here?"

  The lady didn't respond and asked Yin Hua with a gloomy face, "What's going on?"

  Yan Hua glanced at the maid, as if reporting her own achievements to Madame, "These maids are not to be trusted, it's fine on ordinary days. Now what time is it, and they're still so careless with me? I told them to put away my jewelry, silver money and other things, who knew she would break my jade hairpin, if it were something else...

  Mrs. Tai's face grew increasingly unpleasant, but Jen-hua remained oblivious and continued, "That was a gift from Mother; you can't buy it even with silver money."

  Yan Hua finished speaking, waiting for the mistress to praise her, but unexpectedly, the mistress still didn't speak. Yan Hua naturally looked over and was startled by the fierce look in the mistress's eyes, which seemed like two large hands slapping her twice, "What are you doing collecting jewelry and silver? What time is it now?"

  Yan Hua was stunned for a while, then slowly came back to her senses, her heart racing as if it was going to jump out of her chest, and her words became disjointed, "...... I... originally was afraid... what if someone broke in..."

  The lady shouted: "Nonsense! The entire mansion, inside and out, is heavily guarded. Who could possibly get in?"

  Yan Hua Sheng feared that his wife might be neglecting something, "A daughter should always be prepared for anything."

  The lady's face flushed with anger, she was about to raise her hand and slap Ronghua in the face, but managed to control herself at the last moment. She clenched her fists tightly and turned around without saying another word, walking away.

  Yan Hua didn't dare to chase after him again, and just stood there stupidly.

  Madam Chen caught up with the lady of the house and carefully asked, "Ma'am, are you going to leave a few maids for Miss Liu?"

  The lady coldly snorted, "Not a single one is left. You go down and pass on my message, Sixth Miss is not allowed to leave her room again."

  Madam Chen suddenly remembered, "Ma'am, there's another thing. The courtyard where Fourth Aunt is recuperating was originally accessible through the back door of our garden, but now that the back door is locked..." That small courtyard has become isolated. The walls and gates of the courtyard are not as high and grand as those in the mansion, so whether it's climbing over the wall or breaking down the gate, it's extremely easy to get in.

  The madam's eyes sparkled, "With so many women in the mansion to protect, we can't afford to worry about anything else. Besides, Fourth Aunt's sickroom is empty of everything, who would bother with a sick woman?"

  Madam Chen felt a chill and respectfully said: "The mistress is right."

  The madam nodded slightly, "Go to Yaohua's place."

  All the maids and old women went towards the second young lady's residence. Before they reached the second young lady's courtyard, they saw her coming out to greet them.

  "Where is this going?" asked his wife.

  Yao Hua smiled and said: "I was just going to find mother."

  "What's wrong?" asked the lady.

  Yao Hua's voice was warm and soft, "Nothing much, just want to go to mother's room to accompany mother. In case mother is busy, I can also help out."

  The old lady's heart warmed up, and her eyes suddenly turned sour. "You child... It's good that you're not by my side, I'm also worried, afraid that they won't take care of you properly." As she spoke, she pulled Yaohua along, walking and talking at the same time. "As long as I can see you and Shuhua getting along well, I'll be at peace. Fortunately, your sisterly relationship is much better than ordinary sisters. You're also magnanimous and don't hold grudges against your sister for some things. Your sister has a straightforward heart and doesn't hide anything from you."

  Two people walked away while talking.

  Old Mrs. Chen hastily sent someone to move the things that Second Miss used every day to Madame Wang's house without mentioning it.

  Although the outside was chaotic during the day, the Tao Mansion was still quiet. At night, just as the steward had arranged for people to patrol various parts of the mansion, someone looked up at the sky and suddenly turned pale with shock.

  In the southwest direction, flames are soaring into the sky, as if half of the sky has been set ablaze.

  The people in the mansion suddenly burst into an uproar.

  Mrs. Dai heard the sound and hurriedly came out with Mrs. Cai to see.

  The two of them looked at each other in dismay, and it wasn't until half a day later that the old lady spoke up, "Could it be that bandits have set fire to the city?"

  It's busy during the New Year, and it's hard to find time to revise the article...

  Sweat to death.

  It's time to stock up on articles after a while, and it's really urgent to write and send them out immediately.

  Took my daughter to the hospital today, haven't even started typing yet,,,, poor thing, all the kids are coughing.