Chapter 61: Gains and Losses (Part 2)

  The Tao Manor indeed had an incident on the second day.

  Lang Zhong went to the old lady's house early in the morning to take Four Auntie's pulse. Everyone secretly discussed that Four Auntie was not actually pregnant, and Lang Zhong said it was because her previous illness had worsened that she looked like this.

  Fourth Aunt thought she was pregnant and was overjoyed, but her excitement only made her appear normal for a while. These past two days had exhausted her energy, and now the illness has manifested itself.

  The old lady's courtyard was in a mess, and Sixth Miss was anxious to go into Fourth Aunt's house to take a look. As soon as this was mentioned, Old Lady Tao's face turned cold, "What are you stirring up trouble for at this time? Wait for news and we will naturally notify you." She also had someone send Sixth Miss back to her own courtyard.

  Yan Hua stomped her feet in anger but there was nothing she could do, so she took Xiang Qiao back to her own room, slammed the door shut and vented her frustration on some ornaments in the room.

  Xiang Qiao anxiously said beside her, "I told you to ask Fourth Aunt clearly earlier, why did Fourth Aunt say Miss can't marry into the Wang family. Now look, who knows if Fourth Aunt will recover from this illness or not."

  Yan Hua heard this and became even more furious, a surge of evil fire burning in her heart. She picked up the vase on the table and threw it at Xiang Qiao, "They can say what they want, but who are you to speak ill of me?"

  Xiang Qiao didn't expect Yan Hua to lash out at her, and for a moment she was stunned and didn't dodge. The vase smashed heavily onto her head, and suddenly blood flowed freely.

  Xiang Qiao let out a loud cry, the maids outside knew something was wrong, and then they heard Yan Hua shouting for help in a trembling voice inside the house. Everyone immediately went inside to see what happened, only to find the room in disarray, Xiang Qiao standing stiffly with blood flowing from her forehead, covering half of her face.

  The young maid did not dare to come forward, and it was a few older women who went over to help support Xiang Qiao.

  Xiang Qiao was touched by someone like this, and only then did she come back to her senses. Her eyes rolled over and she suddenly fainted.

  The people below did not dare to slack off, and someone rushed into the main room to tell Madame that Madame was worried about the fourth aunt's affairs. When she heard this, she slapped her hand on the table, causing the teacup to jump up. "Have her brought over to me, I'll listen to what she wants to do!"

  Soon after, Chen's mother led Yan Hua into the house.

  Yan Hua just saw Xiang Qiao's head bleeding, and was so scared that her face turned white. Now she is being called over by the mistress to be questioned, but she refuses to admit her mistake. "It's all because I spoiled her, now she dares to ride roughshod over me."

  The lady suppressed her anger and asked, "What did she say about you?"

  Yan Hua was speechless for a moment and couldn't say anything.

  The old lady said: "You're like this at home, if it gets out, who will still think you have a good character, who would dare to come and propose?"

  Mentioning marriage, Yan Hua's heart became even more annoyed, "Don't mention it then, anyway it's not a good match."

  The lady's eyes suddenly turned sharp and she glared at Yan Hua with a sinister gaze, "What did you say?"

  At this point, Yanhua was furious and didn't care about anything anymore. "Anyway, there's no good marriage to be had, it's better to just stay at home. Now even the maids by my side dare to bully me, it can be seen what kind of state I'm in now, even scolding the servants has to be questioned. Many servants have died in this mansion, but nobody has ever made a big deal about it. Let alone that I hurt her today, even if I had killed her, would I still have to pay with my life? Besides, it was just a bottle that bumped into her, how could she faint from that? I think someone is instigating this servant..."

  As soon as the words fell, she felt a dizziness in front of her eyes, and her face started to burn with pain. Immediately afterwards, the lady raised her head again and gave another slap.

  Yan Hua's eyes widened, and her ears buzzed incessantly.

  The lady coldly smiled and said: "Everyone in the mansion respects you, that's why they've spoiled your arrogant nature." She then called out to Chen Mama, "All the broken items will be deducted from Sixth Miss's monthly allowance. Get a few nursemaids to teach Sixth Miss some manners. With this kind of temper, who knows what kind of trouble she'll stir up when she gets married and goes to her husband's household?"

  Old Lady Chen went downstairs and called a few women to come up. Rong Hua struggled to say something, but the woman behind her twisted her around, and she suddenly softened, her hands and feet moving wildly but unable to exert any strength. Just as she was about to open her mouth to shout, something was stuffed into it, and she was dragged out with a muffled cry.

  The house fell silent, and Chen's mother ordered someone to close the inner room partition.

  The old lady sat on the chair panting, and it took her half a day to catch her breath. "This is what the old lady wants to use the fourth aunt's affair to manage the household again. I'm surprised that the old lady actually protected the fourth aunt."

  There's a saying that goes, "Ginger is still spicy even when it's old." Mrs. Dai had eaten her fill of bitterness this time, and Chen Mama comforted her by saying, "It's just that they caught you in one mistake, it doesn't necessarily mean anything will happen."

  The old lady hummed and said, "What kind of person is the old lady, can it be settled like this? Now what time is it, I'm afraid the old lady wants to intervene in the marriage of the few ladies in the mansion."

  "Old lady doesn't manage household affairs these years, our big house is no longer the same as before. The second and third houses are all dependent on the big house for living, what can the old lady do? The temperaments of the two old gentlemen and three old gentlemen are not easy to support the family, so don't worry, madam, your efforts over the years will not be in vain."

  The lady let out a sigh of relief, and it was precisely because of this that she relaxed her vigilance, only to be caught off guard by the old lady. She had indeed handled the fourth aunt's affair too hastily. As soon as the old lady intervened, many things might go awry. The more discord there was between Tao Zheng'an and the old lady, the more advantageous it would be for her; on the other hand... she would have to divide her attention to guard against the old lady again.

  "Send someone to tell my elder brother that he shouldn't open those two shops for now. If the old lady finds out, it won't be good. Also, ask Young Master to stay away for a while."

  "Please rest assured, madam," said Chen's mother. "The gatekeeper Xu Gui is just here, I'll let him run an errand."

  The lady nodded.

  Madam Chen had arranged everything and was just about to return to the mistress's quarters to report when a servant woman came in to announce, "The wife of Xue Zhongyu from Zuo Chun Tang has arrived."

  Madam Chen hastily went back into the house and told Eldest Madam, "This time Madame Xue has come to demand an explanation!"

  The old lady nodded, "The Wang family is in a hurry, Old Lady Wang's illness has not improved, it is said that this winter will be fine, but next year is hard to say."

  Mrs. Chen said: "That lady..."

  The Madame's rigid face finally relaxed a bit, "Now that the sixth Miss's matter is settled, there are still many things to be done later." It's just unknown whether the old lady will agree or not. The Madame sighed and nodded at Chen Mama.

  Madam Chen understood and hastily ordered someone to invite Mrs. Xue to the flower hall.

  ……

  Ronghua was reading in the house when he heard Tong'er's voice outside again.

  "Is Miss Ba in the house?"

  Jinxiu led Qian'er into the house, and Qian'er began to cry and say, "Eighth Miss, please go and persuade my miss! My miss has been talking nonsense since last night, saying she wants to go to the clan's elder and say that she wants to become a nun in the temple."

  "This morning, I advised a few words and said, why listen to outside gossip, go to the nunnery to do what? The young lady didn't do anything wrong, why take vows to never see anyone for the rest of her life?"

  "Miss, it's also true that going there is not a clean place to go, it's better to just hang oneself with a rope." Speaking of this, Qian'er looked at Ronghua sincerely, "Eighth Miss, I know you are good to my miss, please be kind and advise my miss not to look for death."

  Qian Er invited Rong Hua to move into the Xing Hua residence.

  Qinghua was wearing only a thin dress, sitting on the bed, staring blankly at the window. The cold wind blew in, but she didn't care, her eyes were already red and swollen from crying. When Ronghua came in, Qinghua quickly used her sleeve to wipe away tears and forced a smile, "Eighth sister, why have you come?"

  Ronghua looked at Jinghua's body and said, "Why are you wearing so little?" She quickly called the maid to bring over a shirt for Jinghua to put on.

  Then dismiss all the maids.

  "Father said I should have a number in my heart. I also know what it means, if I myself proposed to become a nun, anyone's face would look better. If I could bear to hang myself with a rope, that would be even better, clean and white, and no one would say those dirty words again. Luckily, sister came today, so I don't have to go see her again, today is goodbye to my sister, tomorrow I will go tell grandmother."

  Qian Er and Jin Xiu secretly listened to Miss Ten's words outside. Qian Er tightly pursed her lips, and tears kept falling down.

  Jinghua also said: "If Fifth Sister were still here, I would go and bid her farewell. She's no longer here, and in this mansion, there is no one else for me to care about. In my heart, I have always liked Fifth Sister, liking her proud demeanor. I secretly admired her." She wanted to befriend Fifth Sister, but Mother insisted that she keep a distance from Fifth Sister, saying that someone with Fifth Sister's temperament would not come to a good end. A woman should be virtuous and obedient, not taking a single wrong step. Jinghua also deeply believed in this principle, yet unexpectedly, this was the outcome that awaited her.

  "If it were Miss Wu, she wouldn't have done this."

  Jinghua was taken aback, lifted her head, and the person in front of her had clear eyes. She suddenly felt that she no longer recognized this Eighth Sister. "The Fifth Miss would not take the initiative to say that she wants to be a nun, nor would she end her own life with a rope." As she said this, she pulled up her hand, "Can you write a 99-year-old longevity character map?"

  The character "shou" (longevity) is written in 99 different ways to form a large "shou". Ronghua had carefully prepared one to give to the old lady. In this life, she had been diligently practicing calligraphy, just for the opportunity to cater to her tastes and win her favor in front of the old lady.

  Who knew Mrs. Dai gave her the opportunity to copy Buddhist scriptures first, and she handed over what she had prepared earlier for Jinghua to use.

  Ronghua handed the letter to Qinghua, "You take Qian'er to deliver it to Old Lady." Now only Old Lady's words will work in this situation.

  Today is Pink Ticket 40, should double update, don't know if can update successfully, try best.