Chapter 67: Ominous Signs (Part 2)

  Ronghua came over and hurriedly made a courtesy call to Mrs. Cai and the second lady, paying his respects.

  The lady smiled and said, "I was thinking of coming to see you two days ago, but I happened to catch up with the Winter Festival, so I delayed it. Today, I finally got some free time, so I brought Ronghua along."

  Mrs. Cai's eyes sparkled as she looked at Rong Hua and smiled, "Perhaps it's a mother-daughter connection, just now the eldest daughter-in-law said she wanted to go back and see her maternal grandmother."

  Isn't elder sister supposed to be ill? Why would she want to go back to her maternal home? Normally, in such situations, one should rest well at their own home, unless they don't want to stay in the husband's family.

  Ronghua glanced at Mrs. Cai, whose face showed no unusual expression, but the second lady, Liu, looked somewhat embarrassed, clearly indicating that the atmosphere in the Yicheng Marquis's residence was not as harmonious as it seemed on the surface. The matter of Qiuhe throwing herself into the well had been hastily reported to the eldest lady by someone sent by her elder sister early in the morning, and the eldest lady, being fond of her daughter, handled the situation somewhat rashly, rushing over to the Yicheng Marquis's residence in a flurry, which could be seen as suspicious no matter how nicely it was put.

  After hearing what Mrs. Cai said, Madame's face also changed, "How is Shu Hua's body? Is it better?"

  Mrs. Cai's face turned solemn, and she sighed, "The medicine has taken effect after taking a lot, but who knows... The maid Autumn Lotus beside the eldest daughter-in-law was missing for two days, only to be found today that she had fallen into the well."

  The lady pretended to be surprised.

  Mrs. Cai sighed, "This girl Autumn Lotus just got married and had a miscarriage, who knew something like this would happen. The daughter-in-law's husband is gone, the daughter-in-law was heartbroken and her illness got worse."

  Ronghua's eyes narrowed, Qiuhua was a maid who grew up with the eldest sister, and their bond was deep. When Qiuhua suddenly died, the eldest sister's emotions can be imagined. However, this is secondary; what's more important is that the eldest sister had just demoted Qiuhua to a concubine after slapping her in the face, and Qiuhua's death must be related to this incident.

  A few people walked towards Shu Hua's courtyard while chatting, and Mrs. Tai walked a little faster with a worried heart, and when talking to Mrs. Cai, she was also somewhat absent-minded.

  The second grandmother listened to these harmonious words, looking at Miss Tao Ba beside her. The aunt brought Miss Tao Ba over, seemingly choosing her as a concubine for the eldest brother.

  Miss Ba's delicate face was lightly made up, looking even more beautiful than Shu Hua. She had a subtle scholarly air about her, and her demeanor was elegant, polite, and refined in every way, unlike her elder sister who was hot-tempered and somewhat spoiled.

  Second Grandma vaguely felt that if this Miss Tao Ba were to marry into their family, perhaps Eldest Brother would take a liking to her.

  Ronghua felt the gaze beside her, turned her head, and met Er Nainai's gaze. Er Nainai didn't dodge, but instead puckered up her mouth and gave Ronghua a ambiguous smile.

  Ronghua's heart skipped a beat, and before she could think much, the old lady had already lifted the curtain and entered the house. Ronghua hastily followed her in.

  A wave of heat came, carrying a strong herbal scent. Shu Hua was reclining on the large red pillow, looking expectantly towards the door, but when she saw that there was no one behind Rong Hua, her eyes showed a hint of disappointment.

  Ronghua immediately thought of a few days ago when Shuhua saw Yaohua reluctantly, the elder sister was worried about her frail and sickly younger sister.

  Mrs. Cai went in and said some polite words, then sat down beside him.

  The old lady didn't care about others, she stared at her beloved daughter from head to toe, then sat down on the small stool in a hurry and pulled Shu Hua's hand.

  Mrs. Cai, who was superficially kind to Shu Hua, felt somewhat dissatisfied with the way Mrs. Dai was being overly enthusiastic, thinking that even if she was worried about her daughter, she couldn't just ignore everything and not consider the situation of her husband's family, as if Shu Hua had suffered a lot here.

  Madam Wang's mind was all on Shu Hua, so she naturally didn't notice Cai Fu Ren's change.

  The old lady carefully observed her daughter's condition, feeling that Shu Hua's fingers seemed to be trembling involuntarily. Suddenly, she felt a great sense of urgency in her heart. Embarrassed by Mrs. Cai's presence beside her, she couldn't speak directly, so she tightly grasped Shu Hua's fingers and asked with her eyes, "What's going on? You've lost another circle in just two days."

  Shu Hua's eyes sank deeply, her lips were pale and bloodless, she was forcing back tears that wanted to burst out, the corners of her mouth twitched twice. "It's still that woman's illness, ever since last time, it hasn't been clean, these two days have been slightly better." The last half sentence was said with a lack of energy, obviously just comforting Madame.

  Mrs. Lai said: "I asked someone to buy 'Shou Shandang' Guiben Peiyuan Gao," she said, turning her head to look at Chunyao, and Chunyao hurriedly went to find it in the hand of the old woman.

  Chun Yao brought the medicine over, and the old lady hastily said: "Quickly go heat it up", immediately wanting to give it to Shu Hua to drink.

  The people in Shu Hua's house were also busy with a flurry of activity.

  Mrs. Cai, although helping out on the side, had an even worse expression. The lady of the house was like this, as if the Hou Mansion hadn't brought these things for the daughter-in-law to eat. It's just Guiben Peiyuan Gao, who knows how much more precious than this has been eaten without effect. Who knew that none of it worked? It's strange that the daughter-in-law insisted on picking out Xuan Huan's faults. The couple had been angry for a long time, and with the death of Autumn Lotus, the illness broke out again. The mansion found a special doctor to treat women's illnesses, and the doctor prescribed medicine, also advising her to comfort the eldest daughter-in-law to reduce liver fire and rest more, which was the best strategy.

  At first, Mrs. Cai thought Shu Hua was straightforward and didn't think much, she just needed to pay a little attention to make Shu Hua obey her. The most important thing for a daughter-in-law is to be of one mind with her, and Shu Hua wouldn't let her worry too much. But Shu Hua's temper and Xuan Yu were incompatible. Xuan Yu liked the kind of gentle and generous, knowledgeable and polite, but Shu Hua didn't have these qualities. Usually it was okay, but once she quarreled with Xuan Yu, Shu Hua would be reckless and noisy, making Xuan Yu sad. Mrs. Cai looked at Shu Hua and wondered what the prince saw in the Tao family that he had to marry into this family.

  She still remembered that several years ago, one evening, Hou Ye returned from the Tao Mansion and mentioned this marriage. She originally said that it would be better to be more cautious about the eldest son's marriage, but unexpectedly, Hou Ye didn't know what got into him, wanting her to go see right away, not to mention saying that it would be best to settle this marriage as soon as possible.

  In recent years, the relationship between the two families has become increasingly close, and Lord Hou also attaches great importance to the Tao family... Madame Cai takes a look at Miss Tao Ba, if she marries another daughter from the Tao family, it would be fine as long as it brings peace. What she regrets most is that before arranging the marriage for Xuan Huang, she didn't go see the second young lady of the Tao Mansion; the second young lady's temperament is exactly what she likes.

  Mrs. Zhao fed her daughter the medicine spoon by spoon, and Shu Hua swallowed it mouthful by mouthful, unable to describe the taste in her heart. She had tasted all sorts of bitter, sour, and sweet flavors since she got married. Especially when she first met Zhao Xuanhuan, seeing him standing there like a jade tree, she almost couldn't believe that such a person was going to be her husband.

  There were so many sweet expectations in her heart, but they all disappeared one by one after entering the mansion. She was his legitimate wife who he married back home, every time she met his warm eyes, she felt a faint sense of estrangement and rejection, making her feel like an outsider.

  At first, she was still afraid that after he married the person he liked, there would be no place for her in the mansion. Since Zhao Xuanhuang didn't make a move, she calmed down. But now she hoped to know who the person Zhao Xuanhuang liked was and where they were, so it wouldn't be like this...

  Shu Hua looked back and saw Eighth Sister standing aside. Just as she was about to wave her hand for Rong Hua to come over, someone outside said, "The master is back."

  Ronghua's eyes jumped heavily, Zhao Xuanhuan was back, there was no screen around, and she had nowhere to hide. She couldn't avoid running into Zhao Xuanhuan anymore.

  If it weren't for today's sudden events, she wouldn't have known the ins and outs... She really should have found an excuse not to come with the mistress, but wanting to refuse wasn't that easy.

  While Rong Hua was deep in thought, Zhao Xuan had already walked in.

  Zhaohuan wore a sky-blue long gown, his clear eyes reflected the color of the clothes, like a bright blue lake, with ripples shimmering in the sunlight. When he saw the madam, he bowed and said, "Mother-in-law," his voice still as gentle as before.

  Ronghua stepped forward and bowed, calling out in a low voice, "Brother-in-law."

  Zhao Xuanhuan glanced at Rong Hua, seemingly thinking of something, and a hint of desolation flashed in the depths of his eyes.

  Zhao Xuanhuang turned around again, and the lady had already made way for him to sit next to Shuhua. Looking at Shuhua's struggling appearance, Zhao Xuanhuang thought that this marriage not only ruined Shuhua's life but also his own. What could make up for the deficiencies in their hearts, when they were glorious on the surface but miserable behind closed doors?

  During this period, Shu Hua's efforts were all seen by him. Every night, he would wait for his return and gently talk to him for a while. "If you're tired, rest more, the illness will recover faster."

  Shu Hua smiled slightly and nodded. His words sounded like they were meant to give her hope, but she knew he was clear about the distinction between comfort and gratitude, and neither could replace what was in his heart. Shu Hua felt tired too, so she let Zhao Xuanhuang support her as she lay down. His arms were warm, and after all these years, she had never once slept in them; her movements were slow because she cherished the moment.

  Shu Hua had originally closed her eyes, but then thought of something and reached out to grab Zhao Xuan's hand. A pair of eyes searched the room, saw Rong Hua's gaze stop, and smiled at Rong Hua, "Eighth sister, come over."

  Rong Hua was startled in her heart, and suddenly everyone's eyes in the room fell on her.

  Shu Hua, what are you doing? You can't just... Rong Hua hastily looked at the madam, and the madam's gaze also turned over.

  Boundary line

  There's an update tonight, I'm going to write the update now.

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