Chapter 22: Retreat as Advance

  Su Ying leaned over and smiled somewhat helplessly: "Since Wei Niang gave birth to the eldest daughter, she is not like others. The eldest daughter is now the only granddaughter of our Hou Mansion, how precious she is! No matter what, Wei Niang should always prioritize the eldest daughter's well-being."

  Madam Chen didn't think to look at Madam Fu's face, and hearing Su Ying's words that showed weakness, she said indignantly: "We all have rules, letting a concubine raise a daughter is already giving her an honor, Eldest Sister as the legitimate mother says a word about bringing the eldest girl to her own side to raise, who would say it's not right."

  Madam Chen was not so kind as to speak up for Su Ying, her words were naturally meant for Madam Fu's ears and also served as a preventive measure for the future.

  After hearing what Madam Chen said, Madam Fu felt uneasy and didn't want to hear anything unpleasant from her again. She turned to Su Ying and said, "You also mentioned earlier that Wei's wife wouldn't be ignorant of the rules in our household. It's possible she was just being petty or throwing a tantrum. But if she doesn't know her place and offends you, she wouldn't dare."

  Madam Chen pouted, while Madam Fu pretended not to notice and continued: "Furthermore, the old master is well-read in poetry and books, and it's absolutely impossible for him to do something as cruel as favoring a concubine over his wife. Even if Wei Niang serves him well, the old master will still lean towards you more. As the mistress of the household, if you can't even manage the inner courtyard properly, how can you manage the entire Hou Manor?"

  Fu's mother's words were clearly saying that Su Ying was incompetent and couldn't manage well, of course, her words also had the intention of scolding Chen's wife. Chen's wife got Fu's mother's words that day and went back to 'scold' Fu Xiangyang's aunt who shared a room with him.

  So, after Madam Fu said that, Madame Chen's expression was even uglier than Su Ying's, and she almost twisted her handkerchief into a rope. However, Madame Chen couldn't defend herself, after all, Madam Fu was currently scolding Su Ying, so she smiled and said: "Auntie, I think Sister-in-law is just thinking of Eldest Miss, what if because of Eldest Miss and Eldest Brother's birth order, it would be a loss. In my opinion, Sister-in-law should take care of Eldest Miss herself, Sister-in-law had recently lost her own child, taking care of Eldest Miss can also serve as some comfort."

  Su Ying pursed her lips, Mrs. Chen, are you naturally black or naturally stupid?

  Fu Mu saw Su Ying not speaking, her expression was clearly moved by Chen Furen's words. She couldn't help but think that Su Ying had some ulterior motive. Thinking back to yesterday when Fu Qiyang refused her attempt to send someone into his room, she narrowed her eyes and thought: "Could it be that Su Ying is trying to get close to my son? But why would she do that? Unless... unless she wants to use her beauty to seduce him! No wonder she's been acting so strangely. And what about the fact that our family's eldest daughter has always been weak and frail, shouldn't we let Wei Niang take care of her first..."

  Su Ying sneered inwardly, this was not something that could be explained by saying that the girl had been raised by her aunt. There was no reason for a concubine to have given birth before the legitimate son! Talking about rules and propriety, the Yongwu Marquis's household was truly self-sufficient. However, she still brightened up at the sight, with a hint of joy on her face, and lifted her head to speak.

  Fu's mother said to her, "You've been married to the Hou family for five years now. It's okay that the child from before wasn't meant to be yours, but Master Hou is getting older too. With only a daughter born out of wedlock in the household, it doesn't look good. You should focus on recovering your health and get pregnant again as soon as possible. That would be the right thing to do. And since you're managing the household now, if the eldest daughter were to be brought up by you, you wouldn't have time to teach her properly."

  "You are all busy every day, and it's quiet here with me. I'm not feeling well in my heart. If you bring the big girl over to accompany me and chat with me, I'll feel happy too." Fu Mu didn't mention that she and Fu Ye Yang had mentioned this matter yesterday and were politely rejected by Fu Ye Yang, naturally not wanting Su Ying's thoughts to come true.

  Mrs. Chen glanced at Su Ying, who was forcing a smile, and immediately echoed Mrs. Fu's words: "Elder sister, the old lady is right, I think your complexion is still a bit pale, and eldest miss has always been a worrywart, later on you'll have to worry about her too, or else it won't be worth it, the old lady is just thinking of you."

  Su Ying's expression was momentarily stunned, and she forced a smile: "Big sister is not in good health, will this be too much trouble for the old lady?" This Chen Furen is really a freak!

  Su Ying was like this, Fu Mu thought she had hit her mind, and said: "The body is not good, it's okay to take care of it, no harm." This is to determine the tone.

  Su Ying didn't say anything else, and had to force a smile and say "This is the good fortune of the eldest daughter", when walking out of the upper house door, she was even supported by Lu Hui, and even the Snow Golden Pheasant Fur Long Coat she wore looked like it couldn't hold her up.

  Fu Mu thought that everyone said she had recovered from her illness, but looking at her still weak, and thinking of Su Ying's competitive personality, it was estimated that she was worried about household chores again, and her body would not recover for the time being.

  Looking at Mrs. Chen, who was still sitting there, she said: "I heard that Xuyang has been studying hard in the study room for the past two days. Although it's good to study hard, this child is also very proud and insists on becoming a jinshi to bring glory to me. For people like us, having a jinshi identity is just adding flowers to brocade."

  Although she said so, Fu Mu's smiling mouth couldn't close, and she said to Chen Furen: "I have a few new American ginseng here, take it back to Xu Yang to supplement his nutrition. Has he made peace with the young master of the Sun family, the grandson of Shou'an Old Lady?"

  Madam Chen's face turned gloomy, and she said: "Your brother listened to your words and went to apologize to that Young Master Sun, but was ridiculed again, making your brother very depressed."

  "Why didn't you say so earlier?" Fu's mother's face sank, and she thought to herself: "Forget it, I'll have the old master go himself later. That young master Sun won't dare not show us respect this time! After all, we are also a first-rank Marquis of Valor appointed by the Emperor!"

  Su Ying returned to the main room, and Bai Zhi presented her with a cup of tea. She picked it up and took a light sip, and there was no longer any hint of gloom between her eyebrows. Lu Hui exchanged a worried glance with Bai Zhi, who then came over and said: "Madam, the steward sent someone to deliver a water lily potted landscape, saying that Master had specifically instructed it be given to you for decoration in your quarters. Where would you like to put it?"

  It's said to be a narcissus bonsai, but it's not actually a narcissus. Instead, it's an ivory-rooted, white-jade-flowered, and yellow-jade-stamened jade carving bonsai. The craftsmanship is exquisite, the colors are pure and correct, and at first glance, it's clear that it's extremely valuable. Su Ying took one look and fell in love with it, asking Bai Zhi to bring it over so she could admire it carefully.

  Lu Xiang and Bai Zhi exchanged a glance, both delighted for Su Ying. During this time, the mistress's temper had softened considerably, and her relationship with Master had also made progress. If it were like before, Master would not have sent gifts to please Mistress as frequently as he did now.

  However, in her heart, she also had hidden worries. The old lady was intentionally making things difficult for the madam, but with a sense of filial piety weighing on her, as a daughter-in-law, she could only grit her teeth and swallow her anger, hoping that once the madam gave birth to the Hou family's legitimate son, their situation would improve somewhat.

  Su Ying had never mentioned to Gui Yatou and the four maids that Fu Mu had been poisoning her for many years, causing her infertility and miscarriage. They all naively thought it was because Su Ying couldn't give birth to a legitimate son that she incurred her mother-in-law's dislike.

  Su Ying was indeed very happy with the narcissus pot landscape sent by Fu Yiyang, this is a good sign.

  The system, which had been silent for several days, lazily let out a yawn, paused in the middle, as if it was stretching its waist. Who knows what kind of image it is? It cheerfully opened its mouth: "Girl, don't you feel like we haven't seen each other for three autumns? I know you're shy, and I knew you missed me~"

  The metallic inorganic sound still makes Su Ying miss it a bit, but listening to Anser's words is better not telling him, [Why haven't you made a sound these past few days?]

  I knew you missed me, don't be shy to admit it. The system chuckled again and said, Since you're so eager to know what I've been up to these past few days, I'll reluctantly tell you then.

  I really didn't want to know that much.

  The system couldn't hear Su Ying's complaints, and it said proudly: "I've gone to great lengths to collect data. If you open the map now, you can see that the map is gradually expanding outward with the Yongwu Marquis' residence as its center. Given your current location, the highlighted sub-map is the Su family home, which is also your birthplace."

  Su Ying raised an eyebrow: "With your abilities, it takes you this long to light up a copy of the map? You're really working hard. I thought it would be a piece of cake for you."

  "Hmph! Say whatever you want. The system rarely doesn't blow up, originally I wanted to tell you a delightful piece of news, but since you're being so uncooperative, forget it."

  Su Ying really didn't think about it, she put the narcissus pot on the table and said to Bai Ju: "Put it on the red wooden three-legged carved flower round table by the bed in the inner room." She looked around the arrangement of the main house again. Originally, because she had discovered that all the decorations given by the old lady were soaked in medicine water that was not good for pregnant women, even a set of bowls and plates they used every day had residues. Su Ying borrowed the excuse that her mood was not good after having a miscarriage and didn't want to see festive colors, also so as not to alert anyone, she removed most of the decorations from the house, making the whole room look like a snow cave. Now even she herself felt desolate looking at it, and people's moods would definitely not improve after staying inside for a long time.

  Moreover, the play is almost over, Su Ying doesn't want to see anything that makes her think of people and things, making herself miserable. She instructs Lu Li and the others: "I think this room is a bit too shabby, not like it used to be. Go to the warehouse and find some elegant and bright decorations to put out. Forget about those old ones that were stored in the warehouse. I remember there's a white jade vase, that one will do."

  Su Ying leisurely ordered the maids to arrange this and that, the system was almost suffocated. This kind of "I have a secret, come and ask me, ah, why don't you ask" feeling is not wonderful. It coughed: [Since you asked, I'll tell you anyway.]

  Su Ying: 【……】

  Thank you zoeyhl for the reward, please collect (＝^^＝)