Volume 1 Chapter 83 Don't Want A Pair

  Chapter 83 Don't be a pair

  Zhang thought, "Four wives have heard quite a lot. At this time, she said, 'How can he be allowed to say what he wants? You don't need to worry about it, I will dispel his idea myself. Tomorrow, we are going to receive Mò Zǐ (Ink Purple), and my heart has been uncomfortable all along. If we were to receive another Bái Hé (White Lotus), you would think I am short-lived. Sending away one, but instead keeping two to annoy me. Mò Zǐ is still okay, but Bái Hé is a maid who grew up in the mansion since childhood. Old Five has seen many faces before and never took notice of her, how did he suddenly take a liking to her? Most likely it's that maid being shameless and seducing my son."

  Jiang Suxin and Bai He had a passing conversation, if it wasn't for Qi Si taking a liking to Mo Zi, she would have preferred the kind-hearted and innocent Bai He. As for appearance, there was nothing to pick on, her beauty was like a flower, one glance and you knew she was a proper and virtuous young lady from a good family, unlike Ai Lian and Lao Wu's usual playful maidservants, each with flirtatious eyes and bodies, with a seductive air about them. Why would Bai He want to entice the flirtatious and useless Qi Wu? Her family's daughter was getting married into the Wang household in a few days, and as a maid accompanying her, she might even serve the young masters of the Wang household in the future. It was probably an unintentional encounter that caught Qi Wu's eye, making him remember her.

  But Jiang Suxin would never say this to her mother-in-law, and just smiled in response.

  "Right, you were looking for me?" Since Jiang Suxin had heard so much, she must have been waiting for a long time and was definitely here for something. "If it's about Mozi, don't bother saying anything. When she gets back, I'll tell San Niang to send the date over to your place."

  "This matter is handled by the lady of the house, and the daughter-in-law doesn't care about it." Jiang Suxin said this with an indifferent tone.

  Zhang was surprised and puzzled. At first, when Jiang Suxin asked her to help Old Fourth take Mozi as a concubine, she had spoken in a straightforward manner, not giving Zhang a chance to object. Now, however, before anyone had even agreed, Jiang Suxin seemed to have lost interest. Was this determination or a change of heart?

  "What did you come here for? Could it be that she showed the dowry list to Third Lady, and she wasn't satisfied with it, so she gave you a dirty look?" It's possible. The eighty trunks that were hastily put together only had half of each trunk filled, and all the things inside were old, useless items from the warehouse that no one wanted. Calculated together, they didn't even add up to three thousand taels of silver. As for shops or estates, she hadn't given any. I heard Old Master gave two places, but in her heart, she knew the difference - those were all ancestral properties passed down through the Qiu family that had long been abandoned. If it were her, she would have made a fuss too."

  "Third Girl looked at the list, didn't say anything, just thanked me and my wife for our trouble." Everyone says that Third Girl's temper is as fierce as fire, but Jiang Suxin thinks otherwise. She remembers Third Girl's expression after looking at the list, a subtle smile, already anticipating and calmly dealing with Zhang's various difficulties, completely unbothered by her arrogance. At that time, she thought that this was indeed the kind of woman who had been chosen to marry into the Wang family, with an extraordinary demeanor.

  Zhang heard that Qiu San Niang did not accept the silver from Jiang Suixin, and then heard that Qiu San Niang looked at the dowry list like that and still said a thank you to herself, couldn't help but frown, feeling inappropriate, yet couldn't think of where it was inappropriate.

  "She wouldn't have any ideas, would she?" Zhang's family was somewhat displeased with Jiang Su, but after all, she was the daughter-in-law he trusted.

  "It's not necessarily a good idea, but rather too proud to complain. After all, this marriage is not picky, and the wife has also nodded in agreement, she should be grateful instead." Jiang Suxin didn't come here to figure out Qiu San Niang's thoughts either. The person who is going to get married can't threaten herself. "Madam, I've come to ask for your help with something."

  Zhang thought, what a good thing, and asked her to take a look. Then, Jiang Suxin took out a sachet from his sleeve, with the opening facing down on the pear wood plate, and poured out a small ball.

  A small golden ball with hollow carved patterns, in the middle of which is a sandalwood Buddhist rosary that has been opened. The small ball is tied with a lake blue silk tassel, and on top hangs a double-snake-twisted gold chain.

  Zhang's familiarity with it was because this golden orb was personally bought by her as a birthday gift for Qiu Wu, wishing him peace and safety.

  "This golden orb is the real deal, how did it end up in your hands? I've told you so many times, this year must be carried with me at all times to ward off evil and disasters. Old Fifth's wife is also not helping, letting him make a mess." The mother-in-law's protective nature, everything bad is the daughter-in-law's fault.

  "I picked it up." Jiang Suxin's face was gloomy, her eyes sharp and piercing, "Along with this sachet, the golden ball of my fifth brother is inside the sachet."

  Zhang didn't need to look closely, but seeing the embroidered mandarin ducks on the sachet knew it was a woman's. He raised his eyes again and saw Jiang Suxin's face turn pale to an extreme degree, secretly thinking "this is bad". Could it be that this son of his had hooked up with some maid from the fourth house, casually giving away the golden ball to someone, but letting Jiang Suxin notice? This son of his was really too reckless, just now he was still here making a fuss about wanting Bai He, yet he gave such an expensive thing to another maid.

  "Perhaps it was the real one that was lost, and it was given to the servant girl in his house to take care of, but then those foolish servant girls took it outside and forgot to bring it back. Luckily you found it, or else who knows who would have picked it up and exchanged it for money." Zhang Shi stretched out her hand to take the golden ball.

  Jiang Suxin, however, clutched it tightly in her palm, "Don't be anxious, madam, take a look at whose sachet this is?"

  Zhang was not very happy, what's going on, is she going to pursue herself? Even if Qu Wu touched her dowry hairpin, it's just a hairpin. At most, let Zheng Er lift her hairpin as a concubine, why does she have to look at her face?

  "Pure heart, what does this mean? You also know that he is fond of playing and loves to get involved in romantic affairs. However, he is still young and his character has not been established yet, after a few years of fooling around, he will naturally settle down. If he has flirted with your daughter, you have every right to be angry, tell me about it, I won't wrong her either. But if you want to pursue this matter endlessly, isn't that going too far?"

  "My wife is being unfair to me. If my fifth brother likes those silly maids of mine, it's their good fortune. But this sachet..." Jiang Suxin's dowry maid was handpicked by her mother from her hometown, capable and clever but not pretty at all.

  Jiang Suxin hadn't finished speaking when Zhang's wife hastily picked up the sachet and examined it. The embroidery was extremely fine and also very familiar.

  A pair of mandarin ducks, a twin lotus, and a patch of wormwood by the water's edge.

  She hastily called Aiqing to come and take out a pair of new pillowcases from the inner room for comparison. Except for the absence of the Mandarin ducks, the embroidery patterns of lotus flowers and mugwort were identical to those on the sachet.

  Mrs., isn't this Elain's sachet?

  Zhang was as if struck by five thunderbolts, momentarily stunned, his mouth moving silently for half a day, his whole body trembling.

  Jiang Suxin pushed aside the branches of the apricot tree, got up and walked forward, gently patted Zhang's back and said, "Madam, don't worry too much, or you'll hurt your body. After all, what happened still needs to be carefully investigated."

  Zhang's eyes turned black and she almost fainted, but managed to recover with great difficulty. She pushed Jiang Suxin away, collapsed onto the soft couch, gritted her teeth and said, "What else do you need to investigate? The evidence is clear, that little slut has no shame, actually seducing my younger brother-in-law. You... where did you pick this up?" Despite scolding like this, she still held a glimmer of hope, after all, Ailian had been her most trusted maid.

  "I was in..." Jiang Suxin looked at Zhang Shi's well-maintained face and suddenly saw an old look, not knowing whether to continue or not.

  "Zhang's eyes snapped open, with a fierce determination."

  Jiang Su's heart didn't dare to hesitate, saying, "In Ailian's room. She wasn't feeling well this morning, I went to take a look at her, sitting in the main hall, and suddenly this sachet fell from the beam. The sachet wasn't tied tightly, and the golden ball rolled out. Not just me, but all the maids saw it too, their eyes wide with surprise. However, I've already instructed them not to speak carelessly. This golden ball, I'm certain I've seen it at Fifth Brother's place before, but I'm afraid of misremembering, so I came over to ask you, Madam."

  "What's in Ailian's belly..." She didn't want to think about it, but couldn't help thinking. Zhang was so angry that her voice trembled, "Does your husband not know what's going on in his own heart? And have you helped him calculate the days?"

  "Madam, now that it's come to this, I can no longer hide the truth from you. The master has not been to Ailian's room many times, and each time he had to be persuaded by me to go. After the new year, he hardly let Ailian serve him at all. When Ailian became pregnant, the master asked me about it, because he didn't remember going into her room. I remembered one time, though. That day, the master was drunk and I happened to be having my period, so I was afraid of disturbing him and had the maids take him to Ailian's room instead. I thought it was probably that time, but when I told the master about it, he couldn't recall anything at all."

  "It's really confusing, how can I still not remember this?" Zhang thought of sitting up, but her whole body was weak.

  "Madam, don't be in a hurry. With just one golden ball and an incense pouch, it's not necessarily anything." These words sounded unbelievable even to Jiang Suxin herself.

  "Of course, Zhang was even more disbelieving. 'You don't need to persuade me. If it were the other way around, and someone told me that Ming'er and a maid from the fifth house were secretly meeting, I wouldn't believe it either.' But since it's Rong'er, she thought he was young and foolish, and any maid who could play with him wasn't anything serious anyway, so she let them fool around in the garden. This little vixen Ailian, although I spoiled her, I saw through her cleverness. If Ming'er didn't enter her room, she must want to have someone to rely on. 'Mother relies on son' is a principle that has been followed since ancient times. With her skills, it would be easy for her to seduce Rong'er. But I really didn't think she dared to think and do such a thing. Although she's just a concubine, equal to Ming'er as a wife, having an affair with Rong'er would still be a violation of moral principles. If it's really true..."

  Mr. Zhang suddenly couldn't catch his breath, his heart aching with anxiety, and sweat all over his face.

  "Madam, don't worry." Jiang Suxin hastily massaged her, now unable to intervene, having to follow his mother-in-law's lead.

  "If that's really the case, then Ailian's child in her belly can't be kept either... and..." Zhang didn't finish what she was saying, her eyes were cold and harsh, without a hint of sympathy.

  Jiang Suxin was also a capable woman, and in some ways she was even stronger than Zhang. However, when it came to dealing with this kind of thing, she was still a young lady who had never been married before, and seeing the expression on Zhang's face made her feel a sense of trepidation. But she was also very clear that if she showed weakness now, the reputation of the Qu family would be ruined. Especially for the several daughters in the family who were waiting to get married, it was likely that they would not even have a chance at a good marriage.

  She calmed down and said to Zhang, "Madam, in my opinion, don't disturb Ailian for now. What if the child in her belly is Master's? Wouldn't it be a pity to abort it? Why not ask Fifth Brother first? He wants you to adopt Baihe, doesn't he? You can use this as an opportunity to test the waters. Besides, Fifth Brother is filial, and he won't dare deceive you if you ask him."

  Jiang Suxin helped Qiu Wu to put on a filial piety flag, making Zhangshi slightly better off. In fact, her youngest son was so shameless that he had messed around with whoever she asked, and as long as she asked, he would acknowledge it without any qualms.

  Send someone to call back Qi Wu who just left, and Zhang Shi recites Buddha in her heart for peace and safety.

  A swallow in spring, with wings brushing against the wind, suddenly retracted and dived into a secluded corner of the emerald lake, disappearing from sight.

  Today's first update.

  Chapter 83 Don't Want A Pair

  Chapter 83 Don't be greedy, go to the website