The daily life of a concubine's daughter

The Duke's wife settled the lawsuit against Song Lanshannai, held Fu Nanjun's hand, and returned to Lanpeiyuan with spirits up.

At the gate of Lanpei Courtyard, masters and servants came and went, some came to visit the sick, some came to deliver precious and nourishing medicinal materials, doctors and maids surrounded Shi Mingzhu, making this spacious courtyard crowded.

Everyone spoke in low voices, trying to speak as little as possible so as not to disturb the unconscious Shi Mingzhu.

The Duke's wife paused and glanced towards Guanju Courtyard next door.

Guanju Courtyard was deserted, with only an old woman sitting at the door basking in the sun and dozing off.

A hint of contempt appeared in her eyes. She straightened her fox fur collar and stepped into Lanpei Courtyard.

There were about ten people sitting in the flower hall. All the young and old masters of the Duke's Mansion who were not required to work were here. Anxiety appeared on their faces, but they were quiet and not a single cough was heard.

Fu Nanjun bowed his head and bowed, then quickly walked into the warm room, leaving his mother-in-law Zheng behind.

The old Duke asked in a deep voice, "Old Master's wife, what can you find out from the interrogation?"

The old Duke had experienced many battles in the battlefield when he was young, and even though his face looked calm, he had an aura that came from years of accumulation and a sense of majesty without even getting angry.

The Duke's wife looked ashamed: "My daughter-in-law apologizes to the old master and the old lady. After investigation, it was found that the two maids chosen by my daughter-in-law were not dedicated. A maid named Songlan spit into the medicine of the second girl. When the second girl woke up, she saw it and forced Songlan to drink the contaminated medicine. Songlan only drank one mouthful and vomited continuously. She knelt down and begged for mercy.

Mingwu's wife happened to see them. She asked them a few questions, but they stammered and couldn't explain clearly. Mingwu's wife was frightened, fearing that someone had poisoned the medicine to harm the second girl, so she hurried to report to her daughter-in-law.

After the daughter-in-law found out the whole story, she ordered someone to beat the sanglan ten times and the other servant, Shannai, five times as a punishment. She hoped that they would remember the rules of respect and inferiority and not break them again in the future. When their injuries healed, they must remember to serve their master well.

Although every word in this speech was true, it avoided the main point and pointed the finger at Shi Yao.

There was no mention of this in his words. When Song Lan was interrogated, he insisted that he was venting Shi Mingzhu's anger.

Shi Yao's father, the Third Master Shi Jian'an frowned, stood up, and bowed to the Duke's wife: "This commotion has caused everyone to worry and has caused so much trouble. It turns out that the second girl is making a fuss and killing someone with a borrowed knife. It's my fault for not disciplining her, and it's my fault for tiring the eldest sister-in-law."

After that, he turned to the old Duke, his face full of righteousness, and said in a sonorous voice, "Father, the second girl grew up in the market and the countryside, she is vulgar and barbaric, she doesn't know etiquette, and she will take revenge for the slightest grievance. It is better to move her to the movie theater in the back and send two old maids to teach her the rules. After she learns the rules, we can talk about marriage.

Otherwise, if she gets married with this kind of personality, she will bring shame to our Duke's Mansion when she goes to her husband's house in the future. And now, she wants to take someone's life for a little dirty thing. This is not a good relationship, but a huge feud."

The Duke's wife picked up her handkerchief and pressed the corners of her lips.

This was not instigated by the Taoist priest she hired, but by Shi Yao's own father who disliked her and forced her to move out of Guanju Courtyard.

After hearing what Shi Jian'an said, the old Duke nodded. The third son was sensible and was glad that no one had poisoned her. He said with a slightly relaxed expression, "It was as it should be. Don't blame the second girl too much. No one taught her before. Now that she has returned to the capital, we will teach her carefully, teach her the rules and manners, and slowly change her temper."

Others nodded.

Don’t blame them for being biased, it’s Shi Yao herself who is not likable.

Just in response to the Taoist's words, they can feel more at ease with Zhuzhu. It's not them who are bullying Shi Yao, it's her own fault.

Everyone in the flower hall secretly breathed a sigh of relief and felt at ease with Shi Yao's move to another courtyard.

The Duke's wife hesitated and sighed, "Old Master, I'm afraid it won't work for the second girl to move to another courtyard. Your daughter-in-law has something else to report."

The old Duke frowned and said, "Just tell me straight."

The Duke's wife spoke awkwardly, "The second girl said that if we invite a Taoist priest, it might be associated with witchcraft, so why not let her stay for two days? If Zhuzhu recovers, the Taoist priest is just talking nonsense. If Zhuzhu's condition worsens, it won't be too late for her to move out later."

After saying that, her eyes turned red and she lowered her head to wipe away her tears.

Before the old Duke could say anything, Shi Jianan slapped the armrest of his chair and said angrily, "Is this girl possessed? Bringing her to the capital was supposed to honor her, give her dignity, and give her a good family, but she turned her kindness into enmity and made random connections! Is a courtyard more important, or is her sister's life more important?

Two days! She said it so easily. How could a delicate girl like Zhuzhu endure two days of wasting time? She is so careless that she only cares about the wealth and glory in front of her! Move, she must move today!"

Some people looked angry, while others looked thoughtful.

Shi Yao's "threat" was obviously effective.

The old Duke pondered for a moment and said, "Give her one night at most. If Zhuzhu doesn't wake up tomorrow morning, I will make the decision. You, the eldest daughter-in-law, can have someone change the courtyard for the second girl."

The Duke's wife sobbed and bowed, "Thank you for your kindness, old master. It's not that I am cruel, but as a mother, I have to bear the blame even if there is only a glimmer of hope, as long as my children can get better. When Zhuzhu is well again, I will bring her to apologize to the second girl and thank her for her kindness."

Shi Jianan snorted coldly.

How could a bastard girl who was raised by a concubine have good intentions when she doesn't care about her cousin's life or death?

He could even guess how her aunt had instilled in her hatred of the Duke's relatives since she was a child.

*

In the warm room, Fu Nanjun said this and that, and her words were almost the same as those of her mother-in-law.

All the women in the room had red eyes, but they didn't cry out loud for fear of disturbing Shi Mingzhu.

The lady said helplessly, "She grew up in the market and was raised by a concubine. She only looks gorgeous on the outside, but inside... that's all. Yao girl doesn't have much knowledge. Her mind and bearing can't be compared with the ladies in the capital. She is a little petty. Teach her slowly."

Everyone was wiping their tears when the Duke's wife came in and told them the old man's decision. Everyone felt relieved.

The most troubled person should be Fu Nanjun.

Since she got married, she followed her mother-in-law to learn how to manage things. Her mother-in-law asked her to do all the dirty and bad things.

This time is no exception.

Normally, she would trip up the servants and suppress the wives of minor officials, but Shi Yao was different.

Shi Yao was the daughter of a legitimate Duke. She saw how much the Shi family doted on their daughter.

She originally thought that Shi Yao's treatment after returning to the Duke's Mansion would not be as good as Shi Mingzhu's, but at least half of Shi Mingzhu's, right?

As a result, it was not even as good as Shi Mingzhu's little finger.

When the time came, she couldn't help but back off.

What she was afraid of was that if one day everyone in the Duke's Mansion started to favor Shi Yao again, and she was implicated, her mother-in-law would be completely blamed, and wouldn't she be blamed by everyone?

Because the old Duke had spoken, she thought she could stay out of it.

However, during dinner, her mother-in-law hinted to her again that it would be better to behave while Shi Yao was unconscious, so as to prevent her from making noises and disturbing Shi Mingzhu who was recuperating next door, and to prevent the servants from gossiping about her.

Fu Nanjun secretly groaned and had to come to Guanjuyuan again. He first talked about the punishment for Isatis and Kaempferia galanga.

Shi Yao patted her chest and said, "It turned out to be just a mouthful of spit. I thought they had poisoned me and scared me. I thought it was like what the storyteller said, that the political enemies of the mansion had sent people to assassinate the master of the Duke's Mansion."

"Who dares to be so arrogant under the feet of the emperor?" Fu Nanjun smiled.

Without delving into the truth of Shi Yao's words, her mother-in-law said that Shi Yao knew about Song Lan's behavior, and everyone thought so. There was no reason for her to stand up and defend Shi Yao and bring trouble upon herself.

She pointed at a maid she had brought with her. "Her name is Qiushi, she is my eldest maid, and she is usually very honest and loyal. Sister knows that the mansion is in chaos and there is no suitable person for the time being. So I asked Qiushi to serve you, and I will feel more at ease."

Shi Yao nodded: "Thank you for your concern, sister-in-law."

Fu Nanjun was restless and left after just a few words. He gave Qiushi a wink before leaving.

Shi Yao only thought that she was safe temporarily.

After hearing her "threat", the people in the Duke's Mansion might as well dislike her. But from the moment Shi Mingzhu pushed her into the water, all the members of the Shi family, who were the favorites of Shi Mingzhu, stood against her.

What does it have to do with her if they are upset and frustrated?

She was even more upset and frustrated.

Because of the incident of Song Lan spitting, Shi Yao suffered a psychological trauma. She had a high fever and could not sleep peacefully. She would wake up at the slightest noise in the room.

When Qiu Shi opened the window in the middle of the night, cold wind blew in through the bed curtains, and Shi Yao woke up with a startle.

Through the gap in the curtains, she saw Qiu Shi walking towards her from the wide-open window, holding a lantern that could kill people.

Qiu Shi stretched his head to look inside, and seeing that she had her eyes closed, he opened the curtain a little.

Perhaps out of fear of insecurity, he reached out and pulled the quilt down, revealing Shi Yao's shoulders.

After doing all this, Qiushi looked around, left stealthily, went into the compartment, closed the doors and windows tightly, and lay down in the bed with his eyes open.

After a while, when there was no noise outside, Shi Yao opened her eyes.

She closed the bed curtains tightly and covered herself with the quilt, but the cold wind still came in like needles from somewhere and drilled into her head. She was so cold that she shivered all over and her mind was not very clear.

His hoarse throat was in terrible pain, and he uttered intermittently with a hint of sobs: "The Book of Merits... Let Sister-in-law Fu Nanjun... be reborn!"