青春期撞上更年期第1部

Her face turned pale and colorless, but her lips were as red as blood, as if she were a bloodthirsty vampire. Such a sharp contrast was weird. Somehow, her previous delicate face looked a little spooky in Old Madam’s eyes, and her heart lurched with panic.

Suddenly Old Madam burst into a fit of temper. She was Shao Wanru’s grandmother and an elder. How dare she glares at her and talk to her like that?

The two old maids doing rough work had stopped and stepped aside, fearing Princess Chen would make them the first target.

Times passed and circumstances changed. All the servants of Marquis Xing’s Mansion understood this. None of them were courageous enough to offend her. Shao Wanru was not merely Fifth Miss Shao but Princess Chen.

Old Madam held a servant girl’s hands and left the carriage. “Shao Wanru, how could you speak so rudely to me?” fumed she.

“How about you show me how to say it?” Shao Wanru asked, not giving in an inch.

“Damn. How dare you! You are an unfilial wretch! Even if I fall into disgrace, I will expose your disobedient deeds. The royal family will discard you, an unruly daughter-in-law!” Old Madam scolded loudly.

She didn’t want to fall out with Shao Wanru. After all, Princess Chen was no longer whom she used to be. She heard Prince Chen was likely to become the crown prince of the Eastern Palace. In this way, Princess Chen might be the future empress.

However, she must suppress Shao Wanru at the moment. Otherwise, Shao Wanru wouldn’t benefit the Marquis Xing’s Mansion!

Pathetically, Old Madam still indulged in her wishful thinking.

“If you think I’m unfilial, you can ask the Empress Dowager to uphold justice for you.” Shao Wanru delivered a sharp warning. “Her Majesty will punish me if I defy you. But, if she thinks I’m right, she will stand on the side of justice and support me. Your Grace, please!”

Shao Wanru extended a hand, motioning Old Madam to go ahead, icy eyes on her.

“Great! How dare you threaten me with Her Majesty? You’re full-fledged, huh? That was why you dared to do such a thing! You’re unfilial to the core. If I had known it earlier, I wouldn’t have let my son marry your mother, an unfilial woman with rotten luck. As her daughter, you’re equally disobedient and unlucky!”

Old Madam swore loudly at Shao Wanru without thinking, her eyes spitting rage.

She had always been the decision-maker in the Marquis Xing’s Mansion. No one had ever talked back to her like this. Before this, Old Madam had been full of wonderful ideas. She deliberately came back earlier to discuss with her son how to strive for maximum benefits for the Marquis Xing’s Mansion and how to make better use of Shao Wanru.

She didn’t expect to meet Shao Wanru as soon as she returned to the mansion.

She had thought it was a good thing, which then went wrong.

Complaining to the Empress Dowager? How dare she do that? The Empress Dowager had driven her out of the mansion as a punishment. Now, she made trouble again when she had just returned home. It would make the Empress Dowager bristle with rage.

“My mother was unlucky and unfilial, but do you dare to broadcast it at the gate?” Shao Wanru refuted harshly.

“You… you… unfilial little slut, worse than an ungrateful and vicious beast. I…” Old Madam was so furious that she staggered. After she fell heavily to the ground, she rolled her eyes and fainted.

Zhao Xiran and Nanny Yu ran over in a hurry. One pinched the dimple in the middle of her upper lip, and the other bawled her name on the side. It took them a lot of effort to wake her up.

Shao Wanru looked on coldly, neither walking away nor stepping forward. What a coincidence! Old Madam passed out on the ground just in time. Even when looking at her in the distance, Shao Wanru could see Old Madam’s eyes occasionally move under closed lids — she was awake.

“Your Highness, no matter how wrong Old Madam is, she is your elder and gave birth to your father. Do you bear to see her faint from anger? It’s not good if words about such a shameful scene get out!”

Finally, Old Madam woke up. Nanny Yu instantly took a few steps forward to persuade Shao Wanru.

As soon as Old Madam woke up, she burst into tears regardless of her dignity. While wailing, she shouted out loud, “My poor son…”

She cried with pain, talking bout how many hardships she had suffered to raise Shao Wanru’s father.

“Did she faint from anger? Who saw it?” Shao Wanru asked flatly with sarcasm in her eyes, watching Old Madam acting. Old Madam should always sit up high in a leading position in Marquis Xing’s Mansion. However, she sat on the ground, crying loudly with abandon like a shrew.

“My Lady, let’s go back to our mansion. Who cares whether Old Madam has blacked out or not? Anyway, it has nothing to do with us. We didn’t see her along the way and happened to miss her.” Yujie was clearly lying through her teeth. It seemed she wasn’t frightened of people in the Marquis Xing’s Mansion stirring up trouble.

“My Lady, don’t get mad. Some people may live long, but their seemingly noble lives are as worthless as dirt!”

Qing’er echoed and squinted at Old Madam, itchy for a fight. After all, she was better at fighting than arguing with others. According to Prince Chen, she could beat anyone against Princess Chen, and he would take the consequences.

But since Princess Chen didn’t allow her to take action, she could only wait aside quietly.

Old Madam’s face was livid, and she almost fell unconscious for real. But after Shao Wanru dropped the questions, she bypassed her and walked to the carriage with two servant girls. Seeing this, Old Madam gritted her teeth with hatred. “Sure enough. Her mother is Infanta Qinghua. How could a slut’s daughter be good?” How Old Madam wished Infanta Qinghua could appear before her right now! So, Old Madam could slap her hard a few times to vent her anger.

“Go… Go to stop… Stop her!” Old Madam said with difficulty, feeling dizzy. Her limbs convulsed.

Nanny Yu looked at Shao Wanru and then at Old Madam. Helplessly, she took a few steps forward and caught up with Shao Wanru. “Your Highness, please check on my master. She is in an awful condition!”

Shao Wanru ignored her and continued her way.

Nanny Yu, burning with impatience, took a few quick steps forward and approached Shao Wanru’s carriage. She reached out to stop Shao Wanru, but Yujie exerted a little strength and pulled her away. Nanny Yu swirled around and finally managed to stop by holding a tree aside.

The two servant girls helped Shao Wanru get on the carriage, and the carriage sped away.

“Shao… Shao Wanru… you… you…” Old Madam’s lips trembled, and her face was ashen. She pointed at the carriage’s back but couldn’t finish a sentence in a cold shiver.

“Young Madam, hurry… hurry up and get a doctor…” Nanny Yu knew at a glance that Old Madam was in critical condition. She dashed over while ordering Zhao Xiran loudly.

Zhao Xiran frowned unhappily. No matter how much Old Madam favored her, Nanny Yu was merely a servant. How could she audaciously command her?

However, since Old Madam looked dreadful, Zhao Xiran suppressed the anger in her heart and turned around. She ordered her servants to go to the third branch and invite the imperial physician over to examine Old Madam. Zhao Xiran came here because she heard Shao Wanru had asked an imperial physician to treat Third Madam.

In a great bustle, the few servants carried Old Madam into the Chuntang Courtyard.

The imperial physician had been waiting there. After feeling Old Madam’s pulse, he asked someone to bring over a set of needles. After having acupuncture for some time, Old Madam finally got better.

Zhao Xiran accompanied the imperial physician to the wing room, waiting for him to write a prescription. When it was ready, the imperial physician said, “Old Madam in your mansion showed signs of a stroke. She should be nursed well. Otherwise, she may easily have a stroke. I happened to be here this time. If no one gave her timely treatment, it would be troublesome!”

“Just now, Old Madam and Fifth Sister had a dispute. This critical situation won’t happen again!” Zhao Xiran said helplessly, knitting her finely arched eyebrows, “Sir, could you… ”

“Young Madam, I have something to do in the Palace, so I can’t stay any longer. Just fill the prescription and take good care of her. Older people are prone to have a stroke. Her sufferings have nothing to do with others. Perhaps, she had an unhealthy diet and lacked physical exercise. Anyway, she is too old to maintain health.”

The imperial physician interrupted Zhao Xiran, shaking his head. After handing over the prescription, he turned to leave with the medicine chest on his back.

He didn’t want to know what had happened in the Marquis Xing’s Mansion, let alone get involved. No matter what happened to Princess Chen, he didn’t care.

He was an imperial physician, not a court official of the Ministry of Justice, so he didn’t want to figure out the whole story. Old Madam of the Marquis Xing’s Mansion was difficult to deal with. He had heard in the Palace that Old Madam was unkind. It was not strange that she quarreled with Princess Chen. He also heard Old Madam had never treated Princess Chen sincerely as her granddaughter.

As for the Young Madam of the Marquis Xing’s Mansion, she looked bright, but there were plenty of smart people in the Palace!

No matter how honest the imperial physician was, he wouldn’t testify for the Marquis Xing’s Mansion.

Princess Chen irritated Old Madam of the Marquis Xing’s Mansion, who nearly had a stroke. There was absolutely nothing to be gained by saying that. Prince Chen was the last person the imperial physician wanted to provoke!

With the prescription in her hand, Zhao Xiran saw the imperial physician run away in a panic, and her face darkened. She didn’t expect the imperial physician to be such a coward. Before this, she had planned to use him and put pressure on Shao Wanru.

...

“Young Madam!” Qiu Yue, her personal maid, came over and whispered.

Zhao Xiran lowered her head to see the prescription in her hand, silently raising the corners of her mouth. Then, she walked to the window and picked up the writing brush used by the imperial physician just now. After thinking for a while, she added another kind of medicine. When she finished, she carefully checked the new line of characters in the imperial physician’s handwriting. In silence, a trace of darkness flickered across her eyes.

It would be best if this old woman couldn’t get up. Of course, Zhao Xiran didn’t want her to die because she needed Old Madam to deal with her father-in-law’s mistress. Thus, it would be good if she could lie in bed and rest!

“Get the herbs in this prescription!” Zhao Xiran raised the prescription in her hand and ordered.

Qiu Yue understood and nodded. With the prescription, she went out to look for Nanny Yu. She had better not fill the prescription. If anything went seriously wrong, she couldn’t get away.

Only a few people close to Zhao Xiran knew she had medical skills.

Nanny Yu took the prescription. After a quick scan through it, she sent someone to go to the pharmacy and get the medicine. When everyone was in a rush, Shao Jing heard the news and hurried to the Chuntang Courtyard.

“Greetings, Father!” Zhao Xiran came out of the wing room and bowed to Shao Jing when seeing him.

Shao Jing impatiently waved her away and went straight into the room in the middle. Nanny Yu welcomed him in and retreated to the door. When she saw Zhao Xiran standing at the door of the wing room, she smiled uneasily and explained in a low voice, “Old Madam is not feeling well and doesn’t want too many people in her room!”