Chapter 1181 - Chapter 1181 A Backup Trick
Madam Jiang’s face turned livid and gloomy. She bit her lower lip hard with her teeth so hard that they almost cut into her flesh. “Shao Jing!”
Zhao Xiran lowered her head and stood there quietly. She had delivered the message. If Madam Jiang was not really crazy, she should know what it meant.
A man couldn’t have two secondary legal wives, and Madam Jiang took the position of a secondary legal wife first. But what if something happened to Madam Jiang? Then what reason did she have to not let that woman marry into the family?
She had a good status, was a down-and-out Young Madam from an aristocratic family, and had a daughter. This daughter should not have been engaged yet. The Misses of Marquis Xing’s Mansion were all good-looking, so this one should be not bad either. She should be more promising than Shao Yanru, who had died. Duke Xing’s Mansion had always been ambitious.
Since she had these conditions, if Old Madam did not object and Shao Jing insisted on bringing her in, no one could say anything about it.
“Shao Jing… Shao Jing, you bitch!” Madam Jiang cursed fiercely again, and her voice became colder and colder. She wished that Shao Jing could appear in front of her now. She would definitely scratch his face.
She managed the affairs for him in the mansion, but he actually had kept a mistress for so many years. At this moment, he even wanted to give up her position to this woman.
Originally, with her children and especially her daughter around, Madam Jiang felt that it was impossible for Shao Jing to really discard her. She was okay with being a secondary legal wife, and her daughter would definitely make her get back to being the first legal wife in the future.
After she was locked up, she didn’t have any source of information. Shao Jing had blocked every piece of news outside from her, and she didn’t know that he would do this now.
“Ask Shao Jing to come and see me!” Madam Jiang said angrily and walked up to Zhao Xiran in a few steps.
“Mother, I… I can’t do that. I came to see you secretly today. We can’t let Father know. Otherwise, he won’t spare me!” Zhao Xiran shook her head and refused.
She had long thought that Madam Jiang might order her to do this, so she was not surprised by Madam Jiang’s words. But it was impossible for her to really go to Shao Jing. As a daughter-in-law, even if she was not happy, she could not really confront her father-in-law.
Smack! Zhao Xiran was slapped so hard that she took two steps back and almost fell. Fortunately, her servant girl hurriedly supported her.
“You’re so useless. If I had known that you were so useless, I wouldn’t have let Hua’an marry you at that time. Any Young Madam from any mansion is better than you. Look at what you’ve done in Duke Xing’s Mansion. The whole mansion has declined because of you… You’re a jinx. Hua’an is so unlucky to have married you!” Madam Jiang pointed at Zhao Xiran with one finger and cursed, viciously blaming everything on her.
Zhao Xiran stood straight. After listening to Madam Jiang’s scolding, she said coldly, “Mother, if you keep scolding me, I won’t come over again. Take care of yourself!”
After that, she turned around and was about to leave.
“Wait!” Before Madam Jiang could finish her words, she saw that Zhao Xiran was about to leave. She took a few steps forward, grabbed Zhao Xiran’s hand, and pulled her back fiercely. “You need to go to someone.”
“Who?” Zhao Xiran lowered her head and didn’t look at Madam Jiang, nor did she struggle. Madam Jiang had managed Marquis Xing’s Mansion for so many years, so it couldn’t be that she only had a few trusted subordinates on the surface. At present, it was just inconvenient for her to meet them.
“Go to Nanny Wang, who is in charge of flowers and trees in the inner court…” Speaking of this, Madam Jiang looked at Zhao Xiran suspiciously. She didn’t trust Zhao Xiran very much, but now she had no one else to use. Even her son didn’t come to see her. At present, except for Zhao Xiran, she had no one else to rely on.
“Go to Nanny Wang and ask her to investigate this matter!”
“She’s just a servant in charge of flowers and trees. What’s the use of her?” Zhao Xiran asked calmly.
Even the Nanny in charge of the inner court was better than a servant in charge of flowers and trees. How could Nanny Wang be so capable?
Zhao Xiran had been in the mansion for so long, and she knew all the famous servants. She had never cared who Nanny Wang was, who was in charge of flowers and trees. It could be seen that Nanny Wang was not a useful servant.
Madam Jiang gritted her teeth and said with hatred, “You don’t need to worry about whether she can come in handy or not. Just send this news to her and let her investigate it. She is in charge of flowers and plants. From time to time, she would add some flowers and plants to the mansion or transplant them. It’s much more convenient for her than other nannies of the inner court to go in and out of the mansion. I asked her to investigate this before, but she didn’t find out at that time.”
She remembered that when she was locked up in the family temple, Shao Wanru had said that Shao Jing had a mistress. She didn’t believe it at that time and asked her son and daughter to investigate it. At that time, she had a conflict with her daughter, so her daughter didn’t come to see her. Her son came over, but he didn’t believe what she said and thought that it was groundless.
Although he agreed to investigate later, he probably didn’t take it seriously.
Madam Jiang asked Nanny Wang to investigate this matter in private. At first, she said that she didn’t find anything, but Madam Jiang didn’t believe her and asked Nanny Wang to continue the investigation.
After that, many things happened, so she forgot about it and did not go to Nanny Wang anymore.
“Yes, Mother. I’ll go back first!” Zhao Xiran said calmly as if she hadn’t been slapped by Madam Jiang before.
“Okay. If you have any news, you must send me a message. When Ru’er… becomes mighty and gains power in the future, I will reward you and won’t blame you anymore,” Madam Jiang said, showing that she wanted to reconcile with Zhao Xiran. Her expression also softened a little, and she looked as if she had returned to her usual self.
She had thought about it just now. At present, there was no one to help her except Zhao Xiran. If Zhao Xiran could take her side, even if she was locked up, the information she got would not be so limited.
“Yes, Mother!” Zhao Xiran didn’t say that something had happened to Shao Yanru. After bowing to Madam Jiang, she left with her servant girl.
Standing outside the wall, Zhao Xiran looked at the side door, which was tightly closed, and reached out to touch her burning face. There was a little hatred on her face. How could she bear no grudge against Madam Jiang? Not to mention that Madam Jiang had scolded her so many times upon seeing her, Zhao Xiran couldn’t reconcile with her sincerely because Madam Jiang had hurt her child.
Zhao Xiran wished that something bad could happen to Madam Jiang and that woman, and it would be best if they could die.
“Eldest Young Madam…” The servant girl looked around and reminded Zhao Xiran timidly that it was not appropriate for her to stay there any longer. It would be troublesome if someone saw her and reported it to the Marquis.
Zhao Xiran nodded and returned to the yard with her servant girl.
The water lilies in the yard had been planted. The old maid sent by Prince Chen’s Mansion was teaching the servant girls in the yard the experience of planting water lilies and helping them carefully remove a few withered leaves.
When they saw Zhao Xiran coming in, they immediately stepped aside and said goodbye to her.
Zhao Xiran nodded with a smile and asked them to take it to pass on her gratitude to Shao Wanru. It couldn’t be told that she had been beaten just now. When she entered the door, she asked the servant girl she kept to check it. Although her face was a little red, it was not really swollen. If people didn’t pay attention, they wouldn’t see it. In the Marquis Xing’s Mansion, no one would have thought that she, the First Young Madam of the mansion, would be beaten.
After saying a few polite words, Zhao Xiran asked someone to send the servants of Prince Chen’s Mansion away. She sat in the room, pinched her handkerchief, and pondered. Coincidentally, there was a vat of water lilies outside the window, which stood gracefully in front of her. With the wind blowing, they rose and fell gently, which appeared elegant and a little charming.
Zhao Xiran suddenly sneered and gently pressed her handkerchief on the corner of her mouth. Her face was fine, but there was a faint smell of blood on the corner of her lips. Just now, Madam Jiang had slapped her so hard that the corner of her mouth had cracked slightly.
“Bring Nanny Wang in charge of flowers and trees here!” Zhao Xiran pressed the corner of her mouth and felt a dull pain.
“Yes, Young Madam. I’ll go get her right away!” the servant girl answered.
Zhao Xiran, who was sitting alone by the window, suddenly laughed.
“When the First Young Madam of Marquis Xing’s Mansion came back, her face was a little red and her hairpin was a little loose. I think she seemed to have been slapped.” An old maid reported.
Shao Wanru pondered for a moment and asked, “Did she go out for a long time?”
The old maid thought for a while and said, “About 15 minutes.” The servant girls and the old maids were about to leave after putting down the water lilies, but they saw the Eldest Young Madam go out. They deliberately stayed and deliberately told the servants of Marquis Xing’s Mansion about the water lilies. They talked vigorously, so the servant girls and old maids didn’t notice that it had been a long time. They didn’t leave until the Eldest Young Madam came back.
It had been 15 minutes, which was enough for Zhao Xiran to go to Madam Jiang’s courtyard. Also, Madam Jiang was the only one in the mansion who would hit Zhao Xiran.
Old Madam was busy enough with her and Shao Yanru’s affairs, so she was not in the mood to pay attention to Zhao Xiran, let alone hit her directly. It was impossible for Shao Jing to do that, so it could only be Madam Jiang.
Sure enough, Zhao Xiran kept what Shao Wanru had said today in mind. Shao Wanru smiled slightly and waved her hand. “You can leave now!”
As soon as the old maid arrived at the door, she almost bumped into Qing’er, who entered in a hurry.
Fortunately, Qing’er reacted quickly. She grabbed the old maid and pulled her to the opposite side, so they didn’t really bump into each other.
After letting go of the old maid, Qing’er hurriedly lifted the curtain and walked in. “My Lady, I got the news.”
...
When Zhao Xiran was in the Prince’s Mansion, Shao Wanru left for a while, which was a chance she gave to Mo Yan. But later, something really happened, so Mo Yan met Zhao Xiran.
However, after she left, she heard something. She didn’t know if it was true, so she specially asked Qing’er to go out to inquire about it. Now there was news coming.
Shao Wanru raised her watery eyes and asked, “What is it?”
“My Lady, the rumor is true. When Princess Yuyan went to see Infanta Yuan’an, she was bitten by a dog in Ruiping Great Elder Princess’s Mansion. When she was chased, she fell from the rockery. I heard that her leg was also injured.”
Qing’er smiled brightly and was very happy about the disaster that happened to Princess Yuyan.
Shao Wanru also smiled and gently covered the corner of her mouth with her handkerchief. She was also very happy. Princess Yuyan plotted against her as soon as she came to the capital city and suffered the consequences. She didn’t expect that there would be such a scene now.
She and Infanta Yuan’an used to be as close as good sisters who had been separated from each other for many years. Later, they passed the buck to each other, and now they even lost their superficial respect for each other. She found the matter truly pleasant.
She knew that Infanta Yuan’an had raised a pet dog. Infanta Yuan’an once mentioned it when Shao Wanru held Chu Liuchen’s fat pet cat before.
“My Lady, why did Princess Yuyan go to Ruiping Great Elder Princess’s Mansion? Didn’t she fall out with Infanta Yuan’an before?” Yujie heard the conversation at the door and came in with a cup of tea with a smile. Shao Wanru’s servant girls all found the news satisfying.
“Perhaps she was trying to reconcile with Infanta Yuan’an!” Shao Wanru said indifferently. Her long eyelashes fluttered twice, and her pink lips curled up. With Infanta Yuan’an’s help, Princess Yuyan’s strength could be greatly improved in the capital city. However, although Infanta Yuan’an and Ruiping Great Elder Princess didn’t like Princess Yuyan, they wouldn’t embarrass her like this, would they?
There seemed to be something more to this matter.
...
Sure enough, it was confirmed at dinner time.