Chapter 119: The East Window Incident (Part 2)

  The old lady looked at Hongge and Ronghua without avoiding them, "Did she say what she came to do? The abbess had never come to our house before."

  Rui Qing said in a low voice: "The master of the hut said that she came to find the second young lady, and the second young lady had talked about Zen with her last time in the hut."

  The old lady's face changed, "When did Er Ya head start practicing Zen?"

  Rui Qing's eyes narrowed but she didn't say anything.

  Ronghua glanced at the old lady, who looked surprised, and Ruiqing also had a look of not knowing what to do, apparently unaware of this matter.

  What is Yao Hua going to do again?

  The old lady said, "Everyone has arrived, can we still keep her out? Her reputation outside is also good, and what she says about Zen is also thorough." She went to look at Rui Qing and said, "You always say you want to listen to Zen, why not follow along and go listen together?"

  Rui Qing nodded, "Then I'll go and invite her to Second Miss's courtyard."

  Rui Qing left, and Rong Hua also stood up to bid farewell. "It's getting late, I'll come back another day."

  The old lady said: "In a few days, your father's birthday is approaching. Your mother's body is not good, and at home, it's all up to your third aunt to support. You should also come back often to help out." After pausing for a moment, she continued: "The gift your sixth sister sent you..."

  Ronghua smiled slightly, "I'll bring some back to give to my family, Jinxiu just showed me that it's ginseng." After a pause, "The rest will stay here, I'll come back for them when I need them."

  The old lady showed some smile, "Still you think of it thoroughly."

  Rong Hua accompanied Jin Xiu out of the old lady's courtyard and saw Yan Hua walking towards them on the path lined with bamboo. Rong Hua smiled and approached her, saying: "Sixth sister."

  "Where are you going?" Yan Hua asked.

  Yan Hua's eyes sparkled, as if she had something to say. Rong Hua said: "I just happen to be going to find Sixth Sister, and I'll tell Sixth Sister that I'm leaving." As he spoke, he took two silver ingots from Jin Xiu's hand and handed them over to Yan Hua.

  Yan Hua refused to answer.

  Ronghua said: "We are sisters, how could I not know about Liu's difficulties?" If it were in the past, Yanhua would never have been like this. Even if she had suffered grievances from Madame, she would have argued loudly and fiercely, when did she become so timid and afraid to raise her head? Although Yanhua usually likes to bully others, she has never done anything that really harms people.

  On the contrary, Yanhua was used by Mrs. Meng and then thrown away to the Meng family.

  Yan Hua raised her head to look at Rong Hua, slightly dazed. The scene of Rong Hua entering the mansion was still vivid in her mind. At that time, she had gone to see this eighth sister with a mocking attitude, but unexpectedly, the once helpless and dependent eighth sister became the first-rank lady of the imperial edict, truly a difference between heaven and mud.

  Today, these gifts, she originally didn't want to give them to the old lady and the big lady, afraid of losing face. Unexpectedly, Eighth Sister received the gift with such a reaction, without sarcasm or unwillingness, but instead made her feel uncomfortable in her heart...

  "These gifts don't have much silver in them," Yanhua bit her lip and said, putting the things back into Ronghua's hands. "The Meng family has their own store selling these things, so let me just bring them over to give to your family." After saying this, she hastily changed the subject, "I heard that Father is going to have Second Sister's engagement annulled?"

  Since Yanhua was so resolute, she couldn't persuade her anymore. Ronghua followed Yanhua's words and said: "I just heard about it too."

  Yan Hua sighed and said: "Second sister's fate is also... I'm afraid that Gu Ying won't agree to cancel the engagement and instead blame us." Unconsciously, she added an extra "also".

  It seems that this is Yao Hua's words. If Gu Ying tells Tao Zheng'an, then it becomes the Tao family wants to break off the engagement with Gu Ying, and she gets angry and humiliated...

  This time the owner of the temple came, it was also Yao Hua's idea, which made outsiders know Yao Hua's reputation and made the old lady feel that she was righteous, Yao Hua had a good plan.

  Song Ronghua arrived at Ermen, Yan Hua hesitated and said, "Did the young master mention anything about Qiu Qi to you?"

  Ronghua shook his head, "No, Master Hou doesn't discuss official business at home."

  Yan Hua nodded hastily, seeing Rong Hua about to leave. Yan Hua suddenly became anxious again, "Can you ask Ba Mei when she has time?"

  What's going on with Qiu Xuan? What does Yan Hua mean by this?

  Yan Hua tucked her hair behind her ear.

  "Your brother-in-law can pass the exam, but I'm afraid he won't be among the top few."

  Rong Hua carefully looked at Yan Hua's expression, and smiled: "Sister is worrying too much, with Sixth Brother-in-law's talent, there's definitely no problem. Besides, the imperial examination is a man's business, those things that rely on reading books, we women don't understand them. Isn't there some good academy in Kyoto? If all else fails, let Brother-in-law go inside to read."

  Yan Hua's face turned awkward, "Well, I was just casually asking."

  Rong Hua got on the horse-drawn carriage.

  Isn't it that the Meng family still wants to achieve their goal through other connections? Otherwise, why would they let Yan Hua come back and ask such a question? The Meng family is still a scholarly family, how could they have such thoughts.

  Ronghua returned to the Xue residence and went straight into the house to change her clothes.

  Chun Yao followed into the inner chamber, while Jin Xiu stayed outside.

  "What's wrong?" Honghua asked while changing clothes.

  "Madam has just returned to her mother's home. A rough servant girl went to the west wing of the mansion to dry clothes and inadvertently discovered that there seemed to be a person floating in the well, so she called people to come and see."

  Although Rong Hua had already guessed the outcome, he couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness in his heart.

  Chun Yao said: "Fished out and took a look, it was Man'er from San Ye's house, already dead for several days, only then floated up."

  This girl is a double victim, although it's said to be because of not following the rules, but what difference does human life have? The eldest lady of the Changning Marquis' estate also died young and was properly buried after her death. This girl, Ronghua thought about the second mistress's temperament, usually Xue Erniang seemed like a straightforward and easy-going person, but actually she wasn't.

  Chun Yao said up to here, his heart was filled with sorrow. "Man Er had no relatives, and was a dead contract sold by the housekeeper in the mansion. The people from the second mistress's quarters went to inform the second mistress at Changning Bo's residence. After a while, Ren Mama from the second mistress's quarters returned first, and ordered someone to roll up Man Er in a mat and take her out for burial."

  It's just as she thought.

  The front foot had just been wrapped with a mat, and the third young master hurried back, saying that he would not agree to anything, and insisted that someone should buy a new coffin for a proper burial. When his mother went forward to persuade him, she was scolded by the third young master for some reason.

  The old lady sent someone to say, "After all, it's also serving a period, there is a master-slave relationship, besides, Man'er was driven to desperation because of serving the young master, and now she has jumped into the well, it can be seen that she is also a devoted person, so let's buy a coffin and bury her properly."

  Then they bought a good coffin, and Third Master had people put the things Man'er liked into the coffin together. The maidservants went in to tidy up, but unexpectedly, among the things that were put in was a jade pendant that Old Madam gave to the young masters and misses of the mansion on New Year's Eve last year.

  "Second Mistress had just returned from Changningbo's residence, and upon hearing the news, she immediately went to retrieve the jade pendant and ordered people to remove all items from the coffin and throw them away."

  "The second lady said, 'A thief like her, and you're still giving her things? Isn't that encouraging her? How will we discipline others in the future?'"

  The old lady gave the young master and miss a thing, everyone got one, whoever saw it would recognize it, even if someone really stole it, who would steal such a thing, it must be Xue Mingxiang giving it to Man'er.

  If the old lady were to find out that the gifts she gave were passed on to the maid, what would happen? Poor Man'er, first wrongly accused of death and now being wronged again.

  Both life and death were all because of Third Master Xue Mingbai.

  Chun Yao continued: "They say that in the past, every few days, the family would take stock of their belongings and hand them over to the servants. The second mistress said that this old custom should still be followed."

  I didn't expect Man Er's death would lead to this. The second wife really won't let go of any opportunity.

  Chun Yao looked at Rong Hua and said, "Perhaps we should follow this rule in our own courtyard as well."

  That's for sure, otherwise what's the point of restoring old practices?

  Since it's an inventory, who knows what might be dug up.

  Ronghua changed her clothes and went to pay respects to Old Madam. Both Madame Xue and Second Madam were there.

  The old lady smiled when she saw Rong Hua: "Today, everyone has gathered at my place, and no one needs to leave. Let's have dinner here, and call over Old Two, Old Three, Old Four, and the children. I've just hired a new cook, courtesy of Ming Bai. I shouldn't keep it private, let everyone try some and see how good his skills are."

  Everyone laughed.

  Ronghua glanced at the second wife, who was smiling most deeply. The old lady didn't mention Xue Ming'ai's affairs and instead praised Xue Mingbai, without showing any signs of favoritism towards the second branch.

  "Besides being skilled, she wouldn't have been invited with such fanfare. There are also dishes that can't be seen from the outside, like making flower petals into jelly and shaping them into balls using lotus leaf molds, just like dew drops. I've only heard Ming Bai mention it before, but haven't tried it myself. Today, thanks to Old Madam's generosity, I'll finally get to taste it."

  The old lady smiled and said, "This mouth of yours is unmatched by anyone. You can even make black sound white. As for good fortune, I also borrowed Mingbai's light. You raised a good son."

  "First, you got a good grandson, and I'm considered to have raised a good son. The relationship here can't be messed up, otherwise how would he see his filial piety towards his grandmother, but not see him come to pay respects to his mother?"

  The old lady smiled again.

  The young ladies who had just been invited by the old master, young master and miss entered the house one after another. Hearing that Mrs. Xue made the old lady laugh non-stop, they also forgot about other topics and started talking around Mrs. Xue's topic.

  Xue Ming'ai's matter is now officially over. Since even the old lady doesn't mind it, who would be so tactless as to bring it up again?

  Before and after dinner, the second lady occasionally mentioned Xue Mingbai, and Xue Mingbai also appeared very active, constantly going to talk to the old lady.

  The old lady anxiously asked Xue Mingbai, "Does it still hurt where you were injured when you were young?"

  Xue Mingbai said: "These days have been a bit busy and it hurts again."

  The old lady said: "Be careful and don't be careless."

  Xue Mingbai smiled and said, "Don't worry, grandma, as long as you don't ride a horse for a long time, it's okay."

  Rong Hua saw the old lady slightly raise her eyebrows, and then went to look at Xue Mingbai. Rong Hua's heart moved slightly, and suddenly understood what the second house was trying to do.

  I've been quite busy lately, with all things piling up together and none of them can be left undone.

  Tomorrow I'll probably be at home all day, hopefully I can save up some money tomorrow.

  The child has been coaxed into going to sleep.