Chapter 128: The Human Heart is Hard to Fathom

  Xue Er's wife arrived at Old Lady's house exceptionally early, with the hairpin that Ronghua gave her yesterday specially pinned on her head.

  The second lady smiled and said: "The things that Erniang bought are very beautiful, just matching this dress of mine."

  The old lady was also delighted, "Ronghua is a thoughtful person, wherever she goes, she always thinks of her family."

  The second lady picked up her handkerchief to cover her mouth and laughed, saying: "Mother, you forgot that the daughter-in-law said she was a good person when she first met her. The Tao family is also a big clan, even if it's just siblings, there are many of them. In this way, the children born in the family are generally not bad."

  The old lady nodded.

  As for the Tao family, Mrs. Tao's face was somewhat uneasy, "Ronghua is also a child who has had it tough, these days her mother's side of the family has had no shortage of things to deal with, she's been busy running back and forth between both sides."

  The old lady didn't understand the situation, thinking it was just a matter of her relative's wife being ill. She sighed and said, "It's only right to show filial piety to one's parents' family. They have only one son who is still young, so they usually rely on these daughters for support."

  The second lady looked at the old lady as if she didn't understand, glanced around and lowered her voice: "Mother, haven't you heard? Recently, something went wrong in the Tao family. The fiancé of Miss Tao who came to our house last time, somehow killed someone... And also, from Shun Tian Fu..."

  The second wife's voice grew lower and lower, while the old lady's face became increasingly overcast.

  After a while, Second Mistress went out of the house. Old Madame had finished her breakfast and gone to take a rest in her suite. Li Mama came forward and said in a low voice: "Second Mistress also knows."

  The old lady said: "Even if others don't know, they can't escape her eyes. As for the things in this mansion, I'm afraid she knows more than me."

  Mrs. Li pondered the old lady's meaning, "What do you think is best? Should we send someone to ask at Shun Tian Fu or..." Yesterday when she returned from the palace, the old lady also said that Er Sun's daughter-in-law still had some feminine charm, and it had been a long time since the old lady had truly praised anyone.

  Perhaps the old lady likes this daughter-in-law.

  The old lady shook her head.

  "Then you want to see what she will do?"

  The old lady said: "She should have known about this long ago, but she never showed it. Either she hid it well or didn't care."

  Mrs. Li said, "That's also true, after all, she's a concubine's daughter. Besides, looking at the Tao family's attitude, they didn't want to let Eighth Miss marry into our family either. The closeness and distance between relatives isn't worth mentioning. When Eighth Miss got married, if it weren't for the fact that we gave a lot of betrothal gifts, the Tao family would have only sent half of the dowry. And what about the fuss Mrs. Tao made? Wasn't it all because she was marrying in as a concubine's daughter and not as a legitimate daughter?"

  "If it weren't for Master Hou's insistence, the situation today would have been reversed, with Second Miss and Young Mistress swapping places."

  The old lady let out a long sigh, "Miss Tao's illness is really not good, and she's getting older."

  Mrs. Li nodded, it's not easy for the young lady to marry into the Xue family, and the old lady had also tested Lord Hou several times, not wanting to conflict with him again in this regard, taking both into consideration, she chose a compromise method, and the old lady made concessions.

  After Madam Yu entered the Xue family, everything was still able to satisfy Old Madam.

  Mrs. Li said, "I heard that Master Hou's daily life has been taken care of very well by the young mistress." She was referring to the two senior maids in Master Hou's quarters, but the young mistress seemed to be completely unaware of the situation, and there had been no signs of anything unusual these past few days. Normally, a new wife would want to get a clear understanding of her husband's circumstances, but this young mistress didn't seem to care, which was actually quite remarkable.

  Just as they were speaking, someone outside said, "The young mistress has arrived."

  Every day is like this on time, came just care about the old lady, no other words.

  Ronghua entered the old lady's room, served tea and water, then sat down and smiled: "Today I still have to go back to my mother's house."

  "The old lady said: 'Go back, there's nothing here either.'"

  Ronghua nodded and smiled, sat for a while, then left.

  Ronghua went out, and the old lady ordered Li Mama, "You must follow him closely, no matter who it is, let him be careful, and come back to tell me."

  Mrs. Li nodded and said, "Don't worry, madam, I'll take care of this." After a pause, she asked again, "If the young mistress has asked Duke Hou for help, should we..."

  The old lady shook her head.

  Mrs. Li immediately understood the old lady's meaning. Although the young lady was a concubine-born daughter, she was also raised by the Tao family with one hand. If she is not filial to her parents who raised her, how can she be expected to treat the elders in the mansion in the future? After marrying over, she felt superior and neglected her natal family, what kind of good temperament would she have?

  Moreover, if the Tao family is accused of such a crime and it's proven true, that would be a big deal. The old lady will naturally pay attention to this matter.

  It would never come to the point where she would personally kill her own flesh and blood, thought Li's mother as she went out to make arrangements.

  ……

  Ronghua went to pay respects to Tai Furen and Xue Furen, while Chunyao asked about the night watch in the house. Originally, it was arranged that Hongying would take one day and Hongyu would take one day. She remembered clearly that yesterday morning when she came out of Luting's house, it was Hongying, and today from early morning, she met Hongying again, which means that Hongyu had been on night watch in the main house for two consecutive days.

  Since Madam married into the household, Master Hou has been returning to his chambers every day. It's clear that Madam's honeymoon period is only a few days long, and yet there isn't even a single chambermaid in the house.

  Chun Yao called over Hong Yu and Hong Ying to ask them questions.

  Hong Yu glanced at Chun Yao, her eyes sparkling.

  "Madam is doing you a great honor by letting you take the night watch. If you don't know what's good for you and do something wrong, see who can put up with it in this house."

  Hong Yu's face suddenly turned pale, but she was afraid that Chun Yao would take advantage of this to attack her, and didn't know what to do for the better.

  Hongying had said, "Sister, don't blame me. Although we and sister are all ladies brought from home, but sister has been with the lady for a longer time, unlike us sisters... A few days ago, the lady finally gave us some errands, we were afraid of not doing well, so last night I suddenly had stomach trouble, didn't dare to speak out loud, and let Hongyu replace me."

  Chun Yao said: "Since it's like this, you should have spoken up earlier, why did you come ask us today?"

  Hong Yu and Hong Ying exchanged a glance, then hastily said: "Sister is right."

  "Madam, since you've just married into our family, we should all be considerate. It's not a big deal about other things, but especially in the house, we can't afford to stir up trouble."

  Hongyu didn't say a word, and it was Hongying who pushed her gently. Only then did Hongyu speak up with Hongying: "Sister, don't worry, I won't dare to do this again."

  Chun Yao exchanged a few words with Hong Ying and Hong Yu before leaving.

  Chun Yao walked far away, Hong Ying looked at Hong Yu and said: "I told you early on that this matter should be made known to them, but you refused to listen. You thought I had some idea, what couldn't be done between us sisters? What I'm afraid of is being asked by one of them."

  Hong Yu looked down, embarrassed, and then pulled Hong Ying's hand, "Good sister, it was all my fault."

  Hongying also lowered her eyes and smiled slightly, "What else is there to say between us."

  Hongyu raised her head and glanced outside, "I'm just fed up with her, using that kind of tone to scold us. Who doesn't know what she's thinking in her heart? I've seen many seemingly proper maids do astonishing things."

  Hongying just said: "That's all for later."

  This side Rong Hua wants to return to the Tao family, Chun Yao and Jin Xiu have just finished preparing everything, Gao Jinrui's family rushed over in a hurry, Mu Di tried to stop them outside but failed, Gao Jinrui directly entered the house, immediately knelt on the ground, "Young Madam, you can't let me go to the Zhuangzi, I've never been to that kind of place before. In the mansion all these years, the old madam has not treated me unfairly, this time following the madam over here is also with the intention of serving the madam well."

  Looking at Gao Jinrui's anxious appearance, Rong Hua smiled and said, "This news has spread quickly. Before I came, my mother said that among these people, your family is the most useful. Now that I have a difficult situation, after careful consideration, it seems that only you and Feng Lichang's family can be used. In the next two days, we will also call you over to discuss, but I didn't expect you to come first."

  Gao Jinrui's wife clenched her teeth upon hearing this, recalling how she had overheard Feng Lichang's wife and the maid talking last night about how the young mistress wanted to send her back to the countryside. She was so shocked that she hadn't slept all night. Now, hearing the young mistress' words, it seemed as though the decision hadn't been made yet. The young mistress hadn't summoned her to say anything, but Gao Jinrui's wife had come to her of her own accord, and now her face fell.

  Ronghua said: "I suppose you all know that Old Lady divided two estates for me, otherwise you wouldn't come to talk to me about this matter."

  Gao Jinrui's family hastily explained, "The slaves are all concerned about Young Master's affairs, so they..."

  Rong Hua picked up the tea beside him and took a sip. "Since we've already talked about this, you go back and think it over clearly before telling me again - is Zhuangzi going or not?"

  Gao Jinrui's family was shocked all of a sudden.

  Is Zhuangzi going or not? This doesn't sound like a negotiating tone, especially with Young Madam's eyes cast down and no smile on her face. It made her feel a chill in her heart, and some words that reached the tip of her tongue couldn't be spoken out loud. She didn't dare refuse immediately. Then she thought about how the Feng Lichang family had always been cautious in their actions, never speaking carelessly in front of her, so why did they coincidentally say those words in her presence?

  Was it Mr. Feng Lichang's intention to let her hear this and come to refuse the task in front of his wife?

  The more Gao Jinrui thought about it, the more he had on his mind.

  When Eighth Mistress married over, she thought she had gained a great advantage. She would get a share of the monthly allowance from Eldest Mistress and still receive her usual share from Eighth Mistress's side, so their family income suddenly doubled. Moreover, since she came to the Xue household as Eldest Mistress's eyes and ears, even if Eighth Mistress understood in her heart, she didn't dare treat her poorly.

  But today it seems... everything is not as good as she thought.

  Gao Jinrui's family was sent away, and Ronghua took Jinxiu onto the carriage.

  It is said that if you don't do anything shameful, you won't be afraid of ghosts knocking on your door. Now that the remains of Fifth Miss have been dug up, what will happen to the Tao family? Tao Zheng'an and Madame Tao must have been restless for the past two days.

  If she says anything more, the truth of that night a few years ago may be revealed.

  Rong Hua closed her eyes and listened to the clear sound of horseshoes outside.

  At that moment, so close to what she had in mind.

  What should Ronghua do?