Chapter 38: Movement (Part 1)

  Xiao was suddenly shocked, could it be that Eighth Miss had received some news?

  The lady thought for a moment and then said: "Let her come in." She winked at Chū Xiǎo, who hastily retreated to the side.

  Dong Hua led Eighth Miss inside.

  Ronghua bowed her head and greeted Mrs. Zhang.

  The lady beckoned kindly and asked Ronghua to sit in the chair beside her, "What's wrong? Is there something on your mind?"

  Ronghua's face turned gloomy, and after some deliberation, he finally spoke up, "I've thought about it and still want to ask Mother. I'm afraid that if I don't keep a tight rein, someone in the house will stir up trouble." He then called Jinxiu into the room, saying, "You explain yourself."

  Jinxiu saw the madam and suddenly showed a few points of panic, then looked at Chunxiao in the house, her face changed, staring at Chunxiao for two seconds, as if with an urgent expression, Chunxiao's heart panicked, lowered her head.

  The lady looked at both Jinxiu and Chuxiao's expressions and slowly asked, "What's going on? Why don't you speak up quickly?"

  Jinxiu was startled and hastily knelt down, refusing to speak.

  Rong Hua said, "I know that Mother has always been strict in managing the household. From the maids in the house to the rough-handed servants, they are all carefully selected. Especially for the maids and servants in the garden, it's a very important matter. I asked the servant in charge, except for those raised at home, it is not allowed for the young ladies' maids and their own relatives living outside to work together in the garden, fearing that they will secretly pass on things or gather together to spread some indecent gossip." Rong Hua said this while glancing at Jin Xiu.

  Jinxiu immediately lowered her head in fright.

  Ronghua paused for a moment, then said: "It wasn't until today that I found out that Jinxiu's brother and sister-in-law had entered the mansion these past few days. Not knowing whether this was right or wrong, I especially came to ask Mother to make a decision."

  Ronghua said this, and next to him, Chu Xiao accidentally touched the leg of the low table, and involuntarily let out an "ah". The old lady lowered her head to look at Jinxiu, then turned her face to look at Chu Xiao, who had changed color, and suddenly remembered Chu Xiao's hesitant expression earlier.

  Jinxiu had been pleading sorrowfully on the side: "My sister-in-law and brother are just doing some scattered work in the mansion, they never dare to deliver things or talk about the affairs of the mansion."

  The lady asked Jinxiu with a stern face, "You have been in the mansion for many years and should know the rules of the mansion. How could you do such a thing?"

  Jinxiu burst into tears, "It was just a momentary confusion, my parents are ill and my brother can't afford to support the whole family. That's why I thought of a way to let them enter the mansion to find a job."

  The lady didn't say a word, and Chen's mother looked at her face, thinking to herself. She quickly scolded Jinxia a few times, "When there's something going on in the house, why don't you go talk to the lady? You handled this matter so carelessly, if it wasn't for Eighth Miss discovering it early, what if someone else reported it and we had to deal with it in front of everyone in the manor? See how you'll still be able to stay in the manor in the future."

  Jinxiu knelt down and acknowledged her mistakes again, her face pale and her whole body trembling.

  Looking at Jinxiu's pitiful appearance, Madame's expression slightly softened.

  Madam Chen took the opportunity to plead, "Jinxiu's family is really struggling, and it didn't become a big mistake after all. So, madam and eighth miss, please spare her this once."

  The old lady finally understood, sighed and looked at Jinxiu, "I have already assigned you to the eighth miss's room. Now it depends on the eighth miss's decision. If she thinks you can still be used, she will temporarily keep you for observation. If she thinks you are useless, either drive you out or ask a matchmaker to take you away."

  Jinxiu knelt down and crawled a few steps forward to beg for Ronghua's forgiveness.

  Ronghua hastily said: "This matter also has my fault, if mother can nod, I will naturally be happy," saying that and looking at Jinxiu again, "But in the future, it cannot be like this again."

  The lady nodded, "Jinxiu is usually steady and calm, this matter today can be forgiven, her brother being outside the mansion is not a problem, but her sister-in-law cannot stay in the inner mansion anymore."

  Madam Chen said: "The rules of the mansion can't be broken, if there's a suitable job in any mansion, introducing her sister-in-law over would be fine."

  The madam nodded, looking at Ronghua beside her. Ronghua's tense face relaxed slightly, and the madam recalled how cautious he was when he first entered the room, afraid of being blamed. This prudent and self-aware demeanor pleased the madam greatly.

  The lady smiled benevolently, "This kind of thing is inevitable, fortunately Ronghua is a sensible child."

  This was the first time the lady had praised her so kindly, and Rong Hua's face turned red instantly.

  The lady smiled, "Jinxiu left from my house, wait a while and I'll talk to her properly. If she causes trouble for you again, next time no one will show mercy, just drive her out of the mansion."

  Jinxiu hastily added: "Next time I will never dare again."

  Rong Hua stood up, bent his knees and bowed, "Then I'll take my leave first."

  "Alright, go!" said the lady with a smile.

  Miss Ba left, and Chen's mother let the idle maidservants withdraw. The mistress then told Jinxiu to "get up and speak". She looked at Chunxiao beside her and said, "What's going on? Which one of you is speaking?"

  Zhuo Xiao hurried over and stood with Jinxiu, the two maids didn't dare to breathe loudly, not knowing what to say.

  The big wife slapped the table, and the two people were so frightened that they immediately knelt down on the ground.

  "None of you will speak? If none of you will speak, then all of you can get out."

  Jinxiu knelt on the ground again, pleading, "Madam, please spare me! It was I who begged the housekeeper's wife to let my brother and sister-in-law into the mansion. I promise I won't dare do it again in the future."

  The lady saw Jinxiu's eyes flicker and knew there was deceit inside, so she narrowed her eyes and didn't ask further. "If this happens again in the future, I won't forgive you! You can go now!" Only then did Jinxiu stand up trembling with fear and back away.

  The madam glanced at Chū Xiǎo, "And you? Did you have something to say earlier? What's going on with the second young lady's illness?"

  Zhuo Xiao knew that she couldn't hide it anymore. Just now, she had wanted to tell Madame about what she had heard from Jinxiu's mouth, but now that Jinxiu's matter had been exposed, if she were to bring this up again...

  "Hurry up and say it."

  Zi Xiao couldn't think of anything else and knelt down: "Second Miss has been worried about Big Miss's side these past few days, that's why..."

  The old lady's eyes were sharp, "You must have said something bad about the second young lady again, hurry up and say it out loud, are you waiting for someone to drag you out and beat you to death..."

  Xiao suddenly shuddered all over and said, "It was a servant who inadvertently mentioned to the second young lady that the eighth young lady might marry her elder sister's husband as a concubine."

  "Who told you again?"

  Jinxiu.

  The old lady snorted, she had long seen that there was something fishy between these two girls, and indeed it was so. "I've long told you not to be too talkative, and it's tolerable that you spread rumors in the courtyard, but knowing your master's thoughts are heavy, you still go to her ear and say."

  The old lady asked again, "Do you know about Jinxiu's sister-in-law?"

  Xiao Xiao hurriedly replied, "I know, last time Jinxiu helped the eighth young lady deliver something, and when the second young lady asked about it, I told her about Jinxiu's family situation. The second young lady then arranged for Cui Zhishi's family to help Jinxiu's brother-in-law get a job, and she did this because she pitied Jinxiu."

  "Madam said, 'Why didn't you tell me about this?' Yuhua did these things behind her back, was there something on her mind that wasn't right? Especially after Shuhua got married and left the house, only Yuhua was left as her own flesh and blood, so their mother-daughter relationship became closer. Adding to that Yuhua's illness, how could a mother not be heartbroken? The more she poured out care, the more she worried in her heart."

  However, recently, Madame has gradually felt that Yao Hua's interference has increased. Every time Shu Hua enters the mansion, she must go to Yao Hua's place to sit for a while, and some ideas are clearly not what Shu Hua can think of.

  Shu Hua and Yao Hua, the two sisters, should not have any concerns in her heart. But for some reason, she just couldn't put her mind at ease. So, taking advantage of the imperial physician's words, she forbade anyone in the manor from mentioning anything in front of Yao Hua, firstly to let Yao Hua truly rest and recover, and secondly, there were some matters that she no longer wanted Yao Hua to interfere with.

  The old lady had not finished reading the letter when Ya Qin came in and said, "Fei Cui from the second miss's room just came to say that the second miss's illness has taken a turn for the worse."

  The old lady suddenly stood up, and the doubts she had about Yuhua just now were instantly gone, leaving only a heart full of worry. She called out to everyone, "Quickly, go take a look."

  Went out for Qingming Festival this morning and ran around till noon.

  My legs hurt as expected at night.

  What's depressing is that I've encountered a trash collector who even took away the paper money people had put out.

  Take away the tribute goods, how can you do this? Moreover, what is the use of those spirit money he took back?