Chapter 51: Each with Their Own Agenda

  Search;???? Chen Wanqiu was on guard for two days and didn't find any problems with the food and things she used, but unfortunately her divine consciousness had a limited range of diffusion, and Meixiangyuan was far from where Lady Fu lived in the upper house, so she couldn't hear about Lady Fu's plans.

  However, Meixiangyuan is quite close to the main courtyard of the Hou Mansion. Chen Wanqiu thought for a moment and immediately understood Fu Mu's intention. Unfortunately, all of Fu Mu's calculations were in vain. She definitely didn't expect that Chen Wannian would secretly have feelings for Fu Xueyang. She had noticed that Chen Wannian hadn't stopped visiting Chen Furen's courtyard these past two days. Originally, she thought that Fu Xueyang was also a transmigrator like her, but no matter how she looked at him, he didn't seem to be the "Dragon Overlord" type of person.

  However, in terms of romantic affairs, Fu Xueyang should be quite impressive, with a hundred flowers blooming in the bedroom and leaving tender feelings everywhere. Moreover, he even managed to secretly flirt with Chen Wanqing, the young aunt, on the turf of Chen Furen's fierce elder sister, as if he wanted to enjoy the blessings of others.

  Chen Wanqiu thought of her stepmother, Chen Wanning's words that her stepmother would marry her off to a scumbag was absolutely possible, she was not willing to be calculated like this. Thinking again about the cruel and ruthless Fu mother who even wanted to calculate her own biological son and niece, Chen Wanqiu's eyes turned cold and stern, the beautiful face no longer showed weakness, frost formed layer by layer on her face, icy and unparalleled.

  However, thinking that there was another time-traveler in the Hou Mansion, Chen Wanqiu's mood became complicated. She didn't have any so-called "old friends meeting and tears welling up" feelings. It would be best if she could just ignore this time-traveler and not interfere with each other. But first, she had to confirm this person's identity?

  Just then, Madame Fu called the sisters over again. Chen Wanqiu put down the book in her hand and smoothed out her clothes to cover up the cold glint in her eyes. Seeing the lanterns and decorations outside, Chen Wanqiu suddenly remembered that tomorrow was Madame Fu's birthday. She thought of a possibility - could it be that her kind and loving aunt wanted to humiliate the Marquis of Yongwu in front of their guests?

  The more Chen Wanqiu thought about it, the more likely it seemed, but what she couldn't understand was what benefits would Pei Wuhou gain from doing so? Fu Yeyang represented the entire Pei Wuhou estate, and if that were true, wouldn't the Chen family's reputation be ruined as well? The Chen family was, after all, Madame Fu's natal family. What benefits would this bring to Madame Fu? Was she so resentful of Fu Yeyang that she wanted to drag everyone down with her?

  Or is there still an unknown deep-seated grudge in this?

  Chen Wanqiu, Miss Chen, absent-mindedly walked towards the upper house. After entering the upper house's hanging flower gate, Chen Wanqiu carefully released her divine sense and overheard the conversation between Mrs. Fu and the senior maid. She couldn't help but shiver with cold sweat, feeling some sympathy for Fu Yeyang and his wife. Then, she thought of a plan in her mind.

  "Did you say Miss Chen wants to come and talk to me?" Su Ying was really surprised, she had already known through the system prompt that this Chen Wanqiu, a member of the Chen family's branch, was a traverser who walked the path of refining truth, was good at business, and had several shops in the capital city that made a fortune every day. She even developed a greenhouse vegetable and created soap. However, it seemed that no one in the Chen family knew about this. They all thought Chen Wanqiu was a weak and timid second miss. Just relying on her hidden talents and endurance, Su Ying felt that she was far inferior. "Please let her in."

  Su Ying saw that her face was pale and her lips were trembling. Chen Wanqiu, who was also pretending to be calm, had her hands clenched into fists in her sleeves, looking like she had been frightened out of her wits. Su Ying furrowed her brow unintentionally: "What's wrong with Miss Chen? Is it that our Hou Manor didn't treat you well?"

  Su Ying's attitude was not very good, and she was indifferent to the three Chen sisters. Of course, in Chen Wanqiu's opinion, this was much more comfortable than Fu Mu's hypocritical attitude of being kind on the surface but calculating in her heart. If Su Ying had been enthusiastic towards her, that would have been abnormal.

  Chen Wanqiu had only been transported for a few years and had some understanding of the dark secrets of the back house, but she didn't expect that what she had seen before was nothing compared to Fu Mu's methods. She had opened her eyes wide. This lady was really pitiful, Chen Wanqiu inadvertently revealed a hint of sympathy which was caught by Su Ying who had been paying attention to her.

  Su Ying sneered in her heart, was she being pitied again? She thought of the previous Wei Niang who had shown no disguise in showing her pity and sympathy, poor Holy Mother Flower had accidentally received a fright at night and cried until her eyes were swollen. What a small courage. It's not like they wanted to let her know about Xu Po's outcome, did she have to be so afraid, tsk tsk.

  "Big, big madam, Chen Wanqiu wants to show her filial piety to her aunt and has made a handkerchief. She heard her aunt mention that she likes your craftsmanship very much, so she wants to ask you for guidance." Su Ying led Chen Wanqiu into the inner room with ease, letting Lu Hui entertain the maid who came with Chen Wanqiu - Fu Mu. Afraid that the maidservants who followed Chen's young lady would not be served properly, she assigned several second-class maidservants to serve them.

  Chen Wanqiu was puzzled in her heart, but this was exactly what she wanted. She looked uneasily at the aloe and mint that were waiting on Su Ying.

  "What is it that you want to say to me, Second Sister?" Su Ying asked directly.

  "You, how did you know?" Chen Wanqiu looked at Su Ying, and when she realized her tone was like questioning, she quickly retracted it, hurriedly lowered her head, but her heart kept pounding. When she looked at Su Ying again, there was a traceless scrutiny.

  Su Ying smiled indifferently, but the smile looked somewhat bitter and helpless to Chen Wanqiu: "The old lady has never praised me as a daughter-in-law, she's always been cold towards me." She didn't finish her sentence, Chen Wanqiu felt a bit embarrassed, thinking that there must be some conflict between Su Ying and her mother-in-law. After a moment of thought, she bit her lower lip and looked at Su Ying with pleading eyes: "Big sister-in-law, please save me!"

  Lily and Mint were both stunned, what's going on?

  Su Ying sat up straight and gave Lu Hui a signal with her eyes. Lu Hui nodded and retreated to stand guard outside the door, saying solemnly: "What's going on after all?"

  Chen Wanqiu smiled wistfully: "To be honest with you, Big Sister-in-law, when I went to Auntie's place earlier, I accidentally overheard Auntie saying that she wanted to betroth me to Big Brother as a noble concubine. She also said... " She gritted her teeth, "that we should make rice from uncooked grains, and not let us disagree!"

  "What?!" Su Ying's hand paused, and some tea spilled out of the teacup. Fortunately, it wasn't hot water, or else her hand would have been scalded. Bao He's eyes were red-rimmed as she helped Su Ying clean up while complaining: "The cut on your hand hasn't healed yet, and now you've gotten burned again. Who knows if you're just being careless."

  She glared at Chen Wanqiu with a fierce gaze, and Chen Wanqiu also looked flustered, like a bullied little victim, tears streaming down her face: "Big sister-in-law, everything I said is true. Although Wanqiu is an illegitimate daughter, she doesn't want to be treated so humiliatingly either, or else she wouldn't have come to find big sister-in-law you. Wanqiu's father has a noble title after all, if it really spreads according to what auntie said, how will others look at the Chen family girls and how will they look at the Marquis of Yongwu? Wanqiu really doesn't understand why auntie wants to do this?"

  Su Ying was dazed for a moment, forcing a smile on her face. The smile seemed to be dredged up from bitter water, and she couldn't help but blurt out two words: "Who else knows my troubles? I didn't even give birth to a son or daughter for the old master. From birth, I was inferior to those who lowered their heads. The old lady never liked me, and recently she's been even more critical. But I didn't expect that she would also drag the old master down with her."

  Her eyes reddened as she spoke, but she quickly calmed down. A strong expression appeared on her face: "The old lady is getting more and more confused, isn't it just wanting the second house..." She suddenly stopped, cutting off the topic, "What else did you hear? For the sake of Marquis Yongwu, I will not allow such things to happen."

  Chen Wanqiu's eyes flashed with deep thought as she wondered why the other person hadn't finished speaking. Without thinking much, she carefully told Su Ying some of what she had heard from Fu Mu and her own conjectures, choosing a few key points to reveal. If it weren't for her being in this marquis' residence, constantly at odds with others, the only one who could be used would be her personal maid. She also didn't want to actively expose herself to Su Ying.

  Chen Wanqiu thought that the two of them were now like a pair of grasshoppers on a string, and she believed that the other person was more concerned about this matter than she was. It was rare for someone to be so clear-headed. She subtly hinted at Chen Wanning's abnormal behavior, and as expected, she saw the other person's eyes flicker slightly, and her heart couldn't help but feel triumphant. For her, this was a case of killing two birds with one stone, and she believed it was the same for the other person.

  Chen Wanqiu walked out of Su Ying's room with a satisfied and contented expression, having just touched up her makeup there. Her eyes were slightly red around the rims, but she habitually lowered her head in front of outsiders, who didn't pay much attention to it either.

  Chen Wanqiu thought that she was killing two birds with one stone, and even if the truth came out later, it wouldn't be traced back to her. Moreover, she had helped Su Ying a great deal, and they were mutually beneficial to each other. However, she never expected that everything she knew about Su Ying was already known by Su Ying herself, and in fact, Su Ying knew an even more detailed and complete version.

  Fu's mother didn't want Chen Wanqiu to be just a concubine, at the very least she should be a wife. If everything went well, they could even take the opportunity to divorce Su Ying, that difficult-to-deal-with first wife. Su Ying sneered in her heart, this old woman really thought everyone else was stupid, only she herself had superior intelligence and endless schemes.

  There is also Chen Wanqiu, this girl has a word to share with you: Know yourself and know your enemy, win every battle. Chen Wanqiu thought she was disguising herself very well, but Su Ying was so sharp, her acting skills were getting more and more perfect, and Miss Chen was young and vigorous, still carrying the sense of superiority that crossers often have, but she also hid it very well.

  Even without the system, Su Ying could see through Chen Wanqiu's intentions. She thought to herself that she still had a lot of leverage over Chen Wanqiu and Chen Jinxiang in her hands, and this was her territory after all. If she wanted to outsmart them as well, she'd have to see if this Miss Jinxiang had what it took.

  However, this person is somewhat in line with her appetite, cruel to others and even more cruel to herself, and can even do it to her own sister.

  Moreover, Fu Xueyang's speed of changing his mind is too fast, can it be said that he is not worthy of being raised by Madam Fu? In comparison, the master of their household is truly noble.

  Fu Mu's birthday has finally arrived, and this big show has finally opened its curtain.

  The guests gathered at the residence of Marquis Yongwu, and Su Ying, as the wife of Marquis Yongwu, welcomed them in front. The wife of Marquis Pingyang arrived early to show her respect. When Su Ying saw her, she went forward to greet her. The wife of Marquis Pingyang smiled with a deep meaning: "I came today just for that Kunqu troupe, don't disappoint me."

  Su Ying understood what she meant, patted her hand and smiled: "That's natural, my family's old lady also loves to listen to Kunqu, specially invited, it's not easy." After finishing, the two looked at each other and smiled, letting the housekeeper's wife lead Pingyang Hou's wife into the flower hall.

  Fu Mu, the old longevity star, was in a good mood, with several lovely nieces from her maternal family by her side. Chen Wanqiu remained low-key as always, how could she, an illegitimate daughter, compete with the legitimate daughters for attention? Moreover, Chen Wanjing had previously warned her with disdain, but Chen Wanqiu endured it and sneered in her heart: your good days will end today!

  The ladies who came to celebrate Chen's birthday also arrived, and Mrs. Chen and Dai Furen, the mother of Chen Wanqing, had a not-so-good relationship with Fu Mu. Who let Fu Mu rely on her being the old lady of the Yongwu Marquis' manor, even after so many years of marriage, still interfering in her natal family's affairs from time to time? Mrs. Chen's marriage was facilitated by Fu Mu at that time, and Dai Furen was very dissatisfied with this. Therefore, Fu Mu was afraid that her plans would go awry, so she didn't communicate with Dai Furen.

  The two women were calm and composed on the surface. Chen Wanqiu couldn't help but feel a little pleased with herself as she looked at her beloved stepmother and her good aunt, who were both elegant and refined in appearance.

  Looking again at the not-too-distant place, Su Ying was chatting and laughing with the noblewomen, being clever and tactful in every way. Not at all like someone who is self-pitying and complaining because she is disliked and unaccepted by her mother-in-law. Thinking that these women in the inner courtyard are all very good at acting.

  Although they all detest each other, they still pretend to be on good terms. How hypocritical! But thinking about it, these women are confined to their homes and have a narrow view of the world, which is quite pitiful.

  Su Ying suddenly felt a chill. Without thinking, she knew who it was. A playful smile appeared at the corner of her lips. Li Furen, who had recently become good friends with Su Ying, let out a surprised "eh". Su Ying followed her gaze and finally landed on Chen Wanqiu, who was wearing a crimson embroidered long-sleeved dress with a jade-colored skirt, and asked Li Furen: "What's wrong?"

  "That girl looks familiar, I think I've seen her somewhere before. But for the moment, I just can't recall who she is. Whose daughter is she? She's really pretty."

  "It was the aunt of Chen's family, Chen Ergou, who was the most outstanding among the three sisters." Chen Wanqiu was indeed the most beautiful one among the three sisters. Even with a pretended gentle appearance, she gave people the feeling of "a pearl covered in dust". Especially that skin as white as jade, it seemed to be glowing from afar.

  Mrs. Li uttered an "oh" and pushed Su Ying, teasing her with ill intentions: "You've been outdone by these few golden flowers, I think your family's purpose isn't very pure."

  Su Ying gave her a sideways glance: "It's not like I'm the only girl in the family. At worst, there are still Madame Chen and the others, no need for me to worry about that."

  Chen Wanqiu and Su Ying looked up at the upper line of sight, Su Ying smiled and nodded to her, and naturally shifted her gaze away. Chen Wanqiu had a slightly low head with an attitude that was not very talkative. Fu Mu was very satisfied with this posture, which was even better to grasp.

  Several people have ulterior motives, who killed the deer remains to be seen.

  Among the people who came, Madame Pingyang took precedence in identity. Madam Fu was not interested in watching the play and pushed the playbill to Madame Pingyang, asking her to choose a play. Madame Pingyang's eyes sparkled, and her voice was crisp: "Old lady is so lucky, this Jin Yi Yuan theater troupe is hard to invite, everyone has good ears today." The other ladies echoed one after another, Madam Fu humbly said a few words, and Madame Pingyang chose "The Wronged Eyebrow". This was the signature work of this theater troupe, which everyone loved to watch.

  In the flower hall, the girls sat together and chatted. This scene was often accompanied by the ladies who came out to take a walk, mostly the eldest daughters of the family. Chen Wanqiu, being a concubine's daughter, was rare. Moreover, Chen Wanniang spared no effort in spreading the word that "her elder sister is thin-faced and not good at speaking". Gradually, Chen Wanqiu was ignored. Chen Wanqiu adjusted her bright red jacket, the three sisters of the Chen family had the same hairpins, rings, skirts, and sleeves, only with slightly different colors.

  At this time, a maidservant who was serving dishes nearby stumbled and spilled some of the soup from the bowl in her hands. Chen Wanqing couldn't dodge it in time and got splashed with some of the hot soup. Fortunately, she was wearing thick clothes, but she still gasped and her face turned pale instantly.

  Chen Wanqiu, sitting next to Chen Wanning, raised the corner of her mouth and immediately hid it, and when she met the maid's eyes for a moment, she looked away.

  Chen Wan Ning suppressed her anger, knowing that this was not her home and there were many people watching, so she couldn't lose her temper. She gritted her teeth and looked at Chen Wan Qiu, then pulled her hand without saying a word: "Second sister, why don't you come with me to change clothes?"

  She couldn't tolerate Chen Wanqiu's refusal, Chen Wanqiu's heart was in a mess, but she quickly calmed down. Once they were out of everyone's sight, Chen Wanjing hastily shook off Chen Wanqiu's hand, as if she would be infected with some kind of dirty disease, and said disdainfully: "A concubine-born daughter dares to compare herself to the legitimate daughter? You're just like your mother, that fox-like woman, not knowing your own identity. Don't think I don't know what you're planning - thinking that if you get into Auntie's good books, you can find a good marriage for yourself? Let me tell you, dream on!"

  Chen Wanqiu hung her head, with a few twisted expressions on her absolutely beautiful face, and anger in her eyes. The last bit of hesitation in her heart was also dispelled by Chen Wanjing's words, as she watched Chen Wanjing being led away by the maid with an air of superiority.

  In the front hall, the opera on stage was reaching its climax. The noblewomen were watching with great interest, occasionally shedding a few tears. However, Fu Mu's smile on her face was stiff and awkward as she gazed at Su Ying with icy hatred in her eyes. Su Ying remained completely unaware of this gaze, which to her was nothing out of the ordinary.

  Su Ying raised an eyebrow as she caught sight of Chen Wanqiu and Chen Wanniang leaving. She then glanced at the maid, and in her heart, Su Ying sneered. Fu Mu had planted several spies around her, and she was well aware of it. Although she hadn't removed them earlier, now was the perfect opportunity to use them. Fu Mu was indeed a good schemer, thinking that she could shift all the blame onto Su Ying's shoulders. Hadn't she considered that Su Ying might have also planted her own informants elsewhere? The loyal servant token she had obtained last time was also being put to use this time around.

  Not enough manpower. Outsiders come to make up the number.

  Fu Xiyang probably got drunk too. He was led by a young servant to the back to sober up, I suppose.

  Su Ying leisurely watched the play. The wife of Pingyang Hou called out a few more times to bestow rewards, and other noblewomen also gave face by following suit and throwing money onto the stage. As the elder matriarch, Fu Mu couldn't not give face either. Even Du Xin, who was displeased, bestowed rewards once, and judging from Su Ying's expression, she seemed like she wanted to flay her alive.

  Su Ying said she was very scared.

  Chen Wanqiu didn't come back, Chen Wannian also didn't come back.

  Su Ying raised an eyebrow, Chen Wanqiu wanted to stay out of it, but unfortunately, plans couldn't keep up with changes. Who made Chen Wanqin drag her out? Su Ying expressed great curiosity, she wanted to see how Chen Wanqiu would get herself out of this situation.

  Less than half an hour later, the big maid servant with a pale face came to Fu Mu's side and whispered a few words in her ear. Fu Mu accidentally dropped the teacup in her hand, which shattered loudly. Everyone looked at Shou Xing in shock, what was going on?

  Mrs. Fu suppressed the urge to slap Bai Lu, and suddenly fainted, scaring Bai Lu who quickly supported Mrs. Fu. Su Ying's face was full of worry. The calm and composed maid, Ling, led the others in supporting Mrs. Fu back to her inner chamber and sent someone to fetch a doctor.

  After this commotion, everyone's interest was ruined and they didn't want to stay any longer. However, since something had just happened at the host's side, it would be somewhat embarrassing if they left immediately - but someone with a keen eye noticed that not long after, both Mrs. Dai and Mrs. Chen were hastily called back, which made them curious about what had happened - so they patiently listened to another act of the play, and then everyone took their leave one after another.

  When Su Ying sent away the last guest and came back, the backyard was already in a mess. As soon as she entered the door, a tea bowl flew towards her. Su Ying dodged quickly and the tea bowl smashed to the ground, accompanied by Fu Mu's sudden angry roar: "You poisonous woman! You actually dared to hit your cousin!"

  This conclusion is really fast and illogical, don't forget that it was you who invited the three Chen sisters, and the aphrodisiac was also provided by you, the plan was also thought out by you, it's just that the plan couldn't keep up with the changes and was designed to change people.

  It seems that Madam Fu has gone mad, Su Ying's face is without a trace of guilt, and she takes a step forward with an air of righteousness: "Old lady, what are you talking about? I don't even know what happened, I just sent off the guests and was worried about your sudden fainting spell, rushing back in a hurry. How could I have known that it would lead to you wrongly accusing me like this?"

  Fu's mother was not just furious, when she found out that the ones who had been tricked were not Fu Yeyang and Chen Wanqiu, whom she had designed to be together, but her second son and Chen Wanqing, the legitimate daughter of her natal family, her blood rushed up, her whole body trembled, her eyes bulged with anger, and she almost fainted from rage!

  "You, you poisonous woman!" Fu's mother slammed another bowl over, "Old Master Hou was blind to have chosen such a poisonous woman for Eldest Brother back then. Not only did she fail to give birth to a son or daughter for the Hou Manor, but now she has even used such despicable means to harm my son and my niece from my maternal family, the legitimate daughter of the First-Rank General's family! The Hou Manor can no longer tolerate this poisonous woman!"

  Just then Fu Yiyang walked in with a dark face, and his mother cried and pointed at him to divorce his wife.

  Su Ying didn't care how much Fu Mu yelled, when Fu Yeyang came in, her face turned pale but there was no hint of guilt between her eyebrows, her bright eyes looked straight into Fu Yeyang's eyes, her back stood up straight, looking at Fu Yeyang as if she had seen the mastermind.

  Everyone is finally here!