Chapter 6 Strange Things Happen One After Another

  The matter of dividing the family property was naturally settled, with the husband and wife of the Southern Marquis taking charge. They only informed their son, and didn't think it necessary to notify his daughter-in-law. Besides, she was still in her own courtyard taking care of her ailing son. The child had just shown signs of recovery, and they could finally lift the quarantine on the courtyard. That's when she heard about the division of property, and before she could even catch her breath, she hastily rushed over.

  Jiang looked at Chuncao again, feeling anxious in her heart. She was clear that with Eldest Aunt Zhang's temperament, since she didn't plan to continue entangling herself in the matter of dividing the family property, she would probably move out within these few days. The people serving by her side would naturally also have to leave together, and afterwards whether or not some unfavorable rumors would spread wasn't something she could control. Fortunately, looking at Zhang's expression, it was normal, clearly she still didn't know any news.

  She began to choke back tears: "This is really not right, I feel embarrassed just listening to it. For people like us, no matter how great the grudge, we can't get past the word '礼' (etiquette). As a junior, I don't dare say anything, but I hope the old lady won't blame me for not speaking out."

  Zhang saw the meanness of her stepson and daughter-in-law, but after hearing these words from her cheap daughter-in-law today, she felt much better in her heart, and her face also relaxed: "Forget it, you have your own difficulties, how can I blame you? You just live a good life, from now on the master of this house will be the new Marquis, he is a filial son to his birth mother, who knows what jokes he will make, but there will be gains for you to enjoy."

  Jiang felt even more suffocated in her heart, wasn't this what she had been thinking all along? However, now that Old Lady Qian was frightened by the rumors and fell ill, it's likely that nothing can be done for the time being. Once she recovers, another rumor will be spread, and she'll behave herself.

  But that's nothing, the spring grass in front of us is a big problem.

  Jiang pretended to be pitiful again: "As juniors, what can we do except follow the wishes of our elders? I think Old Lady is not unreasonable either. After all, our master is her flesh and blood." Then she smiled and asked: "When does Madam plan to move? This moving business is no small matter, someone has to lend a hand. With Madam's busy schedule, it's probably hard to find the time. But my son and daughter-in-law can help out."

  "Rest assured, if there's anything you need help with, just let me know."

  Jiang nodded, took another stealthy glance at Chun Cao, and then stood up to bid farewell. She had to go persuade Niu Shi in front of her mother-in-law, before resolving the matter with Chun Cao, she couldn't let Zhang Shi's mother and son leave the Hou Mansion!

  As soon as she left, Zhao Jiong came out of the west room, and Mrs. Mi returned to her mother-in-law's side with her daughter in her arms, looking puzzled: "It's strange, she usually has good manners, but she's always been cautious and never interferes in our family disputes, why did she speak up today?"

  Zhao Zhuo somewhat disagreed: "Isn't it too much to say that the daughter-in-law is not worthy? This time, it's really because Big Brother and Sister-in-law have gone too far. Even the younger ones think it doesn't look right."

  Mrs. Zhang then instructed her daughter-in-law: "No matter what other ideas she may have, since she came to comfort you, don't randomly suspect others, maybe she really has good intentions? She is the daughter of a proper official family and cannot be compared with your sister's family who rose to wealth through violence."

  。”

  Miss Mi smiled, and the way Mrs. Niu acted without courtesy was really like a nouveau riche. Her family was originally a rebel of the previous dynasty and was defeated by the Qing army. If it weren't for the large number of remaining soldiers, Emperor Taizu would have recruited them to maintain stability, and there wouldn't be any way for the Niu family to survive. Since they didn't come from a decent background, it's not surprising that they don't do things reasonably. The Jiang family is not as reckless as hers.

  Zhao looked at the mother and son, speechless as they made excuses for Jiang's strange behavior. He then glanced at Chuncao, whose face had turned pale, and felt deep sympathy in his heart. It seemed that after the incident, Jiang had already learned the truth from the wet nurse and was afraid that Zhegeer was not clean, so she first silenced Honggeer's wet nurse and then spread rumors in the mansion that the Duke was reluctant to part with his younger generation and wanted to take one of them as a companion. She suppressed everyone's suspicions, and now she had set her sights on Chuncao again. If they moved out and took Chuncao away, as an inner courtyard woman with her mother-in-law still controlling her, it would not be convenient for her to silence her, and who knows what tricks she would come up with next?

  At this time, someone else came, and it was a young maid named Hong Yan who had been brought by Jiang's family earlier. She smiled and greeted Zhang's family: "Our grandmother just dropped a handkerchief in this room." Mi's family took a look, and indeed there was a handkerchief on the chair where Jiang's family had sat earlier, so they let her take it back.

  Hong Niang smiled and said: "Let the old lady and the second wife know, I just walked back and forth when I met Du Mama, who was on duty at the back door, and she was about to come in to tell Chun Cao a message. Her family has someone coming, saying that her father suddenly fell and fainted, and the doctor said it's not good, asking her to hurry back home to take a look. I thought Du Mama is a person from the back door, not supposed to enter the inner courtyard, and also for the sister of the old lady here to pass on messages, if someone sees her, don't know what kind of trouble will arise, so I volunteered to replace her to deliver the message."

  The spring grass had already lost its color, and with this reason, whether it was true or false, she couldn't refuse. At this moment, she could only regret not telling Zhang Shi the truth earlier, otherwise, her mistress would have helped her block it.

  Mr. Zhang did not suspect anything: "This is no small matter, let Chun Cao go home and take a look. If it's okay, then forget it. If not, send someone to deliver the message again." He also instructed his daughter-in-law, Mi Shi: "Give her ten taels of silver to ask her father to invite a doctor to prescribe medicine." Mi Shi agreed, handed over her daughter to her husband to hold, and went into the house to fetch the silver.

  Spring grass trembled and knelt down to kowtow to Zhang's family, thanking them for their kindness. When she got up, her face was pale with a greenish tint. Everyone thought something was wrong, but they just thought she was worried about her mother. So Zhang's family comforted her again: "Don't be afraid, your father is not that old, maybe he just fell heavily and will wake up soon." Spring grass's expression on her face almost cried out.

  Zhao hesitated for a moment, then suddenly reached out to grab Chun Cao, and started shouting "Ah ah" in his mouth. Zhao Zhuo was inexplicably strange: "What's going on?" He took a step towards Chun Cao, but this one step allowed Zhao to grab onto Chun Cao's sleeve, and he wouldn't let go again.

  "Come on, big sister, don't be ridiculous. Spring Grass's father is ill and she needs to hurry back to visit him."

  Zhao suddenly started making a loud fuss and even cried. Anyway, she's just a kid now, and it's normal for kids to throw tantrums.

  Mr. Mi heard the sound and rushed out of the house: "What's wrong? Why are you crying so hard?" Zhao didn't care, just grabbed Xun Cao's sleeve and wouldn't let go. Xun Cao seemed to suddenly come to her senses, treating her little master like a lifesaver, and cleverly hugged her, patting her a few times. Zhao also cooperated very well and stopped crying.

  Mrs. Mi hastily went forward to hold her daughter and check on her, but as soon as Zhao'er left Chuncao's arms, she started wailing again, this time even more violently, to the point where she was almost out of breath. Upon closer inspection, it turned out that she had been choked by saliva and couldn't stop crying no matter how hard she tried, her little face coughing until it was bright red. Mrs. Mi felt sorry for her daughter and hastily called out to Chuncao: "Quickly hold her and pat her back, what's going on? She's not usually so clingy with you."

  The spring grass has blushed, and in her heart, she also has a few parts of surprise and uncertainty. Could it be that on that day when I was talking to my sister-in-law, my older daughter was playing beside us and really understood? Is this one-year-old child really so clever?

  No matter what reason Zhao suddenly became so clingy, Chun Cao didn't have time to think about it at this moment in order to save her life, she hugged the little master and started gently patting her back.

  Zhao ? was usually raised by his grandmother Zhang, and Chun Cao was Zhang's reliable helper. Naturally, she had a lot of experience taking care of children. With a set of practiced movements, she took care of Zhao ? with ease, and his condition gradually improved. However, he kept holding onto Chun Cao's clothes and refused to let go.

  Mrs. Zhang was somewhat angry and scolded her daughter-in-law: "How did you teach the child? Usually, it's fine, but at this critical moment, you're making a fuss!" She also asked: "Where is the nanny? Why isn't she here now?"

  Mi bowed his head and didn't dare to argue, only saying: "Just now he was still here, I'm afraid he also received the news and went home." Zhao's wet nurse Chen Wangshi, known as Pearl Auntie, was originally Spring Grass's aunt.

  Zhao Zhuang hastily mediated: "Mother, don't be angry. Why not use our family's connections to invite a doctor from Hui Chun Tang to visit Chun Cao's home? Once the eldest sister is better, it won't be too late to let Chun Cao return."

  Zhang glared at her granddaughter and softened her expression: "Let's do it this way." Zhao didn't dare look at her, but instead buried his head in Chuncao's arms without saying a word.

  The spring grass secretly let out a sigh of relief, but Hong Yan's face turned ugly, and her smile also became somewhat stiff. However, after Zhang spoke up, Zhao Zhuo took the note and had someone go invite the doctor. As just a "messenger", she could only temporarily retreat and return to discuss countermeasures with her mistress.

  Before long, the person sent by Zhao Jiong returned to report: "The junior went to Hui Chuntang to ask a doctor to go to Chen's house. The people in Chen's family said that Uncle Chen had not fallen and would still be on duty tomorrow."

  The Zhang family was greatly puzzled, and just then Pearl returned, it turned out that she had been forcibly dragged away by the people in the Jiang's courtyard to talk, and had only just managed to struggle free. Mrs. Mi sent someone to ask at the back door what was going on, but the answer they got was that Du Mama had taken the day off today and had gone home early, and no one knew whether she had ever entered the inner courtyard to deliver a message.

  Mr. Mei said discontentedly: "This is probably Mrs. Du wanting to sneak into the inner courtyard, but was met by the maid next to her daughter-in-law and made up a reason to fool her way out. But cursing someone's father for being critically ill is also too unscrupulous." Thinking about it, if it wasn't Jiangshi's maid who encountered this matter, but rather someone from Niu Shi's courtyard, they might have used the excuse that Chun Cao was her mother-in-law's maid to stir up trouble.

  Zhao Jiong sneered, "In the past when Mother was in charge of the household, had such a mess ever occurred? What else can this Countess of Jianan do besides quarreling and being petty?"

  Zhang furrowed his brow, feeling that something was off.

  The people in the east house, Chun Cao and Zhao, let out a sigh of relief at the same time, then they both froze again. Zhao re-hung her innocent and naive expression, one hand pinching the small shoes on her feet, while revealing a toothless smile to others. But Chun Cao looked her up and down, left and right for half a day before bursting into laughter: "Good big sister, you're really a clever kid, you'll definitely have great prospects in the future! Yeah, great prospects!"

  At this moment, Jiang sat in her own room, but with a solemn face. Hong stood in front of her, somewhat uneasy: "Grandma?"

  Chiang slowly stood up: "Forget it, this matter still needs to be figured out from the wife's side. As long as they can't separate their households, there will always be opportunities for us to make our move later!"

  Hong Yinger said in a low voice: "But Madam, isn't she just waiting for Old Madame and Second Master and Second Mistress to move out of the Hou Mansion as soon as possible? How could they not divide the family property?"

  Jiang looked at her and revealed a deep and mysterious smile.