Chapter 41: Offending Everyone

  "She's going to say it! She's going to say it!" Jiang repeated these two sentences back and forth, her whole body on the verge of collapse.

  Hong Yinger hastily comforted her: "Don't worry, Madame. The old lady probably didn't mean it that way. Besides, even if she did say something, who would believe her? Your brother is only a few years old, how could anyone think he's capable of doing such things?"

  Jiang calmed down a bit, Hong Yan was right, her son was only six years old, still an innocent child, who would believe that at such a young age, he had killed his own brother with his own hands?

  But she was still a little afraid: "Even if others don't believe it, they can't help but gossip. My poor Ze Ge, at such a young age, has to endure the unjust criticism of outsiders, what will happen when he grows up? If his reputation is ruined, will it affect his future?" When she said this, she couldn't help but scold her mother-in-law Zhang Shi: "Ze Ge calls her 'Grandmother' after all, and I have always been respectful to her, how could she be so heartless and show no mercy to a six-year-old child?! It's all in vain that she pretends to be a kind and benevolent elder, but actually it's all fake!"

  "Come on, Big Madam, don't worry. Even if others gossip, there's no evidence. Spring Grass is already dead, and no one saw Ze Ge coming out of Qian Niang's house. Who can prove that Ze Ge did such a thing? Without witnesses or physical evidence, rumors are just rumors. Besides, everyone knows that Old Madam hates our Hou Ye... hates our Dà Lǎo Ye to the bone. If she really spoke ill of Ze Ge, others would think she's just venting her anger and wouldn't spare even a six-year-old child. They'd only think Old Madam is narrow-minded, no one would believe her."

  Jiang felt a bit more at ease: "You're right, no one will believe her. If she dares to spread this rumor outside, we just need to say that she's talking nonsense and maliciously slandering the descendants of the great master. At that time, it will be her reputation that suffers." Jiang's expression suddenly improved a lot.

  Another of Jiang's trusted maidservants, Qing Cui, stood by and waited, her head lowered, her eyes flickering for a moment.

  Although she was also a confidante of the Jiang family, she didn't listen to her mistress's orders as blindly as Hong Niang did. When she heard what Madam Jiang had just said, she actually disagreed with it in her heart. The first wife had almost harmed Old Master's own son and daughter-in-law, and even nearly destroyed the entire household, including Old Master himself. How could they expect others to show mercy? It was already extremely generous of Old Master not to mention that incident until now. Zhe Ge'er may be young, but he was capable of such cruelty towards his younger brother at a tender age. The servants who knew about it couldn't help but feel a chill in their hearts. If he grew up and had a bright future ahead of him, who knows how ruthless he would become?

  Can't the old lady understand? Nowadays, the old master's reputation outside is notorious, and even the old lady and the old man have abandoned him. It's hard to say whether Xiaochangfang can get the title or not. If the emperor is angry with the old master, he will definitely be severely punished. Even if he leaves his life, Xiaochangfang won't have a good day. If the old lady is smart, she should stop provoking the old lady and think of ways to let her natal family help her, pull her and the young masters together, and not get involved with the Zhao family's mess again. At least that way, she can hide what she has done, wait for ten or eight years, and when the brothers grow up and become successful in their studies, the old lady will have nothing to worry about the revival of the family business.

  These words, Qinglian had also said to Jiangshi before, unfortunately, they couldn't enter the mistress's ears, and she was scolded. If it wasn't for her cleverness and timely expression of remorse, and carefully doing a few errands for the mistress, she might not have been able to keep this position. Hongying that little girl is waiting for an opportunity to pick on her mistakes, so as to thoroughly become the number one confidant beside the big madam. Qinglian remained silent, but in her heart, she felt that if the mistress continued to make mistakes, she would have to think of a way to escape.

  Jiang had a good rest for most of the day, took her medicine and sweated it out. By evening, her cold was almost gone, but both knees were badly swollen and painful to the touch. Jiang thought about who was responsible for her downfall and felt extremely resentful. She ordered Qinglian to spread rumors again among the old house servants and relatives, speaking ill of Zhao's bad temper and how she had intentionally humiliated her elder sister-in-law since she was young.

  The green yarn was done, but unfortunately, Jiang's performance in front of Zhang's mansion was too much. The old house's servants weren't fools and wouldn't be easily deceived. Jiang knelt for three days without achieving anything, clearly kneeling on a soft cushion with someone holding an umbrella to block the wind and rain, a servant girl serving tea, and a maid occasionally wiping her sweat with a handkerchief. After kneeling for two hours, she would leave and then dare to tell outsiders that she had knelt for a whole day. Now that she has truly knelt for a whole day, she's either sick or asking for a doctor or brewing medicine, causing a commotion in the middle of the night that disturbs the peace of the entire old mansion. Which of those servants who were used to comfortable and easy work wouldn't be annoyed by her?

  Someone said, "Zhao?" But someone retorted, "How old is the young lady? What does she know about being thin-skinned or not? This is clearly just the big madam being too spoiled, obviously not sincerely wanting to apologize to the old lady, but still boasting and refusing to kneel again after suffering a bit of punishment. To cover it up, she's even using a child as a shield. Is this bullying the young lady because she's too young to defend herself? No wonder the old lady doesn't bother with her!"

  Qingying listened to the feedback from the old woman and the little maids, knowing that something was wrong, and quickly reported back to Jiangshi. Jiangshi was furious, slamming her cup and shouting: "These despicable slaves are really hateful! When I take charge of the inner court in the future, not a single one will be spared!"

  Two old women who were responsible for sweeping the yard and tending to the flowers behind the house overheard this conversation through the window, exchanged a glance, and without saying a word, quietly slipped away together.

  Jiang's angry words quickly spread throughout the old mansion, and the servants, regardless of age or sex, showed no unusual expression on their faces but secretly resented this lady. She was just a new daughter-in-law who had given birth to a son and a daughter for the Zhao family, yet she acted as if she were in charge? The people in the old mansion were mostly promoted by Madame Qin herself back then, and most of them had been with the Zhao family longer than her mother-in-law. Who did she think she was?!

  So, Mr. Jiang slowly began to find that the taste of the water he drank was not right, and the food he ate was far from as good as it was at first. He ordered the servants in the old mansion to do something, but there was no news for half a day. After finally finding someone to ask, they always had an excuse to shirk responsibility.

  What's even more frightening is that her knee injury was severe, and she had to ask a good midwife to take a look. She sent someone with a note to Jiading to invite the midwife, but it took a whole day for the servant from the old mansion to return and report that the midwife had gone out on a house call. When asked which family the midwife was visiting, the servant didn't know. The medicine was brought up, but sometimes there was too much water in it, sometimes it was overcooked, and once it was even cold. Madame Jiang had no choice but to entrust this task to her personal maid, fearing that if she wasn't careful with her injury, it would leave lasting consequences.

  She had also, in a fit of rage, called for the steward Wang Si Ping to come and deal with those disobedient servants, but Wang Si Ping just nodded and said he would take them away to be beaten, yet later Hong Yan could see that those who were supposed to be punished were fine, without any signs of injury. The rumors spread throughout the clan, saying that Madame Jiang was a cruel and violent woman, appearing gentle on the surface but actually loving to beat people behind their backs, only regretting that she couldn't beat them to death. No wonder the old master had chosen her as his daughter-in-law back then, they were indeed of the same kind.

  When she heard these rumors, Jiang was almost furious. She still remembered that the special envoy who transmitted the imperial edict was staying in the front yard of her old house. If it wasn't for letting him see how virtuous and gentle she was, so that he could say more good things about her and her son to the emperor, why would she have to run to Zhang's courtyard every day to humiliate herself? Unfortunately, all of this became a bubble, and she had to secretly pray that the imperial envoy staying in the outer yard did not know about the rumors circulating among the servants in the inner yard, and would not have any "misunderstandings" about her.

  Jiang was extremely suspicious that all this was manipulated by Zhang behind the scenes. Otherwise, the servants of the old house were just slaves, how dare they openly oppose her, the great lady? Xiaochangfang was likely to inherit the title, and at that time they would have to make a living under her, so weren't they afraid that she would dispose of them all in a fit of anger?

  Jiang was deeply resentful and felt that Zhang was a huge hidden danger. If she couldn't handle it well, her mother and son would have a hard time sleeping in the future. Now Zhao Ze is still young, and if Zhang says he killed his brother, outsiders may not believe it, but when he grows up and becomes successful, there will be people who will resent him and wish him ill fortune. At that time, as long as Zhang spreads rumors again, even if others don't believe them, they will still let the world slander Zhao Ze, what can her poor son do then?

  And then there's Zhao Wei, the only male heir of Xia Er Fang. As long as he is still alive, the Emperor might transfer the title of Duke of Jian Nan to him. What would happen to her son then? He is a weak and sickly child after all...

  Jiang's evil intention was born, but soon worried, now in the old mansion, not as convenient as the Houfu in Beijing, and there were still officials living in the front yard, what if they were discovered...

  Just as she was worried about whether to take action, Gao Cheng secretly contacted her through his subordinates. The person brought his message: "The high-ranking official said that the big madam returned to the old mansion a few days ago. Except for the first day when she kowtowed to the old master from afar at the gate of the courtyard, she never went to pay respects again. The old master heard that the big madam went to beg for forgiveness from the old lady every day, asking her to forgive the mistakes made by the old master, and was so angry that he spat up blood again, shouting that the big madam was unfilial and wanted to heavily punish her."

  Jiang was fed up with this old man now, and even thought in his heart, why didn't he die when he fell off the horse? If he died, it would be considered as paying back his life to Zhao Zhuo's couple, and this case would be closed. His family wouldn't have to worry about being implicated again, but he not only survived, but also refused to admit his guilt, knowing that it would harm his son's title, he still didn't want to give in, really troublesome!

  That person didn't know what she was thinking, and continued to report: "The old master is currently taking medicine, but several flavors have run out. He ordered the servants to buy more, but the purchased medicinal materials are all unusable. The weather is getting colder, and the old master's clothes also need to be replenished with new ones. Please, madam, send some things in. When the old master sees the things you sent, he will naturally know your filial piety and won't blame the steward anymore." He glanced at Jiang Shi quietly: "The steward said that his days are now difficult in front of the old master, please, madam, look at the past relationship between masters and servants, help him out, and he will remember your kindness."

  Jiang narrowed his eyes and glared fiercely at the man, who quickly lowered his head.

  But even a small servant dares to threaten her?

  Jiang's heart was racing fast, thinking of some things, Gao Cheng knew about it, what if he leaked it out...

  She suddenly sneered, and what had just been bothering her seemed to have a solution.