Chapter 64: Auntie (Three) Volume One

  Yao Cunmei saw her like this, with a low-hanging forehead, a slender neck, and a delicate body, looking pitiful and lovely. Isn't this the very appearance of a fox spirit? It must be this appearance that has enticed Father to the point of being infatuated.

  "You little wretch, who are you putting on this act for!" Yao Cunmei's anger flared up, and she stood up, lifting her foot to trample Mingxia's hand.

  Her foot went down, Mingxia's hand had to bleed and be injured, seeing blood would make a big fuss, and maybe even Old Master Yao would ask about it! Ma Qunfang and Xiurong, Xianqiao couldn't care about Yao Cunmei's feelings, they exclaimed and rushed forward together to stop her, blocking Yao Cunmei and persuading her repeatedly. Mingxia was stunned, dazed and squatting on the ground.

  "What's wrong with you guys blocking me? Have you gone mad?"

  "Cousin, calm down, it's not worth it, don't be impulsive!" Ma Qunfang tightly hugged the struggling and furious Yao Cunmei, while shouting at Hong Yu and Hong Xiu: "Why are you still standing there? Quickly help Fourth Aunt up!"

  Hongyu and Hongxiu finally came back to their senses, hastily helping Mingxia up and carefully taking the porcelain tea leaves from her hand.

  "Who dares to help her! She's used to being a servant girl, does she need someone to support her now? When did she become so arrogant!"

  "Sister, don't be like this!" Ma Qunfang hastily whispered something in her ear, Yao Cunmei was taken aback and closed her mouth. Ma Qunfang then quickly said: "Hongyu, Hongru, help your aunt back! Hurry up and change your clothes, Fourth Aunt will be more careful next time, don't spill tea again!"

  "The maid knows, it's all because of the maid's clumsiness." Mingxia blinked her eyelids lightly and curtsied to Yao Cunmei: "The maid takes her leave." Then she went out.

  Yao Cunmei was still muttering curses under her breath, but she didn't make another aggressive move to pester or provoke him.

  As soon as I left the Jade Forest Garden, tears streamed down uncontrollably and soaked through my handkerchief.

  It has always been known that being a person's concubine is extremely difficult. However, whether willing or not, this path was chosen by oneself, and no matter how hard it gets, one must persevere!

  Tonight is the 15th, according to everyone's rules, tonight Old Master Yao will be resting in the main courtyard.

  Because of Mingxia's affair, the people in the Yao mansion had already made fun of Madam Ma behind her back. At this juncture, Old Master Yao could not afford to ignore Madam Ma's dignity.

  If Mrs. Ma loses face and her dignity is damaged, she will be despised by everyone, and it will inevitably lead to family conflicts and many accidents at home. As the head of the family, Mr. Yao absolutely does not want this situation to happen.

  Besides, he didn't dislike Madam Ma. In his heart, she was still a qualified and competent mistress, so there was no need to not give her face!

  So on this day, Old Master Yao didn't go to Mingxia's place, but instead arrived early at the main house and had dinner with Madam Ma, then stayed there overnight.

  He wants everyone to know that the mistress has not lost favor, the mistress is still the head of the family and the person most respected by the old master. If anyone wants to have other thoughts, they should think carefully.

  What about the house on Lianhua Mountain? After Mingxia returned from Qionglin Garden, she changed her clothes, washed her face and sat under the moon window to do needlework, without mentioning a word about what happened in Qionglin Garden.

  Hong Yu and Hong Xiu exchanged a glance, and couldn't help but feel two parts sympathy and admiration for her. Then she thought about it again, they were both maids, why did she get to be the mistress overnight, wearing gold and silver without saying anything, and still having them serve her? Her heart felt unbalanced again, wishing she would have even more bad luck! Seeing her calm and quiet, she just silently stood by, not offering any words of consolation.

  Hongyu and Hong Xiu originally thought that Old Master Yao would come over in the evening to comfort Fourth Aunt for a while, even if he didn't come, he must have sent someone to say a few words, but unexpectedly there was no movement at all.

  This is getting interesting, the two corners of their mouths twitched, and as they gazed at Mingxia, a hint of disdain flashed in their eyes: You think you can be proud for long? In just a few days, you'll be neglected by Master!

  Ming Xia also felt a faint sense of loss in her heart, and the tasteless dinner was like chewing wax. She came to her senses for a moment, and then went to bed early after closing the door.

  Deep in the night, a figure quietly emerged from the Lychee Flower Mountain House and stealthily made his way to the Fallen Plum Courtyard.

  In Luomei Courtyard, Yao Cunhui and Rong Ma were waiting. Today, Mingxia secretly passed a note saying that she would come to see them tonight.

  "The maid servant greets Second Miss." Mingxia composed herself and curtsied to Ya Cunhui.

  "Let's spare the formalities!" Yao Cunhui looked him up and down, furrowed his brow and said: "You're not free either now, why did you take the risk to come over tonight? What is it that you want to say, speak quickly and then hurry back."

  Hongyu and Hongxiu are maids arranged by the Ma family, how can they not keep an eye on Mingxia? Maybe they're just waiting for a chance to trip her up.

  "Second Miss can rest assured, tonight Master has gone to Madam's place, Hongyu and Hongcai won't make any moves." Mingxia smiled.

  Hongyu and Hongxiu were in charge of keeping an eye on her, the most important thing being to eavesdrop on whether she said anything unpleasant in front of Old Master Yao. When Old Master Yao was not around, they would naturally sleep soundly. Who would bother with Mingxia when she was grieving in her room?

  Yao Cunhui smiled slightly, indicating for her to speak.

  "The maid wants to ask the second young lady for a kind of medicine," Mingxia said, glancing at Yao Cunhui, and continued: "Red flower, mirabilite, and licorice root, please ask the second young lady to send someone to secretly buy some for me. Here is the silver." As she spoke, Mingxia took out a small purse from her sleeve and poured out two pieces of broken silver onto the tea table beside her.

  "Fourth Auntie, what are you going to use these things for? Do you even know what they're used for?" Mrs. Rong's face changed color.

  These are all abortion drugs.

  She had just been taken in by the old master and bought such medicine, could it be that she had secretly colluded with the old master? No, if so, the old master would have taken her in long ago, why sneak around? Unless, before the old master, she was with another man...

  Rong's mother's eyes narrowed, her sharp gaze fixed on Mingxia: "Could it be that you're...?"

  "No," Ming Xia said softly: "Mother Rong, you misunderstood! The maid has other uses for these medicines." She explained simply to Yao Cunhui and Mother Rong.

  Rong's mother felt a bit relieved, but still frowned and said: "In the back house, the most taboo thing is this kind of thing. If it were found in someone's place, there would only be one dead word. How could Second Miss buy such a thing with you! Second Miss, in my humble opinion..."

  "Take the silver back and keep it for your own use, without silver by your side, your days won't be good. The medicine you mentioned, I'll send someone to buy it in three days, we'll see how to give it to you then." Yao Cunhui agreed immediately, and ordered Rong Ma to take out two 10-tael silver notes for her, "Take it, when the time comes to be generous, be a little more generous, and your life will be more comfortable."

  "Thank you, Second Miss Shao." Facing Yao Cunhui, Mingxia didn't have many polite words and thanked her as she accepted it.

  "Do you regret it?" Yao Cunhui asked her coldly.

  Do you regret it? Ming Xia's body stiffened slightly, and she quickly said: "No regrets, I have no regrets, there is no room for regret. Even if I could choose again, I would still choose this way."

  Yao Cun's eyes were complex, and he was slightly dazed for a moment before speaking softly: "I heard that today Sanmei had a hard time because of you?"

  News spreads quickly! Ming Xia smiled wryly, thinking that she was now the focus of the entire mansion. The commotion this morning was so big, and Yao Cunmei wasn't someone who would let things slide. She probably couldn't wait for everyone in the mansion to know, who wouldn't know by now?

  "Third Miss hates her maidservants, that's a common human emotion." Mingxia's tone was calm, but her heart suddenly skipped a beat.

  "I hope you really think so," said Yao Cunhui slowly: "Sometimes, it's not easy to recognize one's place and stick to it."

  Ming Xia's body suddenly trembled, her heart greatly shocked. She composed herself and bowed her head to Yao Cun Hui, saying: "This servant girl remembers! This servant girl will remember Second Miss's teachings!"

  "Alright, you can go now! Calm down and don't worry, your father is not a foolish person, he won't treat you unfairly."

  "Yes, Second Miss!" Mingxia curtsied and slowly left.

  Ming Xia secretly felt a lingering fear, having suffered a humiliation at the hands of Yao Cunmei today. How could she not feel resentful and indignant? Subconsciously, she thought that one day she would definitely repay this debt! Only now, after hearing a word from Yao Cunhui, did she suddenly come to her senses.

  Revenge? It's just a waste of energy, why bother thinking about it deeply? With just myself, a rootless and unreliable concubine like a floating duckweed, wanting to move the daughter of the master of the house, how easy is that? If exposed, I won't even know how to die!

  Third Miss is the wife's daughter and also the old master's flesh and blood. The old master will not harm his own flesh and blood for himself! If he really wants to get into trouble, spending every day plotting and scheming, he might end up ruining himself in this lifetime! By then, he'll be deeper in trouble and won't be able to turn back even if he wants to!

  Defending one's own territory is the best policy.

  "Second Miss, if Fourth Aunt doesn't make a move, won't Second Miss's efforts be in vain?" Mother Rong was somewhat perplexed.

  Logically speaking, shouldn't the second young lady take advantage of the situation to stir up trouble between Fourth Aunt and Madam Ma, Third Young Lady? Why did she instead help Third Young Lady speak out and scold Fourth Aunt?

  Sighing, she found this master who had grown up drinking his own milk increasingly incomprehensible and unpredictable!

  "Relax, Mother," Yao Cunhui let out a soft sigh and said slowly: "I'm just reminding her not to get distracted by unimportant trivial matters. Do you think Ma is stupid? She's probably eager for Fourth Aunt to make trouble! If Fourth Aunt makes trouble, she'll have the opportunity to take advantage of it! As long as Fourth Aunt behaves herself and lets her harbor hatred in her heart but can't find an opportunity to speak out, that's even more interesting!"

  "But," Mother Rong frowned and said: "If Fourth Aunt is too weak, wouldn't the Madam still bully her?"

  "She's not a weak person, otherwise she wouldn't have asked me to help her buy that kind of medicine!" Yao Cunhui smiled and said: "With her skills, she can take care of herself completely, you just watch and see!"

  Rong's mother was taken aback, and laughed: "It seems that Rong's mother is really old and useless! The brain is not good either! It's also said that Madam Ma specially arranged for someone to clean up the pomegranate mountain house for Fourth Aunt to live in, and smiled at everyone, hoping she would soon have children for Master, while on the other hand, she asked someone to send her a fetal protection soup...