bookcurios Chapter 226: The past?
Chapter 226: The past?
Chapter 226: The past?
Xiao said this so that their second branch could take over as the head of the family more legitimately.
She said, "When the old man was alive, he handed over the position of the head of the family to my eldest brother and held a banquet. At that time, he sincerely invited guests from all directions and announced in front of everyone that my eldest brother would succeed me as the head of the Ye family, and my eldest sister-in-law would become the head of the family. Only then did everyone in Lin'an recognize my eldest brother's family. Now that our second master is in charge of the family, mother, do you think we should also hold a banquet?"
The old lady nodded, "You have a point. Every family head has to have a ceremony for handing over. The purpose of holding the banquet is to inform all the mansions and official residences and recognize the new head and mistress. From now on, there will be a come-and-go relationship so that we can find the right path and the right people."
Xiao said, "It's just that the family's mourning period hasn't passed for a hundred days, and Lin'an City has been hit by an earthquake, so it's really hard to prepare a banquet. Just like today, the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, we should have a family banquet. But now rice and grain are expensive in the city, and although our family has no shortage of them, it's not a good idea to hold a big banquet and give people something to talk about. I thought that during the mourning period, we should keep it simple, and we shouldn't make a fuss when the country is in trouble, so we won't hold the family banquet today, and the second master's family banquet will also be postponed. We'll wait until the hundred-day mourning period is over and the city is rebuilt, and then we'll have a banquet together. What do you think, mother?"
The old lady was very satisfied with Xiao's attitude. Not only was she able to take care of household affairs, but she also knew to ask her for instructions on everything. This not only saved her from worrying, but also gave her enough face. This is a qualified mistress of the house!
So she nodded and said, "Shubai, you have done a great job. I am relieved to leave this family to you."
Xiao leaned over and praised the old lady, saying that she would support the family in the future. The necessary rules must be followed, and people must not be allowed to think that the First-Rank General's Mansion is no longer the First-Rank General's Mansion because the old man is gone.
The old lady nodded repeatedly after hearing this, and sighed to herself, "Our first-rank general has passed away, so the court should have taken down the plaque. After all, there was such a precedent in the past. After it was taken down, the next general could hang it up in his own home. But now the court doesn't seem to have this intention, that is, it still recognizes our family's military prestige. This is what the old man earned with his life, you must know how to cherish it and live up to the name of this mansion."
Xiao immediately agreed, "Mother is right. We will do our best, just like before, and not bring shame to the old master." After that, she looked over to the other side of the main room and asked with a smile, "Sister-in-law, let me ask you one more question. Where is the fourth young lady? Has she gone out again? Our morning and evening visit rules have been restored for a few days, but the fourth young lady has hardly shown up. This... isn't good, is it?"
Madam Mu raised her drooping eyelids to look at her, and after a while she said, "The mistress of the house is so enthusiastic, someone who doesn't know would think you are thinking about the fourth young lady. I want to see her. I advise you not to think about our Yan'er all the time. If she doesn't come, you will be happy secretly, but if she comes, you will have a headache."
Xiao was a little embarrassed, but she remained decent and said with a smile, "Look at what your sister-in-law said. I am her second aunt. I am happy that she is here. Why should I be worried?"
"Doesn't it hurt?" Mu snorted coldly, "What if she mentions the Second Young Master's knee to you, or brings up those old accounts in the twelfth lunar month? Have you thought about how to respond?"
Xiao was confused for a moment, and quickly said, "Sister-in-law, those are all things of the past."
"I can't get over it." Mu's words were cold and emotionless. "Xiao Shubai, none of those things can be over."
Xiao Shubai was so upset that he didn't know how to respond. The old lady got angry when she heard this, and even angrier when she looked at Mu Qianqiu.
But she thought that since Ye Wenyan didn't come tonight, and that Nanny Ji didn't come either, she could still control Mu Qianqiu. So she slapped the table, and said with a gloomy and thin face: "Mu Qianqiu, you are not done yet, are you? Those things have been going on for more than a month, what else do you want? If your daughter had died, I would have been impartial and let them pay for your daughter's life. But your daughter didn't die after all! Before, their family didn't hesitate to kill a son just to appease your anger, what else do you want? Back then in Qihua Pavilion, you rushed over and whipped every day, and I saw it with my eyes and felt pain in my heart, but I still gritted my teeth and said nothing, just to let you vent your anger. If tormenting you is not enough? For a daughter who is not dead, do you want the whole family of the second son to pay for her life? How can you justify this? Even if you go to the authorities, the government will not sentence them to death!"
The old lady became more and more excited as she spoke, and the more she spoke, the more she felt that she was right, so her voice could not help but rise a few notches - "Why are you so precious? You let others pay with their lives for nothing. Your daughter didn't even have a broken skin, but you beat the second son's family to pieces. They are still covered in wounds. Look at your daughter, what happened to her? How does she look like a victim? She was obviously just having fun for a few days, but you went crazy at home. If a vicious woman like you were in someone else's house, she would be beaten to death with sticks!"
Seeing that the old lady was a little excited, Jun Tao quickly stroked her back and whispered, "Old lady, please say less!" But the old lady was addicted to talking and felt that she was right, so how could she listen to her?
Then the old lady continued, "The second branch is lucky. If they were beaten to death by you in Qihua Pavilion, and your daughter came back alive and well, Mu Qianqiu, what do you say about this? Should I kill your entire family to avenge them? But I can't do it. You are all my descendants. I am not you. I don't have a heart as cruel as yours. I can't do it!" The old lady actually started to sob when she said this, looking like a wicked daughter-in-law bullying her mother-in-law.
When the old lady started crying, Xiao also started to wipe her tears. Seeing this, Xichun, who was sitting below, quickly stood up and went to the old lady's side, and said softly to comfort her: "Don't be angry, old lady, your health is the most important thing, our whole family still depends on you!"
After hearing this, the old lady cried even more sadly, "Nowadays, only you in the second house still know that my health is important, and still know to rely on me. Those people in the west courtyard are ungrateful wolves, they are impossible to tame, impossible to tame!" This scolding also included Ye Lianmian. She had been driven back to the west courtyard to live, and today she lost the right to sit next to the old lady, so she could only step back and sit with Mu and Ye Qingmei.
This already made her very depressed, and now she heard the old lady's scolding, she immediately got angry - "You are the ones who have implicated me again! Can you let me go? It's fine that you didn't raise me when I was young, but why do you put all your mistakes on me when I grew up? What sin did I commit in my previous life to have a mother like you? Can't you think about me when you speak? It's just a night of Wenyan, and you make a fuss over and over again. But like grandma said, she is obviously fine, sitting at home, why are you making a fuss endlessly? What do you want? Will you be happy only if the whole family of Second Uncle is dead? But what qualifications do you have to let them die? Who are they atoning for?"
Ye Lianmian cursed without caring about anything, saying whatever she wanted to say. She said that Mu Shi was shameless, and only knew how to give birth to a child behind closed doors. She even said, "Father is away guarding the border, and he doesn't stay at home for many days throughout the year, but as soon as he comes back, he sneaks into your room, and doesn't even want to see us children, and only cares about being intimate with you. It's endless day and night, you are shameless, but we still have some! You only miss your husband, and we miss our father! Mu Qianqiu, do you have the face to do this?"
Ye Lianmian's words made Xichun unable to hold back, and he burst out laughing, rolling his eyes and saying, "That's because the eldest master and the eldest mistress have a good relationship, otherwise how could they have children one after another!"
Mu was so angry at these words that his eyes went dark and his stomach started to hurt.
Ye Qingmei quickly supported the person and glared at Xichun: "Since the mistress of the house has emphasized the rules, please give her some face and don't say anything you shouldn't say. You are just a concubine, and a concubine is a slave who may be sold at any time. As a concubine, who gives you the right to speak in the hall?"
Ye Qingmei was never a talkative person, and her temperament was calm and peaceful. But she suddenly spoke in such a tone, which frightened everyone in the room. Xichun didn't dare to say anything. Xiao wanted to say something but swallowed it back. She repeatedly persuaded herself in her heart that the mistress of the house should not care about the younger generation, otherwise she would lose her status.
But only Ye Lianmian refused to give in and kept harping on the fact that Mu gave birth to Ye Wenyan and said many unpleasant things to her.
Mu was disheartened and could not tell how she felt about her daughter. The guilt she had felt before also gradually faded away as Ye Lianmian acted up again and again.
But I always wondered how good it would be if this daughter had not been taken to the old lady since she was young. Why did the old lady take her daughter away in the first place? Was it just to raise her like this to disgust her?
She didn't want to talk to Ye Lianmian, she just covered her mouth to relieve the pain, and didn't say much in the face of the old lady's accusations.
Because there is really no doubt that Ye Wenyan is not dead. It is a fact that she is not dead, whether it is the second day of the twelfth lunar month or the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month.
At least in the eyes of outsiders, she was not dead, so she had no right to settle accounts with the second wife. But she knew in her heart that it would be fine if it happened on the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, because the child was lucky and capable. But how could she swallow this anger on the second day of the twelfth lunar month? Perhaps she would never be able to swallow it! Since she couldn't settle accounts immediately, she had to wait for an opportunity. Once the opportunity came, she would avenge her dead daughter even if she had to die.
Seeing that her mother looked unhappy, Ye Qingmei supported her and said, "Let's go back!"
At this time, Xiao took two steps forward and bowed to Mu. "Don't be angry, sister-in-law. It's all my fault. I'll apologize to you again. We really know we were wrong. Whether it's the wedding or the incident on the 15th day of the twelfth lunar month, I apologize to you. I just hope that you can calm down and we can live peacefully in the future. Let the past be the past. We will get along well in the future. I promise to treat the fourth girl well and never let her down. Your children will always be the legitimate sons and daughters of the first-rank general's mansion. When they get married in the future, everything in the public empire will definitely be theirs."
After hearing this, the old lady reminded Xiao: "There is not only one fourth daughter in the mansion, there is also the fifth daughter beside you. You are the legitimate mother, you should be magnanimous. It is only the small families that treat concubines harshly. If a family like ours is spread to treat concubines harshly, it will be laughed at. Not only will our family lose face, but even your married daughter will be ridiculed."
Xiao turned around quickly and nodded obediently: "I remember everything and will follow my mother's instructions."
Mu couldn't stand their hypocritical behavior and stood up to leave. But before she could even cross the threshold, she saw a maid running over here...