Chapter 444 Alliance
It was not the time for Chu Yitong to have her baby. Although Madame Zhuang barely persuaded Madame Tao to intercede with Marquess Qin and Madame Ou, Madame Tao said that she would only persuade them depending on the situation. If these two really did not agree, she could not force them to do so.
Now that she had a miscarriage, it was natural that they could not recognize that Chu Yitong had gotten pregnant. As such, the folly that she got pregnant during the mourning period could be covered. That made Madame Tao relieved, “Send some nourishing herbs to her and tell her not to be sad. It has only been a few days since she entered the family, hasn’t it? It was just the first time. The couple is both in their prime. Should they be afraid of not having enough children in the future?”
Madame Tao was usually a generous elder. Although this time, strictly speaking, Chu Yitong and his husband were in the wrong. Even though Chu Yitong had a miscarriage, the couple should have been given a few words of warning. However, with Madame Zhuang as a mother-in-law there, she was not willing to be the villain. So, she did not mention the embarrassing date of the pregnancy and treated it as if Chu Yitong had had a normal miscarriage.
Madame Zhuang was someone that loved her daughters-in-law. And she knew that the reason why Chu Yitong was pregnant was mostly that her eldest son was driven by pure lust and could not resist. So, she would not blame Chu Yitong as well.
Marquess Qin and Madame Ou were serious about this thing. As they knew it, both of them felt unhappy. But when they heard that Chu Yitong had had a miscarriage and was thus devastated, they felt it pity, “The folly of Yadan, in turn, did harm to his wife! It was a pity to lose such a baby!”
Both of them decided to punish Jiang Yadan but chose to appease Chu Yitong.
But the other elders were not so gentle. For example, upon hearing of Chu Yitong’s miscarriage, Madame He counted the days and sneered to her people around, “No wonder the child was not kept. He knew he should not be given birth and would be disgraced for the rest of his life. He would rather die and find another family to be born into the world. Anyway, Chu Yitong is the trueborn Commandery Princess of the Prince’s Mansion and she doesn’t even know the rules. Do you know whether she really doesn’t know it or not?”
Although Madame He spoke harshly in private, out of respect for Madame Zhuang, she did not dare to say anything out in the public.
The first branch waited for a few days but there was no movement from the third branch. So, Madame Lu said to Jiang Huizhi, “Madame He must be afraid of that shrew Madame Zhuang. As that is the case, Zhi’er, you’d better not go to the fourth branch to visit Chu. In case you run into Zhuang, you may have to suffer a lot!”
She had a vendetta against the fourth branch for her husband’s murder! But at this moment, she did not want Jiang Huizhi to rub salt into the wounds of the fourth branch, because she was afraid that Jiang Huizhi would follow in Madame Dou’s footsteps and be killed by Madame Zhuang!
Jiang Huizhi had an idea in her mind, “I’m not going there publicly. I’m just being nice and condoling with my aunt. Although the fourth branch refuses to admit that Chu has a miscarriage, they have told that she has an infection on her bed. As her niece, is there anything wrong with me to visit my aunt? If my fourth aunt wants to use me as a punching bag, she should also think about my second great grand uncle!”
Madame Lu shook her head, “It’s true that your second great grand uncle doesn’t like Zhuang. But Zhuang is so lucky that she has her sons and grandsons, who are all loved by the elders! And Zhuang is capable of doing anything! You… Don’t blame me for speaking badly. You are just a female and not as important as a male heir. Zhuang has your nineteenth uncle…”
“My second aunt, please rest assured. I saw what my grandmother went through with my own eyes. How could I not know how cruel Madame Zhuang is?” A flicker of resentment appeared in Jiang Huizhi’s eyes. She said calmly, “But you forget my nineteenth sister-in-law. She has just taken a message from the palace the other day, saying that that person will keep his promise before my third great grand uncle’s death and promote me. She will choose the best date to take me to the palace. Since that she has heart-to-heart with me, it is natural that I go for her when I have been treated badly!”
She sneered, “We’ll see if she really loves me, or she is just pretending! If she really loves me, I will come to her sooner or later to thank her. If she is just pretending, I am sorry! I am so young and simple that I will do anything if I cannot redress my grievance… Anyway, if we have to lose face, we will all lose face together. If someone has to lose face, then I will make everyone embarrassed. Anyway, I have nothing to care about now. She is now six or seven months pregnant. I do hope nothing happens to her!”
Madame Lu was still hesitant, “She is with the fourth branch. And the Empress Dowager is partial to her. She is in the palace. If the Empress Dowager stops our people and says that she cannot be bothered as she is pregnant and that we should look out for ourselves…”
“My aunt, do you forget that there is the sixth branch?” Jiang Huizhi sneered, “Her mother of the maiden family is such a fool. She treats her only trueborn brother of the sixth branch like dirt and refuses to let go of the feud between her and Mi Yinyin. She drove Mi Yinyin crazy and then forcibly repudiated her from the Mi Family a few days after the death of my third great grand uncle! A deadly feud had been formed between her and my sixth grand aunt! But Mi Yinyin has no sons, and it’s useless for her to be backed up by my sixth grand aunt. But my sixth grand aunt herself has sons and grandsons of her own!”
“My sixth grand aunt is her only aunt and she swore to treat me well before the death of my third great grand uncle. And then my sixth grand aunt can just tell my third great aunt that she is afraid that if she does not tell the Empress and does not let her do my justice, her reputation will be ruined! People will say that the mother of the country has broken her promises to her elders! My aunt, do you think my third great grand aunt will not let my sixth grand aunt go to the palace to deliver the message? No matter how rude the mother of the maiden family is, she cannot do anything to my third great grand aunt!”
Madame Lu thought carefully about Jiang Huizhi’s plan and only then did she agree, “And then you can go… But I should go with you! Zhuang is such an evil woman. Even if she can’t get something on you, she may create problems where there are none and make you suffer. If I go with you, I can block it for you!”
“My aunt, you’d better not go!” Jiang Huizhi shook her head, “I have the promise of the Empress in the palace but it still may not be safe for me to go to the fourth branch! If you go, it will be even more dangerous for you! Even if you don’t think of yourself, you should also think of my two cousins, right?”
Thinking of her two young sons and her husband who died in Shazhou in his prime, Madame Lu’s heart was filled with hatred and pain. It took a while before she said, “Be careful. Remember, it’s okay if your plan fails. Do not make yourself suffer immediate losses!”
Madame Lu and Jiang Huizhi planned for a long time and the two almost cried together. And then Jiang Huizhi made herself presentable and went to the fourth branch to visit Chu Yitong. However, she never expected that she got a problem before carrying out her plan. Because the fourth branch did not let her in!
“The eighth madame has a cold. For fear that others may be taken ill, the fourth branch is closed to guests at the moment. I humbly beg your pardon, junior young lady!” The doorkeeper was polite, not arrogant or rude at all, but unusually determined to stop the door from entering. Jiang Huizhi was blocked from entering after several attempts. The grievance in her heart was unspeakable!
As they were in the middle of a standoff, Jiang Yadan came back from outside. Jiang Huizhi came forward and teased, “My eighth uncle! I have heard that my eighth aunt is ill. So, I want to come and see her. But they don’t let me in! He said he was afraid that I would be taken ill. Am I so delicate? Besides, I’m always at home. I’m not afraid of a minor illness! I came all the way over here. I shouldn’t just go back, right?”
Jiang Yadan was always loafing but he was not stupid. How could he not know the reason for her visit was not good? But his guess was wrong. “The little girl wants to find out the truth about Yitong’s miscarriage so that she can spread the word and ruin the reputation of our fourth branch, doesn’t she?”
He was scolded by Marquess Qin and Madame Ou for this. Marquess Qin even had his guards give him ten lashes to let him remember his mistake. And he was not in a good mood at the moment. If it were his nephew, he would probably kick him and vent his anger at being punched before Marquess Qin. But he could not do so as it was his niece who was at her marriageable age.
However, squinting his eyes, he said, “Really? Go with me!” After leading her in, Jiang Yadan did not let her go to his own courtyard but went straight to Madame Zhuang, thinking, “Looking for trouble in our branch? Come and be disciplined before my mother first!”
Jiang Yadan didn’t know what he did was exactly what Jiang Huizhi wanted. Jiang Huizhi intended to use her own grievance in the fourth branch as a reason to force Xin Fubing to stand up for her. Her visit to Chu Yitong was just a pretext. She would be very glad to take Jiang Yadan’s behavior, which he thought was a trap.
When they met Madame Zhuang, Madame Zhuang said tonelessly, “What brings you here?”
When Madame Zhuang said so, she immediately began to whimper, “My fourth grand aunt, listen to your words! I just want to visit my eighth aunt. That’s all! Do you think I should not come? I don’t know what has displeased you and made you dislike me so much…”
Madame Zhuang disliked her. When she saw that she was still pretending in front of her, she didn’t bother to make a fuss but directly told Mrs. Chang, “Get two people to send her back to the first branch. She comes to our branch and keeps crying for no reason. Even if Madame Dou Junior is not in Jing City, Lu should have cared about it. It is folly!”
As soon as she gave the order to send her back, Jiang Huizhi went from sobbing to crying!
Now everyone could see that she had come here for looking for trouble. Jiang Yadan had wanted to watch the fun, but unexpectedly he was set upon. He was livid with rage! He was not the type of disciplined man. He was so angry that he didn’t care if his niece could not be hit. And he slapped her across the face, “What are you howling about?”
Jiang Yadan knew what he was doing and reduced the strength of his hands. But how could Jiang Huizhi not seize this opportunity? Without saying a word, she lay down on the ground and kept quiet!
The maids she had brought with her began to cry, saying that her young lady was dead or something else… Madame Zhuang called over her subordinates, her face darkening, “Carry her back to the first branch! If she wants to cry or make a scene, just go back to her own room! Don’t spoil the peace of our fourth branch!”
She also ordered, “Go to the main room and ask Dr. Lin to check her. Don’t think that she can blame her situation on our fourth branch just because she managed to get in!”
Finally, she cursed Jiang Yadan to be silly, “I have the door guarded. And no one is allowed to visit. What do you think the reason is? You brought her in. And just now you even hit her. Have you gotten used to beating those mistresses? So, now you’re beating your niece, right? Have you forgotten what your father told you before he left?”
Madame Zhuang was now in the same mood as her youngest daughter-in-law had been before, “What a dork!”
… As to the first branch, as soon as Dr. Lin and the people from the fourth branch left, Jiang Huizhi opened her eyes. She pressed the towel on her face and said to Madame Lu, who was guarding her by the couch, “My aunt, I hope you will talk to my sixth grand aunt!”
“Of course!” Madame Lu looked at her face with pain and gritted her teeth, “Don’t worry! Your fifth great grand aunt is unforgiving. She has been pressing hard these days. And your sixth grand aunt is being driven mad by her! If we seek an alliance with her now, there will be no reason for her to refuse!”
And that was exactly what happened. Madame Mi didn’t hesitate to agree as soon as she heard the people that Madame Lu sent there say they did that to set up Xin Fubing!
Her trusted subordinate tried to persuade her, “Why should you get into this? Given Old Master Tiancan’s identity, it doesn’t matter which side wins. Our branch will be rich and prosperous anyway!”
“We will be rich and prosperous while we should be humiliated by the b*tch Jiang Tianhe once again and again!” Madame Mi said so as she clenched her teeth, “I’d rather bow to my grand niece later than let go of Jiang Tianhe and Xin Fubing!”
She added, “Besides, Jiang Tianhe hates me so much. Do you think it will be good for our branch if Xin Fubing is in charge of Hall of Taishi in the future?”
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m