Chapter 107 – Tasty Fish Soup And Starched Clothes
Wei Qiuju was totally at a loss right now. Hearing Yueya’s words, she subconsciously felt that Wei Yuewu might be her life-saving straw. Since Wei Yuewu was so capable….
“Let’s go to the Lotus Courtyard.” Wei Qiuju gritted her teeth. Although she looked down on Wei Yuewu from the bottom of her heart, she had no choice but to go to the Lotus Courtyard. Well, perhaps she was in the so-called situation in which a dead horse had to be treated as if it were still alive.
If Wei Yuewu really could be helpful, she wouldn’t mind putting aside her pride. After all, her marriage mattered most.
Wei Yuewu was having dinner when Wei Qiuju came. The kitchen made her a fish-head soup with tofu. With a fresh taste and color, tofu and a few scallions, the soup looked very delicious.
“Fifth Elder Sister, it’s rare for you to come over. There happened to be quite a few dishes today. How about having dinner together with me, Fifth Elder Sister?” Wei Yuewu said with a faint smile at Wei Qiuju who came in with a tensed-up face. However, there was not the slightest intimacy in her eyes.
Anyone could tell that she wasn’t glad to see Wei Qiuju’s arrival.
Wei Qiuju knew that this was not the time for her to lose her temper. She had no choice but to put on a smile on her face and pretend that she did not understand Wei Yuewu’s desire to see her leave. “Sixth Younger Sister, the tofu soup here is indeed good, much better than the soup of my yard. Now that I’m here, please excuse me for the bother.”
Well, she had no choice but to continue the talk in an embarrassing way!
After that, Wei Qiuju sat down without waiting for Wei Yuewu to say anything. Her maid Yueya hurriedly took the bowl from Shufei, who was at the side, and served her a bowl of fish soup.
“What brought you here, Fifth Elder Sister?” Wei Yuewu’s expression was indifferent. She leaned back and watched Wei Qiuju finish the bowl of fish soup before asking the question leisurely. A deep thought flashed in her eyes. The medicinal powder in the soup had been diluted. In addition, Wei Qiuju only took a little soup. It wouldn’t hurt her much.
Nevertheless, the powder had a very strong effect. A close diagnose would easily discover that something was wrong. So, Lady Li was certain that the doctor would help her conceal the problem….
Coincidentally, Wei Yuewu couldn’t think of a way to have a hand in the outer courtyard, so she decided to take advantage of this to make a breakthrough….
While Wei Qiuju was having the fish soup, she had her mind entirely on how to mention her request. Now she heard Wei Yuewu’s question, her expression immediately changed to one of mourning. She was quite modest now and no longer looked as harsh and bitter as she had appeared when she met Wei Yuewu in front of the gate of the Madam Dowager’s place.
“Sixth Younger Sister, it really wasn’t my fault last time. I found out later that it was the Second Lady who wanted to harm you. I just accidentally got mixed in it. Speaking of which, I’m really wronged. It’s not me who had an affair with Imperial Academician Xie. Grandmother pushed all the blame on me. I’m in the same situation as you. Grandmother never likes me, so she doesn’t care about my future at all.”
Wei Qiuju held up her handkerchief and cried, observing Wei Yuewu’s expression stealthily.
She thought that she was putting on such a low profile and placing herself in the same position as Wei Yuewu. Therefore, Wei Yuewu should absolutely feel empathetic for her and share her hatred.
Wei Yuewu had finished her dinner at this time. Her eyes quietly landed on the fish soup with tofu Wei Qiuju had just eaten. The corners of her lips curled up silently. She took the wet towel from Huamo and wiped her mouth. Then, she leaned back and looked coldly at Wei Qiuju’s face.
“Fifth Elder Sister, just say what you want to say!” She asked straightforwardly.
She had uttered those words unceremoniously. Sometimes, there was no need to be too well-mannered with this selfish and snobbish Wei Qiuju. Otherwise, Wei Qiuju would only think she was weak and so would gang up with others to bully her.
“You….” Seeing Wei Yuewu looking at her so indifferently and coldly, Wei Qiuju flushed with anger. She pressed her hand on the table and was about to explode with anger. However, when she saw Wei Yuewu’s mocking expression, her hand involuntarily lost strength and she sat down again.
“Fifth Elder Sister, you and Second Elder Sister plotted against me together and wanted to push me into the water. Then, you and Second Lady used that Imperial Academician Xie in the outer courtyard and tried to make me, a first daughter of the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang, enter the Xie Mansion as a concubine!” Wei Yuewu said slowly. Her clear eyes indifferently swept past Wei Qiuju, and her tone sounded as if she was talking about someone else.
The smile at the corner of her mouth made Wei Qiuju inexplicably nervous. It was as if there was a chill coming from Wei Yuewu’s beautiful eyes. Wei Qiuju nervously swallowed her saliva and said, “Sixth… Sixth Younger Sister, I… I’m just a concubine’s daughter.”
“So it’s reasonable to let a concubine’s daughter rather than me, a first daughter, to be a concubine! Although grandmother doesn’t like me, she doesn’t want to see a first daughter become Imperial Academician Xie’s concubine, right? I wonder if Fifth Elder Sister has ever thought about how grandmother would punish you if something really happened to me and I insisted that you took me there.”
As Wei Yuewu uttered these words, there was a deep look in her eyes under her long eyelashes.
What would be the Madam Dowager’s response? Everyone in the mansion knew how much the Madam Dowager cared for Eldest Uncle. Even if the Madam Dowager didn’t like Wei Yuewu, she would not ignore her because Wei Yuewu was the only first daughter of Eldest Uncle. As for the Second Lady, it was very likely that she would make her a scapegoat.
As she thought so, Wei Qiuju dropped into a bad mood. Her face turned deathly pale, her fingers on the table trembled slightly, and her eyes were empty and dilated….
On second thought, “likely” wasn’t the correct word. She would absolutely be made a scapegoat. If something happened to Wei Yuewu at the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang, the Madam Dowager must give Eldest Uncle an explanation. No matter what, someone must take the blame. If Wei Yuewu insisted on accusing her, the Madam Dowager would make her plead guilty without the slightest hesitation.
Yet she had been dreaming of letting Wei Yuewu be the concubine and she herself be the wife.
Wei Yuewu was quietly looking at Wei Qiuju. Seeing that Wei Qiuju’s face suddenly turned pale, she knew that Wei Qiuju finally got her head around. The corners of her lips curled into an icy cold smile. She wanted Wei Qiuju to understand that she was just a stepping stone for others no matter whether or not she succeeded in harming her.
Unfortunately, Wei Qiuju had been unable to see the situation clearly….
The sewing room was not only responsible for making clothes for the mansion but also for washing and starching clothes. Of course, most of the clothes belonged to the servants in the mansion. Every master and mistress had their own servants who would wash clothes for them. The ladies’ clothes in particular, must be taken good care of, and thus wouldn’t be washed in the sewing room.
Lady Li and Wei Yan were now considered guilty in the mansion. After being locked up in the secluded courtyard, each of them had only one maid. Moreover, the Madam Dowager instructed those in the sewing room to make a few new sets of dark-colored and plain clothes for them. Those gorgeous clothes and accessories they had worn in the past were all sealed up.
The maid Shuiyue was carrying a bag of clothes with an uneasy expression. However, she had no choice but to bring the clothes into the courtyard. These clothes belonged to Wei Yan. There were only two servants there in total, so there was too much work for them. The Madam Dowager had already instructed the sewing room to wash some clothes for Lady Li and Wei Yan.
Shuiyue had just fetched Wei Yan’s clothes from the sewing room and was heading back.
Wei Yan was currently living in the most deserted corner of the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang. Moreover, the Madam Dowager said that she and Lady Li were going to stay there forever. Beside the place was the family temple, so she could be considered to be cultivating her character near the family temple. As a result, although Wei Yan had to cultivate in the family temple, she still lived with Lady Li.
“What is this?” In the lonely courtyard, Wei Yan picked up the clothes with a fierce expression and threw them hard on the ground. She even stepped on them fiercely. Then, she slapped Shuiyue on the face. Shuiyue staggered two steps back and fell to the ground. The corner of her mouth immediately swelled and bled.
Shuiyue covered her face and said timidly, “Miss, these… these are your clothes!”
“They let me wear such clothes? And you actually dare to bring them back? Couldn’t you throw them to their faces?” Looking at the package of clothes, Wei Yan was so angry that her expression looked ferocious. It wasn’t that the clothes were crudely made. Although the color was a little plain, the material was acceptable. The problem was that the clothes were wrinkled, as if someone had rubbed them.
In addition, Wei Yan’s sharp eyes caught a black stain on the sleeve of the clothes on the top.
Seeing they actually let her wear such clothes, how could she not be angry? Her complexion turned ashen. She became furious and moved to punch and kick Shuiyue. The maid fell to the ground and covered her belly with her arms. Her face was pale from pain. She could not get up. Wei Yan didn’t stop until she had vented her anger.
Wei Yan panted heavily due to the beating. She shrieked at Shuiyue, “Go. Throw these clothes onto the faces of those in the sewing room. Even if I can’t go out now, I’m still the young lady of this mansion. How dare they ignore me like this? And you, if you dare to make light of me, I’ll ask mother to sell you to the most despicable place.”
“Yes… yes, I will go and change the clothes immediately.” Shuiyue was sweating profusely out of pain, but she didn’t dare to remain silent. She held her belly, slowly got up from the ground, and picked up the scattered clothes. After a look at Wei Yan, she gritted her teeth and walked out of the courtyard.
She leaned against the wall and stood there. She turned around and looked at the courtyard’s gate behind her with hatred in her eyes.
Wei Yan still thought she was a respectable first young lady of the mansion. She was as capricious and bad-tempered as ever. However, she did not realize that since she was locked up here and forbidden to go out, how could she enjoy the same treatment as before? Even if the sewing room didn’t carefully wash her clothes, what could she do about it?
Could she really make a scene with the sewing room?
Shuiyue was conscious that if trouble was started up, she would be the one who would suffer in the end. The time when Second Lady was in charge of the backyard of the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang had passed. Even the Second Lady herself had to move into this desolate courtyard. If the Second Young Lady was smart, she should not make any fuss but suppress her anger and wait patiently for the return of her son, the Eldest Young Master.
Shuiyue suddenly remembered Shuiyun, who was killed after being exploited by Wei Yan. Since they were of the same kind and shared a similar fate, she felt sad for both Shuiyun and herself. If she couldn’t manage to change the clothes, Shuiyue believed that Wei Yan would not spare her. Even if Wei Yan couldn’t go out now, it was still quite possible for her to send a maid like her to a low place like that.
In that case, she would be worse off than dead!
Shuiyue remembered another maid, who used to serve Wei Yan together with her. That maid ended up just in that kind of situation. It was said that she committed suicide shortly after. Shuiyue felt cold and frightened, and fear rose in her heart. She did not want to end up like that. She had her parents and her family. She was unwilling to fall to that unbearable state no matter what.
But now, how was she going to find clothes that could make the Second Young Lady satisfied? Shuiyue leaned against the wall and slowly collapsed to the ground.
“Why, isn’t this Sister Shuiyue? What’s the matter? Are you sick?” Yueya walked over from a small path. She was also carrying a bundle, one that looked very similar to Shuiyue’s and might have been fetched by her from the sewing room. Even the coverings looked alike.
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