Chapter 207 – An Old Story, And The Key To Mother’S Courtyard
“It was said that one time, Concubine Dong returned to the mansion, she left the dining table angrily because she didn’t like the dishes. As a result, the Madam Dowager punished the kitchen servants by deducting their salary.” Shufei told Wei Yuewu everything she had heard.
“Miss, I think the Madam Dowager is treating Concubine Dong so kind that they don’t seem to be a mother-in-law and a concubine. Concubine Dong is more like a relative of the Madam Dowager.” Huamo couldn’t help but interrupt when she heard what Huamo said.
“I don’t think they are relatives. On the contrary, it seems that the Madam Dowager is trying to please Concubine Dong.” Jin Ling had a deeper insight and said after thinking for a moment.
“How could it be? Concubine Dong is not even considered a mistress in this family. The Madam Dowager is the most respected in the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang.” Huamo retorted in surprise.
Wei Yuewu received the chopsticks from Shufei and had a small mouthful of rice. A ripple appeared in her eyes. The Madam Dowager’s attitude towards Concubine Dong was indeed strange. In fact, the Madam Dowager was treating not only Concubine Dong but also Wei Yuewu’s father in an unusual manner.
Her attitude towards Wei Yuejiao was also strange. Could a granddaughter who had grown up elsewhere have a closer relationship with the Madam Dowager even than a granddaughter whom she raised herself? Not to mention one of them was a legitimate daughter and another one was a concubine-born daughter!
No matter what, the Madam Dowager was expected to side with Wei Yan whenever Wei Yuejiao was having a dispute with Wei Yan. However, the fact was exactly the opposite. It was said that the Madam Dowager would side by Wei Yuejiao without hesitation whenever Wei Yan and Wei Yuejiao liked the same thing at the same time.
When it came to her return to the mansion, Wei Yuewu clearly knew that it was impossible for the Madam Dowager to have any real concern for her. However, when some accident happened to her, the anxiety and nervousness that the Madam Dowager had shown didn’t seem to be fake.
Was it because Wei Yuewu herself was the legitimate daughter of Marquis Hua Yang? Or was there some secret in the first branch of the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang that made the Madam Dowager fearful of people of the first branch? Maybe, that was why the Madam Dowager would treat the people from the first branch differently, even including a concubine.
But what was the reason?
She inexplicably recalled the box left behind by her mother. She took a sip of soup and some faint mist slowly rose in front of her, giving her delicate face a subtle and unreal beauty.
Suddenly, Wei Yuewu seemed to remember something. “Jin Ling, go and invite Nurse Mei to come here.”
“Yes, I’ll go immediately!” Jin Ling immediately stopped arguing and went out to look for Nurse Mei.
When Nurse Mei came in, Wei Yuewu put down the bowl in her hand. After rinsing her mouth, she sat down again. She had to consult Nurse Mei about something so that she could be sure of something. She could only clearly remember some strange fragments of her childhood memories. The rest of her childhood memories were quite blurry.
Huamo served the tea. Wei Yuewu put it aside but didn’t drink it. She lowered her head and pondered for a moment before asking, “Nurse Mei, I want to visit my mother’s yard.”
The mansion of Marquis Hua Yang was relatively large, and there were many courtyards in the mansion. The first branch had not many masters living in the mansion over the years. So quite a few courtyards were left vacant. When Wei Yuewu had just returned to the mansion, she heard that her mother’s courtyard was still there. However, the courtyard was locked and Nanny Hong had the key. Occasionally, Nanny Hong would send people to clean the yard. She didn’t let anyone in unless necessary.
“Miss, only Nanny Hong has the key. Nanny Hong will not allow you to go there.” Nurse Mei said with an embarrassed look.
Nurse Mei clearly knew that Nanny Hong was the most trusted servant of the Madam Dowager. Without the Madam Dowager’s permission, she would never give the key to Wei Yuewu.
Wei Yuewu took a sip of tea. Her beautiful face behind the mist was somewhat blurry and distant. “According to the rumors in the mansion, my father refused to marry anyone else because of my mother. Is that true?”
“Lord Marquis is really nice to Madam Marquise. I was lucky enough to have witnessed the wedding between Lord and Madam. Ever since they got married, Lord Marquis would always listen to Madam Marquise. At that time, although I was not serving Madam Marquise, I knew that Lord Marquis would hurry back and help Madam Marquise shoulder responsibility whenever she was punished by the Madam Dowager. Sometimes, Lord Marquis would even volunteer to do protracted kneeling for Madam Marquise.”
When Nurse Mei started to work in the mansion, Wei Yuewu’s mother had just married into the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang. Wei Yuewu had inquired and she learned that a large number of servants were replaced and many new servants were brought in. As a result, many servants were unable to clearly tell what happened back then. Perhaps, some people did clearly know about those stories. But she didn’t know how to find them.
He tried to share the responsibility for Mom? Wei Yuewu keenly noticed the implied meaning of Nurse Mei’s words. But as soon as Nurse Mei finished speaking, she sighed softly.
Under such circumstances, her mother would only receive more punishment!
“What happened later?” Wei Yuewu asked, “Did my mother really have no child after being married for many years?”
Wei Yuewu felt that she had been looking in the wrong direction. Child? From the case of Madam Li, she could tell that the Madam Dowager was extremely concerned about the issue of offsprings. Her father and mother didn’t have any child after so many years of marriage. That should be an important reason why the Madam Dowager punished her mother!
“Madam Marquise didn’t give birth to any child for at least 7 years after her marriage. However, the Madam Dowager didn’t really punish Madam Marquise for this matter except for asking Concubine Dong to serve Lord Marquis. Even though Madam Marquise finally gave birth to a daughter, the Madam Dowager didn’t blame her at all. Instead, the Madam Dowager found trouble with Madam Marquise in other matters.”
Even Nurse Mei felt that this was strange. Every old servant in the mansion knew that the Madam Dowager disliked Madam Marquise the most. However, the Madam Dowager didn’t make use of Madam Marquise’s biggest weakness, namely, her failure to give birth to a male offspring. Instead, the Madam Dowager chose to find trouble with Madam Marquise in other aspects.
“Was there anything…unusual about my mother?” Wei Yuewu slightly frowned and asked after a pause.
“Madam Marquise had always been in poor health conditions. Soon after she married into the mansion, she became ill. At that time, the Madam Dowager even allowed her not to pay her daily respects. Madam Marquise didn’t recover until after a long time. After that, she always had a sick look and her state of health was not very good. But I remembered that Madam Marquise was quite healthy shortly after she entered the mansion and she was in good spirits and health conditions. I wondered if that serious illness caused serious damage to her health.”
Nurse Mei recalled. However, she was not a servant of Marquise Hua Yang. So she could only occasionally meet her. At this time, she couldn’t provide a detailed account of Marquise Hua Yang.
“Had my father always treated my mother well even after he had Concubine Dong and Concubine Dong gave birth to Wei Yuejiao?” After hearing Nurse Mei’s account, Wei Yuewu pondered for a moment and her eyes flashed with a trace of blurred contemplation.
“Lord Marquis had always treated Madam Marquise very well and he had remained indifferent to Concubine Dong. When Madam Marquise was still alive, Lord Marquis rarely went to Concubine Dong’s place. The Madam Dowager even seriously scolded him for this, but it was still useless. However, after Madam Marquise passed away, Lord Marquis seemed to have changed into another person. He sent you away and started to treat Concubine Dong and the Third Young Lady well.” Nurse Mei replied.
This answer surprised Wei Yuewu a little. Judging by Nurse Mei’s words, could it be that her father was in fact an affectionate and loyal man? However, Wei Yuewu didn’t think so. Nanny Han had been a close maid of her mother. Nanny Han’s account was enough to make Wei Yuewu side by her own mother.
Obviously, something had happened between her mother and her father, so that her mother became seriously ill and remained in poor health conditions after that. As for the Madam Dowager’s reaction, it was even stranger. It would be rather unacceptable for the Madam Dowager that her daughter-in-law didn’t give birth to any child after so many years of marriage, since infertility was one of the seven reasons for which women got divorced. However, although the Madam Dowager hated Mom very much, she turned a blind eye to this and even never mentioned this matter.
Ever since Wei Yuewu returned to the mansion, she had several interactions with the Madam Dowager, and she didn’t feel that the Madam Dowager was a kind and soft-hearted person.
“Nurse Mei, go to the Tranquility Courtyard to invite Nanny Hong to come over. Just tell her I have something to ask her.” After careful consideration, Wei Yuewu’s fair and tender fingers circled the teacup twice. Wei Yuewu had already come up with an idea. Since everyone was deeply convinced that her father was indeed having deep affections to her mother, she would like to make use of the situation.
The reason why she asked Nurse Mei so many questions was not only because she wanted to learn about the past stories between her father and mother, but also because she had to get the key to her mother’s courtyard. This might be the key to solving the problem…
Just when they were talking, a young maid started shouting outside, “Sixth Young Lady, Nanny Hong is here!”
Huamo lifted the curtain and Nanny Hong walked in with a smile. “Congratulations, Sixth Young Lady. Congratulations, Sixth Young Lady.”
Although Wei Yuewu was clear of what was going on, she didn’t show it on her face. She asked with a faint smile. “What is the good news, Nanny Hong?”
“Lord Marquis and Concubine Dong will be back tomorrow. You will soon have a family reunion.” Nanny Hong smiled happily.
“Tomorrow? Wouldn’t it take a few more days?” Wei Yuewu asked in surprise. In the earlier message, Lord Marquis and Concubine Dong would arrive several days later because of Wei Luowen’s injury. Slowing down would be beneficial to Wei Luowen’s injury. That was exactly what the earlier message had said.
“Yes, the earlier message did say so. But Concubine Dong considered that you haven’t seen Lord Marquis for many years and she thought that they had better come back quickly. Therefore, she quickened the pace in order to get back earlier to see you.” Nanny Hong explained with a smile.
However, Nanny Hong only mentioned Concubine Dong, as if Wei Luowen, as Wei Yuewu’s own father, didn’t have any objection at all. That also meant Wei Luowen didn’t really care about this daughter. According to Nanny Hong’s description, only Concubine Dong seemed to be trying her best to please Wei Yuewu.
Well, perhaps Nanny Hong was waiting to hear her express thanks to Concubine Dong? Wei Yuewu sneered in her heart.
“No wonder when Shufei went to the kitchen to get lunch, she found a lot of fresh vegetables. It was said that those vegetables were specially prepared for Concubine Dong.” Wei Yuewu quickly changed the topic. Although she did mention Concubine Dong in her talk, she was in fact suggesting that the Madam Dowager cared about a concubine even more than she cared about Lord Marquis who was the real master of the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang.
Wei Yuewu changed the topic very quickly and she also mentioned Concubine Dong, but there seemed to be nothing wrong with what she said. However, the implied meaning made Nanny Hong unable to continue the topic. So Nanny Hong could only chuckle a few times before replying, “Lord Marquis and Concubine Dong have been living at the border for a long time, where few fresh vegetables could be found. That’s why the Madam Dowager would prepare so many fresh vegetables for Lord Marquis and Concubine Dong.”
Inexplicably, Nanny Hong suddenly felt that the Sixth Young Lady was extremely difficult to deal with. Her heart skipped one beat and she felt slightly uneasy.
Wei Yuewu’s smile slowly faded away and the corner of her lips curled up with bitterness. Then, she asked, “Nanny Hong, do you know whether my father treated my mother well when she was alive?”
“Lord Marquis had treated Madam Marquise extremely well. That was why Lord Marquis hasn’t married for so many years. Although Concubine Dong has been serving him for so many years, he has not yet made Concubine Dong his legitimate wife. It’s all because Lord Marquis has been missing Madam Marquise for so many years!” Nanny Hong was lost for a moment but she immediately explained with a smile.
“Did my father really treat my mother well?” Wei Yuewu raised her watery eyes and asked as if she wasn’t quite convinced.
“Absolutely!” Nanny Hong nodded while squinting.
As a matter of fact, Nanny Hong was not exaggerating, because she did witness how well the Marquis treated Madam Marquise. At that time, Madam Marquise was in fact the most precious treasure in his eyes that he was extremely attentive about her. Everyone could see from his eyes how much he cared about Madam Marquise when he was looking at her.
However, Nanny Hong could only keep something in her heart as a secret. She swore that she would never tell the secret to anyone. That secret involved a heinous crime that could have one’s whole clan executed. A nanny like her couldn’t afford the consequences.
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om