Madam Ji has not had a good time these days. Her second daughter-in-law, who has always been her backbone, is now mentally ill and staying in Qingyun Temple, and she will not be able to come back for a while. Her second son has been very busy these days, and no one knows what he is busy with. Since the eldest son's family passed away, it is the eldest granddaughter who has been helping to support the family.
But the eldest granddaughter is not as capable as imagined.
The eldest granddaughter has been a capable person since she was young. Not only is she good at dealing with people, she also has a good relationship with the second and third granddaughters. She takes care of the granddaughters as the eldest sister. Among the granddaughters, Mrs. Ji has always felt that the eldest granddaughter has the most promising future and is more capable than her eldest grandson.
But no matter how capable she is, she is still just a girl after all.
The eldest child was even more miserable, as he only had daughters and no sons, so he was born weaker.
A hundred years later, this title will inevitably fall on the second son. She is partial to the old man, and it is natural for her to be partial, because originally, this title would belong to the second son.
Everything that belongs to the eldest daughter will come sooner or later. Ji Hanyue will marry into the Eastern Palace in the future and maintain the reputation of the Eastern Palace. Besides, this granddaughter is not so compatible with herself. Without the eldest granddaughter sitting at her knees, making her laugh with sweet words and being intimate with her.
But why is everything now different from what I imagined
In my imagination, the Ji Mansion and the Dongzi Mansion are closely connected. Marrying into the Dong Palace will take care of the Ji Mansion wholeheartedly and make her Ling Anbo Mansion rise to a higher level...
"Madam, there is no news from the Queen yet." Madam Duan came in, bowed to Madam Ji first, then sat down aside and said.
Ji Youran hasn't come for a while, and Madam Ji is worried about her. What she hopes most now is good news from Ji Youran. Ji Youran has repeatedly told her before that as long as she gets better, the entire Ling'anbo Mansion will get better, and other things are not a big deal.
"Why is there no news yet? Didn't they say there would be news soon?" Madam Ji said anxiously, her brows tightly furrowed, feeling uneasy.
These past few days, she would think of some old things from time to time, which made her increasingly depressed and uneasy, fearing that something would happen again.
"That... I don't know either." Mrs. Duan said.
"Who did you go to find and who did you ask?" Madam Ji glared at Madam Duan angrily. After all, she was not a formally married daughter-in-law, so it seemed that she was of no use.
If Xiao were still here, there would be no need for me to worry so much.
She just wants to enjoy her life to the fullest. At her age, isn't it possible that she can't enjoy the blessings from her younger generations
"It's the maid named Xiefeng who was with the Second Miss before." Madam Duan said in a low voice. She was always respectful to Madam Ji.
It's natural to say "Second Miss".
"That maid named Xiefeng is now the concubine's maid, not Hanyue's maid. How come you still can't tell them apart? If you can't even handle such a small matter, what use are you?" Madam Ji was furious. She slammed the table and cursed at Madam Duan.
The pent-up anger and irritability in my heart suddenly burst out.
"If I didn't think you were still useful, how could I have promoted you? You are just a concubine of the boss now. Do you really think you can be on the stage?"
Mrs. Duan knelt down with her head lowered, and did not move, allowing Mrs. Ji to scold her.
This scolding came out of nowhere, and finally Mrs. Ji stopped after being persuaded by the two maids around her.
Her face turned pale and her hands and feet were cramped as she held the tea in her hands. The warmth of the tea helped her to calm down.
He glared at Madam Duan with a gloomy face. The more he looked at her, the more he disliked her. Xiao was his daughter-in-law, so what was this concubine? Why had he been so confused at that time that he made her the eldest son's co-wife and even made her the mistress.
“Can’t you be of some use? Can’t you think of a way to get the concubine to come back home?” Madam Ji placed the teacup in her hand heavily on the table again, making a clanging sound.
"The Concubine has been resting recently and said it is inconvenient for her to travel." Madam Duan said in a serious tone, which still seemed to be of no use.
"It's inconvenient to travel, it's inconvenient to travel. Her family is about to be gone, and it's still inconvenient to travel. If I had known she was so useless, why didn't I think of entering the East Palace?"
Madam Ji scolded back, and this time even included Ji Youran in the scolding.
Madam Duan's hands twitched, then slowly relaxed. A hint of coldness flashed through her lowered eyes. She bit her lip hard and continued, "I heard from the people in the East Palace that the whole palace is preparing to marry the Crown Princess, and the concubine was reprimanded because of that incident. Now I'm afraid... she will fall out of favor."
"Falling out of favor?" Madam Ji screamed, her face becoming even uglier, and she could hardly maintain her usual calmness.
"Yes, she fell out of favor. They said that the new Crown Princess was extremely beautiful and of noble status, and that she was not comparable to the Concubine. Moreover, the Concubine's entry into the Eastern Palace was not legitimate... It made people think that our family had deliberately sent her there, saying that..."
Mrs. Duan paused here.
"What?" Madam Ji asked anxiously, her hands on the chair rails, almost standing up. Her face suddenly turned from red to pale, and her eyes were filled with fear.
"It is said that... the concubine is trying to flatter herself. It was not so glorious to enter the Eastern Palace in the first place." Madam Duan paused, still with her head lowered. Madam Ji could not see her expression, and she could not see Madam Ji's expression either, but she could guess what Madam Ji looked like now.
"Glorious? How could the concubine not have glory? She is quite glorious. It was Hanyue who let her enter the Eastern Palace. It was Hanyue's intention. No one can change this." Madam Ji was relieved. What she said was not what she cared about the most. She patted her hands on the table and sneered, "You must be fed up with our family being the only one favored, so you spread such words. You believe this. You are really ignorant."
"Outside... people are saying this is fake... The concubine can't prove anything. I heard that she's not having a good life, and the Crown Princess is going to move in again."
Mrs. Duan paused for a moment and continued the previous topic.
"Evidence, how can there be no evidence?" Madam Ji was furious and glared at Madam Duan, as if it was Madam Duan who said these words. "Who is the ignorant one who said these words? Of course there is evidence. If anyone wants to see the evidence, let them come to me. I have evidence here to prove that You Ran's words are true."
"Madam, do you have any evidence here?" Madam Duan slowly raised her head and said with a heavy face.
"Yes, of course there is evidence." Madam Ji sneered, "If there is no evidence, how could Youran enter the East Palace? Do you really think I am old and blind
Hua, do something so inappropriate?"
"What... is it?" Mrs. Duan asked in disbelief.
Seeing her incredulous expression, Madam Ji leaned back complacently and said, "The letter written by Hanyue is the evidence. If I hadn't read Hanyue's letter and if I hadn't known that Hanyue's condition was not good, how could I have allowed the concubine to enter the East Palace... Now you say there is no evidence. I want to see the evidence."
"Evidence? There is actually evidence!" Qu Moying put down Madam Duan's letter and sneered. He turned to Madam Zhou, who had recovered in the past few days and was able to take charge of things again. "Madam Zhou, did you know about this?"
"I don't know." Nanny Zhou shook her head. She was in the eldest house at the time, but the eldest house was already in a state of panic. "Master was ill at the time, and it was not a mild illness. I am the eldest lady's servant. I have always stayed in the eldest lady's courtyard and lived a quiet life. I didn't know these things, but later..."
As Nanny Zhou spoke, she recalled the situation at that time.
The incident happened just after the Crown Princess married into the Eastern Palace. The entire Ling'anbo Mansion was in a panic. At that time, supplements in the mansion were sent to the Eastern Palace like they were free, just to save the Crown Princess' life. At that time, Nanny Zhou had already been remotely located in a corner of Ling'anbo Mansion, and all the affairs of the mansion were in the hands of the Xiao family.
"One day... someone was sent from the Eastern Palace to bring the young lady over, saying that it was to take care of the Crown Princess. Having her family around to take care of her would help her get better. That's what they said, and then the young lady entered the palace. A few days later, another message came in saying that the Crown Princess wanted the young lady to be a concubine of the Eastern Palace, saying that it was to take better care of the Crown Princess."
As Nanny Zhou spoke, she was about to cry. She watched Ji Hanyue grow up and had deep feelings for her. Thinking back to the day when the Second Miss happily got married, it seemed as if it was still in front of her eyes. But the Second Miss was gone, and not only the Second Miss, but also the Third Miss.
Until now, Nanny Zhou still can't believe this is true.
"Before... was there anything unusual with Concubine Ji?" Qu Moying asked, his fingers unconsciously pressing on the corner of the table and flicking it subconsciously.
"There are some, but they are not obvious. Miss knows that the old servant at that time was always in the eldest lady's courtyard and did not care about such things." said Nanny Zhou.
Qu Moying flicked his fingers twice and said coldly, "Ask Madam Ji to bring out the voucher."
“Miss…” Nanny Zhou looked up in surprise. Madam Ji’s temper was such that once something was in her hands, you could never get it back.
This is what good things were like in the past, and the same is true of the so-called "evidence" now.
"She will take it out!" Qu Moying waved her hands in the air, the smile in her eyes not reaching her innermost parts. Qu Moying knew Mrs. Ji's character best. In her previous life, she always thought that there was at least some affection between grandma and granddaughter, and that she truly loved her father.
But I didn't expect that people's hearts could be so cruel...
After eliminating all family affection, what matters is profit. They come only for profit. Whether it works or not depends on whether the profit is enough...
Moreover, in Madam Ji's view, this matter has only benefits and no harm, just like when my father and I lost our lives!