"Xiu'er?" Qin repeated, frowning and thinking, "I seem to have heard it somewhere."
Madam Cao also repeated this in her heart, and suddenly her face changed. She whispered, "The Crown Prince's wife's nickname seems to be Xiu'er."
After she reminded them, Qin and Zhao Jingping both remembered.
Qin shi complained uncomfortably: "Why are you asking this for no reason?"
Zhao Jingping suddenly realized something and thought of his short-lived wife, and tears suddenly fell.
"It was me who harmed Nanjia," he said.
Qin's face darkened instantly, and she slammed her rosary beads on the table with a bang: "What are you talking about? Your wife died of dystocia, what does it have to do with you?"
Zhao Jingping wiped his tears with his sleeves: "If I hadn't gone to Xishan to look for orchids that day, I could have been with her, and maybe she wouldn't have died."
Seeing that he was still talking nonsense, Qin became furious and slapped him in the face.
Zhao Jingping realized belatedly that his mother was angry. He knelt on the ground with his hands covering his face: "Mother, calm down. Mother, calm down."
"How can I calm you down when you have no sense of propriety?" Qin raised her eyebrows and said, "Because of your wife's death, the mansion had to make a big fuss to calm down your in-laws' anger. If I hadn't sacrificed half of the mansion's people, your father-in-law would have sued you in the palace. I risked my life to build a stage for you, but you destroyed your own stage. If what I just said was heard by your father-in-law, do you know how much trouble this would cause?"
Zhao Jingyu hurried forward and hugged her mother's knees: "Mom, I was wrong. I will never say that again."
Qin sighed and rubbed the red fingerprints on his face: "Does it hurt?"
"It doesn't hurt." Zhao Jingping shook his head.
"It hurts me, even if you don't." Qin said, "It hurts me when I hit you. I don't really want to hit you, but I want you to remember that you must never be so reckless in the future."
"I'll remember it, kid." Zhao Jingping said.
Qin slowed down her tone and said, "In a few days, it will be your wife's seventh period. I have invited the abbot of Fanyin Temple to perform a ritual for her. Your Yue family will also come to pay tribute to her. You must entertain them well and make sure nothing goes wrong."
When Zhao Jingping heard that someone from the Yue family was coming, he immediately panicked.
His father-in-law and brother-in-law were not easy to get along with. After Nan Jia left, the news was sent to the general's mansion. His father-in-law and brother-in-law rode their horses and came to the marquis' mansion with swords, wanting to chop off his head and bury it with their daughter-in-law.
When he thought of the scene that day, he couldn't help but feel his legs go weak. If his father hadn't arrived in time, he would have been half dead if not dead.
"Mother, isn't there a steward to entertain the guests? I, I..."
"What do you mean by 'you'? He is your father-in-law. Do you want to send him away with a steward?" Qin said, "Do you think his life is too long?"
"But, I'm scared..." Zhao Jingping swallowed.
Qin gave him a look of dismay and said, "When that day comes, you don't need to say anything else. Just talk to him about the child. He will leave you alive for the sake of his grandson."
A live person? Zhao Jingping shrank his neck and agreed reluctantly.
*****
Xie Nanjia accompanied the fourth aunt to Qingfeng Courtyard.
Qingfengyuan is a very remote courtyard, small and desolate, where a concubine once died.
What Qin meant by asking someone to clean up the yard was just pulling out the weeds in the yard, adding a few pieces of half-new furniture, and replacing the locks, that was all.
The Fourth Aunt was not happy to live here in the first place, and after seeing the environment, she became even more unhappy and immediately went to find the Marquis.
Xie Nanjia advised her, "The Marquis will not be back until dark, so why don't you just take a rest for a while, get enough energy and dress up beautifully before going."
The fourth concubine said: "Why should I dress up? I just want to let the Marquis see how pitiful I am."
Xie Nanjia said, "Aunt, you are wrong. Men all love beauty. The Marquis is tired after a day outside. When he comes back and sees you in a disheveled and haggard state, do you think he will sympathize with you or be annoyed?"
The Fourth Aunt thought about it and felt that it made sense, but, wouldn’t she express her grievances
Xie Nanjia said: "Of course I have to speak out about my grievances, but don't you think pillow talk is more effective?"
Fourth Aunt's eyes lit up: "You are right, hurry up and give me a bath and change clothes, I want to have a good sleep first."
When she said she wanted to change clothes, Xie Nanjia remembered that her luggage was still in the carriage. Just as she was thinking of going to look for it, Feng Lun and a servant brought the luggage over.
Xie Nanjia was surprised and asked him, "How did you know we were here?"
Feng Lun smiled, not knowing how to answer.
The Fourth Aunt said angrily, "Do I need to ask? This kind of embarrassing thing spreads the fastest in the mansion. Right now, everyone in the mansion must be talking about me and laughing at my joke!"
“…” Xie Nanjia thought so too and stopped asking questions. He thanked Feng Lun and asked him to help carry the things into the room.
Feng Lun put his things away and looked around the house. Seeing that everything was in a dilapidated state, he sighed in his heart, thinking that the lady was deliberately trying to make Fourth Aunt suffer.
It's just a pity for Xiu'er, she has to suffer too.
"Is there anything you need my help with?" Feng Lun asked.
Xie Nanjia thought for a moment and said, "My aunt wants to wash up, but there is not a drop of water in the water tank, and the firewood is still unchopped."
Feng Lun said, "Don't worry about it. I'll let Xiao Xizi do the burning."
Xie Nanjia said happily: "That's great, thank you, Brother Feng."
The call of "Brother Feng" made Feng Lun feel very happy. "Put your things in order first. I'm going to chop wood outside. Call me if you need anything."
Xie Nanjia went to tidy up her clothes and make her bed.
Fortunately, it is summer, so even though we are lacking some things, we can still stay here for a while.
Xie Nanjia had never done such work before. After cleaning up a little, he was sweating all over.
She sat in the corridor, wiping her sweat while watching Feng Lun chopping wood, thinking that she must let the Fourth Aunt meet the Marquis tonight no matter what. As for whether the Marquis would give the Fourth Aunt justice or not, that was put aside for the moment. The most important thing was to get the Marquis to send a few more servants over, as she didn't want to be a laborer forever.
Feng Lun took Xiao Xizi to chop a large pile of firewood, fetched two full jars of water, and boiled some hot water before saying goodbye and leaving.
Xie Nanjia sent him out the door and asked him to say a few good words for the Fourth Aunt when reporting to the Marquis. Even if he couldn't let the Fourth Aunt sleep with him immediately, he should at least improve her living conditions first.
Feng Lun comforted her: "Don't worry, I'll take care of it."
Xie Nanjia clasped her hands together and thanked him: "Brother Feng, you are such a good person."
Feng Lun, a grown man, blushed and ran away with Xiao Xizi.
Xie Nanjia returned to the yard, and she and Fourth Aunt took a bath together, changed into clean clothes, and fell asleep on the bed.
She had been so exhausted from the journey that she couldn't hold on for a moment longer.
At this time in the west wing, Wei Jun was reporting to Zhao Jingyu the news he had just heard.
Zhao Jingyu was leaning lazily on the chaise longue, with a beautiful maid fanning him on each side. He half-closed his eyes, picked up a bunch of purple jade grapes cooled by well water with his slender white fingers, and ate while listening, as if he was leisurely listening to a story in a teahouse.
Wei Jun finished speaking and eating his grapes. He stretched out his hand and a maid immediately took a handkerchief to wipe it clean for him.
"Qingfengyuan? What kind of place is that? Why have I never heard of it?" he asked lazily.
"It's the most remote courtyard in the mansion. A concubine died there a few years ago, and it has been abandoned and no one lives there since then," said Wei Jun.
Zhao Jingyu raised his eyebrows and sneered twice: "It's what she deserves. Isn't she greedy for fame and fortune? Let her experience the "prosperity" of the Marquis' Mansion first!"
Wei Jun: “…”
Zhao Jingyu turned over on the couch and closed his eyes: "I'm sleepy, everyone go down!"
The girls retreated quietly.
After the door was closed, Zhao Jingyu asked Wei Jun: "Who do you think broke into the inn and killed people in the middle of the night?"
Wei Jun said: "It must be someone who doesn't want Fourth Aunt to return home."
Zhao Jingyu said: "That girl actually escaped the disaster in the carriage. Do you think she had expected it?"
Wei Jun said: "Maybe it's a coincidence."
"Impossible." Zhao Jingyu objected. "It might be a coincidence for others, but not for her. These past few days I've often thought about what happened at the manor, and suddenly I realized that she had been plotting against me all along."
"..." Wei Jun thought, aren't you angry with her and don't want me to take care of her? Why do you always think about things related to her? Isn't this deceiving yourself
Zhao Jingyu asked, "You said that Qingfeng Courtyard is so remote, isn't it also a good place to kill people?"
“…” He was talking in a mixed tone, and Wei Jun didn’t know how to respond.
If you're worried, why not just say so? Why are you talking about all sorts of things
Zhao Jingyu added: "Arrange someone to guard there at night."
Wei Jun finally couldn't help it: "Didn't the Second Young Master say that he would not care about her even if she was beaten to death?"
Zhao Jingyu defended herself calmly: "I did say that, but she actually dared to plot against me. I decided to let her die in my hands!"
Wei Jun: “…”
Zhao Jingyu said, "You keep an eye on her. Her life belongs to me. No one can touch a hair on her head except me."
"Yes!" Wei Jun replied while holding back his laughter.
Zhao Jingyu stopped talking and waved him off: "Go ahead, and wake me up for dinner. I'm going to have a meal with my wife."
(End of this chapter)