Zhou Chujin smiled disdainfully, and his eyes fell on the door.
Ma Fushan's family was guarding outside the door.
Lan Ting's heart tightened, and he said anxiously, "Miss, I didn't lie to you. The doctor is an acquaintance of the master, and is best at treating gynecology. Afterwards, the doctor was very surprised, saying that his prescription was passed down from his ancestors and he had never made any mistakes, let alone encountered such a situation. He also called the midwife and the daughter-in-law who served in the house to question them, but he just couldn't figure out what went wrong. When the doctor left, he shook his head and said, 'It's a strange thing.'"
Zhou Chujin said: "But we can't conclude that there is something wrong with the bottle of water Xinlan sent based on this, right?"
"But a few days later, I met Xinlan!" Lan Ting said, "The madam was in poor health, and the master devoted himself to her and didn't care much about household affairs. The New Year was approaching, but the family had not yet prepared all the New Year goods. Several maids took turns serving in the madam's room. The experienced wives were either taking care of the eldest or the second young lady, especially the second young lady," she said, looking at Zhou Shaojin, "She was like a kitten when she was born, and it took two days for her to have the strength to suckle. The master was busy with the second young lady and the madam, and he also had to take time to visit the eldest young lady, so he lost weight. The housekeeper asked us maids to help count the New Year goods.
"I learned to read from my wife and I know a little arithmetic, so the manager asked me to check the bills with the guys in the store.
"The clerk's handwriting was very illegible. I had just learned to read, so when I checked the accounts, I had to ask the clerk what he wrote.
“When I looked up, I saw Xinlan.
"She wore a silver-red jacket with a pattern, a large kingfisher flower on her hair, gold ginkgo leaf pendants on her ears, and three or four gold stirrup rings on her hands. She was glittering with gold, and dressed more gorgeously than the wives of ordinary families. But she didn't even have a maid or servant with her.
“I called out to her right then.
"She seemed not to hear and went straight to the silver shop next to the grocery store.
"I wanted to go over and say hello to her, but I was only halfway through counting the items. I was afraid of making a mistake, so I didn't move. When I finished counting the goods and was waiting for the manager to come and load the car, I saw Xinlan coming out of the silver shop.
"There was a man with her. He was wearing a blue long shirt and a net scarf in the middle of winter. He looked to be about 27 or 28 years old. He was very thin and looked haggard.
"I asked the shop assistant who that man was.
"The shop assistant told me that it was Mr. Cheng Bo from Cunrenfang..."
Zhou Shaojin felt a little breathless.
She grasped her sleeve.
Zhou Chujin frowned and asked, "How does that guy know Cheng Bai?"
Lan Ting said, "Cheng Bo also opened a general merchandise store on Taiping Street at the time, and he and the general store where we bought things had traded goods, so they knew each other."
Zhou Chujin nodded slightly.
Lanting continued: “I was very curious.
"Didn't Xinlan marry a cotton picker? How did she get involved with Master Cheng from Cunrenfang? I thought about the things she was wearing, which were worth at least 20 or 30 taels of silver. Just then, a servant came over and said that there was a collision outside Jiangdong Gate, and the fishing boats could not enter the city for a while. The steward wanted to go to Jiangdong Gate to check, so he asked us to count the things and take them back first.
"I made the excuse that I wanted to go to the street to buy myself two new handkerchiefs for the New Year, gave the things to the boy to load, and quietly followed.
"Xinlan and Chengbai took many turns and stopped in an alley. I heard Lanting say, 'I am a woman living alone in an inn. Those decent people just think I am a poor relative, but those perverts think I am a prostitute. They knock on my door in the middle of the night, which scares me so much that I can't sleep all night. When can I go home with you? There is a saying that goes, whether you have money or not, you should marry a wife to celebrate the New Year. The New Year is coming soon, you can't let me spend the New Year alone in the inn, can you?'
"Cheng Bo comforted her and said, it will be soon, soon. He will pick her up when he is done with his work. Then he took out a silver ingot and gave it to her, asking her to buy whatever she likes. He also told her not to run around during this period, and be careful not to let anyone notice anything.
"At that time, I didn't know my wife had ever been engaged, nor did I know who Cheng Bo was. I thought Xinlan was unfaithful and had left her husband to run away with this man. I looked down on her and walked away.
"Later, when my wife was about to die, Uncle Zhuang came home and made a scene, saying that Master had killed my wife and wanted Master to pay the money. That's when I found out that my wife was engaged to Cheng Bo.
“But I didn’t think about it at the time.
“I just think Xinlan did something wrong and slapped my wife in the face.
"Having said that, I was still very curious whether Xinlan had finally entered the Cheng family. If she really became Cheng Bo's concubine, would the wife be ashamed if she knew about it? So I tried to find out about Cheng Bo. I then found out that Cheng Bo was also ill, and the Cheng family didn't even know about Xinlan. Not long after, Cheng Bo died, and no one knew about this matter anymore.
“I just guessed it in my heart, but I didn’t dare to tell the master.
"For so many years, it has been like a thorn in my heart. Whenever I think about it, I can't sleep or eat. If I hadn't met the eldest daughter this time, I would have kept it to myself. Who knew that I would end up telling the story anyway? It can be seen that the spirit of the madam in heaven is blessing the eldest and second daughters, so that the eldest and second daughters are not ignorant of anything, and her old lady's injustice has been cleared."
This never happened in my previous life!
Is what Lanting said true or false
Zhou Shaojin carefully thought about what Lan Ting said.
Zhou Chujin sneered, "I think you won't tell the truth unless I show you some color. Ma Fushan's family, let those two servants come in!"
Lan Ting's face turned pale and he begged, "Miss, I have told you everything I know. Not a word of it is false. If you don't believe me, I can swear on my life!"
Ma Fushan's family poked their head in, saw the scene in the house, and quickly retracted their head.
"Okay!" Zhou Chujin stared at her with a dagger-like gaze, and said, "You swear now that if you conceal even one word, your sons will be slaves for generations, and your daughters will be prostitutes for generations."
Lan Ting looked at Zhou Chujin in astonishment, his mouth moving together, but as if his throat was blocked, no sound came out.
"Why? You don't dare!" Zhou Chujin laughed sarcastically and said, "Let me ask you, when you entered the mansion, should Xinlan have been married?"
"Yes!" Lan Ting nodded, with a look of uncertainty, hesitation and caution.
"In that case, when you saw Lan Ting walking out of the silver shop with a strange man, why did you ask the clerk in the grocery store who that man was? Wouldn't most people think that the man was Xin Lan's husband when they saw this scene?"
"I, I forgot to tell you," Lan Ting looked at Zhou Chujin nervously, "When she came to see Madam, she said she came alone..."
"Really?" Zhou Chujin said, "She came alone. Isn't mother curious about why she came alone? Even if you are a little maid, you don't know what mother and Xinlan talked about. It's been such a long time. Isn't it normal for Xinlan's husband to come over?"
"She said at the time that her relationship with her husband was not good, so I..." Lan Ting added hastily.
"Lanting," Zhou Chujin interrupted her coldly, "You are not tired, I am. You have concealed something, but you just want to negotiate with me and let me let you go back to Baoding to stay with father. You have served father for so many years, you should know father's temper best, and the person father respects most is mother. Do you know what you said in front of us today?"
Lan Ting's eyes turned slightly, and he collapsed to the ground with a deathly pale face.
"No, no, no..." she screamed, "I didn't say anything, I didn't say anything..."
Zhou Chujin had no intention of letting her go, and continued, "I will just write a letter to my father and tell him everything you said today. If what you said is true and you concealed it maliciously, what will your father think of you? How will he deal with you? If you are spreading rumors, and spreading rumors about your mother's life and death, do you think your father will still let you stay by his side? Will he still treat you the same way as before?"
The last sentence was like the last straw that broke the camel's back. Lan Ting no longer had time to calculate or worry about anything. She murmured, "No, no. The master will not treat me like that... The master is the most loyal person in the world..."
Zhou Chujin and Zhou Shaojin both felt bored listening to this. Zhou Chujin simply called Ma Fushan's family in and said, "Bring two buckets of river water and pour it over her to wake her up."
It was mid-autumn by then. The well water was warm, but the river water was cold, and it felt cold when it poured on my body.
Ma Fushan's family responded and left, and soon came in with two servants carrying water, pointing at Lan Ting and saying, "Pour it on!"
The two old women rolled up their sleeves and poured water on Lan Ting.
Lan Ting shuddered and came to his senses.
Ma Fushan's wife immediately retreated with the two servants, and carefully closed the door when she left.
"Go ahead!" Zhou Chujin looked at Lan Ting, who was soaked like a drowned chicken but couldn't even wipe the water off his face because he was tied up, and said, "If you tell me, I'll be happy and maybe let you go. But if you don't tell me, I'll write a letter to my father about this and let him deal with you." After saying that, she laughed and said, "However, I think Mrs. Li is definitely more interested in you than my father. Should I write a letter to Mrs. Li first, and then write a letter to my father..."
"No, you can't do this!" Lanting screamed.
Zhou Chujin stood up and said, "Then see if I can do this!"
"I'll tell you, I'll tell you!" Lan Ting was so upset that she cried, "Miss, please let me go. I'll tell you where Xinlan is."
This is Lanting’s trump card, right
Zhou Shaojin pondered.
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Sisters, give extra updates to CadySS!
PS: I said that there are very few house fights in this book. I wrote about Lan Ting because it will lead to another matter. Please be patient.
O(∩_∩)O~
※(To be continued)