The second wife's tone was very bad, and her usual calmness and composure were completely gone. She angrily cursed: "The Xu family is really a family of villains! Lord Xu Anying is such a person, how could he be so unjust in running his family? He allowed these people to do whatever they wanted!"
Xu Anying is indeed a person of high reputation.
Over the years, he has always done a good job in the position of Minister of War. No matter whether it was the Japanese pirates in Fujian or the Tatars in the north, he was able to judge people and arrange the generals very well, so he was able to stabilize Changping of the Great Zhou for so many years.
Moreover, compared with Xia Song and Jiang Zining, he was not arrogant or domineering, nor did he form cliques or act for personal gain. Everyone had great trust in him.
But why would such a person want to kill someone just because of a small grudge? What's more, there are so many people involved! So many people are implicated!
The crime of colluding with bandits and plotting evil is enough to punish him no matter how many Wei families there are.
He really has a very dark heart.
Madam Wei San shook her hand to calm her down, then looked at Madam Wu and said sincerely, "Sister-in-law, just tell me. I know that since you said this, you must have a solution in mind. What do you want to do?"
Madam Xu came over to pull them away: "I'm really sorry, we didn't entertain you well enough, but ladies, please rest assured, the princess is a blessed child, she will be fine. Our old lady is old and can't stand being frightened. She has gone into the house now. Why don't we go in with her? It's not safe outside now..."
He looked like he was caring about them.
The Second Madam almost didn't want to maintain her expression anymore, and pulled her hand away coldly: "Madam, we want to go back now..."
The smile on Madam Xu's face disappeared almost instantly, and she interrupted her with a tone of disapproval and rebuke: "Second Madam! Now is an extraordinary period. I know you are afraid of getting into trouble. We all are afraid of getting into trouble. But now that trouble has come to us, we should naturally cooperate with the men outside and bring the malicious bandits to justice. Don't you agree?!"
The attention of all the ladies has been attracted.
Madam Xu then said half sarcastically and half jokingly, "Although we are women living in the inner courtyard of a mansion, we should also know the principle of sharing the same hatred and enemies! These bandits dared to sneak into the city today and sneak into our house pretending to be actors. In the future, they may dare to sneak into your house or someone else's house! Our master is the same as the masters of all the ladies. They are all officials in the court and work for the emperor and the court. These thieves are so powerful that they actually sneaked into our house. Who knows how bold they will dare to do in the future! Besides, we are all women. If we encounter them, should we keep our reputation or what should we do? Madam, please be considerate of us. We will come to your house to apologize to you later!"
What a high-sounding speech!
The Fifth Madam almost wanted to cheer for her in her heart. She looked at her deeply, but was not confused by her words. She just said, "We all understand what the First Madam said. As the host, you naturally hope that nothing will happen to anyone."
As she spoke, she frowned: "But... ..I'm afraid that even if we are fine here, something bad will happen to the girls!"
Everyone started to panic. They all came with their children because the old lady of the Xu family was very lively. And everyone knew that this kind of gathering was to restore the reputation of the girls of the Xu family. So, either out of kindness or out of respect for the Xu family, they basically brought all the girls of similar age from their families.
If something really happened as Mrs. Wei worried, then all the girls in the family would be doomed!
How could they sit still any longer? They all turned around and surrounded Madam Xu and asked her, "Didn't Madam say that the children had gone to Yanziwu? Nothing will really happen to them, right?"
The Qin family's wife couldn't help but said in a somewhat inappropriate manner: "Our Shuang'er has always been timid and can't stand being frightened..."
Qin Shuang was not her biological child, but the child of the sister-in-law who married the Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi. She was adopted into the Qin family. Qin Dong and Qin Sheng treated this boy and girl like precious eggs, wishing they could hold them in their hands. If anything went wrong...
Madam Xu's right eyelid twitched heavily. She looked at the ladies of the Wei family with a rather unfriendly expression, then turned back to gently comfort Madam Qin and the other ladies: "Madams, don't worry. I have been with you for so many years, don't you know what kind of person I am? If something really happens to a girl from another family, I will really... I will not be able to face you... You must rest assured. This is an extraordinary period. I am just taking precautions. I am afraid that your moving back and forth or the girls' moving back and forth will make too much noise and attract the attention of the bandits, and something will happen... Those bandits must have some basis for being able to get here, and it is even possible that they have people here to help them. Since there is an insider, I dare not take any risks..."
These words made sense and were able to calm people's anxieties. In addition, Mrs. Xu was indeed a kind and generous person who made friends with many people. She was popular among all the ladies. So everyone remained silent for a while, half believing and half doubting, and remained in a stalemate.
Madam Wei Er was not buying it, and immediately contradicted Madam Xu Da: "If that's the case, then why didn't Miss Xu Da and Miss Xu Er get on the boat to Yanziwu? Since the master wasn't following them, who knows what the girls are like? If there really is an insider, and if the master wasn't following them, then who knows if there's someone who shouldn't be there among the servants, and who's going to tip us off? The girls aren't from your Xu family, and they don't know or are familiar with the people who serve you. Even if there's something wrong, they won't be able to detect it... Won't that cause trouble?!"
Madam Wei's words hit the nail on the head and touched upon the concerns of all the ladies. No one could help themselves and ignored Madam Xu's explanations, and they were eager to find the children back.
Madam Xu was extremely annoyed by Madam Wei's move. She sneered and immediately scolded: "What nonsense! What on earth does Madam Wei have in mind to criticize our family like this?! Since you are in our house, we will of course entertain you properly. You are instigating the ladies to take risks like this. If something goes wrong, what good will it do you?! I think you are clearly looking for trouble!" (To be continued)