The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure -
Chapter 629 - 627: Exaggerate
Chapter 629: Chapter 627: Exaggerate
Lady Xia had sent Sister Hu, partly to show Gao Jin the importance she placed on the Wang Family Young Lady, and also to have Sister Hu probe the Young Lady’s background.
That morning, after dispatching Sister Hu, Lady Xia became restless with worry.
She rushed through a few household chores, and just as someone was bringing up breakfast, she heard Sister Hu’s wailing.
Before she could react, she saw a disheveled old granny throw herself in front of her.
Lady Xia was so frightened that she almost dropped her bowl of bird’s nest porridge on the floor.
On a closer look, who could this disheveled, dirtied granny be if not Sister Hu?
"Weren’t you sent to deliver the betrothal gifts to the Wang Family? How did you come back looking like this?" Lady Xia’s eyes widened, incredulously staring at Sister Hu.
Sister Hu had always been fastidious, her hair always combed without a hair out of place, her clothes neat and clean.
Lady Xia had never seen her in such disarray, as though she had rolled around on the ground a few times.
Sister Hu looked up, and Lady Xia, unable to hold it in, spilled the entire bowl of bird’s nest porridge on the floor with a "Pfft—Sister Hu, what happened to you?"
When Sister Hu didn’t lift her head, Lady Xia felt angry, but once Sister Hu looked up, her disfigured face was apparent to all.
There were several scratch marks on her face, especially around her left eye, where a punch had left a round, fist-sized bruise that closely resembled Lady Xia’s pet pug.
The dog might have been average, but it too had a fist-sized black mark around its left eye, which made it look adorably silly when it wagged its tail.
Without saying a word, Lady Xia, struggling not to laugh, looked on, even as the maids by her side covered their mouths giggling.
Sister Hu looked at Lady Xia, clearly confused, her expression even more reminiscent of the pug.
Especially since Lady Xia’s bowl of porridge had spilled on the floor, the pug, hearing the noise, rushed in, lapping up the porridge and wagging its tail at Lady Xia without forgetting to beg for affection.
Together with Sister Hu kneeling to one side, they were absolutely synchronized.
Lady Xia, who had been full of anger, found her irritation dissipated somewhat by this commotion.
She waved her hand, signaling Sister Hu to clean herself up before coming back.
When Sister Hu looked at herself in the mirror back in her room, her face darkened; she finally understood why the servants, who normally trembled in her presence, had been sneaking smiles at her all the way home.
As she tidied her clothes and hair, she vowed vindictively: this girl from the Wang Family had humiliated her so, she could not be allowed to enter the County Yamen at any cost.
With her master’s eagerness to promise the Second Wife’s position even before the girl had married, and now with this grudge against her, if that Wang Family Girl really entered the door, what if she used her master’s influence to settle scores with her?
No matter how powerful she was, in the end, she was still a servant, and she would surely be the one at a loss.
After cleaning up and changing into fresh clothes, Sister Hu returned to the main house.
Lady Xia had already finished breakfast and was holding the pug, chatting with the maids, when she saw Sister Hu, now back to her usual appearance aside from the wounds on her face that couldn’t be concealed.
That’s when she said sternly, "What exactly happened?"
Sister Hu, with her embellished tales, recounted her visit to the Wang Family once more, especially emphasizing Old Granny Zhang’s crassness and Wang Yongzhu’s rudeness and boundless strength, along with her mercilessness and cruelty.
Finally, she wiped away a tear, "It’s a good thing this old servant realized things were looking bad and ran quickly, otherwise, I might not have been able to return alive to see you today—"
Lady Xia didn’t say much else; rather, the fact that the Wang Family Young Lady was reluctant to enter the rear courtyard as the Second Wife somewhat endeared her to Lady Xia.
Seeing how pitiable Sister Hu looked and considering her many years of service, Lady Xia felt a twinge of compassion and found herself entangled in conflict.
Noticing the hesitation on Lady Xia’s face, Sister Hu knew that Lady Xia was wavering.
She quickly added fuel to the fire, "Madam, it’s a small matter that your servant got hurt, but what truly worries me are you and the young masters and mistresses! If such a ruthless and incredibly strong woman were to be brought into our mansion, what if she harbors ill intentions? We would be defenseless!"
Upon hearing this, Lady Xia’s heart skipped a beat. If it were as Sister Hu had described, and the Wang Family Young Lady, with her formidable strength and lack of societal graces, were to rely on the master’s influence and actually resort to violence, what then?
All the maids by her side were tenderly nurtured, and even if there were a few older servants, they wouldn’t be enough.
"But how can I explain this to the master?" Lady Xia was still torn.
"Madam, think about it, the young masters and mistresses are still living in the courtyard. What if that woman enters our home and has wicked intentions, what then if she makes a move against the young masters and mistresses?" Sister Hu, knowing Lady Xia well, certainly knew where her Achilles’ heel was.
Indeed, when it came to her children, Lady Xia immediately made up her mind.
"Sister, you’re right! When it comes to the children, one must be prepared for any eventuality. It’s settled then, I will discuss this matter with the master myself. You’ve worked hard. Bai Cha, fetch my pair of Gold Silk Bracelets to calm Sister Hu’s nerves."
Rewarded by her mistress, Sister Hu knew she had not fallen out of favor and finally smiled.
※※※
Come evening, Wang Laozhu regained consciousness, this time remaining lucid for an extended period. Seeing Old Granny Zhang, his two sons, his daughter, and his grandson all gathered around him, his eyes inevitably reddened.
"It’s good that you’ve come!" Wang Laozhu tried to speak, only to feel a great pain in his throat.
Old Granny Zhang, with a grimace on her face, handed him a bowl of warm water to drink.
Wang Laozhu gulped down the water and then asked in a low voice, "Why have you come? Where is this place?"
Ever since waking up, he had felt that he was no longer at his second son’s home. Glancing around at the surroundings and decor of the room, it was far more opulent than his second son’s home.
"That brute of a second son sent word home, claiming you couldn’t acclimate to the new environment and were bedridden. How could we not come to see you?" Old Granny Zhang replied, barely masking her contempt.
Wang Laozhu, his face flush with shame, responded, "It’s my fault for getting old and becoming useless. A life of comfort and I still managed to make myself so ill with vomiting and diarrhea that I couldn’t find peace! If I had known, I would’ve been content to stay at home, which would have been better than suffering here!"
Wang Yongzhu and the Wang Family Brothers exchanged looks; it seemed Wang Laozhu was unaware that he had eaten something amiss.
His words seemed to contain self-reproach for his ill health, yet he appeared less confused than before.
Old Granny Zhang scoffed, "You brought this on yourself, and you deserve it! You treated that beast of a second son like a treasure, ready to give him even your heart and liver. And what was the outcome? Let’s not even talk about other issues; when you were lying there, delirious with illness, your beloved second son and his wife left you in the side room, filthy with dirtied blankets that seemed like they hadn’t been changed in days."
"In such cold weather, they didn’t even bother to heat the brick bed while you were unconscious. Had we not arrived in time, you might well have frozen to death!"
Although Wang Laozhu had been mostly unconscious, he still had some perception of his condition, and as Old Granny Zhang spoke, he couldn’t help but look heartbroken.
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