A good omen for a good person

  The old master looked at the surprised expression of the old lady, thinking that for many years, it was the old lady who had been helping to manage the household, and because of her rich dowry, she couldn't help but show a proud look. He felt particularly pleased with himself, his eyebrows and eyes revealing an unusual sparkle. At first, he just smiled without speaking, slowly sipping tea from his cup, then feeling that he had milked the suspense enough, and seeing that the old lady was also getting impatient, he leaned in close and whispered: "Recently, a minor official from the Ministry of Justice was dismissed, vaguely saying that he had offended someone higher up and was made a scapegoat. I didn't pay much attention to it at first, but someone brought this matter to my brother-in-law's attention, and he found me recently. Although I couldn't make any decisions, I can still say a few words in front of the superior officials."

  "Where did this money come from? How can that little official have so much?" The madam whispered, covering her mouth. Even if the Ministry of Revenue's residence wasn't short on this amount of money, taking out such a large sum at once was no small number, let alone that all this money was only for the master himself. Apart from this, they also needed to bribe the Minister of Justice and the officials in charge of the case, including even the madam's own brother.

  The old master curled his lip, and couldn't help but reveal a hint of jealousy: "That little official's family is a big rich merchant from the south, in charge of harbors and merchant ships. To them, this is just a drop in the bucket."

  "So wealthy." The madam was not unaware of these wealthy merchants from the Pa country, and had even heard that some families were so rich they could rival a nation. In fact, in the previous dynasty, there were cases where merchant families became too wealthy, and the government found excuses to confiscate their property.

  "What's the use of having more money?" Thinking of this, the old master calmed down a bit and sneered: "If there were no one in the court, even small things could be peeled off layer by layer."

  The madam nodded deeply moved, but then worried: "Is that letting him off? Won't it be hard to explain later?"

  "It's just a scapegoat, and it's not a big mistake anyway. Besides, Big Uncle will definitely not harm us, even the Minister is turning a blind eye, so it can't be a serious crime. At most, we'll just get kicked out of the capital after being cleared of charges." The old master doesn't care about this kind of thing, and it's not like he hasn't done it before. As long as it's not murder or robbery, small mistakes can be settled with money and personal connections, what's wrong with that?

  The lady thought of her elder brother and felt more at ease, although she said that her elder brother was slightly mediocre compared to her father. However, he was a down-to-earth person who wouldn't do anything unreliable, especially with her father keeping an eye on things from above. With this large sum of money, the lady's heart felt even more at peace, and she became more considerate towards her husband. Needless to say, that night, both the lady and her husband had a very enjoyable time, and their feelings naturally warmed up to what they were before he made his mistake. In fact, there was even a hint of the sweetness they shared when they first got married, which made Cao's wife, who was pregnant and could only temporarily suppress her emotions, cry so much that she soaked several handkerchiefs.

  The lady of the house had been in high spirits for several days, as her son was still taking his exams and her eldest son's wedding was proceeding smoothly. The ladies-in-waiting in the mansion seemed to be growing quieter and more submissive as the old master spent more time resting in the main room. She was living too comfortably, so she brought up the matter of her husband's concubine again, but this time she fixed her gaze on Xian Yi, because Xian Yi's original marriage had taken an unexpected turn.

  Xian Yi wasn't the first to receive such news, when she heard that Zhao's wife had gone to the mistress' courtyard, she already had a premonition. At that time, there were other maids beside her, either envying or teasing, but Xian Yi didn't have any expectation or joy. She knew that probably after today, her engagement would no longer exist.

  Due to concerns about her mother, Xianyi still left the side room amidst everyone's laughter and teasing. As soon as she walked down the stairs, she saw Yu Shuang standing in the courtyard with Lu Shuang accompanying her. Xianyi glanced at the two of them, and Yu Shuang met Xianyi's gaze with some trepidation, but seemed to think of something and lowered her head for a moment before raising it again, forcing herself to exchange a glance with Xianyi. Xianyi smiled wryly as she looked at Yu Shuang's straight back and her self-righteous dignity, and indifferently walked past the two of them without saying a word. When she arrived at the entrance of the main room, she indeed saw her mother with a gloomy face and Zhao's nanny with a red and embarrassed face. Xianyi's heart sank slightly, it seemed that things had already come to an end.

  Madam Chen couldn't be bothered to listen to Madam Zhao's grievances, she turned her face to look at her approaching daughter, her eyes were moist with heartache, it was because she didn't know people well, and also because she trusted the master-servant relationship too much, that's why today her daughter was implicated and suffered humiliation.

  "Mother." Xian Yi still coquettishly hooked her arm around her mother's, saying sweetly.

  Next to her, Zhao's mother had always been weak-willed. Looking at Xianyi's lovely appearance, she felt a little insecure. However, thinking of the news from neighbors over this period, her insecurity turned into courage. Such a daughter-in-law, her son really couldn't keep, rather than making a scene in the future, it was better to let go early on. Moreover, since her son had someone in his heart, she couldn't ignore the face of the whole family for the sake of their past sisterly relationship. Besides, with her being so accommodating, Xianyi should be grateful instead.

  "Madam Zhao." Xianyi's formal greeting, and the former Madam Zhao had become Madam Zhao, Chen Madam was about to shed tears, her daughter knew.

  Mrs. Zhao's smile froze on her face, and she didn't care about anything else, hastily saying a couple of words before turning around and leaving.

  "Xian Xian, it's not your mother's fault..." Chen Ayi didn't dare to shed tears in front of the main house door, so she hastily pulled her daughter to the backyard and only then took out a handkerchief to wipe away her tears.

  It doesn't matter about the wedding dress, originally choosing Zhao Jialang was just a temporary plan, she and he didn't have any feelings for each other, originally it was just thinking that their families were of equal status, but unexpectedly the other person had other thoughts. However, this is also good, solving the problem before marriage is better than discovering after marriage that her husband has thoughts about her younger sister-in-law, and thinking of Third Young Master Jin Fenghua... Xianyi suddenly had a sense of confidence.

  "Let's just drop it, okay?"

  "Do you all know? But he actually has one set of words for us and another set behind our backs. Everyone in the courtyard knows that our two families have a verbal engagement, but in the end, they actually changed their minds and asked to marry Yu Shuang instead... This is simply...

  Madam Chen had a smooth life except for her husband's early passing. She was spoiled by her elder sisters when she was with Madame Chen, and after following the big madame over here, she had been in charge of the backyard for many years, calling the shots. But unexpectedly, she suffered such a huge loss on her own daughter's account."

  "It's just that seeing the gap between you and Madame, they spread bad words again, it's normal to change their minds." These people all know how to read the situation, fearing that they have seen through Madame's thoughts, and also knowing that Madame will not take charge for them.

  Madam Chen couldn't help but hug her daughter tightly and sobbed: "How can this be good... how can this be good..."

  "It's okay, it'll be fine!" Xian Yi comforted her mother, but in her mind, she couldn't help recalling Jin Fenghua's promise. Although he was eccentric and perverted, Xian Yi had never seen him lie.

  "Xian Xian, be honest with your mother and tell me, don't you really want to be a lady?" Madam Chen felt her daughter's carelessness, her heart suddenly skipped a beat, she quickly pulled her daughter over and asked solemnly.

  Xian Yi smiled wryly, then took out a handkerchief from her bosom to wipe her mother's face: "As the daughter you taught, how could I not know my own nature? If I wanted to be a concubine, there would have been many opportunities over the years, why drag it until today."

  Madam Chen stared straight at Xian Yi's expression, not missing a single detail. Suddenly, she relaxed her shoulders and hung her head, self-mockingly saying: "I'm really getting old and muddled, someone framed my daughter and I actually believed it for a moment. Those people just can't stand the fact that our mother-daughter relationship is good, how could I..."

  "Mother, be honest with me, has Madam already made up her mind?" Xian Yi was not worried about anything else, just that there might no longer be room for change.

  At this time, Chen's mother was not surprised that her daughter knew so much. She pulled her daughter's hand tightly and said calmly: "Now that the eldest son has finished his exam, whether it is good or bad, there will definitely be someone added to his courtyard. With the discord between the lady and the second lady, the eldest son's courtyard must go again, only this time..."

  Xianyi quickly understood the implied meaning of her mother's words after spending many years in the main courtyard, listening and observing. Chun Jing was pregnant because she was not favored, but this time, in order to prevent the eldest daughter-in-law's mother from using the excuse of a concubine being pregnant to send someone in again, the eldest daughter-in-law and the madam might very likely make this concubine sent away once and for all, fearing that she would never be able to have children for the rest of her life. Although Xianyi felt that concubines should not have children to prolong their suffering, not wanting to give birth and being unable to give birth were absolutely two different concepts.

  "There will be a way, there must be a way." For a moment, Xian Yi's heart was also in disarray.

  Xianyi mother and daughter looked worried outside, but Zeng Yini was secretly pleased. She carefully attended to Madame and didn't forget to give Chen Yini some eye medicine: "Chen Yini is really something, the matter hasn't even started yet and she's already spreading it everywhere. Now look what's happened, it's become a big joke. Fortunately, Madame has a kind heart and let it pass."

  "It's not entirely her fault, after all, the Zhao family didn't do things in a decent manner." Although Madam was also dissatisfied with Chen's hasty arrangement of the Zhao family's affairs to prevent her daughter from becoming the concubine of the eldest uncle, she was still an elderly person who followed her. Even if the Zhao family had done something that pleased her, they would have still lost face.

  "This is it, but I heard that their son is going out to do business, and he's not in front of the lady anymore." Zeng Yiniang stole a glance at the lady's face and hurriedly followed up.

  "That Rain Shuang can also be sent to the laundry room, and then sent to the Zhao family on the 18th." The lady's casual remark determined the fate of a young maid. Originally, Yu Shuang had hoped to become a second-class maid, but without any unexpected events, she would have spent the next four or five years in the hard labor of washing clothes.

  Madam doesn't care, and Zeng Yiniang won't take it seriously either. After all, she's just a small third-grade maid, which doesn't affect the overall situation. What's more worth Zeng Yiniang's attention is: "Did Madam deliver the letter to Chen Manor last time?"