Chapter Thirty-One: Phoenix Fire

  The housekeeper panted and ran over, gasping for breath, and said intermittently: Master, Fourth Madam, Fourth Madam...

  Pang Guogong's heart skipped a beat as he hastily asked: "What's wrong with Fourth Madam? Has something happened?"

  The housekeeper took a deep breath, waved his hand at Duke Ping, making everyone around him tense up, and said: The fourth madam has woken up. It's just that the maid by her side came to report that the fourth madam knew her child was gone, and now she can't stop crying and making a scene. The maids can't stop her either. Master, you'd better go take a look.

  Pang Guogong furrowed his brow, although he knew that the Fourth Mistress would definitely not accept it when she woke up, but he didn't expect it to be such a mess. Now he was about to go to Old Madame's place, what could he do?

  Yang said: Master, you go comfort Fourth Sister first. I'll take Second Sister and the children to pay our respects to Old Madame, lest she gets impatient waiting for us.

  The second lady also said: Yes, sir, I think the fourth sister is now in a difficult situation. The old lady's place can't be delayed either. The fourth sister made a big fuss, and it's still better for the master to go there to avoid disturbing the old lady. It's still Mrs. who thinks more carefully.

  Pang Guogong nodded.

  The second lady, though reluctant at heart and eager to see the fourth aunt's heartbreaking awakening, had no choice but to follow Yang Shi to He Xiang Yuan.

  In the He Xiang courtyard, the old lady was leaning against the back of the Fuzi pillow, with only Wang Mama by her side holding a cup of tea and waiting on her. She was speaking in a low voice, but stopped as soon as she saw Madame entering.

  Yang looked up and glanced at Wang's mother, then quickly turned her head back to Old Lady.

  Yang smiled and said: I've seen Old Lady before. Today, Mother's complexion looks much better than before. It seems that these days of quiet rest have also been effective.

  Heavy rain, heavy snow, and even hail, all respectfully bow down to say: I've seen the ancestors.

  The second lady also made her bow and stood aside.

  The old lady raised her eyes and said: Now that everyone has arrived, I have been resting at home for a few days, but the house is bustling with activity, making it impossible to rest.

  Yang said: It's all the daughter-in-law's fault, she didn't discipline her sisters well, so Sanmei made a mistake. I'm sure Sanmei also knows it was wrong and wasn't intentional. Now that the fourth sister's child is gone, the old master is heartbroken too. Just now, the housekeeper said Sanmei woke up, and the old master was worried, so he went to see her first.

  The old lady held a string of prayer beads in her hand and counted slowly, the room suddenly fell silent, with only the sound of friction between the beads.

  After a long while, the old lady raised her head and said: "This matter has already been punished by Lao San, and Lao Si is also an unlucky one. In these few years, Master's knees have had no descendants, which is also because you servants are not serving with care."

  Yang and his two wives hastily knelt down to apologize.

  Get up, the children are still here. What's going on can be talked about later. Today I called you all over also because Strategist Brother will return from his travels soon, he went to many places and sent back some rare brocades a few days ago, today let everyone come and pick some out.

  Thank you, old lady

  The old lady looked up at Wang's mother, and Wang's mother nodded and clapped her hands. Immediately, a group of maidservants came in, each carrying a bolt of fabric - over a dozen in all, every one of them exquisite and unmatched.

  Even if Yang's family was from a noble house, it would be impossible to gather so many exquisite fabrics all at once.

  The old lady also showed a smile on her face at this time: "Zhai Ge is indeed thoughtful, collecting so many fabrics, but the colors are too bright and not suitable for an old woman like me to use. It's just right for you young people to make clothes."

  Pang Luoxue saw Pang Luoyu touch a piece of brocade with a phoenix pattern, the fabric was red and the golden thread finely outlined the shape of the phoenix. It seemed that Pang Luoyu still loved the color red in her heart, although Old Madam didn't like her wearing bright red, she couldn't help but touch it again. A hint of melancholy flashed across Pang Luoyu's eyes as she went to change into a piece of floral silk, the crimson color was beautiful, and with a glance at the maid beside her, the maid put away the fabric and handed it over to Pang Luoyu's maid.

  Pang Luo Xue looked at Pang Luo Bing who was standing on one side with his head lowered and did not participate in the selection.

  The old lady also looked up and noticed that Pang Luoyi was wearing a half-old shirt, with a look of desolation on her face that didn't match her age.

  Bing Er, why don't you pick and choose? Look at the clothes on your body, they're all old too. A good young lady like you wearing such shabby clothes is really losing face. The old madam said displeasedly.

  Pan Luo icy face fell silent, with tears streaming down her face. Xiao Yu beside her said: "Tell the old madam, Third Miss's clothes have always been taken care of by Third Madam. This time when Third Miss went to live in Eldest Madam's courtyard, Third Madam was ill, so Miss didn't bring any clothes."

  The old lady's eyebrows furrowed even deeper as she looked at Yang Shi.

  The daughter-in-law had already asked someone to bring over Xue'er's clothes for Bing'er to wear, and it just so happened that today was the day to pick out fabric, so they could also make a few more sets of clothes for Bing'er. It was also my fault for not being careful, as Bing'er had only arrived last night and I was worried she wouldn't rest well, so I didn't have someone take her measurements right away. With Third Sister still ill, there were some things that weren't thoroughly considered.

  The old lady nodded, and Yang's displeased gaze turned to Pang Luo Bing. She thought to herself: This little maid has such a deep mind. This must be the doing of Third Madam, stirring up trouble from the side.

  Pang Luo Bing lowered her head and didn't dare to look at Yang Shi's gaze, this morning the third aunt ordered Xiaoyu to arrange this play, fortunately Yang Shi was careful and didn't catch the mistake.

  The old lady looked at Pang Luo Xue and said: "Xue Er, why didn't you choose? But there isn't one that I like."

  Pang Luoxue walked forward, her eyes hastily scanning the fabrics and said: Xue felt that her brother's taste was excellent, each one was beautiful, Xue was afraid of being swayed by greed, so she didn't dare to choose.

  The old lady said: What's difficult about this? You like which one, just choose it directly. It's just a piece of cloth, at most let your brother bring a few more pieces.

  The old lady's words made Pang Luoyu feel resentful: as the same father's daughter, Pang Luoxue could get the old lady's favoritism, while she herself, being born out of wedlock, was destined to be robbed of all affection by Pang Luoxue.

  Pang Luoxue said: "Why don't you, Old Madam, choose two horses for me instead?"

  The old lady didn't hesitate either: I think the horse's phoenix fire is not bad, and the golden thread is very suitable for Xue'er. Yunwu Chu is also good, what do you think, Xue'er?

  Pang Luo Xue naturally likes it: Thank you, ancestors, I think Grandma's eyes are excellent, and these two snows are also very fond of them, but Bing Er Mei

  My sister has just arrived at our mother's house and is preparing to cause some trouble, so I'd better give this cloud-patterned silk to my third sister, which will also fulfill the affection between us sisters.

  The old lady smiled: It's still Xue'er who understands the situation, since she has spoken up, her grandmother is naturally happy. The rest will be left to Madame to choose two horses and send them to Fourth Aunt's place, and the remaining ones will be handled by Madame herself. Since Old Four's body is not comfortable, you all go take a look at her, and also avoid Master having trouble dealing with it himself.

  Pang Luo Yu looked at Pang Luo Xue with a resentful face, her eyes almost bleeding from jealousy as she hugged that phoenix fire horse. Although her own horse was not bad either, it was far inferior to that one.

  Sister, do you like this one? I looked at sister for many eyes, if sister likes it, Xue Er will give it to sister. Pang Luoxue was sincere.

  Pan Luoyu forced a smile, her mouth twitching: "Sister is just saying nonsense, I only think this color is bright and took a few more glances. Don't be too mindful, little sister." This Phoenix Fire is truly extraordinary, it can be seen that the ancestors had exceptional taste.

  Pang Luoxue raised the corner of her mouth and thought to herself: "Look at you, with a face that's about to be burned by jealousy. It's not like it doesn't hurt, but since you want to endure it, then Pang Luoyu, you'd better bear it well, I won't show any mercy." Then she smiled and said: "Sister is elegant and beautiful, whatever she wears is extremely lovely. Since sister doesn't want to accept it, then neither will I force her, after all, this is also a token of our ancestors' kindness."

  Pang Luo Yu forced a smile and thought to herself: "Pang Luo Xue, you just wait for me. I will make your life worse than death. Everything of yours will be mine." After thinking this, she lifted her head and warmly linked arms with Pang Luo Xue as they went together to the Fourth Aunt's courtyard.