Daily Life of a Powerful Official Supporting His Wife

Chapter 17

Chapter 17
Outside the flower hall, Qiu Ju announced, "Madam, Miss Ling Yan is here. She wants to accompany you to meet guests."

Madam Su raised an eyebrow and whispered, "Why is she here?" It wasn't that Madam Su disliked her granddaughter, but rather that she had been discreet about inviting Lu Baoer to the Fu Mansion to avoid causing trouble. At least she hadn't publicized it. Apart from her trusted aides within the courtyard, the other servants wouldn't dare to speak out even if they knew. So how did the people from Shixiangyuan know about this?
In other words, someone in her hospital had been bribed by Cheng Lingyan to be her informant! This matter was neither big nor small.

But Old Madam Su doted on Cheng Lingyan too much in the past, and she turned a blind eye to some inappropriate things. Now, she has come to her senses as if she had been enlightened, and feels that Cheng Lingyan's behavior has touched her sore spots everywhere, which is unbearable.

Old Madam Su gave Madam Zhao a wink. After all, she was her roommate who had been with her for many years, and no one understood her thoughts better than Madam Zhao.

Madam Zhao also felt that Miss Cheng Lingyan was too petty. She remembered a time when Fu Wan, from the Second House, received a piece of fine purple silk from her maternal grandparents. It was stamped with the seal of Xiang Sanniang, who specialized in custom-made fabrics for the palace and rarely sold outside the court. Therefore, Fu Wan's purple silk was extremely precious, the only one of its kind in Kyoto.

She cut a horse-faced skirt out of the purple silk and invited her friends to her house to play, specifically to show off her new dress. When Cheng Lingyan saw it, she also thought it was beautiful.

When he found out that it was purple silk fabric, he wanted to ask Fu Wan for a few feet of fabric to make a small jacket.

Fu Wan had long been dissatisfied with Cheng Lingyan. After all, she was a young lady from another family, and Fu Wan was the legitimate young lady of the Fu family. So she opened her mouth and said, "This was a gift from my grandfather. He didn't want me to share it with others."

At this point, Cheng Lingyan had the nerve to know she couldn't ask for more, but she didn't understand the hidden meaning behind the words and continued, "Since this purple silk was given to you, it's yours. So what if you want to give me some? Isn't it reasonable? Why would your grandfather say anything?"

She was eager to get beautiful clothes, and she didn't realize that what she said was rude and made her look very short-sighted.

Fu Wan laughed out loud: "I already said I don't want to give it to you, why are you still asking for it? If you really like it, why don't you ask Grandma for it? Didn't you say that Grandma loves you the most? Then what's so special about my purple silk!"

Fu Wan actually wanted to please Madam Su, after all, she was her legitimate grandmother. However, Madam Su loved Fu Yao, so she had favored Cheng Lingyan over the years, neglecting her legitimate granddaughter.

Cheng Lingyan couldn't hold back her feelings, so she ran to Old Lady Su and cried, twisting the facts, saying that she was a member of the Cheng family, not the Fu family, so her cousins had prejudices against her. These words brought tears to her eyes, and Old Lady Su's heart melted.

But Old Madam Su is not stupid. She loves her granddaughter, but she also loves her granddaughter, so she does not take the children's little quarrels to heart, and will not stand up for Cheng Lingyan and hurt her granddaughter's feelings. At most, she will give Cheng Lingyan more rewards and subsidies.

In Old Madam Su's mind, these were all juniors, and it was not uncommon for them to have conflicts while playing. How could she be the one to judge every case and decide which was more serious or less serious?
The conversation between Fu Wan and Cheng Lingyan was heard by someone and the second wife, who was so angry that she confined Fu Wan to her room for a few days and made her copy the Book of Songs a hundred times as punishment.

The Second Wife turned around and sent the remaining purple silk to Cheng Lingyan's room to apologize. It wasn't because she was afraid of Cheng Lingyan, but because the Second Wife felt that her pampered young lady from the Fu family had actually argued with Cheng Lingyan over a piece of cloth, which was a disgrace to a noble lady!
When the Second Madam scolded Fu Wan, she also said in a stern voice: "Her surname is Cheng, and your surname is Fu! Your grandfather on your mother's side was the governor of Jingzhou, and your grandfather was a second-rank official! You are a proper official's daughter, what is she?! She is spoiled by Old An, but without Old An, what is she?! Everyone in the house, look at your cousins, are they too intimate with her or fighting for petty gains?! You actually stooped to the point of fighting for clothes with a cousin who is begging for money! Isn't it shameful?" Fu Wan also understood what the Second Madam was angry about. From then on, whatever Cheng Lingyan wanted, Fu Wan would give it to her generously. She pouted privately, but smiled in public. Cheng Lingyan thought that Old Madam Su had warned Fu Wan, so she was so submissive to her, and she was very proud of it.

After that incident, Madam Zhao finally understood Cheng Lingyan's personality. She didn't like this cousin very much, but usually, thinking that the old lady liked her, she didn't say much.

Now that the opportunity has come, she is eager to protect her master, and she must teach Cheng Lingyan a lesson to let her know that the Fu family is not the Cheng family without rules. Even if Mrs. Su dotes on her again, the hierarchy cannot be messed up!
Nanny Zhao lifted the pearl curtain and walked out of the flower hall to greet Cheng Lingyan. "Why are you here, Miss Lingyan? The old lady is still resting!"

"Rest?" Cheng Lingyan didn't understand why Nanny Zhao said that, and subconsciously stammered, "But I heard from Hongsu that the old lady got up and is still meeting guests in the hall..."

"Oh? Hongsu?" Nanny Zhao narrowed her eyes, gritted her teeth, and uttered a harsh word. Qiuju, standing beside her, responded, "Go find that girl named Hongsu! I want to see what servant in Shixiangyuan dares to act like a gossip girl and fabricate what's going on in the old lady's courtyard!"

After saying this, Nanny Zhao turned around and said to Cheng Lingyan in a timid tone, "Miss Lingyan, please go back first. The old lady is really still asleep. If she wakes up later, I will send Qiuju to tell you, okay?"

In front of the entire courtyard, an old servant who was so respected by Madam Su dared to publicly punish her personal maid. This was undoubtedly an insult to Cheng Lingyan! She...she was just a servant, what right did she have to do this?!
Cheng Lingyan was furious and raised her voice, saying, "The people in the kitchen are clearly making cakes for the guests. Look, there are maids carrying cakes in and out. How can he not wake up?"

She lifted the hem of her skirt, pretended to step onto the stairs, and said anxiously, "I don't care, I just want to see my grandmother!"

Seeing her willful and reckless behavior, unyielding to persuasion, Madam Zhao stepped aside, blocking Cheng Lingyan's path. She looked down at her, a coldness in her eyes that she normally wouldn't have seen. Regardless of whether Lu Bao'er in the hall was her real granddaughter, Madam Zhao had learned from Old Madam Su that this Cheng Lingyan was definitely fake!

A cuckoo in a magpie's nest, if it weren't for the old lady's kindness, thinking that the child was innocent and regretting the grace of raising her over the years, how could she deserve to continue staying in the mansion?!
Nanny Zhao smiled coldly and said, "Miss Ling Yan, you have to understand the rule in the old lady's yard. If the old lady says she hasn't woken up yet, then she hasn't woken up yet, and no one has the right to disturb her!" What she meant was that no matter whether she was really asleep or pretending to sleep, if the old lady didn't want to see guests, then she wouldn't see them, and it was not her turn to make a fuss here.

At that moment, Hongsu had been brought in by Qiuju. Madam Zhao lifted up Hongsu's trembling face, slapped her hard, and cursed, "How dare you, you lowly fellow! How dare you eavesdrop on the old lady's courtyard wall! I'm only sparing you because you're a servant in Shixiangyuan! If I ever find out you do this again, don't blame me for selling your parents to a brothel along with you!"

This is such a harsh statement. When beating a dog, you have to look at the owner first. This was simply a veiled accusation directed at Cheng Lingyan.

Although the servants in the courtyard had already fled and no one saw it, Cheng Lingyan still felt embarrassed and tears were about to fall.

(End of this chapter)