Miss and farmhand

"I don't understand," Shen Xuying said, leaning against the headboard with Huang Song in her arms, fanning her youngest daughter with a palm-leaf fan. "Didn't Yi Niang already have a falling out with Aunt Luo? How come she's talking about the First Madam again?"

Huang Chu had a smile on his lips.

Huang Xingtong explained to his wife, "Yi Niang is playing a double game. She seems to be scolding the concubine, but she's actually using the concubine to investigate you. Think about it, the undeniable evidence now is that Luo's people were behind it. If she's innocent, she'll naturally hate the person who framed her and smeared her. She doesn't just want to clear her own name; Yi Niang has given her the witness, so the initiative is in her hands. It's a ready-made opportunity for revenge. If she doesn't go all out to link this to her sister-in-law, she'll have wasted her position as a concubine."

Shen Xuying blinked.

Huang Chu smiled and said, "Mother doesn't understand any of this. There was no need for me to understand before, but now I'm explaining it to you in such detail, analyzing the pros and cons, because Rongniang has already suffered so much. Mother should finally see that they aren't on our side. Mother is soft-hearted; even when Auntie treated you badly and tried to arrange a concubine for Father, you only felt it was your fault. As long as Father didn't agree, it wasn't a big problem, and you still treated Auntie well out of consideration for our past relationship. Now, Mother should be clear-headed, right? Mother should see clearly that if you continue to be as close to Auntie as before, it will only give her more convenience and opportunities to harm you. Rongniang was lucky this time, but what about next time? Who knows what Auntie will do next time?"

"Even if she were heartless, if it weren't for Aunt Luo, she certainly wouldn't have pleased Eldest Sister after she entered the household. This time, Eldest Sister has learned her lesson, and she won't do such a thing again... right?"

Huang Chu sneered, "I don't think so. With Aunt's temper, if she really got the short end of the stick from Aunt Luo, she'd have nowhere to vent her anger. Uncle would have already run far away, and Yong-ge'er isn't home either, so there's no one for her to take it out on. If Mother goes over there now, she'll only end up worse off. Don't have any wishful thinking. Think about Rong-ge'er instead."

Shen Xuying instinctively hugged Huang Song tightly, remained silent for a long time, and showed a sorrowful expression on her face.

"How can I, as a mother, not feel heartbroken seeing Rongniang like this..." she murmured. "Eldest sister is indeed cruel, capable of such cruelty to a child. But for some reason, I still can't bring myself to hate her. The more I think about it, the more confused I become, only feeling sorrow."

Shen Xuying didn't know why she had such thoughts, but Huang Chu sensed her thoughts and glanced at Huang Xingtong.

Mother might not have thought of that, but Huang Chu could see clearly that this sorrow did not come from his aunt or his own temper, but from his eldest uncle.

Marriage is like gambling for a woman. She gambles on finding a reliable man, but she can't trust him for life. Who knows if he will change his ways in middle age, or if a once conservative and proper man will become lustful and take concubines?

However, such words were not appropriate for an unmarried girl to say.

It's better to advise Mother to think more positively. After thinking for a moment, she said, "That's alright. With Mother's temperament, if she really starts to hate someone, it'll be like the sun rising in the west. Hating people is too draining on the spirit. With Mother's health, hating for a month or two will exhaust her. That would be too much of a waste."

"What you say is true, Auntie." Huang Xingtong sat down on the edge of the bed, took his wife's hand, and gently shook it. "If others are unkind, we can't be unjust. Of course, there's nothing wrong with not hating. I just want you to be more mindful and keep your distance from your sister from now on. The two families have already separated, so it's enough to exchange gifts during festivals. We don't have to live like we did before the separation. We just need to live our own lives well, take good care of the children, and take good care of each other."

Shen Xuying remained silent, hugged Huang Song tightly in her arms, and finally nodded with a sigh.

Sure enough, less than two days later, the servants heard gossip about the other side of the river.

It is said that the newly arrived Aunt Luo was very arrogant. She beat the servants in the courtyard in front of everyone. The old woman cried for a whole incense stick's time before she finally couldn't hold back and confessed that the First Madam had given her money to be bought by the Luo family elders as part of their daughter's dowry.

The entire household and servants were stunned.

She used to be a matchmaker and midwife, and in her youth she had done some questionable business. Her reputation was tarnished, otherwise she wouldn't be out there looking for work at her age. It was a complete scam to end up being bought by those two country bumpkins from the Luo family. When Madam Huang sent someone to contact her, she thought that if she could get two monthly salaries, what did it matter if she had to do some shady things? There was nothing she wouldn't do.

However, just like the wet nurse's accusations against her, her accusations against Shen Yurui were also without evidence, and she couldn't even identify the person Shen Yurui had contacted.

But this didn't stop Luo Shutao from finding something on Shen Yurui as soon as she entered the room. On the surface, she didn't take Song Mama's words seriously, and instead directly scolded her for being disrespectful to Madam Panche; however, she neither stopped the other servants from eavesdropping nor stopped Song Mama from telling her to lower her voice when she cried out that she was wronged, which allowed all of Song Mama's words to be heard.

Shen Yurui was furious and demanded that Luo Shutao return the servant. She said that no servant should be allowed to slander their master like this, and that she would be killed without any injustice.

Her cold eyes seemed to want to shoot knives and stab Luo Shutao to death: "Auntie won't refuse to give her away, will she? That old woman dared to say such things, and I can't stand by and do anything about it?"

Unexpectedly, Luo Shutao said, "That's exactly right! Song Mama dared to implicate Madam, which is disrespectful. Not only was Madam angry, but I was too! Madam is my mistress; disrespecting her is the same as disrespecting my parents. Of course I wouldn't stand for that! When I heard it, I ordered someone to beat her again, to beat her severely! As a result, she fainted and had to be taken to the clinic. Master even called me in and scolded me, telling me to behave myself and not to do that again. Madam wants to see people now, but I can't do anything about it. Perhaps you should ask Master."

With a flick of her lips, she shut down Shen Yurui's request. She was innocent, and now she was in Huang Xingyu's hands. Did you, Madam, dare to go to the Master to demand her release? What would you say if the Master asked about Song Mama's actions?

Everyone knows that Huang Xingyu's attitude towards his wife became as cold as an ice cellar after he took a concubine. No one can say for sure what Huang Xingyu's attitude was.

Without witnesses, Shen Yurui couldn't get her to back out, nor could she make any other arrangements. Her mouth was hers to say, and she had to say whatever Luo Shutao told her to say. Shen Yurui was thus at a loss.

This only applies to the matter of Song's mother.

As life unfolds like a gentle stream, living under the same roof, there are countless glaring issues to pick at and countless opportunities to vie for power in matters big and small.

Less than a month later, things seemed calm on the surface, but in reality, it was rumored that people over there could no longer call Luo Shutao "auntie." She had also become a madam, and because her room was upstairs, the servants called her "Madam of the Upper Room." Shen Yurui's room, according to the old-fashioned rules, was the same as Shen Xuying's, located in the side room next to the main hall on the ground floor, so she was called "Madam of the West Room."

They appear to be equals, both being wives, but according to the established rules, "the south is superior to the north, the east is superior to the west," making the west room seem inferior to the main room.

This is a double humiliation, a double transgression.

However, no one made a fuss, and everyone, including the servants, silently accepted this explanation.

We should be happy for Luo Shutao, as this means she won the battle of wits.

For some reason, Huang Chu felt a chill run down her spine when she heard this.