Chapter 421: Confrontation
Editor: Atlas Studios
Qi Haoran had never seen Madam Xu and Little Madam Wu before, but that didn’t mean that he didn’t know about these two sisters-in-law. He bowed to them with a straight face. Madam Xu hurriedly smiled and said, “Fourth Brother, you’re too polite. Father-in-law, Second Brother, and Third Brother are waiting for you in the front hall. Do you want to go in and greet Mother-in-law first, or…”
Qi Haoran said, “I’ll come over with Second Brother and Third Brother to meet Madam later. I’ll have to trouble Second Sister-in-law and Third Sister-in-law to take care of Eldest Sister-in-law and Ah Ling.”
As he spoke, he turned to leave. However, when he saw the soft palanquin carried by the servants, he said with a smile, “I see that the soft palanquin hasn’t been repaired yet. There’s no need to repair it. Just have it replaced. Someone, carry the soft palanquin away and smash it.”
Madam Xu’s eyebrows twitched. This Fourth Brother was even more tyrannical than she had imagined. She turned to look at Li Jinghua and Mu Yangling, only to see that the two of them had their eyes lowered and were silent. Seeing that the maidservants Qi Haoran had brought had already stepped forward to take the soft palanquin, she hurriedly said with a smile, “Wait, Fourth Brother. This soft palanquin was broken before, but the craftsmen repaired it overnight. I think it won’t be a problem to use it for another year or two. The expenses at home are huge, so we have to save as much as possible.”
Qi Haoran frowned, as if he was going to kick the palanquin and destroy it on the spot. Li Jinghua smiled gently and said, “Second Sister-in-law is right, but this soft palanquin is different from others. If it suddenly breaks and causes someone to fall, the servants will have committed a huge sin. The gains won’t make up for the losses. No matter how much the residence spends, we can’t save this bit of money. Let’s get someone to smash these two soft palanquins and check the others at the same time. If there’s also danger, we can smash them together. It’s almost the New Year, so it’s meaningful to replace broken stuff.”
When Qi Haoran heard this, he retracted the internal energy that surged into his legs and waved his hand. “Eldest Sister-in-law is right. Hurry up and carry the palanquins away to smash them.”
A stiff smile appeared on Madam Xu’s face. Alright, they were indeed taken down a notch. Alas, it was Madam Xu and Little Madam Wu who were taken down a notch, not Qi Haoran and the others.
Madam Xu and Little Madam Wu led Li Jinghua and Mu Yangling in to see Madam Wu.
Madam Wu was sitting on the main seat. As soon as the two of them entered, two young lasses placed two cushions in front of them.
Li Jinghua raised her eyebrows slightly, while Mu Yangling frowned. In her life, she had only knelt before her ancestors during the New Year and Qingming Festival. She had never even knelt before her parents.
Since they already retaliated earlier despite having just arrived, it wasn’t a good idea to be too unyielding now. So, she tugged at Mu Yangling and knelt down respectfully to kowtow to Madam Wu. With a smile, she said, “Greetings, Madam.”
Mu Yangling could only say, “Greetings, Madam.”
Madam Wu took a sip of tea as she sat, pretending not to see the two of them. Mu Yangling looked up at her and could only greet her again. “Greetings, Madam.”
Madam Wu’s eyes were still lowered. Standing by the side, Wen Cui was secretly anxious. Eldest Madam was pregnant and had rushed her way here. Her fetus condition was not optimal to begin with. Even if there was a futon on the ground, it was still freezing in winter…
Li Jinghua indeed felt that a heavy sensation at her waist, so she hurriedly held her waist. However, Mu Yangling’s observation skills were outstanding, so how could she not notice?
Seeing this, she felt angry and helped Li Jinghua up. Smiling, she said, “Sister-in-law, it seems that we came at the wrong time. Since Madam happens to be asleep, let’s sit and wait. You’re pregnant and previously knelt down and kowtowed. I’m sure Madam’s heart aches for you, her daughter-in-law, and the child in your stomach. She definitely won’t blame you.”
Madam Wu, who was still holding the tea: “…”
Little Madam Wu widened her eyes and stared at Mu Yangling, who was lying through her teeth. Her mother-in-law was clearly sitting there drinking tea. How could she have fallen asleep?
However, Mu Yangling didn’t care so much. She directly pulled Li Jinghua to sit at the top left seat. Now, Madam Wu couldn’t pretend anymore. She could only put down the teacup and raise her eyelids to size up Li Jinghua and Mu Yangling. Then, she fixed her gaze on the young Mu Yangling and said sternly, “The north is indeed a desolate place. People there don’t even practice the most basic etiquette.”
Realization dawned on Li Jinghua. “Madam is awake?” Since Mu Yangling had already offended her, there was no need for her to cower.
Madam Wu’s chest heaved up and down twice, but she suppressed her anger and smiled insincerely. “It’s so noisy outside, it’s hard not to wake up. You must be Xiuyuan’s wife, Madam Li. You and Madam Mu both entered the Jingzhao Prefecture and skipped offering the in-laws’ tea. Although Xiuyuan isn’t at home, we should still practice the necessary etiquette. Since Master happens to be free tomorrow, you two should get up early to serve tea.”
“Yes.” Li Jinghua stood up and said, “Since these are the rules, Fourth Sister-in-law and I will naturally abide by them. However, I’ll have to trouble Madam to bring us to the small ancestral hall. I feel a little apologetic.”
With a smile, Little Madam Wu said, “Sister-in-law has never served tea to her in-laws before, so she doesn’t know. This tea can just be served in the hall. There’s no need to open up the small ancestral hall.”
Mu Yangling looked at Little Madam Wu curiously and said in confusion, “After we serve tea to Master and Madam, we naturally have to go to the small ancestral hall to pay our respects to Mother-in-law. Of course there is a need to open up the small ancestral hall. Mother-in-law is also the mother of Second Brother and Third Brother. Didn’t Second Sister-in-law and Third Sister-in-law pay their respects to Mother-in-law when they got married?”
The three women in the room immediately had all kinds of expressions.
Madam Wu was furious, and Madam Xu looked awkward. However, she couldn’t help but feel that Madam Li and Madam Mu were too aggressive. Although the two sides didn’t have a good relationship, there was really no need to make things so tense when they were living in the same house.
The corners of Li Jinghua’s lips could not help but curl up. She felt that although Mu Yangling was not good at handling internal affairs and had a straightforward temper, there were also benefits to being straightforward. There were some things that had to come from her mouth to be effective.
The two of them successfully angered Madam Wu before leaving. Mu Yangling sent Li Jinghua to her Zhaode Hall first. This used to be Qi Xiuyuan’s residence. It was a little small, but it was more than enough to accommodate Li Jinghua and her servants.
Wen Cui brought the servant girls into the house to pack up. The house had clearly just been tidied up not long ago, and the dampness had yet to dissipate. Extremely dissatisfied, Wen Cui complained, “Mistress, it’s so damp. Not only is it harmful to your health if you sleep here, but it’s also not good for the baby…”
“Alright, get someone to start a fire and heat up the room immediately. It should be fine by tonight.”
Wen Cui immediately fired off instructions to Wen Mian, Wen Si, and the other servant girls. She ordered the servants to replace the bed curtain and blanket with the ones they had brought themselves.
Mu Yangling walked around the courtyard and personally made arrangements for the maidservants she had brought.
This time, they brought along more maidservants than young servant girls. The older maidservants each had their own abilities—from guarding the door to taking care of things in the kitchen. But they all had one thing in common—they all had some amateur skills. It was impossible for them to deal with experts outside, but it was more than enough to deal with the people in the inner residence.
Mu Yangling had requested this. Compared to the weapons out in the open on the battlefield, what Mu Yangling truly feared were the hidden arrows within the residence because this was not her area of expertise. People tended to fear the unknown. Besides, she had promised Qi Xiuyuan that she would do her best to protect Li Jinghua and her unborn child.
She felt that since she was not familiar with the inner residence matters, and it would take a long time for her to master them, she did not mind setting up Li Jinghua’s residence according to what she was good at. The first thing was safety.
Therefore, Mu Yangling politely sent away the servants that Madam Wu had arranged for them, replacing them with the people she had brought with her. There was no outsider in the entire Zhaohua Courtyard.
Li Jinghua did not care and let Mu Yangling make the arrangements. She had occasionally heard that the 5th Division’s camp was the most tightly guarded because of her fourth sister-in-law.