A needle hidden in silk floss

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  Chapter 32: Concealing a Needle in Cotton

  Su Ying shifted her scorching gaze back from the tray in Du Juan's hand, somewhat uncomfortably smoothing out the Smoke and Cloud Red Embroidered Brocade she was wearing.

  Instead, Mrs. Chen stood up excitedly from her chair, and after noticing that Fu Mu and Su Ying were both looking at her, she said somewhat uncomfortably, "It's still the old lady who pities me and my sister-in-law, I definitely won't disappoint Auntie."

  Fu's mother ignored Madame Chen and pointed to the two red wooden carved boxes on the tray. "The one on the left is for the first wife. You've been ill and your body can't compare to the second wife's, so I'll give you five more pieces." Madame Chen held her handkerchief over her mouth, thinking she had covered up her discontent.

  Azalea carried the tray and walked over to Su Ying first. Su Ying didn't let the aloe vera behind her come to receive it, but instead personally stood up to carry that red wooden carved flower box, slightly bowing to Fu Mu: "Thank you, old lady, for your kindness."

  Deep love, indeed deep love.

  Su Ying held the red sandalwood carved box on her knees, lowering her head and drooping her thick eyelashes to cover the cold glint in her eyes - after discovering those sinister and vicious means before Fu Mu, could she still be foolish enough to believe that Fu Mu would have a change of heart? That's no more likely than a sow climbing a tree.

  Fu's mother would do this, should have been prepared early, perhaps from the eyes and ears in the Zhengyuan, knowing that Fu Yiyang and her relationship had eased, plus before Fu Yiyang refused to let Fu's mother send someone to his room, not wanting to see the eldest house doing well, especially not wanting to see the birth of Fu Yiyang's legitimate son, so kindly rewarded with donkey hide gel.

  And judging from Mrs. Fu's reaction just now, she should have been certain that Su Ying would take the bait. The Su family's desire to have children and seek medical treatment is not a new thing, this is to prevent trouble before it happens.

  Su Ying raised an eyebrow, and with this kind of handle being handed over to her, she wouldn't be doing justice to the person who had painstakingly brewed fake medicine if she didn't take advantage of it.

  Compared to Su Ying's introverted joy, Madame Chen swept away her previous depression, beaming with a smile, and even raised an eyebrow at Su Ying, saying: "Elder sister, let's see who will give birth to the eldest grandson of our Hou Mansion?"

  Mrs. Chen's words left the room silent, with Lü Hu and Bi looking unwell behind Su Ying's back, while Du Juan and Bai Yue looked at each other in dismay. However, Fu Mu still smiled kindly, as if she didn't think there was anything wrong with Mrs. Chen's words.

  The eldest grandson of the Marquis Hou's family, who can only inherit the title of Marquis Yongwu, is also the eldest son of Fu Yeyang.

  Su Ying's smile didn't diminish in the slightest, and she jokingly said: "Little sister really doesn't know how to blush, how can you say such things so bluntly?"

  Fu Mu's eyes narrowed slightly as she looked at Su Ying, her malice almost unhidden.

  As for Mrs. Chen, she didn't understand the deep meaning of Su Ying's words at all, and instead said straightforwardly: "What's the big deal? Isn't it natural for us wives to open branches and scatter leaves for our husbands? Eldest sister married into the Hou household earlier than me, why are you still so reserved? Besides, in front of Old Lady, where is there such a big etiquette?"

  "I'm not as straightforward as my younger siblings," Su Ying said sincerely, turning to Fu Mu and saying: "I've had someone draft the gift list for Old Lady Shou An's birthday, please take a look, if there's anything inappropriate, please point it out so I can make changes." After finishing speaking, Lu Hui handed the list over to Bai He.

  Fu's mother suddenly remembered that Fu Xueyang had a disagreement with the grandson of Shou'an Old Lady in the past. Now that Shou'an Old Lady is celebrating her birthday, their gift from the Hou Mansion cannot be thinner than previous years. After taking a look at the length of the gift list, she said: "Since it's the old lady's birthday, our family's gift can't be too thin, or else people will think we're petty. I remember that the old lady believes in Buddhism, and there is a white jade Guanyin statue about one foot high in the warehouse, let's add it to the list."

  Su Ying furrowed her brow and thought for a moment: "This... could it be that I remembered wrong, and our temple doesn't actually have the Guanyin statue that old lady mentioned?"

  Fu's mother immediately fell down, frowning and scolding Su Ying: "What? This is obviously a good opportunity to get close to the Shou'an County Prince's mansion, but the mistress can't even bear to send out the respected Guanyin? It's too petty. Besides, it's not like you're being sent out for nothing. If you gain the favor of the old princess, it will be a good thing for Master and our entire household."

  Madam Chen hastily added fuel to the fire: "The old lady is right, it's not that the old lady can't make plans for our entire manor outside, but you, big sister, won't help even if you don't want to. You can't be so stingy and reluctant to give up your own private room, can you? Besides, now that you're in charge of the entire Marquis's manor, how can you lack such a mere ornament?"

  Fu Mu coldly snorted: "Forget it, since you're not willing then just forget it. I'll open my private room and get something from inside to make up for it."

  Mrs. Fu just said that and didn't make any other moves, forcing Su Ying to take a stand. But Mrs. Chen didn't understand, she and Fu Xiangyang had long considered Mrs. Fu's private house as the second house. If the longevity gift came from inside, wouldn't it be like cutting her own flesh? How could she agree? She hurriedly shouted: "Old lady, don't be angry, if my husband finds out, he will definitely scold me for being unfilial and make things difficult for you, let me take a look at my place first."

  While speaking, his eyes kept drifting to Su Ying's face, and Su Ying was thoroughly convinced. These two cousins were about to put a hat of unfilial piety on her head, it would be a waste not to perform a comedy routine with this natural talent.

  Su Ying pinched her thigh, and her eyes immediately turned red, with tears welling up in them. Her lips were slightly parted, and she looked wronged and innocent, which made Fu Mu and Chen Furen even more overbearing. However, she still kept her waist straight, exuding a cold and noble demeanor. "Respected elder, it's not that I'm unwilling to give this birthday gift from my dowry, but for the sake of our great lord and the brave Marquis, how could I not distinguish between what's important and what's not? It's just that when you mentioned that white jade Guanyin statue, last time because of my younger brother's matter, I had to put it on the gift list in a hurry, and I didn't have a chance to discuss it with you. Please forgive me, elder."

  Hehe, that's my private dowry, aren't you as the mother-in-law going to covet even the private dowry of the lady of the house? Is your old face made of iron and copper walls?

  Mrs. Fu was so angry that she almost fainted after Su Ying's words, which intentionally made things difficult for her. However, Su Ying unexpectedly brought up Fu Xueyang in their conversation, making it impossible for Mrs. Fu to say that Su Ying was being too casual. Moreover, considering her own status, she couldn't let others think she was greedy for the dowry of her future daughter-in-law. Nevertheless, she felt annoyed and her face turned gloomy as she stared at Su Ying without saying a word.

  Madam Chen was afraid that the world would not be chaotic, and she scolded Su Ying: "Elder sister, you are really something. Just now, why didn't you make the old lady angry earlier? The old lady is our family's anchor, if anything happens to her, I and Second Master cannot bear it." She blamed Su Ying with a glance, then turned her head and showed a respectful face to Fu Mu, whose face was black with anger.

  Su Ying's eyes twitched rapidly, "Second brother and sister, are you a clown invited by a monkey?"

  Due to Mrs. Chen's forceful intervention, the confrontation triggered by the longevity gift list ended in such an anticlimactic manner. Su Ying estimated that Fu Mu was so angry she almost got internal injuries, her face turning pale and then dark, dark and then pale again, truly a delightful sight to behold.

  When Mrs. Chen was driven out by Madam Fu, she was still confused and thought that Madam Fu was being bullied by Su Ying. She was secretly pleased and after leaving the main house door, she called out to Su Ying with a "I'm doing this for your own good" expression and advised: "Sister-in-law, listen to me, in the future you should be more obedient to Old Lady, if because of this you and Brother-in-law become estranged, it would be terrible."

  Su Ying paused for a moment, what is the logic between this top and bottom?

  Seeing Su Ying not speaking, Madam Chen glanced at the lovely Lü Hu and Bi following behind Su Ying, and said with a scowl: "Elder sister don't mind my meddling, I think the few maids in front of you are quite clever, better be careful, lest those hidden villains cause trouble."

  Su Ying raised an eyebrow and said with a smile: "With the lessons from my younger brother and sister, how could I repeat the same mistake? However, I think you should be more careful, as those who are close to ink will get stained. Don't let all the maids in front of you follow your example."

  Mrs. Chen was stunned for a moment and knew that Su Ying's words were not good, so she glared at Su Ying fiercely and walked away in a huff.

  Su Ying was supported by Lu Xiang and Bi Fu as they walked around the garden before returning to the main house. As soon as they entered the courtyard, Su Ying suddenly said, "Do you two think that Second Madam understood what I just said?"

  She suddenly remembered that Fu Mu and Chen Furen's family, the Chen family, believed in the teachings of "a woman without talent is virtuous", and had never allowed their daughters to read too many books. Even the legitimate young ladies could barely recognize a few characters, and were only able to keep accounts with great difficulty. Unlike Su Ying, who although not proficient in all four arts of qin, chess, calligraphy, and painting, was at least familiar with them. Even the maidservants serving her were literate.

  After hearing Su Ying's words, Bi and Lu Hui burst out laughing, and seeing that Su Ying didn't hold any grudges in her heart due to Chen Furen's previous words, they all felt relieved.

  She walked into the house and placed the red sandalwood carved box in front of Su Ying: "Madam, look at the donkey hide glue given by the old lady?"

  Su Ying narrowed her eyes, reached into the box and took out a piece of donkey hide gelatin to take a closer look and sniff it. She lowered her eyelids to cover up the coldness in her eyes and muttered: "If only it were true what Old Lady said..." Turning to Lu Hui, she said: "Give this to Zi Su, from tomorrow on, use the donkey hide gelatin given by Old Lady to nourish her body." She remembered that last time when she returned from the Su's house, Mrs. Su also gave her a lot of donkey hide gelatin. Since Fu Mu had also given some, it would be wasteful not to make use of this "good intention".

  It's a waste of Zi Su's craftsmanship anyway, tsk, she's really a good person.

  After arranging the donkey hide glue given by Madam Fu, Su Ying asked Gui: "Where is Master now? Is he still busy in the front hall?" For the past two days, Old Master Fu hasn't come to the backyard overnight. Su Ying naturally knew that Fu Yeyang was really busy in the outer study room. Except for seeing him off at the door in the morning, even at night, Fu Yeyang didn't have time to return to the main house for dinner, and he didn't forget to send someone over to say a word or two.

  Madam Gui smiled and said: "Today the yamen wasn't busy, Master has been dismissed early, but he hasn't returned to the mansion. Someone was sent back to say that he ran into two of his uncles and went to a teahouse to catch up on old times, so he'll be late getting back."

  Su Ying was half a beat slower to react, and then she realized that Gui's mother was talking about her two maternal uncles.

  "Crossing a Single Reed" is an author's novel "One Reed Crossing", latest.

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