Chapter 66: Bursting Out of the Ground

  Search;????Madam Liu would not be so naive as to think that Su Ying said she would investigate the matter of that night and she really wouldn't, but Madam Liu couldn't grasp Su Ying's attitude, "It's all about the mistress sympathizing with the concubine, the concubine is anxious in her heart."

  Mrs. Liu looked at Su Ying with eager eyes, and Su Ying also handed her a bowl of almond milk: "It's not that there's nothing to be said, you have merit and it's what you deserve." After a pause, she added, "Now that you're here, tell me what really happened the day before yesterday?"

  Madam Liu didn't shift the blame either, "That little girl is from the tea house, and the maid found a gold ring and hairpin in her room. It seems that she has turned black-hearted and committed such a thing under someone's instruction, offending Master and making him furious. To say it, I also have my fault, because during this period of time, I was neglectful, which gave those slaves an opportunity to take advantage of."

  Su Ying raised her eyelids, it seemed that Liu Niang knew who was secretly making trouble, but didn't say it explicitly. Was she trying to see if Su Ying had an attitude problem? Su Ying wiped the corner of her mouth: "Since this matter is left to you to handle, just decide as you see fit. I'm pregnant now and my energy isn't what it used to be, so some things are inevitably overlooked. You can take charge of that courtyard from now on, and for everyday matters, you can make decisions on your own without needing to report back to me."

  Liu Yiniang took advantage of drinking goat's milk to cover up her thoughts, does this mean she was allowed to handle it? It seems that the mistress has completely abandoned Liyue. Yes, the mistress is different from before, having gained favor and become spoiled, she has the confidence to do so. Wei Yiniang is no longer in power, the mistress is now in her prime, just looking at Master occasionally sending boxes of gifts from the front yard, who would have thought that the main house would have such a glorious day again?

  It's really different now, Lì Yuè was originally from the mistress's courtyard, and from the root, Lì Yuè was dependent on the existence of the mistress. Although Lì Yuè was a concubine before, her share was almost the same as that of the mistress. Now it's different, since the mistress let her be in charge of distributing the monthly allowance, Lì Yuè's share is according to the rules, and compared to the mistress, it's far less.

  It's no wonder that Lihua's thoughts have grown bigger, and Liu Niang coldly sneers in her heart. The mistress now means to let her manage the courtyard, and Lihua has become someone who lives under her thumb, it seems the mistress knows about Lihua's private affairs.

  Thinking of this, Liu Niang's heart suddenly felt a chill, and she was both relieved that she hadn't gotten entangled with Li Yue again and also felt a sour taste - after carefully serving Fu Mu for several days, apart from Su Ying giving her some fabric and jewelry plus the ginseng, there wasn't even a hint of acknowledgement from Fu Ye Yang, and even when he stepped into her house again it was because of a lowly maid's scheme.

  Madam Liu's heart was filled with mixed emotions, but her face didn't show it: "The madam values the concubines, the concubine is afraid that she can't manage properly and will worry the madam along with it."

  "Why say such humble words, previously you were in charge of that matter and it was all well-organized. It wasn't until you fell ill that I let Gui Yatou help out a bit. You're already in charge of one courtyard, so I can rest assured." Su Ying's tone was gentle, but she didn't relax her grip on the task that had originally been assigned to Liu Niang by Su Ying, although she did give Liu Niang some sweet treats for taking care of the courtyard.

  It also made Liu Yiniang understand that Su Ying wanted to take advantage of her, it was just a matter of one sentence, and when she was happy, she might give some more benefits.

  Madam Liu also figured out Su Ying's underlying meaning. Her attitude was more obedient than before, and whether she really thought so in her heart, only she knew herself. "But if Master finds out that the concubine is thinking of this, I'll be worried to death." Madam Liu sighed, her complexion already poor, and with a frown, her face looked even worse. She dabbed at the corner of her eye with a handkerchief and glanced at Su Ying with her eyes.

  Liu Yiniang was indeed good at flattering, but Su Ying was impatient with her and spoke in an even softer tone: "This is originally your own misfortune. If Master is angry, it's because of that servant who stirred up trouble, Master's temperament I'm not familiar with, right and wrong are clear, you just focus on recovering from your illness."

  It seems that towards the end, it's just a subtle show-off in front of outsiders, especially Liu Niangniang. This kind of intentional or unintentional show-off used to be Wei Niangniang's specialty. For example, when coming over to pay respects to Su Ying in the morning and being late, she would use "taking care of Big Miss" as an excuse, or for instance, showing off that she got some good stuff from Fu Yeyang again, and so on.

  Now the wind and water are circulating, Wei Niang is nailed to death in the south courtyard, and Da Niang is also raised beside Su Ying. Whoever gives birth to a son among these people will see who can surpass her later.

  Liu Yiniang realized that she couldn't get anything good from Su Ying today, and her face involuntarily showed some embarrassment. Zi Su brought over the chicken soup that had been simmering on low heat: "I've already skimmed off all the oil droplets on top, it's not greasy, madam, have a taste."

  Liu Yiniang took the opportunity to bid farewell, and as she was about to leave, she couldn't help but glance back at Su Ying. Su Ying smelled something fishy and vomited all over the place, while Liu Yiniang covered up her envy with a smile.

  When Madam Liu was supported by Cuiping back to the yard, Lihua happened to come out of the side room, with a look as usual. Cuiping couldn't help humming from her nose, while Madam Liu smiled at Lihua: "Sister, you rarely go out, do you want to come to my place for a cup of tea?"

  Ling Yue glanced at Liu Niang nervously, but said: "Sister is still ill, so I shouldn't go disturb her while she's recovering. When sister gets better, I'll go visit and bother her then."

  Liu Yiniang gritted her teeth and smiled, wasn't she putting on an act? She had capsized in this ditch of a place called Luyu, which was enough to make Liu Yiniang vomit. But thinking that Luyu had already been thoroughly abandoned by Su Ying, and would still have to live under her thumb in the future, she had plenty of opportunities to grind her down, so for now, she wasn't in a hurry.

  "I won't force it then." Madame Liu said and didn't even look at Liyue, letting Cui Ping support her into the house.

  Yingyue's maid, Liu'er, said: "Miss, I don't know what benefits your aunt got from the madam. I see that Sister Cuiping is not very pleased."

  Liu Yue didn't respond, turned around and walked back, picked up the small garment that was half-finished on the table and continued to work on it. Liu Er's face showed disapproval: "Didn't Madam say that Miss doesn't need to follow her and strain her eyes with needlework anymore?" She thought about how last time they brought those small garments, Madam only rewarded them with two pieces of silk fabric and nothing else. Liu Er spoke up for Liu Yue on the surface, but in her heart she was disdainful, thinking that she didn't know when she could stand out herself. When she thought about the jade pendants worn by the ladies-in-waiting beside Madam, she couldn't help but feel envious.

  Liu Yue's hands paused for a moment before she lowered her head and continued sewing.

  Liu'er looked outside and said, "Miss, are you thirsty? I'll go get some water to make tea." Liu'er carried the teapot to the tea room to fetch hot water. When she arrived, the woman in charge of the tea room forced a smile and said, "Liu'er girl is here again."

  Liu Er was puzzled in her heart, feeling that the attitude of this old woman was strange today. Although Li Yue was a concubine, with the rise of the main house, Li Yue's status also rose, and usually the tea-serving maid would be quite polite to her, what's going on?

  Liu'er had hot water, and then asked the old woman for ice. The old woman glanced at Liu'er: "Miss Liu'er is really unlucky, today's ration has been distributed, if you came a little earlier, maybe you could still get some. Just bear with it for now. Come early tomorrow."

  Liu'er bumped into a soft nail. Not wanting to be on the same level as that old woman, she picked up the teapot and was about to leave when she heard the old woman say in a neither heavy nor light tone: "You really think you're some kind of precious and delicate master, don't even bother to take a look at your own behavior."

  Liu Er is also popular. "What do you mean?"

  The old woman exclaimed: "Oh dear! I scolded the lazy little girl in front of Miss Liu, how embarrassing!"

  Liu Er's face turned red, she had originally wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to fetch water and sneak out for a bit, but after being spoken to by the old woman, she neither responded nor remained silent, finally letting out a humph and quickly walking away with the teapot.

  The small half of the water pavilion is shaded by emerald bamboo, and in the pool are swimming brocade carp and colorful fish, with floating lotus leaves and flowers. The water's surface has a layer of pale blue color that seems to exist yet not exist, having a certain charm like "lotus leaves connecting the sky with endless green, and lotus flowers reflecting the sun with a different kind of red".

  Su Ying leaned on the imperial concubine's couch, feeling the gentle breeze from the lake surface, flipping through the book that Fu Ye Yang had brought back from outside. Chen Wanqiu finally made a move in the cultural industry. Let's take a look at this "The Legend of the Condor Hero", I heard it's very popular among the folks.

  Su Ying couldn't help but admire Chen Wanqiu, and was very curious whether she really had a photographic memory. Although Su Ying hadn't read the original book, she had seen the adapted TV series before, and to be able to rewrite the book to this extent was truly a rare talent.

  No, I remember that in the Cloud Temple, Chen Wanqiu didn't despise that loyal and virtuous king's concubine for copying and imitating her, did she? It's also possible that this was a joint effort between the two of them. Su Ying had been looking forward to seeing the show from the moment they started working together, so let's not disappoint her.

  Su Ying flipped through a few more pages, the sunlight shining through the glass onto her body, lazily inducing drowsiness. She closed her eyes and Lu Hui looked over to move the book aside, whereupon a little maid covered her with a thin blanket.

  Mint cut a few lotus flowers and inserted them into the beauty bottle, then saw a little girl running over outside the water pavilion, gave aloe a wink, put the beauty bottle on the three-legged stool aside, and quietly went out.

  Su Ying slept for half a time before waking up, her head resting on the jade pillow lazily unwilling to get up. "Is the lady thirsty?" asked Lu Hui softly. "There's some sour plum soup made with ice sugar, soaked in iced water, it's just right to drink now, the weather is getting hotter and hotter, would the lady like a cup?"

  Su Ying nodded and sat up, and Mint came in from outside: "Madam, the third madam is not feeling well, and after inviting a doctor to say that she is pregnant, it has been more than a month. It's probably just entering the door and getting pregnant. The old lady also said that the third madam is a lucky one, adding two months' salary to the people below, and adding a meat dish."

  Mentioning the back, Mint is a bit resentful. The title of Third Lady sounds good, but it's just an old lady giving face. If someone outside hears this name, they will laugh. Perhaps for this reason, since Su Ying became pregnant and had to sit in confinement, the Hou Mansion has not received any invitations from other families for over a month. This shows that those respectable and wealthy families do not like to invite Fu Mu and the two wives of the second branch, fearing ridicule.

  The name of San Tai Tai was not called out to the outside, but this year on Qingming Festival, Fu Mu sent a thicker gift to her mother's home than in previous years.

  This lucky theory was again brought out by Fu Mu to stir-fry, regardless of whether there is logic in it. Even when Fu Mu herself recovered from her illness, she forcibly attributed it to San Tai Tai. Su Ying truly admired this beyond measure.

  It gets even more interesting, the third wife and the second wife are showing off their virtues one after another. The third wife first arranges for her personal maid to become Fu Xueyang's concubine, and the second wife follows suit in a similar manner, making the whole house lively and bustling with activity.

  Mrs. Fu highly praised the performance of Mrs. Chen and Third Lady, and intentionally or unintentionally glanced at Su Ying, who remained unmoved. Her unresponsive attitude infuriated Mrs. Fu.

  Madam Gui felt sorry for Su Ying, and secretly suggested to Su Ying: It's not a good idea to just stick with Fu Ye like this. Otherwise, she might as well send a maidservant from the main courtyard to Fu Ye.

  Su Ying shook her head and refused: "I know what you're worried about, nanny. It's just that old lady taking the opportunity to stir up trouble, which would affect my reputation. But nanny, look around, apart from those two, who in this mansion dares to say I'm not kind and virtuous?"

  "If I were to do as my younger siblings did, it would be no different from cutting off my own arm. The aloe vera and the others have long been following me, and I've already promised them that they can marry out and become the legitimate wives of some decent men by Old Master's side. If there's an opportunity, Mother will also help to arrange things." This is also a way to win people over.

  Su Ying covered up and said, Gui Yat Yat understood her meaning. Seeing that Su Ying's mind was already made up, it was no use advising her anymore. She also agreed to Su Ying's request in one mouthful.

  San Tai Tai didn't know what Su Ying was thinking. But Madame Chen had no choice but to be forced into it. Speaking of which, this also has something to do with Fu Xueyang.

  The happiest thing is that Fu Xueyang has been hiding well for over a month, and although Mrs. Chen felt that something was wrong with Fu Xueyang, she never thought that Fu Xueyang had taken in a concubine. Meanwhile, seeing Fu Xueyang becoming thinner and more haggard every day, Madam Fu was heartbroken and repeatedly instructed Mrs. Chen to take good care of Fu Xueyang's health, thinking that he was exhausted from worrying about her illness.

  Now with a lovely wife and concubine at home, now he has two new ones, making Fu Xueyang feel refreshed for a while. At the same time that Fu Xueyang got the new ones, his heart still missed the kind-hearted and pitiful Ji Yu Hua who was being supported by him outside.

  This Yu Hua flower is actually the poor and weak woman, Xu Jiong Niang, who was rescued by Fu Xue Yang's heroic actions. Fu Xue Yang bought a young maid to serve Xu Jiong Niang personally. He raised her in a small courtyard he had purchased. At first, Fu Xue Yang would occasionally visit, but Xu Jiong Niang didn't have any romantic feelings for him. Instead, Fu Xue Yang thought she was icy and pure, which only added to his pity for her.

  Later, taking advantage of the wine's potency, he forcibly made light of someone else's family. Xu Jiuniang was humiliated and wanted to kill herself, but Fu Xueyang suddenly sobered up and hugged her, his heart aching along with hers. A man has tears but doesn't easily shed them; it's just that they hadn't reached the point of heartbreak yet. From then on, Fu Xueyang was extremely accommodating towards Xu Jiuniang, but sometimes she still didn't appreciate it. On the contrary, Fu Xueyang was delighted and paid close attention to her.

  It can be said that the phrase "a wife is inferior to a concubine, a concubine is inferior to a mistress, and a mistress is inferior to one who is not caught" is perfectly exemplified in Fu Er Laoye.

  Mrs. Chen was desperate to get pregnant, especially after being stimulated by the third wife, and she gritted her teeth and opened a large earring next to her and put it beside Fu Xueyang, hoping to pull Fu Xueyang's thoughts over here.

  Hearing the congratulatory voices coming from Chen Wanqing's courtyard, Madame Chen hung her head and tightly grasped her fan, wondering why Third Madam could get pregnant at once, but she couldn't, where did things go wrong.

  Jade was massaging Madame Chen's leg on one side, while stealing glances at her: "Old Madam said she wanted to go to Yunruo Temple to burn incense and make a vow. Would you like to follow along and pay your respects? It's said that Yunruo Temple is particularly efficacious. After Eldest Mistress became pregnant, the Old Master went to Yunruo Temple and obtained a Guanyin statue. I heard that Eldest Mistress often goes to the small Buddhist hall to burn incense for the child-giving Bodhisattva."

  Is it the incense? Madame Chen pondered silently for a moment, and an idea had already risen to her throat. Wasn't it because of the aphrodisiac incense that Fu Xiangyang and the third madam eloped in Meixiangyuan? Could it be that the aphrodisiac incense has such an effect?

  For a while, whatever idea sprouted in Mrs. Chen's heart would take root and sprout one day.

  Compared to Su Ying's low-key pregnancy, the third madam was much more festive after being diagnosed with pregnancy. Fu Mu made a big show of creating momentum for the third madam, not only spreading the word in the Hou Mansion that the third madam had good fortune, but also mobilizing people to go to Yunruo Temple to burn incense and accumulate virtue for the unborn child.

  I don't know who said "the month is still shallow, and I'm not afraid that the child will be unable to hold good fortune", and specially let Dujuan come over to hypocritically say something like "Madam's pregnancy hasn't stabilized yet, it's not suitable for her to go out, there's a Guanyin statue that Master has invited from Yunruo Temple, which is also worshiped on ordinary days".

  Fu's mother was so angry that she didn't even scold Su Ying, after all, compared to her, Chen's wife who was taken out by Fu's mother to burn incense for the third madam was even more furious in her heart, really don't know what Fu's mother was thinking.

  Su Ying leaned back, took out the book she had read halfway through, and didn't see any gloom on her face. Tong He and Lu Hui let out a sigh of relief in their hearts. Tong He went over to tease: "The old master knows you like these kinds of books from the streets, so he specially ordered someone to go to the bookstore every now and then to pick some up for you to pass the time. The ones who went to buy them also had fun, maybe they couldn't decide which ones to buy, so they bought a big pile back, and now there are several stacks on the bookshelf. It's enough to read when Madam gets pregnant again."

  Su Ying heard Peppermint's words and laughed, raising her eyes to glance at her: "You little girl, dare to tease me?"

  "This girl just wrapped herself around Zi Su to get a cup of plum juice, and then she went to show off in front of her mistress. And it's only been a few days, but she's already become shameless, and doesn't even remember who was stomping her foot and blushing last time."

  The three of them laughed for a while, Su Ying leaned against the pillow and closed her eyes, Bao He and Lu Hui stopped making noise, waited for a while and saw that Su Ying had fallen asleep.

  The weather is getting hotter and Su Ying becomes more and more sleepy, fortunately, Fu Ye Yang only comes over every now and then, so she doesn't have to go and pay respects to Madam Fu, even if she gets up early, she can still sleep in, life is quite comfortable, if it weren't for those annoying things that pop out every now and then.

  "What's the meaning of 'old lady', and why are you treating her differently?" Mint argued on Su Ying's behalf, but Aloe glared at her, "Old lady is also someone we can gossip about behind her back. If Madam finds out, she'll tear your mouth apart."

  Mint stuck out her tongue at her, "I'm not talking to you in private, am I? In front of the mistress, I wouldn't dare."

  "You'd better watch your mouth and not mention those annoying things to the mistress." Luhui said half-jokingly to Bohen, who pouted. Luhui glanced outside and leaned in close to her, saying: "As long as Master stands on our mistress's side, it's always better than nothing. The way Old Madam humiliated our mistress, Master will definitely have some thoughts about it. I think Mistress didn't take it seriously, but once Master finds out, even if he doesn't say anything, he'll probably make it up to her in private."

  "It seems like our wife is at a disadvantage, but in reality, it's hard to say."

  Mint nodded vaguely.

  Fu Yiyang returned to the mansion, and the housekeeper immediately reported to him that Fu's mother had taken Chen Furen to Yunruo Temple to burn incense and fulfill her vows. After hearing this, Fu Yiyang furrowed his brow, changed his clothes without even washing his face, and came over to see Su Ying.

  When he came over, Su Ying was sleeping soundly. Lu Hui sat on the footstool and occasionally fanned herself - Su Ying's pregnancy wasn't even three months along, so they didn't dare use ice in the inner room, but there was an ice basin in the outer room. The inner room just needed to have the maids use cold towels to wipe down the floor every now and then to bring some coolness over. Lu Hui also fanned herself to keep Su Ying from getting too hot while she slept. Bo He was embroidering a small white satin red lining bellyband with a pattern of mandarin ducks playing in lotus flowers on it. When she saw Fu Ye come in, she quickly stood up and curtsied. Bo He pondered whether or not to wake Su Ying up, but Lu Hui didn't make any moves even though she was close by.

  As expected, Fu Yiyang made a silencing gesture and motioned for the maids to retreat. After they left, Lu Hui gave Bao He a "watch closely" glance, and Bao He scrunched up her nose and cautiously peeked inside. She saw Fu Yiyang sitting on the edge of the bed, gently brushing Su Ying's scattered hair behind her ear, removing the aquamarine earrings from her ears, and caressing her earlobe with his fingertips...

  Mint's face turned red in an instant, and Aloe was stunned, wanting to go see what happened. Mint pulled her back and asked her what she saw. After hesitating for a long time, Mint finally said dryly: "It's just that Master is good to Mistress!"

  "What's with that look?" Mint was so annoyed by Luhui's gaze that she glared at her, almost baring her teeth. Luhui smiled and said, "It seems the master is going to stay for dinner, I'll go tell Perilla to add a few more dishes, and also prepare that oxtail soup that madam had last time."

  ps：