The Virtuous Wife

Chapter 43: Careful Thoughts

After a while of commotion, Aunt Lan was finally appeased and stopped trying to commit suicide!

As for the old man, Liu was asked to return to her own courtyard and wait for Su Cheng to make his own decision.

Gu returned to the courtyard with Su Wei. The others also dispersed.

Haitang brought a bowl of Tremella and Lotus Seed Porridge to Jingyi, who was sitting on the bed with a somewhat lazy look. "Miss, drink something first. You didn't eat much at noon, and you've been busy in the afternoon. I'm afraid you'll be hungry before dinner."

Jingyi took the bowl, ate a few mouthfuls, and praised: "This porridge tastes good. It was made by Madam He, right?"

Madam He smiled and said, "Yes, if you like it, drink more."

Jingyi paused, "If Madam He made more, send two bowls to mother. I'm afraid mother is also a little hungry."

"Why do you need to tell me about these things? After I finished making it, I sent two bowls to Madam and Lord Hou. Not only to Madam! I also sent them to the old master and the old lady." Madam He replied while packing Jingyi's clothes.

Jingyi smiled, "Madam is still thoughtful!"

Madam He smiled and said nothing.

Seeing that there was no one in the room, Haitang asked in a low voice: "Miss, how do you know that Liu Tao was bribed by the third lady?"

Jingyi smiled faintly: "Haven't you noticed that Liu Tao's makeup is different from yours recently?"

Nanny He thought about it and seemed to understand something, "Miss is right. I have been thinking about it these two days. Why do I feel that Liu Tao has become more and more beautiful these days, and the fragrance on her body is also very pleasant, not too strong or too weak, unlike those used by maids."

Jingyi nodded: "Mammy is right, she uses the best Luozidai to draw eyebrows! Not the indigo allocated to maids in the mansion! The rouge she uses on her face is the best "red and blue" rouge produced in Suzhou! I asked Xing'er to inquire about it. This kind of rouge costs at least ten taels of silver to buy a box outside. How much is her monthly salary as a maid? How can she afford such an expensive thing?"

Haitang listened and nodded. Liu Tao was just a newly promoted maid of the first rank, and her monthly salary was only two taels of silver. Besides, the increased monthly salary has not been paid to her yet. Add to that the Luozidai! Where did she get the money to buy these things?

Nanny He sighed softly, "Fortunately, the young lady was observant, so she didn't fall into the trap of that girl! The most annoying thing is that Liu!"

Haitang said angrily, "Miss, then why do you still keep that s**t? It would be more appropriate to sell her off."

Jingyi didn't say anything. After finishing the bowl of porridge, she said to them, "No hurry! Doesn't she want to be Su Yuan's concubine? I'll help her! It's just right to use her to make Liu feel a little upset! Okay, you guys go down and take a rest, I want to sleep for a while, so there's no need to keep anyone here."

Nanny He and Haitang hurriedly made the bed for her, helped her lie down, and then left.

Jingyi waited until they were far away before she called out softly, "Siqin!"

Siqin responded and landed. It turned out that she had been hiding on the beam. Siqin placed a stack of banknotes and a small box beside Jingyi's pillow. "Miss, here are a total of 28,565 taels of banknotes and cash. Other jewels are not included."

Jingyi didn't look at it, "I finally have the capital."

"Miss, why did you let your subordinates hide the beads on her body, but then help her out?" Siqin asked puzzledly.

Jingyi knew that she was talking about Liu. "Siqin, we did this firstly to make mother be on guard and think about what those people are coveting. Secondly, it is to allow mother to clean up the courtyard. She has many spies in the courtyard! Thirdly, it is to tarnish Liu's reputation through this incident! In this way, whether Liu is divorced or not, she will never have the opportunity to associate with those noble ladies again. In this way, she is a useless chess piece for the old lady! Are we still afraid that she will make a big wave again?"

Siqin nodded as if she understood something, and then asked again: "But Miss, you ordered your subordinates to check where she kept the private money, why did you only take her silver and not her loan certificates?"

Jingyi showed a meaningful smile on her face, "This is the most important thing. Liu is a person who loves money like her life. I took such a large sum of money from her to make her feel heartbroken and miserable! And leaving those loan certificates behind is because she needs a reason to stay with Uncle San now!"

"Stay? Miss, you took great pains to arrange all this, didn't you want to drive her out?" Siqin asked in surprise.

Jingyi chuckled: "Siqin, you have been with Yuanxi for so long, let me ask you, how to strike the enemy is the most satisfying?"

"This, of course, is to kill the other party, or destroy the thing that the other party cares about most!"

Siqin finished speaking, her eyes suddenly lit up, "Miss, you are thinking of leaving this useless chess piece with the old lady, she can't throw it away, and can't use it! This is what makes her most sad."

"You are very smart, but this is only one reason! Second, if Third Uncle divorces Liu, he will definitely remarry, considering that he is in his prime now. If he marries someone with a treacherous mind, won't we have to spend a lot of effort to make arrangements? Compared with this, it is better to let Liu still occupy the position of the main wife, but the glory will be gone. Third, Liu is impatient and not good at playing tricks. The reason why she was able to control several concubines in the past was, firstly, because she was the main wife, and secondly, because she relied on the power of her natal family and the old lady! Her joys, anger, sorrows and happiness are all written on her face. For such a person, even if she uses any tricks in the future, it will be easy for us to deal with it, right?"

Jingyi sat up and looked at Siqin: "Why do you think that Aunt Lan cooperated with us? She was just seeking a higher position! It is impossible to promote her to a concubine! However, it is very possible to promote her to a concubine. Moreover, Uncle San will definitely give the power in the courtyard to Aunt Lan, and never to Liu! In this way, they will fight among themselves first, and how can they have time and mind to calculate us?"

Siqin nodded again. At this moment, she had to get to know this Miss Su again. At first, when the master sent her and Si Mo to secretly protect such a delicate lady, they were very reluctant. But the master spoke, and they dared not disobey. Although they later felt that Miss Su was extremely smart and expelled Bai, they believed in their hearts that it was just a fluke, and she was still a child who had not grown up. But I didn't expect that she could have such a big hand!

Think about it from the initial suspicion of Liu Tao, to deliberately placing the beads on Liu, to the turmoil at the birthday banquet, and then Aunt Lan's miscarriage! And secretly controlling Liu's property! And finally calculating that Liu would use this loan to preserve her position as the main wife! And supporting Aunt Lan to be favored, and then fighting with Liu! Let them have internal strife! All these things are linked together! Such a deep plan was actually thought up by this seven-year-old child in front of him! This is incredible!

Sure enough, the next day Su Cheng led Liu to kowtow to Gu and admit his mistake, and asked Liu to go to the family temple to chant sutras and pray for the old lady! In the end, it was just as Jingyi expected, and Aunt Lan was not promoted to a co-wife, but only to a noble concubine. And gave her the power to run the family!

Aunt Lan saluted Liu again and served tea. A face full of smugness! You know, concubines and noble concubines are very different! If the main wife is divorced or dies, the noble concubine is the first to be considered for being promoted to the main wife! Furthermore, a concubine does not need to kneel down to the wife every day, just bow and greet. This concubine Lan has been patient for so long, and finally she is going to be glorious!

Jingyi sat in her room reading a medical book, ignoring everything outside!

Haitang put down the fruit plate in her hand, "Miss, these grapes are sent by the second young master, who said they were rewarded by the sixth prince, please try them!"

Jingyi hummed, but did not put down the book.

Haitang said again: "Miss, it turned out to be a good thing that concubine Lan lost her child. Now she has been promoted to a concubine!"

Jingyi put down the book, her eyes dark and bright, "Haitang, don't you really think that concubine Lan had a miscarriage?"