When Madam Zou’s cries could no longer be heard in Qingxi Hall, Matriarch He rubbed her forehead with fatigue. Some time later, she instructed, “Call all of the stewards and stewardesses of every courtyard here. I have some orders for them. Tell the stewards in charge of the accounts to come here as well.”
There was a never-ending stream of people coming to and from Qingxi Hall on this day. The whole estate soon knew that the heir’s wife was no longer in favour with the matriarch.
The moment Madam Zou returned to her own room, she swept every single thing in arm’s reach to the ground. It was only when Senior Servant Qiao hugged her tightly that she finally stopped her path of destruction.
“Eldest Young Madam, please calm down. You still have the two young misses to take care of!”
Little An and Little Lin had already been woken up by the commotion and had been drawn over to the noise. The maidservants and senior servants hadn’t been able to hold back the two young misses, so the two children had witnessed Madam Zou’s fit of madness. Little An and Little Lin were frightened by the sight of their gentle and loving mother turned into a violent demon.
Their young faces were filled with panic as they stayed rooted to the spot, not daring to make a peep. It was at this time that Madam Zou turned to look at them.
Her eyes were fixed upon them for a long time before her features contorted into a contemptuous snarl. “Hah! Why weren’t either of you born as boys! If one of you had been a boy, would I have fallen to this state?! You useless things, get out of here!”
Senior Servant Qiao was shocked to her core. She hadn’t expected Eldest Young Madam to have spat out such vitriol at the two children. Although Eldest Young Madam had blamed herself for not being able to give birth to a male heir, she had still treated the two young misses with tender loving care. She had personally taken care of the children every day instead of leaving their care to the servants. This attack towards the innocent children was completely out of the blue for her.
Although Little An and Little Lin were young, they were already aware of the situation. When faced with such contempt from their own mother, the two girls burst into tears in unison and ran towards Madam Zou. They wanted to make sure that their mother’s words weren’t serious.
Senior Servant Qiao didn’t dare to let the crazed Madam Zou near the children right now. She quickly shot a look at Jinshui, who caught the hint and ordered the maidservants to bring the two young misses out.
After Little An and Little Lin had been taken away, Madam Zou seemed to have calmed down from the sound of the children’s cries. She collapsed into a chair, her eyes empty and listless.
She was really done for this time. Her husband loathed her, the concubine was pregnant, and she had lost the power to manage the household once again. She, the wife of House Jing’an’s heir apparent, was probably going to be the laughingstock of all in the capital.
She suddenly recalled the strange letter she had received two days ago.
That’s right, it was that letter! That letter had urged her to send shoddy gifts to all the noble houses and to report the lack of funds to the matriarch. She was supposed to inform the matriarch of the fact that Guilin Restaurant had shut down and the matriarch was supposed to take back the deed for Guilin Restaurant in a fit of temper. When the restaurant was placed back into the public accounts, she would then have the most profitable restaurant in the whole capital under her control.
She had clearly followed the instructions on the letter through and through, so just how had things ended up like this!?
Lady Zou frantically grabbed onto Senior Servant Qiao’s arms as if she had finally found a straw to clutch at, “Momo, that letter, where’s that letter!? Hurry, find that letter for me! Grandmother will surely return control of the household to me once she sees that letter!”
Although stunned, Senior Servant Qiao was able to recall the letter that the Eldest Young Madam was referring to.
A few days ago, Eldest Young Madam had somehow been given a mysterious letter. She had sat down and read it by herself. Once she was done, excitement and malevolence had flashed across her face before she quickly tossed the letter into a brazier.
Even she and Jinshui hadn’t gotten a glimpse of its contents.
Senior Servant Qiao sighed. She guessed that Eldest Young Madam had been used by someone.
“Eldest Young Madam, you’ve already burned that letter.”
“What? B… Burned?”
As much as she didn’t want to deal another blow to Madam Zou, Senior Servant Qiao still had to tell her the full truth.
Madam Zou blanked out for a moment before bursting out into laughter.
It looked like she only had herself to blame!
Matriarch He sat at her desk and flipped through the account books. Her age was really catching up to her by now. She had only been reading for a short period of time, but her back and waist were already aching.
Senior Servant Liu couldn’t continue watching without doing something. She brought up a suggestion. “Matriarch, why don’t you take a rest? The maidservants can help you with looking through the accounts and report a summary to you at the end. Wouldn’t it be the same?”
Matriarch He knew that her body couldn’t take much more of this abuse, so she nodded in agreement. She pointed at Muxiang, who was waiting behind her, “Muxiang, come and look through these accounts. If it’s too much for you alone, pick two second-tier maidservants that you trust to help you with this.”
Muxiang quickly lowered her head and made a sound of agreement before sitting down and getting to work.
Matriarch He was helped to one side by Senior Servant Liu for a quick break.
“Go and see what has happened to Guilin Restaurant, and why it has suddenly shut down its business.”
Senior Servant Liu immediately left to carry out her orders.
Chu Lian led Wenqing into the side room where Sanlang was. The moment she entered, she was greeted with He Sanlang’s usual frosty expression.
He Changdi sent a cool glance over before turning away. He even shifted his body so that his back was to Chu Lian.
Following that, Chu Lian heard him speak, “Why are you here? Haven’t you left me for dead?”
