As soon as the Marquis of Pingyang stepped into Lady Tong's main house, Taoist Wenqing immediately bowed and withdrew from the room.
Lady Tong made a gesture to get up, but the Marquis of Pingyang stepped forward to support her.
Lady Tong said with an apologetic look on her face, "Why has Your Lordship come? I'm not feeling well and failed to rise to greet you. I hope Your Lordship won't blame me."
The Marquis of Pingyang saw the dark circles under her eyes and her pale complexion. She really didn't look in good condition. Frowning, he scolded her in a stern tone, "Since you're not feeling well, you should rest more in the house. Why are you wandering around?"
Lady Tong said, "I heard that Yu'er and Qian'er were wronged at Her Majesty's birthday banquet, so I was in a hurry to go out. Your Lordship, the Duke of Yong's mansion has gone too far. They not only damaged Yu'er's reputation but also caused Qian'er to be demoted to a fifth - rank junior official. It's really hateful!"
The incident at the birthday banquet could hardly be concealed from the Marquis of Pingyang. Lady Tong hoped that the marquis would stand up with her to protect their children. However, the marquis gave her a deep look and said, "Do you know who testified for the Duke of Yong at the banquet?"
Lady Tong was stunned for a moment and subconsciously asked, "Who?"
"Chang Xuan," the Marquis of Pingyang replied.
"What?" Lady Tong was greatly shocked. "It was actually him?"
"The Emperor trusts him deeply. Since he said that it was all Yu'er's doing, there's no room for maneuver. I advise you not to waste your efforts and run around for this matter. Just let Yu'er and Qian'er accept their punishment obediently and live in peace."
There was dissatisfaction with his children in the marquis's tone.
They had embarrassed themselves in front of the Emperor and the Empress. He was almost furious when he heard about it.
"But..." Lady Tong remembered the burns she saw on her eldest daughter last night.
"But Yu'er didn't deliberately push the girl from the Duke's mansion into the water. It was because that girl from the Duke's mansion splashed boiling soup on Yu'er. Maybe Chang Xuan did see Yu'er make a move, but he might not know the inside story."
The Marquis of Pingyang frowned even more. "Is this true?"
Lady Tong said, "I saw with my own eyes that Yu'er's arm was badly burned. If it weren't for that, she wouldn't have played the wrong tune during the musical performance and offended Her Majesty."
The Marquis of Pingyang's tone turned solemn. "So it was like this. In this case, the Duke of Yong's mansion is really overbearing. Do you have any good ideas about this matter, my lady?"
Remembering what Taoist Wenqing had said just now, Lady Tong had an idea. She deliberately stood up from the couch but fell to the side due to dizziness.
The Marquis of Pingyang quickly supported her and asked, "Shall I call Yu'er to take a look at you?"
Leaning on him to steady herself, Lady Tong rubbed her forehead and said, "Yu'er is injured. Let her recuperate well. I originally planned to go to the palace today to see my elder sister and ask her to intercede for Yu'er and Qian'er. But I stayed up all night last night, so I have to postpone the matter of Yu'er and Qian'er."
As expected, the Marquis of Pingyang asked, "Why did you stay up all night last night? What big thing happened that I don't know about?"
Lady Tong looked up at the marquis. Before she could speak, tears welled up in her eyes.
The deep - seated resentment in her eyes startled the marquis. He quickly asked, "My lady, what on earth is going on?"
"My lord, last night, I... I... I dreamed of Yuan'er," she leaned into his arms and cried bitterly. "I dreamed that she was living a hard life in the Lu mansion. She was treated like a servant, bossed around, and constantly tortured by Mrs. Qin..."
"Enough!"
Before she could finish, she was interrupted by the marquis's angry shout.
Lady Tong looked up and saw the marquis's angry face. "My lady, have you forgotten what this rebellious daughter has done? Do I need to remind you? You may not care, but I, Su Shian, care about my reputation!"
"You said she's living a hard life in the Lu mansion, but it's all because of her own doing when she framed her sisters. How could she do such a despicable and self - degrading thing? Did she ever put me, her father, in her eyes? Did she ever put the marquis's mansion in her eyes?!"
"She got what she deserved! I, Su Shian, don't have such a daughter. My lady, don't mention this person in front of me again in the future!"
After saying that, he swept the cups off the tea table with one palm and strode out of the room with a flick of his sleeve.
Lady Tong was pushed and fell onto the couch. Looking at the corner of his robe disappearing outside the door, she smiled bitterly. "It's not you she's haunting. Of course, it's easy for you to say such things..."
A moment after the marquis left, Taoist Wenqing walked into the room again.
This time, Lady Tong didn't hesitate anymore. She said to Taoist Wenqing, "To avoid any long - drawn - out troubles, we'll act tonight. Since we can't do it openly, we'll do it secretly."
The Marquis of Pingyang's mansion fell into silence after nightfall. Su Qingyu was sitting in her boudoir, copying the "Admonitions for Women" by the light of a lamp.
She had started copying in the morning, but by now, she had only finished the second copy. Thinking about the endless three hundred copies and the system that had lost contact, she became extremely irritable.
Lady Tong clearly promised to go to the palace today to ask Concubine Tong to intercede for her, but the plan was delayed because of her illness. If this dragged on, she didn't know how long she would have to copy the "Admonitions for Women" to be free.
Shaking her sore hand from writing, Su Qingyu remembered the woman brought into the marquis's mansion by Zining during the day. She immediately called out, "Lvyi, prepare some red bean and lotus seed soup. I'm going to visit Mother."
Lvyi stepped forward and replied, "Yes, Miss."
A short while later, Su Qingyu carried a food box and headed towards Lady Tong's Youhuang Courtyard. But when she arrived at the courtyard, she was stopped outside by Ziying.
"Eldest Miss, Lady is very tired because she didn't sleep well last night. She went to bed early. Please go back."
Su Qingyu looked at the closed door of the main house. It was pitch - black inside, and it really seemed that Lady Tong had gone to bed. So she had no choice but to give up. She handed the food box in her hand and said, "Then please trouble Sister Ziying to take this to Mother for me. Please tell Mother that I'll come to pay my respects to her tomorrow."
Ziying smiled and said, "Okay, Eldest Miss. Take care."
Su Qingyu led her maid back to her Lingxiao Pavilion. But when passing by an unoccupied courtyard, Su Qingyu suddenly smelled a trace of smoke. She couldn't help but stop and frowned as she sniffed the air.
But the smell never came out again. Su Qingyu looked at the courtyard in the darkness, overgrown with vines and with a locked gate. Her brows furrowed.
This courtyard was where the second young lady of the marquis's mansion, Su Yuanyuan, who had passed away, used to live.
After her death, the Marquis of Pingyang ordered that this courtyard be sealed off, and no one was allowed to approach it. Over time, the courtyard had become desolate.
Su Qingyu remembered that the piece of music she played at the banquet was actually an incomplete one. She couldn't help muttering "bad luck" in her heart.
She gave the locked gate a cold look and then walked away with her maid.
At this moment, in the locked courtyard separated from her by a wall, Lady Tong, together with Taoist Wenqing and Zining, was squatting on the ground, looking at each other in bewilderment at the paper money that had just been lit but inexplicably gone out.
"What's going on?" Lady Tong frowned. "There was no wind in the courtyard just now. Why did the paper money go out by itself?"
Zining said, "Could it be that the paper money got damp?"
Taoist Wenqing said, "It's absolutely impossible. I've always kept the paper money properly." After saying that, he lit a piece on the spot. Sure enough, the paper money burned without wind until there was nothing left but ashes.
After thinking for a while, Taoist Wenqing said, "Maybe the location here is wrong and it's in an unlucky position. Why don't you think carefully, my lady, where your daughter used to stay most often?"
Lady Tong looked up and scanned the overgrown courtyard. Her eyes finally fell on a swing set covered with vines.
"Let's choose this place then."