Chu Wang Fei-Chapter 104 Part 2
The next day, at the Feng He Yuan.
"Mama, when you are at Su fu, just don't mind the comments from the sister-in-law and the old madame. You have to restrain yourself and wait until I give birth to a son, then let's see if they still dare to disrespect you in the future." Su Qing coldly remarked while caressing her round and bulging belly as Wang mama was about to step out of the gate.
For these past few days, the people from her maiden home seldom came to visit her. Su Qing clearly understood that her sister-in-law must have objected when she sent Pan Lan to become her brother's concubine.
But, after all, they were all part of her family, and at urgent and important moment like this, Su Qing still preferred to believe in her own brother and sister-in-law. She would definitely never make use of the midwife Liu Han Yu prepared for her.
As a result, she had urged Wang mama that no matter how angry she was, she must endure it for the sake of this child. She only hoped she would give birth to a male baby, then the throne to becoming the xiangfu's furen would be easily obtained, and it would be an end to the happy days of sluts like Yun Qian Meng.
Wang mama had been at Su Qing's side for a very long time now, she certainly understood that if they did not lie low, they would risk other people playing dirty tricks on them during Su Qing's child delivery.
Wang mama immediately turned around, smiling as she pacified Su Qing, "Furen, you need not worry about this old servant, this old servant knows what she ought to do! Currently, the most important thing furen should do right now is to calm your mind, don't worry too much about these trivial matters."
Having witnessed Wang mama's thorough thinking, Su Qing felt relieved and nodded her head, afterwhich she closed her eyes wearily.
By the doorway of xiangfu, a horse carriage stopped by the corner. Mi mama, who was standing in front of the horse carriage, immediately lifted up the hanging screen when she saw Wang mama leading a group yatou out the main gate. She waved her hands commanding the other servants of xiangfu to carry the soft couch out, afterwhich she allowed Ying Xia and Yuan Dong to go ahead and carefully help the person out of the carriage.
Wang mama originally planned to lead the yatou inside the horse carriage, only to see Mi mama who she rarely met busy handling some matters beside the main gate of xiangfu. She felt curious for a moment, as she led the yatou ahead. Forcing a fake smile, she said, "Mi mama, what are you in a hurry for? I have rarely seen you these days, could it be that our eldest xiaojie has driven you away from the xiangfu?"
Meanwhile, Mi mama, who seemed to have anticipated that Wang mama would come over, slowly turned, her eyes gently watching Wang mama, as she said indifferently, "Oh, it's actually you, Wang mama. Don't you need to wait on Su yiniang today?"
Hearing 'Su yiniang' said with more emphasis, Wang mama's smile disappeared from her face and her eyes exposed an ominous glint. But thinking back to Su Qing possibly giving birth to a son, these sluts would be weeping in the future. She temporarily concealed her anger as she continued in her peculiar voice, "Our yininag will be giving birth soon. If she gives birth to a son for the xiangfu, how will your xiaojie react to that?"
Mi mama was not in the mood to argue with Wang mama and she only commanded Ying Xia and Yuan Dong to be more careful. Her body seemed to be intentionally blocking Wang mama, as if she was hiding something.
Wang mama was already quite curious about her affairs, but seeing Mi mama trying to conceal something, she felt even more suspicious. She quickly gave a meaningful look at those yatou behind her, in an instant, they surrounded Mi mama as started to ask questions, causing Mi mama unable to attend to her tasks at hand and lost sight of Wang mama.
At having one less hindrance, Wang mama took large strides and stretched out her neck to look inside the horse carriage. She saw Ying Xia and Yuan Dong supporting an old woman fifty years of age slowly out of the horse carriage. But when the old woman saw Wang mama's face, cold rays immediately radiated out from her eyes. Like a murderous spirit had rushed towards her, Wang mama quickly shrank back in fright, with a hand against her chest. She could not understand why that old woman had given her such a fierceful look, aiming a frightening expression the first time they met. She was quite frightened by the eyes of that crippled old woman.
"Wang mama, what are you doing? Don't you see that this is the eldest xiaojie's horse carriage? Who allowed a yininag's servant like you to inspect it?" pulling Wang mama's sleeves Mi mama remarked angrily after she shook off the yatou when she had discovered Wang mama's disrespectful behavior.
Wang mama sneered, afterwhich she coldly laughed and said, "At first I thought that you were hiding something nice, however, it was just a crippled old woman. Why would you be nervous about that? Why, is our mighty xiaojie starting to do good deeds? Leading beggars inside xiangfu, is she not worried about bringing disgrace to xiangfu's reputation?"
"Wang mama, it seems that someone of your eminence is surely apt to forget, don't you recognize me?" a slow and distinct voice echoed behind Wang mama.
It took Wang mama a while to distinguish the owner of this voice, but the sole sentence raised her suspicions. She could not help but look at the seated old woman again, carefully observing her figure and expression.
But this old woman seemed to be around sixty or seventy years of age and a cripple. Although the her clothes seemed neat, her face and white hair had the appearance of someone who was not from a great family.
Wang mama only knew distinguished people, how could she recognize such wretched old woman? She only rolled her eyes at Xia mama and arrogantly said, "Old fool, you might have recognized the wrong person, why don't you take a look at this place, there's simply no way for you to recognize someone."
Facing an arrogant servant like Wang mama, Ying Xia and Yuan Dong showed angry on their faces, but Xia mama's face did not seem to be annoyed, she just humbly replied, "It has been more than ten years, is Su yininag still doing well? Seeing Wang mama with such authority, Su yiniang must have obtained great favor from xiangye. I really feel pity for our young master who died young. As soon as he was born, he was drowned inside a bucket of manure by a ruthless person! Wang mama, look how unfair the way of the world is. Why would a kindhearted furen and the pitiful young master suffer from such unfortunate event? And those bad people even got away with it! Oh, right, I heard that Su yiniang is currently pregnant, being able to live freely after harming others, will the unborn child be affected by the mother and be born as a wicked child?"
Xia mama unhurriedly narrated the story in its entirety. When Wang mama heard it, her heart became more and more terrified and once Xia mama had finished talking, Wang mama's forehead was already drenched in cold sweat, her face was pale and powerless, her eyes stared straight at Xia mama as if she had seen a ghost. Seeing the lifeless right leg now, familiar fragments of memory flashed in her mind and she asked with a tone of uncertainty, "You are… Xia mama?"
Hearing the question, Xia mama's withered face finally gave a smile as she happily responded, "So Wang mama has finally recognized me."
Upon the confirmation of her suspicions, Wang mama's legs suddenly went soft, and she fell to the ground, frightening the yatou as they quickly went to help her up. Wang mama was like a puddle of mud as she leaned onto a yatou's shoulders. Her eyes stared at Xia mama with great apprehension and her lips lips trembled as she asked, "You're not dead? And, also not crazy?"
Xia mama laughed, even Ying Xia and Yuan Dong who were standing beside her laughed. After some time, Xia mama suppressed the smile on her face. With both hands grabbing the armrests of the couch, she leaned forward with all her strength, facing Wang mama as she said, "You and your master must be disappointed to see me. Right now, I will re-enter xiangfu, and your good days will come to an end."
When she finished, Xia mama reclined back onto the soft couch. Ying Xia covered her body with a blanket and instructed the servants to carry Xia mama to Qi Luo Yuan. She and Yuan Dong then stepped into the horse carriage again, carefully supporting the injured Ying Qiu. The last few of them, together with Mi mama, stepped into the main gate of xiangfu without glancing back at Wang mama.
It was as if Wang mama had lost her soul, leaning on a yatou's body, her face was as pale as a sheet and her whole body trembled uncontrollably, while the yatou beside her had no idea what had actually happened.
"Mama, that was only a cripple, why are you so afraid of her?" the yatou sneered after witnessing the usually tyrannical Wang mama being intimidated by a dying old woman.
'Afraid?' unexpectedly, she was slapped due to her ignorance.
Afterwhich everyone saw Wang mama stand up straight. Staring at them all with an ominous glint in her eyes, she fiercely remarked, "If furen were to learn about everything that happened today, I will peel off all your skin, and even your parents will all be damned."
Having regained her senses, Wang mama's very first reaction was to make sure Su Qing did not learn about this matter; at least not before Su Qing gave birth. She would keep the matter of Xia mama being alive, or else Su Qing might become anxious and that would surely affect the unborn child, then their lives would certainly be in danger.
Those yatou originally thought that they were lucky to be following Wang mama out of the fu for an errand, yet unexpectedly it caused them misfortune. For a moment, they were unable to utter any words due to fear, and could only persistently nod their heads, becoming even more fearful of Wang mama.
"Move, let's go to Su fu!" Wang mama straightened herself and got into the horse carriage with the support of some of the yatou.
In Su fu, for these past few months, Su Yuan had become more fond of Pan Lan when he found out that she was quite clever and thoughtful. She never felt jealous or got angry like his first wife did when he went over to spend the night with his other concubines. Pan Lan had gained Su Yuan's favor unmatched by anybody, she even seized the main wife's power of managing the entire household, as full authority was handed over to Pan Lan.
As a result, Su furen harbored ill feelings towards Su Qing who had sent Pan Lan over to Su Yuan. When Wang mama dropped in to invite her over, she naturally would not treat Wang mama nicely.
"Yiniang wanted to invite me to take care of her after she gives birth?" she asked Wang mama in a cold tone. Su furen's hands were holding embroidery tools, one hand threading a needle, while the other hand checked the pattern on the table.
Wang mama was secretly disgusted at Su furen's behavior, though her face still wore a smile as trying to anticipate the desired response, she sweetly said, "Madame is the honorable sister-in-law of our yiniang, naturally she would invite her own family to feel at ease."
After saying these words, Wang mama secretly cursed this Su furen. When Su Qing had married into xiangfu, how could such ignorant childish woman be able to easily assume the position as the lady of a Government Minister? It would be fine if she were ungrateful only now, but picking up such a nasty attitude was truly irritating. No wonder the Government Minister never entered her room these days. This kind of woman with such a mean face would never be able to gain favor from her husband.
"Own family? I fail to understand at this point then, though we are family, yiniang still managed to squeeze in another person for her own brother's family? What kind of good intention did she harbor? Besides, that Pan Lan has adequately served her husband. She's such clever and quick-witted person, yiniang really trains her people well, surely she retained quite a lot of for herself, why would she want a clumsy person like me to go over there and be a hindrance?" Madame Su threw away the embroidery tools in her hands, exposing a cold smile on her face as she looked at Wang mama, only to find that this old servant had became increasingly arrogant. She stood in the territory of Su fu, yet she still displays her attitude as if she were in xiangfu.
Wang mama understood Su furen's thoughts, but at this moment Xia mama had reappeared at Yun Qian Meng's side. If Su Qing were unable to seek additional support for her side, then sooner or later they would be swallowed up by Yun Qian Meng. In the end, no matter how much she gets discriminated here at Su fu today, she must invite Su furen over to xiangfu.
"What are you trying to say, sister? Since Su yiniang and our husband are siblings, then naturally they are part of the family. You were our husband's original wife, I am originally a yatou of Su yiniang. In other words, we live as part of the Su family, and die as part of the Su family. How could you separate yourself so clearly like that, sister? Moreover, if you have anger in your heart, just vent it out on me, please don't vent your anger at Wang mama. It has already been quite tiring for mama to serve Su yiniang, if by chance you made a mistake, it will be difficult for you to justify yourself in front of xiangye. Am I right, sister?" Pan Lan, wearing a pink skirt, entered as she led a few middle aged women in.
When Su furen saw Pan Lan's pretty and smiling face, her expression immediately turned ugly. She pinched the embroidery needle so hard that it pierced through her own finger, in an instant, a bead of blood appeared on the tip of her index finger, frightening Wang mama as she immediately took out her own clean handkerchief, and carefully wrapped the finger with it, regretfully said, "Madame, you should be careful, soft skin and tender flesh shouldn't suffer from such sin."
"Sister, you have quite a lot of free time today. Hearing of Wang mama's arrival, you quickly came running to my room." Seeing how Wang mama clinging to her, Su furen's mood somewhat lightened a bit, but when she faced Pan Lan, her expression was still as ugly as before.
Pan Lan did not argue further, and her face still wore a smile. Then, without any prompting Pan Lan started to introduce the people she had brought with her, "Furen, you are a kind hearted person, how would you abandon yiniang? As a humble servant, I have already followed master's instructions and found a few of the best midwives in the capital to guarantee yiniang's safe delivery of a son."
Pan Lan waved her hands to present three sincere-looking middle aged midwives to step forward to pay their respects to Su furen. Afterwhich, she had the remaining two step forward, then she explained,"These are the two wet nurses that I have prepared for the young master, you must take them along with you to xiangfu. We still have around one month's time before yiniang's delivery date, mama must maintain the wet nurses' health, in order for them to supply the baby with healthy milk."
Hearing these instructions from Pan Lan carefully spoken, the existing suspicion that Wang mama harbored in her heart immediately disappeared, replaced by a smile as she nodded in agreement.
Since Pan Lan had already prepared everything, Su furen did not dare to refuse, because she would be unable to justify herself in front of Su Yuan. With a gloomy expression, she commanded the yatou to prepare some food, then hopped into the horse carriage prepared by xiangfu together with Wang mama.
Pan Lan looked as the people left, and the smile on her face gradually faded. One thing she still could not understand was that even with such a good opportunity, why did xiaojie want her to explain everything properly? If they were to mess up the diet of the two wet nurses, then would that not allow them to secretly eliminate the child?
Su furen was still a clever person, although she was hostile towards Wang mama at Su fu, but when they arrived at xiangfu, she passionately tended to Su Qing's needs. And the two of them even chatting heartily during their leisure time, making Su Qing's tensed heart relax a bit.
Meanwhile, Wang mama has been somewhat preoccupied since she met Xia mama, whom she thought long dead. After Xia mama had re-entered xiangfu, Wang mama became more vigilant with those yatou or or old women who tried to discuss the addition of a handicap in the fu in Su Qing's presence of Su Qing. She also became overly suspicious of everything, and making quite a lot of mistakes in front of Su Qing.
Su Qing was deeply worried that her child might not be a boy, and unintentionally heard Wang mama seizing a few yatou, threatening them with a warning. She was quite suspicious about it, so when Wang mama had gone to tend to the laundry, she called out all the yatou before her, to try to inquire what was really going on.
But those yatou who had suffered from Wang mama's threats were quite scared and refused to tell Su Qing the truth. They just remained silent and pretended not to know anything about it.
In the end, Su Qing ran out of patience and grabbed a teacup, throwing it towards a yatou's head as she shouted in anger, "As it turns out, since I am going to give birth, all of you disregard me as your master now? Taking advantage to conceal something from me, why are you all covering the matter? Is there something that you are not allowed to tell me? If you are not going to tell me today, I will immediately have a broker take you all away, or else I'm just going to feel annoyed looking at all of you."
Having heard of her intentions to sell them all to a broker, a few yatou suddenly got scared out of their wits. The one who was hit by the teacup was the first one to kneel onto the ground, her eyes full of tears as she begged, "Please spare our lives, furen, nubi will tell furen everything!"
Seeing that one person had already surrendered, the remaining yatou immediately knelt to the ground. Then all of them started narrating what had happened few days ago, and spoke of its entirety.
"What did you say? Xia mama?" after hearing their stories, Su Qing's originally rosy face immediately turned pale white. With a hand grabbing the brocade tablecloth, she took a harsh breath, then tried to confirmed once again, "Didn't you hear it wrong? Was it really Xia mama?"
The yatou did not dare to keep their silence, hearing Su Qing's question, one by one they nodded their heads in confirmation that they had heard correctly.
Su Qing felt pain in her belly, and cold sweat came out from her forehead. One hand stroking her belly, she continuously reminding herself that it was clearly nothing, she would not be as dumb as Qu Ruo Li. She had already made sufficient preparations for her delivery and she would never fail halfway.
At this moment, Wang mama brought all the clothes in and she saw a few yatou kneeling down on the ground. She took notice of Su Qing's odd expression and immediately realized what had gone wrong. She quickly placed all the clothes onto a table, then stretching out her arms to support Su Qing's body, comforting her, "Furen, please don't worry about this trivial matter, this humble servant will handle everything for you."
Su Qing only coldly laughed and asked, "Mama, if you think that it is just a trivial matter, then why did you hide it from me? You must be frightened by it too! I didn't expect a slut like Yun Qian Meng to be able to find Xia mama, damn it! Those people have received too much benefits from us after all these years, but they had not even be able to kill an old woman, and now expect me to fix this terrible mess they've made."
Seeing Su Qing's strickened expression, Wang mama immediately went over to try to comfort her, continuously consoling her as she said, "Furen, we will discuss these things after you have given birth. Don't get angry right now, it might harm your unborn child. Yun Qian Meng has invited her inside xiangfu, isn't that also part of their plan? Since they are letting us know that they have a witness with them, they are planning to ruin your mood. If you really became angry, then that means you have already fallen into their crafty scheme."
Su Qing suddenly felt that Wang mama's explanation was reasonable, and blamed herself for being frightened after Xia mama's name being mentioned a while ago. She seemed to have lost all her rationality.
Trying hard to calm her mind, Su Qing took a sip of tea, then slowly took a deep breath. "Mama, please make arrangements for Feng He Yuan to strengthen its protections. We shouldn't let Yun Qian Meng's people to infiltrate. As for these coming few days before I give birth, aside from the people from my family and physicians, I refuse to meet any other people."
"Yes!" Su Qing had regained her calm composure, so Wang mama's heart also gradually relaxed.
But, Su Qing only seemed calm on the surface, while her heart was greatly distressed. That night she had a nightmare, dreaming about the miserable appearance of Qu Ruo Li after her son's death, and she also recalled the memory wherein Yun Qian Meng had schemed against her before. She shrieked as she woke up from the nightmare, frightening Wang mama, who then immediately called a physician to examine her that very night. But the physician only made prescriptions to calm her nerves and her unborn child, he did not even inspect her symptoms.
However, after Su Qing took the medicine, her condition did not improve for the better. For a few days she was constantly haunted by nightmares to the point that it alarmed Yun Xuan Zhi. He even went as far as inviting an imperial physician from the Palace over, yet nothing was wrong with the unborn child and the illness was explained as being triggered by her extreme nervousness.
When Yun Qian Meng was eating breakfast, she listened to Mi mama's lively and vivid description, her mouth wore a cold smile. Afterwards, she indifferently remarked, "She cares too much about her unborn child, that's why she worried about her personal gains and losses. If Su Qing was her usual self, how could she fall into this scheme so easily?"
Mi mama listened to Yun Qian Meng's words, then she slightly nodded her head in agreement, yet there was one thing she could not clearly understand, just like Pan Lan. "Why did xiaojie permit Pan Lan to explain everything so well?"
Yun Qian Meng only smiled faintly, after a long moment she slowly explained, "Su Qing will not be so stupid, she will be unlikely to feel reassured towards even a member of her own family. If we take action at this time only for her to detect them, we would only endanger ourselves. Why should we do things more than what is required?"
Besides, whether or not the child could be safely delivered was still unknown. Many others could not bear to see the birth of this child, why should she dirty her own hands?
And during this time, Mu Chun hurriedly rushed inside the reception pavilion, before she could even stand straight, she gasped for breath as wheezed out, "Xiaojie, just now the people in Feng He Yuan were in disarray, they said that Su yiniang is giving birth prematurely…"
Chapter 104: Distress Causing Yiniang to Give Birth Prematurely
