Chapter 2 Grandma Lao

  Zhang led the maid out of the newly moved courtyard, passing through layers of courtyards, before arriving at Zhao's current residence. Their courtyard was located on the third alleyway east of Jian Nan Hou Fu, a very large siheyuan, only slightly smaller than the main courtyard in the middle alleyway. It had always been the residence of the heir to the Hou Fu, and originally belonged to Zhao Kuang and his wife, but two days ago they welcomed new owners, and a new plaque with "Ji Xiang Ju" was hung at the entrance.

  In front of Jixiangju, there was a small courtyard where Zhao Zhuo had lived for over ten years. When Zhang passed by, he looked at the familiar buildings and felt a bit downhearted. He thought that his stepson would maintain some superficial courtesy due to the face of the Duke and the Zhao family, but he didn't expect that before the Duke's funeral, his beloved youngest son had already been forced out of his long-time residence by his older brother, along with his birth mother, and moved to a small courtyard behind the flower garden on Houfu West Road. That place hadn't been inhabited for many years, it was just three main rooms, one side room, plus a few old trees, in the past, only concubines who couldn't show their faces lived there. The new Duke of Jiannan had moved his stepmother and younger brother to that place, truly not caring about face at all. But now he has inherited the title and is the master of this vast Jiannanhou Mansion, what can others say?

  Madam Zhang had long seen that this stepson was not a good person to get along with, and it was clear that once the Duke of Julu passed away, her own mother and son would never have a comfortable life again. However, the Duke of Julu had always valued this eldest son before his death, hoping that he could surpass him. If Zhao Kuang's actions were exposed, it would ruin his reputation and future prospects, and the Duke of Julu would lose face. Madam Zhang thought about the past twenty years of her marriage and couldn't bear to do anything to harm him, so she decided to follow the wishes of Zhao Kuang and his wife and leave with their own son. They wouldn't be able to take advantage of the family's property, but her husband respected and loved her, and she had a lot of private savings from the annual allowance he gave her. She only hoped that after the division of the family property, her son Zhao Jiong would use the mourning period to focus on his studies. He already had the title of "Juren" and as long as he worked hard for a few more years, he would have a bright future in the imperial examinations and become an official, which was much better than being a mere Duke.

  As they were thinking, the auspicious house where Zhao's husband and wife lived had arrived, but the courtyard was quiet, and there was no one waiting outside. This made Zhang Shi very puzzled, and she couldn't help muttering to herself: "Niu Shi has been in charge of household chores for only a few days, how could she forget the rules? And my daughter-in-law doesn't seem like such an incompetent person."

  At this time, a woman's crying voice came from the main house, mixed with an old woman's voice. Zhang couldn't help but stop in her tracks and lower her face.

  The courtyard was quiet, and the voices of the people in the house were faint but clear. It was Zhao's concubine, Xiao Qian Shi, crying to his first wife, Jiang Shi, while on the side, helping her out was Zhao's mother, Old Lady Qian Shi, who was also Xiao Qian Shi's aunt. Xiao Qian Shi had just given birth to a white and chubby son for Zhao, but it was during the mourning period, so they couldn't even wear new clothes, let alone hold a big banquet. As a result, Xiao Qian Shi felt sorry for her son, and Old Lady Qian Shi also pitied her grandson, so she put on an air of being a strict grandmother to scold Jiang Shi, blaming her for not being kind because she was jealous that the concubine's son had received favor, and therefore intentionally didn't arrange a banquet.

  Zhang didn't hear how Jiang responded, but she was secretly sneering in her heart. Even if Qian Lao Yiniang considered herself a noble concubine of the second house, and her son became a marquis, it's still unacceptable to hold a full moon banquet for a bastard child! Whose family just lost their grandfather, and the grandson is already holding a full moon banquet for an illegitimate child? Not to mention that it was born by a concubine, even if it were the legitimate eldest son, there wouldn't be such audacity! Qian Lao Yiniang relied on her son being the heir, and she often made trouble for Zhang, the main wife, but repeatedly made the Duke of Jun disfavor her. If Zhao Jiong hadn't pretended to be obedient and honest, he would have been abandoned by the Duke of Jun long ago! Although Jiang was just a daughter-in-law, she also came from a prestigious family, with ancestors serving as officials in the imperial court, not some weak and vulnerable little wife who could be bullied. The "Grandma" she called out loud was Zhang, what kind of pretentiousness was Qian Lao Yiniang putting on?

  Mrs. Zhang whispered to the maid, "Spring Grass, you wait outside." Then she walked towards the main house, Spring Grass quickly came forward to roll up the curtain for her, and after she entered the house, she retreated to the corner of the corridor to wait. Spring Grass understood Mrs. Zhang's intention, that old aunt was very unreasonable, and Eldest Mistress Jiang was a junior, if things really got out of hand, with Old Mistress Zhang's status, she wouldn't suffer any losses, but the maids by her side might be used as scapegoats, this kind of thing had happened before, two sisters had already been wronged, Mrs. Zhang letting her avoid it was out of kindness, and she felt deeply grateful in her heart.

  The appearance of Zhang's family shocked all the women in the house. Jiang's city government was deep and gave her a courtesy without making a sound, calling her "old lady" instead of "old auntie", but Zhang's appearance had already slapped the face of Qian Lao Niangniang. She looked at Zhang's beautiful face, which looked like it was in its thirties despite being over 40, and thought of her own old age, feeling a surge of hatred in her heart.

  She sat upright without moving and gave Zhang a rude glance: "What are you doing here?!"

  She was so rude that even Xia Qian was shocked, stopped crying, quickly stood up and bowed her head to stand aside, and secretly gave a wink to her aunt. Old Lady Qian pretended not to see it.

  She gave birth to the current Marquis, who is the master of this Hou Mansion. She should have been an old noblewoman long ago. Why did she let her continue to humble herself in front of that woman? If it weren't for Qin Shi's good fortune in not dying in the war, which forced her to be a concubine, she would already be the wife of the Duke. Her son would also be the legitimate and rightful eldest son, where is there still room for this fox spirit?!

  Zhang gave her a glance, didn't even bother to respond, and directly scolded Jiang: "Ordinarily I thought you weren't a foolish child, how could you forget the rules of our household? I don't care what you say to others in your room, but outside there isn't even a gatekeeper. Any stray cat or dog from anywhere can enter your house at will, is that still considered decent?"

  Jiang was somewhat taken aback by Zhang's rudeness, but immediately understood that she was just using the opportunity to scold Qian Lao Tai Tai. This was originally a dispute between wives and concubines of the older generation, and as a younger generation member, it wasn't necessary for her to get involved. She very cleverly admitted her mistake: "It's my fault."

  Zhang's original intention was to scold Qian Lao Tai Tai, and then mention her own affairs. Seeing Jiang's evasiveness, she didn't bother to help the other party anymore. When she saw that Qian Lao Tai Tai couldn't calm down and wanted to quarrel, she quickly asked: "The Duke's big affair has passed, our sister has been ill for a few days, calling for a doctor, they all say it's not available, now the family should be idle, right? If Liu Taisheng is not available, go to Hui Chun Tang to invite a good doctor, it's the same."

  Jiang knew that this was just an excuse made by his mother-in-law, Niu Shi. In fact, she thought her mother-in-law was being too harsh on Zhao Jiong's branch of the family. Although Zhang Shi, the elder grandmother, had given birth to a legitimate son, she was fair-minded and never mentioned competing for the title with her own children, nor did she ever make things difficult for Qian Tai's mother and son. Zhao Jiong was also single-mindedly focused on taking the imperial examination and becoming an official, without any intention of competing for the title. Why must his mother-in-law make things difficult for them just because of a loss of face? If outsiders found out, they would only say that the grandfather and grandmother were unfilial and unkind, what was the point of that?

  So Jiang intentionally helped Zhang a bit, and vaguely said: "Don't worry, old lady, I'll have Sun's daughter-in-law send an invitation to ask Dr. Liu to come over. How can the doctors outside compare to Dr. Liu? If they delay treatment of sister's illness, it won't be good." She smiled and glanced at Xiao Qian Shi: "Coincidentally, Aunt Qian just said that Hong Ge has been a bit unwell, fearing that he was born not long ago, his eyes are clean, and he accidentally bumped into something. It's best to ask Dr. Liu to come take a look, and if there's anything that needs to be done, do it thoroughly, don't let the child suffer. Let's invite Dr. Liu to take a look at both of them."

  Qian Tai's aunt and Xiao Qian were eager to refuse the invitation for Doctor Zhao to examine Zhao Hong, but they had just said that Zhao Hong was "ill", so they could only keep quiet to avoid being caught in a lie. Zhang Shi got the answer she wanted and was quite satisfied with Jiang Shi's words, deciding to help her out. She turned to Xiao Qian: "What did you just say to your aunt? The Duke's funeral procession has just ended, and the whole family is still in deep mourning. You actually want to hold a full moon banquet for Hong Er and dress him in red clothes? Are you trying to harm Hong Er? Don't you know what it means to be filial? Earlier, when our sister turned one year old, we didn't even mention it because of the Duke's big affair. Even your aunt could put aside her own desires for the sake of filial piety. And yet, as his nephew, Hong Er feels aggrieved? If you don't know the rules, at least be careful with your words and don't make a fool of yourself!"

  Mrs. Qian's face turned bright red from being scolded, but Old Lady Qian's skin was much thicker: "Are you making fun of our Qian family for not knowing the rules? Our Qian family may not be good, but we are the closest relatives of the Marquis, what are you? In the past, I treated you as a proper wife out of respect for the Duke, now that my son is in charge, it's already good that I didn't kick you and your children to the streets to beg. What kind of airs are you putting on?" She also scolded Jiang: "You rotten-hearted little thing, didn't you hear how she scolded her husband's ancestral family? You not only didn't scold back, but also helped her speak up, be careful I'll have my grandson divorce you and make my niece the proper wife. She now has two sons and one daughter, her belly is more promising than yours!"

  Jiang felt deeply humiliated, his face flushed red, and he didn't say a word. Qian Lao Tai Tai was an unrefined person who could make jokes, but as the daughter of a high-ranking official family, she couldn't lose her dignity.

  This humiliation she could endure, but someone was humiliated for her. Outside the window, her six-year-old son Zhao Ze clenched his small fist tightly and glared at Qian Lao Yiniang and Xiao Qianshi through the window gap, he would never forget that the humiliation his mother suffered today was because of whom.

  He walked to the west wing, where Xiao Qian's family lived with three children. Today, the two older ones were not around, only the wet nurse was attending to the youngest, Zhao Hong, who was about to turn one month old. The name "Zhao Hong" was given by his father himself, and even in the midst of grief over his grandfather's recent passing, nothing could stop his doting love for this illegitimate son.

  The wet nurse stood up in surprise: "How did Ze Ge come?" Zhao Ze's face was stern: "You go out!" The wet nurse showed a hesitant expression, and Zhao Ze's face became even sterner: "I want to take a look at my brother, what? Can't I?"

  Even if she felt it was inappropriate, the wet nurse didn't dare say so. Although Xiao Qian was favored, Jiang wasn't someone to be trifled with, and she immediately smiled apologetically and retreated. Once they were alone in the room, Zhao Ze walked over to the bedside and gazed at the infant sleeping soundly, a look of hatred flashing in his eyes.

  After a stick of incense, Zhao Ze ran out of the room with a terrified expression, almost colliding with Chun Cao who was standing at the corner, but he seemed not to have seen her and rushed straight out of the courtyard.

  Spring grass had a premonition in her heart, turned around and looked towards the direction he came from. Isn't that Qian Yiniang's house? What is Ze Ge doing running there for no reason? And because of what matter did he run away in such a flustered manner?