Seeing the master return in a rage to inquire, You Qin immediately said, “Master, the young mistress returned feeling unwell and has retired to her room to rest.”
Upon hearing this, Pei Muzheng reached out to push open the door.
“Master.” Zhenzhu hesitated for a moment but still stepped forward to block his way. “The young mistress instructed just now that no one is allowed to enter and disturb her.”
As the young mistress’s maid, she naturally obeyed her mistress’s orders.
If the young mistress said no one could enter, that naturally included even the master.
You Qin’s face turned pale as she tugged at Zhenzhu, saying, “Zhenzhu, when people say you have a blockhead, you refuse to believe it. This is the master, the young mistress’s husband! How dare you block the master?”
Zhenzhu hesitated. “But the young mistress said no one is allowed to enter.”
Pei Muzheng didn’t want to waste any more words on this foolish maid and pushed the door open.
What met his eyes was a sandalwood screen carved with openwork designs of flowers and birds, inlaid with tiny gemstones—truly extravagant.
Even the floor was paved with nanmu wood.
Although this five-courtyard residence of the Pei family was located on South Street in the capital and appeared unremarkable from the outside, the interior was a different world altogether. Every brick, tile, plant, and tree was designed and maintained by famous craftsmen, and the courtyard where Jiang Yao lived was particularly exquisite and elegant.
The Jiang family had decorated it before Jiang Yao’s marriage to serve as her dowry.
“The rich feast while the poor starve to death!”
She was merely a merchant’s daughter, yet she lived in such luxury.
Pei Muzheng’s face was cold.
Jiang Yao knew nothing and could do nothing besides being pampered, indulging in food, drink, and entertainment, and dressing in beautiful clothes and jewelry.
She had never met his standards for a wife, but the Jiang family happened to be wealthy.
At that time, the Pei family was facing difficulties. Coupled with Jiang Yao’s persistent pursuit of him, and having coincidentally learned that Jiang Yao’s second brother possessed extraordinary talent—hoping he would assist him—Pei Muzheng had tacitly allowed Jiang Yao to cling to him daily. In the end, he had no choice but to marry her.
Originally, he had intended to use this incident to ruin her reputation and demote her from wife to Qie, so he could marry the woman he truly loved.
He hadn’t planned to truly wrong Jiang Yao. After all, she was his wife, and if she remained in the Pei family as a Qie, he would treat her well.
In her heart, he was her entire world. As long as she could stay by his side, she should be content.
Who could have expected such a mishap to occur? Not only had his plan failed, but he had also been utterly humiliated in front of the guests.
Why had the person inside turned out to be Hongxiu? What exactly had happened? Had she been forced to drink that bowl of aphrodisiac potion by Hongxiu?
With Hongxiu now beaten to death, only Jiang Yao likely knew the truth of the matter.
Pei Muzheng walked around the screen and arrived before the purple sandalwood bed carved with lacquered floral and bird motifs.
You Qin and Zhenzhu followed closely behind.
Approaching the bed, Pei Muzheng saw Jiang Yao lying there.
Only half of her face was visible, flushed with an unnatural redness. She seemed deeply distressed, the corners of her eyes still damp, murmuring, “Mother…”
She was missing her mother.
Pei Muzheng watched coldly.
Only Zhenzhu noticed her mistress’s unusual condition.
Panicked, she cried out, “Young mistress!” and rushed forward.
The moment she touched her mistress’s forehead and felt the scorching heat, she turned and shouted to You Qin, “Sister You Qin, the young mistress is burning up! She has a fever! Please go find a Langzhong quickly!”
Hearing this, You Qin immediately said, “Zhenzhu, you should go. I will stay by the young mistress’s bedside.”
After all, she was the senior maid who had served the young mistress the longest. Without overthinking it, Zhenzhu quickly stood up and ran outside, calling to the maids stationed in the courtyard to summon a Langzhong.
Inside the room, Pei Muzheng couldn’t help but ask You Qin.
“At the banquet, where exactly did your young mistress go?”
“Upon arriving at Guogong Fu, the young mistress had this servant go to where the maids gather for tea. This servant truly doesn’t know what actually happened at the time.” You Qin’s face flushed red.
Pei Muzheng’s thoughts were heavy, and he asked no further.
Soon, the Langzhong arrived. After checking Jiang Yao’s pulse, he stood up to report.
“Sir, the young mistress has a high fever induced by fright. She’ll recover after taking two doses of medicine.”
Pei Muzheng frowned, “Just a fever from fright? No other causes? Are there any other drugs in her system?”
He just wanted to be clear about who exactly had been forced to drink that bowl of medicinal soup.
The Langzhong said, “It’s naturally just a fever from fright. There are no other drugs in the lady’s system either.”
This Zhuangyuan Lang is quite strange—what kind of question is he asking?
Pei Muzheng remained silent.
The Langzhong prescribed medicine and called a maid to accompany him to the pharmacy to fetch the herbs, instructing her on how to decoct them.
Zhenzhu personally went to get the medicine. Upon returning, she busied herself decocting it for the young mistress. The master had left at some point without anyone noticing.
…………
Jiang Yao slept until the next day’s Chen hour (7-9 am).
Even with the high fever yesterday, she had been aware of everything happening in the room. It wasn’t until Zhenzhu brought the medicine and fed it to her that she fell into a deep sleep.
Hearing movement from the bed, Zhenzhu immediately rose from the footrest.
“Madam, you’re finally awake.” She was nearly in tears.
Jiang Yao glanced at Zhenzhu and smiled, “Don’t worry, I’m fine.”
Zhenzhu wiped the corner of her eye, “Madam, you scared this servant to death. Thankfully you’re alright. Are you terribly hungry? Should this servant have the kitchen bring up some food?”
“Go ahead.”
Zhenzhu went out to instruct the maids to fetch food from the kitchen.
Hearing that the madam had awakened, You Qin also emerged from the adjacent room.
After a night’s rest, she looked refreshed and energetic, her cheeks rosy.
Without waiting for Zhenzhu’s return, she went straight to the young mistress’s room. Seeing the young mistress leaning against soft pillows, she immediately approached.
“Young mistress, you’re finally awake! This servant was so worried.”
“Young mistress, actually the master was very concerned about you yesterday too. He came to see you right after returning from Guogong Fu.”
“Young mistress, this servant has attended to you since childhood. This servant only has the young mistress’s interests at heart. This servant feels you shouldn’t have slapped the master like that at the banquet yesterday.”
“In the future, the master will surely be mocked by his colleagues in official circles. It might even hinder his career prospects…”
Jiang Yao stared at You Qin.
“What? Yesterday he’d rather believe Shen Yuanwu’s words than mine. Based solely on Shen Yuanwu’s statement, he was convinced the person inside was me and wanted to demote his wife to Qie. What kind of official can he be anyway?”
“With such judgment, how many wrongful cases will there be in the future? Or do you, You Qin, think I shouldn’t have appeared at all? That I should have let everyone believe the person inside was me to preserve his reputation? That his career should take priority?”
“Even if my reputation is ruined, it doesn’t matter?”
You Qin’s face changed dramatically, and she quickly knelt down.
“Young mistress, that’s not what this servant meant! This servant was only worried that you slapping the master yesterday caused him to lose face…”
“Enough.” Jiang Yao said softly. “Since you’re so concerned about him, go serve in his courtyard from now on.”
Seeing the young mistress angered, You Qin finally grew frightened. She knelt on the ground, kowtowing and admitting her mistake.
“Young mistress, please don’t be angry! This servant was wrong, this servant shouldn’t have spoken nonsense.”
Jiang Yao paid her no mind, letting her remain kneeling.
Soon Zhenzhu led the maids in single file, arranging the food on the table in the room.
Seeing the scene in the room, Zhenzhu didn’t know what had happened and dared not casually plead for You Qin.
Zhenzhu helped Jiang Yao over to sit down.
The breakfast was lavish: glutinous rice with golden date paste, vegetarian three-delicacy meatballs, fried spring rolls, marinated quail, and yam cakes with date paste filling.
Apart from the glutinous rice with golden date paste, the other dishes were slightly too heavy in flavor.
Jiang Yao only ate a bowl of the glutinous rice with golden date paste before losing her appetite.
“By the way, Zhenzhu, have someone open the small kitchen in the courtyard later. Find a few cooks to prepare meals daily in the small kitchen, so we don’t have to eat food that’s gone cold from being delivered every day.”
She was naturally making excuses to separate the kitchen from the Pei family, intending not to dine with them anymore.
Even before marrying Pei Muzheng, she had been supporting the entire Pei family, providing them with the finest food, clothing, and daily necessities. Now, just one year into her marriage with Pei Muzheng, she had come to realize they were a despicable bunch worse than dogs and pigs.
Why would she continue to take care of this large family? From now on, they could eat whatever they pleased.
Even if they ate shit, it would be none of her concern.
“Yes, this servant will go and arrange it right away.”