Volume 1 Chapter 23: Confronting Madam Li
Yan Qing looked at Madam Li.
The impatience on Madam Li’s face made her realize just how much she had indulged this entire family in the past. From Lu Qiao Nan to Lu Wen Huan, and then to Madam Li, it seemed none of them took her divorce seriously.
As if she would come crying and begging to return to the Wu'an Marquis Manor at any moment.
That they could now come to Yan Manor carrying thorny branches to apologize, that they could come looking for her, even demand her shops—it was all a blessing she had earned in her previous life, something she should be grateful for.
Thinking of this, Yan Qing let out a low laugh.
Madam Li frowned. “What are you laughing at?”
Yan Qing said gently, “Laughing at your foolishness.”
Madam Li was stunned. “…”
Madam Zhen and Yan Tan were both dumbfounded.
Did Yan Qing just… insult the Marquis’s wife? Had she gone mad?
Madam Li, who also believed Yan Qing had lost her mind, was the wife of Marquis Wu'an. Wherever she went, she was flattered and fawned upon. How dare Yan Qing call her foolish?!
Madam Li’s face instantly flushed a purplish-red with rage. She shouted angrily, “Yan Qing, how dare you!”
Yan Qing continued to smile. “Not only are you foolish, Madam, you’re also dim-witted. Marquis Wu'an is truly pitiful to have married you.”
“You…”
Madam Li trembled with fury.
Yan Tan seized the opportunity to step forward. “Sister, how can you speak to Madam like that? Hurry and apologize to her, then go to Jingzhao Prefecture to rescue Sister Wen Huan. Madam surely won’t hold it against you.”
“Did I say something wrong?”
Yan Qing looked at Madam Li and said coldly, “Your eldest daughter from the Wu'an Marquis Manor is in trouble, yet instead of seeking help from your own Marquis, you come to me, an outsider. What makes you think I would save your daughter? If that isn’t foolish, what is?”
Then, Yan Qing shifted her gaze to Yan Tan. “And you, Concubine Yan, you truly are cunning. To steal my dowry, you even incited Lu Wen Huan to smash up my shop. Now you’ve even deceived the Marquis’s wife into coming to Yan Manor to ask me, the victim, to rescue Lu Wen Huan. What are you scheming?”
“What nonsense are you spouting?”
Yan Tan glared at Yan Qing, sensing something off about her words, but she couldn’t quite pinpoint what it was.
Yan Qing sneered and turned back to Madam Li. “Both mother and daughter have been played like fools by your son’s concubine. If that isn’t dim-witted, what is? Truly both foolish and dim-witted…”
“You… you… you…”
Madam Li was so enraged that her temples throbbed.
After glaring at Yan Qing and stammering “you” for a while, her eyes rolled back, and she fainted!
“Madam!”
Madam Zhen and Yan Tan immediately rushed to support Madam Li.
Yan Tan said, “Sister, you’ve angered the Marquis’s wife to the point of fainting. Aren’t you afraid the Heir will be furious?”
Yan Qing elegantly rolled her eyes.
She was afraid Lu Qiao Nan wouldn’t be angry enough to die!
“Let’s go.”
Leaving the three of them behind, Yan Qing turned and walked away with her maid, completely unconcerned about Madam Li’s fainting.
Qing Luan worriedly said, “Miss, Madam Zhen is sure to stir trouble with the Master. The Master has always tried to curry favor with the Wu'an Marquis Manor. If he finds out you angered Madam Li into fainting, he might punish you again.”
“That depends on whether he gets the chance.”
Just as Qing Luan showed a puzzled expression, Yan Qing turned to Lu Zhi and instructed, “Lu Zhi, go pack our things. After we visit the Twelve Districts today, we’ll stay at Grandmother’s for a few days.”
“Yes, Miss! This servant would also like to go to Jiangjun Fu to play with Xiao Tao.”
Lu Zhi cheerfully returned to Qingyi Courtyard to pack their luggage.
Yan Qing then took Qing Luan to pay respects to her mother.
In Xiruo Courtyard, Madam Ye had just finished her breakfast.
Seeing her daughter visit her courtyard every few days, Madam Ye frowned with a look of disdain: "My health is already fine, you don't need to come here every day. I won't die."
Yan Qing smiled and sat down at the table: "Mother is healthy, naturally you won't die."
"Has Second Miss not eaten yet?"
Nanny Liu looked affectionately at Yan Qing, smiling as she stepped forward to serve her food: "Madam has a sharp tongue but a soft heart. She guessed Miss would come and had me prepare the carp porridge you love early this morning. Miss, please taste it?"
"Too much talk."
Madam Ye sternly reprimanded with a stiff face.
Nanny Liu immediately pursed her lips and smiled: "Yes, yes, I'll slap my mouth, slap my mouth." Raising her hand to lightly slap her mouth a few times, Nanny Liu's old face blossomed into a smile.
Yan Qing scooped a spoonful of porridge into her mouth.
Soft, sweet, fragrant, melting upon entry… it was the taste from memory. She sighed wistfully: "Nanny Liu's carp porridge is still the most fragrant. I'll come to Mother's place every day to drink it from now on."
Madam Ye had already reclined back on the couch, waving her hand like swatting flies: "Finish eating and then leave."
Yan Qing drank her porridge: "No wonder Father doesn't favor Mother. You really have a knack for making people dislike you."
Madam Ye: ""
Has this daughter who couldn’t even utter a fart before finally grown a mouth?
After Yan Qing finished her meal, Nanny Zhang brought people to place two boxes beside Yan Qing's feet: "Miss, Madam asked you to take these when you leave."
Yan Qing looked at her mother: "These are…"
Madam Ye looked weary: "Account books."
Nanny Zhang explained: "Madam knows Miss wants to manage shops, so last night she had me gather all the account books and deed contracts for the farmland and commercial properties. They're all here."
Yan Qing immediately raised her eyebrows.
Did Mother already know about what happened to me yesterday on Chang'an Street?
It seems Mother isn’t completely unaware of matters in the household. Then why does she tolerate Madam Zhen jumping around over her head?
Thinking of her mother and brother's fate in her previous life, Yan Qing pursed her lips and said: "Mother, have you ever thought about reconciling with Father…"
"Go back to your courtyard!"
Madam Ye casually grabbed a patterned silk hidden pouch from the bed and threw it at Yan Qing, then turned over to face away from her.
Yan Qing sighed helplessly: ""
She truly didn’t understand what her mother had to cherish about Yan Junyuan.
Clearly Yan Junyuan deceived her into marriage first, then neglected her later because of Madam Zhen, yet Mother preferred tending flowers and plants in the backyard rather than leaving that man.
It seems persuading Mother to divorce Yan Junyuan will require long-term planning.
Yan Qing sighed: "Your daughter bids farewell."
She left carrying the two boxes of account books.
Nanny Liu watched Yan Qing's departing figure from behind and sighed: "Why must Madam suffer like this?""
Madam Ye turned over and sat up, annoyed: "She hasn’t even sorted out her own affairs, yet she’s managing her old mother?"
"Miss is also concerned about Madam, especially since Second Miss was just…"
"Hmph!"
Madam Ye's face turned cold, suddenly speaking gravely: "Just a heartless man, kick him aside. There are plenty of good men in the capital, surely one is better than that surnamed Lu!"
"Later, send someone to Jiangjun Fu. Lu Qiao Nan dared to betray my daughter, he must pay the price!"
…
On the other side.
Madam Li had just returned to the Marquisate and woke up.
Looking at Yan Tan beside her, she touched her forehead and said: "Has Yan Qing gone to save Huan'er?"
Yan Tan shook her head: "Madam, Sister said if you want her to save Wen Huan Sister, unless you kneel to her."
"What?!"
Madam Li abruptly stood up: "Has Yan Qing gone mad? How dare she demand that I kneel to her? What gives her the nerve!"
Yan Tan lowered her gaze: "This humble one also does not know how my younger sister has become so audacious. If she truly enters the Marquisate, I fear in the future…"
"Slap!"
Madam Li suddenly struck Yan Tan across the face.
Yan Tan was knocked aside, looking at Madam Li with utter shock: "Madam…"
"Do not think I am unaware of your petty schemes, but you should never have incited Huan'er to stir up trouble. If you had not urged Huan'er to seize Yan Qing's shop, would she have been arrested and taken to Jingzhao Prefecture?"
Madam Li pointed at Yan Tan and scolded: "I may look down on Yan Qing, but I look down on you even more! Dreaming of becoming the Heir's Wife of our Marquisate? Unless you also have a maternal family like the Jiangjun Fu, you will remain a concubine for the rest of your life!"
Those final words drained all color from Yan Tan's face.
Remain a concubine…
Why? And by what right!
Yan Tan clenched her lips, her nails digging deep into her palms. In her lowered eyes, there was nothing but resentment and bitter envy!