Chapter 1000 Tricky Things Appear One After Another!
“Infanta Yuan’an…” Madam Jiang struggled to stand up, trying to bow to Infanta Yuan’an before explaining.
“Madam Jiang, it seems that Old Madam has punished you, but you vent your anger on Princess Chen. Although Princess Chen is a junior, she has married into the royal family and is the granddaughter of Rui’an Great Elder Princess. How could you keep watch on her with such an irreverent att.i.tude? She is chanting sutras for her parents, but you are leisurely drinking tea and eating snacks while sneering at her?”
Infanta Yuan’an waved her hand to stop Madam Jiang from explaining. She swept her gaze across the crowd around her and said sarcastically.
Many people coming to pay respects went here with her.
These people behaved themselves when served by servants of the Marquis Xing’s Mansion in the main hall, but after Infanta Yuan’an came to the mansion, she instigated part of them to break into this courtyard. Then, they happened to see the scene in front of them.
No matter how Madam Jiang explained it, it was evident that she was insulting Princess Chen.
If Princess Chen was still Fifth Miss Shao, these people would not speak for her. At most, they would secretly accuse Madam Jiang of being a ruthless and vicious person.
But things were different now. Shao Wanru had become Princess Chen, who enjoyed a n.o.ble and high status. In particular, Empress Dowager had shown special favor to her.
“Madam Jiang, you’ve gone too far!” An elderly madam looked at the ugly scene with a dignified expression. She frowned and spoke in support of Princess Chen.
“Madam Jiang, how dare you insult Princess Chen?” Since someone had stepped up to support Princess Chen, more people joined in to help her.
After all, they were also clear that Madam Jiang was no longer the powerful Madam of Marquis Xing.
“I… I wasn’t…” Madam Jiang was angry and annoyed, but she couldn’t explain it clearly for a while. All of a sudden, she turned her head and saw Yujie, who was standing aside. How could she not understand that this maid started all of this? In front of everyone, she found it hard to keep the grievance to herself, especially when bullied by a maid.
But in the end, no matter how unwilling she was, she could only put up with it because she could no longer afford to be reckless.
“Infanta Yuan’an, Princess Chen asked her maid to serve me these things. I didn’t mock Princess Chen just now. Instead, I told her that kneeling for such a long time would harm her health.”
Madam Jiang struggled to get on her feet and lowered his head to explain.
“Madam Jiang, do you think all of us are stupid? How dare you come up with such a barefaced lie?” Infanta Yuan’an said ironically. Then she arrogantly walked past Madam Jiang with a servant girl. When she walked inside, she solemnly bowed her head, took the three incense sticks from the servant girl, and inserted them into the incense burner after a respectful salute.
After that, she took a few steps back and saw Shao Wanru still silently muttering the sutra with bowed head while knocking on the wooden fish in her hand. An idea flashed into her mind. She turned her eyes and looked at Yujie, who was serving Shao Wanru aside.
“May I ask what is Her Highness doing?” She had sharp eyes and noticed at a glance that Shao Wanru was not doing an ordinary memorial ritual.
“Her Highness is chanting Amitabha Pure Land Rebirth Dharani for the former Heir of Duke Xing and Infanta Qinghua. I’m afraid that she can’t receive you and other madams!” Yujie whispered.
Infanta Yuan’an knew something about the Amitabha Pure Land Rebirth Dharani. However, sutras like that were usually chanted by monks, and few people would read Amitabha Pure Land Rebirth Dharani for their families.
Since Shao Wanru was busy chanting the sutra, she couldn’t disturb her. Today, she came here mainly to make friends with Shao Wanru, but it seemed she couldn’t talk to her for the time being. Infanta Yuan’an blinked and felt at a loss what to do.
“Infanta Yuan’an, could you do a favor for Her Highness?” Yujie hesitated and asked in a low voice.
“What’s the matter?” Infanta Yuan’an was happy to help Shao Wanru at this time. Her grandmother had made it crystal clear that no matter what, she had to get along well with Shao Wanru, and she must make it.
“Could you please take Madam Jiang away? She is so noisy and has caused a lot of trouble here. Her Highness will be disturbed. She can’t be interrupted when chanting the Amitabha Pure Land Rebirth Dharani.” Yujie lowered her head. “But I am just a servant girl. I don’t dare to tell Madam Jiang these words.”
“Okay, I’ll take her away for Princess Chen!” Infanta Yuan’an thought for a while and agreed.
Today, she suppressed all her thoughts and helped Shao Wanru wholeheartedly. Since Shao Wanru couldn’t say anything at this time, she should do it for her. Frankly speaking, Infanta Yuan’an felt displeased when seeing the scene as she entered the courtyard.
Madam Jiang was just an official’s wife with an honorary t.i.tle. Even if she had an honorary t.i.tle, so what? Could the t.i.tle make her more honorable than a Princess? How dare she look down on the royal family? In this respect, Infanta Yuan’an was on Shao Wanru’s side. She would also marry into the royal family, so it was her duty to preserve its dignity.
When she walked to the door and saw that Madam Jiang was still struggling to stand up straight, Infanta Yuan’an harshly scolded the few servants of the Marquis Xing’s Mansion, “Why haven’t you taken your master away? Do you want her to go on humiliating Princess Chen like this?”
The few servants of the Marquis Xing’s Mansion looked at each other, not knowing what to do.
“Infanta Yuan’an, my feet couldn’t bear it just now, so I sat down to rest for a while. I didn’t…” Madam Jiang was in hot haste. She needed Shao Wanru’s help today. The current situation would only make things worse.
“Madam Jiang, you can say whatever you like, but no one will believe you.” Infanta Yuan’an’s gaze swept across the large tea table and those exquisite pastries. The corners of her lips twitched sarcastically, and her cold gaze fell on Madam Jiang’s face.
“Infanta Yuan’an, I didn’t. If you don’t believe me…” Madam Jiang turned around in a panic as if she wanted to find support from other people. Those Madams who came with Infanta Yuan’an had already burnt joss sticks to pay respects in succession, but none of them felt sympathy for her. Even those who used to have a good relations.h.i.+p with her stayed far away. They were afraid of getting into big trouble once they got involved.
No one stood out to speak up for her.
Madam Jiang was in a peeve over it. Suddenly, her eyes fell on the curtain behind the incense table. There was a person from the Ministry of Justice who must have seen what was going on just now.
“Infanta Yuan’an, I can find someone to prove that I didn’t humiliate Princess Chen!” She blurted out and immediately regretted saying these words. “Could the man hiding behind the curtain show up as a witness?”
Shao Wanru was still facing the altar table, but she could see everything clearly when she slightly raised her eyelids. Thanks to her long, curling eyelashes, others couldn’t see that she opened her eyes. When Shao Wanru saw the curtain behind the altar move a little, her eyes became deep and dark. Her long eyelashes fluttered, and then she slowly closed her eyes.
“Oh, who is it? Madam Jiang, please let her come out and explain everything to us! But you shouldn’t do that if she is a servant of the Marquis Xing’s Mansion. Who doesn’t know that you had been in charge of the Marquis Xing’s Mansion for more than ten years?” Infanta Yuan’an glanced at Madam Jiang and said, feeling a little surprised. “How could she get a witness at such a critical moment?”
“I…” Madam Jiang didn’t know what to say. “Could I tell them someone from the Ministry of Justice was hiding in the curtain behind the altar? Moreover, it’s a man.”
“Greetings, Your Highness!” A gentle voice came and interrupted them when Madam Jiang was in a dilemma. It was Zhao Xiran.
Before Zhao Xiran got married, she was also one of the few n.o.ble ladies in the capital. Moreover, she was generous and did not have so many secret thoughts as Shao Yanru. She was sort of a close friend of Infanta Yuan’an. But at this time, Infanta Yuan’an was not happy to see Zhao Xiran. Today, she was here to help Shao Wanru, so Zhao Xiran would stand in her way.
“Xiran, you don’t have to do that!”
“Why didn’t you tell me when you came here? I’d like to accompany you early,” Zhao Xiran said softly and ordered the maid she brought with her, “Take Madam Jiang to rest. The doctor said she’d better stay in bed as much as possible. Otherwise, she couldn’t recover without any after-effect!”
Her words were very reserved, but with the pungent smell of herbs stronger than the incense smoke, the meaning of her words sounded authentic.
Shao Wanru slightly rolled her eyes but didn’t open them. Compared with Madam Jiang’s acts and words, Zhao Xiran was obviously much more intelligent and thoughtful. With just a few words, she had made it clear that Madam Jiang came here to pay respects even with injuries. No one could oppress others when seriously wounded. What was more, she might suffer from severe after-effects if she didn’t take good care of her wounds.
Unlike Madam Jiang, Zhao Xiran could stay calm. In addition, she was better at exploiting the situation to maximum advantage. Hence, it was much harder to deal with her.
At this time, Madam Jiang also came to her senses. She nodded and leaned against the servant girl who came over to support her. With a guilty look on her face, Madam Jiang looked at Shao Wanru. Then, she patted the servant girl’s hand and motioned for her to get her to Shao Wanru. When she moved next to Shao Wanru, Madam Jiang bent down with difficulty and said, “Princess Chen, I’ll go back to rest for a while. When I feel a little better, I’ll come over to chant sutras with you.”
However, Shao Wanru said nothing.
After saying that, Madam Jiang stood up. Since she had been hanging on there for a long time, her face became increasingly paler, and she could barely stand up. However, she still struggled to stay when beads of sweat appeared on her forehead. Judging from her emaciated look and the smell of medicine, anyone could see that she was on the verge of collapse.
Since she braced herself to come here with her weak body, she shouldn’t have behaved as arrogantly and domineeringly as everyone had seen. Did they misjudge the scene, or did the servant girl of Prince Chen’s Mansion play a dirty trick?
Princess Chen couldn’t speak then, but this servant girl said something. At this time, some people couldn’t help turning to Yujie, who was standing beside Shao Wanru.
Zhao Xiran ruined the favorable situation just now with a few words.
Yujie, getting Shao Wanru’s hint, took several incense sticks of incense by Shao Wanru’s side. These sticks were offerings from Prince Chen’s Mansion, which were different from what the Marquis Xing’s Mansion had prepared. After she took them in, she placed them behind Shao Wanru.
“Madam Jiang, I am just a maid, and no one would choose to believe my words. But there are too many strange things here. An incident happened just a while ago, and now another one comes. I don’t know how the Marquis Xing’s Mansion will explain it!” In no hurry, Yujie lit the incense sticks and inserted them into the incense burner in front of the altar while talking to the others slowly.
Madam Jiang suddenly had a bad feeling.
“Yujie, don’t talk nonsense. Fifth Sister is still chanting the sutra. Let’s talk about it later!” Zhao Xiran took two steps forward and said gently.
Her voice had always been soft. Therefore, it sounded like a very mild reproof.
In the past, she always talked tenderly to Madams and Misses, but now she was facing a servant girl who was really too aggressive. Many people around felt injustice done to her and wanted to help. Even Infanta Yuan’an appeared to be disappointed, “Sure enough, Shao Wanru is not a decent lady at all. The servant girl beside her looks so domineering. Doesn’t she know she is just a cheap servant? How could she dare to criticize her previous master?”
Yujie suddenly took two quick steps forward and rushed to the back of the altar. She stretched out her hand, held onto something, and pulled something out hard…