Chapter 859 A Scheming Bride
“I don’t know. My master has always been fine, but… but suddenly…” Qu Le patted Shao Wanru on her back and sobbed in a low voice.
“Does your master have any… unmentionable disease?” Shao Jing asked impatiently.
At this time, his mind was full of thoughts and he didn’t want to hear the crying in the living room at all. He felt annoyed. In order to prove his innocence, he sent all the servants to the palace. But he had no confidence. He could guarantee that he was not linked to the drug matter, but he could not a.s.sure the eunuch that other masters in his mansion were all innocent.
“No, my Miss doesn’t have any unmentionable disease. She was just in weak health. When she lived in Yuhui Nunnery, she needed to recuperate from time to time,” Qu Le said with a grievance, wiping the tears on her face with a handkerchief.
“Help your Miss to have a rest!” Shao Jing waved his hand with impatience, turned around, and was about to stride away. He didn’t want to deal with the affairs of the inner court anymore.
What happened today was so unexpected that he could not get it over in a moment, and he was not in the mood to care about these fainted women.
“Father!” Said Shao Hua’an.
“Come with me!” Ordered Shao Jing.
“Father, I…” Shao Hua’an looked at Zhao Xiran beside him. In fact, he was going to tell Shao Jing that he wanted to accompany Zhao Xiran to leave first.
Shao Jing followed Shao Hua’an’s eyesight and cast a glance at Zhao Xiran, who was standing beside with her eyes half-closed. He ignored his son’s plea and said unhappily with his eyebrows frowning, “Come with me first!” Then he turned around and strode away. Shao Caihuan was wrong, but she would not have been so out of mind if it had nothing to do with Zhao Xiran.
He couldn’t find out anything now. But generally speaking, something could be wrong with the new daughter-in-law. If it was related to Minister Zhao’s Mansion, it was such a misfortune for his son to get married to Zhao Xiran.
His wife, Madam Jiang was the one who wanted the most to build a marital relations.h.i.+p with Minister Zhao’s Mansion. They had thought that this daughter-in-law was a reliable person, but she turned out to be a scheming one. If it weren’t for the fact that she had already married into Marquis Xing’s Mansion, Shao Jing would have intended to cancel the engagement. And he couldn’t bear to see that his son should want to be clingy to his wife at this time.
“Yes!” Shao Hua’an didn’t dare to disobey Shao Jing. He could do nothing but leave together with his father.
“Miss!” Zhao Xiran’s servant girl gently called.
Zhao Xiran had calmed down now. She was standing alone in red clothes, looking a little tragic.
Zhao Xiran looked up at Shao Hua’an’s leaving figure and then turned her look at the messy hall. She walked to Old Madam.
Most of the people who stayed were of the third branch, and they all went to look after Third Madam. But no masters were standing behind to support Old Madam, so she seemed to be at a disadvantage.
As soon as Zhao Xiran walked over, the servants immediately made their way for her.
Zhao Xiran walked to Old Madam and took her from Nanny Yu’s hands. after looking at Old Madam’s pale face, she reached out to hold Old Madam’s dropped hand and pressed it hard in the place between the thumb and the index finger. Old Madam screamed in a low voice and woke up.
“Old Madam!” Zhao Xiran looked at her with tears in her eyes and called her softly. Although her eyes were full of aggrievance, she looked peaceful and showed no intention of making trouble.
That comforted Old Madam who had just woken up. She felt better and gradually came to her senses.
However, the scared voices of the servant girls and old maids came in her ears, mixed with the cries of Shao Caihuan and Shao Cailing. Old Madam immediately recalled the situation just now, which made her so angry that her eyes widened. With the help of Nanny Yu and Zhao Xiran, she stood up, looked at the chaotic hall, and then shouted in fury, “Shut up!”
On hearing Old Madam’s rebuke, the servants of the third branch immediately stopped making a sound.
“Mother!” Third Master said unhappily, wanting to warn her that Third Madam was still unconscious.
“Get out of here and stop making trouble anymore! If it weren’t for them, such a thing wouldn’t have happened to us all!” Old Madam pointed at the people of the third branch with disgust, including Third Madam, Shao Caihuan, and Shao Cailing.
“Mother, how can you…” Third Master didn’t agree with his mother.
“Get out of here! Are you going to wait to collect someone’s dead body?” Old Madam was in fury at this time, and she said without hesitation, “If the Emperor finds out that the drug case has something to do with them, you can’t get away from it either.”
Thinking of the servants taken away by the guards just now, Third Master was also frightened. Although he was not a promising man, he had a post. If he was implicated, he would not only lose his job but also lose his life.
“Go! Go! Everyone goes back to your own courtyard!” Third master was no longer in the mood to comfort his wife. He waved his hand and expelled the people of his branch with anger.
As a group of people helped Third Madam to leave, Third Master also followed them and left.
Shao Wanru also woke up. She stood aside with Qu Le’s help and looked around the messy room quietly. She also saw Third Madam’s slightly trembling eyelids. Obviously, Third Madam had come to her senses, but she didn’t wake up to avoid her responsibility.
Old Madam did hate Third Madam to the extreme because of the matter.
“Grandmother!” Zhao Xiran said after most of the people had left the hall.
Old Madam looked her up and down. Since her manner was quite gentle, Old Madam snorted and questioned with arrogance, “Does your Minister Zhao’s Mansion have anything to do with what happened today?”
Her favorite granddaughter Shao Yanru was as obedient as Zhao Xiran was now. Old Madam liked that anyway. But she got irritated as long as she thought that her beloved granddaughter ended up like that after she entered the palace. Now when she saw Zhao Xiran’s similar gentleness, she felt that the woman must have ulterior motives so her att.i.tude to Zhao was extremely unpleasant.
Zhao Xiran, as a newcomer, couldn’t stand the sharpness of Old Madam’s words. She cried immediately and then said with tears in her eyes, “Old Madam, my family could not do such things. If you don’t believe me, you can send someone to investigate it!”
Investigate Minister Zhao’s Mansion? At this time? Old Madam snorted in her heart and became more and more unhappy. “You’d better tell the truth. The Emperor has taken our servants away, so what will happen next is not up to us anymore!”
The sarcasm in her words was apparent. Zhao Xiran’s face turned red. She had no choice but saw Old Madam leave with shame and guilt.
After calming down, Zhao Xiran turned to look at Shao Wanru, who was the only one still present. “Fifth Sister…”
“Sister Zhao, I don’t feel well, so I couldn’t stay here with you anymore!” Shao Wanru said faintly. She did not look energetic at all. After seeing what had happened to the mansion today and the disturbance just now, no one would be in a good mood, so it was reasonable for Shao Wanru to say that.
After bowing to Zhao Xiran, Shao Wanru staggered to leave with her holding Qu Le’s shoulder. Before she figured out Zhao Xiran’s purpose, she would never get too close to her.
No matter it was Zhao Xiran or Minister Zhao behind her who was the head plotter, what happened today was blamed on Zhao Xiran for the time being.
Anyway, Zhao Xiran must have something to do with it. She didn’t look like an ordinary bride. And she was not as popular as imagined after marrying into Marquis Xing’s Mansion, whose people even felt that it was not happy of her to marry to their mansion.
As for causing trouble, she must have ever done that.
However, it was confusing why she hastened to marry into Marquis Xing’s Mansion if she didn’t like her marital relations.h.i.+p with it? What was more, she looked like a warm person who was very worried about the mansion. Shao Wanru was going to get married in a month. If there was a decent person in charge of the affairs, it would be much better. And Zhao Xiran, who had just married into Marquis Xing’s Mansion, would inevitably take over the position. After all, Old Madam had never liked Third Madam. As for the fact that the last manager was Third Madam, it was because Old Madam had no other choices at that time.
Then there was a new question for Shao Wanru. Why did Zhao Xiran agree to marry in such a hurry? The management of the inner court would always be pa.s.sed on to her! Was she in a hurry to gain power?
The people of Marquis Xing’s Mansion left one by one, leaving Zhao Xiran and her two servant girls, and none of them stayed to lead her, which made the two servant girls very angry.
“Miss, they have gone too far. After all, today is your wedding day,” Qiu Yue said angrily.
Qiu Lian was also very angry. She stared at Shao Wanru’s back and said with hatred, “Everyone said that Fifth Miss Shao has a good character that even the Emperor once praised her. Now, look at what she has done to you, Miss. How dare she leave you here alone!”
The more the two servant girls thought about it, the angrier they became. When their Miss was still in Minister Zhao’s Mansion, she had been always the apple of Minister Zhao’s and Old Madam Zhao’s eyes since she was born. Why did the people of Marquis Xing’s Mansion look down on her?
What had happened today had nothing to do with their Miss, because she stayed in her bridal chamber all the time. How unreasonable the people of Marquis Xing’s Mansion were!
“Miss…” Qiu Yue still wanted to say something, but Zhao Xiran waved her hand to stop her, “Don’t talk nonsense. Fifth Sister is the future Princess Chen. How can we speak ill of her at will? Let’s go!”
As she said that, she walked out calmly as if the grievance in the bottom of her heart had gone. She had suffered so much on her wedding day, but she didn’t have any complaints. She did have the demeanor of a master.
Since their Miss did not complain, the two servant girls could only hold back their anger and followed Zhao Xiran to the bridal chamber with stiff faces. Fortunately, they had come to the courtyard where the bridal chamber was located several times before to send decorations. Now they could find the place without the guidance of people in Marquis Xing’s Mansion.
After they left, Shao Wanru showed up from the shadow in the corner. She looked at Zhao Xiran’s back thoughtfully and had to think highly of her, because she could even remain calm and cautious without someone else around.
Almost all the elders did not like her after she married into the family, and the quarrel between the second branch and the third branch was blamed on her, which even led to the Emperor’s intervention. Any other woman would either be in a panic or cry in despair if they came across such things, but Zhao Xiran was still so calm!
“Go and figure out whether her two servant girls have done anything special since they entered the mansion today or whether they have met someone in our mansion and talked in private,” Shao Wanru said gently.
It seemed that Zhao Xiran might not be directly relevant to this matter. Then, it could be her servant girls.
Shao Wanru expected to dig out what was the plot of this new sister-in-law and why she was so calm…