Chapter 266: Marquis Jing’an
The next day, they attended the banquet.
The horse-drawn carriage arrived at Jing’an Marquis Manor. The people from Peach Blossom Workshop got out of the carriage, and immediately an old woman came to greet them and invited them into Jing’an Marquis Manor.
Not long after entering the gate, Jiang Yihuan was seen approaching from the opposite side with servants.
When Jiang Yihuan saw the people from Peach Blossom Workshop, a look of surprise flashed in her eyes.
“Why are they here?”
“In response to Second Madam, it should be First Madam who invited them to the banquet. Starting yesterday, First Madam’s side began preparations, saying she wanted to host guests.”
A strange look flashed in Jiang Yihuan’s eyes.
First Madam’s health was getting better and better; it must be these people from Peach Blossom Workshop who deliberately opposed her and cured First Madam.
That day, she and Xiao Yanci had such a scandal at Marquis Cheng’an’s Mansion. When she returned, she spent a great deal of effort to coax Marquis Jing’an. If she weren’t good at coaxing men, she would have long become an abandoned woman in the deep inner chambers. Now these people from Peach Blossom Workshop had delivered themselves to her door. If she let them off just like that, she wouldn’t be able to vent the anger in her heart.
She couldn’t deal with Su Yaoguang and Zhou Wangshu; could she not deal with the others?
Su Yaoguang and the others walked past Jiang Yihuan.
After Jiang Yihuan had walked far away, Su Yaoguang stopped and looked back at her figure: “Today, don’t act alone. This woman is probably going to make trouble.”
“We’ve already seen this woman’s malice; we won’t fall for her tricks.” Jia Chunni said, “Besides, we’re here for Marchioness Jing’an’s invitation; we won’t give her a chance to get close to us.”
When they arrived at the main courtyard, they met that Marchioness Jing’an.
When they saw Marchioness Jing’an’s appearance, everyone was very surprised. The image they had imagined of an old woman with yellowed pearls did not exist; Marchioness Jing’an was very beautiful and still had charm. It was just that she had been ill for too long, her complexion looked poor, and she had a sickly appearance.
“I invited everyone here for the banquet today precisely to thank everyone from Peach Blossom Workshop.” Marchioness Jing’an said, “If there is any lack of propriety, please bear with us.”
“Madam, no need to be polite.” Zhang Yingdi said, “We are all from farming families, not so particular. As long as you don’t mind our crudeness, that’s fine.”
“Madam, your complexion doesn’t look good today. Let me take your pulse!” Jiang Jing said.
“It’s strange indeed. I was fine yesterday, but today I have no energy again.” Marchioness Jing’an said weakly with a smile.
“Madam, did you eat something unclean?” Jiang Jing asked. “Tell me what you’ve eaten in the past two days, and I’ll see if it clashes with the medicine you’ve been taking recently.”
Before Marchioness Jing’an could speak, the servant nearby listed them one by one.
“I remember saying that you had to avoid ginger after taking that medicine.” Jiang Jing said, “Did those stir-fried dishes have ginger?”
“I don’t know.” Marchioness Jing’an said, “Probably not, since we didn’t see any.”
“Not seeing it doesn’t mean it wasn’t there!” The servant said nearby, “It seems we need to investigate the kitchen thoroughly.”
“You’ve already notified the kitchen, so they should be wary and wouldn’t knowingly violate it.” Marchioness Jing’an said, coughing twice.
Su Yaoguang and Jiang Jing exchanged a glance.
The sisters didn’t say a word, but it was as if they had exchanged thousands of words.
There was an invisible tacit understanding between the two.
“Madam…” Jiang Jing said, “If you don’t mind, you can arrange for a servant to take me to the kitchen to check if they put ginger slices in the dishes. I’ll taste it and know.”
“Alright. Chunxiu, take Doctor Jiang to the kitchen to check.”
After Jiang Jing left with the servant, Su Yaoguang said to Marchioness Jing’an: “Madam’s complexion isn’t good. Let me do your makeup to make your face look better.”
“Wouldn’t that be too much trouble?”
“Anyway, idle is idle.” Su Yaoguang said, “Madam has outstanding appearance, far superior to that Second Madam. If you set your mind to reclaim your husband’s favor, it shouldn’t be difficult! Unless Madam doesn’t want to fight for it. Is Madam planning to give up completely and let herself drift in this inner chambers?”
“I’ve already seen men’s heartlessness and injustice. I don’t care at all whether he favors other women. However, more than half of Jing’an Marquis Manor’s family business was earned by me, yet he wants to hand these things over to that woman and her child. That, I cannot sit idly by.”
“Since Madam sought us out, you must know we have old grudges with that Second Madam. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. If you have something to say, don’t be so reserved; being direct might be more effective.”
“I don’t care about anything else, as long as my family business doesn’t fall into the hands of villains.”
“The male master of Jing’an Marquis Manor is Marquis Jing’an. If you don’t want to rely on a man to compete, it’s not easy; you can only use him to fight. Madam, think of it this way: you don’t care about the man, but Second Madam does. If you can take away what she cares about, you can secure your authority and anger her to death—what a win-win! With Madam’s beauty, it can completely become a weapon. Moreover, making that man fall in love with you again, but you rejecting him—that kind of revenge isn’t more interesting than pushing him outside, watching him embrace one on each side, never knowing the consequences of letting down others’ true hearts?”
“You’re right.”
“Why don’t we try the effect today?” Su Yaoguang lowered her voice and said, “Grasping a man is very amusing.”
Su Yaoguang applied a sick beauty makeup to Marchioness Jing’an.
This makeup was completely undetectable, as if no makeup had been applied. The skin looked naturally fair, yet exuding an abnormal sickly state.
But this sickly state was pitiable; anyone who saw it would want to take care of her.
Su Yaoguang applied some lip balm for Marchioness Jing’an.
“This lip balm’s color is very light, like natural lip color. Our skin can be pale, but lips can’t be pale, or it would be too frightening.”
After the makeup was done, Marchioness Jing’an took Su Yaoguang to Marquis Jing’an’s study.
Upon arriving at the study, she knocked on the door.
“Come in.”
Marchioness Jing’an pushed the door open and walked in, saying to Marquis Jing’an, who was sitting there motionless: “Marquis, guests came to the mansion today—female relatives from Protector General’s Mansion. We suddenly talked about a travelogue in your study; the stories in it are very interesting, and they are very interested and want to borrow it to read.”
“Look for it. Take it once you find it.” Marquis Jing’an said without turning his head.
Su Yaoguang waited outside the door.
Listening to the voices inside, she thought that Marquis Jing’an was truly cold toward his legal wife.
It was said that back then, he had gone to some trouble to marry this principal wife. Now that time had passed and the novelty was gone, he began to ignore her.
What Su Yaoguang had said to Marchioness Jing’an earlier was all from the heart.
If Marchioness Jing’an wanted to control Jing’an Marquis Manor, she must control his heart. In this family, this man held absolute authority. No matter how hard she tried, one word from this man could make all her efforts go to waste. Therefore, to deal with that woman Jiang Yihuan, she had to first control this man.
Marchioness Jing’an had good conditions; grasping this man wouldn’t be difficult. If Jiang Yihuan could grasp him, so could Marchioness Jing’an.
“Marquis… I can’t reach it.” Marchioness Jing’an said, “Can you help me?”
Only then did Marquis Jing’an reluctantly put down the brush in his hand.
He walked toward Marchioness Jing’an, who had her back to him.
When he saw Marchioness Jing’an wearing a light purple dress, a look of surprise flashed in his eyes.
Over these years, Marchioness Jing’an had always been sickly, and the clothes she wore became increasingly dowdy.
Today’s outfit was so elegantly plain, making her seem ten or twenty years younger.
Marquis Jing’an reached for the travelogue. Marchioness Jing’an also reached for it, and both grabbed the travelogue at the same time. Marchioness Jing’an tiptoed, her body unsteady, suddenly slipping, and she fell toward Marquis Jing’an.
Marquis Jing’an wrapped his arms around Marchioness Jing’an’s slender waist and lifted her up.
So light!
Marquis Jing’an frowned.
So light, waist so slim, like a delicate yet fragile porcelain piece.
“Husband, put me down quickly.” Marchioness Jing’an said shyly, “If someone sees this, how embarrassing.”
Marquis Jing’an looked at Marchioness Jing’an’s shy little face, a daze in his eyes.
He recalled the first time he saw her; it was her shy smile that captivated him, and afterward he went back to prepare betrothal gifts to propose marriage.
In the blink of an eye, twenty years had passed.
Marquis Jing’an put her down, handed her the travelogue, and his voice softened: “Is Madam’s health better?”
Marchioness Jing’an said: “Better, but still needs rest, so household management still has to trouble younger sister.”
Marquis Jing’an thought of Jiang Yihuan and frowned.
That day, Jiang Yihuan insisted she had been schemed against, saying she had old grudges with Protector General’s wife and daughter, and they deliberately wanted to harm her.
He took it as her really being schemed against and let the matter drop. But recently she kept wanting him to promote Xiao Ci, which made him suspicious again.
Additionally, Jiang Yihuan was no good at managing the inner chambers; there were more and more messes lately. If it were just chaos in the inner chambers, that would be fine, but he needed to socialize with colleagues and give gifts, and she even messed that up, causing him to offend quite a few people recently.
“Since Madam’s health is better, household management should be handed back to you. Later, I’ll have her hand over the account room key to you.”
“Husband, really no need. Younger sister is doing well; let her continue. My health is unpredictable, good today and bad tomorrow, back and forth…” Marchioness Jing’an said weakly.
Seeing her like this, Marquis Jing’an felt even more pity.
“You have guests now. Where are those guests? Why not have Second Madam help entertain them, so you don’t tire yourself.”
“Is that really okay? Wouldn’t that be too hard on younger sister?”
“You’re entertaining female relatives from Protector General’s Mansion. She has some misunderstanding with them; this is a good opportunity to ease the relationship.” Marquis Jing’an said, “Someone…”
Marquis Jing’an called a servant and had him go to Jiang Yihuan’s courtyard to notify her to come out and entertain today’s guests.
Su Yaoguang walked back to Marchioness Jing’an’s dormitory room.
Seeing her return alone, everyone asked about Marchioness Jing’an’s situation. She glanced at the door, meaning everything was under control.
Earlier they said that man seemed quite upright, but now it seems flies don’t bite seamless eggs.
If that man didn’t have a weakness, Jiang Yihuan wouldn’t have exploited it. Men— no matter how beautiful the beautiful wife by their side, they’ll grow tired over time. A vixen delivering herself to the door is just for fun; keeping her in the household can relieve boredom, and for them, it’s just one more mouth to feed.
Su Yaoguang roughly explained the earlier situation, then said: “From my understanding of Jiang Yihuan, if she doesn’t stir up something today, it wouldn’t be her style of courting death.”
Even if not given the opportunity, she would find a way to send them a big gift. Now they were directly handing her this opportunity; it depended on how she performed.
Marquis Jing’an returned with Marchioness Jing’an.
Everyone inevitably exchanged greetings and chatted with him.
At this time, the dispatched servant and Jiang Jing returned.
As soon as Jiang Jing returned, not seeing Marquis Jing’an, she kept cursing: “I said before that Marchioness Jing’an’s meals couldn’t have ginger, as ginger clashes with the medicine she’s been taking recently. If they clash, it would damage her health. Now, there are no ginger slices, but every dish has ginger water. No wonder I saw her condition improve a few days ago, but today her complexion is like this—turns out someone wants to kill her invisibly.”
“Jing’er, stop.” Zhang Zhaodi nodded toward the front, “Marquis Jing’an is here; don’t be rude.”
Jiang Jing turned around, saw Marquis Jing’an, and said sarcastically: “Why is Marquis Jing’an here? Sorry, I didn’t expect you to step into this courtyard; my voice was a bit loud. After all, I’ve been treating her for so long and never saw Marquis Jing’an step into the main courtyard once.”
“Marquis, please forgive her. My younger sister is a doctor and can’t stand seeing someone try to harm others. She cares too much about Madam and couldn’t control her temper.”
“I’ve heard a little about Doctor Jiang’s medical skill.” Marquis Jing’an listened to Jiang Jing’s sarcastic words, naturally displeased in his heart.
But displeased as he was, thinking carefully about Jiang Jing’s words, he knew there was a reason.
“You just said there was a problem with Madam’s meals; explain carefully what exactly happened.” Marquis Jing’an said.
“It’s not a big deal really. Your honorable wife needs to take medicine for a while, and that medicine requires avoiding ginger, meaning no ginger recently. If ginger is eaten, it clashes with the medicine, making the prescription I gave her useless. Most importantly, these two things clashing can damage her health. I just checked the kitchen; ginger water was poured into every dish. Indeed no ginger slices—can’t see any ginger—but it’s in the dishes!”
“Marchioness Jing’an is after all the mistress of the house; what person can’t tolerate her and wants to put her to death?”
Jing’an Marquis Manor had two mistresses of the house; the one who least wanted her to live was the other one—this obvious hint even a child could understand.
Marquis Jing’an frowned and said: “Probably the mansion’s servants were negligent. Later, replace all those servants and find a new batch of cooks.”
“I plan to set up a small kitchen and eat meals cooked in my own courtyard from now on.” Marchioness Jing’an said, “That way, there won’t be misunderstandings.”
