Chapter 92: A Distinguished Guest Arrives At Home
“Mother.”
Jiang Ruanxi called out, but Madam Zhou acted as if she had seen a ghost, startled into a shiver, and quickly walked into the room without looking back.
Watching Madam Zhou’s back, Hong Ye frowned slightly. “Madam, is the Old Madam afraid of you?”
For Madam Zhou to fear her, that would be the sun rising from the west.
She was probably doing something shady.
“Go find out where the Old Madam just went.”
She probably wished for her to die, so how could she be afraid of her?
When something is abnormal, there must be a demon. Jiang Ruanxi figured that Madam Zhou had most likely done something unseemly.
Before long, Hong Ye returned with news. “Madam, the Old Madam just went to the pharmacy.”
“To the pharmacy?” Lu Wan fiddled with the teacup lid, her bright red nails particularly striking. “Could it be that the Master is ill again?”
“No, the Old Madam went to the pharmacy not to see a doctor, but to buy rat poison.”
Jiang Ruanxi’s hand paused slightly, her gaze deepening.
Buying medicine?
Rat poison, no less?
Although Lin Manor was now in decline, for something as trivial as buying medicine, there was no need for Madam Zhou to go personally.
Moreover, given Madam Zhou’s usual pampered behavior, how could she possibly go buy medicine herself?
When something is abnormal, there must be a demon.
Jiang Ruanxi’s eyelids cooled slightly.
“Have someone keep an eye on her and report any abnormalities to me.”
She didn’t believe that Madam Zhou was buying poison simply to kill rats.
If it were just to kill rats, she wouldn’t go buy it herself; she would surely send a servant or call her.
“Yes, Madam.”
**
Jiang Ruanxi thought that while the Crown Prince was investigating the Jiang Family, the Jiang Family and Lin family members would at least have some peace, but she didn’t expect guests to arrive at Lin Manor the next day.
Before Jiang Ruanxi had woken up, Madam Zhou’s personal old woman servant came to her Yun Lin Yuan.
Ever since her rebirth, aside from revenge and investigating her fate, she hadn’t been managing many matters in the Marquis Manor.
She no longer got up earlier than the roosters every day like in her previous life. On the contrary, now she slept until late morning and woke naturally.
So when Manyue came to call her, Hong Ye didn’t wake her and sent her away with an excuse.
Seeing her wake up, Hong Ye prepared mouth rinse while saying, “Madam, the Old Madam requests your presence. She said a noble guest has arrived at home and wants you to meet them.”
“Noble guest?” Jiang Ruanxi paused with the mouth rinse in hand.
She racked her brain thinking of all the Lin Family relatives but still couldn’t figure out who it was.
She had been married in for so many years, and since the Lin Family was no longer as glorious as before, relatives rarely visited.
Not to mention that now with the Lin Family’s reputation in ruins, those relatives stayed as far away as possible.
Hong Ye reminded her from the side, “Madam, it’s Madam Kang Zhou, the one who came for drinks not long ago. She’s also the Old Madam’s blood sister.”
Jiang Ruanxi remembered.
It was not long after Lin Ningkun had just returned, during the banquet held for his return, when she seemed to have come too.
But she had been busy dealing with Jiang Xuerou and Lin Ningkun and the others, so she hadn’t paid much attention.
Speaking of this Madam Kang Zhou, Jiang Ruanxi had a deep impression of her.
In her previous life, after she had Xiao Ge’er adopted, Madam Zhou, to show her joy, had her sister brought from afar to the Capital.
In order to please Madam Zhou, she had naturally prepared diligently, but who would have thought that this old lady Kang was insatiably greedy and actually took a fancy to her dowry.
She had been foolish back then; with Madam Zhou whispering in her ear, in order to please her, she had softened and foolishly given half her dowry to Madam Kang Zhou.
Thinking back now, she wanted to slap herself a few times.
With a different mindset now, she actually wanted to deal with this Madam Kang Zhou.
After washing up, Jiang Ruanxi leisurely ate her fill of breakfast and then took a half-hour stroll before smiling and saying, “Hong Ye, let’s go see the noble guest. We mustn’t neglect them.”
Hong Ye’s mouth twitched a few times.
It had been several hours since Manyue the old woman servant had come to invite them in the morning, and she was still saying not to neglect them.
But she didn’t dare say anything and silently followed behind Jiang Ruanxi to Madam Zhou’s Shoukang Hall.
When Jiang Ruanxi entered, Madam Zhou and Madam Kang Zhou were chatting and laughing in the living room.
Seeing her enter, they immediately put away their smiles.
Madam Kang Zhou pretended not to see her and instead said to Madam Zhou, “Little sister, you’re too easygoing and too tolerant of people. It’s already late morning, and only now does someone come to pay respects to you.”
This was pointing at the mulberry tree while cursing the locust tree. Jiang Ruanxi pretended not to hear, sat down at the seat below them, felt a bit thirsty, and poured herself a cup of tea.
Madam Zhou felt a bit awkward.
Actually, ever since Lin Ningkun was stripped of his noble title and Jiang Ruanxi was granted an imperial decree of nobility, Madam Zhou had exempted Jiang Ruanxi from morning greetings.
Because seeing her made her feel very uncomfortable, always feeling it stung her eyes.
She couldn’t curse at her like before, so for the sake of not seeing her, she exempted Jiang Ruanxi from greetings.
But Madam Kang Zhou didn’t know these twists and turns. Seeing Madam Zhou not chiming in, and Jiang Ruanxi entering without speaking, she thought her sister was being bullied.
“Sister, I’m not saying this to criticize you, but at your age, how come there’s no one close by your side to serve you?”
Madam Kang Zhou deliberately raised her voice, with a boastful tone, “Don’t say you have a maidservant serving you. How can a maidservant serve as well as a daughter-in-law? Look, wherever you go, it’s the daughter-in-law who serves with all her heart.”
As soon as the words fell, Madam He, sitting opposite, put down her teacup.
Madam Zhou actually disliked the behavior of her two daughters-in-law, but she didn’t show it on her face, instead smiling.
“Sister, you’re blessed with good fortune, your daughter-in-law is attentive to you. Unlike me, my eldest daughter-in-law is pregnant with her first child, her body is delicate.”
The implication was that she couldn’t call on her, didn’t dare to make use of her.
Madam Kang Zhou gave a cold smile, “Which woman doesn’t get pregnant, which woman doesn’t bear children? Or does getting pregnant make her body delicate, so she doesn’t honor her mother-in-law?”
Hearing them darkly satirizing her, Madam He didn’t have such a good temper.
Madam He’s complexion was quite unsightly. She immediately stood up, and Madam Zhou’s eyes jumped, afraid she would lose face in front of Madam Kang Zhou by not giving her face like usual.
She quickly said, “Eldest daughter-in-law, go quickly and see if the kitchen’s meal is ready. Your aunt has come from afar, she must be hungry.”
Madam He still gave her face and didn’t make a sound, turning to leave.
Madam Zhou breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing her attitude, Madam Kang Zhou was displeased and mocked, “This pregnancy is so precious, what about the other one?”
“Aunt, are you talking about me?” Jiang Ruanxi entered with a smile, her face amiable and looking very gentle.
