Lady Wei's Plot
Lady Wei was truly furious. No matter what she said, these people always had a reason to stop her, and she dared not offend the County Princess of Qingyang!
She glanced at Xu Xi with displeasure, a cold smile playing on her lips.
"In that case, let's wait a couple of days. We'll talk about it after Miss Xi finishes working at the County Princess of Qingyang's silver shop." Lady Wei said, then asked Xu Xi, "You can't possibly be busy at the silver shop until the next ten-day weekend, can you?"
"That depends on what the County Princess of Qingyang says; I can't decide that myself," Xu Xi said.
Lady Wei nodded and said calmly to the old lady, "Then I'd like to ask the old lady for permission: when Miss Xi has time, I need to take her to the Wei Residence for a meal." Although it was a request, her tone left no room for argument.
The old lady glanced at the first wife, worried that refusing would arouse Lady Wei's suspicion, so she could only nod and say, "Alright, I agree."
Although both Madam Yu and Xu Xi felt somewhat uneasy about going to the Wei Residence for a family reunion and dinner at this time, there was nothing they could do about it. Before the Marquis returned, it was best to keep Lady Wei calm and avoid causing any more trouble.
It's just a meal anyway, I doubt the Wei Residence would dare do anything to Xu Xi. The Marquis's residence can just send two experienced nannies to follow her closely.
Although the First Madam was extremely reluctant, she shared the same thoughts as the Old Madam. It would be unwise for her to obstruct them at this time. Therefore, she gave Xu Xi an apologetic look and remained silent.
Seeing that the old lady agreed, and that neither the first wife nor Xu Xi raised any objections, Lady Wei finally took her leave, satisfied.
"Miss Xi, I'm so sorry..." As soon as Lady Wei left, the First Madam wanted to explain and apologize to Xu Xi.
Xu Xi waved to her, indicating that she was fine, but she didn't say anything. Instead, she tilted her head slightly and frowned, as if she was thinking about something.
"What's wrong?" the old lady asked upon seeing this.
She herself didn't realize that she now trusted Xu Xi quite a bit. As she asked questions, she hoped that Xu Xi would notice something she hadn't noticed.
"Wait a minute, let me think." Xu Xi rubbed her head.
Although she had a good memory, she skimmed through the novel because she disliked this type of sweet romance. Furthermore, the main characters were Zhao Ruyu and Fu Yunlang, and the story focused primarily on them. Zhao Ruxi, as a supporting character, was only there to highlight the heroine's brilliance. Aside from describing her clumsiness, timidity, and rusticity, her other plot points were glossed over. Therefore, despite her efforts to recall the novel's content, Xu Xi couldn't remember much about the original owner's character.
If it weren't for the cold smile Lady Wei had given her earlier, which made her realize that bringing Lady Wei back to the Wei Residence wasn't so simple, she wouldn't have thought much of it.
Now she went through all the novel plots she could remember in her mind, especially the plot when the original owner first returned to the Marquis's mansion, and she finally remembered something was wrong.
The novel seems to mention that when the maids were gossiping about the original owner of the house, they said something like, "Even the illegitimate young master of the Wei Family doesn't fancy her." This was said around the time the Marquis's mansion discovered that the second Marquis of Pingnan seemed to be in love with Zhao Ruyu. At that time, all the sisters in the mansion envied her; the maids, on the other hand, felt that the sixth young lady was beautiful, talented, and kind, so it was only natural that she would be favored by the second young master of the Marquis of Pingnan.
In the novel, Zhao Ruyu and Fu Yunlang's romance didn't develop as early as in this life. Instead, it only began after the original owner returned to the Marquis's mansion, and they gradually became lovers.
When Wife of the Marquis of Pingnan learned that her second son was in love with Zhao Ruyu, it was after she knew that Marquis of Suiping's Residence's family, but an outsider who had been switched at birth. Therefore, she strongly opposed the marriage and told Fu Yunlang that Zhao Ruyu was only fit to be a concubine, not a wife.
Fu Yunlang naturally wouldn't allow his beloved to suffer, so he vehemently opposed his mother. As a result, Wife of the Marquis of Pingnan had a particularly bad impression of Zhao Ruyu.
So here's the question--
After the original owner returned to the manor, because she was not presentable, the old lady did not hold a banquet to announce it to the world. Instead, she had the household's governesses teach her manners. It wasn't until half a year later, when she had almost mastered the manners, that the first lady took her out to a banquet. As a result, she was ridiculed.
In other words, the original owner never left the manor after returning. So why would the maid say something like, "Even the illegitimate son of the Wei Family doesn't fancy her"?
There is probably only one reason: Lady Wei had taken the original owner to the Wei Residence.
Since the maid said that "the illegitimate sons of the Wei Family do not want her", it is very likely that the purpose of Lady Wei bringing the original owner back to the Wei Residence was to marry her off to the young masters of the Wei Residence, or even marry her off to an illegitimate son of the Wei Family.
Thinking of this, Xu Xi's expression turned serious. She felt she had guessed Lady Wei's plan.
If Zhao Ruxi is indeed Lady Wei's daughter, Lady Wei's intention to marry her back to her parents' home can be interpreted as her love for her daughter. In ancient times, it was common to "strengthen kinship through marriage," and with Lady Wei her aunt, the people in the Wei Residence would be less likely to mistreat Zhao Ruxi.
But now that it is clear that Zhao Ruxi is the daughter of the First Madam, whether in her past life or this one, Lady Wei's actions are quite intriguing.
The Lady Wei was definitely not acting in the original owner's best interest.
It's clear from her intention to bring Xu Xue back to the manor that she was worried the First Madam would discover something amiss if she brought Xu Xi back.
Now, Lady Wei, provoked by Xu Xi's various actions, lost her composure during the argument and revealed her true colors of dislike for this daughter. She even allowed Xu Xi to move into the Tea Tasting Residence and spend all her time with the Old Madam and the First Madam. She must be worried day and night that things will be exposed, right? Perhaps the First Madam's attitude towards Zhao Jingli recently has already made her realize that something is wrong, so she is now eager to deal with this matter.
Since she couldn't simply replace Xu Xi had already been brought into the household, or just kill her, she had to find other methods. The best method was to marry her off, and the most suitable family to marry her off to was none other than the Wei Family!
As long as Xu Xi is married into the Wei Family, even if the matter from back then is discovered, the First Madam will probably be hesitant to make a scene and won't be able to do anything to Lady Wei. Because if things escalate, it will ultimately harm her own daughter.
Thinking about it this way, Xu Xi couldn't help but feel a chill run down her spine.
The methods used by women confined to their homes are so ruthless; they're practically impossible to guard against.
Recalling how the original owner of this body unintentionally thwarted Lady Wei's scheme in her previous life, and thinking about Lady Wei's depressed mood, Xu Xi couldn't help but laugh.
However, this was probably because the original owner of this body in her previous life didn't have much contact with the First Madam, and the original owner never had the chance to be recognized by her biological mother, so Lady Wei let it go and didn't pursue it relentlessly?
Otherwise, if Lady Wei had used force to demand that Lady Wei least favored illegitimate son marry the original owner of the body, she probably could have succeeded. After all, she was the biological daughter of Old Madam Wei, and the wife of a Marquis, a respected and influential figure in the Wei Family.