Winning Hearts

"Madam, news has come from outside that the Marquis has returned to the capital," Matron Zhou whispered to the First Madam.

The First Madam's half-closed eyes snapped open, her gaze surprisingly bright. "Really?"

Matron Zhou nodded, a smile on her face, "It should have gone smoothly. Otherwise, we wouldn't have returned to the capital so quickly."

The First Madam's face also showed a relieved expression.

Besides worrying about her husband's situation, she was also worried about her brother.

After all, Zhu Heyu was not like Zhao Yuanxun, who held a nominal position and could go to the yamen for ten days or half a month without any problem. Zhu Heyu, on the other hand, had to go to the yamen every day. This time, he went to Jiangnan on sick leave and pretended to go out.

If this gets exposed and someone impeaches you, it could jeopardize your future.

Therefore, the First Madam hoped day and night that things would go smoothly, that the matter of switching children could be settled as soon as possible, and that her brother would bear less risk.

Since the Marquis has returned so quickly, things must have gone smoothly, and my brother should be able to return soon as well.

She let out a long sigh of relief, half-closed her eyes and thought for a moment, then instructed Matron Zhou, "In that case, let's get things moving on to the second branch."

Matron Zhou understood immediately. "Yes."

Meanwhile, on the second wife's side, Lady Wei was throwing a tantrum. "What kind of dishes are these? They're either bland or salty. Take them back and throw them in the cook's face, tell her to redo them. If she can't do it right, just kick them and sell them."

Ever since Li Mu's family fled, Lady Wei has never had a moment of peace. She's always finding fault, scolding, and hitting people, leaving the maids and servants of the second branch trembling with fear every day.

The second mistress was now causing trouble in the kitchen, and the serving maids breathed a sigh of relief, replying, "Yes." They quickly and quietly cleared the dinner table and left.

Lady Wei patted her chest and closed her eyes briefly.

These days, she has been feeling restless. The thought of Li Mu's family being arrested and interrogated by someone makes it impossible for her to calm down.

"How is Matron Li?" she asked.

"He's awake now and can slowly start drinking porridge."

The maidservant sighed deeply when talking about Matron Li.

In large mansions, there is a rule that if a servant is seriously ill, he or she must be moved out of the mansion to prevent him or her from passing on his or her illness to the master. This is also to prevent the servant from dying in the mansion and bringing bad luck to the household.

When Matron Li was carried out of the woodshed, she was delirious with a high fever. When Physician Shi came to examine her, he suggested that the Second Madam move Matron Li out of the mansion to recuperate. However, the Second Madam refused and insisted on keeping Matron Li, even though Matron Li's condition was very serious.

Because of this, she had another argument with the old lady and the first lady.

Because of her bad temper, Lady Wei was a difficult mistress to serve, and the servants of the second branch of the family were somewhat dissatisfied with her.

But regarding Matron Li's matter, everyone privately remarked that although the Second Madam had a bad temper, she wasn't so hard-hearted.

Matron Li served her her whole life. She was willing to withstand the pressure from the old lady and the first lady to keep Matron Li in the mansion to recuperate, and she would stay by Matron Li's bedside at all times, personally feeding her medicine. It is clear that she regarded Matron Li as family. Matron Li's hardships in this life were worthwhile.

Hearing that Matron Li had regained consciousness, Lady Wei felt much more at ease.

Heaven knows how terrified she was when Matron Li was talking nonsense, fearing she might say something terrible, or even that she might die. Because of this, she had to personally go to Matron Li's bedside to take care of her, something she had never done for her own parents.

"I'll go check on her." Lady Wei stood up and went to the side room next door.

Ever since she learned that Matron Li was talking nonsense, she had Matron Li moved to the main courtyard and placed in a side room so that she could guard her and also to prevent other servants from coming to visit her and hearing Matron Li's nonsense.

Fortunately, Zhao Yuanliang wouldn't set foot in the main courtyard unless he had something to do. This courtyard was inhabited solely by Lady Wei, and she was also in charge of the affairs of the second branch of the family.

As Matron Li was being served porridge by her maid, she saw Lady Wei enter and struggled to get out of bed to pay her respects.

"Lie down and rest. Once you're better, you can be all polite with me," Lady Wei said gently, a rare display of kindness in her tone.

She asked Matron Li a few questions and learned that she was indeed much better. Only then did she get up, give her a few more instructions, and leave the room.

"Matron Li, the Madam treats you so well," the little maid said enviously.

Matron Li had already heard about what happened during her illness from the young maid.

She said gratefully, "Yes. Madam treats me so well, I would gladly give my life for you." As she spoke, she lowered her eyes, but her eyes were filled with coldness.

When she was locked in the woodshed, she had already resolved to die.

She felt that if she died, the Li Mu family of four would be better off no matter where they were, at least they wouldn't be troubled or wavering because of her being in Lady Wei's hands.

In her delirious state, she heard someone whisper in her ear that if she died, her children and grandchildren would have no reason to exist. The voice was completely unfamiliar. She was terrified and gritted her teeth to stay alive.

Although she served Lady Wei her whole life, it was out of helplessness as a servant. Because Lady Wei was harsh to her servants, Matron Li didn't have much affection for her mistress; especially after Lady Wei ordered Li Mu to do those things, Matron Li was worried day and night, and while she was outwardly respectful to Lady Wei, she secretly hated her to death and wished she would die soon.

With Lady Wei dead, perhaps her family will finally be free.

She tacitly approved of, and even encouraged, her granddaughter to become Zhao Jing'an's concubine, hoping that getting pregnant and securing her position as a mistress would be a way to save her life.

But now the family has fallen into such a state.

From the moment she came back to life, she knew that her life no longer belonged to the Lady Wei, but to the person who held the lives of her children and grandchildren in their hands. No matter what that person asked her to do, she would do it, even if it meant poisoning the Lady Wei.

Unfortunately, after her son's family fled, the Second Madam would probably never trust her again. It would be difficult for her to get close to the Second Madam. She could only follow that person's instructions to win over Chunjing and the other servants, as she would still have to rely on them to achieve her goals in crucial moments.

Although doing this would be unfair to Chunjing Chunfen, the man also said that after Lady Wei's downfall, the servants who had helped would be properly taken care of.

Thinking of this, she raised her eyes and looked at the maid beside her. "Chunqing, how is your mother's health?"

"Much better," Chunqing said with a smile. "When Physician Shi came to examine you, Madam specifically asked him to look at my mother and prescribe a new medicine. After taking the medicine yesterday, my mother felt much lighter this morning."

Physician Shi was highly skilled and only treated his masters; the servants could only consult other doctors when they fell ill, as they were not worthy of being treated by Physician Shi unless their masters granted them permission. That is why Chunqing made this statement.

Matron Li nodded, reached under the pillow, pulled out a silver ingot, and stuffed it into Chunqing's hand. "Your mother's illness requires ginseng to nourish her. I've come to terms with this illness myself; human life is the most important thing, there's no use keeping money. Take this silver and give it to your mother for her medicine."