Quick, Send Word to the Married Daughters
Normally, before dinner, the eldest madam would always come to the old madam's place to serve her mother-in-law dinner. In the past, when she didn't eat with Xu Xi, the old madam's dinner was usually earlier than that of the third branch of the family, just so she wouldn't delay her eldest daughter-in-law from going back to eat with her son and grandson.
But today, because they were waiting for Zhao Yuanxun to return and were eager to get news from him, the First Madam did not come over.
Zhao Yuanxun had just entered the mansion and hadn't even had a chance to exchange a few words with his wife when he heard the news from the servants.
He was already in poor health, and the long journey had taken him to the hospital. When he heard the news, he nearly collapsed. But worried about his mother's health, he forced himself to go with his wife to the main courtyard.
Seeing that his mother had regained consciousness, but her mouth was crooked and her eyes were slanted, which was indeed a sign of a stroke, tears welled up in his eyes, and he tried to squeeze through the Liuli.
The First Madam felt even more guilty.
They had already heard from the servants about the cause of the old lady's illness.
She was the one who spread the news of Concubine Wang's pregnancy. By using Concubine Wang, she could protect her safety. She didn't think there was any other danger; at most, the servants of the second branch of the family would suffer a little. But unexpectedly, Lady Wei went mad and angered the old lady, making her fall ill.
Although the culprit was Lady Wei, she felt that if she hadn't revealed that Concubine Wang was pregnant, perhaps the old lady wouldn't have been so angry with Lady Wei.
Therefore, she felt extremely guilty and ran to the old lady, bursting into tears.
Seeing Zhao Yuanxun Lady Wei Lady Zhu's reactions, and then seeing through the open door that the old lady had many needles stuck in her head and her mouth was still crooked, Wei had no doubt about her condition.
After all, the old lady is quite old, and it's entirely possible that she suffered a stroke from the shock of her actions.
"The Marquis and his wife can come in, everyone else, please leave. The old lady is too fragile to be even slightly agitated. If she gets upset again, things will get complicated." Physician Shi quickly spoke up to stop the group of people from squeezing in as soon as the door opened.
After Zhao Yuanxun and his wife entered, Liuli quickly stopped the others, closed the door from the outside, and stood guard outside.
Worried that their conversation inside might be overheard and expose the old lady's feigned illness, she began to shoo people away. "Everyone, please leave."
The servants quickly dispersed, and the quick-witted ones hurried off to report the news. After all, the old lady was ill, and the third wife, as her daughter-in-law, had arrived too late, which would be criticized. Reporting the news now might just earn them a big reward.
The third wife's family wasn't prominent, but they were wealthy.
Lady Wei glanced at Liuli, ignored her completely, and stood still.
Liuli was a servant, and there was nothing she could do if Lady Wei was disobedient.
Furthermore, Liuli worried that the Old Madam and the First Madam wouldn't want Lady Wei to leave Rongxi Hall so easily. After all, the Second Madam had angered the Old Madam to the point of illness, which was a serious matter. The Marquis and the First Madam would definitely want to punish her soon. If they let her leave now, who knew if it would disrupt the Old Madam and the First Madam's plans?
She had no choice but to call out to Zhenzhu, who had rushed over from outside upon hearing the commotion. "Go, get a stool for the Second Madam." She winked at her.
Zhenzhu understood, and brought out a stool from next door, placing it next to the pillar. "Second Madam, please sit down."
Lady Wei was fairly satisfied with the two maids' attentive attitude.
Seeing that Third Madam Lady Su hurriedly entered the courtyard, and with several servants from the Rongxi Hall still inside, Wei Shi, worried that Lady Su would find out that she had angered the Old Madam, rolled Lady Wei eyes and said to Zhenzhu, "It's not good for us to sit here. Why don't we go to the side room and wait?"
She then instructed Chunfen, "You stay here. Call me immediately Physician Shi comes out, understand?"
Chunfen readily agreed.
Only then did Lady Wei descend the steps, grabbing Lady Su's arm as she was about to ascend. "Let's go, to the side room."
Zhenzhu also said, "Third Madam, Physician Shi is giving the Old Madam acupuncture, so please don't crowd around. Please come with Second Madam to the side room." With that, she opened the door to the west wing and invited them in.
Apart from Zhao Yuanxun and his wife, and their children Zhao Jingli and Zhao Jing'an, who genuinely cared about the old lady, everyone else in the household, whether it was Lady Su or the two illegitimate sons, only showed her politeness out of politeness. Secretly, they wished she would die soon so that this mountain weighing on their heads could be removed.
Therefore, after Lady Wei and Zhenzhu greeted her, Lady Su exchanged a few words of greeting to express her concern for the old lady, and then followed them into the west wing.
Seeing this, Liuli secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Inside the house, the old lady was already holding her son's hand, smiling as she asked, "You... you're back."
Her facial expression had returned to normal, and her crooked mouth and squinting eyes were no longer visible. However, in order to be heard by the people outside the door, she still spoke in a muffled and soft voice.
Worried that her son and daughter-in-law hadn't realized she was faking illness, she lowered her voice and asked clearly, "How are you?"
Zhao Yuanxun and Lady Zhu were stunned when they saw her like this. "You, you..."
The old lady quickly leaned close to Zhao Yuanxun's ear and whispered, "I'm faking illness, don't worry."
Her feigned illness is fine with everyone else, but I'm afraid Zhao Yuanxun won't be able to handle it if he finds out.
Her son's health was already poor, and the long journey would only exacerbate the problem. She worried that before she collapsed, Zhao Yuanxun would fall ill.
The old lady was unaware that Zhao Yuanxun had returned. If she had known, she certainly wouldn't have feigned illness at this crucial moment.
In the old lady's view, punishing Lady Wei was important, but nothing was more important than her son's health.
Realizing that the old lady was faking illness, the first wife was overjoyed and wept uncontrollably.
The sound of crying reached the outside, confirming that the old lady had suffered a stroke and was seriously ill.
Zhao Yuanxun knew what his mother was worried about. He patted his weeping wife and said to his mother, "It's been investigated, and it's just as you suspected."
The old lady was taken aback, and gripped her son's hand tightly. "Really?"
Zhao Yuanxun nodded.
The old lady turned to the first wife. "Stop crying, quickly send a message to the ladies-in-waiting, tell them I'm ill."
Physician Shi least wanted to know these private matters within the household. The more he knew, the faster he would die.
Hearing this, he quickly called out, "My lord, my lady, please stop crying, lest you worry the old lady. Come, move aside, I'll remove the needles from the old lady's body."
The First Madam knew this wasn't the place to talk, and she also knew that Lady Wei was a suspicious person, and that the servants in the mansion were too talkative. She absolutely couldn't let the news of the Old Madam faking illness get out.
She quickly took advantage of her momentary sobs and said in a thick nasal voice, "Thank you so much, Physician Shi. Physician Shi, you must cure my mother!"
"Don't worry, Madam, I will do my best," said Physician Shi.
He began to remove the needles from the old lady one by one.
After removing the needles, he breathed a sigh of relief, "Alright, help the old lady into the inner room to rest. I'll go outside and watch the servants prepare the medicine." With that, he packed his things, opened the door, and went out.