The maid's road to success

Because Miss Zhou San's dowry was detained in the farm and not released, crying could be heard from the second room every day. Chen Luoan tried to coax her for two days, but was beaten by Chen Yuanxiang.

"Dad, Dad, stop hitting me, stop hitting me."

Chen Luoan wailed as his buttocks suffered once again, with his skin torn and flesh exposed. Chen Yuanxiang was merciless in every beating.

The servant secretly went to the inner courtyard and informed the Second Madam, who went to Fushou Hall with red eyes.

"Mother, mother, help me, the second master wants to beat An'er to death."

The ancestor put down the dominoes. She naturally knew why the second master beat Chen Luoan with a stick, but she didn't know why he was so cruel. She didn't care about what she had said before about letting Luoan learn a lesson, and hurriedly held the second lady's hand and rushed to the outer courtyard.

Wen Niang was guarding outside the second master's study, and she and Chunxiu stood on both sides of the door curtain, with their heads lowered and their eyes submissive, neither moving too far away nor eavesdropping.

"Stop, Yuan Xiang, are you going to kill Luo An?"

When Chen Yuanxiang heard the old ancestor's voice, he turned his head and glared at the second wife, then threw down his stick, walked over and helped the old ancestor sit down.

"Wang has alarmed his mother again. My son is not a good person, but I am soft-hearted and only spoil him. If I don't teach him a lesson, what will happen to him in the future?"

The old ancestor looked at Luo An's blood-soaked clothes, and the original pattern of the robe made of blue feather satin could no longer be seen.

"Then you can't beat me so hard. If you hurt me, how are your wife and I going to survive?"

When Wang heard the old ancestor's words, she felt that someone had understood her feelings, and she took a handkerchief to wipe the tears from the corners of her eyes.

"I knew that my eldest brother and his wife would ask Steward Zhou to personally take my daughter-in-law's dowry, so I knew that the mansion had its own considerations. Luo An came to ask me to intervene, and I just advised him. But the master hated Luo An for listening to his daughter-in-law all day and bothering Steward Zhou, so he tied him up directly. The master wanted to beat me and I didn't stop him, but he should also consider the relationship between husband and wife."

"At my age now, I only have Luo An as my child. If I had another one, even if it was a girl, I would not say a word. Luo An is my son after all. Even if I die in the future, there will be people who will break basins and mourn for me. If you want to beat him to death, you might as well strangle me first, so that my son can break basins and hold the coffin for me, complete the funeral rites, and then beat him to death."

When Chen Yuanxiang heard Wang say this, he couldn't say anything more reasonable. He pointed at the Second Madam and said "you, you" for a long time. Finally, he waved his sleeves, sat next to the old ancestor with a sullen face.

"Don't say such angry words. Luo An is the legitimate son of the second wife after all. Yuan Xiang just got too angry and hit him too hard. After all, he is still his son. How could he bear to beat him to death? Besides, you don't know how serious it is. You have seen Zhou's appearance, and you also know the hobbies of the current emperor. Now we just want to protect the Marquisate and conceal it from others."

"Luo An is a soft-hearted person. He was bewitched by Zhou and couldn't tell right from wrong. He made a fuss like this a few times. I'm afraid that if the noise gets louder and others know about it, it will be a disaster. So I gave him a severe lesson and taught him a lesson."

Wang stopped crying and looked at the ancestor and Chen Yuanxiang with fear on her face, feeling uneasy.

"Is it really that serious? I only heard my sister-in-law tell me to keep Zhou under control and not let her go out in public. I didn't know it was so deeply involved."

Seeing that she had calmed down, Chen Yuanxiang immediately took over the conversation and analyzed the pros and cons with her.

"You are a short-sighted woman. You have only indulged Luo An in the past. His Majesty has made so many troubles for Concubine Zhen. Zhou is no worse than Concubine Zhen. If His Majesty knew about it, although he could not rob us, he would still be resentful of our family. Wouldn't it be dangerous then? Zhou has been instigating us all day for the dowry. Today she asked Luo An to ask for someone, and tomorrow she took her out to play. No one can guarantee that she would not instigate Luo An to do something life-threatening in the future. Can you always protect him?"

Wang's hands were shaking with fear. Thinking of all the ridiculous things the Emperor had done because of Concubine Zhen, she was filled with worry. She didn't care about her son's safety and just kept making promises.

"I will definitely keep the people of the Second House in good control and will never let Zhou set foot out of the yard."

Chen Yuanxiang stared at Wang, which made her feel uneasy.

"This is no joke. Zhou is spoiled by her family and has a mother like that who always teaches her. I'm afraid she will continue to instigate Luo An to make trouble. If you really want Luo An's good, you must take good care of her. Just be a little cruel and don't regret it when your family suffers in the future."

The Second Madam nodded repeatedly and asked someone to carry Luo An downstairs. Once they reached the yard, she gave instructions to everyone.

"Go, send someone to tidy up Second Madam's yard for me. If anyone dares to let Second Madam out of the yard, I will kill him immediately without any regrets."

Although the maids and servants didn't know what crime the new Second Mistress had committed, as she had her dowry tied up and was under guard, they had no choice but to obey their masters' orders and stood guard at the gate of the courtyard without blinking an eye.

"Let me go, let me go, you are so brave."

Miss Zhou San tried to leave the yard for the seventh time, but was still stopped in the yard. She didn't care about maintaining her image when she just entered the mansion, and just pointed her finger and cursed the servants.

"You treat me like this, aren't you afraid that the Second Master will punish you if he finds out?"

The leading woman lowered her head, stood in front of the round moon gate in the yard, and answered firmly.

"Grandma is a noble lady, she has no reason to get angry with servants like us. We are just following orders and doing our own jobs. The Second Master knows that we will be punished, so we will naturally accept it, but we still have to complete the job."

Miss Zhou San was so angry that her chest hurt a little. She had never suffered such an injustice at home, and she questioned with red eyes.

"The Huaiyuan Marquis's Mansion has a good family tradition. What terrible mistake did the newly married daughter-in-law make to do such a thing?"

The old woman was not completely ignorant. She just conveyed the Second Madam's words.

"Grandma, take care of yourself too. You know why our Huaiyuan Marquis Mansion is like this. Lord Zhou and Madam Zhou also know it. Madam asked me to tell you, just be quiet and don't treat people as fools. If we really have to tear our faces apart, the Huaiyuan Marquis Mansion will not be the one that suffers the most."

Miss Zhou San was stunned, staggered two steps, and looked at the seven or eight strong servants in front of her with her eyes wide open. She had to wipe her tears and slowly return to the room.

Looking at the graceful woman in the huge brass mirror on the cabinet, he fell down on the stool and cried on the round table.

It was all because of this face that caused the trouble. If she had been born a dozen years earlier, or a few years later, she would have lived up to this face. But now she has to marry the son of the second wife of a marquis with such a face, and her father had to use some tricks to get her to marry him.

As luck would have it, the current emperor loves stunning beauties the most. For the sake of Concubine Zhen, he tortured to death the husband that was promised to Concubine Zhen since childhood and forced her into the palace.

In order to win a smile from his beloved, he killed the eunuch who had been by his side for many years with his own hands; in order to celebrate Concubine Zhen's birthday, he gave her all the pearls in the world.

Most people would only think that the Zhou family would avoid such favor and such a good thing.

Just because the emperor rewarded Concubine Zhen with a bowl of sterile medicine so that she could serve him all the time, and because Concubine Zhen rarely mentioned other men, he thought of an excuse to kill all her cousins ​​who had lived with her when she was young.

Who can afford such pampering?

Not to mention that she could really feel better, she also had a younger sister at home and an older sister who eloped. Except for the second sister who had some spots on her face that were covered up, how could the rest of them escape?

Could it be that the three sisters all stayed in the palace to serve, and took the kind of medicine that would make them childless, so they could only serve men with their beauty in this life. If they were lucky enough to be buried with the emperor, it would be a good thing. If they were unlucky, when they were old and their beauty faded, the beautiful women in the palace would be killed one after another, and they would be in such a dark, remote and cannibalistic place, which would be a real life worse than death.

My parents have tried so many ways to protect them, how can they let outsiders know about it? The Huaiyuan Marquis Mansion will certainly arouse the emperor's suspicion, but the Zhou family will probably make the emperor even more concerned, not to mention my younger sister.

At the age of only 12, they are already as delicate as jade. Why do they have such a miserable life? Such beautiful young girls with gorgeous faces and figures don't live in a good era.

Chen Luoan was injured in the back and couldn't sleep all night because of the pain. The servants had to fan him and change the medicine powder all the time to relieve him.

He had no time to care about his newly married daughter Zhou San, and now he could only protect himself.

Who would have thought that a man who married for beauty would cause such a big mess? Mother and father told the emperor about this matter in a veiled way.

He just couldn't understand. There was already a Concubine Zhen who was the most beautiful among all the women in the palace. Did it mean that all the women in the world had to have royal surnames?

Can't ordinary officials be tainted at all? This is too overbearing.

Look at Zhou's mother-in-law. She is in her fifties, but she is still young, plump and attractive.

An ordinary man like Zhou Guangshu could enjoy the beauty of his mother-in-law for so many years. Although he was not handsome, he was also a handsome young man. How could he not be worthy of the daughter of Zhou family?

In Chen Luoan's opinion, it was just that his uncle was too cautious. She had already married into the Marquis's mansion, so was there any way they could snatch her away?

"The old ancestor is back. I will help you wash up."

Chunxiu saw Yulan helping the old ancestor back to Fushou Hall, and hurriedly poured hot water and took a new cotton handkerchief to help the old ancestor wash and comb her hair. She changed into her usual brown double-breasted jacket and dark red skirt with the words "Wanfu Wanshou" inscribed on it, sat her on the couch, stuffed a pillow in the quilt, and picked up a small sandalwood hammer with a jade handle to massage her shoulders.

"Have you ever seen what Mrs. Zhou looks like?"

Yulan nodded. Mrs. Zhou was in her fifties, but she had no wrinkles or spots on her face. Her skin was still very fair and tender. Only her eyes were a little cloudy and droopy, but her figure was still as straight as that of a woman in her thirties.

She spoke very softly, even softer than the pair of skinny horses from Yangzhou kept in the backyard.

Her eyes were always tearful when she spoke, and there was a seductive look even when she was angry. No wonder Lord Zhou only favored one person.

"I have only seen one person at this age with that kind of appearance."

The old ancestor felt a little sad when he thought of that noble man.

"When I was young, the emperor's biological mother, the now deceased Holy Mother Empress Dowager, was also so beautiful. She was still so charming even in her fifties and sixties. I heard that the current emperor was raised by her when he was almost fifty, and then Princess Fu'an was born. The late emperor was so happy that he directly made her the crown prince, because the late empress dowager was already in her fifties when Princess Fu'an was born."

"He was injured at the root and died within a few years. The late emperor was sad for a long time and didn't care about the emperor who was still the crown prince. Someone took advantage of him and seduced him into sex early on. From then on, he loved beautiful women. Although he didn't make any major mistakes in government affairs, he got too obsessed with beautiful women. There are too many people watching our mansion now and we can't have any more trouble."

The old ancestor thought that his eldest son was now in the court, so he had to be extremely cautious and careful, not daring to be caught in any fault. Even his family was under strict control. Unfortunately, Luo An was from the second house and was his nephew, so he could not be controlled too strictly, as it would be embarrassing for Wang.

All the hard work of the past few years had gone to waste. Yulan pressed the old man's scalp and asked everyone to get off.

Wen Niang took Bihe to the tea room, where several second-class maids gathered.

"What happened? Why did you end up like this after going out?"

Wen Niang shook her head and motioned for them to close the door.

"No wonder the old ancestor is angry. Our Second Master is getting more and more absurd. In the past, at least he was restrained by the Second Master and never did anything too embarrassing. In the past two years, he has grown old and does not listen to advice. He lets the servants instigate him to do whatever he wants. Now that the Second Wife has been born, not only has she caused trouble, but she has also instigated the Second Master to make trouble all day long. How can the old ancestor not be angry?"

Chunxiu was a good talker and immediately slammed the table.

"If you ask me, the Zhou family is really evil-hearted. You might as well have said it openly from the beginning. It would have been easier for us to arrange the marriage properly. But you chose to be so petty and keep it a secret. Fortunately, everyone at the wedding ceremony was from your own clan. Otherwise, with so many people watching, who would have guaranteed that they wouldn't tell anyone?"