The Virtuous Concubine

Aunt Hongyu's method was actually very simple. She didn't want to hurt Mayanzhu's reputation. After all, she was the one who taught her. If she didn't even pass the small selection, then Sai and Li would definitely know that there was something fishy going on.

Nowadays, women have complicated hair buns, and usually they only wash their hair once a week or two after they have done it. They also apply a lot of clay oil to protect their hair and maintain their hairstyle. Aunt Hongyu came up with a clever idea and replaced the hair oil with refined sheep oil, the strong smell of which is so strong that it can make people faint.

Then she mixed some strong liquor and other strong spices in it. The spices would cover up the smell of mutton fat, and the strong liquor would accelerate the evaporation of the spices. Aunt Hongyu repeatedly tested the time it took for the spices to cover up and reveal the smell of mutton fat, and finally mixed an accurate ratio.

This ratio can ensure that Mayanzhu will pass the examination after entering the palace smoothly, but after a day, there will be a strong lingering smell of sheep fat on her body - in this way, Mayanzhu will not leave a bad record, and she can go home after a while and get married in a low-key manner.

But there were too many variables in the palace, and she did not expect something like this to happen.

Although the goal was successfully achieved, the extent of Mayanzhu's injury was beyond everyone's expectations. She was listless all day long and even had a big quarrel with Sai and Li. Sai and Li were also very angry. Not only did their plan fail, but they also lost such a big person!

She no longer spoiled Mayanzhu as before. She would scold her every time she saw her. Mayanzhu didn't want to see her. She didn't even go to the daily visits. She stayed in her room every day and did nothing. Her mother's accusations and scoldings were like a poisonous snake entwining Mayanzhu's heart. Whenever she heard the servants in the house pointing fingers at her behind her back, her heart felt like it was being cut by a knife. She hid in her room, not wanting to see anyone. She became more and more depressed day by day, and even her appetite gradually disappeared.

Sai and Li saw this and felt a little bit reluctant, but when they thought about their original plan being completely ruined, their anger was rekindled.

Ecan felt that he had to take into account the reputation of the girls from the Malu and Uya families, and because Sai and Li refused to cooperate, he had to let Weiwu go to the homes of the two girls to apologize and bring generous gifts to meet the father and brother of the other family to settle the matter.

After resolving these issues, Ecan wanted to just marry Mayanzhu off and choose someone from an ordinary family who was honest and obedient, and not think about looking for young talents or aristocratic families, but Sai and Li disagreed.

Weiwu looked at his dissatisfied wife in front of him and felt his temples throbbing. "What else do you want? Mayanzhu's reputation has been ruined. She got into a fight in the palace and caused other girls to be disfigured. What can we do about this? It will only be more difficult to find her if we delay it any further."

Sai Heli retorted unyieldingly: "She is my daughter who was raised by me. I can't just marry her off like that! Although Mayanzhu made mistakes, she is no worse than others. She also has a sister who is a concubine in the palace! As long as we choose carefully, we may be able to find a good family for her."

Weiwu frowned and said, "A good family? Do you think those noble families would be interested in a woman with a bad reputation? Instead of forcing her, it is better to find an honest and decent family and let her live a stable life."

Sai Heli sneered: "You say that so easily! Are you going to let her suffer for the rest of her life just because of this incident? I don't agree!"

Weiwu's patience was gradually exhausted. He just felt that the person in front of him was unreasonable, but because of the child, he couldn't do anything about her.

Weiwu sneered, "Look at Malu, she grew up in the presence of her mother, she is like a fish in water in the palace, no one says anything bad about her. Even so, you still despise her, despise your mother's teachings and make the child alienated from you. You yourself raised a child who brought such a big trouble to the family, and you still act like the mistress of the house who teaches her daughter well, it's really ridiculous!"

Finally, Weiwu sighed heavily and said, "What's the point of your disagreement? If you don't believe me, just go and look for her. If you can find the right one, I won't care anymore. But if I still can't find one after three months, I will send her to my superior in a sedan chair to be his concubine! It won't be a waste of my raising her for so many years."

Sai and Li gritted their teeth and nodded: "Then I'll go find it! I'll find it and show you!"

However, things did not go as smoothly as Sai Heli had hoped. After hearing that Mayanju was not selected and was expelled from the palace, several ladies who had been interested in her avoided her. Some even ridiculed her behind her back. Sai Heli visited several families, but was turned away by all of them.

As time went by, there was no progress in Mayanzhu's marriage, and Saihe Lishi became more and more anxious. She secretly made up her mind to find a suitable family herself, no matter how much it cost.

The result was very cruel. She had originally thought of finding the sons of some third-rank officials, or newcomers who had passed the imperial examination, or the legitimate sons of aristocratic families. As a result, now only the families of scholars and juren who were not in the aristocratic circle and were not well-informed were willing to consider marriage with Mayanzhu.

Sai and Li went out every day and came back angry and started to scold their daughter. Sometimes they scolded Mayanzhu for being stupid and incompetent, and for being easily deceived when being framed. Sometimes they scolded Malu for not being able to protect Mayanzhu, for not having a high enough position, and for not bringing any benefit to the family when she gave birth to a child.

Days like this really made Mayanzhu feel completely hopeless.

On a gloomy afternoon, Sai and Li had just left, and Mayanzhu sat in front of the dressing table, reflecting her haggard face in the mirror. She chose to pick up the scissors on the dressing table, and in the screams of Banyue and Banmeng, she cut off most of her hair.

Banyue and Banmeng tried their best to stop him from shaving off all his hair. Manchus cut off their hair like they cut off their heads. They knew that this was a great taboo in Manchu tradition. Madam would definitely beat them to death tomorrow!

The two of them hugged Mayanzhu tightly and cried with her. Mayanzhu's tears finally flowed out, and her heart seemed to break along with the broken hair. She knew that this cut not only cut her hair, but also cut off her connection with the world, and cut off all her pride and dignity. Her cry was full of despair and helplessness, and she felt abandoned by the world.

Ban Yue and Ban Meng hugged her tightly, their hearts were also in turmoil. They knew that what awaited them was definitely the anger and punishment of Sai and Li. They tried to comfort Mayan Zhu, but they themselves were also shaking.

Sai and Li rushed over when they heard the noise and almost fainted when they saw the broken hair all over the floor.

She recovered and then began to scream: "What are you doing? Are you going to curse me to death?"

Mayanju looked up, with tears in her eyes, but the look she gave her was not sad, but disgust and hatred. Seeing her indifferent, Sai and Li were so angry that they fainted.

Banyue and Banmeng also hated this lady, but they were just small people with limited ability to resist, so they could only pretend not to see it. One of them helped Mayanzhu to lie on the bed and stayed with her, while the other went to the front yard to wait and take up the duty.

The people following Sai and Li glared at them fiercely, pinched Sai and Li's Ren Zhong and sprinkled water on them before they woke up. Before the doctor came, Sai and Li ran to Mayanzhu's bedroom angrily, pushed away Ban Meng who was guarding beside her, and tried to drag Mayanzhu off the bed.

Mayanzhu didn't resist or struggle, she just slid off the bed like a tattered bag. Seeing her passive resistance, Sai and Li became even angrier and slapped her twice.