After the replacement marriage, I was forced to fight at home

"Have you found it?" Wang let Su Qing put a soft pillow under her lower back and drank the medicine brought by Guo's mother.

"Hanged himself."

"Both?"

"Yes, I was late, and I found it in the woodshed."

"Where is the gatekeeper? How did Jiang arrange it? Just let him be hanged? Doesn't she know that those two girls are very important to her sister?" Wang said angrily, pinching the silk satin quilt.

"Something happened yesterday. The two maids were locked up in the woodshed. It was my negligence. I thought the eldest young lady would know the seriousness of the matter, so I didn't go to check. It is said that the two maids have been silent since they were locked up. They have nothing to eat except water. When I went there just now, they were being untied from the beam."

"But is there anyone in the mansion who has a son?"

"They were all bought from outside, the batch before the New Year."

Su Qing understood. Before the New Year, because the three daughters of the Meng family were going to get married within a year, they would take many maids with them. Liu and Jiang discussed with Song and decided to buy some maids first to learn the rules slowly.

"Where are the two third-class people who took Sister Qi there?"

"She is locked up in the fourth young lady's back room, and the Baocheng family is watching her. She is still crying out that she is innocent, and insists that the fourth young lady is bored and must go out for a walk."

Su Qing listened to Mother Guo reporting the follow-up investigation to Mrs. Wang, and sat there trying to sort out the whole story.

Meng Qi was not very happy about the marriage with Prince Rui, but she was not opposed to it either. Since the engagement, the Queen Mother specially sent two maids and a female official from the palace to teach Meng Qi the rules.

It happened to be the first month of the year, and the people from the palace had two days off. Thousands of people from the needlework room came every day to teach them how to embroider small things, and it was time to finish a belt.

Mother Liu has been busy these days with Suxin, Lixia and two second-class maids counting Meng Qi's private vault every day. She only arranged two third-class maids to serve them.

Originally, it was nothing. Although there were still many banquets in the first month of the year, the three daughters of the Meng family did not attend. In addition, the Meng family did not hold any banquets this year, just to allow the three of them to prepare for their marriage.

Su Qing also came to Qinyuan almost every day to be with Meng Qi, but Wang Shi got a little angry with Liu Shi because of Meng Qi's dowry. The reason was that Meng Changfeng actually gave Meng Juan the most promising manor in the suburbs of Beijing as a dowry.

When Meng Qi was engaged, Song had said that she would give it to Meng Qi. I don't know what Liu said to Meng Changfeng, but the next day she gave it to Meng Juan. Although Meng Changfeng promised to give Meng Qi a good one, Wang still couldn't swallow it and complained a few times, which made Meng Yuan very unhappy.

So, that day, Su Qing did not go to Qinyuan, but stayed with Wang.

Just after taking a nap, a servant came to report that Meng Qi had fallen into the water.

Meng Qi fell into the water in the middle of winter? Su Qing thought he had misheard, and then he was thrown to the ground.

First, two third-class maids who were serving Meng Qi said that after Meng Qi finished embroidering the belt, she wanted to take it to Shanzhitang to show it to Wang and Su Qing. Then they went out and met the third lady Meng Xiu on the way. Meng Xiu asked her to go to Meng Juan's place, but Meng Qi refused to go. The two stood at the fork in the road and talked for a while before parting.

Originally, if you turn left you will reach Shanzhi Hall, but Meng Qi stood there and thought for a while and then went straight forward. In front of you is the lake of the Meng family's small garden. It is called a lake, but it is actually a small pond, but it sounds better to call it a lake.

When they arrived at the pond, two girls were chiseling ice vigorously. Meng Qi was curious and wanted to go and take a look. The girls who followed her were afraid of accidents and tried to persuade her not to go, but Meng Qi refused to listen to them.

Meng Qi went over and asked the girl who was chiseling ice, saying that she had just found several fish, and the two of them were thinking about whether they could catch them.

When Meng Qi heard this, she immediately became interested. She hadn't played with these things for a long time. She took the stone from the girl and started to chisel it.

Originally, that place was the lakeside, and the ice was not thick. It had been chiseled by the two girls for a while. When they exerted force, the ice surface suddenly cracked. Before Meng Qi could be happy, her feet suddenly slipped and she fell headfirst.

In fact, it wasn't her entire body that fell into the water, only her upper body. The two third-class maids serving her were terrified and hurried to pick up Meng Qi, but the ice hole was too small and Meng Qi was stuck there.

Several maids called for people to come. Before the two third-class maids could say anything, the two ice-cutters started shouting, saying that the fourth young lady had cut the ice herself and wanted to jump into the water.

Here, Meng Qi was rescued by a servant and sent to Shanzhi Hall. Before she had changed her clothes, the news spread throughout the mansion that Meng Qi was dissatisfied with her marriage to Prince Rui and had cut ice and jumped into the lake.

Song personally interrogated the case. When she questioned the two third-class maids, they only said that Meng Qi was going to Shanzhi Hall, but for some unknown reason she turned to the lakeside.

When asked what Meng Xiu and Meng Qi talked about, and why Meng Qi did not go directly to Wang's place after they separated, but went to the lake instead? Meng Xiu was shaking, her voice was trembling, and she said that they just talked about the marriage of several people, and Meng Xiu originally wanted to go to Meng Juan's place.

Ever since Su Qing returned to the clan, Meng Xiu came to the first room less often, and instead often went to the third room to be with Meng Juan.

As for what she said to Meng Qi, Meng Xiu only said some casual greetings, which were nothing more than words like how the dowry was prepared, and nothing else.

The last people to be questioned were the two maids who were chiseling the ice. What they said surprised everyone. They actually said that they were assigned by the Fourth Young Lady to chisel the ice. The Fourth Young Lady also told them not to tell anyone. If anyone asked, they were to say that they saw some beautiful fish and wanted to catch them. That's why they said that in front of the two third-rate maids.

After the two maids finished saying this, Mother Liu came up and slapped them hard in the face, saying that they were talking nonsense. Even Mother Liu couldn't remember their names, so how could the Fourth Young Miss arrange them to do such a job.

But the two girls insisted that it was Meng Qi who arranged it, and said that the fourth young lady was going to use this to do something big, something that would scare everyone. No matter how Madam Liu beat them, the two girls just wouldn't give in.

When asked why they shouted those words when they saw Meng Qi falling into the water, the two girls said they were so scared that they didn't even know what they said.

------

"It must be related to the Third House. Ever since Meng Hai brought Liu back, we have never had a moment of peace. Everyone knows that the Third House was involved in the matter between Sister Qi and Mr. Hong San, but the Marquis didn't even ask. It's a pity that even though we know it's the fact, we still can't produce any evidence to ask for an explanation."

Wang said bitterly, "It's because I'm incompetent that I let them do whatever they want and bully my daughter like this."

"Don't say that. You also said that we have no evidence. Which of these things can people admit? Not to mention that in many cases, everyone thinks that it was the fourth sister who took the initiative. And grandfather must have had his reasons for doing this. Even he turned a blind eye to it. What can our eldest wife say?" Su Qing comforted Wang.

"Fortunately, the fourth sister is fine, but we can't just let this matter go. We have to give them some pain. They really let us, the eldest wife, be bullied by them time and time again."

"That's right. I've been a clay figurine for so long that they all think I'm easy to bully. We can't rely on your father, and don't let your third brother get involved in this matter. Now that the two girls are gone, we can only wait for Sister Qi to wake up. Let's understand what happened before making any plans."

Su Qing heard that Wang didn't mention the eldest son at all, and she knew that it was Meng Shao and his wife who really disappointed her. It was good that way, because it was useless to fight for a son and daughter-in-law who didn't care about her at all.

"Yes, mother is right. It is never too late for a gentleman to take revenge. Besides, it won't take us ten years. In my opinion, we should make plans after our fourth sister gets married. We must make them feel bitter."

Wang nodded. This was all she could do now. "I don't know if your third brother can stop the rumors."

"Don't worry. My daughter asked Chuan'er to go with Third Brother to look for Mr. Zhou Er. Mr. Zhou Er has many friends. If we spread the word and explain a little, it will definitely work. But I'm afraid we need to ask someone to emphasize this to King Rui."

"Ah, I don't know who Prince Rui is on good terms with on a daily basis. I heard that he has a very good temper. But people like him often won't change their minds once they have made up their minds. I'm really afraid that he will do that to Sister Qi again..."

"I've already told Chuan'er to ask Master Zhou Er to see if he can get in touch with Prince Rui through the Prince of Yong'an or the Third Master of Pingxi Marquis. Things have already happened, so mother shouldn't worry anymore. Even though the rumors have spread, few people will believe them. It will only make things more frustrating for others."

The two were chatting when they heard Madam Liu's joyful voice coming from the inner room, "The fourth young lady has woken up."