A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

After hearing this, Jinbao felt that it made sense. He wiped his tears and said bitterly: "The vixen, the Eighth Concubine, actually hurt me like this just to please the Madam. I will never let her go." Then he turned and left.

The next day, Sha Yanyao had Jinbao sent to Nanjing by train. She called back that night and said that she had arrived in Nanjing, but for some unknown reason, her body was covered with red rashes. When she went to the Tian family to pay her respects, the Tian family didn't even let her in, so she had to go back to her usual house and celebrate the New Year alone.

Because of this incident, the wife held the Eighth Concubine in particularly high regard, and even said with a smile, "If our old man had married you earlier, I don't know how much easier it would have been. These women in the family only care about themselves and don't think about the family at all. I've been in Nanjing most of the time these past few years, and they've really been driving me crazy."

The third and fourth concubines looked obviously unhappy when they heard this. It was not surprising. They were both elderly people in the Marshal's Mansion and had children. The fourth concubine, in particular, had a son and was once the most favored person in the Marshal's Mansion.

The Fourth Concubine had seen the world, and her expression changed in a second. She smiled and said, "Sister, you are embarrassing us sisters by saying this. We really want to share your worries, but you are the wife of the principal house after all. You still have to take care of some things yourself. If you let others do it, it will be against the rules."

Gui'er couldn't help but admire the Fourth Concubine as she listened to this. She was indeed a favored lady in the Marshal's Mansion for many years. Her words not only flattered the Madam, but also reminded her not to hand over the power to the Eighth Concubine, otherwise her main wife would lose power.

When the lady heard this, she was stunned for a moment and then fell silent.

The Eighth Concubine glanced at the Fourth Concubine, who smiled at her very friendly. Although the Fourth Concubine had made her feel humiliated, the Eighth Concubine did not dare to say anything. She could not possibly tell the Madam that she could rest assured to hand over the power to her and that she would never overstep her bounds. No one would believe her.

Gui'er saw all of this and she felt that the Eighth Concubine was really a very strange person. Most concubines came into the house just to get pregnant quickly so that they could have a child, consolidate their status, and have someone to rely on for the rest of their lives.

The eighth concubine was not like that. Although she was very favored and tried hard to win over the other concubines, she was not afraid of offending Jinbao. You know, Jinbao was the mother of the eldest grandson. When the child grew up, Jinbao's position might be very stable. By then, the eighth concubine would be in trouble.

Gui'er told Sha Yanxiao about this. Sha Yanxiao was also very surprised and said, "It seems that this woman is very extraordinary. It's a pity that she just arrived and there is no one who can get close to her at the moment."

Gui'er thought about it and suddenly remembered that every courtyard in the Marshal's Mansion had a maid assigned by the Madam. All of them were named with the word "Xiang". These maids grew up in the Marshal's Mansion and were considered family-born maids. Since the Eighth Concubine was so favored, there must be some in her courtyard too.

So he called Dingxiang and asked her, "Dingxiang, are there any maids with the surname Xiang in the Eighth Concubine's courtyard?"

Dingxiang thought for a moment and said, "Yes, there is one. Her name is Kuixiang, but she's a bit dull. I heard that she was chosen by the Eighth Concubine on purpose. No one quite understands because Kuixiang is clumsy, often makes mistakes, and has a bad memory. The housekeeper thinks she can't serve the master well, so he usually lets her do rough work in the Marshal's courtyard. I didn't expect she would be so lucky to be chosen by the favored Eighth Concubine."

Gui'er and Sha Yanxiao smiled at each other, and Gui'er said to Dingxiang, "It's like this. The Eighth Concubine is so favored now. Madam even said that she wants to entrust the affairs of the Marshal's Mansion to her while she's away. I think we should still build a good relationship with her. When you have time, go talk to Kuixiang more often. You can also give some of my imported cookies and peach cakes to Kuixiang."

When Dingxiang heard about this good news, she smiled and said, "That's great! I didn't expect that I would benefit from Kuixiang's influence. But is this Eighth Concubine really worth fawning over like this? Even the maids around her have to please her. Master, you are the Young Marshal."

Sha Yanxiao smiled and said, "She's my father's personal assistant. Maybe we still need her help in some matters. Of course, if Kuixiang hears anything new over there, she can tell us about it."

Ding Xiang immediately understood what Sha Yanxiao meant and said quickly, "Okay, Master, I understand."

It turns out that this method is really effective. Every day when Dingxiang has free time, she brings Taosu and Bingchuan to chat with Kuixiang. Kuixiang is also a simple-minded person. When she sees something delicious to eat, she tells her everything that happens in the concubine's yard.

Dingxiang also knew a lot of gossip, for example, the Marshal was supposed to go to the Seventh Concubine's house that day, but just in the middle of the night, the Eighth Concubine suddenly had a stomachache. The servants in her yard hurried to the Seventh Concubine's yard to inform the Marshal, and the Marshal went to the Eighth Concubine's room and never went back to the Seventh Concubine's house. For another example, the chef in the Eighth Concubine's yard was specially invited from outside, and his specialty was making all kinds of nourishing medicinal foods. Every time the Marshal went there for dinner, the Eighth Concubine asked the kitchen to make Eucommia ulmoides and old turtle soup. The Marshal drank it, and the servants in the Eighth Concubine's yard would not be able to sleep that day because the noise was too loud.

Dingxiang would tell Guier and Sha Yanxiao about every bit of gossip she found, but some of it was a bit too much. Sha Yanxiao coughed and said, "Don't tell us about that kind of thing anymore."

Ding Xiang quickly said embarrassedly, "Oh, okay, then can you tell me about the Eighth Concubine taking birth control pills?"

Gui'er and Sha Yanxiao were startled when they heard this. Sha Yanxiao frowned and asked, "What's going on?"

Seeing Sha Yanxiao's interest, Dingxiang quickly said, "It's like this. Because Kuixiang is too dumb, the Eighth Concubine won't let her serve close to her, so she's responsible for cleaning the room and doing laundry. A few days ago, she found a prescription under the bed. It only had two prescriptions on it: saffron and musk. When Kuixiang told me about it, I was shocked too and told her not to tell anyone."

Gui'er and Sha Yanxiao exchanged a glance, and Sha Yanxiao said to Dingxiang, "Not bad, you did a great job. Keep investigating later."

After Dingxiang left, Guier said to Sha Yanxiao, "Brother, do you think there's something wrong here?"

Sha Yanxiao nodded and said, "That's totally wrong. As the eighth concubine, her father is in poor health and she's old. If she doesn't try to have a child soon, her later years will be miserable. But there's another possibility, that is, she doesn't plan to stay in the Marshal's Mansion for long, so naturally she can't have children."