Yunchu’s Vengeance - Chapter 30
Chapter 30: Madam Xie Has Fallen Ill
Yun Chu fell ill immediately after returning to the Xie residence.
Sickness struck like a landslide; her entire body ached severely, and she could not even find restful sleep.
Those who came to pay their morning greetings waited in the side hall until Ting Shuang walked out and spoke softly, "The Madam has taken ill. There is no need for anyone to come for morning greetings for the foreseeable future."
Everyone knew that this time, the Madam was truly sick. Several different physicians had been summoned, and the scent of medicinal decoctions lingered everywhere across the courtyard.
Consort Jiang said with a face full of worry, "The Sheng Residence is in complete disarray. Perhaps I should stay behind to tend to the Madam."
Ting Shuang shook her head. "We have several maids here to wait upon the Madam, so we won't trouble Consort Jiang. Everyone may return."
Xie Ping stood up and said, "Mother is ill, and normally I shouldn't burden her with trivial matters, but I truly have no idea how to handle this. Could Sister Ting Shuang help offer an idea?"
"The Eldest Miss must be wanting to ask about the Old Madam's birthday celebration," Ting Shuang replied. "The Madam has given word that if the Eldest Miss truly cannot make up her mind, she may consult the First Madam and the Old Madam."
Xie Ping pressed her lips together tightly.
She simply could not fathom it. They were merely two children who had died four years ago; why did Mother suddenly fixate on them so deeply?
Not only had she slapped her father across the face on account of those two deceased children, but now she was feigning illness to shirk all household domestic duties. Was she truly determined to completely sever her bond with Father?
Was Mother truly not afraid of losing the actual authority of the mistress of the household?
Leaving the Sheng Residence, Xie Ping clutched a ledger of accounts and headed toward the Hall of Longevity.
The Old Madam and the First Madam were currently conversing.
"Although those two children died prematurely, they were still the bloodline of the Xie family. How could they be buried right beside the Yun family's ancestral grounds?" the Old Madam said, gnashing her teeth in anger. "She, Yun Chu, is no longer merely a daughter of the Yun family; she is the principal matron of the Xie clan. How could she subject the Xie family to such supreme humiliation?"
Lady Yuan sighed. "Examining this matter closely, the Xie family is indeed in the wrong."
They originally should have brought the children's remains back to the Xie family's ancestral home in Jizhou to be interred near the ancestral hall, but...
When all was said and done, it was because Xie Jingyu had attached far too little importance to those two deceased children; that the Yun family made such a massive uproar was entirely understandable.
"Jingyu was supposed to be promoted to a fifth-rank senior official, but because of this incident, he has become a target of impeachment in the imperial court," the Old Madam said, thoroughly displeased. "If Yun Chu hadn't suddenly taken it into her head to rebury the children, the Xie family would never have stumbled into this mess. How wonderful for her to claim illness and wash her hands of everything, leaving poor Jingyu to struggle step by step in the court..."
Lady Yuan did not know what to say either.
At that moment, Xie Ping stepped into the room, offered her respects to the two elders, and then spoke, "The Old Madam's birthday is rapidly approaching, and I still have two matters here that have yet to be finalized. I originally wanted to seek Mother's guidance, but since Mother is ill and unable to rise from bed, I had no choice but to come and trouble the Old Madam and Grandmother."
The Old Madam's expression turned exceedingly unsightly.
As the Xie estate grew larger and trivial chores multiplied, Yun Chu was actually abandoning a major event like a birthday celebration, dumping all of it onto an unmarried young maiden like Ping-jie'er!
Was she certain that the Xie estate could not function without the mistress of the house, and was she deliberately retaliating for the Xie family's failure to properly bury the children four years ago?
She shouldn't have handed over twenty thousand silver liang the other day to let Yun Chu continue managing the household; it had only made Yun Chu think she held a tight grip on the entire Xie estate.
A cold sneer surfaced on the Old Madam's face as she commanded, "Ping-jie'er, what are the two unsettled matters? Speak of them so we can discuss them together."
Xie Ping replied, "One is the list of invited guests, and the other is the menu for the banquet tables. My thoughts are as follows..."
She carefully laid out her own ideas.
She still wanted to invite various high-ranking officials and nobles; whether they chose to come was their prerogative, but invitations still needed to be sent out just in case someone was willing to show up and grace them with their presence.
The Old Madam shook her head. "Because of yesterday's affair, the Xie family has become the laughingstock of the capital. Who would be willing to cross our threshold to offer birthday greetings?"
Xie Ping dared not say any more and promptly moved on to the second topic: "I want to make the Old Madam's birthday banquet a lavish affair, but covering a dozen or more banquet tables will require at least two thousand silver liang, and the public accounts simply do not have that much funds remaining..."
Without a second thought, the Old Madam nodded in agreement. Since she only celebrated a birthday once a year, naturally she wanted it to be hosted grandly.
The birthday banquets of the past three years had been exceptionally magnificent; presumably, Yun Chu had supplemented the expenses out of her own dowry funds.
If Yun Chu feigned illness and refused to manage these matters this year, and the birthday banquet ended up being a disaster, the very first people to watch the Xie family make a fool of themselves would undoubtedly be the members of the Yun family.
Turning her gaze toward Mama Zhou beside her, she ordered, "Withdraw three thousand silver liang and give it to Ping-jie'er."
A smile bloomed on Xie Ping's face. "Thank you, Old Madam. I will certainly host a splendid and glorious birthday banquet for you."
If this birthday banquet went off successfully, her reputation for being skilled in household management would surely spread far and wide, and suitors coming to propose marriage to the Xie family would undoubtedly trample their threshold flat.
Armed with silver, Xie Ping handled matters with even greater fluency, pouring all her energy into the preparations for the birthday banquet.
After resting for three full days, Yun Chu gradually regained her physical strength, though her spirits remained somewhat listless. She spent her entire day sitting by the window reading books, causing Ting Shuang and the other maids to worry endlessly.
"Madam." Gathering her courage, Qiutong stepped inside and lowered her head. "You have rested for three days and your illness has improved; your martial arts training cannot be shelved any longer."
Yun Chu closed her book. "Look at me, I actually forgot about such an important matter. Let's go, time to practice martial arts."
Changing into brisk, nimble attire, she followed Qiutong out to the courtyard to squat in a horse stance.
Although it was springtime and the air retained a biting chill, after holding the stance in the courtyard for a solid hour and a half, fine, dense beads of sweat quickly broke out all over her body.
Qiutong spoke up, "Madam, the time is up."
Yun Chu stood as unyielding as a statue. "I can still push through."
Having wasted three or four days, she needed to make up for all the time she had lost.
At first, she managed to steady her posture, but gradually her physical strength began to fail, and her body swayed from time to time.
Though Ting Shuang tried to persuade her to stop on several occasions, Yun Chu refused every single time, insisting on completing a full two hours of practice.
It was only past noon when Yun Chu finally rested. After Ting Shuang helped her bathe and change into fresh clothes, her entire demeanor finally regained a touch of vitality.
"Madam, the Old Madam's birthday banquet is only a few days away now," Ting Shuang said while drying her hair. "This year's banquet is being entirely managed by the Eldest Miss. From the few casual inquiries this servant made, I could already sense numerous problems. You really must offer the Eldest Miss some pointers, Madam, otherwise something is bound to go wrong on the day of the banquet."
Yun Chu gazed at her own reflection in the bronze mirror. "Spread the word outside that Madam Xie has fallen ill—so sick she cannot even rise from her bed."
Casting a worried look, Ting Shuang replied, "Madam, you shouldn't curse yourself like that."
"If simply speaking words could make them come true, wouldn't the world fall into complete chaos?" A faint smile surfaced on Yun Chu's face. "If I am ill, then no matter what goes wrong during this birthday banquet, it has nothing to do with me. Do you understand?"
Ting Shuang's eyes lit up. "This servant understands."
After drying Yun Chu's hair, she hurried out of the inner courtyard, summoned Chen Defu, and gave him a few whispered instructions.
The news that the eldest legitimate daughter of the Grand General's estate and the wife of the Ministry of Revenue's secretary, Madam Xie, had fallen gravely ill instantly spread across the entire capital.
"Have you all heard? A few days ago, that Madam Xie went to rebury her prematurely deceased children, dragging two coffins all the way from the south of the city to the west."
"Those Xie family members are truly scoundrels! Even though the children died in infancy, they were still direct, legitimate blood descendants. How could they casually toss them onto some random hillside to be buried without fearing retribution?"
"Such a fine eldest daughter of a grand general's estate, yet she married Xie Jingyu when he was merely a seventh-rank official. I truly have no idea why the Yun family chose such a match!"
"..."
"I heard the proprietor of the Shendetang Pharmacy say that the inner quarters of the Xie residence are in utter turmoil; concubines are poisoning each other to cause miscarriages. Who's to say Madam Xie's children who died prematurely back then weren't actually murdered as well?"
"People from the Xie residence are saying Madam Xie is extremely ill, to the point where she can't even manage the Old Madam's birthday banquet and seems unable to even get out of bed. Could she have been poisoned by the concubines in the back courtyard too?"
"The principal wife cannot bear children, while every single one of those concubines has given birth to sons. I suppose they've harbored wild delusions, thinking that once the mistress dies, they can be elevated to legitimate wives."
"If Official Xie can't even manage the women in his own back courtyard, how can anyone expect him to be a good official…”