Bai Xiuxiu dared to curse her son. Jin Huifang, who had originally been playing around, didn't waste any more words. She rolled up her sleeves, rushed in front of Bai Xiuxiu, and slapped her hard across the face.
Slap!
The crisp sound made the maids and old women from the third and fourth branches in the courtyard open their eyes in horror.
Bai Xiuxiu covered her face, her eyes red with anger. "You, you dared to hit me. Jin Huifang, I'll fight you to the death."
Bai Xiuxiu rushed forward to hit Jin Huifang.
During her miscarriage recovery period, Bai Xiuxiu was angry every day and cursed the Jiang family for bullying her. Her body hadn't fully recovered, and moreover, she was of a petite and delicate build.
Jin Huifang was tall and long - legged. Facing Bai Xiuxiu, she easily overpowered her, raising her big hand and hitting Bai Xiuxiu hard in the face.
As she hit, she cursed, "I'll teach you to curse my son. Bai Xiuxiu, you foul - mouthed... "
Bai Xiuxiu wasn't one to accept defeat either. She kicked and punched Jin Huifang non - stop.
"Jin Huifang, you're as vicious as a snake. I curse your son to be born without an anus... "
While scolding, they used their hands and feet to try to cause the greatest harm to each other.
Bai Xiuxiu suffered more. She glanced at the maids and shouted, "What are you standing there for? Come and help me."
The maids and old women of the third branch, who didn't know what to do, rushed up to help when they heard this.
Seeing this, the servants of the fourth branch thought they couldn't let their own mistress suffer. So they also rushed up.
The fight between the two women turned into a fight between the female relatives of the two branches.
The two branches had always been at odds. This time, they seized the opportunity to settle old scores. They fought without holding back at all.
When Zhuang Meixue and Old Madam Jiang, who had received the news, rushed over to stop the two sides from fighting, the female relatives involved from both branches were already black - and - blue, with hairpins and rings scattered all over the place and their clothes in disarray.
"You're really outrageous," Old Madam Jiang pointed at Jin Huifang and Bai Xiuxiu, her hand shaking. It would be a disgrace to the Jiang family if it got out that the main mistresses of the family had led a fight.
The servants were all taken away, and Old Madam Jiang personally interrogated Jin Huifang and Bai Xiuxiu.
"Tell me, what's going on?"
"Mother, you have to stand up for me. Look at what she's done to my face," Bai Xiuxiu cried.
In the past, when Bai Xiuxiu cried, she looked like a delicate flower in the rain, pitiful and charming. But today, with her purple - and - blue pig - like face, it was just an eyesore.
Old Madam Jiang lowered her eyes and didn't want to look. Zhuang Meixue beside her kept a straight face but secretly thought, Well done.
Jin Huifang also rolled her eyes. "Why don't you mention the fact that you cursed my son? My son has just turned one, and you're so vicious as to curse him not to live long," Jin Huifang couldn't continue and kicked Bai Xiuxiu again.
"Mother, look. Jin Huifang dared to hit me right in front of you. You can see how arrogant and domineering she usually is. I've really been bullied so much... " Bai Xiuxiu wailed loudly, her voice full of grievance.
Old Madam Jiang's head ached from the crying.
"Stop crying. Both of you are in the wrong in this matter. Each of you will have your monthly allowance deducted for a year," Old Madam Jiang punished both sides equally.
"I'm not convinced. She hit me first. Mother, you're so partial," Bai Xiuxiu thought that since she wasn't Old Madam Jiang's biological daughter, the old lady didn't care about her.
She also resented Old Madam Jiang in her heart.
"I'll accept the punishment. But I still stand by my words. No matter who cursed and harmed my son, I won't let them off easily." Her son was Jin Huifang's bottom line and the one thing she couldn't tolerate any harm to.
"You're angry because I cursed your son. But why are you pinning the blame on me?" Bai Xiuxiu was full of grievances. Just because she was a concubine-born daughter-in-law, she was being framed for stealing the jasper orchid hairpin out of the blue.
"Do you think I'm such a shallow person?"
"I do things in an upright manner. If you want to slander me, show me the evidence." Jin Huifang didn't want to argue with Bai Xiuxiu.
"We've been sisters-in-law for many years. I know a bit about your personalities. I don't think it could be either of you who did this," Zhuang Meixue said.
"Are you saying it was you? Are you the one behind all this?" Bai Xiuxiu looked at Zhuang Meixue suspiciously.
The others in the room rolled their eyes. This woman didn't deserve their kindness.
"Second sister-in-law means that someone is taking advantage of the chaos," Jin Huifang understood what Zhuang Meixue meant.
"Keep investigating. Meixue, I'll leave this matter to you. You must find out the truth," Old Madam Jiang ordered.
"Yes," Zhuang Meixue replied.
"Mother, I want to help with the investigation too," Jin Huifang wasn't going to let those who tried to frame her go.
"I... I also want to investigate," Bai Xiuxiu quickly said. Once she found out who did it, she'd tear them to pieces.
The three sisters-in-law rarely united to investigate a single thing.
Soon, they found out that Hongxing had a lover, who was the page boy beside Jiang Mingshu.
Jiang Mingshu was the son of Concubine Bai. It was this mother - son pair who wanted to get rid of the third and fourth households to pave the way for Jiang Mingshu.
Concubine Bai and Jiang Mingshu naturally wouldn't admit it. They insisted on continuing the investigation. Then they found out that Hongxing's adoptive mother was the daughter of Jiang Mingyue's wet - nurse.
Was Jiang Mingyue the one who cried "thief" while being the thief herself? Was she deliberately causing trouble because she disliked her sisters-in-law?
Jiang Mingyue naturally protested her innocence and demanded further investigation.
Then they discovered that Hongxing had an adoptive elder brother, and his wife worked in Qushui Courtyard.
The investigation led to the second household...
After going around in circles, except for Old Master Jiang, Old Madam Jiang, and the first household far away in the capital, all the other households in the Jiang family were involved and there were problems with each of them.
In the end, Old Master Jiang stopped the investigation. He said it should end there and no further investigation was allowed.
If they continued, the Jiang family would fall apart.
The patrol team was also ordered to return to night - time patrols and not to patrol around during the day anymore.
The servants in the mansion were happy. Li'er was so happy that she ate two extra bowls of rice. She was so full that she walked around the courtyard until midnight before going to sleep.
On the surface, the Jiang family restored an atmosphere of harmony, but secretly, the different households were on guard against each other and also forming secret alliances.
The fourth and second households, being brothers born of the same mother, became much closer.
Ye Yunniang, as Jiang Tingjun's wet - nurse, often carried him and followed Jin Huifang to Qushui Courtyard to see Zhuang Meixue.
Zhuang Meixue really liked Jiang Tingjun and would always hold him for a while.
Ye Yunniang always felt that something was off, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was.
***
On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, there was a dragon boat race in Jiangcheng.
All the official families and wealthy households in Jiangcheng would organize dragon boat teams to participate in the race.
This year's dragon boat race coincided with the inauguration of a new prefect, making it even more exciting than before.
The Jiang Mansion selected people from the patrol teams and servants in the mansion to participate in a competition.
This year, in order to show themselves, both Jiang Mingrui and Jiang Mingshu signed up for it.
Since her husband was participating, Jin Huifang attached great importance to it and voluntarily took on the task of arranging the colored shed.
In May, the weather was hot. For the convenience of watching the race and also for making money, the prefect's office would demarcate a waterside viewing area and sell it to the wealthy merchants in the city.
The Jiang family bought the largest plot every year and set up a colored shed for their own family to watch the competition. Jin Huifang asked Zhuang Meixue for quite a few people, and this year the Jiang family's colored shed was built tall and large.
On the Dragon Boat Festival, it was originally Ye Yunniang's turn to be on duty.
Taohong, in order to show herself, exchanged the duty day with Ye Yunniang in advance on the pretext of having family matters.
Ye Yunniang also wanted to watch the dragon - boat race well, so she agreed to the exchange. At this moment, she was huddled with Li'er watching the dragon - boat race.
The colored shed had two floors. The second floor was where the masters of the Jiang Mansion watched the dragon - boat race, while the first floor was for the maids, women servants and young servants of the Jiang Mansion.
All the masters of the Jiang Mansion had come, and each of them brought quite a few attendants.
There wasn't enough space for so many people on the second floor. Only one attendant was left beside each master, and the rest stayed on the first floor.
There were so many people that Ye Yunniang was squeezed into a corner. Li'er didn't know where she had gone.
Ye Yunniang didn't want to be squeezed and stepped on anymore. She simply walked to the side, hoping to find Cai Damei and Pan'er.
Last time when she went back, Cai Damei had said that she had made an appointment with Cai Xiaomei to come and watch the dragon - boat race together.
Ye Yunniang squeezed through the crowd for a while but didn't find the people she wanted to see.
Seeing that it was getting late, Ye Yunniang decided to go back to the Jiang Mansion's colored shed.
As she walked back, Ye Yunniang casually glanced around.
A slightly plump woman in coarse cloth clothes in front caught her attention.
No, to be exact, it was the shoes on the child in the woman's arms.
The shoes on the child's feet looked very familiar.
