First Phoenix Lady - Chapter 29

Old Madam Shi was about to explode with anger.

Wen Huiyi, that troublemaker, was determined to ruin the future of the Marquis Mansion!

With her wailing and crying, the Marquis Mansion was full of people with loose tongues. If anyone happened to let slip a few words, Shi Yunqi would be branded as someone who curries favor and is heartless.

The current Mingde Emperor values propriety and law above all else and would never look favorably upon such a minister.

Wen Huiyi was dead set on destroying Qi’s future. Even if he were to come first in the Metropolitan Examination and enter the Palace Examination, the Emperor would discard him because of these rumors.

Thinking of this, Old Madam Shi struck her cane heavily. “Wen Huiyi, have you not made enough of a scene?”

Concubine Wen’s outburst was entirely because she had just been provoked by Shi Anxia.

Whenever she thought of Madam Tang paving the way for Shi Yunqi with the support of the Duke of State Protection Mansion and the entire Marquis Mansion, ensuring Shi Yunqi’s rise to success, she was consumed with jealousy.

She knew very well how intelligent and studious Shi Yunqi was. If only he were a bit duller, she wouldn’t have gone to such lengths to torment him.

If it weren’t for Xing occasionally needing Shi Yunqi, she would have preferred to make him stupid or even dead, just to quell her jealousy.

Why should her son be dead, while Tang Chujun’s son could have a bright future and a splendid life? Why should those two-mother and son-still be so close and affectionate?

Blinded by rage, she completely forgot her daughter’s warning not to act rashly. She raised her head and said, “Aunt, I am not making a scene! I just want Qi back!”

It seemed Madam Tang had just heard the commotion. Surrounded by several Maids and old women, she walked out from the main house, standing dignified and elegant under the main hall’s veranda, looking coldly at Concubine Wen as if she were a clown.

Dressed in luxurious attire, Madam Tang assumed the bearing of the Duke’s Mansion’s legitimate daughter, exuding an innate sense of authority. “Isn’t it perfectly normal for children born of concubines to be raised under the name of the legitimate wife? When did it become a concubine’s place to shout and demand her child? Or is it that the rules of our Jian’an Marquis Mansion are different from other noble families in the Capital? Even if the sky were to fall, no one would say a word against Qi.”

Old Madam Shi heard this and thought, yes! Madam Tang is the legitimate wife; it is only proper for children born of concubines to be raised under her name. There was never any issue-why hadn’t she thought of this before?

Then she heard Madam Tang say coldly, “It seems I have been too lenient with the concubines in the mansion, allowing them to develop these vulgar habits. Starting tomorrow, all of you will come to me at the beginning of the hour of Chen to learn proper conduct!”

Concubine Wen was stunned-not only by Madam Tang’s reasonable words but also by her transformed beauty and aura.

Suddenly, she recalled the first time she met Madam Tang upon entering the mansion.

Back then, Madam Tang was also beautiful enough to inspire jealousy, yet she was fragile, distracted, and out of place in the Marquis Mansion.

Ever since the child swap, Concubine Wen had felt an inexplicable sense of superiority whenever she saw Madam Tang, as if the latter was under her control.

Concubine Wen had long forgotten she was merely a concubine, while Tang Chujun was the legitimate wife, married with Three Letters and Six Etiquettes.

As long as Tang Chujun wished, the Marquis Mansion would easily be hers. Even Shi Yunqi, the son Concubine Wen claimed as her own, was Tang Chujun’s to claim if she so desired.

Her tantrums here were utterly useless.

Tang Chujun stood aloof under the veranda, distant and perfunctory as she saluted Old Madam Shi. “Greetings, Mother. Forgive me for making you laugh. I have been too lax, allowing unruly cats and dogs to run wild in the Marquis Mansion.”

Old Madam Shi gripped her cane tighter, feeling a sense of humiliation at being insulted in a roundabout way.

Concubine Wen was her own family. If Tang Chujun called Concubine Wen an unruly cat or dog, wasn’t she also implying that Old Madam Shi came from a lowly background?

Ever since she married into the Marquis Mansion, the Shi clan elders had never accepted her, always treating her coldly. Even to her face, they would often say, “Marry a virtuous wife,” as a warning to her.

But she never expected that, at her age, she would be subtly insulted by her daughter-in-law and unable to say a word in response.
Earlier, Old Madam Shi had set her sights on the legitimate daughter of the Duke of State Protection Mansion, scheming to break off the engagement between Tang Chujun and Shi Chengyi.

After much anticipation, she finally brought Tang Chujun into the family, marrying her to her own son.

Who would have thought that aside from her beautiful face, Tang Chujun showed not the slightest demeanor of a proper matron.

She cared nothing for the Marquis Mansion, and treated her husband as if he were a stranger.

No wonder her son’s inner residence was filled with women-who could tolerate a principal wife with such a cold attitude?

Now that Tang Chujun had finally begun to show some concern for her son and displayed the bearing of the main wife, Old Madam Shi felt uneasy, though she dared not say anything to disrupt the harmony.

Thus, both sides remained at an impasse in the courtyard as snow fell all around.

It was Tang Chujun who spoke first: “Since Concubine Wen is so eager to see her son, let’s go inside and have a look. Mother, you can also see for yourself how these unruly people are mistreating the children of our Marquis Mansion.”

Concubine Wen panicked, regretting not having listened to her daughter-she should never have acted so rashly.

But it was too late now. In desperation, she clutched her head, let out a miserable cry, and fainted to the ground.

After all, she was her own niece, and they had lived together for over ten years. Remembering that Doctor Shen was in the mansion, Old Madam Shi reflexively called out, “Quick, go fetch Doctor Shen!”

“No need to trouble him!” Tang Chujun’s gaze was cold as she signaled to Nanny Zhong at her side.

Nanny Zhong immediately understood, and called over two maids, who brought in two wooden basins of cold water and splashed them over Concubine Wen.

In the biting winter, Concubine Wen could not endure it. She screamed and scrambled up from the ground, crying and jumping like a clown. “Tang Chujun! You-”

Before she could finish, Nanny Zhong slapped her hard, making her stagger.

Tang Chujun said coldly, “A lowly concubine dares to call the main wife by name! Even if I beat you to death right now, no one would say a word against me.”

Nanny Zhong slapped Concubine Wen on the other cheek, paying no heed to Old Madam Shi’s dark, brooding gaze from the side.

She was not just striking Concubine Wen’s face, but Old Madam Shi’s as well.

Tang Chujun said indifferently, “Take her inside!” She then looked up, meeting Old Madam Shi’s startled eyes. “Mother, please.”

Old Madam Shi felt a chill run down her spine under Tang Chujun’s frosty gaze. She could not muster any of her usual matriarchal authority and obediently followed into the East Wing Room.

Inside, several braziers were burning, making the room very warm.

Shi Yunqi was asleep, his closed eyes making him look extremely frail.

Awakened by the commotion, he opened his eyes in alarm and, trying to get up to greet them, said, “Grandmother, Mother, you’re here…”

He deliberately ignored Concubine Wen, who stood behind, trembling and soaked. He did not want to see her, for fear he would not be able to stop himself from cursing her shamelessness.

His sister had told him to endure; now was not the time to reveal the truth.

He lowered his head, hiding the anger in his eyes.

Tang Chujun reached out to press him back down. “Just lie down. Grandmother cares for you and wants to see your injuries.”

Shi Yunqi obediently lay down, letting his mother gently lift the quilt, revealing his thin body clad in inner garments.

He turned over and lay on his stomach, pulling up his clothes.

Even though Old Madam Shi had mentally prepared herself, she was still shocked by the crisscrossing new and old wounds on his back and cried out, “How-how did it become like this?”

There was not a single patch of uninjured skin on his back. The new wounds were raw and gaping, while the old ones, though healed, had left the flesh twisted and uneven-some places bulged deeply, others were sunken. Who knew what sharp instrument could have caused such injuries?

Tang Chujun fought back her tears, her voice icy. “Mother, you see it now. This is how a concubine abuses the children of the Marquis Mansion. With such conduct, how can we expect a bright future for our family?”

Old Madam Shi’s hands trembled, and she was speechless. Guilt-ridden, she was filled with regret, shock, and anger.