Chapter 256

Madam Wu nodded with a smile, tidied herself up, and went to Madam Ji's place.

There was another female guest at Madam Ji's residence. She was at the age of youth, with a face that could charm or displease, exceedingly beautiful.

"This is the wife of Lord Li from Bensi Hutong next door," Madam Ji introduced the guest to Madam Wu. "Her son is studying at the Imperial Academy, and she was worried, so she followed along."

Madam Wu quickly smiled and stepped forward to greet her.

That Lord Li had passed the imperial examination in the thirty-second year of Xiping and was now forty years old. How could his wife be so young and beautiful? Was it due to good skincare or because she was a second wife?

While pondering this, she nonetheless wore a beaming smile and chatted with Madam Li: "I heard that Lord Li has been transferred to serve as the Provincial Administration Commissioner of Huguang this spring? That is where His Majesty once resided before ascending the throne, which shows that Lord Li enjoys great imperial favor. And with Madam Li being so young and beautiful, I am truly envious!"

That Madam Li was clearly someone adept at handling social situations. She smiled in response: "It's merely a lateral transfer; what is there to envy? On the contrary, Lord Wu serves as a high official in the capital, both leisurely and prestigious—exactly what my husband dreams of." After a few more flattering remarks, she tactfully took her leave.

Madam Ji escorted Madam Li to the hanging flower gate before turning back.

Madam Wu then asked her: "Why did Madam Li come to visit you?"

In terms of their husbands' official positions, Lord Ji was a capital official while Lord Li was posted elsewhere; in terms of regional ties, Lord Ji was from the south while Lord Li was from the north. Moreover, they lived on adjacent hutongs.

Madam Ji smiled and said: "Madam Li heard that our second son studied under Old Academician Chen for several years before passing the imperial examination, and she wants to send her son there as well. She asked me to help put in a good word." This was a trivial matter, and Madam Ji soon put it out of her mind. She asked Madam Wu instead: "But what about you? Didn't you say your third daughter-in-law was about to give birth? How do you have time to visit me?"

"There are still about ten days to go!" Madam Wu laughed. "I've been feeling cooped up at home every day, so I used this as an excuse to come sit and chat with you. Once she gives birth, I'll have even less free time." Then she added, "I hope I'm not disturbing you?"

"Now you're being too formal," Madam Ji smiled. "I'd be delighted to have you visit; how could it be a disturbance?" With that, she personally peeled a plum and handed it to Madam Wu.

Madam Wu didn't stand on ceremony. She ate the plum while chatting with Madam Ji: "Now that your husband has been promoted to Chief Justice of the Court of Judicial Review, he must have even more social engagements, right?"

Lord Ji had originally been the Vice Chief Justice of the Court of Judicial Review.

Madam Ji smiled: "Quite the opposite—he's much more at leisure than before. Previously, he had to revolve around others and go along with whatever they wanted. Now others revolve around him, and he does as he pleases. Naturally, he has much more free time."

Madam Wu thought for a moment and said: "What you say makes sense." Then she turned the topic to Shen Renshi: "Have you heard? Lord Shen, the Left Supervising Secretary of the Ministry of Personnel, has squeezed out the eldest son of Grand Secretary Yu..."

This was already the talk of the capital's official circles in recent days, so how could Madam Ji not know? She had simply refrained from saying much out of consideration for Madam Wu's relationship with the Yu family. But hearing no trace of resentment in Madam Wu's tone, she couldn't help but find it strange.

"That Lord Shen is truly ruthless," Madam Ji said vaguely. "Young Master Yu is still young; he'll have plenty of opportunities in the future. There's no need to rush."

Madam Wu knew she was being considerate of her feelings and nodded with a smile: "That's exactly what I told Madam Yu. However, that Lord Shen's actions were indeed too hasty. Come to think of it, he does have some connection to the Yu family. If he had shown consideration for that connection and taken a step back, the Yu family would naturally be grateful. Then if he ever needed anything in the future, Grand Secretary Yu would remember that goodwill and couldn't just stand by. Wouldn't receiving Grand Secretary Yu's assistance be far better than this kind of fighting and scheming that makes everyone else laugh?"

Madam Ji felt a flicker of irritation at these words.

This Madam Wu had a pair of opportunistic eyes—whenever she saw a prominent family, she would try to ingratiate herself with them. More than once she had dragged Madam Ji into social engagements, leading others to mistakenly believe that she and the Yu family were related by marriage.

Had she told so many lies that she had started believing them herself?

If Shen Renshi had a connection to the Yu family, wouldn't Madam Ji—as a legitimate relative by marriage—know about it? How could Madam Wu know?

Where had she picked up fragments of hearsay to spout such nonsense here?

With this thought, Madam Ji smiled coolly and said: "That Lord Shen has some connection to the Yu family? How is it that I don't know about this?"

Madam Wu had been waiting for exactly this question. She smiled and said: "You might not know this yet—Lord Shen is the son-in-law of the Fu family of Huayin! Didn't Young Master Yu once have a betrothal with the Ninth Miss of the Fu family? The Yu and Fu families still maintain relations like relatives!"

Madam Ji was taken aback.

Young Master Yu was the ideal son-in-law in every mother-in-law's eyes; countless families had set their sights on him back then. His betrothal to the Fu family was well known among all their relatives.

"Lord Shen is actually the son-in-law of the Fu family!" she murmured, her brows furrowing. "Then this matter was indeed handled rather improperly."

Madam Wu smiled and said, "I think Lord Shen can be excused—it concerns his own future, and he has no connection with the Yu family. It's not unreasonable for him to fight for himself. However, Lord Fu has acted unfairly—he is an elder, and over the years Grand Secretary Yu has shown great kindness to the Fu family. The younger generation, living far from home, may not know about these matters, but how could he just let it go and allow Lord Shen to do as he pleases! Not getting the position is a small matter, but having it snatched away by one of his own—that's like being slapped in the face in public... Fortunately, Grand Secretary Yu has such good self-restraint. If it were my husband, he would probably jump up and start cursing."

This was the first time Madam Ji had heard of this matter. She couldn't help but ask, "Does Madam Yu know about this?"

"I'm not sure whether she knows or not." Madam Wu wore a somewhat helpless expression. "I don't visit Madam Yu often, for fear she might misunderstand that I'm spreading gossip." Then her voice rose as she hastily explained, "Madam Ji, although I do enjoy chatting about household matters, I'm not someone who doesn't know the right occasion. I know very well what should be said and what shouldn't. It's just that hearing all the talk outside, thinking about how the Yu family has suffered such injustice and still has to endure such criticism, I truly feel wronged on their behalf. And since I'm here with you, I've gone on a bit more than I should."

"Madam Wu, please don't misunderstand." Madam Ji quickly smiled and said, "I was just curious." Though she said this, she still kept the matter in mind, and her attention wandered somewhat during the rest of her conversation with Madam Wu. After Madam Wu left, she hurried over to the Yu residence.

Madam Yu was trembling with anger when she heard that Madam Ji had arrived. She drank a few sips of cold tea to barely steady herself before going to the reception hall.

Madam Ji saw that her complexion was poor and held back the words on the tip of her tongue, instead smiling and asking about Zhen-jie'er.

"She can eat porridge by herself now." Mentioning her only granddaughter did lift Madam Yu's spirits. "The nursemaids have been very attentive. I'm sure she'll only get better."

"That's good!" Madam Ji smiled, pondering how to bring up what Madam Wu had said to Madam Yu, when Mama Shu suddenly hurried in.

Her expression was somewhat grave, but she still forced a smile to greet Madam Ji before whispering a few words into Madam Yu's ear.

Madam Yu's face immediately turned ashen. She gave Mama Shu a few low-spoken instructions. Though Madam Ji couldn't hear what was said, she could clearly discern the suppressed anger in her tone.

What on earth could have happened to make Madam Yu so angry?

Madam Ji was puzzled as Mama Shu hurried away.

Madam Yu took a deep breath, and with her expression softening slightly, she asked Madam Ji in a gentle voice, "What brings you here today? Is something the matter?" She was direct and to the point, without her usual roundabout manner.

In a flash of realization, Madam Ji suddenly understood.

Madam Yu had other matters to attend to and wanted to dispatch her quickly.

She hesitated briefly, but considering the gravity of the matter, she still told Madam Yu everything that Madam Wu had said.

Madam Ji had expected that Madam Yu would either be greatly surprised or, if she already knew, would offer some explanation. But to her surprise, Madam Yu merely said "Oh" and remarked casually, "My husband already knew about this long ago. Lord Shen simply didn't know about the relationship between the two families."

It seemed Madam Yu didn't want to discuss this matter with her.

Or perhaps there was something more to it?

Madam Ji pondered this and felt that her hasty visit had been rather pointless. After exchanging a few more words with Madam Yu, she rose to take her leave.

"Do come and keep me company when you have time!" Madam Yu said with polite pleasantries, seeing her to the door.

Madam Ji stopped in her tracks and declined, "There's no need for you to see me off any further. Please go back inside and rest! This mama here can accompany me."

Madam Yu didn't insist. After exchanging a few courteous words, she instructed the mama accompanying Madam Ji to see her safely to the hanging flower gate, then returned to her room.

On the way, Madam Ji asked the mama who was seeing her off on behalf of Madam Yu, "Why does Madam look so unwell today?"

Although this mama served in Madam Yu's quarters, she wasn't one of her confidantes. Seeing that Madam Ji was a frequent visitor to the Yu household, related by marriage, and treated warmly by Madam Yu, she spoke without much guard, lowering her voice: "The eldest madam and the third madam each sent over a young lady from their natal families, saying they were to serve the eldest young master. Madam arranged for them to be placed in the young master's quarters." She glanced around to make sure no one else was nearby before continuing, "I don't know why, but although the two young ladies are quite pretty, the young master dislikes them greatly. It's even worse than when Concubine Wu first entered the household—Madam was so angry she couldn't sleep properly for days."

Madam Wu was greatly surprised.

Madam Yu was most afraid that the First Madam and the Third Madam would spoil Yu Jingxiu and throw the household into chaos.

She quietly asked the old nurse, "Is it the eldest young mistress..."

"I don't know." The old nurse shook her head and said honestly, "I hear the eldest young mistress hasn't been feeling well these past couple of days. Everyone says she was angered by the two young ladies from the He family who are staying as guests..."

Madam Ji returned home with a furrowed brow.

That evening, when Lord Ji came back, she brought up the matter with him: "...Could Grand Secretary Yu have fallen so far already?"

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Lord Ji laughed. "Regardless of anything else, he is still a Grand Secretary. How can you call that 'fallen'?"

Madam Ji said, "I've thought it over again and again. There's only one possible reason Madam Yu would let the people sent by the First Madam and the Third Madam attend to her son—one rises as the other falls. With Grand Secretary Yu losing his influence, the First Madam and the Third Madam are seizing the opportunity to meddle in the household affairs of the Yu family!"