Tianliangyuan

Chapter 40 The storm is coming

The old lady returned to the house in a daze.

She never imagined that all the potted plants that showed signs of wilting were ones that Xu Lin had seen.

Is this a coincidence, or is it, as some people are saying, that Xu Lin is impure?

The old lady is getting on in years and is naturally more prone to believing in such things. Now that she has seen these things with her own eyes, she can't help but overthink them.

The two maids supporting the old lady also trembled inwardly. It seemed that the old lady had indeed looked at and even touched these flowers and plants today, so was there something strange about the old lady?

Although the two head maids were trusted by the old lady, they dared not say such things carelessly, but they couldn't help but keep thinking about it in their hearts.

The old lady slept quite a long time during the day, but after dinner, she started to feel sleepy again.

For several days in a row, the old lady slept a lot and was noticeably listless during the day.

Although Wang Ruolan was dissatisfied with the old lady's favoritism, she had to prioritize the old lady's health at this time.

The Marquis's residence summoned the imperial physician and sent people to buy medicinal herbs, and the news naturally spread.

Xu Lin had originally planned to come back and talk about 'borrowing' the potted plants and a few screens, but when she arrived, she was told that the old lady was resting and would not see anyone.

Xu Lin was unhappy.

She was able to take things from the Marquis's residence because the old lady gave the order.

But now that the old lady won't see her, how can she ask for it?

Should she go and tell Wang Ruolan?

But forget it!

That sister-in-law, we absolutely cannot let her take a single blade of grass from the Marquis's mansion!

Xu Lin didn't suspect that the old lady was faking illness, after all, the old lady had agreed to let her take even the most valuable things before.

Moreover, before leaving this time, I heard that the Marquis's mansion had invited the imperial physician. Now that I see that my sister-in-law is doing well and my brother has gone to the government office, then the one who is sick must be the old lady.

She just didn't expect to be so sick, and that she would arrive at such a convenient time.

Wang Ruolan invited her to the waterside pavilion to talk, mainly because the old lady was indeed resting, and Xu Lin clearly wouldn't give up until she saw the old lady. She couldn't just kick her sister-in-law out, so she decided to chat for a while.

Xu Lin has indeed been in a bit of a hurry these past two days. Besides the potted plants, she also has some other small items that she is thinking of borrowing from the Marquis's residence.

However, with her mother ill, Xu Lin felt embarrassed to bring it up with Wang Ruolan, so she could only stay here and chat with her over tea.

"I heard that Madam Sun's birthday is coming up soon. As the lady of the Sun family, instead of arranging the birthday banquet, how come you still have the mind to go back to your parents' home?"

Xu Lin was displeased, but she couldn't confront Wang Ruolan directly. After all, although the two seemed to be on equal footing, her status was actually much lower than Wang Ruolan's.

"This morning, I heard that the Marquis's mansion was busy inviting the imperial physician and buying medicinal herbs. I was worried, so I came back to check on things."

Wang Ruolan smiled slightly. "You know someone in the household is ill, yet you come empty-handed. Is that appropriate?"

Wang Ruolan didn't say it aloud, but her smile seemed to say it all.

Xu Lin felt even more embarrassed, because no matter how she tried to cover it up, she had indeed asked the Marquis's mansion for a lot of things over the years.

In the past, if the old lady had been sitting here, she would have naturally taken it all for granted and assumed that it was all perfectly reasonable.

But now that it was just the two of them, Xu Lin clearly noticed a huge difference in their auras.

Ultimately, it all comes down to a guilty conscience.

"Sister-in-law, please bring Zhaozhao to the birthday banquet in a couple of days. As for Junting, I know he is busy with his studies, so he can come if he doesn't want to. We can discuss it with Huaizhi when we have time later."

Wang Ruolan nodded: "Which families did you send invitations to for this year's birthday banquet?"

Once this was mentioned, Xu Lin began to talk at length.

To Wang Ruolan's surprise, she even sent a letter to the Jiang family!

Is this crazy?

Now everyone in the capital knows that it was Jiang Ning who ruined Sun Qian's face, and that she will probably never have a good marriage in her life. Yet she actually had the audacity to send an invitation to the Jiang family.

Is it because they're afraid the two families are too close, or because they think no one will be interested in watching the show on the day of the birthday banquet?

Wang Ruolan's lips twitched slightly. After hesitating for a long time, she still reminded her, "Isn't it inappropriate for you to invite the Jiang family to celebrate the old lady's birthday?"

Xu Lin clearly hadn't considered this: "What's wrong with that? Although my husband's official rank is low, he and Lord Jiang are officials in the same court. Moreover, I married into the Sun family as the legitimate daughter of a marquis. Does my sister-in-law think I'm not worthy to associate with the Jiang family?"

Wang Ruolan was both amused and exasperated; this person just couldn't understand good or bad words!

The two sisters-in-law parted on bad terms. Xu Lin went to see the old lady again, but was told that she was still asleep, so she had to leave empty-handed.

When Xu Zhaozhao learned that the Jiang family had also received the invitation, she thought the same as Wang Ruolan: Xu Lin had gone mad!

Are they afraid others won't know how obsequious the Sun family is?

Even though Sun Qian was harmed so badly, the Sun family still tries to curry favor with the Jiang family. This is simply making themselves look down upon.

After Xu Zhaozhao left the city and arrived at the manor that day, she noticed the specifications of the guards around her, so she made a special trip back to find out how many personal guards her father could be equipped with.

This is terrifying to look at.

Although these guards received salaries from the imperial court, in reality, they were essentially household retainers of the marquis's household.

These men only obeyed the Marquis's orders, and even the imperial court could not easily remove the personal guards from each mansion.

No wonder.

Xu Zhaozhao originally thought that her mother had a lot of businesses and the Xu family's ancestral property was quite substantial, so why did she always feel that the Marquis's mansion's expenses were not particularly high?

We've finally found the reason!

Although these soldiers receive a salary, it's not enough to just offer them a pittance to get them to risk their lives for the Marquis's household.

Moreover, the Marquis's mansion had to pay for all the training of these personal guards, in addition to the normal allocation.

This naturally includes tipping and comforting their families, which is a considerable expense.

There are so many people!

Xu Zhaozhao also inquired and found that some of the guards' families had been assigned to work in certain industries by Wang Ruolan, but not many of them were given such positions, and they were generally not given high authority, mainly to prevent them from becoming too demanding.

Another point is that sometimes giving too much is not necessarily a good thing!

Xu Zhaozhao understood this.

Xu Zhaozhao simply wanted to raise some personal guards to serve her.

But for now, we still have to use the Marquis's mansion.

The pillar was led in by the lilac, and when it was still two or three meters away from the pavilion, it knelt down with a thud.

"This humble servant greets Your Majesty."

Xu Zhaozhao glanced at him: "Come closer and answer."

"Thank you, Master."

Zhu Zi took a few steps forward, bowed, and said, "Reporting to Master, when I entered the city just now, I saw the Sun family's carriage, which was accompanied by many servants and guards. After inquiring, I learned that Miss Sun Qian had been sent to a manor outside the city to recuperate."