Chapter 161: The Opening of a Good Show

 

Translated by Gumihou

Please read this at kitchennovel dot com

 

Fufufu ~

We are now up to 22 Patrons. Only THREE more and you can have TWO bonus chapters ~

(^_<)～☆

 

Xu Ran Yun nearly fainted at this. Don’t say 2,000 taels, she couldn’t even scrape 1,000 taels together. Even if she could gather the money together, she would never hand it over. Her monthly allowance was only 15 taels. If she could actually present that kind of money, eyebrows would raise. Questions will follow. Just where did the money come from? Had she skimmed off the public funds?

She was burning with shame, rage, bitterness and humiliation when the most wonderful sound reached her ears. Just beyond the room, a tearful voice wailed, “Old madam, elder madam! You must save my pitiful Chuan’er and bring justice to this poor mother and child, ah.”

It was as though a chorus of immortals had harmonized together in Xu Ran Yun’s ears. Glee spread across her face and she actually laughed out loud, her eyes flashed towards Su Nuan Nuan. At her opponent’s astonished expression, her heart beat faster. Now, you’re about to fall into my trap. Heheh, you can’t even imagine how much pain and effort I’ve put into this hole I’ve dug especially for you. I will bury you so deep that you can never crawl out of hell’s depth.

Old Madam Fang had been enjoying herself watching Su Nuan Nuan screwing with the other women. To be fair, the old madam never did liked all the scheming and backstabbing that went on within an inner court, but for some reason, this granddaughter-in-law’s performance today was even more interesting than watching a play. She was quite aware that her favouring Su Nuan Nuan probably had a lot to do with all the treats Su Nuan Nuan had given her.

She was in the middle of contemplating how much to donate. After all, she was a senior woman of a large house with her own personal warehouse, and therefore has quite a bit of money. The question now was how much to donate. Too little, and she would be laughed at by the children here. Too much, and she would feel the pinch in her flesh. Ah, but since it’s all for a good cause, she might have to bear the pinch.

She was still pondering over this when a tearful wail reached her ears. Old Madam Fang frowned, and was about to comment when a female servant rushed in, bobbed a quick salutation, the servant reported, “Old madam, Concubine Jiang had brought Little Master Chuan to kneel and kowtow in the courtyard. She wants you to help her seek justice.”

Old Madam Fang was immediately displeased by this interruption. Angry now, she said coldly, “Call her in.”

The granny saluted again and left. Not long after that, Concubine Jiang came in with Duan Maochuan. There was a dark green bruise on her once flawless forehead, Duan Maochuan’s little face was flushed pink with cold and terror. At the sight of his mother on her knees, he quickly knelt as well.

“What is this about?” Madam Yang was also unhappy. She frowned, “Can’t you bring up matters in a proper way? Even if you’re being neglected by others, you still have me. Why have you come all the way to alarm the old madam. Even Chuan’er is half frightened by your actions. How many days has it been since his illness? What kind of mother are you?” She motioned for Duan Maochuan with her hands, “Chuan’er, come to grandma.”

Duan Maochuan really doesn’t know what to do then. He could only watch as Concubine Jiang suddenly crashed her forehead into the floor and moaned grievously, “Madam, old madam, this lowly concubine knows that she has broken a severe taboo. She is rude and stupid. But this lowly one has endured too many things. Once or twice is fine, but this lowly one cannot endure it a third or fourth time. If this one continues to endure, our little child might not have his life anymore. Therefore, this one has gathered her courage to beg madam and old madam to seek justice for this lowly concubine, ah.”

She then hugged Duan Maochuan once and said softly, “Chuan’er, you go to elder madam and make sure not to say anything stupid.”

Duan Maochuan’s eyes were brimming with tears as he stared worriedly at his mother. Then, he glanced over at Su Nuan Nuan. A pair of warm, concerned eyes stared back. He looked away to where Madam Yang was sitting with her arms held out. Reassured, the child lowered his head and wordlessly shuffled over to his grandmother’s side.

“Are you here about Chuan’er’s diarrhoea?” Old Madam Fang was clearly displeased. “Isn’t it a common ailment among children? Xuan’er even brought the imperial physician with him when we found that it was serious and saved his little life. Now that the child is well, the matter should be considered settled. So, why are you making trouble here?”

Concubine Jiang raised her voice and emotionally declared, “If it’s just illness, this lowly one would not be here. What child never got sick? Only, it was obvious that someone tried to harm Chuan’er. This is not even the first time, last year he fell into the pond and nearly lost his life. This time he was in even greater danger. Old madam, elder madam, if this lowly one did not beg for justice, how many more times could Chuan’er’s luck hold? Is he supposed to keep living on the edge of death?”

“Disgraceful! What nonsensical words are you talking about?” Madam Yang was getting angry. No matter how prevalent this kind of schemes might be, it was still taboo to talk about it. Who doesn’t know that this kind of violence often happened within large estates? However, this matter could only be talked about behind closed doors. No matter what, face had to be maintained and an appearance of harmony to be simulated. Now that Concubine Jiang had kicked down this paper door, and in front of so many people as well, was a serious taboo.

However, Concubine Jiang had clearly been too upset by her son’s second near-death experience and disregarded all thoughts of herself and propriety. When scolded by Madam Yang, not only was she not remorseful, she even raised her head and stuck out her chest to resolutely declare. “Madam is wise, this lowly one certainly would not speak nonsense. This one has evidence.”

“Very well.” Old Madam Fang snapped as she slapped the table beside her. “Since you even brought evidence with you. I shall listen. Speak. Who wants to harm Chuan’er?”

“It’s first madam.” Concubine Jiang pointed at her target, pinning Su Nuan Nuan with her glare as she said through gritted teeth. “First madam has tried over and over again to take Chuan’er’s life. This shameless hussy even tried to pretend to be a good person after the fact. Last year she was the one who pushed Chuan’er into the water. This time she went beyond the norm and gave Chuan’er half a bowl of Snow Cream. It’s a whole half bowl, ah. He’s just a tiny child, how could his little body bear the cold food? When he went home, he had a stomachache and nearly lost his life…”

“This is all nonsense.”

Hong Lian nearly exploded. As to Duan Maochuan’s near drowning incident last year, she dared not say anything. But the Snow Cream incident she could not be more clear. It had absolutely nothing to do with Missy. This Concubine Jiang has clearly gone crazy, how could she simply accuse people like this? Who gave her the guts to frame her Missy?

“Hong Lian.”

Su Nuan Nuan’s low voice interrupted Hong Lian. She turned her gaze towards Concubine Jiang and said, “Since you have accused me, let me ask you this. Last year when Chuan’er fell into the water. Have your really seen me harm him? Or, could you produce an eye witness? I don’t mind meeting this accuser.” Actually, she knew that Su Meng Nuan was the true culprit behind the near drowning. Even Duan Tingxuan had confirmed it. However, the matter had been squashed down, and therefore all evidence erased. There was no way Concubine Jiang could pull out any evidence.

For the moment, she has to speak calmly and turn black to white. While it’s true that she has transmigrated into Su Meng Nuan’s body, there was no way she was going to carry this black pot for her.

Concubine Jiang was stunned. She could only say, “Even though nobody has seen you do it, everyone knows it was you. At that time, you were the only one nearby…” she forcefully stopped herself, knowing full well that if she continued down this line of thought, she would only sounded childish and petulant. The senior madams would just chase her out for being a trouble maker.

Instead, she took a deep breath, reined in her emotions to say, “Very well, perhaps this lowly one has spoken wrongly. Perhaps last time has nothing to do with madam. But this time? This time, Chuan’er ate your Snow Cream. Surely you must admit to this? Moreover, you were even deranged enough to give him a whole half a bowl. You… you know he’s only four years old…”

 

[Gumihou: I’m going to shut my eyes because I can’t bear to see this train wreck. *Peeks through fingers*]

 

  ^_^

Translated by Gumihou from kitchennovel dot com.

For anyone who wants to chat with me, do come over to discord !

https://discord.gg/EFcAxFt

 

<Previous><Index><Next>

 

If you love my translations, do consider supporting me via Patreon~

Also, you can read ahead by two chapters, this is actually important, lol!