Chapter 52 FCADW? IRTBTMOTMM

FlamingoBees

Translating Chinese Historical Dramas for your enjoyment... and mine! :)

Favoring the Concubines and Destroying Wives? I Refuse to be the Mistress of this Marquis Manor

Chapter 52:

Finding Fault

"Ping Ye, I arranged the tea set as instructed by Yuan Mama, but Eldest Madam Lu is very dissatisfied, and I don't know what to do," the maid explained tearfully to Ping Ye, who had been mistreated by Lu Jia for several days.

Ping Ye wiped away the tears and gave her a piece of jujube paste cake, saying, "Stop crying. I'll report to Young Madam, and she will handle it.

"Thank you, Ping Ye."

The maid took the pastry, wiped her face with a handkerchief, and sighed. Originally not assigned to serve the mistress, she hadn't expected Lu Jia to be so difficult to serve, making the past three days feel like enduring torment in a hot oil pan.

Ping Ye carried a set of blue-and-white porcelain tea sets to the upper chambers.

At this moment, Zhuqing was conversing with Lin Yunwan, saying, "The eldest son went to the side courtyard, saying he was looking for Young Master Qing Ge'er. I don't know why the eldest son is in such a hurry. After all, it's the courtyard where the women stay. He could have ordered any maidservant or matron to go in. Why did he have to barge in himself?"

"Madam, why do you think the eldest son suddenly disregarded etiquette?" She seemed a bit delighted, thinking she had caught Ge Bao’er's weakness.

Lin Yunwan, however, replied, "He has never followed any rules." Otherwise, he wouldn't have done the shameless thing of letting secretly forcing her to raise someone else's child.

Zhuqing was startled and didn't dare to speak further.

Young Madam scolding the Young Master, how could she dare to chime in?

"Young Madam, the maidservant serving the Young Madam Xia is here," said Ping Ye as she entered, placing the tea set down. She explained the situation, "The Eldest Madam Lu is not satisfied with this tea set and insisted on changing it."

Zhuqing glanced at the tea set and said, "Isn't this good enough? It even has the pattern of 'reporting joy and having many children,' which is auspicious. Why is the Eldest Madam being so picky?"

Ping Ye had no idea; she also thought that Young Madam Xia was deliberately finding fault.

She continued, "That maidservant also said that Young Madam Xia complained about the bed not being comfortable last night."

Zhuqing laughed, "Does she expect someone to change the bed for her?"

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That was also impossible.

Lin Yunwan understood that she was being sarcastic about Lu jia.

Before Lu Jia got married, Zhuqing was a servant in the Lu household. She was originally a proud and arrogant servant, and she used to be quite ostentatious in the mansion. Lu Jia's personality didn't tolerate a maidservant being so assertive in her presence.

Zhuqing must have had a tough time under Lu Jia's authority. Seeing Lu Jia and her mother-in-law, Old Madam Xia, fighting seemed to bring joy to Zhuqing this time.

Zhuqing was indeed happy, with a smile on her face that showed she enjoyed the spectacle: "Young Madam, Sister-in-law isn't just being picky about things; it seems she wants to find fault with you."

"Well, then let's change it for her."

For these trivial matters, Lin Yunwan didn't want to get entangled with Luo Jia.

Zhuqing's face stiffened for a moment, and she said sincerely, "Young Madam, I'm not trying to use you as a pawn, but Eldest sister-in-law is someone I understand better than you. If you keep tolerating her time and again, she'll take advantage of it."

"Today it's changing tea sets, tomorrow it's changing beds, the day after tomorrow it's changing maids and courtyards. Are you going to indulge her in everything?"

Lin Yunwan calmly replied, "But it shouldn't be me to reprimand her. With Old Madam Xia around, she wouldn't dare do anything in the Lu family."

It was just making a fuss over some trivial matters.

After a moment's thought, Zhuqing felt that what Lin Yunwan said was reasonable and said, "Madam is indeed considerate."

Busy with plans to exchange the goods from the dowry for money, Lin Yunwan didn't have time to deal with Luo Jia. She instructed Ping Ye, "Take my token and get a set of Qilin cups from the warehouse for Aunt-in-law. Make sure it's the upper-grade one."

She glanced at the set on the table and said, "Put that one back in the warehouse."

"Yes."

As a final reminder, Lin Yunwan added, "If Old Madam Xia is around, avoid her. Don't let her see this tea set." Given the Old Madam's temperament, she might not appreciate her daughter-in-law returning to the marquisate and indulging in a luxurious lifestyle.

"I understand."

Ping Ye picked up the tea set, went out to handle the matter, and made two trips – delivering the tea set to Young Madam Lin's sister-in-law Jia. In case there were any more troublesome requests, she responded to them all to prevent the maid from being scolded repeatedly.

Holding the set of Qilin cups, she walked towards Luo Jia's courtyard. Since the tea set was made of glass, it sparkled under the sun, attracting the attention of passing maids.

"Be careful, don't bump into me." Ping Ye instructed.

The maids quickly dodged away, understanding that this cup was more precious than their lives; they dared not risk damaging it.

As Ping Ye approached the area near Lu Jia's residence, she spotted Old Madam Xia coming out of the main house.

"Oh no."

Recalling Lin Yunwan's advice, she turned her back, attempting to hide for a moment. Unexpectedly, just as Luo Jia also emerged from her room, she called out loudly, "Stop!"

With the glass cup in hand, Ping Ye turned around and stood in place, softly addressing her, "Young Madam Lu Jia."

Luo Jia stormed over angrily, "Why are you running when you see me?" Seeing the maid holding the cup, knowing it was brought for her, she furrowed her brows and asked, "You brought it here, why run back?"

"Young Madam..." Your mother-in-law is here!

Without waiting for Ping Ye to explain, Luo Jia sneered, "What? Just because I'm not the Madam of this house, you think you can be disrespectful?" She glared at Ping Ye, her gaze fierce, "If you weren't holding this set of Qilin cups, I'd give you a couple of slaps!"

Ping Ye: "..."

"Whom were you planning to slap?"

Old Madam Xia descended the steps, looking coldly at Luo Jia.

Luo Jia, upon hearing the voice, turned pale as she saw her mother-in-law standing on the steps, her eyes scanning her from head to toe. She instantly lost color.

"Mother-in-law..."

Lady Xia walked over and said, "Have you always been this loud and harsh in the Lu family? Treating the maidservants with such cruelty?"

Luo Jia forced a smile, "No, no. Mother-in-law misunderstood. Your daughter-in-law was just..."

"Just what? I've seen it all! Truly lacking in any sense of proper conduct!"

Old Madam Xia glanced at the tea set in Ping Ye's hand and then looked coldly at Luo Jia, saying, "Everyone in our house uses blue-and-white teacups, but you insist on using glass ones? Do you feel inconvenienced transitioning from the Lu family to my Xia family?"

Luo Jia felt a sense of panic and lowered her head, "Mother-in-law, your daughter-in-law didn't mean that."

Old Madam Xia looked at Ping Ye and spoke with a gentle tone, "You can go back. Just bring her another set of teacups that I use. Our family isn't accustomed to using such things."

"...Yes," Ping Ye replied nervously and left.

Outside the courtyard, she saw the eldest sister-in-law standing in punishment. The maids around dared not make a sound, and the eldest sister-in-law's face looked extremely unpleasant.

"Alas, this servant also had good intentions. Who would have thought that the eldest sister-in-law wouldn't appreciate it? It's like lifting a stone to hit one's own foot."

Returning to the Chui Si Tang, Ping Ye felt quite emotional. She followed the instructions of the madam, thinking she was helping the eldest sister-in-law. Who would have expected that the eldest sister-in-law would harm herself.

Zhuqing chuckled, "The Young Madam is indeed right."

With the intervention of Old Madam Xia, there was no room for maneuver for Lu Jia. In less than half an hour, news of Lu Jia's punishment had spread throughout the entire Wu Ding Marquis Mansion. As a married woman for many years, being punished by her mother-in-law was truly humiliating.

After dark, she went to complain to Old Madam Lu about the unfair treatment from Lin Yunwan. Hearing that Xia Family's uncle promised to help, Lin Yunwan came to inquire about the news and happened to overhear the conversation.

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