♂?，，

  Madam Hou's dowry estate is also located in the southern suburbs.

  Two miles ahead of the South Gate, it is the manor and fields of the Shengjing nobles. Ming Xuan's villa was on the east side, where the land was fertile and most suitable for farming, with a considerable output every year. However, Madame Hou's villa was at the foot of the Moon Ring Mountain in the west, backed by mountains and surrounded by clear springs, actually a small retreat for summer vacation.

  Last year, Ming Que did something improper with the eldest son of the Li family in Longxi. To protect her, Madame Hou lied that she had contracted a contagious disease and sent someone to escort her to this villa in Nanjiao overnight. Later, because Ming Que secretly became engaged to the Emperor and became pregnant, Duke Yongning felt that Madame Hou was incompetent and had tarnished the reputation of the Gu family. With old and new grievances, he sent someone to bring Madame Hou here under the pretext of recuperation.

  Madam Hou remained in this state for almost half a year.

  As soon as Ming Xuan got off the horse cart, she felt a chill and subconsciously shrank her body into the quilted jacket, saying, "It's really cold here."

  In the first month, it was the coldest time, and the southern suburbs were desolate. Originally, it should be colder than the inner city, let alone this villa was backed by a mountain range, with cold winds blowing, mercilessly raging in the cold winter, making this summer resort like an ice cellar in winter.

  It was Rui's nanny who came to greet her.

  She was wearing a simple blue cotton jacket with floral patterns, her hair was tied up with a bamboo pin, and she had no makeup on. Her face looked pale and tired, with some puffiness around the eyes, as if she had just cried. She said, "Let Seventh Miss suffer, hurry inside, it's not cold anymore."

  Ming Xuan and Dan Hong exchanged a glance, both feeling somewhat strange in their hearts.

  Rui Ya is the most trusted confidant of Madame Hou, taking care of half of the household chores. Over the years, she has not been short of oil and water, wearing and using only high-quality goods. Even the wives of third- or fourth-rank officials may not have her prestige. She is Madame Hou's mouthpiece and right-hand woman, sometimes speaking with a louder voice than her mistress. She has always been arrogant and overbearing, so how could she be humble and weak like this?

  Ming Xuan's heart tightened at once, taking advantage of Rui's nanny not checking, she looked around in all directions.

  Such a large courtyard, all the way here, already almost entering the main house, yet not even seeing a single gatekeeper or servant girl. As the second-rank noble lady of the Hou family, in the past, when she went out, there would be a group of servants and maids following behind her, enough to fill two large carriages. This time, although it's under the pretext of recuperating in the mountain villa, the mistress of the Hou household shouldn't be so calm.

  She couldn't help but think of Rui's unusual behavior and felt that something must have happened to Madame Hou.

  She followed Rui's mother into the main house, from the flower screen to the inner room. Ming Xuan saw Madame Hou leaning against the headboard and forced a smile at her, "Xuan sister, you're here."

  Ming Xuan saw Madame Hou's face turn pale and look very weak, and she was shocked in her heart.

  This kind of complexion is a sign of impending death, not long ago she saw it on Mrs. Han's face, and several hours later, Mrs. Han passed away. But the housekeeper beside Old Lady Zhu said that Madame Hou was not seriously ill, just feeling uncomfortable in her heart and being annoyed by Master.

  She suppressed her emotions and sat down on a small stool in front of the bed, saying softly, "Auntie, I'm here."

  Rui's aunt personally poured hot tea and handed it over, saying somewhat embarrassedly, "It's not good tea, please, Seventh Miss, just drink it to warm your stomach."

  Ming Xuan took a sip, her eyebrows slightly furrowed, and it was indeed not good tea, both bitter and astringent.

  She thought to herself, this second-rate hot tea was probably not intentionally brought out by Rui Ya to entertain her. From the time she entered the inner room until now, only Rui Ya had been busy coming and going, without even seeing a single young maid. According to reason, with Madame Hou's illness being so severe, there should be people waiting on her in the house, unless Madame Hou had specifically ordered them to leave, or else there really was no one available.

  This shouldn't be!

  Madam Hou gave birth to two sons and two daughters. Except for her eldest daughter who had passed away as the wife of Prince Jianning, the rest were all in the Shengjing Hou Mansion.

  The Crown Prince Yuanhao and his wife, Cai Shi, were both people who understood the rules and knew how to handle things. The fifth brother, Yuan Xian, had always been extremely filial to Madame Hou, so even if Master Hou cut off Madame Hou's allowance in her separate estate, these two biological sons would absolutely not ignore her or fail to take care of her. After all, didn't Madame Hou still have a daughter who was a noble consort in the palace?

  Her long eyelashes fluttered slightly as she smiled and raised her head to ask, "I don't know why Grand Aunt called me here, is there something you want to instruct me?"

  Madam Hou seemed to have been hurt by the frown of Miss Ming Xuan just now, and her eyes dimly said, "This villa was not big in the first place, so the house is simple and there are no decorations. When you came, I couldn't even serve a decent cup of tea, it's really embarrassing."

  She paused for a moment and then said, "Xuan sister, I invited you over because there's actually something I want to ask of you."

  No need to beat around the bush, let's get straight to the point.

  "Whatever Auntie wants to instruct is fine, as long as it's something that I, a niece, can do, I'll definitely try my best. We're all family, no need to say please or thank you."

  She didn't really want to interfere with Madame Hou's affairs in her heart, so although this sentence was spoken warmly, it was actually quite superfluous.

  Madam Hou seemed to have noticed Ming Xuan's estrangement, and she sighed softly, saying, "Originally, these words shouldn't be said by me, an aunt, to a younger generation, but now, I also have no choice,"

  Her eyes drooped slightly, and a deep sorrow flashed across her face. "Last time, Sister Hua was demoted to Shu Fei, my uncle blamed me for not teaching my daughter properly, letting him be ridiculed by his colleagues in private. If it weren't for the sake of the Marquis's reputation, I'm afraid he would have even divorced me. He was ruthless and directly ordered me to rest, and then drove me out of the house. Such a heartless and unfeeling man, after thirty years of marriage, not leaving any room for affection."

  The old lady hastily handed over the handkerchief, saying indignantly, "Lord Hou is really heartless. Madame's body was originally only slightly ill, but this place is simple and crude, eating and drinking are not easy to come by, and it's hard to invite doctors and take medicine. Madame dragged a small illness into a big one. I reported back several times, but Lord Hou always scolded Madame for being unwell. Later on, he even forbade the usual doctor from coming. This is already the case, but Lord Hou actually...

  She became more and more indignant, "The master actually deducted the monthly allowance for the madam. In order not to let the crown prince and the fifth prince see that the madam was heartbroken, they specially asked for a job on their behalf and sent them away to do business in the south. Before, the crown prince's wife would often come, but she didn't dare move things from the treasury, she could only secretly leave some silver behind, but the madam's illness requires high-quality ginseng, how can that little silver be enough?"

  This was not the words of Yongning Hou, Ming Xuan was just a younger generation, and also a niece who had been married out, so it was naturally not good to comment on anything casually, she could only lower her head and listen, but the more she listened, the more she felt that something was wrong.

  The Yongning Marquis and his wife had a bad relationship, which was known to everyone in the manor. First, there was Mingwu's birth mother, and later, there was Concubine Zhou. The Marchioness was able to give birth to four children despite not having her husband's heart, which was already a miracle. This also shows that the Yongning Marquis is a man who values the distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children and follows family rules. If it were just because of the Imperial Concubine Shu's private agreement with the Emperor that lost face for the Yongning Marquis, he wouldn't have made things so difficult for the Marchioness to the point where she couldn't show her face. If something happened to the Marchioness, the Yongning Marquis would also lose face.

  What's most puzzling is that if such a thing really happened, why didn't Rui'niang go back to report to Old Lady Zhu and think of a way to enter the palace to see Guiniang and ask for an explanation? Why did she come looking for her instead? She hasn't even become the Wangfei yet, and even if she had, what could a married-out niece who's been separated by a wall do?

  "Earlier, when the Empress was in a good mood, she would summon Madame Yu to the palace every few days, and there were even opportunities for her to meet with the Imperial Concubine. However, after the Empress passed away, the Duke issued an order confining Madame Yu to her quarters, not only dismissing all of her attendants except for me and Douzhu, but also prohibiting anyone from visiting her. All necessities are delivered by servants."

  She wiped away tears, "There was no carriage left at the Zhuangzi, yesterday I entrusted Douzhu to take care of the mistress and then walked dozens of miles to the town's national public security bureau, it wasn't easy to come up with a way to see Yan Niangniang, today Seventh Miss can come, to be honest, this old slave is truly grateful and tearful."

  Ming Xuan's face changed slightly, and she took a deep breath before asking in a cool tone, "Does Grandmother know about these things?"

  Madam Hou smiled wryly and shook her head, "Mother probably thinks I'm still sulking with Master Hou."

  Her eyes were dim and her gaze was downcast, "Xiang sister, do you know? Eldest uncle said that the Shu Empress and the male fetus in her womb were killed by me! Poor me, I'm already sick like this, but I still have to bear the sin of harming others. That's the palace of the beloved Shu Empress in the deep palace, what virtue do I have to harm people?"

  Shu Fei died in childbirth, but the boy she gave birth to was stillborn. It is said that his hair was black, clearly a sign of poisoning. However, the Emperor did not investigate further because Yu Hui Fei had given birth to the eldest son. This poisoning could not have been done in one day, it must have been someone who had been poisoning Shu Fei for a long time. According to the principle that whoever benefits from the crime is suspicious, Yu Hui Fei is the most suspicious, followed by Gui Fei.

  However, when Madame Hou entered the palace, she had to go through several checks. Even if she really had the intention of harming the Shu Fei, it's unlikely that she would have had the opportunity. The Duke of Yongning pinned this crime on Madame Hou's head.

  It's not only unreasonable, but also lost its rationality. If this matter is revealed and arouses suspicion, plotting against the imperial concubine and the crown prince, Madame Hou will certainly not escape death, and the Gu family will also suffer calamity because of it.

  Ming Xuan furrowed her brow and asked, "Aunt, I don't know when you last saw Uncle, was there anything that seemed off about him?"

  Complete works txt download, full text free, e-book, remember 77 reading books