The next morning.
Nan Yuan'er led a contingent of people grandly towards Green Mountain Temple, it was unclear if they were going to pray for blessings or to invite the temple's Taoist priests to their manor to capture ghosts and subdue demons.
However, as soon as Nan Yuan'er left, Madam Wang sent people to Liyuan Pavilion to summon Madam Liu!
"Second Madam, Madam requests your presence!" Wang's maid stood ramrod straight, a hint of smugness in her expression. The master had personally returned the household management to her mistress, which likely meant Madam Liu had done something to incur the master's extreme displeasure. Over the years, Madam Liu, relying on her favor with the master, had caused them no end of trouble. Now, she wanted to see what arrogance Madam Liu still had left.
Madam Liu, already seething from the loss of household management, had been in a state of terror for days due to that wretch Nan Yuqing. Her heart was already filled with suppressed anger. Now, seeing that even a mere maid from Wang's side dared to give her a frosty look, she immediately stepped forward and slapped the maid viciously across the face.
"Slap, slap, slap~" she struck back and forth several times.
As she slapped, she cursed, "What do you think you are, to dare speak to me in such a tone? You insolent, lowlife brat, do you think Wang Shi can flaunt her authority over me just because she's regained control of the household? Hmph, invite me to her courtyard? Does she think she's worthy? A dying invalid, with one foot already in the grave, still trying to put on airs with me? Hah, if I don't go, what can she do to me?"
Madam Liu's wild curses reached the entrance of Liyuan Pavilion. Nan Yujin, supporting Wang Shi, stood outside. The guards at the gate had been replaced; they certainly wouldn't dare to stop these two. The guards who had tried before were already dead and beyond saving!
As they stepped into the courtyard, hearing Madam Liu's words, Wang Shi covered her mouth and began to cough.
Her coughing drew everyone's attention. Madam Liu looked towards the sound and, upon seeing Wang Shi, felt a slight tremor in her heart. For some reason, it reminded her of Nan Yuqing.
"Madam!"
The maid shook off Madam Liu's hand and ran to Wang Shi's side, weeping. The five-fingered marks on both her cheeks overlapped, turning a perfectly good young woman into something resembling a bruised pig's head.
Wang Shi patted her hand comfortingly, her gaze towards Madam Liu filled with blame and dissatisfaction!
While helping Wang Shi regulate her breathing, Nan Yujin glared at Madam Liu with anger in his eyes, "Aunt, my mother is the lawful wife of the Duke, after all. To curse and insult her like this, if it were to spread, do you want those censors to impeach Father?"
If Wang Shi hadn't desperately held onto Nan Yujin's arm, he would have already rushed forward to teach Madam Liu a lesson.
"Nan Yujin, don't try to alarm me with your words. As a junior, you openly trespass into an elder's residence, fail to show proper respect, and instead openly criticize and even threaten an elder. The Master personally taught you, yet still failed to teach you what respect for elders entails? You are, after all, the legitimate eldest son of the Nan family. If outsiders were to hear your words, they would surely mock our Nan family!"
The fear in Madam Liu's eyes flashed away for just a moment before she sharply and bitingly criticized Nan Yujin. What did it matter that Nan Yujin was the legitimate eldest son of the Nan family? It was not his place to run amok in her Liyuan Pavilion.
"Respect? You think you're worthy of it?"
Nan Yujin's words were sharp, as if he were about to point at Madam Liu's nose and curse her for being nothing. If in the past he might have held back to avoid causing his father trouble or to prevent his mother from being bullied by Madam Liu in terms of monthly allowances and food, then now, after learning of Qing'er's death and seeing the coffin she used, Nan Yujin could no longer retreat.
He had used all his strength to control himself, otherwise, he would have torn her limb from limb. This was already the limit of his forbearance!
"You..."
Madam Liu's eyes widened in disbelief. She had never expected Nan Yujin to speak to her in such a manner; this had never happened before.
But then, she hadn't considered, what kind of son could stand by while his mother was cursed and insulted?
Madam Liu was too accustomed to wielding power, to the point of being unable to properly ascertain her own position.
Although she was a wife, she was merely a secondary wife, and this secondary wife status was obtained by her daughter's influence. If she hadn't schemed to make Wang Shi bedridden for many years, even with her favor, she would have been a secondary wife with no real power.
"Fine, you've just gained control of the household, and you've come to flaunt your power at my doorstep? You truly should let the Master see the faces of you mother and son!" Madam Liu pointed at Wang Shi and Nan Yujin's noses and began to curse them loudly. When facing Nan Chaoyin, she would speak gently, like a delicate flower drenched in dew. But when facing Wang Shi and Nan Yujin, she transformed into an unreasonable shrew.
Nan Yujin immediately let out a laugh of anger, "Flaunting power? Aunt, do you know why my mother invited you here? And why we have come now?"
Madam Liu sneered, "Why? Isn't it just to humiliate me in various ways?"
Nan Yujin also sneered, "My mother suddenly fell ill with her old ailment yesterday. She felt that her body had not yet recovered and it was not suitable for her to manage the household, so she intended to have you go and, in secret, return the household management to you... You were stripped of your household management by Father. By rights, if my mother were to return the management to you, it would be defying Father. So, she planned to secretly return it to you before telling Father that she had suddenly fallen ill, which is why she had to temporarily entrust the household management to you."
"And after my mother sent her maid to summon you, she came herself, simply because she feared you would overthink and be unwilling to come!"
"Who would have thought, Aunt, that you would view my mother and me with such disdain, such coldness, such venom, and publicly curse the legitimate wife and an imperial consort of the first rank in your own courtyard!"
"Aunt, aren't you afraid that if this matter spreads, it will ruin Yuan'er's future? To speak disrespectfully, why do you think Yuan'er is still unmarried?"
Let alone Madam Liu, all the servants in Liyuan Pavilion were shocked to hear such words from Nan Yujin. So, the First Madam came to Liyuan Pavilion today to return... no, to temporarily entrust the household management to Madam. They said temporarily, but everyone knew that once the household management returned to Madam's hands, the First Madam would likely never get it back.
Speaking of you, she was unwilling to hold power due to health reasons and wanted to return the authority. However...
The gazes of everyone towards Madam Liu were filled with a certain complexity. As servants of Liyuan Pavilion, they should have unconditionally supported Madam. But Madam's actions just now were truly unwise. She could have taken back the household management without expending any effort, but now... the First Madam would probably not hand it over again!
A flicker of panic crossed Madam Liu's eyes. Nan Yujin's words had greatly exceeded her expectations. From the beginning, she had felt that Wang Shi had come to humiliate her, never imagining that Wang Shi would repay kindness with enmity!
No, it couldn't be like this; Nan Yujin must be lying and trying to shield her!
"Heh, you speak well. Return my household management? If that's truly the case, then give me the keys to the storeroom now! Don't just talk the talk, walk the walk!"