Madam Bai was relegated to the manor in the countryside to "recover," her trusted confidantes long gone.
The new servants assigned to her were originally laborers from the manor, neither proper maids nor nannies. Madam Bai found them utterly distasteful.
However, for her revenge plan, she reluctantly used a large portion of her dowry to bribe them, promising them great rewards. She never expected these wretches would turn around and betray her.
The thought of her every move being under Concubine Ying’s watchful eye made Madam Bai wish she could tear her apart, eat her flesh, and drink her blood.
She glared fiercely at Concubine Ying, her eyes practically spitting green fire.
Concubine Ying, who had been bullied by Madam Bai for years, felt a comfort far greater than drinking cold water on a sweltering day at the sight of her.
Just then, Madam Bai suddenly grabbed Concubine Ying’s hair and bit her ear.
Concubine Ying let out a pig-like scream, her arms flailing wildly at Madam Bai’s face. “Let go of me, let go of me! You lunatic!”
How could Madam Bai possibly let go so easily?
Her teeth, like a saw, clamped down on the ear, showing every intention of tearing it off!
Wang Da rushed forward to separate them, but Madam Bai refused to release her grip. No amount of scolding or prying could loosen her bite.
Finally, with a tearing sound, Madam Bai bit off half of Concubine Ying’s ear. Concubine Ying’s face was covered in blood, and she let out a scream before fainting.
Madam Bai, still with the bloody ear in her mouth, mixed with the blood from the slaps she had received, her eyes gleamed green like a ferocious wolf.
Old Madam Wang, at her age, seeing such a brutal scene, couldn't bear it and fainted as well.
“Oh my, this is quite the spectacle,” Wang Qingyao chuckled, devoid of sympathy, and asked, “What happened next?”
Madam Bai had committed the grave offense of adultery; her life was forfeit.
Wang Da quickly discovered Madam Bai’s lover was the son of the manor’s steward. He found an excuse and beat the steward’s son to death! In his rage, he also fired the steward and his wife.
Madam Bai was originally to be drowned in a pig cage, but out of consideration for the Wang family’s reputation and Wang Zijing’s future, they only announced to the outside world that she was gravely ill and near death.
If Madam Bai died, her son Wang Zijing would have to mourn her for three years, and only then could he get married!
After much deliberation, Wang Da discussed it with Wang Zijing and decided to move up the wedding date between him and Bai Junya – originally December 28th, it was now brought forward to November 16th.
The Wang family was now in a frenzy preparing for the wedding, announcing it was to pray for Madam Bai’s recovery.
“Did the Bai family agree?”
Wang Qingyao asked, then laughed at herself. How could the Bai family disagree?
With Madam Bai’s actions, what face did the Bai family have to negotiate with the Wang family?
“Didn’t Wang Zijing plead for Madam Bai?” she asked again, after all, she was his birth mother.
Xiao Yun raised an eyebrow. “He did, but it was useless. Wang Da would only allow Madam Bai a more comfortable death. Besides, your eldest cousin is extremely rigid and upright; even if Madam Bai were his own mother, he likely felt she had disgraced the family and deserved to die.”
Having an affair and becoming pregnant was not something glorious, even in modern times.
However, Wang Da himself was no saint, and he was the least qualified to condemn Madam Bai.
Wang Qingyao propped her chin on her hand, sighing, “Men having three wives and four concubines is considered normal, but women must be chaste and loyal, valuing their purity over their lives, heh…”
Xiao Yun said softly from the side, “Didn’t you say last time that men should have three wives and four concubines?”
Oops, she’d let it slip!
Wang Qingyao turned and flashed him a sweet smile. “I didn’t say that, you misheard!”
Xiao Yun: “…” He thought: So this is her true feeling. It only reinforced his decision to never take a concubine, and if he did, he wouldn't touch them.
However, he also mused: Women are so contradictory!
Huang Shiyu’s letter arrived in the following days, primarily detailing the wedding of Wang Zijing and Bai Junya, and the news of Madam Bai’s serious illness.
It was unclear how the few concubines confined to the inner quarters had managed to obtain this information.
In her reply, Wang Qingyao instructed Huang Shiyu to send Wang Zijing a wedding gift, specifying exactly what to send. She also wrote that the key to the storeroom was kept by Zhizi, and she could consult with Zhizi.
Wang Qingyao would be unable to attend both Wang Zijing’s wedding and Madam Bai’s funeral.
As she calculated the time, she suddenly thought of a serious problem.
“We’re not going to miss going back for New Year’s, are we?”
Xiao Yun was very calm. “It’s possible.”
Wang Qingyao was speechless, but then she thought, even if it were New Year’s, if Xiao Mo were in danger, Xiao Yun would immediately rush to save him.
Her main task was to serve the boss; wherever the boss was, she was. As long as she was by his side, where she spent New Year’s didn’t matter.
With this thought, she calmly replied, “Oh.”
Xiao Yun found it amusing and asked, “Do you want to go back for New Year’s?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Wang Qingyao said, “As long as I spend it with you.”
She was adept at saying sweet nothings in such a casual tone, and the unsophisticated Xiao Yun was once again deeply moved.