"You have nothing to say?" Yilan sneered and threw the money bag she had prepared early in the morning in front of Qiu Ju, "Take this money and get out of the house immediately. We don't need you, a dishonest person who doesn't keep his duty and is a libertine."
Your maid!"
Qiu Ju was frightened. She originally thought that she was called here because the master wanted to take her as a concubine. The old lady had mentioned it to her before, and she agreed. Although it was a concubine, what was the master's status?
Even if she is a concubine, she is also a concubine of an official family. She is even more honorable than the ordinary wife of a wealthy family. What's more, the master has a good temperament and is gentle to others. He never blames her.
Punishing myself as a servant. But I never expected that my wife would suddenly say that I would be kicked out of the house. The last time my father repaired a fan, he broke his leg. He is still lying in bed and relying on her every month.
After taking the money to go back to see a doctor and get medicine, my mother and younger brother have to wait for food. If this job is gone, the whole family will starve to death.
The more she thought about it, the more frightened she became. She crawled over and tightly grasped the hem of Yilan's skirt and begged: "I am wronged. I have never done anything. Please don't drive me away. I have not failed to keep my duty, and I have not..."
"
"It's nothing?" Yilan sneered and kicked her to the ground. "Do I have to wait until you climb into the master's bed before you are deemed unjust?" She paused and said again: "Qiu Ju, I'm thinking of you.
I will only give you an extra two months' wages for a master-servant relationship. If you continue to hang around, don't blame me for not even giving you a penny."
Qiu Ju didn't expect Yilan to be so ruthless. She was angry and anxious, and her face turned red. Although she needed money very much, the bag of silver on the ground made her feel extremely humiliated. If she took it, wouldn't it be equivalent to admitting that she had
Disobeying her duties and being a libertine? Being willing to be a concubine does not mean that she has no sense of shame. She has always been a girl from a good family.
Qiu Ju lay on the ground, the more she thought about it, the sadder she became. She started crying, and her tears fell one after another on the back of her hands, burning and struggling.
Yilan did not become impatient because of her tears. Instead, she became even more impatient. She stood up, rolled up her sleeves, stared at Qiu Ju condescendingly, and said solemnly, "Have you cried enough? If you don't get out, I will ask someone to drive you out."
Qiu Ju's tears fell even more fiercely, but she didn't dare to cry anymore. She bit her lip and got up. As for the bag of money, she struggled for a long time and finally failed to get it. She just covered her face and stumbled out.
Yilan sneered. After bending down to pick up the bag of money and throwing it on the table, she also left the main hall and went back to the room. When nothing happened, she got dressed and took a nap on the bed. Not long after she lay down, she heard something coming from outside.
There was a noise, which made her unable to sleep. She patted the bed in annoyance and asked, "Who is outside?"
Du Juan hurriedly opened the curtain and came in: "Madam, it's the old lady who's here, yelling that she wants to see you."
"Old Madam?" Yilan repeated strangely and stood up by holding on to the edge of the bed. Dujuan hurriedly stepped forward to support her and said, "Yes, I don't know what happened to the old Madam today. I have already told her that Madam is resting."
But the old lady still refuses to leave and insists on seeing her."
Although Yilan was a little impatient, the old lady was her mother-in-law after all, so she couldn't bear to refute her face too much. At that moment, Zhengyi said with some loose beads in her hair: "Help me out."
"Yes." Du Juan agreed. After squatting down and smoothing out the wrinkles in her clothes one by one, he helped her to the front hall. As soon as she entered, she saw an old woman wearing a rust red dress embroidered with chrysanthemum patterns.
Sitting at the top, a twisted silver hairpin neatly fixed her gray hair on the back of her head without any mess. Standing next to her was Qiu Ju, who had just been kicked out by Yilan.
Seeing this scene, Yilan couldn't understand why. It must be that Qiu Ju was unwilling to be kicked out of the house, so she ran to the old lady to make trouble and encouraged the old lady to come here to stand up for her.
Yilan didn't point it out, she leaned over to greet her with a smile and said: "My daughter-in-law, I would like to say hello to my mother. Why is my mother so interested in coming to my daughter-in-law's place today?"
Mother Li had a son in her later years. Now she is over sixty years old. Her body is not as good as before, and her legs and feet are inconvenient. When she seldom leaves her room, Mr. and Mrs. Yilan go to say hello.
"You sit down." Mother Li is usually very kind to Yilan. She has never shown her mother-in-law expression to Yilan in the ten years since she came here. But this time she was extremely serious and didn't say anything. She just asked Yilan to sit down.
wait.
After a while, Li Yaoguang came in from outside. He also asked for comfort first and then said: "Mother is anxious to call her son over, but what's the matter?"
Mother Li nodded slightly, "Okay, now that everyone is here, my old lady won't show off and will tell you straight to the point." She pulled Qiu Ju, who had been lowering her head, and said to Yilan, "Qiu Ju came to follow me just now.
Farewell, it’s Yilan and you want to send her out of the house, right?”
"Yes." The old lady made it clear that she was here to ask her questions. Yilan would not deny it, and immediately said: "My wife thinks that Qiu Ju is not safe in her work, so she plans to find someone else to serve her mother."
Mother Li stared at Yilan for a long time and sighed: "It was my old woman's idea to give Qiu Ju to Yao Guang as his concubine. If you are angry, just throw it at my old woman."
"Mother." Li Yaoguang interrupted: "Since Yilan doesn't like it, let's not mention the concubine thing again. My son and Yilan are still young, and the child will be born sooner or later."
"Sooner or later, I have heard this for ten years, and I don't want to hear it anymore." Mother Li said with an angry look on her face: "I have been buried for most of my life. My only wish is for the Li family to have children, but you are
How can I not be impatient when there is no movement? As the saying goes, there are three types of unfilial piety, and the worst is not having heirs. Do you really have the heart to see the Li family, which has lasted for hundreds of years, lose its heirs in your hands? "
Yilan had been listening quietly, and waited until Mother Li finished speaking the last word, then she leaned forward and said: "What mother taught me is that it is the daughter-in-law's fault that she has been unable to give birth to an heir for the Li family for more than ten years.
"
Hearing her take the initiative to admit her mistake, Mother Li's expression immediately softened, and she turned to explain to her: "You can't be lazy about this matter. After all, children are not just for you. I am also a woman, and I am also a daughter-in-law, so
In the past ten years, I have never complained about you. But... Yilan, you must also be considerate of me, and you cannot let me have the shamelessness to meet the ancestors of the Li family after I die."
"Daughter-in-law, I don't dare." The corner of Yilan's mouth curled up slightly, with a sarcastic smile that was difficult for others to detect.
"So you agree?" Mother Li's eyes flashed with joy, and even Qiu Ju quickly raised her head. Only Li Yaoguang looked at Yilan worriedly. He knew his married wife very well. Once she
Decisions cannot be changed easily, let alone such a major matter.
Sure enough, Yilan's next sentence confirmed Li Yaoguang's suspicion, "Mom, I misunderstood. A daughter-in-law can be considerate, but that doesn't mean she can accept her husband taking a concubine. When we got married that day, my husband said that he would treat me well for the rest of his life. My daughter-in-law doesn't want her husband."