Chapter 393: The Good Daughter of the Ji Family

"My Lady, please don’t cry. Crying during your confinement will harm your eyes."

Chun Xing handed her a handkerchief and wiped away her tears.

Ji Qingrong asked, "Where are Qingwu and the baby? I want to go see them."

She felt her body was fine and tried to get out of bed, but Chun Xing quickly stopped her.

"My Lady, you mustn’t move. If you don’t handle your confinement properly, you’ll have all sorts of health problems in the future."

"Where is the baby?" Ji Qingrong asked anxiously.

"My Lady, the Fifth Missy took the baby to the clinic. There’s a wet nurse looking after him. The Fifth Missy said she couldn’t rest easy with the baby staying in the Marquis Mansion."

Ji Qingrong instantly felt relieved. By rights, she should have gone to her fifth sister’s clinic to give birth. If her mother-in-law hadn’t insisted on stopping her, both she and the baby would be recuperating at the clinic right now.

Chun Xing helped Ji Qingrong lie back down and tucked the covers in for her.

Then she continued, "The Fifth Missy also gave instructions to arrange for a carriage to take you there as soon as you woke up."

Ji Qingrong asked, "Is Qingwu at the clinic?"

Chun Xing replied, "This servant doesn’t know. The Fifth Missy waited until your father and mother arrived from the Ji Family’s home before she left with the baby."

"My father and mother are here?"

Ji Qingrong tried to sit up again, but Chun Xing pushed her back down.

"Please, just rest for a while. Your father and mother both came. They just left after seeing you."

Staring at the carved wooden door, Ji Qingrong asked, "Have Father and Mother left already?"

Chun Xing said, "No, they’re still at the main gate of our courtyard, arguing with the Grand Dowager."

Ji Qingrong asked in a daze, "Why at the courtyard gate?"

She understood why Mr. Ji and Mrs. Ji would want to confront the Grand Dowager.

During her labor, the Grand Dowager had blocked the servants in her room, forbidding them from sending word out, and even brought a group of people to stand guard at the door. The whole display was terrifying.

Once Mrs. Qiao found out, she would surely demand an explanation.

But if the two families were to discuss matters, they should at least find a place to sit down.

’Has the Marquis Mansion denied my parents even this basic courtesy?’

The color drained from Ji Qingrong’s face. "Has the Princely Heir not returned yet?"

Something major had happened at the palace. Lu Juan had sent someone back to inform her long ago that he would not be returning home for a few days.

The Grand Dowager had sent someone to deliver a message, but ever since the Emperor was assassinated during the ancestral worship ceremony, the personnel on duty at the palace—whether Imperial Physicians or Palace Attendants—had all been replaced.

Getting a message inside would be very difficult.

Lu Juan probably still didn’t know his child had been born.

Chun Xing’s eyes lit up as she replied, "My Lady, Xiao Liu Zi came back ahead to report. He said His Lordship has received the news and is on his way back from the palace."

Ji Qingrong’s heart relaxed. As long as Lu Juan returned to the Marquis Mansion, she wouldn’t have to worry about this mess anymore.

’But who went to deliver the message at this hour?’

Ji Qingrong thought it over and over, but finally said, "I’m worried about my father and mother. I’m going out for a bit. My body is really fine."

The Grand Dowager was the type of shameless, difficult person who could be in the wrong and still argue her point. She was worried her own family, being too reasonable, would be at a huge disadvantage.

Ji Qingrong ordered, "Go get me my cloak, and a headscarf."

Chun Xing didn’t move. "My Lady, please don’t worry. There’s no way the Ji Family will be at a disadvantage today."

Ji Qingrong asked, "What do you mean?"

Recalling what she had seen today, Chun Xing said excitedly, "It’s all thanks to the Fifth Missy this time. Not only the Second Mistress, but even the Grand Dowager suffered a huge loss."

’My second sister-in-law, Feng Shuang, and my mother-in-law both suffered a loss?’

Ji Qingrong said in astonishment, "Tell me, what happened?"

「Outside the courtyard gate.」

Two people were standing, and quite a few were lying on the ground.

Earlier, when Ji Bo Lian and Mrs. Qiao rushed in to check on their eldest daughter, they hadn’t noticed the pile of people lying under the tree by the gate in the dim light.

Si Hai had carried out Ji Qingwu’s orders thoroughly, even gagging them with strips of ragged cloth. They couldn’t even make a sound.

It wasn’t until Mrs. Qiao came out of the room, her face furious and intending to demand an explanation from the Grand Dowager, that she discovered the group at the gate.

Mrs. Qiao was startled. Even the well-traveled Ji Bo Lian was inwardly astonished.

They had never seen their in-law in such an undignified state.

A dozen or so old maids were bound hand and foot. The most lavishly dressed among them, the Grand Dowager, was tied with two ropes, and bound the tightest.

Mrs. Qiao turned and exchanged a look with Ji Bo Lian. They could both see the confusion in each other’s eyes, as well as a hint of satisfaction.

A good deal of their anger dissipated.

Mrs. Qiao walked over and pulled the cloth strip from the Grand Dowager’s mouth.

She asked, "What’s happened to you? What’s going on?"

The air was cold and the ground was colder. The Grand Dowager shivered, her lips chapped and pale. The moment she tried to speak, she choked and coughed uncontrollably.

"It’s all... your... you... the fine daughter your Ji Family raised..."

Mrs. Qiao was extremely displeased to hear this.

Qingrong had given the Marquis Mansion a child, a contribution deserving of both credit and sympathy, yet the Grand Dowager was still so resentful.

"I haven’t even settled my score with you, and here you are, the culprit playing the victim! If anything had happened to my Qingrong, I would have fought your Duke Zhongyong’s Mansion to the death!"

The Grand Dowager never imagined she could be bullied like this in her own home. She was so furious she was a mess of tears and snot.

"You Ji Family, you’re a den of villains! With a mother like you, no wonder you raised such—"

Mrs. Qiao stuffed the cloth strip back into her mouth.

"This mouth is better kept shut."

Ji Bo Lian nodded. "Much quieter now."

Normally, Mrs. Qiao would have shown some restraint, as the Grand Dowager was, after all, the Emperor’s maternal aunt.

But when Mrs. Qiao heard how much her eldest daughter had suffered during childbirth, nearly losing her life, her anger had not subsided for a moment.

Now, they were all part of the Imperial Family. She was the Emperor’s mother-in-law. In terms of closeness, the Grand Dowager was nothing special.

Mrs. Qiao’s confidence swelled.

Just then, Feng Shuang appeared on the path, supported by her maids and walking with a limp. She was sobbing, on her way to complain to her mother-in-law.

From a distance, she saw two people standing at the courtyard gate. As she got closer, Feng Shuang recognized them as being from the Ji Family.

She didn’t see the Grand Dowager in the courtyard. Her maids gasped, and Feng Shuang’s gaze shifted downward, landing on her mother-in-law lying under the tree, along with the matrons from her own courtyard.

Feng Shuang looked up and said in a panic, "You, what did you do to my mother-in-law?"

"Is there no law anymore! How dare you tie up the lady of the Marquis Mansion!"

Mrs. Qiao had already heard from Chun Xing what Qingrong’s "good" second sister-in-law had done and was about to give her a piece of her mind.

But when she saw Feng Shuang’s face, the words died in her throat.

Her face was a mess of black and blue bruises. Her forehead, in particular, had a large, bloody mark, and her lip was split.

Mrs. Qiao exchanged another look with Ji Bo Lian. ’Did bandits break into the Marquis Mansion?’ They couldn’t make sense of the situation either.

They decided they should just take their eldest daughter home first. With a silent understanding, they both turned to leave.

Enduring the pain in her back and waist, Feng Shuang shouted, "Guards! Surround them! No one is leaving today!"