Chapter 56: Pillow Talk

Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios

Yang Shuwan’s face was covered with a thick layer of makeup, but it couldn’t hide her haggard appearance. She groaned inwardly, but could only obey. “Please let me know when Old Madam is awake.”

The maidservant nodded, then picked up a feather duster and proceeded to dust the hall.

Yang Shuwan had wanted to take advantage of the fact that Old Madam was still asleep, to sit on the chair and rest for a while.

However, no matter how careful the maidservant was when sweeping and dusting the place, it was inevitable that she would still make some noise. Yang Shuwan was annoyed and her headache worsened. She wished she could rush over and grab the feather duster to whip this maidservant.

Time passed excruciatingly slowly. Finally, Qing Xiu came over. “Old Madam has woken up. Madam, you may please go and serve her now.”

Yang Shuwan’s eyes widened. There were so many maidservants in the house, but she was the one who had to serve Old Madam Yu?

What did this have to do with the rules?

This was clearly just a way of torturing her!

Yang Shuwan lowered her head to hide the resentment on her face, and she assented obediently.

After entering the room, Yang Shuwan greeted Old Madam Yu first, then stepped forward to help Old Madam Yu put on her clothes. However, she had not served anyone in many years. Occasionally, she would serve Master, but that was only to keep things playful and interesting in their married life, and he wouldn’t blame her even if she was a little clumsy. However, how could serving her mother-in-law be the same?

Yang Shuwan made mistake after mistake. Soon, her forehead was covered in sweat. Old Madam Yu did not say anything and merely let her continue to struggle with whatever she was doing.

This way, Yang Shuwan would be even more nervous and make more mistakes.

Yang Shuwan knelt respectfully on the ground and helped Old Madam Yu put on her shoes. Then, she heard Old Madam Yu say calmly, “It must be really hard on you to have to serve an old woman like me.”

Yang Shuwan immediately replied, “Of course not,” but her back was drenched in layers and layers of sweat.

After a long and exhausting morning, Yang Shuwan was both hungry and tired.

Nanny Liu looked at the time and asked the maidservant to prepare breakfast.

Just then, Yu Youyao came over to greet her grandmother. She glanced at Yang Shuwan, who was standing at the back and waiting on Old Madam Yu, with her head hung low and eyes looking down. Then, she went forward to greet the two of them.

Old Madam Yu pulled Yu Youyao to sit down beside her, and looked at her face carefully. “The swelling on your face has gone down a little. Does it still hurt?”

Yu Youyao nodded. “I asked Nanny Xu to roll an egg on my bruise, so it doesn’t hurt as much anymore.”

After exchanging a few words, they began to eat.

Old Madam Yu did not say anything, so Yang Shuwan did not dare to sit down and eat with them. Looking at the table full of appetizing food, she instantly felt a pang of hunger. Her head throbbed and she felt dizzy, but she could only perk up and continue to serve Old Madam Yu.

After eating a few mouthfuls of food that Madam Yang had put on her plate, Old Madam Yu put down her chopsticks. “You’ve only been putting food on my plate. Why aren’t you giving any to Yao Yao? My son always tells me that you treat Yao Yao kindly and with motherly love. Now she’s right in front of you, so you can’t neglect her, right?”

These words were like a slap to Yang Shuwan’s face, making her feel both awkward and helpless. She quickly bent down and picked up some pickled diced radish for Yu Youyao.

Before Yu Youyao could react, Old Madam Yu had already taken away all the pickled radish in the bowl. “You keep saying that you treat Yao Yao as your own daughter, but why don’t you know that she doesn’t like to eat radishes?”

“I-I was negligent.” She didn’t dare to say anything else, in case she made more mistakes.

Yang Shuwan was thoroughly embarrassed once again. Each time her sweat finally dried off, she only ended up becoming drenched in yet another layer in no time. Her body also felt a little cold. For a moment, she felt like she was going to faint.

Without even looking at Madam Yang, Yu Youyao picked up the beets from her grandmother’s plate and placed them on her own plate. “Grandmother doesn’t like to eat beets, but I do.”

Old Madam Yu beamed. Yao Yao had always known what she liked and didn’t like to eat, since a young age. Every time they had a meal together, she would always push aside the food that she didn’t like.

However, while Old Madam Yu was happy, Yang Shuwan’s face alternated between shades of green and white.

After breakfast, Old Madam Yu chatted with Yu Youyao. With Old Madam Yu’s permission, Yang Shuwan finally headed to the side hall to have her meal.

However, she no longer had much of an appetite, so she only forced herself to eat a few mouthfuls. Then, she heard the maidservant outside say that Yu Zongzheng had come to greet Old Madam Yu.

Yang Shuwan perked up and hurriedly entered the hall with her handkerchief. She looked at Yu Zongzheng with glistening eyes, her face filled with grievance and sorrow. She looked pitiful and weak.

Yu Zongzheng’s heart skipped a beat, but then he frowned. “As a daughter-in-law, it’s your duty to serve your mother-in-law. Why are you putting on such an expression? Are you implying that I’m too much for expecting you to serve my mother?”

Yang Shuwan stared agape at Yu Zongzheng in disbelief.

If it were in the past, upon seeing such an expression on her, he would definitely have thought that Old Madam was bullying her. Then, he would have felt bad for her and stood up for her in front of his mother.

But the words that Master had just uttered—what did he mean by that?

It had already been a night since then. Even if he was still angry, he shouldn’t be acting like that.

After reprimanding Yang Shuwan, Yu Zongzheng turned to his mother and said, “Mother, you’re really thoughtful. Madam Yang is still young and doesn’t know propriety. She’s not as prudent as you. Thank you for keeping her by your side to teach her well, so that she’ll be able to take care of the household more capably in the future. Besides, Mother, you’re already getting old. As your daughter-in-law, she should be around to serve you often.”

Hearing this, Yang Shuwan’s eyes darkened and she almost collapsed to the ground right then and there.

Yu Zongzheng was going to head to the government office today, so he did not stay long.

In all these years, this was the first time that Old Madam Yu had seen Madam Yang receive such treatment from her son. It wasn’t that this made her happy, but she felt it was time Yang Shuwan learned that she wasn’t one to be trifled with.

However, even though she wanted to make Yang Shuwan follow strict rules, she also didn’t want Yang Shuwan to hang around her all day, so she waved her hand and said, “I plan to prepare more scriptures to worship Buddha during the Buddhist Festival in April. Go to the Temple Hall to copy the scriptures.”

She did not say how many scriptures to copy nor how many hours to spend.

Looking grim beyond despair, Yang Shuwan had no choice but to obey and head there.

There was a strong sandalwood fragrance in the Temple hall, and it was so quiet that a pin drop could be heard. Even though Yang Shuwan didn’t believe in Buddhism, she couldn’t help but feel intimidated when she saw the dignified and solemn Buddha statue in the temple. She didn’t dare to act imprudently in front of Buddha, so she could only bury her head in copying the Buddhist scriptures. She had no idea how much time had passed, but she only knew that her wrist was starting to feel sore and painful, while her neck also felt stiff and swollen. She also felt dizzy and nauseous.

A while later, Nanny Li secretly came over. “Madam, I’ve asked around. Yesterday, that vixen, Concubine He, had gone to the study to deliver some bird’s nest to Master and ended up staying there. I heard that she’d asked for three to five trips of water at night. It wasn’t until dawn today that she secretly returned to the Clear Autumn Courtyard.”

When Yang Shuwan heard this, she swept all of the brushes, ink, papers, and ink stone off the table and onto the ground. “No wonder Master treated me that way today. It’s because that vixen had been serving him well last night, and she’d definitely been whispering a lot into his ear during their pillow talk. Ugh, that vixen is getting more and more out of hand. She’s simply too hateful.”

Yesterday, it was true that Master hadn’t gone to Concubine He’s house.

However, the two of them were fooling around in the study instead. How was that any different from going to the Clear Autumn Courtyard?