Chapter 2431 - 2405: Fighting! (Bonus for "Hua"’s Reward)

"She’s a fifth-rank imperial physician after all, it’s only natural she’s a bit proud."

"Hmph, she’s just an imperial physician. Even Director Xiao has to be all respectful when he comes to our house, isn’t his rank higher than hers?"

Sitting to the side, Zhao Liulang’s wife, because Zhao Liulang and Bai Shan get along well, couldn’t help muttering under her breath, "But she’s also a fourth-rank compiler, you know. That’s a very refined, prestigious post."

She muttered again, "And in the future, our two families will be relatives, too."

The Heir’s Wife said, "What kind of ’relatives’ is that supposed to be?"

Zhao Liulang’s wife was timid; her lips moved, but she didn’t dare speak.

Zhao Liulang came storming in and said angrily, "Relatives of Princess Mingda, relatives of the Imperial Family—does that count as distinguished enough?"

He’d originally come to complain to his mother, but passing by the side room and hearing these words, he couldn’t help rushing in. He shouted, "Eldest Sister-in-law, Zhou Man is Bai Shan’s fiancée, they’ll be married before long. Even if you ignore her being Bai Cheng’s Senior Sister, just based on Bai Shan and Bai Cheng’s relationship—once the princess marries over, won’t she have to call Zhou Man ’sister-in-law’... pfft—no, ’younger sister-in-law’, shouldn’t she call her ’younger sister-in-law’?"

"Is she or is she not the princess’s relative? Does that make our Zhao Family the princess’s relatives or not? You looking down on her—are you looking down on the princess, or looking down on our family? How are we supposed to maintain this relationship in the future?"

The Heir’s Wife was publicly shouted at by Zhao Liulang and was furious. "Sixth Uncle, even so, you can’t just muddle-headedly let someone in because of a marriage tie that hasn’t even been settled yet, can you? The place she’s staying at is full of hundreds of smallpox patients. If she accidentally brings something back with her—have you forgotten that calamity at the end of the year before last?"

"What do you mean ’muddle-headed’? We begged Her Highness to issue a decree to invite her here as an imperial physician. She’s a physician—doesn’t she know more about this than we do? Is this her first time leaving the imperial estate? Last time she went to the Liu Residence for a banquet, and the time before that she was running all over the capital, even went for a stroll around the examination compound. Did you see anyone avoiding her then?"

The Heir’s Wife was about to retort when Fourth Madam suddenly snorted with laughter, covering her lips as she said, "Sixth Uncle is far too eager, looking all flushed like this. Anyone who didn’t know better would think our Sixth Sister-in-law was the one who’d been wronged."

Once she said that, the room fell silent. Even the Heir’s Wife turned her head to glare at Fourth Madam, scolding displeased, "You, Old Fourth’s wife, what nonsense are you spouting?"

Zhao Liulang’s wife was also stunned. She turned to look at her husband, only to see him rolling his eyes in fury, his hand shaking as he pointed at Fourth Sister-in-law, utterly speechless. At that moment he had only one thought: if this gets out, he really won’t have the guts to face Bai Shan again.

The Heir’s Wife saw his face turning green and pale with anger, afraid he’d get so worked up something might happen, so she immediately said to Zhao Liulang’s wife, "What are you standing there dazing for? If I were you, I’d just tear her apart on the spot."

As soon as the words left the Heir’s Wife’s mouth, Zhao Liulang’s wife shot forward like a marten, whoosh, and charged up to Fourth Madam, grabbed her and started hitting her, all the while stammering between short, furious breaths, "I—I’ll teach you to talk nonsense..."

The Heir’s Wife: ...She’d only been speaking off the cuff.

Zhao Liulang: ...

He held himself back, then simply folded his arms and called from the side, "My dear, my dear, don’t hit her..."

Fourth Madam really couldn’t beat Zhao Liulang’s wife; her hair was yanked out in clumps. Only when State Duchess Zhao, leaning on Nanny Zhao’s arm, came over and saw her daughters-in-law in a tangled brawl and her son calmly standing aside with folded arms, did she, shaking with rage, rap on the doorframe and shout, "You wretches, you wretches, what on earth are you doing? And you lot, why are you still standing there stunned? Hurry up and pull them apart!"

The stupefied servant women and maids finally rushed forward in a flurry and separated the two of them.

Zhao Liulang’s wife had always been clumsy-tongued; otherwise she wouldn’t have been so thoroughly wrapped around Zhao Liulang’s little finger, even handing over almost all her dowry for him to spend.

As soon as she saw her mother-in-law appear, Fourth Madam immediately stepped up to lodge a complaint, glib as ever, while Zhao Liulang’s wife, face gone white, clutched her own cheek and began to cry.

The State Duchess was so angry her face went white; she felt her trip to the physician today had been completely wasted.

Zhao Liulang, however, couldn’t bear to see his wife wronged. Supporting the Old Madam to help calm her breath with one hand, he quietly lodged his own complaint with the other. "Mother, it’s all your son’s fault. Because of today’s business of the manor making things difficult for Lord Zhou, I lost my temper. Fourth Sister-in-law then said one or two rather unpleasant things. You know how your Sixth Daughter-in-law can’t talk for beans—she can’t bear seeing me wronged, so she lashed out."

Then he turned to Fourth Madam and said, "Fourth Sister-in-law, this is all my fault. I’ll offer you my apologies; I hope you’ll be magnanimous and not hold a petty man’s mistakes against him."

Between her son and her daughter-in-law, the State Duchess naturally sided with her son; besides, Fourth Madam was a concubine-born daughter-in-law. So she asked, "What did you say, Old Fourth’s wife, that made it worth you two, husband and wife, laying hands on your elder sister-in-law?"

Zhao Liulang put on a shamefaced look and said, "Mother, please don’t ask. I can’t bring myself to repeat it. If it spreads, your son will have no face left to see his fellow scholars."

The maid serving beside Zhao Liulang’s wife immediately stepped forward, dropped to her knees with a thud, and repeated Fourth Madam’s words, word for word, without leaving a single syllable out.

The State Duchess was so enraged her face turned green. She directly ordered, "Fourth Madam has taken leave of her senses. Someone, send Fourth Madam to the ancestral hall to cool her head."

Servant women immediately stepped up and helped Fourth Madam away.

Fourth Madam, face ashen, was supported out. Only then did the State Duchess look toward the other daughters-in-law. The Heir’s Wife and the rest all lowered their heads and stood there; regardless of how things had started, they first opened their mouths to admit fault.

But the State Duchess wasn’t having any of it. She gazed at them coldly and said, "You’re all just wishing I’d hurry up and die so you can make as much trouble as you like, is that it? You offend an imperial physician, and that makes you feel better, does it?"

The ladies’ expressions all changed, and they hurriedly dropped to their knees to admit their mistakes. The Heir’s Wife was practically old enough to be a grandmother; after kneeling, her face flushed red and her whole body shook a little.

"I’m not dead yet. There’s no need for you to kneel for now. Just remember this: Zhou Man is not just an imperial physician. Use your brains before you act. The only female imperial physician in the entire capital, a doctor that plenty of people beg for and can’t even get, and what do you do? You shove her straight out the door. You really think that just because she has connections in the palace, you can call on her whenever you like?"

The State Duchess said, "You really are overestimating yourselves and underestimating the Imperial Hospital."

In this entire State Duke’s household, how many are worthy of the palace designating a physician specifically to treat them?

At most, she and the State Duke. For everyone else, if they want an imperial physician, it’s basically whoever the Imperial Hospital assigns.

With Zhou Man’s connections in the Imperial Hospital, if you offend her, forget inviting her—being able to get even a decent physician would be good fortune.

Not to mention she’s also a fourth-rank compiler at the Chongwen Pavilion. Half the medical texts currently used by the Imperial Hospital have her as one of the compilers. Once those books are circulated, physicians across the realm will likely have to call her half a master.

Even the Crown Prince and Crown Princess treat her with courtesy, yet in the State Duke’s manor she suffers such humiliation. Are the heads on your necks feeling too long, that you’re eager to have a slice taken off?

The State Duchess, fuming, left leaning on Zhao Liulang’s arm.

Only after the Old Madam’s figure had vanished from sight did the Heir’s Wife, supported by a maid, get up from the floor, her expression ugly beyond words.

Today they had truly lost all face.