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It was November already. When standing in the piercingly cold wind, people could even see their breath. Minglan, being lazy again, was attached to her warm brick bed and wouldn"t like to move a bit. However, Cuiping came to her and told her to go to the Hall of Peaceful Ages, which made Minglan groan with pain. Seeing Minglan"s miserable look, Danju coaxed her into getting out of the bed and putting on the thick wool coat. Only until then did Minglan stop trembling. When she arrived at the Hall of Peaceful Ages, she saw Old Madam sitting on the brick bed uptight with thick golden-python patterned blanket covering her knees. Old Madam Sheng seemed to be in a daze right now, with a piece of paper in her hands.

Minglan stopped being slack right away. Having stepped forward, she took over the Ginseng tea from Cuimei and put it on the tea table. Then she asked lightly, “Grandma, what"s wrong?”

Hearing that, Old Madam Sheng came back to sense. With doubtful expression in her eyes, she pa.s.sed the paper to Minglan, saying, “People from He Family sent this to me early in the morning. You can see it by yourself.”

After sitting closer to the warm side of the brick bed, Minglan opened the paper and started to read——

The letter was written by Old Madam He who seemed to have been in a hurry. She had written in the letter that Cao Family couldn"t stay in the capital city anymore and would go back to their native place. She also mentioned that Cao Jinxiu had spitted out the truth after being saved from her attempted suicide. It turned out that when Cao Jinxiu had been Concubine Cao in Liang Prefecture, she had been forced by the madam of her family to drink the Red Flower Soup which was used for sterilizing her. At that time, Cao Jinxiu didn"t tell everyone because she didn"t want her family to worry.

Now Old Madam He wanted to go there and get to the bottom of this thing. And she would be here in the afternoon to give details.

After finishing reading the letter, Minglan put down the paper while beginning to think quickly. Old Madam Sheng slowly leaned on the back cushion on the side of the brick bed, with a peach and double phoenix patterned green porcelain warmer in her hands, saying, “Minglan, what do you say… about this?”

Minglan moved herself toward Old Madam Sheng, weighing her words, “The other issues don"t matter that much. However, we still need to be pay attention to two things in the letter. The first one is that Cao Family is going to leave the capital. The second one is that Cao Jinxiu might not be able to be pregnant again.”

Old Madam Sheng closed her eyes while nodding slowly, saying, “You are right. Now the situation has changed again.”

Since Cao Jinxiu was an infertile woman now, it would be hard for her to find a perfect husband. Maybe only a widower with children would be willing to marry her. Those girls from rich families who didn"t have children and lived in widowhood in their maiden home could still remarry again. However, according to the financial situation of Cao Family, no widower from a decent family would marry a girl from their family. As thus, only He Family could take care of her.

Nevertheless, a concubine who couldn"t give birth would have no threats to the madam. Moreover, Cao Family was about to go back to their native place. Thus Concubine Cao would exist in name only.

Old Madam and Minglan both got enlightened while thinking of that.

Having put down the warmer, Old Madam Sheng took over the Ginseng tea and stirred the Ginseng slices with cup lid, saying, “This time… We cannot agree so easily. No matter what the people of He Family say, we have to lay it aside.” Minglan slowly nodded, showing her agreement with Old Madam.

After the lunch, they had a rest for a short while. In the second quarter of Wei (13:15-13:30), Old Madam He arrived hastily. It seemed that her hurried journey gave her a thirst. She kept drinking the warm tea after sitting down. And although Old Madam He was anxious deep down, she still managed to keep a calm look. Meanwhile, Minglan hid in the inner room as usual, listening to their conversation across the curtain.

After the small talk, Old Madam Sheng said, “You take a breath, it"s not like anyone is hastening you!”

Old Madam He said with her eyes goggled, “Not anyone? Of course it"s because of my little devil! He has already offended his mother, his aunt and all his relatives for your little girl! How heartless he is!”

“Don"t stint your words. Be more specific, hurry.” Having just claimed that she wouldn"t hasten Old Madam He, Old Madam Sheng now started to hurry Old Madam He right away.

Old Madam He put down her cup and took a deep breath before she said in front of Old Madam Sheng, “I have always had sympathy for my daughter-in-law who became a widow at such a young age and has such a weak body. Thus I have seldom been stern to her these years. Even though Cao Family made a huge scene this time, I didn"t force her to do anything. The only thing I want is that she could give up the idea of helping them. It never occurs to me that my obedient grandson has risked everything this time! Last time he came back from your house, he went to the study to find his grandpa on his own. My husband is only interested in literature and writing, disinclined to care for the issues in the inner chambers. Not only did Hongwen tell everything to his grandpa this time, he also begged my husband to sue to Yousi Yamen (general term of ancient Chinese government) and drive Cao Family out of the capital city!”

Old Madam Sheng, as experienced as she was, was also shocked to hear that. After being in a trance for a while, she then composed herself and said, “How… Hongwen is the most obedient kid I ever know! How could he do that behind his mother"s back…”

Old Madam He"s mouth got parched due to the talking. She drank a mouthful of tea and continued, “What"s more, Yousi Yamen sent the order to compel Cao Family to go back to their native place next month. Otherwise, they will be punished harder! The concubine of Cao Family asked for our help in tears. But there"s nothing we can do! My daughter-in-law has been laden with anxiety for days and finally nerved herself to beg my husband. In fact, my husband only restrained himself for the sake of Hongwen and me. When he saw that his daughter-in-law had no sign of repentance, he straightly pointed at his daughter-in-law"s nose and scolded her severely, saying, "You belong to He Family, not Cao Family! Cao Family has perverted justice for bribes so they got the punishment they deserved. I understand that you wanted to help them as their family. But how dare them be so shameless and disturb He Family all the time! Those conscienceless people should be driven out long ago! If you still worry about Cao Family, I can write you a paper of divorce so that you can live in Cao Family!" My daughter-in-law fainted the moment she heard that. And when she woke up she just didn"t have the guts to say a word for Cao Family!”

Minglan who was in the inner room was staring at her hands with her head lowered. Well, maybe she should worry about Madam He"s (He Hongwen"s mother) physical condition. However, she still felt kind of released. Because she always couldn"t bear the sight of that crying, indecisive and goody look of Madam He.

As a matter of fact, Old Madam Sheng also felt comfortable right now. However, it was not like Old Madam Sheng could applause for that. So she only comforted Old Madam He and expressed her concern to Madam He"s health.

Then Old Madam He put down her tea cup and said with a sigh, “Luckily my daughter-in-law doesn"t know about the details. If she knows that it was Hongwen"s idea to evict Cao Family, she won"t be able to take it anymore. The next few days, Cao Family is in a complete mess. And they still kept complaining of being poor. I thought that they were about to leave soon, so I gave them some silvers to let them purchase some lands. But, something went wrong again yesterday!”

Old Madam He was reluctant to think of this thing which annoyed her to death. However, due to her adoration to her grandson, she believed she might just tell everything as well, “Since Cao Family will leave soon, they start to pester us every day to let Cao Jinxiu marry Hongwen. But Hongwen refused. Now my daughter-in-law is seriously ill. I felt pity for her so I came up with an idea. I told Cao Jinxiu and her mother to run away to the manor out of town for staying away from trouble. If the people of Cao Family couldn"t find them, they would drop this… But yesterday, people of Cao Family came to knock our door, saying that Cao Jinxiu had tried to hang herself. After being saved, Cao Jinxiu told them that she could no longer be pregnant anymore. If Hongwen has no compa.s.sion on her, she could only seek for death. I freaked out. Then I sent a message to Hongwen while going to Cao"s house to take Cao Jinxiu"s pause…”

“What do you think of her condition?” Old Madam Sheng got nervous now, even her throat went a bit tight.

Old Madam He shook her head with pitiful look on her face while saying firmly, “I"ve checked carefully. She was sterilized for sure. I heard that when she was a concubine, she was forced to drink the Red Flower Soup almost every day. The effect of that drug was too strong, not to mention that she had a miscarriage during that period. So her body condition was totally ruined!”

Minglan had confidence in Old Madam He"s medical skill and personality. She felt at ease for a while before complex feelings welled up in her heart. She felt a bit sad and a bit pitiful. Only until now did Minglan understand the deep desperation in Cao Jinxiu"s eyes.

Old Madam Sheng was also in silence for a long while. Then Old Madam He sighed and continued, “After knowing what had happened to her own daughter, Concubine Cao wept herself out. Later on Hongwen arrived. After he had got the picture, he stood beside me blankly and pondered for an extremely long while. At last, he agreed to marry the lady of Cao Family.”

Old Madam Sheng didn"t get angry this time, like the damp gunpowder. She only uttered the words softly, “… He has no choice. Hongwen did have been through a lot.” However, she was interrupted by Old Madam He, “The thing is not finished yet!”