“Isn’t she?” Miss Ji was surprised.

“Is that so?” Madam Luo looked at He Danggui.

“Well, why not let her answer the question?” He Danggui suggested, “I guess that she was forced by Second Aunt. Once Second Aunt loses her power, Concubine Hua will definitely come out to testify, because she is also a victim.”

A few days ago, when He Danggui was in her meditation, Xiaoyou told her through the window that Childe Feng had come to him and told him that Concubine Hua was smirking and talking nonsense in front of people. She even knocked over a table filled with delicacies. However, when everyone was gone, she opened the bed sheets and ate the food hidden in them. She also squashed leftover food and threw it among the dishes on the floor.

He Danggui immediately concluded that Concubine Hua was not insane. On the contrary, she was a very smart person. She wanted to reduce her threats to Sun Meiniang and made the latter be less wary of her and her son. She overturned the foreign food using madness and only ate the food prepared by herself. That was really clever!

Miss Ji did not expect that so many things happened during her absence these days. She couldn’t help but exclaim, “Second Mistress turns out to be such a vicious person!”

Madam Luo shook her head and sighed, “Unfortunately, she is one of us. It was my fault! I didn’t see her nature. Luo Duzhong didn’t approve of this marriage, nor did Sun’s Family. But I wanted to find my son a capable and clever wife, so I approved their marriage. Unexpectedly, it turned out that I gave my son a trouble. He is now a man with no brain.”

He Danggui comforted Madam Luo, “People say that a woman is like a shirt. If one’s shirt doesn’t fit, he can just get a new one. Second Uncle is in his prime and can start over at any time. Besides, Second Aunt has done something over the years. She gave birth to two beautiful daughters.” He Danggui didn’t like this offensive comparison. However, that was perfect for Sun Meiniang. Without their armor-like clothes, Luo Chuangu and Luo Baiqiong of the Second Branch were just two stupid pigs.

Miss Ji suddenly said, “So, the ‘vicious woman’ mentioned in the letter refers to Second Mistress?”

He Danggui nodded, “I guess so. Madam should make a decision.”

Madam Luo squeezed the Sunny Doll in her hand. She was hesitating.

He Danggui knew her concerns. So, she added some fuel to the fire, “Are you afraid of Sun’s Family? Don’t worry. In my dream, grandfather asked me to bring you a message. He said you couldn’t have your cake and eat it. I did not understand, so he revealed to me that a great change was going to happen in Yangzhou City soon. After that, the Four Families of Yangzhou City would be blamed for being rich yet unkind by his majesty. At that time, our family would meet bad luck.”

“Being rich yet unkind?” Madam Luo was stunned. “Our family is known for the kindness. How could that be possible? San Qing Tang sets free clinics every year and also gives free medicines. When it is close to Lunar New Year, we will even run rent reductions to tenant peasants and distribute rice to the poor. We’re the first good people around here.”

He Danggui shook her head, “My dear madam. Don’t you know that the high position is liable to be attacked? Amidst the deceived sight of his majesty, our family’s good deeds are not enough for him. On the contrary, they will be used against us. Yes, San Qing Tang sets free clinics annually, but we only set seven or eight times a year, and the total amount of medicines is usually less than one thousand liang of silver. In most cases, the poor people who cannot get a free diagnose will cry at the entrance of the hall. The scene might have fallen into the eyes of some people. On the other hand, Quan Ji Tang, the other clinic in town, regardless of its small scale, has two full-time free clinics every month. All of their stores combined are not as big as one of ours. In such a comparison, someone may say that our San Qing Tang has fake kindness.”

“Quan Ji Tang? The one that sells afrodyn?” Madam Luo had heard about it.

“Yes. Not only the afrodyn, but they also sell other medicines.” He Danggui rectified her Quan Ji Tang while continuing to scare Madam Luo, “In terms of distributing rice to the poor, we only do that a few times a year. However, that does not equal the food we have wasted. Once the news spread, our family will not only lose its reputation accumulated in a hundred years but also lose his majesty’s trust.”

“Wasted food?” Madam Luo was shocked, “What are you talking about? Who did that?”

“My second aunt.” He Danggui was a little surprised, “Don’t you know that? Since more than ten years ago, Second Aunt has been sending steamed buns every day to feed the fish in the Grand Canal. Even the fishermen would gather there to catch the carp attracted by steamed buns from Second Aunt. Those buns have indeed prospered the fishing industry on both sides of the canal. Amazing!”

Madam Luo looked at Miss Ji, and the latter nodded, “It’s true.”

Madam Luo thumped her legs when she heard the words, and yelled, “I didn’t expect her to be such an arrogant and extravagant prodigal! She even has been doing such a thing for more than ten years? This crazy woman!”

“No, she’s not crazy, and she did it for a reason.” He Danggui reminded Madam Luo, “Do you remember that she had four stillborn babies? She didn’t let Second Uncle’s concubines have children and wanted to have her own. But she suffered from the death of a baby every time. So, she used this method to alleviate her sin of poisoning other people’s kids so that she could have a living one. Then, the good reputation of our family in Yangzhou City has already been consumed out. If his majesty punishes this city, we will be the first target!”

“How could this happen?” Madam Luo panicked all of a sudden, “By the way, didn’t your grandfather say that we will have good news?”

“Of course! Grandfather has managed the schedule for you.” He Danggui spared no efforts and played the lying tricks she learned from Bai Yangbai. “Second Aunt is the only villain in our family. If we take her to justice, our reputation will remain. As a result, good news will naturally come to us.”

Madam Luo’s eyes lighted for a moment but then became gloomy again, “However, her brother Sun Yanbin is a senior consultant of the Eldest Legitimate Grandson. How dare we offend Sun’s Family?”

Miss Ji also added, “I saw Ding Rong’s wife send someone to the capital with letters and Yangzhou City’s native products. I heard that Second Mistress and her brother are very close. They are not like half-siblings at all. In the entire Sun’s Family, they have the closest relationship.”

He Danggui continued, “Madam, think about it! Although Sun’s Family is related in-laws with us, this connection is limited. She was born from a concubine and had no status there. In the past few years, many people of Sun’s Family became officials and joined the court. Why didn’t they give us some help? I heard that even a servant’s sons were given a job in the court, but none of them have thought of us.”

Seeing Madam Luo’s beating eyebrows, He Danggui knew that she had hit her weakness. So, she continued, “When days are peaceful, they won’t give us help. When his majesty condemns us for wasting food, can they save us? You took a great of efforts to get a concubine-born daughter of them to marry Second Uncle. This has proved that Sun’s Family does not value us at all. They only focus on the canal business and have always valued Guan’s Family and Feng’s Family more than ours. They even laughed at my uncles and called them useless idiots. This information came from the big cousin when he was in a state of unconsciousness. Madam, do you think it is worth to bear the risk of being condemned by his majesty instead of disposing of Second Aunt?”

The more Madam Luo listened, the more she hated Sun Meiniang. She took a look at the Sunny Doll “sent from Luo Duzhong”, thinking of those several unborn grandchildren because of Sun Meiniang, and then said, “I cannot keep her any longer.”

Miss Ji widened her eyes, “But she is pregnant now, and Second Lord is cherishing her very much. What about the child in her belly?”

Madam Luo took out the ancestors’ letter from her sleeve, “Ancestor had already provided us with a solution. ‘You should change the ancient well deep in the Bitter Bamboo Grove into a water prison and imprison the vicious woman in it for ten years.’ If one day his majesty learns of the food-wasting thing, we will put this woman to justice. That is her sin.”

He Danggui exclaimed, “I didn’t expect our ancestor to be so responsive and wise. No wonder our family’s ancestral tomb and ancestral temple survived the earthquake covering the whole Yangzhou City.”

Thinking of this miracle, Madam Luo immediately gained more confidence in her conclusion. She ordered in a deep voice, “Okay, let’s do it! This time, we won’t care about Sun’s name. We will lock up Sun Meiniang first, and then summon the craftsmen to change the water well into a prison. After she gives birth to that kid, I will throw her into that prison! Besides, write a letter to Luo Shuisheng. If Sun’s Family comes to us, we will need his help.”

“One more thing.” He Danggui smiled, “Grandfather has a better idea to make Sun’s Family ashamed of this daughter. They will not ask for an explanation, and even break off relations with her. In this way, we will have the righteous reason to lock her up.”

“Go on.” Madam Luo said.

He Danggui blinked, “Do you remember Run Xiang? The maid who was pregnant with Second Uncle’s child.”

“Huh,” Madam Luo was angry when she heard the name, “I do. After listening to this story, I even had nightmares. How many Luo Chuangu’s children were killed by her. Luo Baishao has also learned bad things from her mother.”

He Danggui sighed, “Since Second Uncle has taken Run Xiang into his bed, and Run Xiang had a child at that time, then she should keep behaved. Maybe a few months later, she would be a concubine. Second Uncle has been eager to have a son. If Run Xiang gave birth to a son, then she would be a hero of our family. By then, she would have a great chance to become a Junior Wife. With such a promising future, she was having an affair with a servant? That doesn’t make sense, but she died with the truth.” Then, He Danggui suggested, “Why not play a ghost game? Therefore, we could give the dead justice and find a reason for Sun’s Family to get their hands off.”

“A ghost game.” Madam Luo was considering, “That is a good strategy.”