After soothing Old Lady Qin, they left Nanny Ding to attend to her, and Qin Liuxi and his party subsequently exited the room. The younger mbers of the family outside saw everyone coming out, and they quickly gathered around, bombarding them with questions about Old Lady Qin’s health.
Qin Liuxi did not respond but sat down aside to prescribe dicine. Then he asked Qi Huang to give the prescription to Chief Li to collect the herbal ingredients for decoction.
Hearing that Old Lady Qin had suffered a stroke, Qin Mingzhu and the others cried out in alarm, and Qin Mingxin was even more vocal, cursing Old Mrs. Ding, accusing her of ill intentions by deliberately ntioning the affair of their third uncle, which caused Old Lady Qin to be frightened into illness.
Mrs. Wang quickly inquired what Old Mrs. Ding had co to their house for and what she had said.
Mrs. Gu’s spirit relaxed, and thinking of the news brought by Old Mrs. Ding, her heart ached as if soone was cutting it open slice by slice with a knife, and her tears started falling again, drop by drop.
Her husband had lost an arm, which ant that he would be disabled for the rest of his life, his future prospects dashed. It was uncertain whether he would ever recover, and she wondered how he was doing now.
At this mont, Mrs. Xie was speaking with a face full of anger about Old Mrs. Ding’s visit.
Previously, they had wanted to visit the Ding family in the hopes of networking, but after sending invitations two or three tis with no response, they had given up.
But today, Old Mrs. Ding ca to their door, bringing a few inexpensive dicinal ingredients. In Mrs. Xie’s words, it was as if a weasel was paying a New Year’s visit to a chicken—definitely not with good intentions.
Sure enough, as soon as she sat down, Old Mrs. Ding ntioned her recent stay at her eldest son’s estate and her subsequent illness. She said that she had been avoiding them for fear of passing on her sickness.
"That malicious old hag, why couldn’t she curse herself to shit." Mrs. Xie spat out these words with scorn, then continued.
Old Mrs. Ding, after so superficial pleasantries, brought up the situation in the northwest. She ntioned that she had also sent a ssage to Magistrate Ding, to see if he could find so connections to send in that direction, and then naturally transitioned to discussing the topic of Third Qin’s lost arm and disability. She said she had brought so dicinal herbs as a gesture of goodwill.
At ho, they had not received any news of Third Qin’s injury, and Old Lady Qin was so shocked upon hearing the news that she smashed a teacup on the spot.
Old Mrs. Ding insincerely ntioned that because n are most important, they would need silver for arrangents, suggesting the idea of selling their store for a high price through her as an interdiary.
Mrs. Xie was so indignant that she continued, "Mother was so angry at that mont that she gave Old Mrs. Ding a good lashing, and then Old Mrs. Ding took her leave. But before she had completely left our residence, Mother collapsed."
"It’s disgraceful." Qin iniang slamd the table in anger: "The Dings disrupt our shop and then co here to provoke Mother themselves, their actions are utterly nauseating."
Mrs. Xie jumped up: "They were causing trouble at the shop too?"
Of course, she knew that Ruyi Pavilion’s business was doing well and enjoyed the various preserved fruits that occasionally ca back as snacks. She was very happy about the shop’s success because it ant there was inco, and they might be able to return to a life of luxury decorated with gold and silver, commanding servants.
Now with the Ding family acting like vicious dogs snatching their food, wasn’t that the sa as robbing money from her pocket?
Mrs. Wang clenched her fists tightly, her body trembling with rage: "A tiger that falls in a flat plain is bullied by dogs, which isn’t unusual. If it were soone else, it wouldn’t matter. But the Ding family was once indebted to the Qin family, what ungrateful wretches."
She took a deep breath and asked Mrs. Gu, "Where are the things sent by the Ding family?"
"The list of gifts is here; the items are still in the side yard," said Mrs. Gu, regaining her composure and took out the list from her sleeve.
Mrs. Wang took the list, without even looking at it, and said to Qin iniang, "Go to the shop and pack up so of every kind of preserved fruit, including those cloud cakes, put everything into boxes."
"Yes."
Mrs. Xie, confused, said, "Big sister-in-law, you’re not trying to repay evil with kindness, are you? Still want to send them sothing to eat? Do they deserve it?"
"They surely don’t deserve it, but they do want our family shop, don’t they? They even went to the trouble of coming in person. It wouldn’t be proper not to return the favor; we should also make a personal visit, so everyone knows that we understand manners," Mrs. Wang sneered coldly.
Qin Liuxi raised an eyebrow; Mrs. Wang was clearly looking to stir up trouble!
Seeing that Qin iniang had left, Mrs. Wang then turned to Qin Liuxi and asked, "Is the Old Lady’s health just to be maintained at this point?"
Qin Liuxi nodded, "She must be nurtured, and also must not accumulate any more stress. Her current condition is entirely due to emotional injury, with her qi and blood rising to the top and deficiency in her yin energy below, phlegm-heat congesting upward, and her spirit lacking foundation, resulting in an abrupt stroke. If it weren’t for the tily use of dication and acupuncture, even if she woke up, she would likely have been paralyzed on one side of her body."
Although Qin Liuxi had already explained this internally, hearing her repeat it now made everyone feel the grave danger.
The younger ones stared blankly at Qin Liuxi, seeing her speak so thodically, just like those old doctors, they couldn’t help feeling a bit odd.
Big sister is really skilled in dicine!
Isn’t she more familiar with exorcism and ghost hunting?
"Then she can only be taken care of," said Mrs. Wang. "Nanny Ding is getting old this year, and taking care of the Old Lady might be too much for her..."
Mrs. Xie’s heart skipped a beat. She didn’t an for them to take over, did she?
"What mother says is true, Nanny Ding’s health isn’t great either. Besides Ju’er, we’ll need others to help," Qin Liuxi continued, turning to look at Mrs. Xie and Qin Mingzhu, and said, "Let Auntie and the younger sisters serve and fulfill their filial duties."
Qin Mingzhu almost passed out.
Why should they serve and fulfill their filial duties?
Mrs. Xie, thinking of the Old Lady’s incontinence, was extrely reluctant and said, "We do not know how to take care of soone. Big sister-in-law, wouldn’t it be better to buy a maidservant?"
Qin Liuxi slamd the table, "You returned with nothing, and now there are two or three sturdy maids in the house. You don’t need to carry water, do laundry or cook, what more do you want? Mother and Auntie are busy with the shop, and you’re idle all day, only asked to serve and fulfill your duties, and Auntie is already suggesting buying a maidservant. Does it seem like the business is picking up, and the house is not short of silver?"
"I did not say that."
"Auntie, the tuition for the fourth brother needs to be paid, the house expenses require silver, not to ntion the arrangents in the northwest, that’s the biggest expense, or do you wish for your second uncle to lose an arm before you’re happy?" Qin Liuxi gave her a sidelong glance, "Or could it be that Auntie is simply unfilial and does not want to serve?"
"Don’t spout nonsense with your mouth full of blood," Mrs. Xie jumped up, her voice harsh yet fragile, "I did not say I wouldn’t serve. As for this unfilial hat, don’t you dare put it on my head."
"Then it’s settled," Qin Liuxi then glared at Qin Mingzhu and the others, "Old Lady has not been stingy with her affection for you on normal days, so when it cos to serving and fulfilling your duties, I’m sure you wouldn’t refuse, am I right?"
Song Yu Yan quickly pulled her sister along, saying they will fulfill their duties, and Qin Mingzhu also forcibly smiled, saying of course she would not shirk.
Qin Liuxi was satisfied, and turned to Mrs. Wang, "When mother leaves the house, call to join."
Mrs. Xie watched her walk away, light and free of burdens, and was nearly exploding with rage. They were stuck serving, and what about her? Wasn’t she a granddaughter too?
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