After Yun Chu returned to the Xie family, she fell ill.

The illness came on like a landslide. Her entire body ached terribly, and she couldn’t sleep peacefully.

In the morning, those coming to pay respects waited in the side hall. Tingshuang came out and said softly: “The madam is ill. For this period of time, there’s no need to come pay morning respects.”

Everyone knew that this time the madam was truly ill. Several physicians had been summoned, and the courtyard was filled everywhere with the smell of medicine.

Concubine Jiang said with a face full of worry: “Sheng Residence is in complete chaos. How about I stay to care for the madam?”

Tingshuang shook her head: “There are several of us servants here to attend the madam. We won’t trouble Concubine Jiang. Everyone, please return.”

Xie Ping stood up and said: “Mother is ill. I shouldn’t trouble Mother with small matters, but I truly don’t know what to do. Sister Tingshuang, can you help me decide?”

“Miss is asking about the Old Lady’s birthday celebration, isn’t she?” Tingshuang replied. “The madam instructed that if Miss truly cannot decide, she can go ask the Tai-tai and the Old Lady.”

Xie Ping pressed her lips together.

She just didn’t understand—they were only two children who had been dead for four years. Why did Mother suddenly start caring about them?

For those two dead children, not only did she slap Father, but now she was claiming illness and refusing to manage household affairs. Did she really want to completely alienate herself from Father?

Wasn’t Mother afraid of losing the real power of being the mistress of the household?

After leaving Sheng Residence, Xie Ping carried the account books and lists to Anshou Hall.

The Old Lady and Tai-tai were talking.

“Although those two children died young, they still carry the blood of our Xie family. How can they be buried beside the Yun family ancestral land?” The Old Lady gnashed her teeth. “That Yun Chu is no longer a Yun family daughter but a wife of our Xie clan. How can she bring such great humiliation upon our Xie family?”

Yuan Shi sighed: “If we examine this matter carefully, the Xie family was indeed in the wrong.”

The children’s bodies should have been brought back to the Xie family’s old estate in Jizhou and buried beside the Xie family ancestral shrine, but…

When all was said and done, Jingyu simply didn’t value those two children who died at birth enough. The Yun family making such a big commotion was understandable.

“Jingyu should have been promoted to upper fifth rank, but because of this matter, he became the target of impeachment in court.” The Old Lady was quite angry. “If it weren’t for Yun Chu suddenly getting the notion to rebury the children, how would the Xie family have gotten mixed up in this affair? She claims illness and doesn’t manage anything—how comfortable for her, while Jingyu suffers in court, unable to take a single step forward…”

Yuan Shi didn’t know what to say either.

At this moment, Xie Ping stepped inside. She first paid respects to the two elders, then said: “Old Lady, your birthday celebration is approaching. I still have two matters that haven’t been finalized. I originally wanted to ask Mother to decide, but Mother is too ill to get up, so I can only trouble the Old Lady and Grandmother.”

The Old Lady’s expression was very unpleasant.

The Xie manor was growing larger and larger, with more and more trivial matters. Yet Yun Chu didn’t even manage such an important matter as the birthday celebration, leaving it all to Ping’ge, an unmarried young lady!

Was she convinced the Xie manor couldn’t function without its mistress, deliberately retaliating for the Xie family’s failure to properly bury the children four years ago?

Last time, she shouldn’t have taken out twenty thousand taels of silver to let Yun Chu continue managing the household. It made Yun Chu think she had the entire Xie family in her grasp.

A cold smile appeared on the Old Lady’s face as she said: “Ping’ge, which two matters haven’t been finalized? Tell us and we’ll discuss them together.”

Xie Ping replied: “One is the guest list for the invitations, and the other is the menu for the banquet. This is what I was thinking…”

She carefully explained her thoughts.

She still wanted to invite some high-ranking officials and nobles. Whether they came or not was their business, but they still had to extend the invitation—what if they were willing to attend?

The Old Lady shook her head: “Because of yesterday’s incident, the Xie family has become the laughingstock of the capital. Who would be willing to come celebrate my birthday?”

Xie Ping didn’t dare say anything more and could only move on to the second topic: “I want to make the Old Lady’s birthday banquet more sumptuous, but a dozen or so tables will cost at least two thousand taels of silver, and there isn’t that much money in the public accounts…”

The Old Lady agreed without even thinking. She only celebrated her birthday once a year, so naturally it should be done well.

The birthday banquets of the past three years had all been especially grand, probably because Yun Chu had supplemented them with some dowry money.

This year, Yun Chu claimed illness and didn’t manage these matters. If the birthday banquet was poorly done, the first to laugh at the Xie family would certainly be the Yun family.

She turned to look at Nanny Zhou beside her: “Take out three thousand taels of silver for Ping’ge.”

Xie Ping’s face showed a smile: “Thank you, Old Lady. I will certainly organize a magnificent birthday banquet for you.”

If this birthday banquet was done well, her reputation as someone skilled in household management would certainly spread, and then those proposing marriage to the Xie family would surely break down the threshold.

With money in hand, Xie Ping handled matters even more smoothly. She threw all her energy into the birthday banquet.

After Yun Chu rested for three days, her body gradually recovered, though her emotions were still somewhat listless. She sat by the window reading all day, causing great worry for Tingshuang and the other maids.

“Madam.” Qiutong boldly walked in and said with her head lowered: “After resting for three days, Madam’s illness has recovered. The matter of learning martial arts cannot be delayed any longer.”

Yun Chu closed the book: “Look at me, I actually forgot about such an important matter. Come, let’s go practice martial arts.”

She changed into practical clothing and followed Qiutong to the courtyard to practice horse stance.

Although it was spring and the air had a chill to it, squatting in the courtyard for most of a shichen quickly produced fine beads of sweat all over her body.

Qiutong spoke: “Madam, time is up.”

Yun Chu remained motionless: “I can persist longer.”

She had wasted three or four days—she needed to make up for all the wasted time.

At first, she could still stabilize her form. Gradually, her stamina began to fail, and her body swayed from time to time.

Tingshuang tried to persuade her several times, but she refused, insisting on squatting for a full two shichen.

After noon passed, Yun Chu finally rested. Tingshuang helped her bathe and change clothes, and only then did her entire person finally regain some spirit.

“Madam, the Old Lady’s birthday banquet is just a few days away.” Tingshuang said while drying her hair. “This year’s birthday banquet is entirely managed by Miss. This servant made some slight inquiries and sensed many problems. Madam, you still need to give Miss some guidance, otherwise on the day of the banquet, something will likely go wrong.”

Yun Chu looked at herself in the mirror: “Spread the word—say that Madam Xie is ill, so ill she cannot get out of bed.”

Tingshuang quickly said: “Madam, you mustn’t curse yourself like this.”

“If saying something casually could make it come true, wouldn’t that cause complete chaos?” A faint smile appeared on Yun Chu’s face. “If I’m ill, then no matter what goes wrong at this birthday banquet, it has nothing to do with me. Understand?”

Tingshuang’s eyes brightened: “This servant understands.”

After she finished drying Yun Chu’s hair, she hurried out of the back courtyard and called Chen Defu over to give him a few instructions.

The news that the legitimate eldest daughter of the General’s manor, Madam Xie of the Ministry of Revenue’s Vice Director, was ill instantly spread throughout the capital.

“A few days ago, that Madam Xie reburied the children who died at birth, dragging two coffins from the south of the city to the west. You all heard about it, right?”

“The Xie family people are truly despicable. Although the children died young, they were still legitimate bloodline. How could they just find some random mountain to bury them? Aren’t they afraid of karmic retribution?”

“A perfectly good legitimate eldest daughter of the General’s manor, yet she married Xie Jingyu who was only seventh rank at the time. I really don’t know why the Yun family would choose such a marriage connection!”

“…”

“I heard from the shopkeeper of Shande Hall pharmacy that the Xie manor’s inner quarters are in turmoil, with concubines poisoning each other to cause miscarriages. The children Madam Xie lost at birth were probably also victims of harm.”

“According to people from the Xie manor, Madam Xie’s illness is very serious. She can’t even manage Old Lady Xie’s birthday banquet, and it seems she can’t even get out of bed. Could it be that she was also poisoned by the concubines in the inner quarters?”

“The mistress of the household cannot bear children, yet those concubines have all given birth to sons. They probably harbor delusions, thinking that if the mistress dies, they can be elevated to legitimate wife status.”

“Lord Xie can’t even manage the women in his inner quarters properly. Can we expect him to be a good official…”