The first thing Concubine Hua did was hand over a key with both of her hands to Lin Zizi, "Madam, this is the key to the storeroom. I've specially brought it to return it to you." She said respectfully.
Lin Zizi did not seem to hear her as her eyes were only on Jiang Ning.
"You're not going to take care of the family anymore?"Jiang Ning asked curiously.
"The master said it's better to let the purple bamboo garden manage the family affairs from now on."
"That's good." Jiang Ning reached out to take the key and placed it in Lin Zizi's hand.
Jiang Yuan secretly gritted her teeth at the scene, at how easy it was for Jiang Ning and the Madam to reap the fruits of her mother's hard work. But she remembered her mother's words. For the sake of the position of becoming Prince Yu's consort, she had to endure this.
She then came over with the dresses and said to Jiang Ning, "Seventh Sister, I came to apologize for my wrongdoings. We're blood-related sisters, so I shouldn't stoop down to such a low level and hurt you."
Jiang Ning knew that the only reason her half-sister even came to apologize was because her foster daddy made the girl do so. In a way, it was satisfying to see the rude and arrogant Young Lady apologize.
'Thanks to daddy's help, I can vent my anger.' Jiang Ning thought giddily.
'But forgiving the girl is just letting her off too easy.'
"I'm fine with it, but what do you say about the slap you gave Chun Lai?" She asked with a tilt to her head, making her look innocent and curious at the same time.
"That was Liu Mama's doing. If you can't vent your anger, then ask Miss Chun Lai to hit her back," Concubine Hua quickly said to her daughter's rescue.
"Alright," She said. Jiang Ning gestured for Chun Lai to come closer. "Did you hear what Concubine Hua said? Go and punish her."
Chun Lai's eyes lit up at the command, and she quickly left the room.
She brought Xia Qu, Dong Xie, and a few other servant girls to hold down Liu Mama's arms and legs so that she could give the other woman a good beating.
Liu Mama was Concubine Hua's wet nurse, and due to Concubine Hua's rise in power, the maid was arrogant and became a dominating presence in the manor. Who knew how many servant girls had been bullied by her. Now that the Seventh Young Lady had returned, this old woman had finally met her nemesis.
The fake smile on Concubine Hua's face had almost disappeared, but she still gave Jiang Yuan a little nod, asking her daughter to apologize again and hand her the dresses over to the Seventh Lady.
Jiang Ning accepted the gift but ignored the Fifth Lady's apology.
Anybody with a pair of working eyes could clearly see that Jiang Yuan wasn't being sincere. It was that obvious.
And everyone knew that if Jiang Ruobai had not forced them to come and apologize, would they have come?
After the apology, no one paid attention to Concubine Hua and her daughter, leaving the two of them standing awkwardly in the room. Neither Lin Zizi, the owner of the room nor Jiang Ning had dismissed them. They don't want to provoke further conflict by being rude and leaving without permission, but they don't know what they should do either.
Throughout the entire forced interaction, Lin Zizi had remained oblivious. She only had her eyes set on Jiang Ning. She brought a spoon of egg soup to Jiang Ning's mouth and said gently, "Look how skinny you are. Eat more."
Jiang Ning opened her mouth obediently and ate it. The stink of the egg instantly made her stomach churn in disgust.
Her face turned pale as she started to retch.
"Ning Ning, what's wrong?" Lin Zizi was a little flustered.
"I'm fine. I think I have enough for now." Jiang Ning tried to appease the woman.
Concubine Hua and Jiang Yuan looked at each other.
"Madam, Seventh Lady, if there's nothing else, we'll be going back." Concubine Hua finally said.
Lin Zizi still ignored the other woman, and Jiang Ning was drinking water to recover from her rolling disgust and wasn't in the mood to interact even further with these two visitors.
Concubine Hua pulled her daughter out, understanding that their presence had been unwelcomed since the start, and they quickly left the purple bamboo garden in haste. After making sure they were out of earshot, the older woman turned to look at her daughter with a strange expression.
"Mother, I think Jiang Qi is sick." Jiang Yuan said, "I heard Father called a physician to check her pulse earlier."
"You silly child, mother has been through this," Concubine Hua said.
"What?"
"From the way Mother sees it, could it be that she's pregnant?"
"It can't be?" Jiang Yuan was startled by the conclusion her mother came to.
"Why not? Let me tell you, when Mother was pregnant with you, I was just like her. Just a little fishy smell made will make me want to vomit." Then, Concubine Hua sneered, "What a shameless and lowly girl. She actually secretly got pregnant with a bastard child outside of marriage. To think that your father even invited her back and treated her like a precious pearl. If your father knew about this, he would be so angry."
"Mom, let's go tell Father now," Jiang Yuan said excitedly.
"We can't just approach him with baseless statements. Besides, your Father would only get suspicious if we told him now," Concubine Hua muttered to herself, "We have to show evidence of her pregnancy to your Father. This way, he will have no choice but to believe us."
"Then what can I do to retrieve the evidence?"
"Didn't she say that she was not feeling well? As a family, it is only right for us to show her some concern. Tomorrow, find a physician from outside to take her pulse."
"Mother, don't we have two physicians at home?"
"She might have already bribed them. Otherwise, why didn't Father get her treated by them today?"