Matriarch Rules, Scumbag Begs - Chapter 36

Chapter 36: Worse Than Death

From that day on, the Marquis mansion was in complete chaos.

In order to buy Fushou paste, the old madam sent all the servants out to gather information in the capital, but ultimately, they still came up empty-handed.

At night, her addiction became uncontrollable.

The old madam curled up on the bed, feeling like there were countless sharp needles piercing and twisting in her abdomen. She was so pale that her face turned white as paper, and large beads of sweat rolled down her forehead.

Her breathing became rapid and difficult, and every bone in her body felt like it was crawling with ants. Even if she scratched her skin until it was raw, she couldn’t stop the itching.

When the Fushou paste addiction kicked in, it was unbearable for ordinary people.

In the past, when this thing was widely sold in the capital, many ordinary people just wanted to try it out of curiosity, but in the end, they became addicted and lost everything.

There were many cases of people who, unable to bear the torture and having no money to buy more, chose to hang themselves.

The old madam’s hysterical screams in her room didn’t stop until late at night.

The next morning, when she woke up, she saw Xue Yinshuang sitting by the bed, leaning against the bedpost and fast asleep, looking exhausted.

She then remembered that when her addiction kicked in the night before, Xue Yinshuang had held her in her arms and later brought her a calming soup to force her to drink, helping her get through the ordeal.

The old madam was deeply moved, feeling that this daughter-in-law was even more caring than her own daughter.

She gently stroked Xue Yinshuang’s hair, and when she woke up, asked with concern: “Dear child, did you take care of me all night?”

Xue Yinshuang quickly helped the old lady sit up and placed a soft goose feather pillow behind her waist to make her more comfortable.

“How is mother feeling? Is it still uncomfortable?” The old lady weakly shook her head. Xue Yinshuang immediately handed her a bowl of warm porridge that had been simmering on the stove.

“Mother must have suffered a lot last night. Drink some porridge to warm your stomach.” She blew on each spoonful to cool it down before feeding it to the old madam.

The old madam asked her, “Where’s Yuanzhou?” Xue Yinshuang replied, “The Heir didn’t come back last night. The servant who followed him to the palace came back to report that the emperor made him kneel outside the Zhonglie Pavilion to reflect on his actions.”

The old madam breathed a sigh of relief. “It’s good that the emperor is willing to let him kneel and apologize. What I’m afraid of is that the emperor won’t even see him when he goes to the palace to apologize, that’s when things will get troublesome.”

After a pause, she took Xue Yinshuang’s hand and said gently: “Did mother scare you yesterday?”

Xue Yinshuang shook her head repeatedly, her eyes full of concern for the old lady. “Mother, don’t worry. I’ve already sent someone to look for Fushou paste outside. It will be delivered to the mansion in ten days at the latest. During this time, when mother’s addiction kicks in, I’ll be by her side, and we’ll face it together.”

The old madam was deeply moved and grasped her hand tightly. “This family owes a lot to you. Don’t worry, as long as this old woman is still alive, I will make sure that Yuanzhou doesn’t mistreat you, and the entire Danyang Marquis mansion won’t mistreat you either.”

Later, the old madam saw that Xue Yinshuang had been up all night and told her to go back and rest.

Xue Yinshuang returned to the Lanyue Pavilion, where her maid, Lan Cui, had already prepared the food.

“Madam, you took care of the old madam all night. You must be tired. Eat something before you rest.” Xue Yinshuang glanced at the table, where two small dishes and a bowl of water crab porridge were placed.

The water crab porridge was originally her favorite, but now, looking at the yellow color, she felt a wave of nausea and dry heaving.

“What’s wrong with you, madam?”
“Take this away and throw it out! Don’t send it to my room again!”
Xue Yinshuang said while retching: “Just looking at this porridge makes me think of the old madam’s yellow teeth stained with tobacco, and I feel like vomiting!”

Lan Cui saw her reaction and quickly moved the tray aside.
She poured another cup of peppermint tea for Xue Yinfeng to help her suppress the nausea.

“Actually… madam, you don’t really need to be so good to the old madam. In the past, when you were nice to her, you could still get some benefits. But now that the Marquis mansion is just an empty shell, why are you making things so hard for yourself?”

“What do you know?”

Xue Yinshuang snatched the teacup from her hand and took a big gulp. “You also know that the Marquis mansion is out of money, and now the most valuable thing left is the two shops under the old madam’s control.”

“I need to butter her up and let her hand over the management of the shops to me.”
“If Pei Yuanzhou can smoothly inherit the title, I’ll be his official wife, and I’ll be the respected mistress of the Marquis mansion in the capital!”

“If he can’t, I’ll find a way to secretly sell the shops and take Chi’er away from here. It’s a backup plan.” She became increasingly impatient as she spoke, put down the teacup, and walked directly towards the inner room.

“Listening to the old madam snore all night is really getting on my nerves. I’m going to take a nap first. If she makes a fuss, let her die. We’ll deal with everything when I wake up!”

Meanwhile, the old madam couldn’t hold on for much longer. When it was time for lunch, her addiction kicked in again.

This time, it was even more unbearable than before. She smashed the food on the dining table to the ground and rolled around on the floor in agony.

Liu Momo quickly protected her. “Old madam, please hold on. You can’t hurt yourself!”

With great effort, she managed to support the old Madam from the ground. However, the old madam, who had lost her reason, suddenly slammed her head against the wall.

Her face turned purple-red, her temples throbbed uncontrollably, and the veins on her neck bulged. She shouted hoarsely: “I can’t take it anymore! Don’t pull me! Let me knock myself out!”

“My whole body feels like it’s crawling with ants, or like there are knives stabbed into my chest! I’m really going to die!” All these scenes were clearly seen by Shen Qiuci, who was standing outside the door, looking through the gap.

She watched the old madam’s suffering and struggles, and the smile on her lips grew wider, feeling more and more satisfied.

Xia Chang whispered from the side: “Before, after the eldest miss had a miscarriage and her body hadn’t recovered, the old madam forced her to wash clothes on the third day.”

“In the dead of winter, she had to soak her hands in cold water for two hours.”
“After washing the clothes, she had to serve the old madam’s bath. The old madam wouldn’t let anyone else help, insisting that the eldest miss carry the water bucket by bucket.”

“After the water was filled, the old madam splashed a ladle of water on the eldest miss, saying it was too cool, and then punished her to kneel in the courtyard for half an hour to reflect…”

Xia Chang became angrier as she spoke, and tears began to fall. “It was snowing heavily that day, and the eldest miss knelt straight in the snow. When this servant returned from buying things, she found the eldest miss had already fainted in the snow.”

“And no one in the entire Danyang Marquis mansion even bothered to ask about it…”
“If this servant had come back a little later that day, perhaps… perhaps the eldest miss would have been tortured to death by her!”

Shen Qiuci felt a pang of sorrow and pain in her heart when she heard this. She raised her hand to wipe away Xia Chang’s tears, then fixed her gaze on the old madam, who had collapsed to the ground, her voice cold.

“Everything the old madam did to my elder sister, I will make her pay back in full.”
“Not a single bit less.” After saying this, she pushed open the door forcefully.