Matriarch Rules, Scumbag Begs - Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Mother-in-law Returns to the Mansion

Pei Yuanzhou’s eyes blazed with fury, his aura full of determination, as if he was dead set on killing Shen Qiuci.

However, Shen Qiuci gazed at him with contempt in her eyes, not afraid at all.

After all, with her skills, she could take down Pei Yuanzhou with just one finger.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t act yet.

She had only just returned to the Marquis’s mansion in her sister’s place, and in just one day, she wanted to shake the foundations of the household.

If people found out she had martial arts skills, it would definitely arouse suspicion.

Although she had limitations, with her agility, it would be difficult for Pei Yuanzhou to hit her.

Just as she was thinking, the long whip came down.

Shen Qiuci was about to dodge to the side when suddenly…

Xia Shang, that maid, recklessly rushed forward, catching the whip with her bare hands!

The whip shredded her hands, blood gushing out uncontrollably,

But she didn’t flinch, instead, she gripped the whip tightly and shouted back at Shen Qiuci through gritted teeth:

“Miss, run!”

Shen Qiuci looked at Xia Shang’s blood-soaked hands and was thoroughly enraged.She clenched her fists secretly, her eyes blazing with fury as she glared at Pei Yuanzhou:

“How dare you touch my people!”

Just as she was about to act, a stern voice shouted from a distance:

“Stop!”

Shen Qiuci followed the sound and saw that it was the Lao Fu’ren and the remaining concubines of the Hou’s mansion, returning.

“Yuanzhou! How could you attack Qiu’er?”

The Old madam quickly walked towards Pei Yuanzhou and snatched the whip from his hand, throwing it to the ground:

“She is your wife!”

“Mother?” Pei Yuanzhou looked at her in confusion.

The Old madam stood in front of Shen Qiuci, her voice full of authority as she scolded Pei Yuanzhou:

“Your wife has just recovered from illness, how could she withstand such a beating?”

Pei Yuanzhou pointed at Shen Qiuci and accused:

“Does Mother know what she’s done since returning to the mansion? She used the miscarriage from back then to make a scene, accusing Xue Yinshuang in court and bringing shame to the Marquis’s mansion! With such behavior, how could I not beat her?”

“Still, you shouldn’t have laid hands on her!” The Old madam’s anger didn’t diminish:

“She’s your legitimate wife, married to you through proper matchmaking! I heard that your wife had recovered from her illness at the temple and was so happy that I rushed back. And this is how you treat her, showing no care or compassion?”
Pei Yuanzhou listened and became more and more puzzled,

The Old madam always said that a wife shouldn’t be beaten without reason, and it was always like this in the mansion, so why did she suddenly change her tune today?

Just as he was puzzled, a maidservant hurriedly came to report:

“Heir, Xue Xiao’niang says she’s in great pain, please go see her!”

Pei Yuanzhou glared at Shen Qiuci and threatened:

“If anything happens to Shuang’er, I won’t let you off the hook!”

Then he rushed off to Lanyue Pavilion.

“His temper is hot-headed, don’t take it to heart.”

The Old madam took Shen Qiuci’s hand, smiling warmly:

“I see that your body is completely recovered? Good, really good! Mother has been going to the temple to burn incense and pray for your recovery for two years!”

“Indeed?”

A young woman beside the Lao Fu’ren also smiled and approached:

“Eldest sister-in-law, I missed you so much after two years.”

She had a few features similar to Pei Yuanzhou’s, and she must be the second young lady of the Marquis’s mansion, Pei Yingchun.

Pei Yingchun affectionately took Shen Qiuci’s arm and chatted:

“Eldest sister-in-law, you don’t know, since you fell ill, my mother and I have been making vows to Buddha, giving up meat and praying for your good fortune. Now that you’re fully recovered, it’s clear that our hearts are sincere.”

Shen Qiuci looked at her with cold eyes, her smile stiff and forced, and said icily:

“Little sister-in-law, you should get the meat stuck between your teeth cleaned out before saying such things.”

Pei Yingchun felt embarrassed for a moment after hearing this,

She immediately stopped smiling and used her tongue to scrape out the meat stuck between her teeth.

She thought to herself that it was all because the Old madam was greedy, they were on their way back from a journey, and she had to stop to eat roast duck in the suburbs, causing her to embarrass herself like this.

Seeing the awkward atmosphere, the Old madam smiled and tried to smooth things over:”Good child, Mother has been thinking of you. Let’s not stand here in the wind and talk.”

She took Shen Qiuci’s hand and led her towards the inner room:

“Let’s go inside, and Mother will take a good look at you.”

Unexpectedly, Shen Qiuci suddenly jerked her hand free with a cold and hard movement, and then supported Xia Shang, saying:

“Xia Shang is injured, I need to send her back to her room first.”

“Oh, servants get hit all the time, why bother with her?”

The Old madam reached out to grab Shen Qiuci’s hand again, but Shen Qiuci dodged her once more.

Her face darkened for a moment, but she quickly forced a smile and said:

“Of course, she’s been taking care of you since she was young, it’s natural for you to care about her. Yuanzhou was a bit too harsh this time, Mother will talk to him later, don’t take it to heart.”

“I won’t.”

Shen Qiuci responded coldly and then supported Xia Shang, walking quickly away.

The Old madam shouted after her:

“Hurry up and take care of things, Mother will wait for you in the room.”

But it seemed like Shen Qiuci didn’t hear her, not even turning her head.
Pei Yingchun watched her walk away and then complained with a stern face:

“Look at her attitude! We haven’t seen her in two years, and it seems like a lowly servant is more important to her than we are!”

“Shame on you!” The Old madam scolded:

“A thankless thing! I’ll ask her for the silver later, and really let Yuanzhou give her a good beating to teach her some manners!”

In the room.

Shen Qiuci arranged for Xia Shang to sit on a warm couch and carefully examined her wounds.

Xia Shang kept saying it was nothing serious, but Shen Qiuci could see clearly that

The whip was extremely powerful, and Xia Shang had taken it with her bare hands, her palms were severely injured, and it wouldn’t heal naturally with just some simple ointment.

She asked with concern:

“Why did you block for me? Weren’t you afraid?”

“Afraid, but I couldn’t dodge.” Xia Shang’s eyes shone with tears, but her tone was incredibly determined:

“I didn’t protect the eldest miss well, and I definitely can’t let the second miss suffer any harm!”

Shen Qiuci felt a pang in her heart after hearing this, thinking she was silly.

She took out a medicine box from the bottom of the wardrobe and retrieved a small jade bottle, gently sprinkling the powder inside onto Xia Shang’s wounds.
“Your wound won’t heal on its own, I need to stitch it up for you. Bear with it, this powder is made from ground mountain eggplant flowers, apply it to the wound, and it won’t hurt right away.”

Xia Shang watched as a thin layer of pale powder was applied to the wound,

The piercing and burning pain she had been feeling suddenly turned into a numb and tingling sensation,

She exclaimed in amazement:

“It really doesn’t hurt anymore!”

Shen Qiuci’s voice was gentle:

“I’ll use mulberry bark thread to stitch up the skin and flesh now, don’t be afraid, and don’t move.”

Xia Shang nodded forcefully, instinctively clenching her teeth.

She watched as Shen Qiuci took out the needle and thread, carefully and meticulously stitching up the wound on her palm,

Even though each stitch pierced through her skin and flesh, she didn’t feel any pain at all?

Soon, the torn wound began to close up under the careful stitching.

She was even more amazed:

“Miss is skilled in medicine?”

Shen Qiuci smiled as she applied medicine to her wound:

“What your miss can do goes far beyond this.”She carefully bandaged the medicated wound and then instructed Xia Shang:

“You must not work for the next two days, just rest and recover.”

“Okay!” Xia Shang nodded, but then said with some concern:

“But… will you really go see the Old madam later? Both of them are not easy to deal with…”

Shen Qiuci looked up at her, her beautiful face curving into a teasing smile:

“What do you think about me?”

Xia Shang: “…”

The maid’s embarrassed silence amused Shen Qiuci, who couldn’t help but chuckle and rub Xia Shang’s head:

“Silly girl, just rest well.”

As she spoke, her expression turned serious, and she gazed through the lattice window towards the old madam’s courtyard:

“This good show has just begun.”