Silver tongue

  With renewed spirit and energy, he walked quickly forward, bowed deeply and said, "I have come to pay my respects to Mother, please take care of yourself."

  Madam Zhang sat down on the purple sandalwood chair in the main hall, waved her hand and said: "Get up." Her gaze moved to Yuan Yi's body, sizing him up, with a worried look in her eyes, she asked anxiously: "Yi'er, you're finally back. Poor child, you got so sick that you had to move to the villa to recuperate, it's really hard on you. You've always been an honest kid at heart. The servants didn't take good care of you and I couldn't bear to punish them, in my opinion, those sneaky slaves should be driven out and sold." Her lips still held a hint of a smile, but her eyes were sharp as knives, her gaze piercing through Yuan Yi and stopping on Su Mei behind him.

  Madam Zhang was renowned in the mansion for being a stickler for rules, and her intimidating presence had been built up over time. A single glance from her could make the servants tremble with fear. Su Mei's body shook as she tried to conceal her fear, and she knelt down heavily. "It was this servant's negligence that caused Miss to fall ill, please, madam, punish me."

  It's no wonder that she's been a lady of the house for many years, with just one sentence, not only can she imply that her husband is incompetent, but also scold the maids around her, save face, and even gain a good reputation as a loving stepmother, truly a triple win.

  Zhang's family was just superficial, letting her go to Zhuangzi for recuperation, which sounds like they were considering her, but in fact, they abandoned her to fend for herself. Fortunately, she still managed to pull through and didn't let Zhang's conspiracy succeed.

  She coldly sneered in her heart, but still hastily left the chair, bowed to Zhang Shi and said: "The daughter has already punished Su Mei for three months' salary, I suppose she won't dare not to be diligent next time. Mother, please calm down, don't get angry over such a small matter and hurt your body, otherwise it would be unfilial of me."

  Zhang still hadn't spoken, but Yuan Hua, who was sitting beside her, let out a cold snort and sneered: "The senior servant by the master's side, being penalized for a few months' salary is nothing. Fourth sister, don't be too weak, or you'll be bullied by a slave like this."

  Yuanni looked up, just in time to see Yuanhua's provocative gaze. Then she looked at Zhangshi, whose face was expressionless, seemingly not having heard Yuanhua's interruption. Instead, she picked up the golden Qinghua porcelain cup, stirred the tea leaves and took a light sip of tea.

  Her heart chilled, her face became even more solemn; "Fifth daughter, your words are wrong. Mother manages the household, and has always followed the principle of reward and punishment in moderation, with courtesy and law used together. Su Mei is an old servant who serves me, cannot be punished too severely, first it would chill the hearts of the older servants in the manor, if it gets out, people might criticize our Zhu family's daughter for being overly strict, harming our reputation."

  "You're making excuses." Yuan Hua's face turned red with anger, glaring at her. It was just a small matter of covering up for her own servant, but she had not only brought up her mother, elevated it to the level of the entire household, and finally even dragged in reputation.

  Yuanyi's eyes flashed with a cold glint as he sipped his tea and watched the play, saying lazily: "Fourth Daughter, women should be virtuous in their words and demeanor, but your clever words and expressions are somewhat unbecoming."

  How could she allow others to falsely accuse her? She smiled slightly and said, "Third sister, I'm just stating the facts, why be so eloquent? It's you who are overthinking, but still, I must thank you for your advice."

  Who would bother to point her out, this woman really has a thick skin. Yuan Yi was so angry that she felt like her liver was burning, and finally understood how Yuan Hua had been choked just now. She had always been tongue-tied and couldn't match the other person's thickness of skin, so she didn't know how to respond, and could only glare at her with hatred.