Ch9 – Old Madam Qiao

(TL/N: In case everyone don’t remember, the Eldest Sister’s name was Gong Zhuoyan, and so Old Madam Qiao will be calling GZL as ‘Yan’ from ZhuoYAN.

This is just heads up in case some of you would wonder later on who ‘Yan’ is XD) 

After Gong Zhuoliang left their bridal chamber, they frequently ran into people who were either married or unmarried.

But in short, all of them were women.

As soon as they arrived at Old Madam Qiao’s place, they instantly came across tons of women with powders and cosmetics on their faces. The old lady only had eight maid servants attending to her, so the rest of the women here were all Mistresses coming from different influential families, who only visited here were either flatterers or those who only wanted to participate in the fun.

Thinking that he might have to live his whole life with these women, Gong Zhuoliang suddenly had a headache. 

“Granddaughter-in-law meets Grandmother… Please accept my tea”

When the two entered the hall, a maid had already placed a cushion right before the Old Madam. As soon as Gong Zhuoliang slowly knelt on it, Qiao Yingze brought the tray of tea to him, then he held the tea over his head and presented it to the Old Madam.

“Alright, my good child”

The Old Madam is extremely happy today. The more she looked at her little granddaughter-in-law, the more she found her pleasing to the eye. Right after she took a sip of the tea in silence, she personally took the casket that had already been prepared by the maid servant before, and handed it out to Gong Zhuoliang.

In addition to the Mandarin duck purse, there is also a complete set of brand-new gold ornaments inside the casket, including those high-value items that were sold these days. However, even with all of these things combined, it is still not as good as the one inside the purse.

“Thank you, Grandmother”

When Gong Zhuoliang respectfully accepted it, he felt the heavy weight of the casket, and started pondering the amount of red envelope that may contain inside this casket, however, he did not make it too obvious with his expression. After receiving it, he directly handed it over to Ruo Lan who was behind him.

“Get up my child, and come quickly to Grandmother so she could look at you properly. Yingze, you come here too” 

As soon as the Old Madam beckoned to the two children to come over, she pulled the arms of Gong Zhuoliang closer to her so she could carefully examine the child’s face, and was satisfied with him. After that, she took Qiao Yingze’s hands to her and pressed them together.

The daughter-in-law she chose was certainly good. She could observe that this child had such a magnanimous demeanor, and she is neither servile nor overbearing. And Yingze seemed to like her as well. Anyone could see that she was certainly properly educated, and she looked clever and sensible.

Her good grandson has always been weak since he was a child, and so he couldn’t do much at all, even with the trifling matters. So having a good wife that could always assist him anytime is such a good thing, ah.

“Since you are now officially wedded as husband and wife, it is now the time for you two to live a good life, and you shall take proper care of each other. Yan, my dear girl, ah… Ze’er’s body has always been weak, and he also has a short temper, so you may also lose your temper on him as well, but he’s still a very good child, nonetheless. So I hope you could be patient on him” 

The Old Madam patted both of the hands she was holding with an expression of gratification.

Yingze is the Eldest Son of the Qiao Family, and also her Grandson. But because of his body condition, and also due to some certain matters, her own son and daughter-in-law never took importance of him. Although she was the one who raised him and she always doted on him, because of his weak body, his prospects declined. So despite having received evermore respect either from this household or outside the household, everyone still had their own opinions from their hearts, nevertheless.

What the Old Madam had been always worrying before is that when she passes on, her grandson won’t have anyone to support him anymore, and he might still have a hard time surviving ’till to this day. But now that he is married to a girl from a wealthy family, it’s certainly guaranteed that her grandson will be safe from now on.

This is such a fortunate thing for her. When the loads of burdens that she had been carrying in this place had been finally lifted off, she really had no reason to be worried anymore. 

“Please be at ease, Grandmother. My dear Husband has been very good to this Granddaughter-in-law”

Gong Zhuoliang could feel the heartfelt emotions from the old woman’s words, and it made his heart very touched. He was feeling a little ashamed, and so he lowered down his eyes in order to cover his apologetic expression.

In any case, there’s no way he could keep living with the reputation of a ‘Woman’ throughout his whole life. Besides, when he grows up, his body will surely develop in the future, and he will never be able to hide his gender anymore no matter how badly he wants to.

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

In the end, he’s only doomed to live up with the Old Madam’s expectations. 

“Xgjcvwbatfg, qifjrf gfra jrregfv. Ktlr Xgjcvrbc klii cfnfg ifa Iteb Iteb vbkc”

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“Tfr, sfr jt. Xgjcvwbatfg lr ibbxlcu obgkjgv ab teuulcu tfg ugfja-ugjcvrbc rbwfvjs!”

Vfflcu atf lcalwjms bo atf akb, atf biv ijvs kjr nfgs tjqqs. Ccv ktfc rtf gfwfwyfgfv atja, qfgtjqr, atfrf akb wluta tjnf jigfjvs vbcf ktja wera yf vbcf, rtf ofia fnfc wbgf gfjrregfv. Vtf qjaafv atflg tjcvr, wfcalbclcu atf abqlm ab afjrf atfw jcv fifnjaf atflg wbbv. 

“Grandmother…”

When Gong Zhuoliang heard this, he immediately recalled the mess that happened this morning. At that time, he was covering his face in order to create an image of a shy wife, when he only wanted to cover the smile that couldn’t help creeping up on his face. However, Qiao Yingze who’s unable to do anything at that time, didn’t have a chance to cover up his face, and right now, his blushing face that had just disappeared recently came back once again…

Realizing that the Old Madam wouldn’t have said this if it wasn’t for Han Shu who brought that thing to her, he couldn’t help but turn to the direction of that stupid maid servant, and glared at her. He thought in his mindーI usually don’t see you being so nimble, but you ran faster than anything today!

“Hahaha! I’m sorry, but Grandmother really had never seen your face turn red like that, ah! So now you’re getting bashful after marrying your wife!” 

The Old Madam pointed at her grandson and made a candid laugh, when she subconsciously glanced from the corner of her eye, and just realized that there actually stood two maid servants besides Gong Zhuoliang, and one of them was even moving her eyes around from time to time with a dishonest look. The Old Madam gradually lost the smile from her face, then she turned to Gong Zhuoliang and diverged to another topic.

“Those two…. are they the dowry maids who came with you? But have they been serving you since you were a child?”

The Old Madam only said lightly, and judged Ruo Lan and Ruo Zi who neither acted arrogant nor got furious, but rather, they only abruptly lowered their heads down, looking panic-stricken.

“Ruo Lan has been the one serving this granddaughter-in-law since she was a child, while Ruo Zi was my Mother’s favorite” 

Hearing the Old Madam’s questions, Gong Zhuoliang’s heart instantly stirred, and silently indicated that while Ruo Lan is his most trustful and sensible maid, he paired up Ruo Zi to that ugly shrew Madam Gong, hinting to them that he actually dislike that girl. In that way, if Ruo Zi would truly create trouble in the future, it would be easier for him to get rid of her.

“Mm… You two have been serving under the Young Madam ever since she was little, and so here’s your reward as well”

Even if Gong Zhuoliang’s words were so vague for someone else to fathom what was amiss with it, however, Old Madam Qiao is a wise old woman after all. After taking a glimpse of Ruo Zi, she looked away from her, and then put her attention to Gong Zhuoliang once again.

“It is only your first time here in our household, and so your maidservants shouldn’t be quite familiar about our rules here. That other maidservant, Han Shu, is certainly loyal, however, she might not be able to take care of you that often, and so today, I’m bestowing you, Wen Shu, who’s one of my servants. If you required help, just feel free to summon her” 

The Old Madam summoned out the girl with the most average appearance, yet having the most gentle and reserved temperament among her maid servants, then she ordered her to kowtow under Qiao Yingze and Gong Zhuoliang.

Wen Shu is one of the Eldest maidservants that serves under the old lady and so she’s already knowledgeable about the household’s rules, hence she had long mastered propriety. Although she’s not really completely involved with those people who administer the rules, she’s already familiar with the general affairs of the household.

The old woman wished to foster Gong Zhuoliang well, and so she will naturally send him a good assistant.

“Thank you, Grandmother.” 

As Qiao Yingze held Gong Zhuoliang’s hand tightly, they thanked Old Madam Qiao together.

He was brought up by the Old Madam since he was child, and so he was already familiar with the temperaments and characters of the people surrounding his grandmother. Wen Shu, has the best character among all the maidservants. She was never that type of person who would use her powerful connections to intimidate people, and her popularity is quite good in this household.

Since the Old Madam bestowed her to Gong Zhuoliang, it is thus clear that she had truly taken a liking of this granddaughter-in-law.

Gong Zhuoliang had just been married to this household yesterday, and he had already won the old woman’s favorite maidservant. On the surface, everyone was congratulating the young couple, but in their mind, they were thinking about this. 

The first legal wife of the grandson is so favored, and noticing the Old Madam’s attitude, it seems like she’s also thinking about letting her own granddaughter-in-law manage the household right on the spot. It’s just unknown what plan is there on the Madam’s side…

“All right, this old woman won’t keep you two here anymore. You still needed to visit your parents-in-law and serve them tea. After that, just end the day from there. You must go back and take a rest”

Nodding with satisfaction, right after the Old Madam persuaded the young couple to leave first, she went back to her inner room again to rest, with the assistance of her maidservants, before she dismissed all of them, only leaving one of the closest maids to her― Zhi Qi.

The maidservants of the Qiao Family are usually enhanced every three years. As soon as one of them reached the right age, they would pinpoint those who would be sent out in order to give them a chance to marry. However, Zhi Qi is the last one from the current generation of the maidservants. Right now, she has reached seventeen, and is only a few months older than Qiao Yingze 

Among all the maidservants serving under the Old Madam, other than her best appearance, she is also the most competent and considerate maidservant out of them.

Of course, the Old Madam had already perceived the cowardice of her son and daughter-in-law towards the betrothal for Qiao Yingze, and was thinking of marrying Zhi Qi to him so she could help support their own family in the future. Unfortunately, he was a premature child, and so she had to pick another woman for him to marry. ***

And because of the moral conduct of the current Young Madam, she had to pick out Wen Shu as a maidservant for her. So as a result, Zhi Qi is currently in an embarrassing situation. 

“I’m aware that you’re mad at me, but if only Yingze had some feelings for you, I’d certainly let you marry him. But I’m sure you’ve already seen the situation today, and apparently Yingze has taken a liking of Little Yan. I can see that Little Yan is an impressive girl, and so, certainly, there wouldn’t be any room for you between them…. But don’t worry. You’ve been loyal to me all these years, and so I wouldn’t treat you unfairly. I will certainly find a decent family for you to marry in the future”

Although she’s somewhat feeling a little sorry for the maid who had been serving her for many years, of course, her own grandson is still very important for Old Madam Qiao’s heart. And right now, her grandson is already doing well.

The maid who is originally being favored by her is now in an anxious state. And for fear that she might end up making offensive actions, and so it’s appropriate to quickly look for someone to marry her.

“Old Madam is certainly scaring up this servant. How could this servant be daring enough to hold even a little bit of resentment towards Old Madam? If I dare have the intention to be disrespectful towards the Young Madam, I shall be struck down by the skies with five thunders, ah! This servant only wished to serve the Old Madam all the time. This servant does not want to get married at all, so please Old Madam, do not drive this servant away… This servant is genuinely begging you…!” 

Being fully aware of the Old Madam Qiao’s swift and resolute character, Zhi Qi was immediately scared out of her wits and instantly broke into cold sweat, and then she began to weep and prostrate in front of the old woman, pulling on her skirt as she desperately begged.

She has been with the Old Madam since the day she entered the household at the age of nine. Right now, she has been serving the Old Madam for eight years, and she is currently being favored by her. As she is the one who’s always managing the affairs of the household, her livelihood so far is much more extravagant than the concubines of the Patriarch Qiao, or the eldest lady Qiao who’s been married off to someone else.

But right now, she’s very unwilling to be married off and live as a commoner!!

“….. All right. Now look at your appearance because you cried… You’re a clever person, so you must behave yourself…” 

Old Madam Qiao was indifferent towards Zhi Qi’s crying for a while, before she finally gave in and softly sighed and urged her to stand up. After all, she had already gotten used to this maid’s companion, and so it was not good to just free her out like this. She must keep her around for a while.

“Thank you, Old Madam. This servant understand”

As Zhi Qi quickly wiped off her tears and obediently stood up, she helped the Old Madam to lie on the bed who began to sleep and then she started massaging her legs properly. However, under those hanged eyelids, there contained an unhidden resentment.

….. 

Outside the Old Madam’s courtyard, Gong Zhuoliang secretly let out a relieved sigh. The Old Madam’s aura was way too big and powerful! He was a little afraid just now, ah!

“Do not worry. Grandmother will certainly treat you better too in the future”

Qiao Yingze gallantly led Gong Zhuoliang along the path, as he held the other’s small hands, while his other hands affectionately held the hair strands of Gong Zhuoliang. He really loves this sensation of having someone else by his side and being able to take good care of them.

“Mhm…” 

Gong Zhuoliang was totally electrocuted by Qiao Yingze’s touch, then he awkwardly scratched his chin. After that, he anxiously signaled to Qiao Yingze with his eyes to quickly restrain himself, which caused the maidservants at the back to giggle behind their sleeves.

At the present, the maidservant who’s currently walking behind Gong Zhuoliang was now Wen Shu, followed by Ruo Lan at her back, and lastly, Ruo Zi. While Qiao Yingze, had Han Shu following behind his back, then Yu Hua and Qing Hua.

“Now be good. It is now the time to meet our parents-in-law”

Gong Zhuoliang wanted to urge Qiao Yingze to tidy themselves before they go in, however, just as soon as he turned to him, he saw the smile on his face slowly fading away. Complex emotions were seen in his eyes. When Gong Zhuoliang was just about to ponder about it, he was already pulled in and they began to walk forward. 

“As you bestow them with the tea, my mother might try to embarass you, but please do not take them to your heart…”

As soon as they reached the courtyard of the Qiao Family’s Madam, Qiao Yingze bent down and whispered those words to Gong Zhuoliang. After that, he made a glance with Wen Shu, secretly indicating something to her with his fingers, then he saw her obediently nodding to him which meant she clearly understood.

Qiao Yingze then led Gong Zhuoliang inside the courtyard, under the guidance of his maidservants.

When Gong Zhuoliang finally entered the Madam’s yard, he suddenly perceived the dull atmosphere, which is in strange contrast to the merry environment back at Old Madam’s place. The greetings of the maidservants were way too polite, and he couldn’t see any single person in this house laughing, smiling, or at least just being lively. 

As the maidservants stood on all sides with decorum, a man and a woman can be seen sitting on the seat of honor, seemingly harmonious, however, one could also notice the unhidden distance between them.

“Daughter-in-law greets Father-in-law and Mother-in-law. Dear Father-in-law, please have a cup of tea”

Ever since Gong Zhuoliang entered the room, he never once looked at their appearances, but only maintained a courteous posture―his head remaining to hang down.

“..Mn….” 

Patriarch Qiao accepted the teacup and sipped on it, before he started saying a few pleasantries, then after that, he ordered for the maidservant beside him to give the red envelopes to Wen Shu, who was behind Gong Zhuoliang.

For a moment, he glanced at the two old maidservants who appeared behind Wen Shu and Han Shu, before he made an indifferent expression, and then he never said anything again.

“Mother-in-law, please have a cup of tea”

When Qiao Yingze gave the cup of tea to Gong Zhuoliang, he raised his arms and respectfully presented the cup in front of Madam Qiao. However, even after a short while, the cup was not taken yet, and the atmosphere in the room became still for a moment. Nobody couldn’t comprehend what was happening for a while. 

With his head lowered down, Gong Zhuoliang couldn’t see what kind of expression the Madam is currently making. He only kept his arms up ’till his arms were already aching, however, he still endured the pain, and tried his best not to shake.

Suddenly, Patriarch Qiao coughed lightly, then took the teacup from Gong Zhuoliang himself.

Finally, Gong Zhuoliang dropped both of his arms then he only endured the numbing pain, waiting for the pain to slowly fade away. He then thought in his mind― He had only met this Mother-in-law today and she’s already quick to showcase her own fierceness, ah!

TL/N:

If I were in GZL’s shoes, I would be very nervous in front of Madam Qiao haha! Because every ‘Madam’ I know from any historical novels I read, either had fierce/bossy attitude, or bitchy attitude(take Madam Gong for ex. XD). Well…. they’re coequal with the Patriarch. However, Patriarchs are sometimes meek towards their wife, or either they tend to procrastinate a lot, and so who would be the only person to run the matters of the household? The Madam of course! XD
So who could blame them? ╮(. ❛ ᴗ ❛.)╭

At least, sooner or later, GZL will be the next Madam of the Qiao Family hehehe~ ෆ╹ .̮ ╹ෆ

Luckily Old Madam Qiao wasn’t that as ‘scary’ as what QYZ had said previously. She only thought of her own grandson’s happiness, so since QYZ was happy with GZL, then she’ll really treat him nice (๑♡⌓♡๑) 

And…. Zhi Qi… is a bad news as I expected…. ಠ ͜ʖ ಠ

Anyway, hopefully everyone enjoyed this chapter!~ ♡(ӦｖӦ｡)