Chapter 855 - 857: Probe (4)
The grandfather had been settled in Old Madame Wang’s house, which in the East Courtyard was the only place fortunately spared from destruction, perhaps because the evil slaves feared agitating Old Madame and incurring a loss of life, so this house was not entered and vandalized.
After Lady Liao entered the room, she first paid her respects to Old Madame Wang. Wang’s mouth was askew, and she was barely able to speak clearly, yet she kept moaning and even tried to maintain her status as a lady by belittling her.
Lady Liao simply performed the salutation and before she could say "rise," she got up on her own and went behind the gauze cabinet to take care of the old master.
Wang was so upset that she kept moaning, staring in the direction of the gauze cabinet while making noises and angrily pounding on the bed. Her old face turned red from suffocation, but no one paid her any attention.
The maids were all adept at reading the room, everyone knew that Aunt Liao was currently the old patriarch’s favored one—who would dare to offend her? Moreover, with Old Madame in such a state, there was little hope left, so naturally they wouldn’t offend Aunt Liao for the sake of Old Madame.
The days for Old Madam Wang were nothing short of miserable. Usually, the three masters from her family rarely visited her, and even when they did, they stayed only long enough for a cup of tea before leaving, unwilling to stay a moment longer; the three madams seeing their husbands’ disregard were only too glad to wash their hands of the situation, completely taking on the role of indifferent overseers, barely appearing at all; previously, the young misses used to spend their days beside Old Madame for amusement, coaxing her, but ever since Old Madame fell ill, not a trace of the misses could be seen, and the courtyard day after day was left to Old Madame alone, moaning on the couch.
As time passed, the servants also ceased to take her seriously, disregarding most of her commands, treating her as they wished. Just like earlier, everyone quite obviously heard Old Madame rebuke Aunt Liao for taking over the mistress’s house on her own, yet not one person stepped forward, all pretending not to hear, watching as Aunt Liao swaggered into the gauze cabinet!
Wang lay painfully on the bed, her speech impaired as she cursed Aunt Liao for her ingratitude, also deriding the duke for favoring the concubine and destroying his wife. Unfortunately, no matter what she cursed, all that came out were indistinct sounds, hardly comprehensible unless listened to closely, and even then, no one paid her any mind.
She performed a monologue for a while, completely ignored by others, Aunt Liao didn’t even glance at her, let alone consider her a rival, she became utterly despondent, closed her mouth, and began to weep...