The Battle of the Noble Ladies (Book 1)

Chapter 35 - Secret

After such a big incident, the young ladies of the Su family were powerless to take charge, and the eldest young master Su was unable to calm the frightened girls. The first lady of the Su family quickly rushed to the scene with the second lady of the Su family.

When Miss Chen was pulled out of the water, she had already lost consciousness, lying on the ground with only inhalations and no exhalations; it seemed she was on the verge of death.

Ye Yunyi took a step toward that direction but was pulled back by Ye Yunxi.

"Elder Sister!" She looked at Ye Yunxi in disbelief and said softly, "Miss Chen helped us!" By the end, her expression had turned pleading, and her eyes were watery.

Song Chuyi suddenly remembered who this Miss Chen was.

Chen Jinxin—granddaughter of Old Lady Su and the only daughter of the former Fujian General Chen Jun'an. Chen Jun'an had died a heroic death a few years ago against Japanese invaders, and his wife, Su Yunxi, had brought their orphaned daughter back to her family.

Lady Su's complexion was extremely poor; she could barely maintain her usually kind demeanor. She sternly ordered the trembling maids and servants, "Quickly, take her away!"

Yet when facing the frightened noble ladies, she wore a gentle and benevolent expression. She even pulled Ye Yunxi into her embrace, smiling apologetically and helplessly at the crowd, "This girl has been acting strangely lately, causing a scene every day. I don't know how she ended up running out today and disturbing all of you delicate guests..."

The young girls couldn't absorb what she was saying, and even Ye Yunxi's face turned pale.

Chen Jinxin might not even survive, and Lady Su's indifferent attitude truly frightened these pampered young ladies.

Song Chumi held onto Song Chuyi with one hand and tugged at Song Chubin with the other, struggling to stabilize her emotions as she pleaded with Lady Su, "Aunt Su, we want to find Grandmother..."

Hearing Song Chumi's words, the other girls erupted in agreement, clamoring to find their own elders.

Lady Su, overwhelmed, tried to calm them down, finally managing to stabilize the group somewhat when Second Lady Su approached with a rather grave expression, saying, "The Old Lady has come out."

As soon as Old Lady Song and Princess Zhennan arrived, they said they wanted to greet Old Lady Su, but Lady Su had refused on the grounds that Old Lady Su was recuperating.

Now that Old Lady Su had actually come out, it indicated that she was not unwell.

Lady Su, nearly beside herself with anger, exclaimed, "What?!" Immediately turning to head back toward the artificial mountain, she knew full well that if Old Lady Su appeared in front of everyone at this moment, it would cause a huge uproar.

The old stubborn Lady Su, who loves her granddaughter dearly, would be furious if she knew that Chen Jinxin had jumped into the lake... The more she thought about it, the more annoyed she became, ignoring the noble ladies who were gathered and whispering.

But she had only walked halfway when Third Lady Su greeted her with a fake smile: "Oh, sister-in-law, are you looking for the old lady? Unfortunately, she has gone to the front hall."

The front hall?!

First Lady Su felt dizzy and almost collapsed to the ground. She glared at Third Lady Su and, in her anger, laughed: "What good does it do you if something happens to the Su family?! Do you think you can get away unscathed?"

Third Lady Su sneered at her, casually smoothing her hair, and when she looked at First Lady Su again, her eyes were full of hatred: "Who cares about getting away unscathed from the Su family?! Don't you feel guilty saying that? Don't you know how we live?! Anyway, living is just dragging out an ignoble existence, worse than death. It would be better to make a fuss, so no one benefits!"

"Madwoman!" First Lady Su cursed, panting heavily, feeling nothing but confusion and panic.

Perhaps because the old lady had gone to the front hall, the adults outside had also heard some rumors and sent useful maids to fetch people one after another.

First Lady Su couldn't stay any longer, nor did she dare to, so she clutched her chest and sent the noble ladies to the flower hall.

At this time, the opera was still being performed on stage, but no one was in the mood to watch. As soon as First Lady Su entered the front hall, she saw the old lady sitting at the head seat.

Old Lady Song was holding the hands of several girls, looking at them one by one, and she hadn't let go of Song Chuyi's hand. Seeing that none of the children had any problems, she stood up and bid farewell to the old lady.

Everyone could see that something was wrong with the Su family, and the upcoming matters were likely family affairs that outsiders shouldn't hear.

However, they couldn't help but have some complaints about the Su family in their hearts. A good banquet had turned into chaos, and it was during such an important festival, which made people feel uncomfortable.

The Princess of Zhennan also stood up, perhaps seeing Ye Yunxiu's face as pale as paper, her expression was not good either, and her tone was not as gentle as before: "Since your esteemed house is too busy to entertain us, we won't disturb you any longer. Tomorrow is New Year's Eve, and there are still many things to do at home. I will take my leave now."

As soon as these two ladies spoke, the others naturally echoed that they wanted to leave as well.

First Lady Su, feeling uneasy, looked at the old lady and forced a smile: "It's still early, we had planned fireworks for the evening..."

The old lady snorted coldly, glanced around at everyone, and laughed mockingly and sharply: "Are you asking the ladies to stay and watch us set off fireworks to celebrate someone's death in our house?!"

Elderly people are very superstitious about the word "death," especially on such an important day as the 29th of the twelfth lunar month.

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Old Lady Song couldn't help but say, looking at the old lady: "I heard that your eldest son is getting married soon, and today is such a good day, how can you not be cautious?"

The old lady pursed her lips, her slightly cloudy eyes showing tears as she looked at Old Lady Song. She shakily stood up and held Old Lady Song's hand: "Sister, I'm useless... I can't keep the family business that the old master left behind, even the ancestral fields for sacrifices have been squandered by them..."

First Lady Su couldn't hold back any longer, she rushed up to pull the old lady, feeling her hands trembling uncontrollably.

"Mother, have you gone mad?!" She looked at the old lady with a pleading expression, almost crying: "Stop talking, there are so many people, please stop talking."

The old lady chuckled, her wrinkled face full of sorrow. She held Old Lady Song's hand tightly and sighed: "Sister, if you have time in the future, come visit me often... but it looks like there won't be a chance..."

Her words almost brought Old Lady Song to tears but she couldn't ask in detail in front of so many people, so she could only hold her hand back and scold: "What are you talking about?! What nonsense are you saying, you should live to be 999 years old..."