"Step aside, everyone! I am here on the Lord Duke's orders to invite the Old Madam!"
Seeing the menacing crowd, the steward was blocked outside the courtyard by a houseful of maidservants, looking extremely impatient.
He had been fed up with this Old Madam for a long time. Usually, she relied on her status to make all sorts of unreasonable demands of him.
Moreover, the Dayi Dynasty placed the utmost importance on filial piety, so the Lord Duke had generally told him to humor her whenever possible. But this time, the Old Madam and the Second Master's family had clearly touched upon the Lord Duke's taboos!
The steward pushed aside the leading maidservant, who stumbled and fell to the ground, crying out: "Old Madam! Murder! The steward has beaten Qingliu sister to the ground with a gang of men, and he's shouting for you to get out there right now!"
A quick-witted little maid scampered into the inner courtyard, hastily dropping to her knees to kowtow.
The Old Madam's small eyes flashed with sharp glints, and she let out a cold snort. "Humph! It seems this Steward Zhang doesn't want his job anymore. Let's go! I'd like to go out and see just what he thinks he's doing!"
The Old Madam, accompanied by Lady Fang, strode aggressively into the courtyard. There she saw Steward Zhang and his followers; it seemed the eldest son must have found out.
She exchanged a look, and Mammy Li by her side stepped forward a few paces, putting her hands on her hips. "Steward Zhang, you are simply brazen! Bringing all these people into the Old Madam's courtyard, are you trying to rebel?"
Steward Zhang, neither servile nor overbearing, bowed with his hands cupped. "Old Madam, I am simply acting on the Lord Duke's orders to invite you and the Second Master's family to briefly stay at the estate outside the city for a few days!"
With that, he raised a hand to direct the people behind him. "Men, first escort the Old Madam and the Second Madam out of the estate, and leave every single thing in the rooms behind!"
The people behind him had all been carefully selected by Steward Zhang, and upon receiving the order, they rushed forward.
"The Lord Duke has said that if anyone disobeys and dares to obstruct us, they will all be sold off!"
The maidservants on the Old Madam's side had wanted to block them, but Steward Zhang's words frightened them into scurrying to the side.
Their indentures were all held within the estate. If they were sold off, their lives certainly wouldn't be as comfortable as they were now.
Seeing the maidservants shrink back, the corner of Steward Zhang's mouth curled into a sneer. "Old Madam, the jewelry and accessories you are wearing must remain in the estate. The Lord Duke has already prepared a Buddhist Shrine at the country estate; once you go there, you need only tend to your Buddha in peace. Three meals a day will be served by servants, and your life will surely be a comfortable one."
Furious, the Old Madam snapped the string of Buddhist prayer beads in her hand, the rolling beads scattering all over the floor. Her voice was shrill. "Call that unfilial wretch here for me at this instant! I want to ask him if he has made up his mind to disrespect his elders!"
Lady Fang, who had been panicked to the core, forced a look of composure and said, "Indeed, Steward Zhang, for the eldest brother to drive Mother out of the estate—this is the grave crime of unfilial piety! Aren't you afraid of the gossip outside?"
Steward Wang spoke with absolute calm and composure. "Second Madam, what kind of talk is that? Don't go pinning every bit of blame on the Lord Duke. He is merely inviting the Old Madam to the country estate to cultivate her mind; how on earth does that amount to disrespect?"
Lady Fang still tried to quibble. "If it's just mind-cultivation, inviting Mother alone would suffice! Why drive our entire second-room family to the estate as well? The young masters and misses still need their teacher's lectures at home—what is to become of them at the country estate?"
"What! Do I, Jing Renyi, have to support your entire family as well?"
A booming voice rang out as Jing Renyi strode into the courtyard, his words instantly cutting Lady Fang off and rendering her speechless.
"Eldest Brother, how cruel of you! You actually want to drive me and your second brother's family out! What? Now that you've become the Lord Duke, you turn your back and don't recognize people anymore?"
Seeing her eldest son arrive, the Old Madam wore a venomous expression, unwilling to resign herself to defeat. "This is unfilial! I am going to report you!"
"Mother, what kind of talk is that? Your son merely feels that recent matters in the capital are chaotic, so he specially selected a fine place for you at the country estate outside the city. Wouldn't it be better for you to go there and cultivate your mind?"
"As for Second Brother's family? Heh, a man old enough to be a grandfather himself shouldn't expect his eldest brother to keep supporting his household!"
His words were sound and well-reasoned, leaving the Old Madam with no counterargument. She closed her small eyes, clutched her chest, and made as if to collapse.
Jing Renyi quickly stepped forward to catch her and ordered, "Old Zhang, quickly ready the carriage! The Old Madam's chronic illness is acting up; she must be taken to the estate to recuperate properly!"
Hearing this, the Old Madam could no longer keep up the act. She violently shoved her eldest son's arm away and said bitterly, "My health is just fine! The Duke's Estate is my own home, and I am not leaving!"
Knowing the Old Madam was a stubborn and troublesome woman, Jing Renyi immediately formed a plan.
"Since Mother refuses to leave right now, Second Sister-in-law can take the lead. I will have someone properly escort her!"
Hearing the order, Steward Wang sprang into action, directing two maidservants to grab Lady Fang by the arms on either side, while another maid carrying a basket went straight for the hairpins and rings on Lady Fang's head.
This action caused Lady Fang to shriek repeatedly, "You—what are you doing? Let go of me at once! Eldest Brother, stop them immediately, what kind of behavior is this?!"
Turning a deaf ear, Jing Renyi looked on coldly at this farce. At that moment, the weeping voices of young girls drifted in from outside the courtyard.
"Grandmother! Grandmother, these servants are committing insubordination! Sob, sob... Ah! Mother, what's wrong with you?"
The two disheveled girls running in were none other than Lady Fang's eldest daughter, Jing Rong, and her younger daughter, Jing Rou. At that moment, both of their hair buns were loose and their clothes were an utter mess.
Clearly, the servants over there had already swept through, but the two young lasses hadn't come out ahead, so they had come crying to seek their grandmother's protection!
Seeing that everyone in the estate had arrived, Jing Renyi waved a hand. "Since both nieces have arrived, you can go a step ahead with your mother!"
As soon as Jing Rou arrived and saw her mother being held down, her usual fear of her eldest uncle overwhelmed her. His words frightened her so badly that her eyes rolled back and she fainted dead away!
Seeing her younger sister collapse to the ground, Jing Rong panicked instantly. Was her eldest uncle going to kill them?!
She knelt on the ground, tightly embracing her sister, and begged bitterly, "Eldest Uncle, Eldest Uncle, I beg you to spare us! It was Grandmother and Mother who wanted to harm Luor; it has nothing to do with us!"
Ha! The Old Madam now wished she could rush over and kick Jing Rong to death. This good-for-nothing wretch really couldn't keep her mouth shut!
Lady Fang's face turned instantly pale. Before her eldest brother could even question them, this dead girl had sold them out first!
Her body went limp and she collapsed to her knees. "Eldest Brother! Don't listen to that girl's nonsense, we never thought of harming Luor! The falling rocks on the mountain that day were truly an accident!"
Jing Renyi didn't bother wasting his breath on these women. He instructed a few strong matrons to drag and pull all three of them onto the carriage, carting them off and dumping them outside the city!
Hmph! His aged mother had to be supported, but no law stated he had to support his younger brother's entire family as well!
Throwing them right in front of the Duke's Estate gates would be too glaringly obvious, so he might as well take them out of the city and dump them—it would save the trouble.
Once the noisy trio had been dragged away, the Old Madam finally realized that her eldest son was serious this time.
She couldn't help wiping her aggrieved tears. "Eldest son, all faults and wrongs are Mother's fault. Your younger brother's family has nothing to their name; how are they supposed to survive if you dump them outside?"