Chapter 4: The Concubine Has Arrived!

“Reporting to Madam, the Eldest Miss, Concubine Song and the Second Miss are here.” The one who came in to announce them was Mu Xinnuan’s personal maid, Rong Yue.

The moment Mu Xinnuan saw her, her gaze tightened. In her past life, she had misplaced her trust in Mu Xinyao and had actually driven Rong Yue out of the manor. In the end, the girl had been forced to marry into a destitute family. After her mother died, she was the only one who would still frequently come to pay her respects! Thinking about it now, how foolish she had been in her previous life!

“Let them in.”

“Yes, Madam.” Although Rong Yue felt that the Eldest Miss’s gaze was a bit strange, she didn’t think much of it. Perhaps it was normal for the Eldest Miss to be a bit dazed just after waking up.

Mu Xinnuan remembered now: this Song woman was originally the grandmother’s niece. Because she saw that her mother came from a prominent family, she felt resentful in her heart. However, the Mu family had to rely heavily on the Li family for many things, so she had no choice but to rarely give her mother a hard time. Yet, not long after, she had forcefully taken charge; taking advantage of the time her mother returned to her maiden home, she had the Song woman brought into the manor as a noble concubine.

By the time her mother returned, the two had already consummated their marriage. Furthermore, since this Song woman was the grandmother’s own niece, her mother naturally found it difficult to make a scene. She swallowed her grievances and drank the tea offered by the Song woman. However, a concubine was still a concubine. Because they had performed the act before the ceremony, her mother refused the title of "noble concubine" proposed by the grandmother and only granted her the status of a regular concubine.

It was precisely because of this that the grandmother felt her mother had caused her to lose face and looked down on the Song family from the bottom of her heart. From then on, she was hypercritical of her mother and would even constantly list her mother’s faults in front of her father!

Fortunately, the bond between her mother and father was deep, and he did not distance himself from her mother because of this, though he did eventually have a daughter and a son with the Song woman.

Just as she was thinking this, she saw Rong Yue lift the curtain, and Concubine Song and Mu Xinyao entered one after the other.

Concubine Song was wearing a light green dress today, which made her look a bit more delicate. However, the makeup on her face was drawn quite exquisitely; one could tell at a glance that she had put effort into it! Coupled with the gold ornaments on her head, it made her entire appearance look rather incongruous!

Mu Xinnuan couldn’t help but want to laugh, so she lowered her head. This Concubine Song really lacked taste; who would dress like this? It was laughable that she had never noticed it in her past life! How could such a low-class concubine have become the mistress of the manor if not for the support of the Old Madam?

“This concubine pays her respects to Madam.”

“This daughter pays her respects to Mother.”

“No need for formalities. Ah Nuan has just woken up and shouldn’t be disturbed. If there is nothing else, you may return. Your intentions are noted.” Li’s voice was indifferent; it was clear she did not like this pair of mother and daughter.

Concubine Song acted as if she hadn’t heard the displeasure in Madam’s voice. Instead, she stepped forward and asked with concern, “Does the Eldest Miss’s head still ache? Would you like this concubine to prepare some soothing soup for the Eldest Miss?”

A flash of disgust crossed the depths of Li’s eyes, and she waved her hand directly, saying, “No need. You may leave first.”

Concubine Song bowed again with an extremely humble attitude and retreated immediately.

This made Mu Xinnuan recall that because her mother had been unwell some time ago, the Old Madam had let this Concubine Song start helping to manage the household. "Helping," was it? I’m afraid seizing power was the real goal! Hmph! Thinking back to her past life, when the injury on her head would sometimes be better and sometimes worse, the Old Madam later simply told her mother to focus solely on taking care of her, effectively handing over the power of managing the household to Concubine Song. Thinking about it now, I’m afraid the Old Madam had already started plotting back then!

“Mother, what did Concubine Song mean just now? Why did she want to prepare soup for me? Has the head matron of the kitchen been changed?”

Mu Xinnuan’s seemingly naive question made Li clearly realize the severity of the problem. However, after being slightly stunned, she smiled and said, “It’s nothing! It is still the same matron. If you want to eat something, just let her prepare it.”

“Mm, thank you, Mother. Mother, I have woken up now and there is nothing seriously wrong. You should go back and rest. Father will surely go to your Jin Courtyard after he finishes checking my younger brother’s lessons. Do not let Father wait too long.”

Li was stunned. How did her daughter become so sensible after that fall? The Master did indeed have this habit; every day after checking Qinghua’s lessons, he would go to the Jin Courtyard to sit and keep her company, or occasionally have her play the zither for him.

“Ah Nuan, Mother is just worried about you.”

“What is there for Mother to worry about? I have Rong Yue and Matron Yu taking care of me here, so you can rest assured. Besides, didn’t the manor doctor say there was nothing wrong? You have many things to attend to; don’t let me delay you and end up being blamed by the Old Madam.”

Once Mu Xinnuan said this, Li was even more surprised! Although this daughter was her own flesh and blood, she had always been very close to the Old Madam. Perhaps because she was the eldest daughter of the main wife, she had been taken to the Old Madam’s side to be raised since birth. Later, when she became pregnant with Mu Qingxuan, she naturally had even less time to attend to this daughter, so she had neglected her care.

Over the years, she had often regretted that she shouldn’t have let her daughter be raised by the Old Madam, as it had needlessly caused her daughter to grow distant from her!

Mu Xinnuan naturally knew of Li’s suspicion and gave a bitter smile. “Mother, I was ignorant in the past. Please rest assured, from now on, I will never let you be sad again.”

As soon as Li heard this, no matter how great her doubts were, she couldn’t care about them anymore! She reached out and hugged Mu Xinnuan, bursting into tears!

“My daughter! Mother’s good child! Good! You have finally woken up; Mother can finally rest easy!”

Mu Xinnuan knew that by "woken up," she meant that her heart finally knew to lean toward her birth mother, and she couldn't help but be a little emotional.

After sending Li away, Mu Xinnuan began to think about why the headaches in her past life had been intermittent! And why they had lasted for nearly two months? Thinking it over, the biggest problem must have been those medicinal soups and some of the tonics!

“Rong Yue, come here. I have something for you to do.” Mu Xinnuan called her over and whispered a few words. Rong Yue nodded and retreated. Before long, the medicinal soup was brought in.

“Matron Yu is enough to serve me here. You all may leave.”

“Yes, Miss.”

“Matron Yu, pour this medicine into that pot of begonia flowers first.” Once the others were gone, Mu Xinnuan ordered directly.

Matron Yu was startled. “Miss, what is wrong with you? You just injured your head; how can you not take your medicine?”