There was a drip attached to the back of Shen Ying's hand. She opened her eyes weakly. "It's okay, I'm fine."
Madam Wang was Madam Gu's sister-in-law, while Shen Ying was the niece of Madam Wang's husband. Shen Ying and Gu Zheng grew up together and were childhood sweethearts. Both families wanted their children to be closer when they grew up.
Madam Wang, who had no children, treated Shen Ying as her own and doted on her. Even Madam Gu doted on Shen Ying a lot. When they saw Shen Ying forcing herself to comfort them, their hearts felt like they were being stabbed by a knife.
Shen Ying bit her lip, tears streaming down her face. "Aunt, Madam Gu, I understand my body. It has nothing to do with Miss Qiao. My heart just aches for Brother Gu Zheng..."
After a pause, she seemed to have gathered her courage and said softly, "Brother Gu Zheng is such an outstanding person, but his wife is so rude and arrogant. I don't know how much trouble she'll bring to Brother Gu Zheng in the future. He's already tired from work yet has to handle things for her as well... Just the thought of it makes my heart ache..."
Madam Gu was hit where it hurt. Anger surged in her eyes. "You're right. Qiao Xi is just a country bumpkin who only knows how to cause trouble. How can she be worthy of our Gu Zheng?!"
Shen Ying coughed a few times and said weakly, "Madam Gu, I only hope that Brother Gu Zheng can be happy. No matter how Miss Qiao targets me, I won't mind."
Madam Wang cried out in heartache. "My silly child, why are you so silly?!"
Madam Gu abruptly stood up from her chair and sneered. "The matter of Qiao Xi bullying you can't be settled just like that. I'll get Qiao Xi to apologize to you right now!"
Looking at Madam Gu's angry back view, Shen Ying sighed. "Aunt, you know that I don't want to go against Miss Qiao. With the state of my body, what right do I have to compete with her?"
Madam Wang patted her back in heartache. "How are you unqualified? You're most qualified!"
...
On the other side, Madam Gu ordered the servants to kick open Qiao Xi's door.
At this moment, Qiao Xi had just finished talking to her third brother on the phone. She had asked him if he knew where the old fellow was. She also wanted to study the silver needles that her teacher had given her. She had just put away the silver needles when the door was suddenly kicked open. She raised her head and met Madam Gu's angry eyes.
"Qiao Xi, you still have the mood to sit here? Shen Ying's heart is not well, and you almost caused her to die, do you know that? Or did you deliberately anger her because you know about her health? You vicious little sl*t!"
Madam Gu's heart really ached for Shen Ying, but she was mostly angry at Gu Zheng for being disobedient and embarrassing her in front of so many people. This was the reason why she was so angry.
Now that Gu Zheng had grown up, she could not torture him like she did when he was young. She could only vent all her anger on Qiao Xi, who seemed to be easy to bully.
"Go and apologize to Shen Ying now. Otherwise, don't blame our Gu family for not recognizing you as our daughter-in-law for harming others unreasonably!"
Qiao Xi's tone was indifferent. "I didn't do anything wrong. Why should I apologize?"
Madam Gu shouted angrily, "You angered her to the point of fainting. Don't you need to apologize? Is this how the Qiao family educated you?"
Qiao Xi slowly explained, "Madam Gu, if you're not stupid, you should know that the person who made Shen Ying faint was Gu Zheng. It has nothing to do with me. If you want to apologize, it should be Gu Zheng who apologizes... But judging from your attitude, you probably don't dare to look for trouble with Gu Zheng, so you came to me, right?"
Madam Gu's expression froze for a moment, then she began to cry. "What sins have I committed?! I finally waited for the day Gu Zheng got married, but he ended up marrying such a woman. She doesn't dare to admit to her mistakes and even pushes all the responsibility to Gu Zheng. She brought her bad habits from the countryside to our Gu family. How are you worthy of staying in the Gu family? You're really dirtying the Gu family's reputation!"
"The countryside? We won't cry and kick up a fuss in the countryside like you do. We find it embarrassing. Of course, more importantly, the countryside is a reasonable place. We're not like you, who convict someone with just a few words."
Qiao Xi spoke casually, but Madam Gu was furious. She ordered the servants, "Go, get this little sl*t. If she doesn't want to apologize, then force her to apologize!"
Qiao Xi took a few steps back and dodged the servants who were rushing up to her. She said with a mocking expression, "So you want to use force to suppress me, Madam Gu? Is this how the high society works?"
"You!" Madam Gu was flustered and exasperated. She shouted at the servants, "Useless things, can't you handle a woman with so many of you?!"