Seventy-eight kalpas hold

  "Eldest sister, you finally decided to leave the house."

  When going to the fourth house, Jiujiu called Shijie along the way. As for her leisure today, Shijie was quite surprised and joked with a smile.

  "Of course, because I have something fun to play with my sisters." Jiǔ jiě ér smiled and then showed the thing in her hand to Shí jiě ér.

  "What is this?" The tenth sister looked at the box in her hand in surprise.

  "I saw Go from a book given by my fourth brother, thought it was fun, so I put down other things on hand and played!"

  Life is like a game of chess, so before she came out, she had Qing Tao help her with this. In ancient times, it was called Bozi Chess, and in the 21st century, it was called Checkers.

  Create a thoroughly enjoyable play experience for Little Eleven and Ten Sisters while achieving one's own plan of pushing the waves.

  This can also be considered a thorough crushing of Zou's plan!

  "Bozi chess, how do you play?" The little girl, Shijie, immediately became interested.

  "It's very simple..." Jiujie immediately explained the simple rules to her and also told her that the more people play, the more fun it is.

  The tenth sister was a bit impatient and pulled her quickly to the fourth house.

  Saw Ninth Sister and Tenth Sister, as well as the Go pieces in Ninth Sister's hand, Little Eleven was delighted. She immediately instructed the maid to set up a table, and the three sisters started playing.

  It's said that Ninth Sister and Tenth Sister came over to play with the daughter, so Zhen Shi specially had someone cook a sour plum soup and brought some snacks.

  Although Mrs. Zhen was strict and stingy, she had always been kind to those who came to play with her daughter.

  It seems that her fourth aunt is not too bad after all, at least she has a heart that yearns for kindness and friendship. Jiuniang thought to herself as she sipped the cool, sour and sweet plum soup.

  " Ninth sister, hurry up and make your move, it's your turn." Just a moment of distraction, and Tenth sister's urging voice rang out.

  "Yes, yes......" Little Eleven, who had just learned and already won a game, was even more excited.

  "Uh..." She immediately covered her head, furrowed her brow, "I'm dizzy, can I take a break..."

  "No!" But before he could finish, he was interrupted by the two of them.

  "What a headache!" She frowned in distress.

  "This... let Yatou accompany you for a walk!" Little Eleven glanced at her hastily, then turned his head to Shijie and said, "The two of us will play!"

  "Alright!" Shi Jie'er immediately agreed, picked up a chess piece and dropped it, then urged Shi Yi, "Hurry up, it's your turn!"

  Before long, the two of them buried their heads in the chessboard again.

  The ninth sister looked at the two of them, helplessly made a wry face, and then led Qing Xiang out of the house with the accompaniment of the fourth room's maid, Qing Bi.

  " Ninth sister, don't misunderstand my sister, she really didn't intentionally ignore you, she's just like that, once she sees the chessboard, everything else is thrown to the back of her mind..." Qingbi explained to Jiujiu.

  "It's nothing, I still don't know about Eleven Sister!" Ninth Sister hastily said.

  "My daughter is really clever, when it comes to playing chess, not only can she beat the fifth young master, but even grandfather can't match her, one time..."

  Qingbi completely inherited her master's wife Zhen Shi's style, and was a bit too talkative, so Qingtao and Jiuniang had to be the listeners.

  Accompanied by the endless waves of green and blue, the three people unknowingly walked to the corridor.

  Looking at the backyard of the four houses on the other side of the corridor, Jiu sister was about to go back.

  "Girl," but at this time the green peach pointed to a jujube tree in a corner, "Those dates look really good, big and red."

  But Ninth Sister glared at her and ignored her, then continued walking back.

  Qing Tao's small face immediately fell, silently following behind Jiu Jie.

  "Wait for me, Ninth Sister!" Qing Bi naturally saw all of this and turned around to grab a bamboo pole, inviting Qing Tao, "Sister Qing Tao, come on, let's go pick some dates together!"

  Qīng Táo saw it and instantly flushed red, then looked at Jiǔ Jiě'r.

  "Go!" Jiujier gave Qingtao a sideways glance again, but finally nodded.

  Qing Tao immediately followed Qing Bi, and Jiu Jie sat under the tree shade waiting for them while looking around.

  But suddenly her gaze fell on a slender figure hastily flashing behind the flower tree, and she immediately stood up and chased after it. "Seventh sister, why are you walking so fast? Are you going to grab buns?"

  Plum blossom patterns on her skirt, a hundred folds like the crescent moon skirt, it was indeed the seventh sister. Only at this moment, the beautiful face of the seventh sister no longer had the charming smile of the past, but instead a frown with furrowed brows.

  "Seventh sister, what's wrong? Didn't get the bun?" Ninth sister continued to tease her without any restraint.

  "What's it to you?" Qī Jiě threw over her shoulder, turning to leave again.

  "Of course, it's none of my business, and I won't interfere with Seventh Sister's affairs. After all, it's better to keep one's mouth shut and warm one's belly... Hehe, Seventh Sister, I just finished playing chess with Eleventh Sister, and now I'm waiting for Qingbi to pick some dates. Don't you think my life is quite comfortable and elegant?" Ninth Sister said from behind her.

  Seventh Sister heard this and stopped in her tracks again, turning her head to look at her with a cold smile. "Ninth Sister, you're really living the good life these days, but... hehe... don't eat too many dates, or you'll get cavities!"

  "Oh, so Seventh Sister means that Aunt Lin ate too many dates." Ninth Sister didn't get annoyed, but instead laughed again.

  It is well-known that Lin Niang of the Fourth House is beautiful and good everywhere, and can also win the favor of Li Taijun and Fourth Master. Her popularity is even comparable to that of the first wife, Zhen Shi. However, there is one shortcoming - her teeth are not only unattractive but also full of cavities, which makes her dare not laugh loudly.

  "You... actually attacked her own mother, for Seventh Sister it's naturally unbearable. Don't be smug, I'm telling you, your plan to marry into the Wang Manor as a secondary consort has already fallen through."

  As expected, Jiu's expression changed upon hearing this, "You... what have you done?"

  "Heh heh......" Seventh Sister sneered again, "I didn't do anything, I just told Sixth Sister that you were going to be her companion, and she went to make a fuss with Eldest Maternal Aunt. You can't be her companion now."

  "You... you're a despicable and vicious person who brings harm to others..." Jiū jiě's smug smile was instantly replaced by resentment and indignation.

  "Haha......" Seeing her success had reached the ninth sister, the seventh sister was immediately overjoyed and laughed wildly, "What I couldn't get, you won't get either!"

  "You...!" Jiujie couldn't help but grit her teeth in anger, glaring fiercely at Qijie for a moment before suddenly breaking into a smile. "Don't be too happy too early, you've ruined Eldest Maternal Aunt's plans! Eldest Maternal Aunt won't let you off the hook!"

  This time it was Qī Jiě's turn to lose her composure, but soon after, her face returned to normal, and she even smiled, "What about that? Is she going to eat me or something?"

  "She certainly wouldn't eat you, but she has methods that are even more cruel than eating you, believe it or not?" Jiǔjiě's gaze slowly slid down and landed on Qījiě's slightly lame leg.

  The seventh sister could no longer pretend to be calm and collected, her face showing a clear look of panic.

  "Hehe......" But that's not enough, Jiu Jie'er smiled and spoke again, "Seventh Sister, if you've forgotten about Qing Ju, then I can remind you of another thing. The executioner's wife was... was someone who had received kindness from Eldest Aunt."

  As expected, Qiye's face changed greatly upon hearing this.

  The executioner's wife, of course, had nothing to do with Zou Shi, and the fact that Seventh Sister was lame was also a coincidence. However, based on her fear of someone's tyranny and her blind reverence for someone else, she thought Seventh Sister would definitely believe it.

  It seems she's really got a good heart!

  Unintentionally, she glanced sideways and suddenly caught sight of a pair of lotus-colored embroidered shoes slowly approaching from behind. She immediately smiled again at Qi'er, who was now pale with fear, "Qi'er, why must you do this? This commotion will not only ruin your chances of becoming the concubine but also damage the reputation of our manor. If word gets out, it will be seen as a scandal by the people from the Prince's residence, which shouldn't happen!"

  After finishing speaking, he ignored her and turned around to leave, because of the sudden change in her attitude, Qī Jiě's face was stunned.

  She went back to the house for a while, and Qingtao hurriedly returned with half a basket of dates. As soon as she entered the door, she began to murmur discontentedly, "Miss, why didn't you wait for me before leaving? You didn't even say a word. Qingbi said let's have you try some first, but I didn't see you."

  "She told you she didn't see me?" Jiu asked her immediately.

  "Hmm... of course, what's wrong?" Qing Tao wondered.

  "It's nothing!" Ninth Sister shook her head and said to Qingtao, "Go wash some dates and bring them over."

  "Oh..." Qing Tao hurriedly left.

  The dates were washed quickly, and Jiuniang began to eat them, one by one.

  "Miss, it's almost dinner time, save some food." Seeing the girl who never overeats eating dates like that, Qing Tao felt a bit anxious and kindly reminded her.

  "We don't have time for dinner." The ninth sister quickly chimed in.

  "No time?" Qing Tao didn't understand and was about to ask again.

  "Eat dates!" But Ninth Sister suddenly stuffed a date into her mouth, blocking the words she was about to say.

  "Oh..."

  It turned out that Jiu Jie's guess was quite accurate ——

  " Ninth Sister, Old Lady Li requests your presence!" At dusk, Cui Feng hastily arrived and conveyed Old Lady Li's decree to Jiu Si Er.

  It really is!

  Qing Tao, who was setting the dinner table with Qing An on one side, immediately looked at her own family's girl with a surprised expression.

  "Uh..." Jiujie didn't have the leisure to notice her, at this moment she had a bewildered expression, and asked Cuifeng, "Sister Cuifeng, I wonder what the old lady wants me to do now?"

  Cui Feng shook her head, but a little later she said, "Ninth Miss, I hope you'll hurry up, I still have to go see Madame and Seventh Miss, so I won't stay long." After finishing speaking, she turned around and left.

  Looking at her back, Jiuniang couldn't help but smile slightly.

  The highest leader of the mansion was invited, and Jiuniang naturally couldn't eat dinner anymore. She instructed Qingxiao and Qīngtáo to help her change clothes, then rushed straight to Yanshoutang.

  Jiuer herself went to Yanshoutang and didn't say anything. She just said that Cuifeng had left the door of the third house, then rushed straight to the main house.

  She arrived at the house of Mrs. Zhen when Mrs. Zhen was not there, but in the west wing room of Sixth Sister, seeing her coming, immediately a maid went to inform Mrs. Zou about it.

  Soon, Zou came out and greeted her, but Zou looked terrible, with a pale face and red eyes.

  However, Cui Feng didn't ask much more, she was not as close to Cui Ping, and wasn't very familiar with the Zou family.

  Nothing else, she and Zou Shi are just different kinds of people, being straightforward and taciturn!

  After conveying Li Taijun's intention to Zou Shihou, Cuifeng hurriedly went to the next stop...

  "Madam, what could this old lady want to let you pass at this time? It can't be..." Looking at Cui Feng's back disappearing in the evening light of the corridor, Zhuang Mama couldn't help but whisper softly to Zou Shi.

  "It won't work!" Zou said after a moment of contemplation, "Even Qiuniang wouldn't dare to tell the old lady about this. The old lady dislikes her the most right now, and doesn't even bother to look at her when she pays respects, let alone give her any attention. She wouldn't go out of her way to invite trouble!"

  The person who revealed the secret to Liu Jie was naturally found out by Zhu Ma very quickly. Lin Yiniang had inquired about Liu Jie's marriage for two days, and she had asked quite detailed questions. The person who leaked this secret to Qi Jie didn't need to be guessed.

  She was well aware of the reason why Qī Jiě did this, but she also wanted to be that accompanying person. However, there was no reason to tell Lǎo Tàigōng about it. If Lǎo Tàigōng were to find out, it wouldn't just be her who would suffer the consequences.

  Perhaps if they had been honest with the old lady, telling her that they wanted to send one of their daughters to the Wang estate as a concubine, she would not have objected, after all, this was also a very respectable thing.

  But if Old Lady knew that she had played so many tricks for this position, she would definitely be furious.

  But let the old lady know that the seventh sister actually went to such great lengths for this position, and even framed her own sisters, so the position of the abbess must have been reserved for her...

  "Madam, dinner..." At this time, Liu Jie's personal maid Qingxiang hurried over with a tray, saying as she walked, her face full of difficulty as she glanced at the tightly closed door of the west wing.

  Zou saw it and immediately frowned with impatience, "Forget it, if you don't want to eat, then just don't!"

  For this stubborn and willful daughter of hers, she was truly at her wit's end.

  At dinner time, Ya Tou came to report that Liu Jie had not eaten dinner again and had not drunk a drop of water for two meals. She was naturally heartbroken, so she took Zhuang Mama to the west wing room.

  This time she changed her policy, took the initiative to bow her head, comforted Liu Si and cried again, pouring out her helplessness and a bellyful of bitterness.

  The mother of the village was also helping on the side.

  The six sisters gradually became sympathetic and cried with her.

  "My child, listen to your mother's words, hurry up and eat, oh, I'm also afraid you'll suffer if it doesn't happen this way, it's all for your own good......" Taking advantage of the opportunity, she naturally hastened to finalize the marriage arrangements while persuading her daughter to eat.

  "Mother, I'm not afraid of suffering, really, don't make me marry my cousin, okay? I know I don't have what it takes to be a princess, let me marry an ordinary person!" But who knew that Sixth Sister immediately looked at her with shining eyes and said.

  She was so angry that she almost couldn't catch her breath, pointing at her nose and scolding loudly, "You good-for-nothing thing, obstinately stupid, I'm telling you, marrying an ordinary person is fine, but don't even think about taking a single penny of dowry from me and your father."

  "Plop——" Unexpectedly, Liu Jie'er immediately knelt on the ground and kowtowed to her mother, "Mother, I can give up your dowry, I can eat coarse grains and swallow vegetables, but this is better than serving one husband with many women, thank you for fulfilling me!"

  She was furious again, and just as she was about to slap her, she was held back by Mrs. Zhuang.

  "You have to marry whether you want to or not!" In the end, she could only throw out such a sentence as she left the house.

  Poor her, she spent half her life struggling and scheming, never met a worthy opponent, yet ended up with such a daughter, what an enemy...

  Zou arrived at Yanshoutang when the ninth sister was already sitting in the chair at the lower end, but she hung her head as if sobbing.

  Seeing this scene, Zou's heart skipped a beat, could it be that thing again?

  But soon her guess was confirmed ——

  "Eldest sister-in-law, can you explain to me about finding a companion for Sixth Sister?" Li Taijun got straight to the point, her sharp gaze falling on her face, making her feel as if she was under a knife.

  "Uh, this... " She hastily racked her brain for words.

  "Don't think you can fool me, I'm telling you, as long as I'm still alive, the girls of my family will never humiliate themselves for such a shameful status. My family has many daughters, but even if I have to sell all our belongings, I'll make sure to provide them with a good dowry and arrange their marriages properly. If we really can't afford it, I'd rather send them to a nunnery to become nuns than let them degrade themselves."

  "Uh... Old lady, listen to me explain..." Zou Shi hurriedly said.

  "What are you explaining? You being selfish, playing tricks, deceiving those above and below, sowing discord - is this what a senior should do? Is this what the mistress of the house should do? Is this what the lady of the marquis's manor should do?"

  "Ah......" Three rhetorical questions made the big lady's face turn pale, and she suddenly knelt on the ground, her eyes also filled with tears. "Old lady, listen to me explain, really...the daughter-in-law has a grievance, really..."

  Seeing her like this, Li Taijun didn't say a word, she just turned her face away and didn't look at her.

  "It's not the daughter-in-law's fault, nor is it Ninth Sister's fault... it's all Seventh Sister's doing." Madam Zou said immediately.

  She had thought about it and now wanted to shift the responsibility of this matter onto her seven sisters.

  Firstly, the seven sisters are currently in the lowest position under Old Lady's rule, which makes it easy to slander them; secondly, all of this is actually the fault of the seventh sister herself, if she hadn't caused trouble, things wouldn't have ended up like this.

  "Qī jiě er?" Upon hearing this, Li Taijun's face immediately turned dark. She turned to look at Fang Mom beside her and said, "Didn't we send someone to call Qī Jiě? Why hasn't she arrived yet?"

  That mother immediately went out after hearing this and soon led Cuifeng into the house.

  "Seventh Sister said she would change her clothes and come over, but for some reason she still hasn't arrived yet!" Cui Feng replied respectfully.

  "Let someone go and call again!" Li Taijun's face couldn't help but turn even darker, then he pointed at Fang Mama, "You go and call, bring a few more people, if all else fails, tie her up and bring her over."

  The mother hastily responded and went away, while the people in the house suddenly became silent, not daring to breathe.

  It seems this old lady is really angry, Ninth Sister quickly lowered her head and tried to downplay her presence.

  You should know that this ancient patriarchal society was quite strict and authoritative, so it's best for you to keep a low profile at the moment.

  He is indeed a victim, but also the planner of all this!

  Out of the corner of her eye, she inadvertently caught sight of Mrs. Zou, and Ninth Sister couldn't help but sneer in her heart. This elder aunt of hers was really good at acting, and now not only was she kneeling on the ground, but...but also crying pitifully, with a look of having suffered a great injustice, hehe...

  It's time to prepare for a complete victory over Seventh Sister. After all, this great aunt of hers is going to push everything onto Seventh Sister.

  However, these seven sisters were not easy-going either!

  Looking forward to it...

  She naturally didn't mean to watch the two of them bite each other, she was just happy that after this commotion, the matter of being a human accompaniment would probably be scrapped.

  It just so happened that Ninth Sister had underestimated Seventh Sister after all ——

  "Old lady, Mrs... you'd better go and take a look, Seventh Sister is holding a knife... she's taken Sixth Sister hostage with a knife, and now they're at the artificial hill in the garden. She says that if Madam doesn't bring her some silver notes to buy a carriage for her, then... then she'll push Sixth Sister down!"

  Soon, Fang's mother, who had been sent to tie up Liu Jie, returned panting and out of breath. What was rare was that this usually calm and serious old lady also looked flustered and at a loss.

  Everyone was stunned.

  But soon she reacted again, Li Taijun was supported by Yaotou, the big lady who was worried about falling tears was supported by Zhuang Mama, and Jiu Si'er followed with a complicated face, then behind her were a group of maidservants, rushing to the flower garden.

  When the group arrived, it was no longer the first time, because the young masters and old gentlemen of the mansion, as well as the wives and daughters-in-law of the other houses, had already rushed over. Ningping Hou Wenchongjiang was shouting loudly, while Fourth Master Wenchonghai was drinking loudly, and Lin Niangniang was crying beside them.

  "What's going on? What's happened......" Zou Shi hastily pushed through the crowd, and when she saw Liu Jie with a gleaming dagger around her neck in the dim light of dusk, she almost fainted, luckily Zhu Mama supported her just in time.

  Everyone didn't have time to bother with Zou's family, and instead looked at the old lady, asking for instructions.

  "Qī yā tóu, kuài fàng xià dāo, nǐ fēng le ma?" Lǎo tài jūn yī bǎ tuī kāi fú zhe tā de cuì fēng, duì nà gāo chù zhèng ná zhe dāo lěng xiào de qī jiě ér.

  "Haha……" Qī Jiě (Seven Sister) burst out laughing, "I'm indeed crazy, yes... but what choice do I have? You're not going to drive me crazy too? I won't put down my knife. Rather than being sent to the nunnery or beaten to death with a stick, I'd rather take a chance and make a desperate move, maybe there's still an opportunity to find a new sky."

  As soon as she finished speaking, there was a moment of silence on the scene. The eyes of the crowd looking at her were more or less filled with sympathy.

  Not to mention, the seventh sister's words are indeed reasonable, but... Alas, doing so would be too ruthless and heartless, disregarding sisterly affection.

  What's more, the Sixth Sister and she had always been close, could it be that all this sisterly affection was false?

  "Hurry up, do I really have to cut her throat?" The seventh sister was getting a bit impatient, and the knife in her hand involuntarily moved another inch forward. On Sixth Sister's pale neck, even in the dim light, bloodstains began to seep out.

  "Spare her, I'll give you whatever you want, just let her go!" Mrs. Zou could no longer hold back...

  ……

  Digression

  It should have been written to a more wonderful place, but it can't be written anymore, sigh...

  It's all because of that broken notebook!