Chapter 2
Chapter 2
The Hour of the Tiger?
Good Lord!
At that time of night, I usually hadn’t even put my phone down to go to sleep yet.
How was I supposed to get up then?
As I wavered between waking up early and simply throwing myself into a well, my hand brushed against a bottle of sleeping pills on me.
It was strange, now that I thought about it.
When I transmigrated here, this bottle of pills came with me.
But I had never been able to figure out why.
Why sleeping pills, of all things?
Then, all of a sudden, inspiration struck.
I got it!
The transmigration system must have wanted me to use the sleeping pills as my weapon for inner-house scheming.
After all, in this day and age, there weren’t many medicines that were colorless, tasteless, fast-acting, and could make people sleep for a long time.
So I immediately decided…
Forget inner-house scheming. Why not let everyone get a good night’s sleep together?
Once I made up my mind, I acted.
Taking advantage of the dark, windy night, I snuck into Madam Qin’s private kitchen with Xiao Huan, the trusted maid who had married over with me.
Just as I was about to pour the pills into the bird’s nest soup Madam Qin ate every night before bed…
Xiao Huan grabbed my hand.
Her eyes brimmed with hot tears.
“Miss, let me do it. If this is discovered in the future, you can place the blame for poisoning your mother-in-law entirely on me.”
Seeing her look like a warrior marching off to her death, I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
I quickly patted her shoulder and explained, “This isn’t poison.”
“It regulates sleep.”
To prove it, I shook out another pill and swallowed it on the spot.
“See? Once I go back later, I’ll sleep like a dead pig.”
Xiao Huan looked even more confused.
“Miss, then why are we doing this?”
I thought about it.
I couldn’t exactly say it was because I couldn’t get out of bed.
So I casually made up an excuse.
“Because I want Madam Qin to have a good night’s sleep.”
I dumped the sleeping pills into the bird’s nest soup and stirred.
But I didn’t notice…
The figure walking away outside the little kitchen.
After taking the pill, I slept exceptionally well.
The next day…
I had only just woken up when two matrons hauled me straight out from under the covers.
My two eyes stared at their four.
Then I heard their twin chorus, delivered in the tone of school disciplinary directors.
“Madam Qin requests the Young Madam’s presence in the ancestral hall to receive instruction.”
Although they didn’t say why I was being summoned…
My instincts told me it had something to do with last night’s medicine.
On the way to the ancestral hall, my hands kept trembling.
In all my twenty-some years of life, the most outrageous thing I had ever done was skip class without submitting a leave slip.
The first time I tried imitating inner-house scheming and drugging someone, I got caught.
Only a ghost wouldn’t be scared.
I was just wondering whether I should drop to my knees and beg for mercy later to save my life…
When suddenly…
Several lines of bullet comments appeared before my eyes.
[Haha, this is the first time in decades Madam Qin has slept this long. Right now, she feels refreshed and is in a great mood.]
[When she was young, she had to get up early to serve her husband and in-laws. Now that her husband and in-laws are dead, she still has to get up early to manage the household and wait for her daughter-in-law to serve tea. She never gets enough sleep. No wonder she has such a bad temper.]
[Madam Qin is rich enough to rival a nation. She could sleep on a pillow stuffed with gold if she wanted. But she’s suffered from insomnia and anxiety for years. She spent fortunes inviting famous physicians and taking who knows how many prescriptions, and nothing worked. Modern technology really is amazing.]
[What a happy accident. She stumbled right onto Madam Qin’s soft spot.]
Me: ?
Was this right?
Immediately after that, the bullet comments continued.
[Now that I think about it, Madam Qin is pretty pitiful too. Because she looks fierce, no one has wanted to get close to her since she was little. Her parents favored her younger siblings, her husband favored his mistress, and even her own son is closer to his wet nurse. But honestly, she just looks a little intimidating. She’s actually a pretty good person.]
[Exactly. When the female lead was sick before, she secretly had someone add locust honey to the medicine so it would be easier to swallow. When the female lead didn’t get better, she stayed up all night taking care of her. She’s truly sharp-tongued but soft-hearted, and she never says a word about the good things she does.]
[What’s the use of being a good person if she never opens her mouth? Her son only recognizes that wet nurse now, not Madam Qin.]
[Just looking at her son makes me mad! Madam Qin is usually decisive and ruthless, but she goes soft only when it comes to her son. She gives in every time. Who knows how much money her son and that wet nurse have taken from her? I’m so angry, so angry!]
[I remember Madam Qin was later angered to death by her son and that wet nurse. So tragic.]
While I was still half-doubting the contents of the bullet comments…
I had unknowingly arrived at the ancestral hall.
The woman standing in the very center heard the footsteps and turned around.
Her cheeks were thin, but her gaze was dignified and powerful.
This was my first time seeing Madam Qin.
I stared blankly at that face.
My entire body went rigid.
Madam Qin did not notice anything unusual about me.
With a stern expression, she said, “Last night, you were the one who put medicine in my bird’s nest soup, were you not?”
“According to the Qin Family Precepts, a new daughter-in-law must rise every day at the Hour of the Tiger to serve tea and attend upon her mother-in-law. You have broken a rule that has stood for a hundred years. Do you know what crime you have committed?”
The bullet comments burst into laughter.
[Keep pretending to be tough. As if we don’t know someone slept so well that she rewarded the maid who combed her hair this morning with a piece of gold.]
[She doesn’t seem to be planning to punish the female lead, right? I remember she only punishes her by forbidding her from going out for one day, but the female lead is a homebody to begin with.]
[More than that. In a moment, she’ll even secretly send the female lead a shop as thanks.]
I could no longer take in whatever the bullet comments were discussing.
My eyes reddened.
I ran toward Madam Qin, threw myself into her arms, hugged her tight, and burst into tears.
“Mom! I missed you so much, Mom!”