"This unfilial son!" Song Yuanzhong looked at Song Yanqing’s back, unable to restrain himself from cursing.
"That, that... Sister Zhang," Ming Yufang hurriedly said, trying to smooth things over, "bring over the red gift money we and the master have prepared."
Sister Zhang quickly handed it over.
Ming Yufang took two bags of red gift money and gave them to Xie Ruotong, "Ruotong, by marrying into our Song Family, you are now part of our Song Family. From now on, we will treat you like our own daughter. If there is anything you are unaccustomed to or need, just instruct the servants directly, don’t be polite."
"Okay, thank you, mother," Xie Ruotong said politely.
"Your hand is severely injured, hurry back inside and tend to it. I’ll have the doctor come over and take a look at you in a moment," Ming Yufang said with concern.
"Mm," Xie Ruotong bowed, "then your daughter-in-law will take her leave first."
Ming Yufang nodded, her face kind.
Xie Ruotong left with Qiao’er.
After leaving, Song Yuanzhong could no longer restrain his temper, "Look at the good son you’ve raised, daring to favor a concubine over his wife! He has truly tarnished the reputation of our Song Family!"
"My lord, calm down. You know that the one our son has always cherished is Xie Ruilin. Forcing him to marry Xie Ruotong has made him uncomfortable. Pressuring him might further sour the relationship between Yanqing and Ruotong. Let’s give our son some more time, he will accept it eventually. Moreover, Ruotong is also a sensible and understanding person; she will not bring trouble to Duke Mansion," Ming Yufang quickly reassured him.
"All you care about is not causing trouble at Duke Mansion, but have you ever thought, that a fine girl has married into our family, shouldn’t we treat her well?!" Song Yuanzhong said angrily.
"How have I not treated her well? But matters of affection also need to be developed properly! Besides, our son is about to take part in the imperial examinations. With a wife, he must concentrate on his studies and cannot let domestic issues affect his exams."
Hearing this from Ming Yufang, Song Yuanzhong managed to hold back his anger a bit longer.
He stood up and said dismissively, "Anyway, as his mother, you must keep a close watch on Song Yanqing, don’t let him do whatever he pleases!"
"Don’t worry, my lord, I will talk to Yanqing," Ming Yufang quickly promised.
Xie Ruotong returned to her room.
Qiao’er was distressed, helping Xie Ruotong apply the ointment just delivered by the doctor while saying, "Miss, it was clearly the second miss who bumped into you just now, how could you let her turn it around, and make it seem like you bumped into her? Wouldn’t this make the master, madam, and your husband misunderstand that you did it on purpose?! I knew that from the moment the second miss was demoted from the main wife to a concubine, she wouldn’t stop at just that!"
Xie Ruotong naturally also felt Xie Ruilin’s animosity.
She had felt it before and thought that it was just a bit of unwillingness, but she didn’t expect Xie Ruilin to actually take action.
She thought it necessary to have a good talk with Xie Ruilin.
After all, in Xie Ruotong’s view, they would be living together for a lifetime, inevitably seeing each other constantly.
Watching Qiao’er carefully apply the ointment, she said, "I’m going to talk to Lin’er."
"It should have been done long ago," Qiao’er said excitedly, "As your sister, the second miss should respect you by default, and now that she’s just a concubine, she should respect you even more! Miss, you should really set things straight with her. Otherwise, she might really think we are afraid of her!"
It was nothing more than clarifying things with Xie Ruilin.
She had not thought about threatening Xie Ruilin.
Xie Ruotong, accompanied by Qiao’er, went directly to Xie Ruilin’s courtyard.
The servants inside the courtyard, seeing Xie Ruotong arrive, did not dare to neglect her and quickly stepped forward to greet her, "Madam."
"Aunt is here; the doctor is inside tending to Aunt’s burned hand."
Qiao’er was very displeased upon hearing that the doctor was treating Xie Ruilin.
The doctor had just delivered a single ointment earlier, claiming it would solve the problem and then left, yet now he was here treating Xie Ruilin.
Why should her mistress, as the main wife, endure such treatment?
Xie Ruotong could immediately tell that Qiao’er felt imbalanced, she gave Qiao’er a look and asked, "Is your young master at home?"
"The young master had something to attend to and is not here," the servant hurriedly replied.
"I’ll go in and take a look."
"Yes" the servant hurriedly led the way.
Xie Ruotong entered Xie Ruilin’s room.
In the room, just as the doctor had finished bandaging Xie Ruilin’s burned hand, seeing Xie Ruotong arrive, he felt somewhat embarrassed, hastily kneeling to greet, "Young madam."