Chapter 326 - 289: Taunt
Chapter 326: Chapter 289: Taunt
Tang Yaxuan clutched the candy in both hands, her eyes red with grievance.
A burst of mocking laughter erupted nearby. Tang Yaxuan looked over to see Wu Meina, Wu Meiting, and Wu Meijing. The three sisters had finally returned to the old Wu Family residence in Beijing, and they found everything new and exciting—even their own alley seemed beautiful. They loved running out to the entrance to watch the pedestrians go by. As they stood on the steps cracking melon seeds and chatting, they witnessed Tang Yaxuan’s attempt to curry favor fall flat. They couldn’t help but laugh and seized the chance to hurl some insults.
"Well, well, if it isn’t Miss Tang, finally brought down a peg! When you used to visit, you’d guard our cousin Hao Hao like he was some precious Ginsengfruit. You wouldn’t even let us get close, acting as if a single glance would make him lose a piece of flesh. How’s that working out for you now? Hao Hao wants nothing to do with you. This is what you call karma!"
"She’s just an imposter, yet she gets to be called Miss Tang? Always putting on airs in front of us, always taking the best of everything. We only got what was left after she’d taken her pick... Ptooey! We sisters really got the short end of the stick!"
"Exactly! A fox will always show its tail. Let’s see how you’ll fool people now! Our mom always said our aunt was unreliable. She just coasted on her pretty face, getting doted on by everyone, but she has no brains. She messes up nine out of ten things she does. And it’s true! She managed to lose her own daughter and bring back someone else’s to treat like a treasure. She cheated us out of so much good stuff and even hurt her own biological daughter. I hear the real one won’t even acknowledge her now. Serves her right! A stupid woman raising such a two-faced phony. Neither of them is any good!"
Tang Yaxuan was speechless.
At this moment, she felt just like the saying from the old plays: a fallen phoenix is less than a chicken. But these people no longer saw her as a phoenix; at best, she was a wild pheasant. Even if she had the strength to fight back, she didn’t dare be defiant. She could only swallow her anger, lower her eyes, and listen to her cousins’ mockery. The moment she saw Wu Xiaowen walk out the door, she covered her mouth and cried, "Mama..."
Wu Xiaowen was first anxious to find Tang Haocheng, but upon learning he had already run off too far to be caught, she turned back to protect Tang Yaxuan. She glared at her three nieces. "What did you do to your cousin? You’re all as big as oxen, can’t you act a little more mature?"
The three Wu sisters were sharp-tongued to begin with. They had long been resentful of the mother-daughter duo, who they felt used the elders’ favor to act like they owned the place, never treating themselves as guests and always taking the best of everything. Now, being spoken to like this by Wu Xiaowen, they snapped. They swarmed forward in an instant. Though they were ostensibly shoving Tang Yaxuan, the real force of their pushes landed on Wu Xiaowen.
The eldest, Wu Meina, demanded loudly, "You rotten Xuanxuan, you stinking Xuanxuan, what did we do to you? Huh? You’d better make it clear, or this isn’t over!"
The second sister, Wu Meiting, secretly gave Tang Yaxuan’s leg and arm several hard pinches and sneered, "Cousin? How hilarious. I have more real cousins than I can count. I have no need for an imposter—unless, Auntie, she’s one you had with some random man. That would be a different story!"
"You call us big as oxen? As if you two are so great? What cousin? I’m younger than her! For all these years, I’ve had to give way to her, let her pick all the good things first. Did she really start thinking she was some little princess? In your dreams!" the third sister, Wu Meijing, said, kicking Tang Yaxuan.
Tang Yaxuan tried to dodge, suppressing her sobs. She and Wu Xiaowen were forced into a corner of the doorway by the girls, unable to move. Wu Xiaowen reached out to slap them, but with Tang Yaxuan in her arms, she couldn’t reach. Instead, they struck back, and someone even slapped her across the face. Wu Xiaowen trembled with rage and shrieked, "Get lost! All of you, get lost!"
Wu Meina was tall, with long limbs and considerable strength. She held the mother and daughter down firmly. Seeing that Wu Meiting and Wu Meijing were about done with their covert attacks, she let them go and sneered, "Who are you telling to get lost, Auntie? Don’t forget, this is the Wu Family. A married daughter is like spilt water. You’re the one who should get lost! If you know what’s good for you, pack your things and go back to your prestigious Tang family of high officials. Vacate the rooms. You and your daughter are occupying the best rooms in our Wu home, rooms that should belong to the direct grandson! Even if my brother is still young, we sisters should be living there, not you!"
Wu Xiaowen glared at the three sisters. "Who taught you to speak like this? Have you no manners at all? I am your aunt!"
"So what if you’re our aunt? Is this how an aunt is supposed to act? Don’t you dare talk to us about manners. Our little aunt told us you’re the one with the blackest heart and the worst manners! If you really had any manners, you wouldn’t have been kicked out by the Tang family, only to run back to your parents’ home to occupy your nieces’ and nephews’ rooms and leech off your elderly parents!"
Wu Meijing was quick-tongued. Wu Xiaowen’s eyes reddened, and her voice trembled with a choked sob. "You... you little... Without me, would you have been able to return to Beijing? Would this mansion have been waiting, completely intact, for you to move into? Let me tell you: I am the eldest daughter of the Wu Family, the daughter your grandparents love and value the most! They promised me when I was just a little girl that even after I married, there would always be a place for me in this house. No one is to lay a hand on my rooms!"
Wu Meina gave Wu Xiaowen a sidelong, mocking look. "Auntie, if we had returned to Beijing a year or two ago, then sure, it would have been thanks to you and your Tang family. But now? Don’t even think about trying to fool us again! Our little aunt found out everything. Grandma and Grandpa came back by following official policies and procedures. This mansion has always been Wu Family property, so it was only right for it to be returned to its rightful owners. It has absolutely nothing to do with you! As for the money Grandma and my dad stuffed your pockets with before, we’ll just consider it money down the drain—like feeding meat buns to a dog. At least it didn’t go to someone outside the family, right? And you actually believed what you said about Grandma and Grandpa saving rooms for you? How old are you? Haven’t you ever heard that the new generation replaces the old? Huh? You’re already married, yet you occupy two rooms. Then our little aunt follows your example and takes up another one. So what are we, the daughters of the next generation, supposed to do? You’re the beloved eldest daughter, but I’m the eldest granddaughter! We won’t compare ourselves to the boys, but we should still get what we’re entitled to! Open your eyes and look. The three of us sisters, plus Second Uncle’s daughter Wu Meini—we are all legitimate, direct granddaughters of the Wu Family. None of us are illegitimate! On what grounds should we live in the side rooms while you and your illegitimate daughter get to comfortably occupy two of the main rooms? Tell me, how is that fair? What kind of aunt acts like you?"
At that moment, Wu Xiaowen felt as if she had fallen into an ice cellar and been frozen solid, yet she could still feel a piercing pain in her body and soul. All her hard work had gone unacknowledged. The nieces who had admired her since they were children had turned on her so heartlessly. Their mocking words were sharper and more vicious than any outsider’s, stabbing right at her heart. Tears streamed down Wu Xiaowen’s face, her chest heaving violently. She swung a slap toward Wu Meina. "I’ll teach you to talk nonsense... Who’s an illegitimate daughter? Who are you calling an illegitimate daughter?"
The three Wu sisters were quite united. Seeing their eldest get hit, the other two immediately lunged forward, grabbing and tearing at Wu Xiaowen. As children who had lived in the countryside, they were strong and sturdy. Wu Xiaowen was no match for them. In no time, her clothes were in disarray and her hair was disheveled, making her look like a madwoman.
Tang Yaxuan cried out, "Stop hitting her! Stop it!"
Seeing she couldn’t save Wu Xiaowen on her own, she had a flash of inspiration in her desperation. She quickly turned and ran back into the courtyard to get reinforcements.