Chapter 1411 - 1376: A Life Gone Astray 23
Chapter 1411: Chapter 1376: A Life Gone Astray 23
Anning returned to the Wei Family, and the moment she got off the carriage she saw Wei Xing and Wei Susu peeking from behind the gate.
Anning acted as if she hadn’t seen them, got off the carriage and walked straight inside.
"Y-You, stop right there."
Wei Susu shouted from behind Anning.
Anning stopped, turned around to look at Wei Susu. "What is it?"
Wei Susu dragged Wei Xing along and ran over. "Why didn’t you save my grandparents? Are you a heartless ingrate? You’re a Miao too, my grandfather is your biological father, you..."
Anning lowered her eyes, watching with interest as Wei Susu’s little mouth rattled on and on, then looked at Wei Xing staring at her with hatred in his eyes.
"Heh."
Anning smiled. "Your grandfather broke the laws of the land. It was Your Majesty who decided to punish him. How was I supposed to save him? Since he’s your grandfather, why don’t you go save him? Why do you insist on relying on me?"
Wei Xing glared at Anning. "We’re just children, you’re different, you’re a Commandery Princess."
"Ha, so you do know I’m a Commandery Princess."
Anning grabbed one child in each hand and headed inside. "Since you know I’m a Commandery Princess, and I’m your mother on top of that, why is it you show not a shred of respect when you talk to me? Who taught you to be so rude to me? Who told you that you could point fingers at me?"
Anning didn’t take the two children back to her own courtyard, but went to the main courtyard instead.
She entered the main courtyard without having anyone announce her and went straight into the room.
Xin Lan was sitting inside chatting with a few maids. Seeing Anning barge in like this, she was a bit angry. "Granny, you barge into your mother-in-law’s quarters without rhyme or reason—what is it you’re trying to do?"
Anning tossed the two children down in front of Xin Lan. "Naturally I’ve come to ask Madam about these children. Ever since Madam married in, Xing’er and Susu have been under your care. Madam really is such a fine teacher—raised two children who point fingers at their own mother and are utterly disrespectful. I originally thought Madam at least comes from a bookish family, should know a thing or two about propriety, righteousness, integrity, and shame, should know benevolence and filial piety, so the children you taught wouldn’t turn out too bad. Who knew, though, that Madam would actually let these children accuse their own mother, and whenever they face me it’s either hitting or scolding. Even if I were made of mud, I’d still have some temper. Am I not allowed to come and ask what’s going on?"
"You, you—"
Xin Lan was almost driven mad by how Anning turned black into white.
She was so angry her eyes almost rolled back. "They’re your son and daughter, what do they have to do with me?"
Anning took another step forward. "Let me ask Madam one more thing: who was talking about the Miao Family in front of them? The Miao family are all locked up in prison; they have no way to instruct the children to come after me. Was it Madam who stuck a hand in this, teaching the children to run to me and force me to save the Miao family?"
Anning had already forced her way right up to Xin Lan. Xin Lan, flustered and exasperated, snapped, "You, how dare you! Who allowed you to be so arrogant and disrespectful in front of your mother-in-law?"
"Mother-in-law?"
Anning gave a cold laugh. "Madam doesn’t know full well what she’s done? You may pretend not to understand, but I understand perfectly. I just find it filthy to say it out loud, that’s all. Heh, if Madam could just behave herself, you’d be fine, I’d be fine, everyone would be fine. But since Madam decided to put on this little show first, don’t blame me for showing you no mercy."
She reached out and grabbed Xin Lan’s chin, lifting her face.
Anning’s grip was strong. With that one squeeze, Xin Lan hurt so much that tears sprang to her eyes. "I don’t know what you’re talking about."
"Acting—playing dumb when you know exactly what’s going on."
Anning let out a chuckle, and with her other hand patted Xin Lan’s face. "Anyway, I’ll be staying at home for a while yet, so we can take our time with this. I’ll also tell you the plain truth: you’re not our Master’s birth mother. If I feel like it, I can call you ’mother-in-law’ and show you respect. If I don’t feel like it, what the hell are you to me? If you really push me, I’ll flip the Wei Family upside down, and none of us will have a peaceful day."
She flung her hand aside, and Xin Lan fell heavily back onto the chair.
Anning turned to look at the already-terrified Wei Xing and Wei Susu. "What, scared? Since you know I’m a Commandery Princess, you should know that my rank is the highest in this whole home. If I really put on the airs of a Commandery Princess, each and every one of you would have to bow and scrape in front of me."
Anning walked over and pinched Wei Xing’s face. "You’ve long been used to playing pitiful orphans in front of outsiders on account of your dead mother, then bullying others behind their backs. I didn’t bother to hold it against you before, but now I don’t feel like indulging you anymore. From now on, you’d better behave yourselves. Otherwise, I don’t mind letting you experience what a truly vicious stepmother looks like."
After she finished, Anning turned back and smiled at Xin Lan. "Madam, the children have been frightened. I’ll have to trouble Madam to look after them."
Xin Lan nodded frantically in terror. "Y-Yes, yes."
Anning smiled, left Xin Lan and a roomful of stunned maids and old women behind, and swept out in high spirits.
She had barely left when Xin Lan started wiping the sweat off her brow.
As soon as Anning came out of the main courtyard, she was invited over to the Old Madam’s courtyard.
The weather was fine today. The Old Madam wasn’t in her room but was out in the yard pruning flowers.
Seeing Anning come over, the Old Madam smiled and beckoned to her. "Ningning, come have a look, how are my flowers?"
Anning went over with a smile and supported the Old Madam. "Any flower you grow is naturally the best."
The Old Madam waved her hand for the servants to withdraw.
She let Anning help her sit down on the chair beside her. "You went to your Madam’s rooms?"
Anning understood immediately: the Old Madam knew she had gone to pick a fight with Xin Lan and had specially called her over to give her a warning.
"Yes. I came back from the prison today, and Xing’er and Susu ran over spouting all sorts of nonsense. Old Madam, think about it—everyone from the Miao family is locked up, they definitely wouldn’t be talking about those things in front of Xing’er and Susu. So who else in this household would have nothing better to do than stir up trouble? It has to be Madam."
Anning said this with a smile.
The Old Madam’s expression turned a bit sour. "That’s all just your speculation. You have no proof. How can you go make a scene out of nothing? No matter how bad she is, she’s still your mother-in-law. For you to behave like this... is really a bit out of line."
Anning didn’t get angry. "Please allow me to explain, Old Madam. I didn’t kick up a fuss just because of that. I know how to weigh the seriousness of things. Besides, am I such an unfilial person? I only made a scene because Madam’s behavior has gone a bit too far. I did it for the sake of our household, to scare her a bit so she won’t get too brazen."
"Oh?"
The Old Madam raised a brow.
She could hear that Anning’s words carried more meaning beneath the surface.
Anning lowered her voice. "I only learned of this not long ago. Turns out Madam originally had her eye on our Master, back when Miao Anruo was still alive. At that time, Madam chased after Master every single day. Some of Master’s friends all know about it. After Miao Anruo died, she wanted to marry Master as his second wife, only Master looked down on her, so it never happened. Who could’ve imagined that when she couldn’t marry the son, she’d end up marrying the father instead..."
"What?"
The Old Madam shot to her feet at those words, clutching Anning’s hand and demanding sharply, "Is all of this true?"
Anning nodded heavily. "It’s as true as can be. Master told me himself—how could it be fake? I’ve known for a while, but seeing as Madam had already married in, and for the sake of keeping things peaceful for her and for our home, I’d planned to let this rot in my stomach. That’s what Master wanted too. Who knew Madam would keep coming after me, probably still unwilling to let go, unable to stomach it, and that’s why she can’t stand the sight of me. I was afraid she’d kick up too big a fuss and damage our family’s reputation, so I made that scene today to scare her."
Anning recounted this calmly and evenly, but the Old Madam was utterly horrified.
"That Xin Lan, that bitch, that..."