Chapter 108 - Return to the Capital
Chapter 108 Return to the Capital
Madam An wanted to take An back to the capital!
Su Muge lowered her eyes. It was not long before Zhao took over the general affairs in Su Mansion. The servants were still taking a wait-and-see approach. If An came back at this time, it would be a little troublesome!
Zhao glanced at Su Muge subconsciously, and Su Muge noticed a flicker of panic in her eyes.
Zhao was not afraid that An would return and seize the housekeeping power from her, but she was worried that An would do evil again.
It was Madam An’s concern whether she could pick up An back from Baiyu Temple. But it was her business if she could prevent An from returning to Su Mansion!
“Madam An, I’m afraid that it’s not easy for our Madam to come back.”
Madam An saw that Su Muge was smiling but her eyes were cold. “What do you mean, Miss Su?”
“What do I mean? I think my second sister has already told you. Don’t you know why her mother has been sent to Baiyu Temple? A woman who dares to murder the truth-born son and her husband is intolerable in Su Mansion!”
“What, what are you talking about?!”
Madam An had never expected that Su Muge dared to say these words in front of her!
The fact that An had been sent to Baiyu Temple should be kept in secret as a skeleton in the cupboard, but Su Muge actually spoke it out in her face!
“Well, Madam An, it’s your business if you want to take her back to celebrate Minister An’s birthday. But our Su Mansion will never let her return!”
Even if Madam An was good at pretending, she was so angry now that she took a few deep breaths before calming herself down.
“Okay, I have my own arrangement. But since we are relatives by marriage, I’ve brought the invitation today and I’ll leave it to Old Lady Su. As for whether you will attend or not, it’s up to you.”
After putting down an invitation on the tea table, Madam An got up and left.
Lu Mama took up the invitation. Minister An’s birthday was three days later.
“How thick-skinned she is to leave this invitation!” Old Lady Su laughed proudly as if she had won a battle.
Having lived in the village for decades, she couldn’t understand the twists and turns of these nobles.
Madam An had left the invitation, thus her courtesy had been complete. If Old Lady Su didn’t attend Minister An’s birthday, it would be Su Mansion to be accused. At that time, Madam An just needed to say something ambiguous from the side, and Su Mansion might be slandered.
Zhao accepted the invitation and said politely, “Mother, My Lord has asked me to prepare a gift the other day, saying that it should be sent to Minister Mansion one day in advance.” She wanted to hint Old Lady Su that they had to attend this birthday banquet.
Old Lady Su waved her hand and said impatiently. “Well, you can handle these things without reporting to me. Go to bring my little grandson to me.”
As soon as Old Lady Su finished her words, Haitang came in holding little Wenmo.
“Madam, The eldest Miss, pay my respects to you.”
“Lady Haitang, don’t be over-courteous.”
Zhao looked at little Wenmo in her arms dearly.
Old Lady Su took little Wenmo from Haitang’s arms. The maid followed behind Haitang stepped forwards and opened the porcelain pot in her hand. Old Lady Su took a small silver spoon and scooped up a spoonful of supplementary food to feed little Wenmo.
Seeing this, Su Muge immediately frowned.
Little Wenmo was almost four months old now and could take in some supplementary food from his diet. However, because of the previous incident of filarial worms, his stomach had been hurt, so he’d better continue drinking breast milk; supplementary food would easily cause indigestion.
Obviously, Zhao had also thought of this. “Mother, Wenmo is still young. It’s better not to feed him anything else.”
Upon hearing this, Old Lady Su fed the rice milk into little Wenmo’s mouth and raised her head to glare at Zhao.
“Can he grow up only having breast milk? I used to feed your husband in this way. Fine, you may go for your own business.”
“Don’t worry, Madam, Old Lady has been feeding the young master like this for the past two days, and he is quite well,” Haitang said.
“Is the young master’s defecation normal these two days?” Su Muge looked at the nanny.
The nanny hurriedly replied, “Miss, the young master hasn’t defecated in the past two days …”
“It’s not strange that a child doesn’t defecate for a day or two. What do you know as an unmarried little girl?” Old Lady Su was even more unpleasant.
Little Wenmo used to defecate on time every day before, but now it was certainly not normal to stop defecating for two consecutive days!
“Mother … Mo’er …”
“Mother, let’s retreat.” Su Muge pulled Zhao who still wanted to speak. Old Lady Su was the mother-in-law of Zhao, so she couldn’t be the one who angered Old Lady Su.
Zhao walked out of the yard anxiously.
“Mother, talk to my father tonight. Wenmo is his only truth-born son, so my father won’t be less concerned about him than we do.”
Hearing this, Zhao understood the meaning of Su Muge; it would be much better to let Su Lun talk with Old Lady Su.
“Well, I’ll talk to your father tonight.”
…
After leaving Su Mansion, Madam An was rather angry.
Gao Mama poured a cup of tea for Madam An carefully, but Madam An threw the cup out of the carriage window.
“Madam, don’t be angry.”
“Bang”
Madam An pounded the small tea table in the carriage heavily. “It’s just a poor and humble family. How dare she be so disrespectful to me?! Presumptuous!”
Before the visit, she thought Su Mansion wouldn’t disrespect her anyway considering her identity of the Madam Minister. However, she hadn’t expected such a result!
Madam An had never been so humiliated since childhood.
“Go to Baiyu Temple!” Madam An gritted her teeth.
Gao Mama was slightly surprised. “What are you doing, Madam?”
“Of course to pick up my silly daughter!”
“But Madam …”
An was sent to Baiyu Temple because she had made a mistake, so it was inappropriate for Madam An to pick her up at this time.
“But what? The daughter of Minister Mansion can’t be abused by them like this! Let’s go now!”
Seeing Madam An’s firm look, Gao Mama felt it improper to say anything else and could only change their direction to Baiyu Temple.
Although Baiyu Temple was located on the outskirts of the city, it was still quite far away from the capital. When Madam An arrived at Baiyu Temple, it was already afternoon.
Baiyu Temple was on a mountainside, so Gao Mama had to find a sedan chair to carry Madam An up to the mountain.
Baiyu Temple was not big but terribly quiet, with two little nuns sweeping the floor outside the door.
After Gao Mama explained their intentions, the little nuns directly pointed to the small courtyard where An was and left.
Seeing the shabby temple, Madam An was irritated once again. She came to An’s room and found no one guarding outside, so she directly pushed the door in.
“Ah!”
Hearing a scream from the room, Madam An tightened her heart. She walked in and found An looking at her in fright, covered with a quilt in bed.
After seeing Madam An clearly, the panic in An’s eyes immediately became doubts. “Mother? Why are you here?”
Seeing An safe and sound, Madam An found her previous scream a little strange. “What are you doing in bed during the day?”
An lowered her head and held the quilt even tighter. “I’ve just had lunch and I’m to take a nap. Mother, please wait outside. I’ll come after getting dressed.”
The room was damp; the moldy smell made Madam An slightly frown. She turned around and walked out. “Okay.”
In a while, An dressed up and walked out. Unlike the past, she was now wearing a simple Taoist robe.
An had been relieved by this time; at the sight of Madam An, her eyes turned red and she fell into her arms.
“Mother, you finally come to see me…”
Madam An wanted to blame her, but she couldn’t say anything at all when she looked at her emaciated face.
“You silly girl, don’t cry. I’m here to take you back home. Hurry to pack up and go with me!”
An was stunned. “Mother, what did you say? You want, want to take me back?”
“Yes, do you still want to stay here?”
An shook her head again and again. “Mother, let’s go.”
She had nothing when she came, so there was nothing to pack up at this time. “By the way, Li Mama … Mother, Li Mama, her legs are broken …”
Having been accompanied by Li Mama for so many years, An still had some feelings for her. And now Li Mama was living in degradation in the small firewood house behind.
“Let’s bring her back together. She has been serving you for so many years after all.”
Madam An stood up and walked out of Baiyu Temple without being stopped by anyone.
Gao Mama looked around with some doubts. Su Mansion should have sent people here to watch them, but they hadn’t seen anyone at all.
Although Gao Mama was puzzled, she was not stupid; she pretended to be ignorant and got into the carriage back to the city.
It was the next day when Su Mansion got the news that An had been picked up by Madam An.
Knowing this, Su Lun put on a sullen face immediately but said nothing.
“My Lord, you also know that Mo’er is much weaker after the last incident, so I’m very worried about him… but I’m also afraid of hurting mother.” Zhao whispered while watching Su Lun’s expression carefully.
As soon as Su Lun looked up and saw Zhao’s timid face, his sullenness due to An instantly disappeared a lot.
“I’ll talk with mother about this. She also loves Mo’er.”
“Yes, I see.”
Su Lun had dinner with Old Lady Su in her courtyard. After dinner, he asked her to send little Wenmo back to Zhao euphemistically.
Su Lun was talking in a negotiable tone, but Old Lady Su was furious immediately and asked Zhao to come and kneel in her yard.
“Well, Zhao, if it were not for my pity for you, if I hadn’t given you money to come to the capital to find my son, can you live your present life? Now you are strong enough to regard me as an eyesore?” Old Lady Su pointed at Zhao, who was kneeling in the courtyard, and scolded fiercely.