“Wu Cuihua has been found, but she’s going to die soon. She’s in the backyard of the Marquis’s mansion. Second brother, come with me to the Marquis’s mansion. Fourth brother, go find Jiaren. He said he went to visit his classmate at the Zhao family’s house in Ping’an Lane in the south of the city. Wu Cuihua is his mother after all, so tell him to come over quickly! Also, go to all four city gates and look for your eldest brother and the others. See if they’ve left Xindu yet. Can you bring Jiayi back? But don’t worry if you can’t find him.”
"Okay, Mother, I'll go right away." Li Laosi went out, grabbed his horse, and galloped away, disappearing from sight.
Li Lao Er's expression was unreadable, but when he helped his mother out the door, he still tripped over the threshold.
The old lady patted her son's hand and sighed.
I have thought about Wu Cuihua over the past two years, but what she did was too vicious, and her disappearance was so disgraceful that even if I think about her, I don't want to dwell on it.
I just thought that with her selfish temper, she would probably be doing quite well anywhere.
Little did I know, the first time I heard news of her was when I went to see her for the last time...
The carriage at the Marquis's residence was very large and spacious. Even with the Li family of three, plus the steward and Dongmei, it didn't feel crowded.
After holding her granddaughter, Old Lady Li thought for a moment and then told the head housekeeper about what happened back then.
After all, Jiayin is now the eldest daughter of the Marquis's mansion, and Wu Cuihua has also settled in the Marquis's mansion. If things are not made clear, the people in the Marquis's mansion might think that the Li family has been mean to their daughter-in-law, which would not be good for Jiayin.
The head housekeeper and Dongmei listened to the whole thing with sighs.
Wu Cuihua's current predicament is entirely her own doing; she has no one to blame but herself.
She is unfilial to her mother-in-law, does not love her children, is selfish and lazy, and only cares about supporting her own family.
He even stole his infant niece just to improve his brother's luck and help him win more money gambling.
Out of consideration for her two grandsons, the Li family didn't beat her to death or divorce her; they just sent her out to work. They were incredibly kind.
But she actually ran away with someone else again!
Dongmei and the head housekeeper glanced at Li Lao Er instinctively, then quickly lowered their heads.
Mr. Er was such a good person, yet he had such a miserable life!
Soon, the carriage entered the new capital and arrived at the Marquis's residence.
With the precedent set by Yu Xue and her maids, no one in the Marquis's mansion dared to neglect the Li family again.
Every servant they encountered was greeted with utmost respect and courtesy.
But the Li family paid no attention to it and followed the head steward to the servants' courtyard.
The servants in the same courtyard probably knew that Wu Cuihua was not long for this world, and they were standing at the door of the side room where she lived, whispering among themselves.
"Is Granny Wu going to die? She's really resilient. When we first brought her back, she looked like she was going to die. She wouldn't take any medicine and was acting crazy. I never expected her to live for another two years."
"Yes, this is in our Marquis's mansion. She hasn't signed a slave contract, and she gets a monthly allowance to eat, drink, and receive medical treatment. She also helps us with our laundry and we get paid copper coins for that. If she were in someone else's house, she would probably be dead by now."
"The head steward said that we should take good care of it as a way to accumulate good karma."
"Where did the head housekeeper go? Did he really go to find her family?"
"I saw the head housekeeper's face change. Is her family some kind of influential family?"
"Impossible, right?"
As they were talking, the head steward led the Li family over. Everyone was surprised and suspicious, and quickly bowed their heads and withdrew.
Grandma Li handed Fu Niu over to the head housekeeper, saying, "It's not appropriate for a child to handle such matters. I'll trouble the head housekeeper to look after Fu Niu."
"Don't worry, Madam." The head steward quickly took Fu Niu from her, then called the servants to move tables and chairs and set up screens. He then held Fu Niu in his arms and sat her in the courtyard, coaxing her to eat some snacks.
Although Fu Niu disliked Wu Cuihua, the thought of her two older brothers losing their mother still weighed heavily on her mind. She couldn't even eat her favorite snacks anymore.
Li Lao Er took a deep breath and went into the side room first, with the old lady following closely behind.
This side room wasn't very big; it only had one window, letting in a patch of natural light.
Wu Cuihua lay under the window, staring blankly at the beam of light, muttering to herself.
Perhaps hearing the noise, she slowly turned her head to look at the door, and tears suddenly welled up in her eyes.
Li Lao Er and the old lady were also extremely shocked. In their memory, Wu Cuihua was the most gluttonous, and she would even snatch a few bites of the children's egg custard. She was also the fattest in the family.
It's only been two years, but it has completely changed.
His once plump figure had become so thin that he had almost no flesh left. One side of his face was covered with scars, his complexion was sallow, his eyes were sunken, and half of his hair was gray.
The blanket covering him was relatively new, but one of his bare legs was sticking out of the blanket in a strange position, clearly indicating that he was disabled!
A maid sat by the bedside, holding a bowl of medicine. She seemed surprised that so many of Wu Cuihua's family members had come. She quickly got up and whispered, "Aunt Wu won't take her medicine. No matter how I try to persuade her, she won't take it."
Grandma Li nodded reluctantly; at that moment, she was truly in no mood for small talk.
The maid quickly put down the medicine bowl and left.
Wu Cuihua's originally cloudy eyes brightened a bit after being washed by tears. She struggled to sit up, but had little strength.
Grandma Li stepped forward, helped her up, and helped her lean against the pillow.
Wu Cuihua choked back tears, her face turning a dark red from holding back her sobs. The first thing she uttered was, "Mother, I...I was wrong!"
Grandma Li's eyes reddened. "Don't talk about this, it's a waste of energy. Fourth brother has already gone to pick up Jiaren. He's studying at the academy now, doing very well, and he gets along well with his classmates. They've arranged to play together today. Jiayi got up early this morning and went out with his uncle; I don't know if he can catch up. Just wait a little longer!"
“Jiaren, my son! Jiaren, Jiaren…” Wu Cuihua murmured, her eyes shining even brighter.
Li Lao Er stepped forward, suppressing his complicated feelings, and asked, "You're so sick, why aren't you getting treatment? And where's Er Gou? Didn't you run away with him? The landlord said... said you eloped with someone, didn't that person take care of you?"
Tears streamed down Wu Cuihua's face again as she shook her head frantically, "No, no, I didn't elope with anyone! It was Er Gouzi. Er Gouzi wanted me to be his maid, to take care of a pregnant woman in the capital, saying he'd make more money and eat better. I didn't elope, I didn't elope with anyone!"
"Okay, okay, none of that matters anymore!" Seeing that something was wrong with her, Old Lady Li was afraid that she would not be able to catch her breath and would die, so she quickly tried to comfort her.
"As long as you don't elope, you can be buried in the Li family's cemetery!"
Sure enough, those words were like a shot of adrenaline, making Wu Cuihua's face brighten and completely sober up.
She gripped the old woman's hand tightly, "Mother, Mother! Can I really be buried in the Li family's cemetery?"
The old lady sighed, "Although you have made many mistakes, the Li family didn't divorce you before, and you didn't elope and tarnish their reputation, so they won't let you die without a proper burial. After all, you gave birth to Jiaren and Jiayi..."
"Waaah, waaah!" Wu Cuihua cried out in anguish, every tear a testament to her regret.
“Mother, I was wrong! Er Gouzi is a beast! He killed my father! I worked like a slave for him, I crippled my leg and disfigured my face for him, but he abandoned me and ran away! I waited for him on the road for more than ten days, drinking rainwater when I was thirsty and eating grass roots and tree bark when I was hungry, until the blood in my leg dried up! But he still didn't come back! Mother, I was wrong, I want to go home, but I have no face to show for it!”
Even if Old Lady Li and Old Man Li had a thousand things to say, they wouldn't know what to say at this moment.
They had lived under the same roof for over a decade, and despite countless earnest attempts to persuade her, Wu Cuihua simply wouldn't listen.
It's too late to realize we were wrong now.
At this moment, Li Laosi finally arrived with Jiaren.
Perhaps because he thought Jiaren was walking too slowly, Li Laosi carried Jiaren in by himself.
Jiaren finally managed to stand up, and when he saw his mother again, he was so shocked that he froze on the spot.
"Mother...mother?"
Wu Cuihua suddenly struggled to her feet, forcefully pulling the blanket to cover her crippled leg and then to hide her ugly face.
Jiaren had already seen it, and suddenly rushed over, bursting into tears.
"Mother, didn't you... didn't you elope with someone? Why aren't you living a life of luxury and happiness? Why is this happening to you?"
What child in the world doesn't love their mother?
Although Jiaren had complained about his mother countless times, hating her for being selfish and foolish, hating her for bringing shame to the family, and even thinking about passing the imperial examinations, bringing glory to the family, and making his mother regret it one day.
But he never imagined that his mother would die! And in such a tragic way!
Wu Cuihua covered her face tightly with her withered hands, tears streaming down her face through her fingers.
The old lady held her grandson and comforted him, "Your mother is dying, so quickly talk to her properly. She was tricked by Er Gouzi into going to the capital to work as a servant. When the capital was moved, she injured her face and leg while saving Er Gouzi, but he abandoned her and ran away. The Marquis's caravan passed by and rescued her. Perhaps she felt sorry for her family, so even though she knew our home was nearby, she didn't go back."
Jiaren cried even louder, so angry he didn't know what to do.
Wu Cuihua, perhaps having exhausted her strength, suddenly began to pant heavily, reaching under her pillow as if trying to pull something out.
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