"What? She's still not up? Does she even respect this old woman?" Su Cuirong stopped playing with her prayer beads and slammed her hands, adorned with gold bracelets and rings, onto the chaise longue.
"The journey from Yunchuan to the capital is long, yet she made Yu'er ride a horse alone while she comfortably lay in the stable carriage, causing Yu'er to sprain her ankle. Does she have no conscience at all?"
While massaging Su Cuirong's shoulders, Yao Shiyu said aggrievedly, "Grandmother, my cousin was just too upset because of my uncle and aunt's situation. Please don't blame her. She didn't mean any harm."
Yao Shiyu's words only fueled Su Cuirong's anger. "What's there to be upset about? The eldest son's family is sick; they should take their medicine and get better. It's her fault for not learning medicine from his mother back then. What's the use of worrying now?"
Yao Shiyu knew that the Emperor had not yet announced the news of Jiang Chengfeng and his wife's passing, so she dared not say anything more and remained silent.
Su Cuirong immediately sent two more nannies over, saying, "You two go now, even if you have to tie me up, bring me here."
Two old women stormed into Jiang Luoluo's courtyard. They had never taken Jiang Luoluo, the young lady, seriously, and now, having received Su Cuirong's orders, their arrogance had only grown stronger.
Bang! The two kicked open Jiang Luoluo's door. Dingdang, who had just gone back to sleep, jumped up from the bed upon hearing the noise.
With a whoosh, she drew her sword. Seeing that the person who came was the head maidservant beside Su Cuirong, she put the sword back in its sheath, pointed at her young mistress, and then gestured for the two people to be quiet.
Dingdang approached the two women and asked in a low voice, "What brings you two ladies here?"
The two old women rushed forward with great momentum, rolling up their sleeves. They bumped into Dingdang, causing her to fall to the ground with a thud. Because of the loud noise, Jiang Luoluo opened her sleepy eyes. The two old women were always pulling each other when they were doing things, and Jiang Luoluo was still in bed.
Dingdang rushed forward, grabbing one of the maids in each hand, and shouted sternly, "Don't you dare touch my young lady!"
Seeing this, Jiang Luoluo understood perfectly well that "Granny Rong is here to give Ziwei acupuncture."
She sighed softly and ordered, "Dingdang, get them out of here."
"Alright, Miss." Dingdang was a trained fighter, and in no time she had beaten the two old women black and blue. The two old women covered their heads, complaining bitterly, and hurriedly fled.
In the past, they were not respectful to Jiang Luoluo. Jiang Luoluo was timid and, because they were the head maids in charge of the old lady, she never said much. How come this time was completely different from what was expected?
The two women covered their faces and knelt before Su Cuirong. "Madam, the eldest young lady actually had her wretched maidservant beat us! You must stand up for us!"
"This is outrageous! Does she think she's the boss of the house? I can't even get her to come here today?"
Looking at the two people with bruised and swollen faces, Su Cuirong was filled with anger, which made her tremble. Yao Shiyu kept patting her back to help her catch her breath, saying, "Grandmother, please don't be angry. My cousin is just too tired lately."
It would have been better if she hadn't said those words; they were like adding fuel to the fire, making Su Cuirong even angrier. How dare a junior put on airs with her?
Jiang Luoluo, however, was no longer sleepy. The hidden villain behind Yun Chuan was easy to deal with because she had a god's-eye view.
However, the demons and monsters hidden deep within the mansion of General Weiyuan are the most troublesome.
Su Cuirong was the second wife of Jiang Luoluo's grandfather, Jiang Wenjin. When Jiang Chengfeng was 8 years old, his mother passed away.
In the same year, Jiang Wenjin married his first wife's half-sister.
It is said that after his first wife died, Jiang Wenjin drowned his sorrows in alcohol every night. Once, when he was drunk, he mistook Su Cuirong for his first wife and took liberties with her. So, afterward, Jiang Wenjin remarried.
Su Cuirong gave birth to a son and a daughter. Her second son, Jiang Muyan, is now the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. Her youngest daughter, Jiang Yuelan, married a deputy general under Jiang Chengfeng. That deputy general died in battle on the Yunchuan battlefield, leaving behind Jiang Yuelan and her daughter, Yao Shiyu.
After the death of that deputy general, Jiang Chengfeng brought his younger sister Jiang Yuelan and niece Yao Shiyu to the Weiyuan General's Mansion, where they have lived for more than ten years.
Over the years, Yao Shiyu has always presented herself as quiet, gentle, self-reliant, ambitious, and studious, earning high praise from everyone who knows her.
Jiang Chengfeng and his wife have always treated Yao Shiyu as their second daughter. Jiang Luoluo's older brother, Jiang Gan, dotes on Yao Shiyu just as much as he does on his younger sister.
Su Cuirong doted on her granddaughter who had lost her father. Even when killing a chicken in the kitchen, she would remember to save the big chicken leg for her granddaughter.
She also often reminded Jiang Luoluo and his sister that Yao Shiyu's father died on the battlefield for the country and the people, and that Yao Shiyu had lost her father's love since she was a child, so that the siblings should take good care of Yao Shiyu on a daily basis.
That morning, Su Cuirong had just gotten up when she heard that Yao Shiyu had returned from Yunchuan. She had endured a long and bumpy journey, sleeping in the open and riding a horse, and had even been assassinated, spraining her ankle in the process. Su Cuirong then heard that Jiang Luoluo had returned by carriage all the way back, without even being exposed to a cold wind.
Su Cuirong felt uneasy just thinking about it. She repeatedly told her to take good care of Yao Shiyu. When Jiang Luoluo and her servant set off for Yunchuan, she specially prepared a large bag of Beijing specialties for Yao Shiyu and told Jiang Luoluo to make sure that it was delivered to Yao Shiyu.
She asked in the morning, and Jiang Luoluo hadn't given anything to Yao Shiyu at all. That brat, she can ignore what her elders say.
Su Cuirong was cursing loudly in the main hall, her spittle practically overflowing.
"Grandmother, did you need something from me?" Jiang Luoluo walked in with a bright smile.
Seeing her beaming face, Su Cuirong became even angrier. She snorted and pointed at the two old women with pimples all over their faces, "Do you still respect me as your grandmother?"
"Oh, so that's what it is. It's only natural for a master to discipline a disobedient servant. Why is Grandmother angry?" Jiang Luoluo pulled up a grand chair and sat down.
Su Cuirong was so choked up that she couldn't catch her breath, because these were words she often said to Jiang Luoluo.
Sometimes Su Cuirong would deliberately scold and make things difficult for the servants in Dingdang and Jiang Luoluo's courtyard. Several times Jiang Luoluo stood up to try to get justice for them, but Su Cuirong always dismissed her with this sentence, and in the end, nothing came of it.
Jiang Luoluo casually picked up the teacup on the table and gently skimmed off the foam on top with the lid.
Su Cuirong smiled coldly and continued to question in a cold voice, "Then why didn't you let Shiyu ride in the carriage the whole way? Why did you insist on making her ride a horse? Look how badly she sprained her ankle!"
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