Chapter 384 Leaving the Capital
After much difficulty, Madam Yuan finally managed to adjust her mindset and sent someone to deliver a letter to Xie Wanniang's princess residence, claiming that she wanted to personally visit Xie Wanniang to apologize for her momentary lapse in judgment. However, to her surprise, the doorman at Xie Wanniang's residence did not even accept the letter she sent.
Madam Yuan was furious again, but this time she recovered quickly. The day after her invitation was rejected, she sent people to block the entrance of the Princess's residence.
She had already decided that as soon as Xie Wanniang went out, she would immediately go to the place Xie Wanniang wanted to go and have a chance encounter with her.
She refused to believe that Xie Wanniang would continue to treat her with disdain, even after she had humbled herself in public.
To her surprise, her men waited outside the princess's residence for four or five days, only to bring her a message that left her speechless—Xie Wanniang had already left the capital in a small entourage long before she sent anyone to deliver the invitation.
Very few people in the capital knew that she had left the capital, so naturally the servants sent by Madam Yuan could not find out the purpose of her departure.
If this matter hadn't been something that couldn't be kept secret, those two servants might not have even been able to find out that Xie Wanniang wasn't in the capital.
Faced with Madam Yuan's barrage of questions, "Do you know where she went?" "Do you know why she left?" "Did she take her two children with her?" "Where is Lord Jiang? Is he on leave?", the two servants could only shake their heads.
The people in the princess's residence were very tight-lipped; apart from the last piece of information, they had no way of finding out anything.
Faced with two servants who knew nothing, Madam Yuan wished she could just have them slapped a few times.
Useless! Can't even handle this small matter!
But the thought that if the two men got beaten up, she would have to find two more people to help her, and if she used too many people, her husband would probably ask her if something had happened, so she forced herself to suppress her impulse.
So where did Xie Wanniang go?
She actually went back to Tang County.
Her adoptive father sent an urgent message from Tang County, saying that her birth mother was seriously ill and in critical condition, and asked if she could find time to go back and visit her.
Without saying a word, Xie Wanniang packed her things and took everyone back home.
Fearing she wouldn't have enough time, she left her two children with Jiang Yuan to take care of.
Jiang Yuan actually wanted to go back with her, but he was busy with official duties and it was difficult for him to get a long leave immediately.
With no other option, he could only stay in the capital, taking care of his two children while waiting for news from Tang County.
Xie Wanniang, on the other hand, was traveling at breakneck speed, working from dawn till dusk. Even so, she didn't know if she could make it in time, but she still did her best where she could.
Naturally, this also led her to a greater desire than ever before for the promotion and application of things like rubber, cement, and steam engines.
After all, the means of transportation in this era were not only slow and prone to causing delays, but also quite troublesome.
With no way to travel leisurely and slowly, Xie Wanniang felt like she was really suffering.
This made her feel fortunate that she wasn't with her children, otherwise she was worried that she would have made her two children at home sick.
Despite her exhaustion and pain, Xie Wanniang returned to Tang County and the Xie family as quickly as possible.
Her biological mother, who lived in the Taoist temple, had long been taken home by her adoptive parents. Xie Wanniang, guided by servants, arrived at the small courtyard where the other party was temporarily staying.
Xie Jingshu didn't expect Xie Wanniang to come back, especially since she came back so quickly.
Xie Wanniang bowed to her with her eyes lowered, then asked her adoptive parents who had rushed over upon hearing the news, "What exactly is her illness?"
Xie Daoheng sighed, "I had the doctor leave a copy of the medical record here. If you want to know anything, go and look it up yourself."
Xie Jingshu forced a bitter smile. "I'm already in this state, is it still necessary for you to keep it from me?"
Xie Daoheng denied that he was deliberately hiding anything, saying, "I'm not a doctor, how could I explain it clearly in just a few words?"
Xie Wanniang ignored the siblings and went outside to sit in the small flower hall, carefully examining the medical records.
Xie Jingshu's illness is serious in some ways, but not so serious in others. In Xie Wanniang's opinion, her biggest problem is that she has lost the will to live.
Her biological daughter has grown to a height she can no longer reach, and her hated ex-husband's family has long since received their just deserts. Although her family treats her very well, they all have their own things to do and their own small families to take care of. It seems that she has nothing else to do except study Taoist scriptures.
She used to use the study of Taoist scriptures to escape reality, but now that there's nothing left for her to escape from, she's lost interest in the scriptures altogether.
She used to be healthy, and it didn't matter if her days were uneventful and aimless, but now that she's seriously ill, her will to live has become especially important.
Xie Wanniang told Xie Daoheng her judgment, and Xie Daoheng sighed and said to Xie Wanniang, "The doctor I invited to treat her said the same thing, otherwise I wouldn't have written to ask you to come back."
He was very pleased that Xie Wanniang had rushed back without saying a word. Given Xie Wanniang's personality, he thought she would never want to see Xie Jingshu again in her life.
Xie Wanniang met his eyes, which were full of relief and love, and after thinking for a moment, she chose to tell the truth, "I came back because you wanted me to."
Because of her own personal experience, she was indeed able to provide Xie Jingshu with money without meeting her, fulfilling her obligations without investing any emotionally.
But Xie Daoheng is different. He is Xie Jingshu's blood brother, and he is also the brother who risked his life to bring Xie Jingshu home and has a deep affection for her. Even if Xie Jingshu has done something wrong, Xie Daoheng cannot completely abandon her.
He did have his own wife and children, as well as the academy he had built to manage, but even so, he always kept Xie Jingshu, who was in the Taoist temple, in his heart.
Xie Wanniang wanted him to be happy, so as long as it didn't violate her bottom line and principles, she didn't mind helping him out.
Just like Xie Daoheng had done to her when she was a child.
Xie Daoheng was stunned for a moment, but then he realized that this was the Xie Wanniang he knew.
He wasn't angry at Xie Wanniang's frankness. Instead, he quickly looked at her with a gentle gaze full of love and tolerance. Although she was tired, her eyes were still bright and her back was straight.
"The fact that my daughter went through all this trouble to come back shows that I, as her father, still hold a lot of importance in your heart."
Xie Wanniang couldn't help but smile. "Of course, I've always hoped that you could be healthy and happy."
Xie Daoheng patted her shoulder very lightly, "I know you're filial. Alright, go back and wash up and rest. We'll talk about everything else after you wake up."
Although Xie Wanniang still appeared aloof, the fact that she rushed back at top speed was enough to give Xie Jingshu strength.
With hope in her heart, her will to survive naturally strengthens.
Xie Daoheng didn't expect Xie Wanniang to play the role of a filial daughter in front of Xie Jingshu, since Xie Jingshu actually knew Xie Wanniang very well.
If Xie Wanniang really did that, Xie Jingshu would suspect that she was providing end-of-life care to her.
In Xie Jingshu's view, her slightly aloof and indifferent attitude was the normal way she treated herself.
Xie Jingshu did not try to play the role of a loving mother, nor did she try to force Xie Wanniang to submit by taking advantage of her illness. From the fact that Xie Wanniang was willing to live under someone else's roof and start from scratch rather than return to the Xie family for protection after being rescued, Xie Jingshu had already clearly realized the extent of her daughter's ruthlessness and decisiveness.
She is willing to show kindness to people first and never cares about minor disputes, but if someone really pissses her off, she will immediately cut ties with that person and draw a clear line.
This is not the kind of person who would tolerate others taking advantage of them or being greedy.
Although Xie Jingshu didn't say it, she knew very well that if she pushed her luck, Xie Wanniang would definitely turn her back on her and leave immediately.
It has to be said that she does understand Xie Wanniang quite well.
After staying in her hometown for two whole months, until Xie Jingshu's condition had completely improved, Xie Wanniang finally packed her bags and prepared to return to the capital to reunite with her husband and children.
What she didn't know was that during the two months she was away from the capital, her husband, Lord Jiang, had been surrounded by a lively atmosphere.
At first, when few people knew she had left Beijing, Jiang Yuan's life was still quite peaceful. But after the news spread among those with ulterior motives, Jiang Yuan was suddenly surrounded by many men and women who wanted to seize the opportunity and were driven by self-interest.
The men frequently invited Jiang Yuan to banquets, small gatherings, mountain climbing, and horse racing... while the women frequently created chance encounters, pretended to fall in front of Jiang Yuan, and some even started a theatrical performance, trying to use the excuse of repaying a life-saving grace or claiming that they had been hugged by Jiang Yuan and lost their innocence to completely cling to Jiang Yuan.
At first, Jiang Yuan was not very wary of his colleagues. The reason he refused to meet with them was simple—he had to go home to take care of his children.
His colleagues, of course, didn't believe him and thought he was just making excuses for them.
In the eyes of most people in this era, let alone the fact that his two children are no longer babies and do not need adults to take care of their daily lives, even if they were still babies, Jiang Yuan has a lot of servants at home, so why can't he go out?
What these people didn't know was that Xie Wanniang placed great importance on raising and spending time with her children, and Jiang Yuan simply followed suit.
The couple preferred spending time with their children and teaching them to going out and socializing.
Now that Xie Wanniang is not at home, Jiang Yuan has to take on the responsibility of checking the children's homework, instructing them in martial arts, playing and talking with them, and listening to them chatter about all sorts of little things that happen to them throughout the day.
Those who are used to leaving their children to women, husbands, family members, or even elders in the clan, and who only think about pleasure or scheming whenever they have a spare moment, cannot imagine how much time and energy Jiang Yuan and Xie Wanniang have devoted to their two children.
Their consistent logic is that if a child does something wrong, it's because others haven't disciplined them properly; if a child does something admirable, it's because they, as the fathers, have disciplined them well and set a good example.
Whether they disciplined their children or not, and whether they were good role models, is not important.
Every person who was refused by Jiang Yuan with the excuse of "family matters," who tried to drag him home but failed, and who relentlessly pressed him for an answer that "he went home because he needed to teach and spend time with his children," all had a look on their face that said, "I suspect you're lying to me, and I have evidence."
People can't even empathize with themselves a second ago, let alone others with different values. They simply don't believe that Jiang Yuan goes home on time every day because he needs to go back and be a dutiful father.
The group's scheme failed, and the plan ended abruptly before it even began. Furthermore, Jiang Yuan's excuse sounded very perfunctory, making the group feel slighted and insulted. As a result, they felt extremely disgusted and angry with Jiang Yuan.
Those who lacked self-control immediately started making sarcastic remarks towards Jiang Yuan.
Jiang Yuan thought this person was seriously ill. What, just because he was invited to a banquet, did he have to go? Was not going considered disrespectful and disrespectful? Even something as simple as him going home to take care of his child could become the target of the other person's sarcastic remarks?
What's wrong with him taking care of the children? As a father, shouldn't he be responsible for raising his children?
Let alone the fact that he doesn't like these kinds of pointless social gatherings where everyone has their own agenda and there's a lot of trouble and danger, even if he did like them, he wouldn't need to attend every single one, would he?
Of course, that's not the point. Everyone here is an adult. Jiang Yuan has no intention of being changed by others, but he also has no intention of changing others.
What he's more concerned about is whether the number of people inviting him to various events lately is abnormally high.
And the number of times he was "bumped into" on the street, "asked for help," and pounced on is also a bit too many, isn't it?
Upon thinking this, Jiang Yuan immediately became vigilant.
He declined all social engagements and was escorted by layers of guards on his way to and from work to ensure that no woman could touch even a corner of his clothes.
If someone cries for help, the guards are sent to rescue them, while the remaining guards keep him firmly surrounded to prevent anyone from using a diversionary tactic.
If the other party approaches under the guise of expressing gratitude, Jiang Yuan will directly tell her to thank the guard himself, and declare that the rescue was merely the guard's personal action and had nothing to do with him.
The guards found it amusing, but they also enthusiastically cooperated with Jiang Yuan's performance.
After "helpfully" saving someone, if the other party claims to want to express their gratitude, Jiang Yuan pushes the matter entirely onto the guards. The guards are also quite straightforward; there's no need to visit or offer gifts. It's best to just say goodbye and have no further involvement.
If the other party insisted on "repaying," the guards would say, "Then just give me a few coins to buy some meat."
When you're out and about, you can't just leave without any money on you, can you?
In short, don't even think about taking the opportunity to visit or have any dealings with them.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com