Xu Keke hadn't expected Madam Du to appear.
Xu Keke was initially worried that she would give herself away because the original owner of this body and she had very different personalities. But once they met, she didn't even have a chance to speak.
She was given a severe scolding by Old Madam Du. The main point was that she blamed Xu Keke for causing chaos in the Du family.
As the saying goes, old ginger is spicier, and Madam Du's judgment was very accurate. She believed that the reason why so many things had happened to the Du family recently was all caused by Xu Keke.
The reason she did so many things was because she was instigated by her servants. The servant who instigated her was Xi Bao.
When Madam Du reprimanded her, she didn't even let her defend herself; she drew all the conclusions based on her own ideas.
This made Xu Keke wonder if there was some discrepancy in the original owner's memories.
She could sense the original owner's dependence on her grandmother, because the most prominent thing in her memory was that she ate with her grandmother and celebrated every festival together according to the customs of the countryside.
According to the wet nurse, Old Madam Du brought the original owner back to her ancestral home in the countryside because she was afraid that Lin Meijuan would be mistreated after Du Bingtian married her.
However, during Xu Keke's first meeting with Madam Du, she didn't find even a trace of care or affection for the original owner from Madam Du.
Because from beginning to end, Madam Du never asked whether she had suffered any grievances or how she was doing since she arrived.
Following her own ideas, Madam Du gave her a long lecture before sending her back to her room.
Xu Keke thought that would be enough, but she never expected that when she changed her clothes and went downstairs to eat, she would find that the door was locked. There was also a maid guarding the door, who told her that the old lady told her to stay in the room and reflect on her actions, and that she was not allowed to eat.
Xu Keke regretted it; she should have eaten at Yan Shuo's place before coming back.
Xu Keke checked the time; Du Wei and the others should be back from Mayor Hu's house soon.
Taking advantage of the time she had, she carefully reviewed the original owner's memories again.
Madam Du was a rigid old woman who liked to adhere to old-fashioned rules. Perhaps because she lost her husband early and raised Du Bingtian alone, she had her own set of logic for everything.
Xu Keke discovered something in the original owner's memories that greatly shocked her.
When the original owner was six years old, Old Madam Du actually wanted to bind her feet. Old Madam Du herself had large feet, but she was very insistent on binding the original owner's feet.
No matter how much the wet nurse spoke up for the original owner, it was no use.
Later, because the pain was too great, the usually obedient original owner became anxious and stubbornly refused to have her feet bound. She was beaten and frightened by Old Madam Du and fell ill.
It wasn't until Kang Quan's master came to treat the original owner that the matter was dropped, I don't know how he spoke to Old Madam Du.
Later, the original owner married into the Li family. On her wedding day, Old Madam Du told her that since she had married into another family, she shouldn't casually return to her parents' home. The original owner always believed that this was because her grandmother was afraid the Li family would blame her.
Not long after the wedding, the original owner, after discussing it with the Li family, returned to her old family home in the countryside. However, before she could even finish a cup of tea, Old Madam Du told her to go back.
Old Madam Du's reasoning was that the Li family only agreed to let her return to her parents' home because she was a new bride, and they couldn't easily object to her. She concluded that the Li family's agreement was definitely not genuine. She told her not to make such unreasonable demands of her in-laws again and to leave immediately to avoid upsetting the Li family.
After that, the original owner never went back. And she never saw Old Madam Du again.
The original owner of this body was not close to anyone in the Du family except for Old Madam Du. Over time, she gradually lost all contact with the Du family.
Xu Keke thought she would only have a chance to go out after Du Wei and the others returned.
Unexpectedly, Du Bingtian, who rushed back, released her first.
Xu Keke was eating at the dining table when the mother and son went to the study.
While the second concubine was serving her rice, she came over. She glanced at Du Shan sitting in the small living room and whispered to Xu Keke, "It was Madam who asked the third young lady to have someone deliver a letter to the old lady."
From the words Madam Du used to scold her, Xu Keke could roughly guess what Lin Meijuan had instructed Du Shan to say. While eating, she casually asked,
"Grandmother has never liked Madam, so why would she listen to her?"
The second concubine paused for a moment, then saw Du Shan get up and walk towards them. She smiled bitterly and said, "Once Miss has her own child, she'll understand the feelings of being a parent. In this world, nothing and no one is more important than one's own child."
As expected, it was just as she had thought. Xu Keke didn't ask any more questions. Seeing that Du Shan wanted to say something, Xu Keke didn't want to waste words with her. She turned to the second concubine and said...
“It’s good that Grandmother is here. I heard from the young marshal today that Chief of Staff Chen is going to hold a banquet in a few days and will invite our whole family to attend.”
No girl dislikes a party. Upon hearing Xu Keke's words, Du Shan's expression immediately changed, transforming from a sarcastic look to one of delight.
To pretend she didn't care, Du Shan sat down opposite Xu Keke and asked the maid to bring her a set of chopsticks and a bowl. She then started eating with Xu Keke.
She was already full, so she just pretended to pick up a piece of vegetable, put it in her mouth and chewed, but left her chopsticks in her rice bowl without moving them for a long time.
Seeing that she was listening intently, Xu Keke smiled, put down her rice bowl, and stood up. She kindly said, "I'm full, Third Sister, eat slowly."
Picking at the rice in her bowl, Du Shan glanced at the maid serving her. Being young, she still cared about her image. She immediately stood up, but then worried the maid would realize she'd been trying to find out what was going on, but hadn't heard anything.
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