Chapter 130 The Old Lady's Attitude
In just a few steps, the old couple had re-arranged several plans and were fully prepared.
"Welcome the old marquis and the old lady back home." The guards at the door bowed and greeted them.
"Okay, okay." The old lady saw the mother and son waiting in the yard at a glance.
"Grandma!" The little devil ran over and grabbed her into his arms like a fish seeing water.
The old lady's heart softened, and she quickly hugged him back, saying, "Oh, Jincheng, my little grandson, I miss you so much. Come and let me see if you have grown taller."
The little devil held her tightly, raised his round face, and said with a smile, "Yes, I have grown taller and stronger! Grandma, I miss you so much. I wrote you a letter a few days ago, but you didn't reply. I was sad for several days."
"Oh my dear, grandma just saw the letter and thought about returning home right away, so she didn't reply." The old lady acted seriously, "This carrier pigeon is really something, it can get lost for several days at such a short distance. When I get back, grandma will ask someone to replace it with a batch of carrier pigeons with better eyesight."
"Yeah!" The little devil nodded heavily.
It turned out that what Shunzi said was true. The pigeon was just lost, not that his grandmother didn't like him anymore.
Haha, happy!
"Jincheng, grandpa is back, why don't you talk to me?" The old marquis also began to settle the score.
Unfortunately, he was the first person to read the letter, but there was no mention of him in the letter, which made the old marquis very jealous.
Seeing this, the little devil rushed over to put out the fire: "Jincheng also misses his grandfather, but he hasn't learned his studies well recently and is embarrassed to tell his grandfather."
"You didn't learn well?" The old marquis said in astonishment, "I heard that you took the test for 10-year-olds and got a good ranking. Isn't that good?"
"That's certainly not good. Grandfather, please wait and see next month. I will take the test for the children's class next month. I want to be admitted to the children's class for child prodigies!"
"Good, good, you are ambitious. You are worthy of being the treasure of our Yuanyang Marquis Mansion." The old marquis was fed up with this big cake and kept praising his precious grandson for his ability.
On the other side, Xu Wan was dressed in a green dress today, looking dignified and elegant. When she saw the two elderly people coming back, she stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Meeting father-in-law and mother-in-law."
The old lady was more and more satisfied as she looked at her. She smiled and took her arm and said, "My dear Wan'er, everyone in the mansion has been relying on you to take care of them these past few months. It must have been very hard for you."
Xu Wan smiled and shook her head: "It's not that hard. Most of the affairs in the mansion are taken care of by Butler Liu and Mother Zhao. Jincheng and Wenxiu are also very well behaved and cooperate well with the teaching of Mr. Baili and the many private tutors."
"Haha, that's great, that's great." The old lady knew what kind of person her little devil was. At least he couldn't be described as obedient.
But Xu Wan only said good things in every sentence, so she was naturally happy to hear that, and of course she also understood the efforts behind Xu Wan.
The old lady sighed, "I knew that handing over the stewardship to you was the best decision we made that day."
Xu Wan smiled modestly.
I thought to myself, thank my boss for the high-paying opportunity. Although I haven’t received a bonus of 100 million yet, a monthly salary of 300,000 is pretty high.
She now has more than 1,000 taels of silver in her personal savings, making her one of the wealthy.
The four of them chatted and laughed as they entered the hall. They talked non-stop. Xu Wan and the Little Devil told them interesting stories about the mansion and the academy. The old marquis and the old lady listened patiently, and from time to time they told them a little about the interpersonal relationships in the capital.
Just as Xu Wan expected, when she asked about the Marquis of Yuanyang Mansion, she found out that he had no relatives, no connections, and no personal connections. He was not close to anyone, but he had not offended anyone either. He was quite clean.
However, she found that after the old lady came back, the topics she talked about always revolved around herself and Jincheng. When she mentioned Wenxiu and Aunt Hong, she just smiled and passed it over, as if she didn't care much.
When Xu Wan first noticed it, she thought it was her own illusion. When she mentioned it again later, she found that it was still the case. The old lady only asked about the progress of the little devil, and seemed to be only talking about Wen Xiu for the sake of face, without actually caring about him.
It was as if Wen Xiu was just an outsider.
Xu Wan knew that there was a difference between legitimate and illegitimate children in the Great Chu Kingdom, but it shouldn't be to this extent. Could it be that the old lady was extremely displeased with the identity of the second wife's concubine?
However, the two old men had just returned today, so Xu Wan did not want to ask this question in public. She just asked the maids to watch outside, and when Wen Xiu came back, she would bring him directly to the front hall to talk.
"Wan'er, tell me again, how did Jincheng get so willing to kneel in the ancestral hall?"
Xu Wan smiled and said, "It was because of Wenxiu's good example that he took responsibility for all his mistakes. Jincheng felt guilty and followed him to the ancestral hall."
The old lady paused, then smiled and said, "Wen Xiu is such a good boy."
The same attitude again.
He praised her in a bland way, without even a smile in his eyes.
Xu Wan's curiosity was almost aroused.
But the old lady quickly changed the subject. These five months were too long, and it would take forever to talk about the details of the little devil's growth.
At this moment, there was a sudden sound of footsteps outside, which I heard was probably the sound of children running.
Xu Wan stood up and said, "It should be Wen Xiu who is back."
The little devil also quickly stopped to talk to the old marquis, and ran out to pick up his brother.
The old marquis only said: "Jincheng and Wenxiu have a good relationship now."
Xu Wan smiled and said, "After all, they are cousins with a blood relationship, so naturally their relationship is closer than that of ordinary people."
When she said this, the old marquis and the old lady did not respond. They just smiled and picked up the teacup on the table to drink water.
Xu Wan sensed that the atmosphere was not right. She stopped and sat back in her chair.
"Mother-in-law, please try this seven-flavor cake. Jincheng likes it very much." Xu Wan was not interested and did not mention Wenxiu again.
"Okay." The old lady took a bite of the cake and found it a bit dry, so she picked up the teacup again.
Outside the door, the little devil's voice rang out again: "Grandma, grandma, my brother is back! My brother is amazing, he is now a student in the children's class! He is a child prodigy!!"
Zong Wenxiu was dragged in by his younger brother, with some sweat still on his face. It was obvious that he had rushed in from the door. He was very happy because his grandparents, whom he hadn't seen for a long time, came back today, and his whole face was filled with a bright smile.
"Hello, Grandpa and Grandma." He called with a smile.
The old marquis looked outside upon hearing the sound, but froze in place at one glance, like a sculpture.
The old lady looked at the ten-year-old boy in front of her. The sunlight poured in from behind him, illuminating his profile. The boy had shed the inferiority and fear he had six months ago, and was now sunny and energetic. A brilliant smile radiated from his inside out, just like the unruly boy in her memory who always surrounded her and said that he loved her the most.
"Yan'er..."
"Bang——" the teacup fell to the ground and shattered into pieces, and the old lady's tears fell.