Chapter 310 We're Going Home
Old Madam Zhou's shrill voice was like an ice pick, piercing deep into everyone's ears.
The desperate shout of "Get out!" echoed in the quiet Songhe Hall, lingering for a long time.
Meng Shilan's face, already frozen by this undeserved calamity, was now so dark it seemed to drip water.
Those eyes, which were usually warm and gentle, now seemed to be covered with a thin layer of ice.
She slowly squatted down and gently took Fu'er and Pangxi's cold little hands.
"Fu'er, let's go home."
Fu'er's big eyes filled with tears, but she sensibly held them back and nodded firmly.
Little Fatty Xi was too young to understand, and only felt that the atmosphere was terribly oppressive. Her little mouth twitched, and she was about to cry.
Meng Shilan gently pulled him into her arms, patted his back, and swallowed back the sob that was about to escape his lips.
She stood up, didn't look into the inner room again, took her two children's hands, and turned around.
As Zhou Congxian watched her departing figure, a pang of pain shot through his heart, and he instinctively wanted to chase after her.
But he had just taken a step.
"Cough...cough cough cough..."
Behind me came my grandmother's heart-wrenching cough, as if she were coughing up her entire heart and lungs.
His feet were firmly rooted to the spot.
He turned his head and looked at the thin, bony old man on the soft couch, his face flushed from coughing. A deep, unfathomable pain flashed in his eyes.
grandmother……
The Song Jiyun you cherish and treat like your own granddaughter is the one with the truly vicious heart.
Your current frail and weak body is a direct result of her actions; it is a slow poison she personally administered to you!
These words were swirling around on his lips.
But looking at his grandmother's chest heaving from her violent coughing, he couldn't utter a single word.
The imperial physician had already stated that the old lady's heart meridians were damaged and she was suffering from emotional distress; she was already at her last gasp.
They can no longer tolerate any stimulation.
If she knew that her most beloved "Yun'er" was the culprit who wanted her dead, she probably wouldn't be able to hold her breath on the spot.
Zhou Congxian pursed his lips, swallowing back all the truth along with that pent-up feeling.
He owed his grandmother a debt of gratitude for raising him.
He also owed Meng Shilan and the children.
He couldn't keep this bowl of water level.
He had no choice but to protect the most vulnerable person, the one least able to withstand the storms.
This companionship lasted from sunset until the moon was high in the sky.
Until late at night.
Zhou Cong then returned to the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, his body covered in cold dew.
It was already very late at night.
The two children were already fast asleep, and there were a few ginkgo leaves that had been picked up from the Duke of England's mansion on Fu'er's bedside.
Meng Shilan sat under the lamp, several thick account books spread out in front of her, holding a pen in one hand and an abacus in the other, her expression focused.
A solitary lamp cast a long shadow of hers on the window paper.
The crisp sound of the abacus beads clattering together was exceptionally clear in the quiet night.
Zhou Congxian stood at the door for a moment before pushing it open and going in.
He gently placed a package of oiled paper on the table. As soon as the package was opened, a fragrant aroma of meat filled the entire room.
"It's from a long-established brand in the west of the city. I passed by on my way back and brought it back for you."
He deliberately made his tone light and cheerful, "It's still warm, eat it while it's hot."
The freshly roasted chicken has a golden-brown, shiny skin that is still sizzling with heat.
Meng Shilan didn't even raise her head.
The beads on her abacus were turned even faster.
Zhou Congxian knew what she was angry about.
After a long while, he finally let out a barely audible sigh.
He stood up, walked behind Meng Shilan, and gently took her hand as she manipulated the abacus.
"Shi Lan".
His voice was a little hoarse.
"sorry."
I know you've had to go through this today.
He wrapped his arms around her from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder, his voice full of exhaustion.
"I cannot choose between you."
“Grandmother is getting old and her health is not as good as before.”
"I can't upset her any further."
The sound of the abacus finally stopped.
Meng Shilan's stiff back seemed to soften a little.
A long silence fell over the room, broken only by the occasional soft popping of the lamp wick.
After a long while, she slowly raised her head and looked at him.
Her eyes were a little red, and her gaze shimmered under the lamplight, but there were no tear stains.
"Zhou Congxian".
She spoke, her voice unusually calm.
"In your heart, am I the kind of person who can't distinguish right from wrong and is heartless?"
Zhou Congxian was taken aback.
She continued, "I didn't take today's events to heart."
"I now consider the old lady to be a confused elder who has been deceived by treacherous people. I just let what she said go in one ear and out the other and don't bother with her."
What she cared about was never the harsh insults.
It was his attitude, not his attitude.
Zhou Congxian's heart felt as if it had been hit hard by something, a mixture of soreness and tenderness.
He turned her around and pulled her tightly into his arms, as if he wanted to meld her into his very bones.
He buried his face in her neck, inhaling her delicate fragrance, his voice filled with a deep, unyielding sigh.
"With a wife like this, what more could a husband ask for?"
Meng Shilan, annoyed, stuck out her finger and poked his firm chest hard, pushing him away a little.
"Don't be so moved yet."
She raised an eyebrow, and a hint of warmth and life finally appeared in her usually cool and aloof eyes.
"Just because I'm not arguing with the old lady doesn't mean I'm going to suffer this in vain."
She looked him up and down.
As the saying goes, children have to pay for their parents' debts.
“The humiliation I suffered at the old lady’s hands, I will naturally take it out on you, my grandson.”
Looking at her like this, Zhou Congxian felt all his weariness and frustration vanish, leaving only a heart full of love and affection.
He immediately put on a fawning smile, shamelessly leaned in and rubbed his face against hers.
"Yes, yes, Madam is absolutely right!"
"I will let my wife do as she pleases; I will not fight back when she hits me or talk back when she scolds me."
Meng Shilan snorted softly as she looked at his shameless demeanor.
"Glib-tongued."
Before she finished speaking, she suddenly stood up and pushed Zhou Congxian toward the door.
Zhou Congxian was caught off guard and was pushed out of the room by her.
"Bang!"
The door was slammed shut in front of him without any mercy, and he could hear the sound of the lock clicking shut.
The night wind was biting, and he then realized that the cloak he had taken off when he entered the room was still draped over the screen inside.
He stood outside the door and got a cold shoulder.
Inside the room, the intermittent sound of an abacus began again.
Zhou Congxian stared at the tightly closed door and the warm light shining through the window paper, and finally could only helplessly touch his nose.
It seems I'll have to make do in a side room tonight.
So be it.
As long as she's calmed down, it doesn't matter where she sleeps.
He turned around, facing the cool moonlight filling the courtyard, and a doting smile, which he himself did not even realize, appeared on his lips.
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