Chapter 21
Gu Liaoliao wasn't going to tolerate them.
When she arrived and learned that Gu Zhizhuo had not returned yet, she decided to wait there. She was relieved to see that he was alright.
Gu Liaoliao didn't care why Gu Zhizhu hit Qin Luo, as long as her niece didn't suffer any loss.
She thought for a moment and said, "Let's go to your grandmother's first."
Gu Zhizhuo obediently agreed.
The Grand Madam's residence, Ronghe Hall, is located in the northwest of the Zhenguo Duke's Mansion and is a five-courtyard complex.
As Gu Zhizhuo stepped through the hanging flower gate, he looked somewhat dazed at the longevity pine tree in the courtyard. It was planted by his great-grandfather after he acquired this mansion, and now it had grown strong, upright, and lush. In his previous life, one night, the longevity pine tree was struck by lightning and burned to ashes. The Grand Madam said it was an ominous sign, and two days later, the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion was sealed off by the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
Granny Zhu hurried over and greeted her with a smile, saying, "Eldest Miss, you're back. The Grand Madam has been waiting for you for quite some time."
Before an incense stick had burned, the gatekeeper's wife came to report that the old lady had gotten up to wait for her daughter, without even taking a nap.
We've been waiting and waiting, and now we're here.
Gu Liaoliao had the wet nurse put Aman down. As soon as she landed, Aman ran into the main hall with her short legs. Immediately afterward, the cheerful voice of Madam Gu rang out from inside: "Oh my, it's Grandmother's little Aman who's back."
Granny Zhu smiled along with her and hurriedly ordered the servants to fetch Aman's favorite fruit syrup and snacks.
The once quiet and somewhat dull Ronghetang suddenly became lively.
When Gu Zhizhuo lifted the curtain and went in, Madam Gu was holding Aman in her arms, talking to her affectionately.
Aman couldn't speak, so she nodded her head like a chick pecking at rice, and then pressed her chubby cheeks against the old lady, making her beam with joy. Even when Gu Zhizhuo came in, she only said in a lukewarm tone, "Are you better now?"
After exchanging greetings, Gu Liaoliao gestured for Gu Zhizhuo to sit down first, then sat down next to the Grand Madam and said unhappily, "Mother, didn't we agree not to mention this matter?"
Madam Gu, her face stern, slapped her daughter on the back. The slap looked heavy, but it had lost its force by the time it hit her back: "Ke'er has already gone to the Women's Temple. Can't I even say a few words to her now?"
"It was our Yaoyao who was wronged in the first place." Gu Liaoliao hugged the old lady's arm and scolded, "How can you not side with your own daughter but instead side with an outsider who is staying here? What kind of cousin is she? What does she have to do with our Gu family? This ungrateful wretch has been raised by the Gu family for more than ten years, which is quite a lot. If she is not satisfied, she can go back to the Ji family."
“Mother, Yaoyao and Cancan are both grown up now. Cancan should inherit the title when he comes back from this mission. They are good at managing this family. You, the old lady, should just enjoy your retirement and stop worrying all the time.”
Only a biological daughter would dare to say such a thing.
Madam Gu was so angry that she was stunned. She wanted to scold him but couldn't bring herself to do it, and she wanted to hit him but couldn't bring herself to do it either. All she could do was forcefully pull her arm out of Madam Gu's arms, her face tense and sullen.
She's extremely protective of her own daughter; in her heart, her niece is the best person in the world.
Ji Nanke grew up in the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, and apart from not having the surname Gu, she was no different from her own granddaughter.
In life and in business, one should always leave room for maneuver.
"You're just going to take her side!" Madam Gu scolded irritably. "It's all your fault, one by one, spoiling her like this."
He got into trouble and stayed out all night, even pretending to be sick!
“Look at her…”
As soon as Madam Gu raised her voice, Aman in her arms looked up at her with her cute little face, as if to say: Grandmother, are you angry?
No, no! I'm not angry. The old lady, afraid of frightening her little granddaughter, forced a smile: "...She, she, she's fine."
She said those three words against her will, and then said in a soft voice, "Would you like some peaches, Ah Man? The village sent over a basket of peaches today, they're so fresh and tender."
Aman's eyes lit up. She liked to eat peaches.
The old lady chuckled and sent someone to fetch peaches, instructing them to choose the soft ones: "Aman likes soft peaches, because they're so sweet and juicy when you bite into them, aren't they?"
Ah Man grinned, revealing her tiny, rice-grain-like teeth.
The old lady's heart softened, and she couldn't get enough of the peaches. When the servants brought the washed peaches, she personally picked out the softest one and gave it to Aman.
Ah Man held the peaches, blinked, looked at Gu Zhizhuo, and then at the Grand Madam.
The old lady had no choice but to pick another one: "Here." It was for Gu Zhizhuo.
Ah Man also picked out some for the Grand Madam, as well as for her own mother. After looking around and seeing that everyone had one, she smiled contentedly.
She took a small bite of the peach skin, sucking the juice inside, her eyes crinkling with delight.
Since the old lady was already quite old, she naturally wouldn't hold the peach and bite into it, so she had the servants take it away and cut it into small pieces.
The little girl in her arms was eating a peach sweetly when the head maid lifted the curtain and came in, curtsying and saying, "Madam, the Lady of Jing'an has sent a nanny to request an audience with you."
Gu Liaoliao's red lips curled into a cold smile.
Sure enough, realizing he couldn't control her, he came to their door himself! How ridiculous.
"What's wrong with your mother-in-law?" The Grand Madam thought that the Lady of Jing'an was unhappy that her daughter was always going back to her parents' home. She grumbled unhappily, "You've only been back for less than an hour, and she's already showing up at the door. What, can't the Jing'an Marquis's mansion survive without you?"
Gu Liaoliao gave Gu Zhizhuo a wink, signaling her to be quiet.
She moved closer to the old lady and said, "We really can't go on like this anymore."
Meeting the Grand Madam's suspicious gaze, Gu Liaoliao carefully chose her words, then sneered repeatedly: "Their household is so run-down that you can't even find a single ginseng root."
"The Lady of the Marquis of Jing'an has her eye on the three-hundred-year-old ginseng in her daughter's dowry, and wants me to take it out to give Aunt Sun some energy during childbirth." She wasn't making this up; it happened the day before yesterday.
The old lady was stunned.
Aunt Sun was Qin Su's concubine. How dare a concubine covet the mistress's dowry after giving birth to a child?
She had never seen anything so shameless in her life.
"This old ginseng was specially found for me by my father. Last year, when Aman had a high fever, it was a few ginseng roots that saved her life. But she just wants a whole one. I didn't give it to her, and Aunt Sun kept complaining about this and that, so the Lady of Jing'an Marquis wanted me to go and watch over her while she gave birth." This happened yesterday.
Gu Liaoliao raised her eyebrows and said, "Mother, do you think this is acceptable?"
"Of course not!" The Grand Madam's temples throbbed with anger. "How dare the Jing'an Marquis's mansion treat you like this!"
“Yes.” Gu Liaoliao’s face was ashen. “I ignored them, but the Lady of Jing’an Marquis actually brought people to open my small storeroom.” This happened today.
"It just so happened that Yaoyao came to play with Aman, so she stood up for me and accidentally gave Qin Luo a light 'push.' As a result, Lady Jing'an insisted that Yaoyao had broken Qin Luo's hand and forced me to give Qin Luo some ginseng to calm his nerves. Mother, don't you think about it? Qin Luo is almost of age. How old is Yaoyao? Could she possibly break his hand?" This is all made up.
If one lie is mixed into ten truths, the lie becomes the truth.
The old lady occasionally asked, "Is Qin Luo about to come of age?"
Of course not, Qin Luo seems to be sixteen years old. However, at this moment, Gu Liaoliao nodded firmly.
The old lady's face changed, and she slammed her hand on the table, cursing, "You bastards! The Qin family, this destitute bunch, even dares to touch your dowry! They're so poor they've lost all sense of shame!"
Three-hundred-year-old ginseng is hard to find, but as long as you can afford it, you can buy a hundred-year-old one. It's not like the Earl of Jing'an is dying and needs a three-hundred-year-old ginseng to prolong his life!
Gu Liaoliao nodded silently. They were indeed quite poor. From the old master to the young master, they had always loved to spend lavishly on some pretentious junk. After so many years of this, they could barely afford to spend a single tael of gold anymore.
She said earnestly, "Mother, the Lady of Jing'an thought that my eldest brother had died in battle, and that I would be left with no one to rely on at my parents' home. Yaoyao stood up for me, and the Lady of Jing'an didn't gain anything, so she shamelessly came to complain."
Madam Gu's eyes blazed with fury. Pointing at the head maid who had come to report, she said sternly, "Go and relay the message! I said, so what if it was my Zhuo'er who did it? Why didn't Zhuo'er hit anyone else but only Qin Luo? Isn't this Qin Luo's fault?!"
Gu Zhizhuo: "..."
She stared in disbelief as Gu Liaoliao charmed the Grand Madam, and upon hearing this, she almost burst out laughing.
She seemed to have grasped some of the ways to get along with the old lady.
Madam Gu was still angry.
In the past, when he sought her hand in marriage, the Jing'an Marquis's family was very attentive.
As a result, after Tao'er died in battle, he changed his attitude and began to despise A'Liao for not giving birth to a son. First, he forced a cousin to be his concubine to disgust her, and now he has gone even further, even eyeing A'Liao's dowry.
If Qin Su were in front of her right now, she would really want to slap him.
After finishing the peach, Aman obediently climbed down from the old lady's lap and went to find the wet nurse to wash her hands.
After washing her hands, Gu Zhizhuo beckoned to her with his finger, and the little girl ran over happily, smiling carefree.
She picked up Aman and placed her on her lap, echoing the words of the Grand Madam, "Aunt, why don't you take Aman and stay at home for a few more days? It'll save you from having to deal with other people's attitudes when you go back. Their household is always in a noisy mess. The Lady of Jing'an is always complaining about this and that. Our Aman suffers so much."
“The Qin family doesn’t care about Aman, but we do. Grandmother, don’t you agree?”
These words clearly struck a chord with the Grand Madam, who nodded repeatedly: "Zhuo'er is absolutely right. A-Liao, you and A-Man can stay at home. The Qin family may not care about A-Man, but I do! Our Gu family does!"
The Dowager Lady made the final decision: "It's decided then."
Gu Liaoliao hesitated for a moment, then nodded in agreement amidst her daughter's carefree smile.
Gu Zhizhuo lowered her eyes and handed the fruit syrup that the maid had just brought to Aman. Actually, after discovering that it was Qin Luo, she deliberately did not hold back, in order to cause a falling out between her aunt and the Lady of Jing'an, so that she would have an excuse to keep him here.
Aunt and Aman can no longer stay in the Qin family, otherwise, Aman will die.
That's how it was in my previous life.
Her little Aman only lived to be three and a half years old.
A note from the author:
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
