Chapter 25, Partiality
Seeing Yan Zhigao, Old Lady Yan snorted coldly and turned her head away without looking at him.
Yan Zhigao smiled awkwardly and looked at Aunt Lin and Yan Yishuang who were kneeling on the ground: "What on earth did you do to make the old lady so angry?"
Although it was a scolding, the tone was not harsh.
Aunt Lin knew Yan Zhigao best. As soon as she heard what he said, she knew that he was not really angry. She told him the general story and finally pointed out that Yan Yishuang was a child who was ignorant and did not mean what he said.
After hearing what happened, Yan Zhigao really didn't think it was a big deal. He smiled and said to Old Lady Yan, "Mom, Yishuang grew up in the county town, so she naturally doesn't understand what's going on in the countryside. She didn't mean to say that, so don't take it personally."
Seeing the old lady's expression eased a little, she looked at Daohua again and said, "Daohua, you are the eldest sister. You should take good care of your younger brothers and sisters. If they do anything wrong, you can point it out, but don't make a fuss, understand?"
Upon hearing this, Daohua, who was like a bystander, suddenly looked up at Yan Zhigao, with surprise and disbelief in her eyes.
Dad, what you mean is that she was wrong about what happened today?
What does it mean to make a mountain out of a molehill?
Did he think she was the one who brought the matter to his grandmother?
Suddenly, the little bit of admiration that had just arisen in Daohua's heart disappeared completely.
Daohua stared blankly at Yan Zhigao with her eyes wide open, which made Yan Zhigao feel a little uncomfortable. Finally, he had to say, "Of course, Yishuang was also wrong in this matter. She was disrespectful to the elder sister and spoke without restraint."
As he spoke, he glared at Yan Yishuang and winked at her: "What are you still standing there for? Why don't you come over and apologize to your elder sister?"
Aunt Lin pushed Yan Yishuang, who didn't move. Yan Yishuang then reluctantly stood up and walked towards Daohua: "Big sister, Yishuang knows she was wrong."
She is unwilling, and so are the rice flowers.
She was disgusted by the fact that she had to be put on a pedestal and forgive others.
When Old Lady Yan saw Daohua frowning and not moving, she knew that her granddaughter was unhappy. She glanced at her eldest son, whose face had already gloomed, and had to reach out and pull her.
Seeing the old lady's gaze, Daohua suddenly felt a little bored and replied lightly: "It doesn't matter."
After saying this, the people in the room and Mrs. Li and others outside all breathed a sigh of relief at the same time.
Since Old Lady Yan came, the Yan family has gathered together for dinner every evening.
This evening, Aunt Lin brought Yan Yishuang to apologize. As soon as they left the house, all the other rooms knew about it.
They gathered early to watch how things would develop.
Just when everyone thought the matter was over, Daohua walked up to Yan Zhigao, bowed, and said, "Father, today's incident was ultimately caused by your daughter sending food. To prevent this from happening again, your daughter will not send food again."
Hearing this, Yan Zhigao's expression paused, and he was about to say that he could continue to send her off as long as she didn't go to the front yard.
Today, after eating the dumpling soup sent by the eldest daughter, the colleagues in the county government office all praised it. Even the aloof Mr. Xiao spoke more than usual today, which made him proud.
Unfortunately, Daohua didn't give him a chance to speak.
"Also, father, I grew up in the countryside. I'm not as knowledgeable as my third sister and the others. All I can cook are country-style dishes that aren't very presentable."
"But my daughter doesn't have any other hobbies. She just likes to make food and drinks. To avoid things like today, I won't send the food I make to other people in the future."
"But father, we have to make this clear in advance. If someone comes to you and complains about not getting to eat because I made some food, you can't say it's your daughter's fault."
Daohua spoke very calmly, but the listeners were not calm.
Looking at his eldest daughter who turned around without even looking at him, Yan Zhigao felt a little angry and depressed. He didn't say that what happened today was his eldest daughter's fault.
Well, he did favor his younger daughter. Didn’t he see that his younger daughter had been punished by being made to kneel down by her mother?
What happened today wasn't a big deal, so he just mediated a few words and the matter was over.
The eldest daughter refused to let go, which made him very unhappy.
This eldest daughter has been raised to have a bad temper by her mother.
I said something, and she retorted with several sentences in a row. How can this be the behavior of a lady from a noble family?
Madam Li outside the room could no longer hold back, so she lifted the curtain and walked in. She glanced at the people in the room and forced a smile: "Old lady, the food is ready, you can eat now."
Old Madam Yan glanced at her eldest son who looked unhappy, then at her granddaughter who was silent, and then looked coldly at Aunt Lin who was kneeling on the ground: "I heard that other people's concubines are supposed to serve the master at dinner, so let Aunt Lin serve dinner tonight."
As soon as these words were spoken, Yan Zhigao and others in the room, as well as the second and third wives who had just walked in, were all shocked.
Although Aunt Lin was a concubine, she was the daughter of a scholar and gave birth to twins for Yan Zhigao. In addition, her younger brother also passed the imperial examination three years ago and became Yan Zhigao's teacher. In the Yan family, no one really treated her as an ordinary concubine. Even Madam Li sometimes had to avoid her.
Aunt Lin, who was kneeling on the ground, suddenly raised her head and looked at the old lady on the bed in disbelief.
The old lady wants to use her to vent her anger on the older girl!
"Why, am I, an old country lady, not worthy of your service?" Old Madam Yan looked at Aunt Lin coldly.
Aunt Lin hurriedly shook her head: "It is my blessing to be able to serve the old lady."
Only then did Old Lady Yan look at Madam Li and said, "Let's set the table."
The Yan family gets up relatively quickly, and there is no rule of not talking while eating or not talking while sleeping.
In the past, the dinner table was always filled with laughter with the banter between Daohua and Yan Wenkai.
But today, Daohua hung her head and remained silent. Yan Wenkai wanted to speak to ease the somewhat depressing atmosphere, but no one cooperated with him.
During this time, the old lady did not make things difficult for Aunt Lin, but only told her to add some dishes to everyone at the table.
Aunt Lin blushed with shame at this.
It’s okay to add more food to adults, but for the younger ones, the old lady really treats her like a servant!
Yan Wenbin and Yan Yishuang wanted to say something, but were stopped by Aunt Lin, who served food to everyone with a look of forbearance and grievance on her face.
She could feel that the master's gaze had swept over her several times. Well, the more the old lady suppressed her, the more the master would feel sorry for them.
"Big girl, please use it!"
In front of other people, Aunt Lin would add dishes silently, but when it came to Daohua, Aunt Lin spoke up.
Everyone looked over.
Yan Zhigao also looked over and winked at Daohua.
However, Daohua pretended not to see it.
She knew that her adoptive father wanted her to plead with Old Lady Yan on behalf of Aunt Lin.
But why did she do that?
Daohua glanced at Aunt Lin calmly and said, "I don't like what you picked up. Change it."
Aunt Lin spoke while serving her food, with only two purposes.
First, she was reminding everyone present that she was the cause of everything that happened today, to the point that they couldn't even eat properly. Others might not be too upset, but her adopted father, seeing his concubine suffer such a great injustice, how could he not have some complaints about her?
Also, is it possible to provoke her? If she gets angry, wouldn't Aunt Lin, the victim, be even more pitiful?
Sure enough, as soon as Daohua opened her mouth, many people at the table looked disapproving.
Aunt Lin was also stunned. Everyone else, including Madam Li, would not say anything even if they didn't like the food when she picked it up. She really didn't expect that the eldest girl would dare to speak at this time.
Seeing Yan Zhigao's gloomy face, Aunt Lin immediately said humbly, "Okay, I'll change it for you right away."
“That’s enough!”
As soon as Aunt Lin extended her hand, Yan Zhigao spoke up, looking at Daohua with an unpleasant expression: "Daohua, she is your elder, what is your attitude?"
“Bang!”
Old Madam Yan put her chopsticks down on the table and glared at Yan Zhigao: "What's your attitude? I told you to have your concubine serve everyone dinner. If you're angry, come at me. Why are you yelling at Daohua?"
Yan Zhigao had a headache: "Mom!"
This time, Daohua was really disappointed.
She didn't believe that Yan Zhigao didn't see that Aunt Lin was targeting her, but how could a daughter who had only been by his side for more than a month be worth a concubine who had been with him for nearly ten years and a pair of children who had taken care of him.
Daohua suddenly felt her nose a little sour.
More than a month of caring and concern made her mistakenly believe that this was fatherly love, but was it really?
Maybe a little!
But the prerequisite is that she is well-behaved and sensible enough, and if there is a conflict with his other children, she will definitely be blamed.
Guilt and love are different after all.
Daohua felt completely unconscious. She stood up and bowed to Old Lady Yan: "Grandma, Daohua is full. I'll take my leave first." After saying that, she turned around and left.
Seeing that Daohua's eyes were a little red, Old Lady Yan immediately felt distressed and glared at her eldest son fiercely. Yan Zhigao, who had a gloomy face just now, also restrained his anger.
In the corridor shrouded in moonlight, the figure of Daohua was stretched out, looking delicate and lonely.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
