Chapter 171 There's no place like home.
The couple exchanged a glance, both seeing helplessness in each other's eyes.
"If Lin Daiyu comes tomorrow and finds out what happened in the manor tonight, what do you think she'll think?" Wang Xifeng handed the eldest daughter to the wet nurse and went to Rongqing Hall with Jia Lian.
"That's how things are, and it's what Master and Second Master ordered, so we have no choice but to do as they say." Jia Lian also felt that this was not quite appropriate. He didn't see that Second Madam's face was so dark it looked like thunder was about to strike, but he could only endure it and listen to Second Master's instructions to open the storeroom and take out the treasured ancient books to give to Princess Lin.
"Grandmother, it's so late, why haven't you rested yet?" As soon as Wang Xifeng entered Rongqing Hall, she saw the room full of lights. Grandmother Jia was lying on the kang (a heated brick bed), and a little maid was massaging her legs.
“Feng’er, don’t ask questions you already know the answer to.” Grandmother Jia said helplessly, “It’s normal for this Lin girl to come over, but you all have to make a fuss, and even my place of residence is not safe.”
“Grandmother, Rongyue Courtyard is by the water, so it’s not as warm as your place. Lin’s sister has come all this way, so you don’t want her to get cold again. Besides, your granddaughter-in-law also wants you and Lin’s sister to get closer.”
"I don't think Daiyu will like the way you've been acting. My granddaughter, though she's a bit quirky, is very perceptive. You've never acted like this when she came to visit before. Now that her status has changed, you've suddenly become arrogant and obsequious. Does she not know what you're up to?"
“Grandmother, wouldn’t it be disrespectful to Lin Daiyu if we didn’t do it? We’d better do it to put our minds at ease.” Wang Xifeng stepped forward. “It’s troubled that you haven’t been able to sleep well either. It looks like everything is almost done. I’ll help you get some rest first. Otherwise, when Lin Daiyu comes to our house tomorrow and sees that you’re not feeling well because you haven’t slept well, she might complain about us.”
“Your sister isn’t such a petty person. You’re just making up stories about her.” With Wang Xifeng’s help, Grandmother Jia stood up and walked into the inner room.
The next day, a gentle breeze blew, and it was already the seventh nine-day period of the lunar calendar.
Perhaps because of the heavy snow before the New Year, it wasn't very cold after the New Year, and there wasn't even a single snowfall. It's only the first month of the lunar calendar, but it already feels like springtime.
As the carriage traveled to Ningrong Street, Daiyu vaguely recalled the scene from her journey from Yangzhou last spring, and couldn't help but smile:
“Grandma, we entered the capital in February last year, and the weather and conditions were just like this. I suddenly felt as if I had just disembarked and was heading to my maternal grandmother’s house.”
"What we thought back then is completely different from what we think now."
"Yes, even though I had my nanny with me back then, I still felt like I was living under someone else's roof, like I was a dependent. It wasn't until I ruined my own home that I understood what it meant to be free to roam the world!"
Upon hearing Daiyu's words, Yuan Hongqu felt another pang of heartache. In this life, she had protected Daiyu so much, yet she still evoked such feelings in her. How miserable and helpless she must have been in that life in the book, living alone and dependent on others, with no one to rely on.
It seems they moved back to the Lin family home a little too late.
"That's very true. That's why people often say that there's no place like home. Even if it's just a straw house, as long as we're comfortable living there, it's better than anything else."
"There's no place like home..." Daiyu murmured to herself several times. Although the saying was crude, it made a lot of sense, and she deeply agreed with it.
The two had only exchanged a few words when they heard a series of sounds outside the carriage:
"Princess Lin's carriage has arrived..."
The sounds carried all the way to the inner courtyard, even though it was still more than a mile from the entrance of the Rongguo Mansion.
"Granny, what are they doing? They're still so far away!" Daiyu felt inexplicably embarrassed upon hearing the shouts outside.
Yuan Hongqu glanced outside. The road had obviously been sprinkled with clean water, and every ten steps on either side there was a neatly dressed servant. The voice was coming from their mouths, one after another, and it was coming into the doorway.
Inside the carriage, Daiyu covered her face, feeling extremely embarrassed.
She had seen many grand occasions, such as the scene of all nations paying tribute in the imperial palace, and she could speak eloquently on the stage, but that was because she had mentally prepared herself beforehand.
Today, she only wanted to visit her maternal grandmother. What grand ceremony would be held for a granddaughter visiting her maternal grandmother?
Daiyu was completely unprepared; she knew it was impossible, but she still said it.
"Granny, why don't we go back? We can come secretly next time. I'm afraid there's something even more outrageous waiting for me at my maternal grandmother's house."
Yuan Hongqu was exasperated. "Lan Su, hurry over there and tell Second Madam Lian that everything should be as usual, and that there's no need to display any of those fancy things. The princess is a little carsick, so she can come into the mansion in a quarter of an hour."
Lan Su, who always rode in close-fitting clothes, urged her horse forward upon hearing this and entered the Rongguo Mansion first.
The carriage outside moved forward slowly and hesitantly, taking one step at a time...
Daiyu thought back to last year when she came to the capital with her nanny, treading carefully and cautiously, afraid of being ridiculed. Now, however, she could simply tell anyone who made her uncomfortable to change; who dared to mock her?
And the source of this confidence... Daiyu looked up at Granny Yuan, who was also looking at her with doting eyes.
Sigh, I'm going to be spoiled by my nanny sooner or later.
"I told you all this was unnecessary, but you wouldn't listen. Look how scared you've scared my precious darling!" Grandmother Jia hugged Daiyu and scolded Madam Xing and Madam Wang below. Although Wang Xifeng, as the executor, could not escape the wrath, she was spared from Grandmother Jia's "firepower" because of her two superiors.
Just as Wang Xifeng was secretly rejoicing, she suddenly heard Yuanyang, who was beside Grandmother Jia, shout.
"Who's out there, acting so suspiciously?"
It turned out that Grandmother Jia had inadvertently glanced at the crowd outside and heard some whispering. Yuanyang followed Grandmother Jia's gaze and, knowing that Grandmother Jia disliked people peeking in from outside, spoke up.
The room fell silent. Then the curtains rustled as Amber brought in two women: Wang Shanbao's wife, a maidservant of Madam Xing, and Zhou Rui's wife, a maidservant of Madam Wang.
As soon as the two entered, they saw that everyone's eyes were on them, and they hurriedly knelt down.
"Oh my, it's you two old ladies. Who do we have here? How dare you be so presumptuous outside our ancestral home!" Yuanyang said without any politeness. "You two are more respectable than others, no wonder you don't know how to behave."
Grandmother Jia merely glanced at them indifferently, then pulled Daiyu aside and began to speak intimately with her.
Lady Xing and Lady Wang knew that Grandmother Jia was using this as an excuse to make a fuss, so they dared not say a word.
Zhou Rui's wife, quick-witted, immediately replied, "Reporting to the old lady and the two ladies, we thought that since we were already acquainted with Princess Lin, we decided to come and kowtow to her to congratulate her, as a token of our filial piety."
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