Chapter 62
When Li Yang saw Yunan, he no longer had any thoughts of listening to Zhang Ha. The two exchanged glances for a while, and he used the excuse of being tired from the journey to go and rest. Yun Kaixin knew what he was going to do.
He also left on the pretext of being tired. With both young masters gone, who would still want to listen to Zhang Ha? Everyone dispersed in an instant. The young master of the Tao family returned to the house, called the second wife and instructed: "Yueming is now in the guest house talking to Du Matou. Ask your personal maid to wait. Du Matou won't be here for long. When he comes out, invite Yueming to our house."
The Second Mistress hesitated and said, "Wouldn't this be too conspicuous? I'm afraid the Madam would be unhappy if she knew."
Mr. Tao sneered: "My sister's daughter, I called over and asked anyone to talk to me? I don't care whether they recognize her or not, I will recognize her."
The Second Mistress called the maid and told her Mr. Tao's instructions. She also asked the servant to call her two children back and let them meet their cousin.
The maid arrived at the guest house and waited for a while before seeing Ye Hu sending Du Song and his group out. She was overjoyed to see that they were acquaintances.
He quickly ran over and called out to Ye Hu, "Ye Hu, Ye Hu, please tell Miss Yue Ming that my grandmother wants her over for tea."
When Ye Hu heard that Mrs. Tao invited him, he was stunned for a moment. The young lady was quite busy, and one group of guests came after another as they left.
She said to the maid, "Please wait a moment, sister. I will go in and report to the young lady first.
After entering the house, Ai Ye was helping Yue Ming to do her hair. When she heard that Second Madam Tao had invited her, she asked Ai Ye to comb her hair again and asked Ye Hu to tell the maid waiting outside the door. After she finished combing her hair, she went to visit Second Madam Tao.
The person that Mrs. Tao sent to keep an eye on the situation came back with a report. Mrs. Tao heard that Du Song had moved several large boxes of things over and said they were celebrating Yueming's birthday. She also heard that Yueming was leading her maidservants holding gifts and heading towards Mr. Tao's yard again. She immediately tore the red sandalwood Buddhist beads in her hand apart.
The maid quickly knelt down to pick up the scattered Buddhist beads. Mrs. Tao gritted her teeth and said, "I'm not dead yet, and you guys are doing evil things right under my nose."
The man who answered saw that the lady was angry, so he knelt down with his head on the ground and didn't dare to say a word.
Mrs. Tao's chest heaved for a while, and she asked her maid to invite the eldest young master of the Tao family over.
The eldest son hurried over, and the first thing he said when he saw Mrs. Tao was, "Ah Ma, have you heard? Du Song carried several large boxes of things to the guest house. How can a horseman like him have such a large family background and be so generous? If he takes a few dollars away tomorrow, I will not forgive him."
Mrs. Tao frowned when she heard this. He was so anxious about the gift money when the situation was critical. He really didn't know what he was talking about.
She slowly said, "Jiusong had just left the guest house when that little bastard went to the second brother's yard again. Did you know that?"
Grandpa Tao said indifferently: "Her mother and the second son are siblings, so it's not surprising that she went to look for the second son."
Mrs. Tao slammed the table and said harshly, "You're confused! You're also her uncle by blood. Why didn't she come to you? She must have known that we and the Second Brother were not getting along, so she must have been trying to get against us!"
Grandpa Tao thought about my innocent and naive look on Yueming's face and said hesitantly, "No way, she's just a child, I'm afraid she doesn't have such a deep heart."
Mrs. Tao sneered, "A half-grown child? How could a half-grown child attract the attention of the second young master of the Tusi Mansion? The caravan is our family's biggest source of income. Now that the three of them are working together, how can we ever live in peace in the future?"
Mrs. Tao was not wrong about Yueming, she was indeed harboring evil intentions.
Entering Mr. Tao's courtyard, Yueming saw his family standing neatly at the main hall door waiting for her. A wave of sadness and joy surged in her heart as she reunited with her family after a long separation. Although this was only the first time they met, she still called out naturally, "Uncle, Aunt."
Mr. Tao looked at the graceful Yueming, and it was as if he saw his sister who had resolutely left home that year. His eyes could not help but moisten. He agreed repeatedly: "Hey, hey."
The family welcomed Yueming into the house. Yueming asked Aiye and Yehu to bring the gifts they had bought in Yunxiang. They were fashionable fabrics and candies and biscuits that the children liked. The two children were so happy that they surrounded her sister and kept talking about her.
Finally, someone called her sister. Yueming was so happy that she was floating in the air. She took off the gold bracelet on her hand and gave it to her cousin. She also asked Ai Ye to go back and get a large sum of money for her cousin, saying generously: "Use it to buy candy."
Mr. Tao was very pleased to see his cousins being so affectionate with each other, and asked Mrs. Tao to take out the gifts that had been prepared for her over the years.
Mrs. Tao took out some embroidered fabric and said shyly to her, "I embroidered these patterns. I don't know if you like them."
Yueming's fingers gently stroked the lotus flowers on it. Every stitch and thread was filled with the thoughts of her family! She nodded and said to Mrs. Tao sincerely, "Thank you, auntie. I like it very much."
Mrs. Tao took out another box of gold jewelry and said, "These are the private savings your uncle made while working with Du Matou in the salt business. He said he wanted them as a dowry for you."
Yueming was startled when she saw the box of golden jewelry. She waved her hands repeatedly and said, "I'll take the material, but I can't take this."
Mr. Tao said from the side: "Why not? You can take anything your uncle gives you."
Mr. Tao was firm in his attitude, so Yueming had no choice but to accept it. Thinking of the purpose of her visit, she said to Yehu and Aiye, "My uncle and I have something to say. It's a rare trip for you to come back, so why not go and catch up with your old friends?"
Ye Hu and Ai Ye had the same idea but didn't know how to start. They were overjoyed to see Yue Ming bring it up.
Yueming winked at Mr. Tao again, indicating that she wanted to talk alone. Mr. Tao understood and asked his wife to take the children out to play.
Only the uncle and nephew were left in the room. Master Tao asked with concern, "Are Ye Hu and Ai Ye still useful? If they don't serve you well, don't put up with it just because they were given by your grandfather. If they need to be driven away, I'll buy you a few smart ones."
Why are they all thinking about kicking her maid out? Yueming quickly said that the two of them were very good and there was no need to change them.
Mr. Tao sighed and said, "You have suffered a lot in the Tusi Mansion. The Third Wife is a daughter of Xiangkan from the Tusi Mansion, and she actually made things difficult for a child like you."
Why does everyone bring up her hunger every time they meet? Can't we just let it go? Even though neither of the parties involved mentioned it, why do people still talk about it so enthusiastically?
Yueming tried to put on a serious face and change the subject: "Uncle, there's no need to feel sorry for me. What happened between me and the Third Madam was just a misunderstanding. Actually, I've noticed that the wife of this family is much more capable than the Third Madam."
Mr. Tao was reluctant to discuss the elders' affairs in front of her, so he said lightly, "Madam is the head of the family. It will be difficult to convince others if I don't speak up."
Yueming looked at Mr. Tao for a long moment and sighed, "We are blood relatives. Uncle, why should you sugarcoat everything in front of me? I have seen some of the dirty deeds of the rich and powerful. I can see through people like Madam who are sweet on the outside but bitter on the inside."
Mr. Tao leaned on his knees, unable to utter a word. Yueming didn't know if he was truly cowardly or if he was truly tolerant. He went straight to the point, "Just looking at the way Madam treats Uncle Song, I can tell she treats him like a servant of the Tao family. Uncle Song was given to you by my father. Even if he's a slave, you're his master. What does she have to do with him?"
Mr. Tao's face was filled with shame, and he said bitterly, "At first, she looked down on the caravan your father sent. Later, when she saw that I was paying more money home, she became scheming and threatened to erase your grandmother and mother's names from the family tree. I'm useless and couldn't think of any good solution, so I could only agree to let her family join the caravan."
Yueming snorted coldly, "What a good trick. She's using this to threaten you. If you agree, she'll benefit. If you don't agree, you'll be unfilial. Madam is quite good at finding fault with people. But she doesn't think that since my family can send the caravan here, we can certainly take it back and part ways. I want to see whether it's more important for her to vent her anger on my mother and grandmother, or whether money is more practical? I don't believe that she can still eat bran after being used to eating big fish and meat." Lan Yingde studied medicine and taught Yueming by words and deeds. In Yueming's eyes, when a person dies, he is dead. When a person dies, it is like a light goes out. Why bother to care about whether his name is written in the family tree or whether grass grows on his grave.
Second Young Master Tao was surprised by the harshness in Yueming's words. He felt that she was too aggressive at such a young age, so he advised, "I'll just take better care of Dusong and the others in the future. Family harmony is everything, and Li Shengmeng is in good shape. No mistakes can happen because of me."
Yueming asked in return, "How are you going to take care of Uncle Song?"
Tao Er was speechless. What else could he do? His brother-in-law actually helped him maintain half of the horse caravan, and most of his earnings from horse racing were turned over to the government. Du Song was probably even richer than him. He understood what Yue Ming was trying to get for Du Song, but how could he fight for Du Song if he, the second young master of the Tao family, couldn't get it?
Yueming said slowly: "Uncle, people in this world are prone to taking advantage of others. What will you do if Madam's appetite grows bigger and swallows up the caravan?"
Mr. Tao, who had been lowering his head, suddenly looked up and said decisively, "No, she wouldn't dare while the master is still here."
Yueming smiled. "She's already got her hands on the caravan, and you're so indulgent of her. For the sake of her son's position, why wouldn't she be afraid? Believe it or not, she knew about it the moment I entered this courtyard. She's probably already considered us nephews and uncles thorns in her side. The moment we talked for a while, she thought we were plotting to take her son's position."
Mr. Tao said quickly, "I have never thought of this."
Yueming smiled and said, "I do."
Mr. Tao choked and looked at her in disbelief.
Yueming didn't seem to mind his surprise. With a smile on her face, she continued, "Uncle, don't you really think my father sent Uncle Song here just so you can have more money? We're both Grandpa's sons. If her son can sit in the headman's seat, then of course you can too. You're my uncle, so of course my father and I would prefer you to sit there."
Du Song had hinted at it, but he didn't dare. His father was incredibly powerful, his wife was mean and ungrateful, and he was powerless in Lishengmeng. How could he possibly fight against his eldest brother, who saw the position of chieftain as a sure thing?
Thinking of Mrs. Tao's behavior when they entered the Tao Mansion, Yueming said disdainfully, "She's putting on an act, thinking that just because I'm young and I'm being nice to her, I can't see through her heart and soul? Her son isn't even the head of the family yet, and she's so unscrupulous. When he really gets to the top, he won't treat us uncle and nephew like dishes, eating us when we want and ignoring us when we don't. But she's lived her life to this age in vain, only seeing the little piece of land in front of her. She has no idea what the current situation is, and she still treats my father as a nobody. She wants to crush our family into a picture, but she's just dreaming. Since she dares to reach out to the caravan, let's put a piece of burning coal in her hand and see if she can hold it."
Mr. Tao felt that the story of her being bullied in the Yunxiang Mansion must have been spread by some nosy people. It was true that she had a bad relationship with the Third Madam, but judging by her aggressive appearance, she definitely didn't suffer any harm. On the contrary, the Third Madam didn't get any good results, and her family had to run around to borrow food. I heard that her nephew was beaten half to death by the Second Young Master Han. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but recall the Second Young Master Han's defense of Yueming when he entered the house, and what the two young masters of the Han family had just said when he heard Zhang Ha. He hurriedly asked, "You and the Second Young Master of the Han family..."
Yueming, who had just been scheming against Mrs. Tao with a look of disdain, immediately became timid, a suspicious blush spreading across her face as she stammered, "The two of us, the two of us... Oh, we have to wait until my dad comes back and agrees before this can happen."
Then it is true, we just have to wait for my brother-in-law to come back and make the decision!
Mr. Tao Erye suddenly felt more confident. Now that he had become related to the Han Tusi by marriage, he had the confidence to compete with him.
He smiled at Yueming and said, "If you marry into the Tusi Mansion, the dowry I promised you just now will be less."
I've already said that I can only make plans after Dad comes back, what are you talking about getting married or not! Yueming stamped her feet and said, "I'm talking to you about serious matters!"
Mr. Tao swept away his previous timidity and gave her a reassurance: "Your words are heard by your uncle."
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