Chapter 168: Chapter 167 I’m Going to Find the Master
Maternal Aunt Wen and Xia Caiying had arrived quite some time ago.
Xia Ruqing had someone set up another table for them, serving the same dishes.
Watching the spread, Maternal Aunt Wen’s face lit up with surprise and delight, and Xia Caiying’s eyes were sparkling like little stars.
She whispered,
"Mother, these dishes look so delicious!"
Xia Ruqing then smiled.
"If they’re delicious, eat plenty!"
Xia Caiying was very pleasantly surprised.
"Big Sister, are these really for me to eat?"
"Yes! Eat up!"
"Okay!"
Xia Caiying picked up her chopsticks and began to eat, bite by bite.
"Big Sister, this is really tasty!"
Maternal Aunt Wen laughed beside her.
"Eat slowly!"
Lady Yao watched Maternal Aunt Wen and her daughter, rolling her eyes in contempt.
"Hmph! A lowly person remains lowly, as does their food!"
Xia Ruqing pretended not to hear.
After the midday meal, Xia Ruqing said she wanted to take a nap.
Lady Yao hurriedly took her beloved twins back to their own quarters.
Xia Ruqing watched her rush off, the corners of her mouth curling slightly, but she didn’t stop her.
After Lady Yao left, Maternal Aunt Wen also took her daughter and departed.
Xia Ruqing gave Zi Yue a few instructions before lying in bed, contentedly falling asleep.
...
Lady Yao returned to her stifling little courtyard.
Xia Weifeng and Xia Ruyi flew into a rage.
"Mother, you actually hit us!"
"Yes, Mother! You don’t love us anymore, we’re going to tell Father!"
Lady Yao was heartbroken, quickly embracing her son and daughter.
"Silly children, how could Mother not love you? It’s all because of that lowly Xia Ruqing, just like her mother—despicable!"
"Mother dares not provoke her now, otherwise... your father would divorce me, and then you would have no mother!"
Upon hearing this, Xia Weifeng and Xia Ruyi cursed venomously.
"Mother, didn’t you say that lowly woman is dead?"
"Isn’t she dead?"
Lady Yao said fiercely.
"Mother wishes she were dead! How can she be as persistent as her mother, haunting us like a vengeful ghost!"
"So she’s not dead!" Xia Ruyi said, disappointed.
Xia Weifeng interrupted them, clamoring,
"Stop talking about that wretch, Mother, we haven’t eaten our fill, we’re still hungry! Mother, we want to eat!"
Xia Ruyi remembered as well, and joined her brother in howling,
"Mother! We want to eat!"
Lady Yao busily soothed her little darlings.
"Alright, alright, Mother will go and ask the Kitchen Maid to make you something tasty!"
"Just wait a little while, it’ll be ready soon!"
"Hmm!"
"Hurry!"
After calming her children, Lady Yao sent someone to the kitchen with orders.
"Prepare a fresh table of good dishes for the Third Miss and Third Young Master. Make it fast, just like the meals we’re used to!"
The Maid complied and hurried off quickly.
Soon after, she returned empty-handed.
Lady Yao was shocked.
"What? The kitchen won’t prepare it?"
"Yes, Madam, the First Miss has ordered that after mealtime, no more food can be requested!"
"Why?"
The Maid answered tremblingly,
"They said the First Miss said that even the Emperor advocates simplicity, with modest meals."
"In a small County Magistrate’s household, how can we feast on lavish dishes and exotic delicacies every day!"
The Maid continued,
"The First Miss cleared out the kitchen’s pantry. Abalone, sea cucumber, shark fin, bird’s nest—all packed up and taken away!"
"She said... she would sell these items and donate the money to the poor people!"
"What?!" Lady Yao was shocked out of her wits. "This is... this is what I’ve been saving frugally to buy for my two children, and she wants... to sell it?"
The rage in her chest was rising nonstop, like a volcano filled with magma about to erupt! Yet upon reflection, it was only three days, after all. Once they passed, with the Emperor so distant, this home would still be her realm. Just... bear with it.
Lady Yao ordered through clenched teeth.
"Never mind, take some silver, go to the market and buy a roast chicken, a roast duck, and a few baked buns!"
"Let... Weiwei and Ruyi eat their fill first!" She couldn’t let her precious son go hungry.
"Yes!"
The Maid responded and took the silver to go out.
Before long, the Maid rushed back in, flustered.
"Madam!"
Lady Yao hurried out.
"What’s happened? Where are the goods?"
Weiwei and Ruyi were already crying out hungrily, about to cry.
"The goods... were stopped by the First Miss’s people!"
"She also told me to pass on a message to Madam, to reduce Weiwei’s and Ruyi’s consumption; they can’t eat such greasy food!"
"She also said... it’s all for the young master and miss’s own good!"
"Cut back?!" Lady Yao was incredulous.
"Weiwei and Ruyi are growing, how can they not eat?!"
"This vile wench, just as malicious as her mother!"
As Lady Yao was ranting, suddenly a voice came from the doorway.
"Oh! Mother, who are you scolding now?"
Lady Yao was beyond furious.
"You wretch, don’t call me mother! I’m not your mother!"
Xia Ruqing raised an eyebrow.
"If you don’t want me to, then I won’t. I don’t want to anyway! Isn’t that right, Lady Yao?"
Lady Yao spat at her fiercely.
"Pah! Indeed, a creature born without a mother’s upbringing, daring to address an elder by name, with no manners whatsoever!"
Xia Ruqing sneered.
"Your children have manners? I’d like to see how... in the future, they will show their filial piety to you!"
As malicious as Lady Yao was, her two brats were equally vicious! What a drama there would be in the future!
Lady Yao impatiently yelled out.
"I have no time for your nonsense, Xia Ruqing! What right do you have to prevent my children from eating!"
Xia Ruqing appeared astonished.
"Heaven and earth bear witness, when did I ever prevent your children from eating? I specifically had someone invite you to eat; it was your own choice not to!"
Lady Yao scoffed.
"Pah! Xia Ruqing, how malicious you are! What have you been feeding my children as they grow!"
Xia Ruqing was no less defiant.
"What exactly did you give me and my brother to eat when we were growing up?"
"And also, Maternal Aunt Wen and my younger sister, what exactly did you feed them?"
Xia Ruqing smiled coldly, her gaze icy, pressing closer.
"Lady Yao, if my father knew about all the things you’ve done, do you think... he would divorce you?"
"You’ve put on such a good facade, having Father wrapped around your finger. Should I reveal it all?"
Lady Yao, like a venomous snake hit in its vital spot, was furious yet didn’t dare to move.
In the end, her lips quivered as she mustered her courage with great difficulty.
"You... you... you’ve rebelled... rebelled..."
Her eyes flickered with a vicious light as she let out a loud cry!
"Enough!!"
"I’ve truly had enough!"
"Look, ever since you came here, what kind of life have my two children and I been living!"
"We gave up our place to live for you, and even what we eat depends on you, or else we don’t get food at all!"
"I’m the mistress of this house, yet I’ve been reduced to this state!"
The more Lady Yao thought about it, the angrier she became. Finally, she simply ordered.
"Someone, prepare the carriage for me! I’m going to see the Master!"