"Crash—"
After returning to her room, Xu Yuqing, filled with rage, needed a place to vent. Her gaze fell upon the teapot and teacups on the table. With a sweep of her sleeve, the teapot and teacups on the table immediately fell to the ground, shattering into pieces.
Xu Yuqing was still not appeased, and angrily slammed the table, "I'm so angry! I'm so angry... I was so close to getting out, it's all that wicked girl Ying'er's fault, I won't let her go..."
"Wah—" Suddenly, a child's cry came from behind her.
Xu Yuqing knitted her brows. Why was this little girl Ying'er so prone to crying!
She turned around and immediately saw her daughter crying with her mouth wide open in fear, her beautiful brows furrowed even tighter.
"Why are you crying again! You cry too much!" Xu Yuqing looked at her daughter's tears, a little impatient, no longer with the same concern as before.
She felt her patience wearing thin. The daughter cried so often that she no longer felt sympathetic, only annoyed.
"Mother is so scary...呜呜...Ying'er is scared..." Huangfu Ying blinked her tear-filled eyes, sobbing in fear.
Hearing this, Xu Yuqing's anger burned even fiercer. Her brows shot up, and she pointed at her daughter, scolding, "You actually say mother is scary! Where is mother scary! I am your mother, I love you so much, and you think your mother is scary, you are truly ungrateful!"
After all, she had always doted on this little girl, treating her with gentleness and kindness, yet she thought she was scary! She truly doted on her in vain!
This little girl had sided with Huangfu Yue earlier, not with herself, not standing on her side... Earlier, when she wanted to go out, she also stopped her, which was hateful.
The more she thought about it, the more she felt she had doted on this little girl in vain...
Huangfu Ying was even more frightened when her mother pointed at her and scolded her. Her mouth opened wider, and she cried louder. She was so pitiful, but it did not arouse her mother's pity or concern. Instead, it made her mother more angry and impatient.
"Stop crying! What are you wailing about! I'm not dead yet!" Xu Yuqing glared at her daughter and cursed.
Huangfu Ying looked at her mother's fierce appearance, was scared into silence, and did not dare to cry anymore. She closed her mouth, her small body trembling. Why is mother becoming more and more terrifying...
The maid holding Huangfu Ying felt her trembling and quickly gently stroked her body, comforting her softly, "Miss Ying, don't be afraid, it's okay... Don't be afraid!"
While comforting Huangfu Ying, the maid took out a handkerchief to wipe the tears from her little face.
"What are you afraid of! Am I a tiger that I'll eat you!" Xu Yuqing saw her daughter trembling with fear, and her anger flared. She reached out to poke her daughter's head, but was stopped.
"Eldest Young Lady, please calm your anger. Miss Ying is still young and naturally timid. She doesn't understand things. Seeing you like this, she will naturally be afraid." Granny Song pulled down Xu Yuqing's hand and comforted her.
Granny Song was Xu Yuqing's wet nurse and accompanied her when she married into the Dai Wang Manor, hence she still called her "Eldest Young Lady."
Granny Song had not followed Xu Yuqing downstairs earlier. She was tidying the messy beds in the room of Xu Yuqing and her mother and daughter.
Granny Song was aging. Although not as old as Consort Dowager Zheng, her hearing was already a bit poor. She could not hear sounds from six or seven meters away, and sounds from ten meters away were basically inaudible. Therefore, she had not heard the commotion downstairs earlier and had not left the room to look.
However, as soon as Xu Yuqing entered the room, she had a dark expression and was breathing heavily with anger. Granny Song knew immediately that Xu Yuqing had encountered something downstairs and was very angry. She immediately quietly asked Fen'er what had happened. Fen'er quietly told her, so she already knew what had happened downstairs.
Xu Yuqing was raised by Granny Song. Looking at Granny Song's face, a surge of grievance immediately welled up, and she wanted to pour out her troubles to her.
"Granny Song, you weren't downstairs earlier and don't know how hateful that dead girl Huangfu Yue and that old hag Consort Dowager Zheng are. They deliberately won't let me go out, they..."
"Eldest Young Lady, speak cautiously. Walls have ears. Be careful not to be overheard."
Before Xu Yuqing could finish her bitter complaints, Granny Song interrupted her with a flustered expression, glancing anxiously at the door.
Seeing that the door was closed, Granny Song breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the door was closed. Otherwise, if someone outside heard the Eldest Young Lady's earlier remarks about the Dowager and the Princess, and reported it to the Dowager and the Princess, it would be terrible.
She withdrew her gaze from the door and looked at Xu Yuqing again. Seeing Xu Yuqing frowning and looking at her displeasedly, Granny Song knew she was unhappy that she had interrupted her and prevented her from speaking.
Granny Song quickly said, "Eldest Young Lady, don't be angry. I'm doing this for your own good. Now that the son-in-law is gone, and you and the little lady are in such a predicament, still branded as criminals, your only reliance is the Dai Wang Manor.
The Dai Wang Manor depends entirely on Huangfu Yue. You must maintain a good relationship with Huangfu Yue and show more filial piety to Consort Dowager Zheng, the matriarch of the Dai Wang Manor. Only then will your lives and the little lady's lives be easier.
If you spoil your relationship with them, it will do you no good, only endless harm. I already told you this yesterday."
Mentioning this made Granny Song very helpless. After the Eldest Young Lady caused such a scene before dinner yesterday, after returning to the room upstairs, she had reminded her. She had painstakingly advised her not to cause trouble like this anymore, not to offend Huangfu Yue and Consort Dowager Zheng, especially Huangfu Yue, who was her and her daughter's support.
She had clearly nodded at the time, seeming to have taken it to heart. Why did she cause trouble again this morning, quarreling with Huangfu Yue and angering Consort Dowager Zheng. Alas—
Hearing her wet nurse's words, Xu Yuqing bit her red lips, a look of resentment appearing on her face. Suddenly, two tears flowed down.
"Why did Father and Mother marry me into the Dai Wang Manor in the first place? They have ruined me! Not only did I become a widow at such a young age, but I also became a banished criminal, destined to suffer in that desolate place called Lingping...
Now I have to rely on that dead girl Huangfu Yue... Woo... Why is my life so bitter!"
The more Xu Yuqing spoke, the sadder and more wronged she felt, crying heartbrokenly.
"Eldest Young Lady, don't cry! It's beyond this point, crying is useless. You must be strong... Don't blame the Marquis and his wife. They didn't know things would turn out this way!
The Marquis and his wife love you dearly. It's precisely because they love you that they tried their best to marry you into the Dai Wang Manor, so you could enjoy a life of luxury. Who knew...
Alas! It can only be said that fate is unpredictable, and life is too uncertain!" Granny Song quickly took out a handkerchief to wipe her mistress's tears, her face full of concern, and sighed heavily in her heart again.
Alas—Who would have thought that the son-in-law, who was not a military officer but a wealthy idler from the capital, would suddenly go to the battlefield and die on the battlefield. Who would have thought that the Dai Wang Manor, so prosperous and majestic, would suddenly be convicted and have its property confiscated and its members exiled overnight.
"Mama, speaking of Father and Mother, I wonder if they already know about the Dai Wang Manor's affairs? If they know, do you think they will send someone to find me? I hope they will send someone to find me and take me and Ying'er back to the Marquis's manor." Xu Yuqing's eyes twinkled with expectation.
If Father and Mother received the news and sent someone to pick her and Ying'er up to return to the Marquis's manor, then they wouldn't have to suffer the hardships of displacement, wouldn't have to go to that desolate place Lingping to suffer, and she wouldn't have to endure the anger of Huangfu Yue and Consort Dowager Zheng, be controlled by them, and even be forbidden to go out.
"Bazhou is very far from the capital. The Marquis and his wife definitely don't know about the Dai Wang Manor's affairs yet..." Granny Song shook her head.
The Wei Ning Marquis Manor was in Bazhou, more than a thousand li away from the capital. It would take at least ten days for the Wei Ning Marquis Manor to receive news of the Dai Wang Manor's incident. But what good would it do if the Wei Ning Marquis Manor knew...
"Even if the Marquis and his wife know that the Dai Wang Manor has had an accident, I'm afraid they won't dare to send people to take you and Miss Ying back. You are now criminals. The imperial decree has banished you to Lingping, and taking you back to the Marquis's manor would be harboring criminals, which would bring great disaster to the Marquis's manor," Granny Song said, looking at Xu Yuqing with hesitation, speaking after a pause.
Hearing Granny Song's words, Xu Yuqing couldn't help but despair and shed tears again. "Do I have no choice but to obediently follow the people of the Dai Wang Manor to suffer in Lingping, and to endure the anger of Consort Dowager Zheng and Huangfu Yue, and to live by their mercy..."
"No! I don't want to!" Xu Yuqing shook her head excitedly. She absolutely refused!
No, whether her parents dared to want her or not, she had to return to the Marquis's manor.
The road to Lingping would pass through Bazhou. When they reached Bazhou, she would take her daughter back to the Marquis's manor.
If her parents dared not shelter them, she would make a scene and force her parents to shelter them.
"Eldest Young Lady, don't cry! You make this old servant's heart ache so much!" Granny Song quickly wiped Xu Yuqing's tears again.
Having made up her mind to stay in the Marquis's manor in Bazhou no matter what, Xu Yuqing's mood improved considerably. She put away her tears, took the embroidered handkerchief from Granny Song's hand, wiped her face clean, and looked at her daughter.
Seeing that although her daughter had stopped trembling with the maid's comfort, she still looked at her timidly with fear in her eyes, Xu Yuqing frowned again, and became displeased.
But she suppressed her anger, and instead of scolding her daughter, she showed her a gentle and loving smile...
"Ying'er, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been harsh with you just now... I was too angry, that's why... Don't be afraid, mother won't be so fierce with you anymore."
Xu Yuqing walked to her daughter's front and took her daughter from the maid's hands.
Huangfu Ying looked at her mother's face. Seeing that she had returned to the gentle and loving demeanor she remembered, her fear towards her mother subsided a lot. However, she was still a little afraid and timid, not daring to speak.
Xu Yuqing could see that her daughter was still afraid of her. Just as she was about to coax her daughter softly, she heard a knock on the door...
Xu Yuqing slightly raised the outer edge of her left eyebrow. Who could it be?