âMaster, Madam, a letter from the second master!â
In the dining hall, the members of the Yan Family were having a meal when a servant from the Sun Family hurried in with a letter.
Yan Zhigaoâs face showed discontent. âWe are eating right now. Whatever it is, can wait until after the meal.â
Madam Li put down her chopsticks. âWenkai has never written to us before. This is odd. Quick, give me the letter. Itâs not some kind of trouble, is it?â
The servant from the Sun Family immediately bowed and stepped forward to hand the letter to Madam Li before adding, âIf the letter was delivered by someone else, I wouldnât dare to disturb you during your meal. But this letter was brought by a bodyguard from the Little Prince.â
Upon hearing this, everyone in the Yan Family stopped all at once.
Yan Zhigao quickly put down his chopsticks and looked toward Madam Li.
Usually, Madam Li would have handed the letter to Yan Zhigao, but this time she blatantly ignored him.
After all, their daughter is still residing at the farmhouse!
Seeing that Madam Li did not pass the letter to him, Yan Zhigao moved his lips slightly but thought better of speaking up, considering the events of the previous days.
Yan Zhiyuan glanced at Yan Zhigao and then turned to Madam Li with a smile. âElder sister-in-law, what does Wenkaiâs letter say?â
Madam Li glanced at him and then dropped her gaze without speaking.
Seeing the usually understanding Madam Li ignoring him left Yan Zhiyuan feeling somewhat embarrassed.
He knew that his suggestion to punish Daohua by spanking her had seriously offended his elder sister-in-law. So, with a sense of helplessness, he looked at Yan Zhigao, indicating his powerlessness in this situation.
Madam Sun wanted to speak up, but seeing the head of the household being rebuffed by his elder sister-in-law, she felt it wasnât her place to say more.
As for Yan Zhiqiang and the members of the Wu Family, they hadnât even thought about speaking up; they were just watching Madam Li, waiting for her to reveal the contents of the letter.
Yan Zhigao saw his wifeâs mouth curling up more and more and knew that the letter did not contain bad news. He relaxed and wasnât in a hurry anymore.
After Madam Li finished reading the letter and noticed that everyone was staring at her, showing no intention of reading the letter aloud, she casually handed the letter to Yan Zhigao.
Once the letter was in Yan Zhigaoâs hands, he read it quickly and thoroughly.
Compared to Madam Liâs smiling face, Yan Zhigaoâs expression turned somewhat peculiar, which piqued the curiosity of Yan Zhiyuan and the others even more.
Yan Zhiyuan, âBig brother, what exactly does the letter say?â
Yan Zhigao glanced at Madam Li and said uneasily, âWenkai says that the Little Prince wants him to explain to us that his leaving the Zhou Family that day had nothing to do with Daohua. He also says that he scared Daohua and should apologize to her.â
Uhâ¦
At this moment, no one was more embarrassed in the Yan Family than Yan Zhiyuan.
That day, he was the most vociferous in calling for the punishment of Daohua.
Madam Sun realized his embarrassment and immediately spoke up to smooth things over. âItâs good that we didnât offend the Little Prince. This way, our family still has something to rely on.â
âBang!â
Madam Li suddenly put down her chopsticks heavily on the table and looked at Madam Sun with a feigned smile. âSomething to rely on? Sister-in-law, tell me, why should the Little Prince provide support for us?â
Caught off guard by Madam Liâs challenge, the usually quick-witted Madam Sun found herself at a loss for words.
Madam Li swept a disdainful glance over everyone at the table. âCan our family bring any benefits to the Little Prince, or help him with anything?â
âStop talking about reliance on others so easily, lest outsiders hear and say we have no sense of proportion.â
The incident that occurred during Old Master Zhouâs birthday was too damaging to our daughterâs reputation. Even though the Zhou Family and Little Prince have both come out to explain, can we go around clarifying the matter to everyone else?
Madam Li couldnât be bothered to care about the expressions on the faces of others; she simply wanted everyone in the household to know that the Little Princeâs closeness to the Yan Family was solely because of her daughter, and that they had no right to blame her daughter.
âIâm done eating, you all take your time!â she declared.
Watching Madam Li leave with an air of finality, Yan Zhiyuan opened his mouth but then, glancing at Yan Zhigao whose expression was also not very good, said, âBig Brother, Sister-in-law seems to be angry with me.â
Yan Zhigao glanced at him, picked up his chopsticks, flipped through the dishes in front of him, then put the chopsticks down again, âDonât take it to heart, your Sister-in-law is just worried about her daughter. Once Mother and Daohua come back from the estate, it will be fine.â
â¦
Danlin Village.
As soon as Daohua, accompanied by Wang Manman, came out from the greenhouse and warm house, she saw the mansionâs carriage stopped at the entrance to the estate and immediately, her face fell.
âMiss, someone from the mansion has come, Iâm afraid we have to return!â Wang Manman was also somewhat despondent.
The old lady and the miss are not strict about rules. In the estate, as long as one does not play too wildly, one is much freer than when in the mansion.
Daohua sighed, âI thought we would at least stay until the twelfth lunar month before needing to go back. Weâve been here less than ten days, and the good days are over already.â
When Daohua took Wang Manman back to the house, she discovered that this time, it was the Sun Familyâs butler who had personally come.
The old lady, upon seeing Daohuaâs return, immediately beckoned her over and handed her the hand warmer, âWarm your hands quickly, donât catch a cold.â
Daohua received the hand warmer with a giggle, âGrandmother, Iâve just been in the greenhouse and warm house, itâs not very cold.â
The old lady smiled and asked, âThe flowers in the greenhouse havenât withered, have they?â If the flowers wilted, her granddaughterâs flower shop would have to close down.
Daohua nodded with a smile, âDonât worry at all, they are blooming beautifully!â
The old lady then asked, âWhat about the vegetables in the warm house?â
When they first built the warm house, she wasnât very optimistic about it. Xingzhou City might be the farthest north, but it is still in the north; itâs too cold in winter, and many vegetables cannot survive.
Unexpectedly, once her granddaughter built the warm house, she actually managed to grow quite a number of vegetables.
âThey are doing well, doing very well, Grandmother, you donât have to worry about lacking vegetables this winter,â Daohua nodded repeatedly.
Meanwhile, the Sun Familyâs butler sat quietly on the side. Although anxious in his heart, he did not dare to interrupt or urge them.
Thereâs no need to mention the old lady; she is the matriarch of the Yan Family, someone even the adults must treat with the utmost respect;
And as for the eldest young lady, he did not dare to offend her in the slightest, knowing full well that this was a person who didnât hesitate to talk back even to the master himself.
After talking with Daohua for a while, the old lady finally picked up the letter from the table and handed it to Daohua.
âA letter? Whose is it?â Daohua took the letter curiously, quickly opened it, and after reading it, snorted coldly.
The old lady picked up the letter discarded by her granddaughter, folded it properly, and placed it back into the envelope before speaking slowly, âPack up, get ready to go back to the mansion!â
Daohua moved her lips, clearly reluctant.
Seeing this, the old lady waved the butler away and waited until he left before saying, âYour father has already sent someone to fetch you, what more do you want? Do you expect him to come personally to apologize to you?â
With that, she tapped Daohuaâs forehead, âOne should know when to stop while ahead and not make things so that no one can come down from their position with dignity at the end.â
At these words, Daohua felt quite frustrated.
She was clearly the one wronged in the matter, yet simply because sheâs the younger generation, she has to let it go just like that.
She knew that even in modern times, fathers rarely apologize to their children, let alone in this paternalistic society of ancient times.