âIâll go plead with grandfather.â Zi You didnât hesitate to say, âIâll tell grandfather that you were instigated, realizes it, and repents now. But for grandfather to believe it, you should tell me who is the person who went to damage the farmsteads and the shops. If you donât push out a scapegoat, he wonât believe you. Besides, grandfather will find out sooner or later. Itâs better to explain it now, so grandfather can forgive you.â
âHow will I know who caused damage to the farmsteads and shops?â Mu YingRui shook his head, as if he was quite vexed that he was played by Wang Yiping.
Zi You thought about it and beckoned him. She whispered something to him before saying, âThink carefully about what I said, father. Donât be deceived again. Oh, yes. Go back and prepare to participate in the celebration banquet in the Palace tonight.â
âYes, yes. Iâll definitely go.â Mu YingRui grinned happily.
His daughter was honoring him. Otherwise, as a fifth-rank official, he wasnât qualified to participate in such a banquet in the Palace.
Zi You coldly smiled when she saw her slag father happily leaving. She then went to her grandfatherâ study and said to Shangguan LingRan, Mu YingYi, and the crying Nee Liu, âIt really is that woman making trouble. Aunt, that Yueluo was probably bribed by her. The more you and uncle fight, the happier that woman will be.â
Nee Liu froze. She wiped her tears guilty and said to Mu YingYi, âYingYi, thatâs my fault. It looks like we really fell into that womanâs trap. Now that I think about it, my Qiâer was probably used by someone that night. She heard two maidservants say that they saw Yueluo go into your study and didnât come out.
âI was worried as soon as I heard it. That darned girl Yueluo is pretty and has high ambitions. I think that she already likes you. I was anxious, angry, and worried, so I rushed to your study.â
Nee Liu started to cry harder. She told Zi You, âYour uncle was furious and immediately said that he will take responsibility for Yueluo and take her as a tongfang. I was angry and fought with your uncle.â
Zi You looked at her uncle. His head was bowed, as if he clearly regretted this matter. She asked, âThen why was uncle drunk that night and went to the study?â
Nee Liu looked at Mu YingYi and then at Shangguan LingRan. She was slightly embarrassed as she asked, âCan I talk to Youâer alone?â
Shangguan LingRan imitated Old General Mu and waved his hand.
Zi You went with Nee Liu to a side room. Nee Liu grabbed Zi Youâs hands and gratefully and guilty said, âYouâer, Iâm incompetent. You came back, but thereâs not even one moment of peace. First, you saved Yuanâer and now youâre worried about me. I really didnât think that I would still be alive to see you. I thought......â
Nee Liu started to cry sorrowfully again.
Zi You patted her hand and said softly, âDonât be sad, aunt. Donât worry. Weâre back now. No one will dare to bully you anymore. I want to ask you why you and uncle fought and why he went to sleep in the study.â
Nee Liu shook her head regretfully. âThatâs my fault. You got into an accident that day and your grandfather and uncle just recovered from a serious illness. They were already unhappy, but I went to bother him for my cousin and cousin-in-law. Something else also happened that day. I always knew that your uncle likes...... likes your mother.
âTruthfully speaking, I was jealous and resentful towards your mother. But after I married, your mother treated me sincerely. I couldnât hate her even if I wanted to. Now that I think about it, Yueluo must have had other thoughts early on. She always encouraged me to fight with your mother. She finally stopped after I severely reprimanded her.
âAs a result, those days were around the anniversary of your motherâs death. I know that your mother went back to India and didnât die, so I wasnât very sad. That night, I was talking to your uncle about Ruixue and Taizi. But your uncle was furious after a few words. He shouted, âDo you know what day today is? Dier left us for six years and two days now. Do you know how sad I am? I let down her trust in me and didnât take care of Youâer. Arenât you worried about Youâer? You bother me all the time about your cousin and his fuâs matters. I had enough!ââ
âYouâer, at that time...... I really regret saying those hurtful things to him. I said, âAre you worried about Youâer or are you missing Youâerâs mother? If you really canât let her go, why donât you go look for her in India? Why did you marry me? What do you think I am? You sleep next to me, but you think about another woman?â
âYouâer, Iâm sorry. Actually, I havenât felt well these last few years. I always feel sorry to your mother. I thought that I stole her happiness. But when I see how much your uncle misses her and even calls out her name in his sleep, I â Iâm resentful. Am I not sad? I love him too! I want his love, but he only gives me respect and not love......â
Nee Liuâs tears fell down. She looked like she was in pain as she wept.
Zi You didnât try to persuade her. She merely reached out a hand to gently stroke her back and wordlessly comfort her.
Truthfully speaking, she couldnât judge who was right and who was wrong among the three people. Her mother made the biggest sacrifice. In order to fulfill Nee Liu, she gave up her happiness and met her beast-like father. It could be imagined how much pain her mother was in!
But she couldnât blame her uncle. Her uncle was a righteous person. In order not to ruin Nee Liuâs life, he forcefully suppressed his emotions. He was also very respectful to Nee Liu after marriage.
But as Nee Liu said, she wanted uncleâs love and not his respect. Nee Liu also felt aggrieved.
Alas! In the end, it was impossible to draw conclusions on who was right and who was wrong. But if none of them were wrong, none of them were happy either.
Letâs talk about her mother. She could stay in the Indian God Realm and be worshipped by millions of people. But when Zi You talked to her, her mother would inquire about her uncle from time to time. It could be see that her mother did not forget her uncle.
Zi You didnât know how to persuade her aunt. She was just glad that she and Shangguan LingRan loved each other without another person in the middle.
It was also because he wholeheartedly loved her that her great-grandmother Goddess Mari would approve of them. Otherwise, perhaps she would be like her mother and be forced to stay in the Indian God Realm.
Nee Liu cried for a while before she gradually stopped. She continued talking about what had happened that night. âYour uncle slammed the door shut and went to the study. He drank a lot of wine in the study. I was worried, so I sent Qiâer to take a look. Qiâer came back and told me that she heard two maidservants say that Yueluo went into the study and didnât come out. I was muddleheaded and didnât take anything else into consideration.
âI took Qiâer and Shuâer to the study to catch them in the act. When we got there...... I was so angry that I scolded him regardless of anything. âMu YingYi, youâve really let me down. Youâre actually fooling around with my maidservant in the study.â
âYour uncle seemed a little dazed. He saw that it was me with the maidservants and I was about to hit Yueluo. He shouted, âScram out of here. Canât I â Canât I take a tongfang......?â
âAs soon as I heard that, I was so angry that I immediately rushed out. But I smelled an aphrodisiac incense in the study. I think that your uncle had fallen into a trap. But your uncle didnât take the initiative to explain it to me and I didnât want to lower my stance. Like this, I didnât make up with him, even when your uncle left.â
Zi You shook her head and said, sincerely and earnestly, to Nee Liu, âAunt, this matter is all that maidservant Yueluoâs fault. But she didnât make a move before probably because she had no confidence. Now, she had this opportunity and someone was helping her along from behind and even gave her an aphrodisiac incense. So, how can Yueluo not grasp this opportunity?â
âYes.â Nee Liuâs mind was very clear now. She also realized that something was wrong. âNow that you said it, I also think that her aphrodisiac incense is strange. Did she already bought and prepared it?â
Zi Youâs eyes were deep as she said, âAunt, I will investigate this matter. Donât worry about it. Just regain your energy and take care of the Generalâs Manor. Then you should have a good talk with uncle and get things out in the open. Donât quarrel anymore. It would only make that vicious woman happy.
âIâm going to see Shui Yiniang now. If itâs not because of me, she wouldnât......â
âThen Iâll go with you.â Nee Liu felt really guilty. Zi You just came back and had to take care of her. If she was smarter and didnât make a mess of the household, would Youâer worry less?
âXiaojie!â Zi You walked outside and saw her four first-rank maidservants kneeling in front of her. Her nanny Nanny Lou stood behind them. Everyone was crying with tears all over their faces.
âNanny, Shiyun, Moyun, Haiyun, Shuiyun.â Zi You was also very excited to see her nanny and four first-rank maidservants who were as close as sisters to her.
She was even more sincerely grateful to grandfather. Grandfather knew that if she and her uncle werenât here, as the mistress of the first household, Wang Yiping wouldnât dare to do anything to Nee Liu. But she might not be afraid to dispose of Youran Juâs and Zi Youâs maidservants and nanny under her management.
Hence, Old General Mu had let Wang Yiping out and hoped that she changed for the better, but he still wasnât sure about her. Thus, he had sealed Youran Ju and Hundred Herb Garden.