Chapter 196 – The Old Madam is from a Scholarly Family (part 10)

During the meal, Li Yuan and Li Ru were brought back. Both of them were terrified and had tears in their eyes. They wanted to see their mother.

Li Yu knew that the children were frightened. Even he was frightened by such a scene, so of course the children were as well. He touched his son’s head. “Don’t worry, your mother is fine! Grandma is watching.”

Inside the house, Yingniang had woken up and was eating a bowl of pork liver porridge and a bowl of chicken soup. It so happened that the two children woke up, therefore forcing her to breastfeed. She waited until the children were full, then went to sleep.

Li Su stayed to watch the children, and said to Anniang, “Second young master’s wife should go out to eat first. I’ll just stay here and watch over her.”

“Auntie, you can go out to eat. I can watch.” Anniang was not willing.

“You can take care of Yuan’er and Ru’er for me. A-Yu doesn’t have any siblings. In this situation, others can be considered family. I’m afraid I will trouble you in the future. There’s no need to be polite to me,” Li Su patted Anniang’s hand and said.

Anniang thought for a while. “Auntie, do you want to hire someone? My uncle’s family has a cousin who is disliked by her husband’s family because she gave birth to a daughter. Don’t worry, auntie, my cousin is in good health. She has no illnesses and her milk is fine. My niece was raised by my cousin and ended up chubby. It’s just that my cousin has high spirits. She is afraid of being gossiped about by her brother and sister-in-law and wants to find something to do. If auntie doesn’t like it, then pretend like I didn’t say anything.”

Li Su smiled and said, “Why not?! I’ve been thinking about this for the past two days. I’m just a little worried. There are too few rooms and not enough places for people to live in. Let’s get a house before Yingniang gets pregnant again. It’s not easy to start and things will inevitably be delayed. Now, I am in a hurry.”

“Don’t worry about where you live. My cousin can live in my house. My in-laws don’t mind,” Anniang said quickly.

“Let your cousin come over and we can meet tomorrow. If it’s fine, then she can stay. I’m afraid that I’ll be too busy, so if you come and help, I’ll pay you,” Li Su said.

“I can be here to help. How could I take payment for that?” Anniang waved her hand quickly.

Li Su waved her hand and said, “I’m making the decisions with regards to this matter. Let’s do it like this! Please take the children out to eat and look after them.”

Then, she pushed Anniang out.

Anniang couldn’t do anything, and she didn’t care about eating by herself. She first watched Li Yuan and Li Ru eat. She then packed some food and sent it to Li Su. She quietly told Ling Er to send a message to her parents’ house to ask her cousin to come tomorrow. Everything was arranged properly, and she quickly ate a few mouthfuls.

Anniang’s cousin, Mrs. Fang, came in the afternoon. When Anniang saw her, she was a little dissatisfied. “Cousin, why did you come here dressed like that?” Her cousin was too naive. It was bad to wear white!

Anniang couldn’t help but take a piece of her old clothes and let Fang change them.

Mrs. Fang refused at first, but Anniang said she would not take her if she didn’t change. Mrs. Fang had no choice but to change, aggrieved.

Only then did Anniang take her to see Li Su. Li Yu did not want to meet them, so when he saw Anniang, he quickly took a detour and walked away.

But, Mrs. Fang stared at Li Yu’s back for a while. She then quietly asked, “Cousin, is that Scholar Li?”

Anniang frowned. “Cousin, you can’t forget what I told you before I came here! It was my mother who asked me again and again, so I spoke up. The Li family is not an ordinary family. My eldest son, Erlang, is still studying at the Li’s house, so please take care!”

Mrs. Fang disapproved a little, but she still pretended to be meek and lowered her head. She was thinking about the face that flashed by just now.

Li Su stood in front of the window and saw that Mrs. Fang was a little unhappy.

When Anniang brought her to Li Su, Li Su looked at her carefully. The closer she looked, the more she disliked Mrs. Fang. Although Mrs. Fang pretended to be honest, she glanced around with greed when she entered the door, thinking that others couldn’t see her actions. Anniang was honest and loyal, so why was this cousin like this?

Li Su didn’t plan to raise tigers. Yingniang was still in confinement and the children were young. She didn’t want to have this restless person at home.

“Second young master’s wife, I’m so sorry. I discussed this matter with A-Yu. In our current home situation, it would be more appropriate to pay for someone to come in. So, I am sorry to trouble your cousin. Of course, it’s not good to let her come here in vain. I have some material here. Take it back and make a dress for her daughter!” Li Su said.

Anniang was a little disappointed, but she nodded. Just as she was about to speak, Mrs. Fang, who was beside her, knelt down with a thud. “Old lady, I’m begging you. Let me stay! I’ll work extremely hard. I’m begging the old lady to give me a way to live!” Mrs. Fang covered her face and cried.

She saw Li Yu coming this way from the corner of her eye, so she did it like this. She didn’t want her scheming to be unattractive in front of Li Su.

“Silence! Don’t you know anything? Don’t you know that there are children in my family?! What if you scare the children?!” Li Su looked unhappy.

Li Yu, who was outside the door, was also a little unhappy. He heard his son’s cry and Yingniang’s voice coaxing the child. He glanced to the side impatiently, then turned around and went to the west wing. His family’s second and third young masters (yes, the dignified scholar hadn’t figured out his son’s names yet!). They were twins, so when one cried, so did the other. Yingniang was still in confinement, so she couldn’t be tired. Ling Er’s sister-in-law is… What kind of person was this?!

Anniang was not happy anymore and pulled Mrs. Fang up. “Cousin, who are you showing this act?! If I had known you were like this, I wouldn’t have suggested you to Auntie!” Then, regardless of what Mrs Fang said, she looked at Li Su apologetically. “Auntie, I’m so sorry. Just pretend I didn’t say anything.”

Then, she dragged Mrs. Fang away, despite Mrs. Fang’s struggles. After Anniang left the Li family house, she scolded Mrs. Fang. “Our family and the Li family have been neighbours for decades and things have improved. You have made us lose all face! How can I have the face to see Auntie and the talented scholar’s wife in the future?!”

Ling Er heard his wife’s voice, so he quickly came out to see what was going on. When he saw that his wife was furious, he quickly asked, “What’s the matter?”

“What can I do? I should borrow an ox cart and send her back,” Anniang said angrily.

At this time, Mr. Fang stopped her act and didn’t make any excuses. She just kept her head down and wept. Unreasonable people saw the situation between the two and thought that Anniang was bullying Mrs. Fang.

Fortunately, Ling Er knew what his wife was like. Besides, one was his wife and the other was his wife’s cousin. Naturally, he knew which one was more important.

Therefore, Mrs. Fang’s attitude was in vain.

Ling Er immediately went out to borrow an ox cart. When the ox cart arrived, Anniang pulled Mrs. Fang over and pushed her onto the cart.

Mrs. Fang was shocked when she saw this. She had used this one move, crying, all the time before, and had always been in a good position. It was like this when she was at her mother’s house, and it was the same when she got married. As long as she cried, no matter who was right or wrong, everyone would instinctively sympathise with her and pity her. But, what was going on now?

When Anniang saw her cousin open her mouth, she was afraid that her cousin would make trouble again, and therefore it would reflect badly on her. She tugged on the rope casually, took a piece of third young master’s diaper, and stuffed it into Mrs. Fang’s mouth. She then grabbed Mrs. Fang’s arm and shoved the person onto the cart.

When the person was sent back to her parents’ home, her uncle was still waiting for news and was shocked to see this.

Anniang pushed Mrs. Fang towards her uncle. She clapped her hands and indignantly told them what Mrs. Fang had done to the Li family.

“Uncle, if it wasn’t for your repeated pleas, I wouldn’t have done this. But cousin went too far. She was dressed in white. What does that mean? My grandma and grandpa are in great shape! When she arrived at their house, her eyes were restless. She looked around with intentions. Did she think that they were a family from a village who couldn’t see what she was thinking? Auntie Li has a good heart. She saw my face and knew that my cousin was wrong. She didn’t say it clearly, and instead implied it with other words. Cousin knelt down with a thud, weeping, and begging for others to give her a way to live! Let’s not talk about whether what she said was justified… There are newborn children in the family. Do you think it’s good to scare the children with this attitude?! At that time, I had no face to speak of, so I took her and left!” Anniang said with red eyes.

Anniang’s uncle was shocked, but Mrs. Fang hid behind her father and only lowered her head and cried. Ling Er had just parked the cart. His expression changed when he heard her words. “Anniang, is what you said true?”

Anniang nodded, then wiped away her tears. “My Dalang and Erlang are still reading and learning with Scholar Li, and they weren’t charging us for tuition. It was good. How do you expect me to face the Li family after that?!”

When Anniang’s father heard that his grandson might be implicated, he immediately became anxious and complained. “I told you not to talk to Anniang, but you didn’t listen!”

Her mother also regretted it a lot. She glanced at her eldest brother and complained. “Eldest brother, why didn’t you make it clear before? If I had known that A-Lan was like this, I wouldn’t have said anything! Erlang, Anniang, it’s mother’s fault. Mother won’t care about her matters anymore. Will the Li family blame you?”

Although Ling Er was a little unhappy, he also knew that his mother-in-law was just soft-hearted and not malicious. He frowned. “Auntie is a sensible person and won’t blame us. It’s just that in the future, mother-in-law, please don’t speak about these things. We have something to do back home, so we will return first.”

Anniang glared at Mrs. Fang, said hello to her parents, and turned away.

After sending off their daughter and son-in-law, Anniang’s parents shed their good persona and immediately ordered the guests to leave. “I still have to work in the fields. This uncle should go back first if he has nothing to do. Don’t come here anymore. We will go back to visit our father-in-law and mother-in-law when we have time.”

Mrs. Fang was still crying, but her father shook off her hand and walked straight forward. He had lost face at this age!

Mrs. Fang was a little dazed. Her father always loved her the most. How could her father treat her like this now that she had been wronged? But, when she saw the dark faces of her uncle and aunt, Mrs. Fang bit her lip, stomped her foot, and hurried out. She was now at home, but she had to please her father.