“Look at him, look at him!” Wang Shi complained to Nanny Jiang again, “Was it easy for me to raise him? Wasn’t all that I’ve done for him? But look at him, he doesn’t appreciate the effort I put in at all! I care about him, yet he blames me for only finding trouble instead! Does he enjoy being a servant to someone else? He is the young master of our Shi family! There’s a saying that once a son gets married, he’ll forget about his mother. It isn’t a lie after all! Why should I still care about him now?”
Wang Shi cried and complained, while Nanny Jiang busily comforted her while sighing to herself: Old Mistress, even if you wish to complain, please don’t do it in front of Young Mistress! She’s still standing at the side, how should she respond to this!
Needless to say, Sang Wan’s head was lowered and how she wished she could bury her head into her chest. Mother-in-law had always been straight forward, but those words simply hurt a lot!
But does it matter? Sang Wan laughed bitterly to herself. Didn’t she still have to listen quietly? How could she talk back at her or make a scene?
“Mother!” Seeing that Wang Shi had more or less vented her anger, Sang Wan forced a smile and said, “Mother, we should go and visit sister now. I was wondering whether she has gotten better.”
Wang Shi stopped crying when she heard Sang Wan mention her daughter. She wiped away her tears after a short moment of daze and exclaimed, “I almost forgot about that! Nanny Jiang, have a servant bring me my fur coat, we are heading over now!” As she spoke, she stood up and looked at Sang Wan before saying coldly, “You don’t have to come along! Go back and serve your husband! Otherwise, he’ll blame me again later if he can’t find you!”
Sang Wan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Her mother-in-law was quite a strange one to say such words. How could she behave like a child acting out?
“Mother, my husband has made it clear to me yesterday to visit Big Sister! Please let this daughter-in-law come along, I can also be of help if there’s any need!” Sang Wan quickly smiled and said.
“Old Mistress, Young Mistress is right!” Nanny Jiang quickly smiled as well and said, “Since Young Mistress is willing to help, you should let her come along! It’ll be good to have more people show some concern for Eldest Missy, wouldn’t it?”
Only then did Wang Shi not refuse. She let out a grunt and marched out with Nanny Jiang. Sang Wan quickly followed them and held Wang Shi’s available arm. However, with seething hatred, Wang Shi tried to avoid her, but she was insistent and pretended not to know as she held onto her arm. Wang Shi felt it was wrong to push her away in front of a crowd so she let her be.
Shi Yumei took the medicine the night before and wrapped herself tightly in her thick blanket in order to sweat out her illness. As such, her complexion became much better the next morning. Cui Zhu was feeding her porridge when Wang Shi, Sang Wan, and the rest arrived.
Seeing that her daughter had gotten much better, Wang Shi’s expression immediately turned better.
Shi Yumei still remained indifferent towards Sang Wan. At the very least, she no longer hated her as much as she used to.
But who was Shi Yumei? She was the eldest daughter who grew up in front of Wang Shi since young, how could she not realize the change in her mother’s mood? Shortly after they arrived, she stared at Wang Shi and asked, “Mother, why do you look so upset today? Did somebody make you angry?”
Sang Wan knew what was to come and left the room to ask Cui Zhu about Shi Yumei’s condition as well as her medicine. It would have been too difficult to hear criticism about herself! If Shi Yumei were to add fuel to the fire, Sang Wan knew she would only be finding trouble if she stayed!
Without a care for whether Sang Wan was still around, Wang Shi immediately poured out what happened to Shi Yumei. As she spoke, the anger in her heart ignited again and she began scolding Shi Fengju angrily and grievously. Of course, she did not forget to scold Sang Wan as well, describing her as not being virtuous and respectful enough to her husband, and how she regretted treating her so nicely!
Unexpectedly, Shi Yumei only giggled when she heard her mother and said, “When will he ever change that character of his? He isn’t a child anymore, so why is he still acting like one? Is he not afraid of others laughing at him!”
Wang Shi was puzzled by the response she received and asked in surprise, “What did you say? What… what do you mean by that? Has Sang Wan really been treating your brother like this frequently? How dare she, how dare she! I knew she was hiding a lot more from me!”
“Mother,” Shi Yumei laughed, “he has always been like that, he would treat the one in his heart wholeheartedly, and would even go to the extreme of giving her his everything! He has always been that way, and it isn’t even inappropriate, so why do you care so much about it?”
“No, you are wrong!” Everyone knew that Wang Shi was a stubborn one, how could she be persuaded with just a few words from Shi Yumei? Wang Shi continued asking, “You haven’t told me what you meant by your words just now! Had Sang Wan been tormenting Fengju like that when I was not around? Tell me what you know because I find this utterly shocking!”
Shi Yumei answered naively, “How would I know? You can ask Fengju if you really want to know! All I know is that Fengju, Cousin Fangzi, and I grew up together and Fengju would always do many things for Cousin Fangzi as well. He used to carry her a lot when we were young! But I have to say that nowadays, his only focus is Sang Wan!”
Shi Yumei let out a soft sigh.
“Fengju used to do many things for Fangzi?” Wang Shi was taken aback, and only after a while did she say, “Our Shi household is full of servants, what is there that needs Fengju to personally do it for her?”
Shi Yumei was so immersed in recalling her childhood days that she forgot to care about Wang Shi’s change of expression. After all, as Shi Fengju, Gu Fangzi, and she grew up together, of course the things that Shi Fengju did for Gu Fangzi did not seem unusual to her. And so, she picked a few stories and told them to her mother.
The more Wang Shi heard, the angrier she got and the more she had to gasp to calm herself down. It wasn’t difficult to picture how her son behaved like a servant to serve Gu Fangzi from her daughter’s words. Wang Shi was so furious that she almost fainted!
There were actually so many things that she did not know about in this family! It was ridiculous! She had always loved her silly son like a precious baby while he was used as a servant! Not to mention Gu Fangzi, she used to pity her and love her wholeheartedly, and yet she dared to be a gentle and lovely little girl in front of her while tormenting her son behind her back!
“Eh, Mother, is something the matter?” Shi Yumei quickly questioned when she finally spotted Nanny Jiang signaling rapidly with her eyes.
“Nothing!” Wang Shi almost gnashed her teeth in anger when she denied. She no longer had the heart to remain any more, and said, “Rest well and remember to tell Cui Zhu to prepare your medicine punctually! If you’re feeling uncomfortable anywhere or have any food you crave for, let Mother know! Mother is going back now!”
Shi Yumei felt that her mother was behaving strangely, but she did not think much about it and simply nodded as she watched them leave.
When Wang Shi came out, Sang Wan quickly went forward to hold her arm. However, Wang Shi glanced away from her with dislike and grunted coldly before walking away, leaving her and Nanny Jiang behind.
The chill in Wang Shi’s eyes was so cold that even Sang Wan’s heart felt like it froze. She was transfixed for a moment but quickly followed her mother-in-law. Without even guessing, she was sure that Shi Yumei must have said words against her in front of Wang Shi, which explained Wang Shi’s behavior. However, what Sang Wan did not know was that right at that moment, Wang Shi was boiling with rage and she subconsciously associated Shi Yumei’s words with Sang Wan, who was waiting for her meekly and gently, just like how Gu Fangzi would behave in front of her. But look at what happened behind her back! All those things that she made her son do cause her heart to ache deeply!
Wang Shi went into her warm room right after she got back, and Sang Wan waited obediently outside as she did not dare to follow her inside without her permission. Sang Wan could not help but regret; she felt like she was only asking for trouble! If she had known, she would definitely have left together with Shi Fengju! Why did she go, only to become a punching bag? She had no idea why the more she tried to appease her mother-in-law, the angrier she got!
For so many years, Nanny Jiang had never seen Wang Shi so angry before. She was so angry that her face turned green. None of the servants dared to make a sound, much less step forward to appease her.
How could anyone understand how Wang Shi was feeling now? Wang Shi did not only feel disappointed, but she also felt betrayed!
She had always been so fond of her niece and treated her like her real daughter, loving her and caring for her like her own. And her niece was always a clever one, and giving her all to her and her son! She had praised Gu Fangzi more than once for always being kind and knowing how to be grateful, but who knew that she was ordering her son around behind her back!
How could she!
Everything that she had shown in front of her was nothing but a facade!
“Where is Sang Wan? Is she still outside?” Wang Shi asked faintly after a while.
