Chapter 42: Mutual Confessions

  Fu's mother deliberately gave Su Ying impure donkey-hide gelatin, but Su Ying knew it and still openly asked Zi Su to bring some back to eat every day.

  Su Ying hadn't yet reached the point of "reaping what she sowed", and this body was still hers, so she quietly swapped out the donkey hide glue that Lady Fu had rewarded her with and the one that Lady Su had given her. She only did it to put on a show for Lady Fu's eyes and ears planted in the main courtyard, to relax Lady Fu's vigilance against her.

  To tell the truth, Fu Mu gave non-toxic donkey hide gel, but after women ate it, they were not easy to get pregnant. After Su Ying replaced it with another one, she gave the donkey hide gel to Wei Niangniang again, and as for whether Wei Niangniang ate it or not, she didn't know anymore.

  Wei's aunt looks even better, Su Ying really doesn't know how to evaluate her, but if it wasn't for Wei's aunt making such a big deal, Su Ying would have almost forgotten about her.

  "Has the old man come back?"

  Fu Yiyang still didn't know that Fu Mu was ill, and after returning to the Hou Mansion, he went as usual to the upper house to pay his respects to Fu Mu. With her beloved son and good daughter-in-law by her side, she naturally recovered quickly.

  When Fu Yiyang arrived, the three of them were harmonious and happy. Mrs. Fu smiled like a flower, and Fu Yiyang dusted off his official robes and slightly bowed to her: "Mother."

  Fu Mu's smile faded away, and even her tone became faint: "The old master has arrived, huh."

  Fu Xueyang showed a respectful and humble attitude, first greeting Fu Yiyang before saying with a hint of reproach: "Big brother, I already know what's going on. As the younger brother-in-law, I don't have the qualifications to interfere with big sister behind her back. But since it concerns mother's health, I'll overstep and ask big brother to please talk to big sister properly. For us younger generation, the most important virtue is filial piety!"

  Fu Yiyang heard this, looked at Fu Xuyang with a glance, and Fu Xuyang was made to feel uneasy by his dark and stern gaze. He shifted uncomfortably and said: "Younger brother has spoken his mind, older brother can do as he pleases, I won't interfere."

  Fu's mother patted Fu Xiangyang's shoulder with a scolding tone, but her smile was warm: "What are you talking about? The old lady is a good person, she just can't manage the huge household expenses of the Marquis's residence. Unlike you, this lazy monkey has nothing to do and comes to my place with your wife to freeload."

  Fu Xueyang was being silly in front of his mother, making her laugh heartily. This mother and son duo completely ignored Fu Yeyang who was standing at the back. Fu Yeyang didn't say anything, but his mother felt uneasy inside, so she waved her hand to let him leave.

  Still faintly heard Fu Xueyang's indignant voice: "Big brother is too biased towards big sister, hurting the feelings between mother and child, why doesn't mother say something to him?"

  "I've had enough of him..."

  This seemingly innocuous conversation between mother and son actually points the finger at Su Ying, also hinting that Fu Yiyang is unfilial. It's really enough.

  If it weren't for what happened yesterday at the Wangfu in Shou'an County, Madam Fu's attempt to drive a wedge between them would have been 89% successful. Fu Yeyang wouldn't be so biased and credulous now, but he didn't feel particularly pleased in his heart, and directly strode towards Zhengyuan with large steps.

  Zhengyuan Su Ying was also busy, when Fu Yeyang came over, the housekeeper's wife was going in and out, one asking about the arrangement of servants, another asking about the placement of various utensils. Even with Liu Niang and Li Yue helping with the kitchen, deciding on the dishes and snacks for the banquet, everything else still needed Su Ying's attention, what could be decided on the spot was settled immediately, what couldn't be decided was told to Lu Hui to take note, to discuss again after coordinating with other places.

  Su Ying was busy and dizzy, didn't even have time to drink a sip of tea. She thought to herself that being the legitimate wife is really not an easy job, if she had to do this a few more times, she would be exhausted to death. Fu Yeyang came over, Xiao Yatou had already run over to tell her, the housekeeper's wives quickly finished speaking and retreated outside. Su Ying raised her eyes and smiled at Fu Yeyang, scolding Lu Hui: "Go get me a cup of water."

  Fu Yiyang said: "Master is back really early today."

  Fu Yiyang pointed at the messy bills on the couch and asked: "What's all this?"

  Su Ying patted her forehead, and hastily told the maids to clean up properly. She then poured tea for Fu Yeyang, while she herself picked up a cup of water and gulped it down, clearly extremely thirsty: "In a few days, it'll be Old Lady's birthday. Although it's not a full birthday celebration, we still need to make some noise. This afternoon, I'll be busy with the banquet arrangements."

  Before Fu Yiyang could speak, Su Ying excitedly pulled him and said: "The old lady loves to listen to Kunqu Opera, I was just thinking of inviting the most popular Kunqu Opera troupe in Beijing recently. I heard that this opera troupe has a new play that is very popular, called 'Feng Ning Mei', the old lady will definitely love it. Two Peking Opera troupes are also invited, what do you think?"

  Fu Yiyang looked at her sincere expression, his eyes fell on her left hand that had been hidden from view all along, and he felt annoyed in his heart, perfunctorily responding with a "hmm".

  Su Ying waved her hand and let the maidservants go down, then sat in front of Fu Yiyang: "Master, are you feeling unwell? Did something unpleasant happen outside?"

  Fu Yiyang glanced at her, didn't ask how she knew, but seeing her concerned expression was like a spring breeze blowing in, his expression softened: "Nothing, go upstairs?"

  Su Ying's face was unnatural for a moment, she looked down at the auspicious pattern on her clothes, Fu Ye Yang frowned, Su Ying raised her head and smiled slightly at him with a hint of apology: "The old lady is ill, I'm a bit irritable, I didn't mean to make her unhappy." She looked at Fu Ye Yang with pleading eyes, afraid that he would be angry.

  "Is she ill?" Fu Yeyang was surprised, he didn't see any sign of illness on Mrs. Fu's face. He suppressed his surprise and asked Su Qian, "What did the doctor say?"

  Su Ying blinked, her long eyelashes trembling: "The doctor said that qi is the commander of blood, when qi flows, blood flows, when qi stagnates, blood coagulates, and if qi stagnation is not relieved, drinking a few doses of medicine will be fine."

  In plain language, Mrs. Fu is suffering from a nervous disorder, and in fact, it's not something she did herself.

  Fu Yiyang's emotional intelligence was not low, and when he thought about it, his heart involuntarily leaned towards Su Ying, and his tone also softened: "How's your hand?"

  Su Ying smiled and stretched out her bandaged hand, waving it: "The girls are too surprised, just a little mark, they have to wrap me in gauze, making me feel uncomfortable doing anything." She glanced up at Fu Ye Yang, who caught her looking, and turned away uncomfortably. "Sir, do you want to change into regular clothes and go upstairs? Originally, I was with my brother and sister in front of Grandma, but after Uncle came, I finally had a chance to come back. Now that Uncle is still here, it's not very good for me to go."

  She didn't know which beehive she had poked, but Fu's expression changed and he hummed, saying with a somewhat sulky tone: "I won't go, Second Master is here, why should I go looking for discomfort?"

  Su Ying burst out laughing: "So to speak, I and Lao Ye can be said to be in the same boat, not as good as my second brother and sister who know how to please Lao Tai Tai. Now I understand my two elder brothers."

  "How do you say this?"

  Su Ying pushed the plate of pastries in front of Fu Yiyang, "It's still a while before dinner, if Master feels hungry, eat this first to fill your stomach. I've tried it, and the sweet potato cake with red bean paste is sweet but not greasy." Then, without looking at Fu's slightly conflicted expression, she said wistfully: "I was the youngest in my family, and also a girl, so my grandmother doted on me. Whenever the servants brought up good food, they would think of me first, and even let my older brothers give way to me. My brothers were all fond of me, and often I would get three portions of whatever good thing there was."

  Fu Yiyang ate a piece of yam cake, and when Su Ying said that, he couldn't help but speak up: "The old ancestor also doted on me, I was raised by her side." The two of them poured their hearts out to each other for the first time, and their feelings suddenly drew much closer.

  Fu Yiyang's heart was no longer uncomfortable because of Fu Mu's bias, and he even reluctantly ate two more pieces of dessert that he didn't usually like. Su Ying smiled and handed him a cup of tea, still pretending not to notice that Master Hou actually loved desserts but was too embarrassed to admit it.

  "The kitchen has just made some red bean cake, would you like to try some?"

  Fu Yiyang paused, gave up the last piece of yam cake with jujube paste filling, cleared his throat: "No, eating a few more pieces of pastry is rare, it's better to avoid indigestion at dinner time, I think you'd better not eat too much either."

  Su Ying's mouth curved into a smile, and she pushed the plate in front of her with an arched eyebrow: "In that case, I'll listen to what Master says."

  Fu Yiyang glared at her and said in a stiff tone: "If you want to eat, just eat, don't mind what I say."

  Su Ying saw that it was good to stop, if she provoked him further, she might end up being the one who suffered in the end. Fu Ye looked at her with an unreadable expression, but Su Ying thought he should be in a good mood now, so she wasn't afraid of his bad temper. "I have something I want to talk to you about."

  It sounds like it's full of spoiled meaning, soft and gentle, more comfortable than the hard tone before, "um" is considered a response. Su Ying found it funny, she chose her words carefully, glanced at him, and said slowly: "It's about Wei Niang..."

  Fu Yiyang didn't immediately pull a long face like he did when he was most annoyed with Wei's aunt. He looked bland, seemingly uninterested in Su Ying's topic, and his tone still carried a hint of displeasure: "What is she making a fuss about again?"

  His words shattered the tiny bit of warmth that had just risen in Su Ying's heart, and she forced a smile: "What are you talking about? Just now I asked Lü Hu to send her some donkey hide gelatin. It seems like she's really ill. This life is not easy, but today when we talked, she said her body was much better. Why don't you go take a look at her?"

  "It's not right to let her rest like this all the time, after all, she is the older sister's aunt." Su Ying felt inexplicably unhappy in her heart.

  Fu Yiyang's first reaction was that Wei Yiniang had taken advantage of the situation with Big Sister again, and his brow furrowed: "How is Big Sister doing?"

  Damn it! He doesn't even know how his own daughter is doing, and he's asking if she's not the real mother. Su Ying silently deducted a few points from Fu Dalao in her heart. The warmth just now was gone, Su Ying didn't forget to dig a hole for Wei Niang. After hearing about the situation with his elder sister, Fu Ye Yang fell silent for a moment, "I'll go take a look at the South Wing," he paused and said, "I'll still have dinner here tonight."