Chapter Nineteen: A Probe

  An Na arranged for Zhiyuan to have a meal at their home, and the old lady served Zhiyuan's food, setting up a screen. The female family members and Zhiyuan's three brothers could not sit together, so the three brothers sat around the old lady in order of age, with Zhiyuan taking the upper seat, occupying the usual position of Zhicheng. Zhiyuan had no sense of modesty, which made both the old lady and Zhicheng feel like vomiting blood, secretly admiring Zhiyuan's thick skin.

  Zhi Cheng was dissatisfied and frustrated again, but he couldn't find any fault with Zhi Yuan. As the elder brother, he was like a father, and he was treated as the eldest son, but he wasn't really the legitimate eldest son.

  The old lady was in a bad mood, her face sinking, Zhiyuan seemed to be oblivious, more interested in the dishes, eating very quickly and smoothly. It's been many years since she had such authentic Beijing cuisine, Zhiyuan was nostalgic, fortunately, Zhiyuan had maintained his official dignity and etiquette while dining. The old lady glanced at Zhiyuan sideways, this foodie, the old lady didn't know what to make of it, couldn't tell if Zhiyuan liked eating or was intentionally annoying her. It seemed that since Zhiyuan's family returned to the mansion, the old lady hadn't been in a good mood. No wonder the fortune teller had said their eight characters were incompatible, Zhiyuan's fate clashed with the old lady's.

  The old lady grew up in the Beile Mansion since she was a child. After marrying into the Duke's Mansion, due to her high birth, she didn't establish rules and regulations in front of her mother-in-law. In fact, even if she wanted to establish rules and regulations, she had no opportunity. The ancestors of the Shu Mu Lu family were promiscuous, with many wives and concubines, and the women were jealous and chaotic.

  The old ancestor suddenly passed away, and after the division of the family property, the old lady became the mistress of the ducal mansion. She was in charge of everything, and life went smoothly. Although the old master inherited his father's lechery, he was ultimately intimidated by the intrigue within the inner chambers while the old ancestor was still alive, and was shocked by the struggle for the title after the old ancestor's death. The old master no longer dared to treat his wives and concubines equally; the legitimate wife was the legitimate wife, and even if a concubine gained favor, she could not surpass the legitimate wife. He cherished his wife's help and looked up to the old lady, with the exception of Zhì Yuǎn's mother, who had an extraordinary status. The old lady tried her best but never saw this mysterious woman. Apart from this matter, the old lady's life was smooth sailing, and she didn't need to engage in any inner palace struggles.

  Another thing that made the old lady regretful was that she gave birth to two daughters, no son, but fortunately, Manchu people did not taboo these things. She raised Zhi Cheng by her side and later brought up Zhi Cheng's sons and daughters as if they were her own flesh and blood. The eldest daughter married into the Anqin Wangfu, although it was said that she was a concubine's wife, but after all, it was a royal palace, so the old lady's status did not suffer too much of an impact. The younger daughter had been spoiled since childhood, originally hoping to marry well through the imperial selection process, but unexpectedly, she taught her daughter to be too poetic and artistic, and in the end, she chose such a son-in-law. Fortunately, she gave birth to a sensible and talented Li Zhi Qing; otherwise, the old lady would not have taken them back to raise them carefully. At that time, the younger daughter Shu Mu Lu's behavior made the old lady very ashamed.

  "Mother, please have some." As the daughter-in-law, she naturally had to serve meals in front of Old Lady, who was annoyed with Zhiyuan and made things difficult for Guwalgiya, letting the other daughters-in-law eat while making Guwalgiya wait on her alone. Guwalgiya smiled and agreed, knowing clearly what Old Lady liked to eat, but deliberately placed dishes she didn't like in front of her, looking at Old Lady sincerely and hinting that she should eat quickly, saying this dish looked very good.

  Through the thin screen, Shu Yao saw E Niang standing beside the old lady, with a smile on her face. Shu Yao sighed, thinking that there were not many people who could make E Niang serve them, and thought to herself: Old lady, you're asking for trouble, E Niang's skills will make you speechless.

  The old lady hesitated, and Guajia said in a low voice: "Mother doesn't like it? The daughter-in-law has always lived in Huizhou and can't figure out what you like. The daughter-in-law was wrong, but the daughter-in-law thought that this dish would be good for your body, clearing heat and detoxifying, dispelling fire."

  "You don't even know the rules of not speaking while eating?" The old lady's anger grew as she listened to Gualjia's words, and it didn't sound like an apology. With a loud slap on the table, she thought she had caught Gualjia's mistake and was ready to scold her with confidence.

  Zhiyuan saw that his daughter-in-law was about to be blamed, so he quickly said: "Mother, she is kind-hearted and doesn't deserve blame. You should at least listen to her explanation before getting angry without distinguishing right from wrong. It's not the way of a noble lady like you. Mother, you are perfect in every way and won't treat your daughter-in-law unfairly like some illiterate and ignorant woman would. Eating bitter melon can clear one's mind, we're all family having meals together, although it's said that 'food doesn't speak', but with us brothers gathered around you, it's not easy to be too quiet and seem distant."

  Zhiyuan stood up and raised his wine cup, solemnly toasting the old lady, "My son has been away from the capital for over a decade, and I have truly missed my mother. Today, my son has returned to the capital, and in the future, he will definitely be by your side to show filial piety." Afterwards, Zhiyuan expressed his gratitude to Zhicheng and Zhihao for taking care of his parents on his behalf, saying words that were both sincere and reasonable. However, the old lady was deeply hurt by his words, and she looked at Zhiyuan's genuine and filial appearance, forcing herself to drink the wine, feeling extremely suffocated, thinking about how to take revenge on Guajia in the future.

  Shu Yao's eyebrows tightened, then relaxed. She felt the old lady's thoughts again? Was she worried about her daughter-in-law? Shu Yao couldn't tell if her intuition was right or wrong. Weren't all mothers-in-law and stepmothers cruel?

  "Six sisters." Li Ziqing had always been mindful of Shu Yao, "Don't you want some tea?"

  Shu Yao took the tea cup handed over by Li Zhi Qing, their fingertips touched, and both felt a tingling sensation like an electric current. A jumbled mix of thoughts that didn't belong to Shu Yao surged up, causing her to cover her forehead. Li Zhi Qing withdrew her hand, and the attention of the surrounding girls shifted to Old Lady Guan. Taking advantage of Shu Yao's recent return to the capital and not being in front of Guan Er Jie, Li Zhi Qing quietly asked: "Sixth sister, have you heard of 'Dream of the Red Chamber'?"

  Xiu Yao shook her head, looking confused: "I don't know him, I don't know anyone with the surname Hong."

  Li Ziqing opened her mouth, was she just thinking too much? Shu Yao didn't seem to be pretending, Li Ziqing had developed a unique skill for reading people, from their eyes she could tell true or false likes and dislikes. Even when facing the famous Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang in history, she could see through her a bit. From Shu Yao's eyes, it really couldn't be seen that she had heard of "Dream of Red Mansions", if not Shu Yao, would it be Guwalgiya? Li Ziqing felt a sense of discord from seeing her second uncle and his family today, lightly laughed: "It was my mistake, six younger sister not recognizing me is very normal."

  "Hmm, this person's name is quite strange."

  Shu Yao really didn't know about "Dream of the Red Chamber", being a science student and all, she might have known about "Journey to the West" and Sun Wukong, but as for "Red Liu Dream", even if she had heard of it, she wouldn't remember it in her head, and would forget it instantly. Shu Yao was getting more and more confused with Li Ziqing's thoughts, the more she thought about it, the more she felt that her obtained ability wasn't useful, Li Ziqing's thoughts were really strange, if not becoming an empress, then become a dowager? Dowager, aren't they all promoted from being an empress?

  She was even more suspicious of the old lady, and according to Shu Yao's observation, Li Ziqing was very good and filial to the old lady. Moreover, Shu Yao felt that Li Ziqing's incredible space was enviable, so she thought that her own poor space must be the problem, absolutely, absolutely, it must be the problem. She didn't believe that Li Ziqing's space could grow anything without considering upgrading to grow radishes.