Chapter 998 Sadfishing in the Mourning Hall
Nanny Yu had been waiting for Shao Wanru in the front yard for a long time. When she saw her coming, she hurried forward to salute and then stepped aside, welcoming her respectfully. “Your Highness, please come with me.”
“Not in the main hall?” Shao Wanru paused in perplexity.
“No, it’s not. The main hall is used in welcoming guests. There are many guests coming and going today. If Old Madam and Marquis Xing can’t receive all of them for the time being, some will be invited there to drink tea and wait.”
Shao Wanru looked at Nanny Yu and suddenly smiled. “Nanny Yu, does my grandma think the religious rite for my parents is not important enough to be held in the main hall?”
“How… how could this be?” Nanny Yu stammered, shaking her head vigorously.
Of course, she didn’t dare to tell the truth, but Princess Chen was right. Old Madam had never given whole-hearted support to the religious ceremony because she just wanted to lure Princess Chen back by it.
“Since not, why didn’t she set it in the main hall? Aren’t my parents qualified enough for that?” Shao Wanru’s smile turned grim.
Some guests behind them stopped when hearing their conversation.
It was not necessary to put a religious ritual in the main hall, but it was usually held in the main hall to show respect for the deceased.
“Of course, the former Heir of Duke Xing and Infanta Qinghua are qualified, but now…” Nanny Yu said with a sigh, “You know many things have happened in our mansion recently. Both Old Madam and Marquis Xing wanted to remain low-key about the matter, so they placed it in the side courtyard. Please rest assured. There is not much difference. It’s just on the side of the main hall. The memorial ceremony for the Duke was also held there!”
After the Duke Xing died, the memorial ceremony was indeed in the side courtyard. For this reason, many people in the capital thought it was deliberately done by Shao Jing, who had been promoted to Duke Xing’s position. Displeased with the fact that Duke Xing was partial to his elder brother, he put the ritual in the side courtyard.
No matter how important the former Heir of Duke Xing became, he couldn’t get better treatment than that of Duke Xing. Now that Nanny Yu mentioned Duke Xing, Shao Wanru had no choice but to accept it.
Shao Wanru was silent for a few seconds, and her watery eyes dimmed a little. But soon, she flashed Nanny Yu a smile. “In that case, Nanny Yu, lead the way!”
Next, she’d like to see how Old Madam and Madam Jiang would deal with it. At this moment, she was not in a hurry to deal with this matter…
There were few things quite as sweet as revenging and settling all old scores and new ones with her enemies!
Seeing Shao Wanru no longer insist, Nanny Yu secretly wiped the cold sweat on her forehead. She was afraid that Princess Chen would not give up and stand here, which would be very embarrassing.
Shao Wanru moved on, and so did the guests who followed her. They followed Nanny Yu inside. When they arrived at the intersection, Shao Wanru was led directly to the side courtyard, and the guests went to the main hall for the time being.
The side courtyard for the memorial ceremony was said to be right next to the main hall, but it was not close at all. Although it belonged to the front yard, Shao Wanru seldom came here. After taking two turns with Nanny Yu, she finally arrived.
A simple and unadorned courtyard appeared before Shao Wanru. The chanting of monks and Taoist priests wrapped around her as she entered it after Nanny Yu. It was very lively inside.
In the courtyard ablaze with lights from candles, many maids were taking good care of the burning joss sticks and candles. Besides, there were many young monks and Taoist priests.
The air inside was heavy with coiling incense smoke, and bursts of Buddhist chants reached the ears of Shao Wanru through layers of long and white gauze. On the incense burner table, she saw the memorial tablets of Shao Jiang, the former Heir of Duke Xing, and Infanta Qinghua.
Someone was kneeling before the table. From the back, Shao Wanru could only tell that it was a woman. But since she was wrapped up in white clothing, Shao Wanru couldn’t see who she was.
The woman, crying loudly and bitterly, didn’t notice it when Shao Wanru came in. She hunched over the ground, wailing bitterly.
“Madam, Madam, Princess Chen is here!” Nanny Yu took two quick steps forward and said in a low voice to the woman.
The woman raised her head and met Shao Wanru’s eyes. Only until then did she recognize Madam Jiang. Compared with the last time they met, Madam Jiang was much thinner. In the white clothes, she looked very worn and forlorn.
However, Madam Jiang did not hear Nanny Yu. She continued crying, murmuring something.
The courtyard radiated the fragrance of incense sticks and candles, and there was a smell of herbs that Shao Wanru was familiar with. Yes, it was the smell of medicine!
“Madam!” Nanny Yu raised her voice. The maid beside them came over and gently pulled Madam Jiang’s sleeves. Only then did she look up.
Madam Jiang was no longer what she looked like when Shao Wanru had just arrived at Marquis Xing’s Mansion. She was emaciated and old, kneeling before the memorial tablets with bloodshot eyes, and looked extremely pitiful.
“Madam, Princess Chen is here!” Nanny Yu repeated.
“Princess Chen…” Madam Jiang frantically tried to get up and nearly dropped the incense in her hand. In a hurry, Nanny Yu took it from her hands. A maid beside her helped her up. But when she got up, she was still a little unsteady on her feet. She leaned against the maid weakly and said, “You’re back… Go and pay respects to your mother!”
Madam Jiang said with a haggard look and a soft voice. After the maid helped her to sit down on a chair nearby, she looked toward the two memorial tablets of Shao Wanru’s parents, tears rolling down her sad face. “I married into the Duke Xing’s Mansion after your mother. Back then, we were young and impetuous and had some disputes, but now when I thought about it, I know I was wrong!”
“Young and impetuous? How could she be so brazen-faced to describe the past with such a delicate touch?”
However, Shao Wanru remained silent. She took the incense offered by Nanny Yu and knelt respectfully before the memorial tablets in the middle, the hem of her snow-white dress spreading on the ground.
She knelt, lowering her head in silence.
Yujie stepped forward to take the incense in Shao Wanru’s hands and deferentially put it into the incense burner in the middle.
“Princess Chen, I was wrong. I apologize to you for what happened in the past. For our mansion’s sake, I sincerely hope you can get some consideration for the Marquis Xing’s Mansion. You can do whatever you want to me, but don’t let Old Madam worry about this. She is too old to bear so much trouble!”
Madam Jiang sighed again and stood up with the help of the servant girl beside her.
The servant girl came over to help her get up and supported her in kneeling next to Shao Wanru.
Shao Wanru still didn’t utter a single word. It sounded that Madam Jiang cared so much about Old Madam and did much better in fulfilling her filial duties than Shao Wanru, her biological granddaughter.
Her long eyelashes fluttered, and her eyes were calm and solemn. She took a small wooden fish from Yujie and began to gently knock on it along with the Buddhist chants around her. After living in the Yuhui Nunnery for so long a time, she had learned to beat the wooden fish when chanting a sutra.
Seeing Shao Wanru ignore her, Madam Jiang was not discouraged and continued to say, “Wang Shengxue is not a good person. I found out that when he was in the mansion and intended to drive him away with an excuse. However, I didn’t expect that he would dare to do such a nasty thing and put all the blame on me! Wanru, in this respect, I’m so sorry!” Madam Jiang lowered her head and trembled with emotion.
She looked extremely pitiful.
Nanny Yu stepped forward and whispered in Shao Wanru’s ear, “After Madam returned to the mansion, Old Madam had severely punished her: she was beaten dozens of times by a heavy stick. She still can’t walk by herself.”
Madam Jiang got beaten up by a stick, so she put a thick layer of medicine on her wounds and drank lots of herbal medicine for recovery. The pungent smell of medicine filled the air, and Shao Wanru smelled it as soon as she came. She believed that anyone entering without a stuffy nose would smell it. Such a sharp scent even covered the faint fragrance of incense sticks and candles.
Anyone who had drunk herb medicine knew what this smell was.
“Is Madam Jiang showing her wounds to get sympathy from me?”
“I should have taken all these things as punishment. It’s all my fault. Please forgive me, Wanru… For one thing, I trusted the wrong people. For another, I had my selfish thoughts. These are the causes of recent events!” Madam Jiang cried sadly. Although she said all of this facing the incense table in the middle, she said these words to Shao Wanru.
With a wretched appearance, Madam Jiang couldn’t even stand up on her own feet, but she still came here to pay homage to Shao Wanru’s parents. It was evident that she was sincere enough.
“I took a fancy to you and wanted to adopt you as my daughter. But in the end, I could only take in Qin Yuru. I was depressed then, so I asked Wang Shengxue to teach you a lesson, but I’ve never told him to ruin your reputation. I thought you would come to seek my help if you were scared. Back then, I really wanted you to be my daughter.”
Madam Jiang continued, “When we were discussing this matter, you didn’t officially come back to our mansion. Making full use of this matter could kill two birds with one stone. In any case, if Wang Shengxue did it, I could drive him away, and you would accept me out of gratitude. From my very heart, I hoped you would be my daughter. However, I didn’t envision any changes with that. Later on, I was so occupied that I put this matter aside. To my disappointment, Wang Shengxue worked together with Nanny Sheng to plot against you behind my back…”
Speaking of this, Madam Jiang burst into loud sobs.
“It’s really a good scheme to put all the blame on Nanny Sheng, who is dead already. Nanny Sheng had devoted herself wholly to you, but you made her a scapegoat. Aren’t you afraid she would turn in her grave?”
Shao Wanru, silent and grim-faced, ignored Madam Jiang’s story, which was full of holes, and continued knocking on the wooden fish in her hand.
Ever since she entered here, she saw no outsiders. Only Madam Jiang was here with her as if no one else had come to pay his respects to her parents in the Marquis Xing’s Mansion. But when she came in, she saw guests coming!
“Princess Chen, it’s all my fault. You can punish me in whatever way. I won’t resist even if you want to take my life away. I sincerely hope you can let go of the Marquis Xing’s Mansion. No matter what, I’ll bear the responsibility alone. Please don’t give outsiders any chance to laugh at us!”
While pleading, Madam Jiang moved slightly and turned herself sideways to Shao Wanru. With these excuses she cooked up in advance, she expected Shao Wanru to do something. Even if she didn’t forgive her, she would at least say something. However, Shao Wanru, still appearing indifferent, made no response as if nothing had happened. Things didn’t go as Madam Jiang had thought, which made her a little anxious.
She stared askance at the gauze curtain behind the incense burner table with an increasingly anxious look.
Behind the incense burner table hung layers of gauze curtain. The scene looked sad and desolate.
“Wanru…” Madam Jiang prostrated herself on the ground and moved sideways to one side. However, if she moved further, she would kneel face-to-face with Shao Wanru. It seemed as if she were kneeling to Shao Wanru.
“Madam Jiang, you’d better get up and talk. You are an elder. If you kneel before Her Highness, those who know the inside stories may think you are expressing penitence for all your past actions to the former Heir of Duke Xing and Infanta Qinghua. But those not knowing all of this will think you are kneeling before Her Highness. Princess Chen is reciting the Amitabha Pure Land Rebirth Dharani for her parents with all her heart and soul. If you have anything to say, you should talk about it later!”
Yujie came over to help Madam Jiang get up. She was strong, so Madam Jiang had no choice but to get to her feet.