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Chapter101: The Main Furen
Notes:
Muqin = mother
Di mu = addressing the main wifeas mother
Atnight, Li Wei Yang swiftly approached He Xian Yuan.
TheYatous lifted the curtains to allow her to enter and then smilingly informed,“Xianzhu, Lao Furen is waiting for you.”
Li WeiYang smiled lightly and without faltering in her steps, she quickly entered.
As LiWei Yang walked in, she saw Lao Furen who was sitting on her chair and wasbeing served tea by Luo Mama. Li Wei Yang gave her blessings after which LaoFuren said smilingly, “Rise. You have sincerity to be here at this hour to seeme.”
Li WeiYang rose and thanked Lao Furen. Lao Furen pointed at the pastries on the sideand said, “Your muqin sent these over in the morning, give them a try.”
Li WeiYang smiled as she walked over and noticed the colorful pastries sprinkled withbits of gold, seemingly very appetizing. She casually picked up a piece,placing it in her mouth and involuntarily praised “The taste is veryrefreshing, what is this called?”
Lao Furen smiled without saying a word, Luo Mama said “Xianzhu, these are goldencakes, Da Furen made these with her own hands. They are refreshing and fine,both appetizingly sweet and sour. Lao Furen really enjoys eating them.”
Momentslater, Li Wei Yang recollected the taste and asked, “These are made withhawthorns?”
Luo Mamanodded and said “Da Furen has sincerity, Lao Furen recently caught a cold anddidn’t have the appetite to eat anything, and these are perfect!”
Li WeiYang smilingly said “Muqin has put in a lot of effort, it is a blessing thatLao furen has such a great daughter-in-law.”
Herwords and laughter didn’t reveal even a slight bit of her true intentions.After she finished speaking, she walked to the side and took the teacup andbrought it to Lao Furen. Lao Furen watched how respectful and humble she was,she didn’t utter a word and drank a sip before she slowly smiled and said “Sucha great yatou, yet you are here doing trivial things for me, such a waste.”
Li WeiYang said quickly “What rubbish is Lao Furen saying, sun nv is clumsy so Idon’t even know if I am doing everything well. If I can be as intelligent asmuqin, I would have prepared some snacks and sent them over every day.”
LaoFuren smiled, “Look at the words coming from your mouth, I can’t pinpointanything bad from them and they always make me happy.” After she finished thissentence, her smile vanished and she began to speak with a straight face:“There is something I have to speak with you today.”
Li WeiYang knew this was coming yet her face didn’t show any trace of her thoughts“Lao Furen, please go ahead.”
LaoFuren gave her two glimpses and then gradually said: “Why Jiang Yue Lan wasmarried into the family, we both know exactly the reason behind this. I haveonly one thing to say, since she married into the Li family, I will treat heras my family. Observing her now, she is definitely an intelligent person, shehandles everything well and knows what to prioritize. We certainly didn’t takein a bad daughter-in-law.”
Li WeiYang listened carefully as she had thought that according to rationale, JiangYuelan was forced onto them by the Jiangs and so Lao Furen felt only disgusttowards her. But looking at the situation now, it was evident that JiangYuelan’s schemes were not average. She was able to make Lao Furen see her in adifferent light.
LaoFuren watched as she listened attentively, she slowly revealed a smile andsaid, “I do care a lot about you so I am telling you this now. Min Zhi isgetting fatter these past two days?”
Althoughthey were just talking about a different topic, the conversation changed to MinZhi. Li Wei Yang pretended to not notice and only slightly smiled, “Min Zhi isdoing great, and it’s all because Lao Furen has looked after us.”
LaoFuren calmly chuckled, “He is my grandson and also very lovable. I would, ofcourse, wholeheartedly care about him.”
Li WeiYang’s face showed her usual smile yet her heart had been sealed by everlastingice, her back unconsciously straightened.
LaoFuren carefully observed her and then her usual harmonious expression returned,she softly said: “You are a great child, but sadly you weren’t born from afuren or else you would have an auspicious future, and even becoming thecrowned princess would have been a possibility. Min Zhi is also like this, eventhough he is born from a yiniang, your father and I have loved him as if he wasborn from the furen to prevent him from suffering pain in the future. So, we’vealready discussed this, we are going to let him be raised under Jiang Yuelan’scare.”
Whilelistening to this, Li Wei Yang already saw this coming but she still showedshock on her face.
“WeiYang, what I’m doing is all for Min Zhi, I’ve already held you up, I can’t letanother good child be held up.” Lao Furen watched her as she continued, “Afterall, Min Zhi is my grandson, and I will not let him suffer. Under JiangYuelan’s care, if she is even one bit negligent, I will not let her offeasily!”
Li WeiYang knew this very well, if Jiang Yue Lan took the child and didn’t care forhim attentively or something bad happened, Lao Furen, who only has this maleheir left, would not let her live! From a normal person’s perspective, to beunder the di mu’s care seemed to be certainly better than to be under the careof a yiniang. But because of this, Min Zhi will be held captive by JiangYue Lan. Whatever she does, the first thing she would have to consider was ifMin Zhi would be affected, that wouldn’t be a good thing! However, Li Wei Yangcouldn’t tell Lao Furen the truth since Lao Furen only thought about hergrandson being raised under the di mu which is equivalent to being the son ofthe di mu and beneficial for his future!
Li WeiYang smilingly said, “Wei Yang of course understands Lao Furen’s goodintentions.”
LaoFuren questioned, “About Qi Yiniang ---“
Li WeiYang smiled softly: “Qi Yiniang will understand and definitely wouldn’t haveany opinions towards Lao Furen’s decision. Lao Furen, rest assured.”
Seeinghow Li Wei Yang simply agreed, Lao Furen was extremely ecstatic, she spoke:“Don’t you worry, whether it’s you or Min Zhi, I won’t sit back and let othersbully you.”
Li WeiYang expressed her gratitude, “Thank you Lao Furen, the person we can rely onis only you.”
LaoFuren’s gaze fixated on her wrist before she nodded towards Luo Mama. Luo Mamaimmediately walked over to the side and brought out a jewelry box.
Once thebox was opened, there was a bracelet put together with eighteen pearls and twoimperial jaded beads inside. From one glance, it was easy to know that thesewere invaluable items. Lao Furen hung the bracelet onto the edge of Li WeiYang’s blouse and smilingly said: “This was one of the pieces that accompaniedme when I married into the family. As I age, I can’t find any occasions to wearthis, so I want to gift it to you, Wei Yang, do you understand my intentions.”
Li WeiYang whispered: “Wei Yang understands.”
LaoFuren gently said: “You are the one that knows better.” She stopped for asecond, “Oh, even though Jiang Yuelan is young, she is your muqin, even if shedoes something wrong, you should let her have her way.” She continued, “Ofcourse, as long as I am alive, I will not let her start any troubles!”
Li WeiYang lightly smiled without saying anything. Lao Furen nodded and said: “Good,go back and rest.”
Once shestepped out of the He Xiang Yuan, she saw Jiang Yue Lan and Li Chang Le strolledover together. Seeing Li Wei Yang, Jiang Yue Lan smiled and looked at her, “WeiYang is here as well, if I would have known earlier, then we would have cometogether.”
LiWei Yang smilingly said: “Yes, I didn’t know muqin and dajie would come here. I’vejust tried muqin’s golden cakes, they were very delicious.”
JiangYue Lan nodded and smilingly said: “If you like, I can send some over to you.”
LiWei Yang spoke: “I wouldn’t dare to make muqin any busier.”
LiChang Le seemed to show a forced smile on her face so it was difficult to readher true inner thoughts.
“It’snot much trouble.” Jiang Yue Lan smiled and suddenly said: “I’ve already hired anew wet nurse for Min Zhi, I wonder when he can be brought over to me?”
LiWei Yang’s brows knitted tightly together yet her smile was still warm, “This …Qi Yiniang said, for the past two days, he has been constantly spitting outmilk, I must wait a while before I can bring him over to muqin.” Her expressionwas humble but Li Chang Le, who was standing on the side, felt that Li Wei Yang’ssmile was cold and consciously took a step behind Jiang Yue Lan.
JiangYuelan didn't make it hard for her and only smilingly said: “I have lots ofbrothers and sisters at home, it’s inevitable for babies to spit out milk. Ifit doesn’t get better in a few more days, there is no harm in letting me giveit a try.” As she spoke, she held onto a yatou’s hand and walked in.
LiChang Le watched Li Wei Yang, her eyes were indefinitely murky.
On thestep, Jiang Yue Lan turned her head and warmly said: “Chang Le!”
LiChang Le answered with a “yes”, gave Li Wei Yang a side glance and then quicklystrolled forth. Jiang Yue Lan happily grabbed her hand as both closely walkedin.
Bai Zhidisparagingly said: “A dog biting others on the strength of its master!” Shewas talking about Li Chang Le.
LiWei Yang smiled: “Yes, she used to constantly bark at others, now that she’sbecome quieter, I am not used to it.”
It wasmidwinter season and the days became dark quicker. As the day approachedsunset, the skies were already dark.
On thatday, heavy winds stopped and the whooshing sounds could no longer be heard.There remained quietness amidst the darkness. In such a soundless world, thenight colors seemed darker. If it wasn’t for the candlelight seeping throughthe edges of households, the entire capital would have been covered withdarkness. And it was this darkness that made Li Wei Yang’s candle-lighted roomseem brightly lit.
Underthis candlelight, Li Wei Yang smiled as both of her hands were held over theheater. There were already four pans of heater that had been burning red in herroom but her body temperature hadn’t become any significantly warmer, which showedhow cold it was outside.
She hadjust returned from Li Xiang Yuan.
Now, shewatched Qi Yiniang as she used a rattle drum to make little Min Zhi laugh andcouldn’t help but let out a sigh.
LittleMin Zhi opened his pair of clear black eyes and curiously turned his head as hewatched his sister from a distance. Tan shi smiled as she caressed his head andshe showed an expression that conveyed the feeling that everything was okay nowthat she had a son.
In thissolitary evening, the three of them had already been absorbed into anotherworld with such warmth and comfort. Tan shi felt odd satisfaction but she knewthat this kind of tranquility had been fought for by her daughter. If shedidn’t have Wei Yang’s protection, she would never have such days so sheexpressed her gratitude towards heavens for blessing her with such anintelligent and courageous daughter. It’s only that today Wei Yang’s wasn’t in agood mood and it seemed really bad.
Tan shilooked at her son who was blowing bubbles and then looked at her daughter, whowas deep in her thoughts. She smiled, rose and walked to the side. She bent topick up a pair of tongs and grabbed the ashes in the fire pan as a scent wasreleased.
Bai Zhismiled as she went to take a hold of Tan shi’s tongs. Tan shi shook her head toindicate she wanted to do it herself, Li Wei Yang smiled: “Smells nice! Smellslike roasted potatoes!”
Tan shismilingly said: “I know you like to eat this, I just buried two within the pan,now it’s ready.” As she spoke, she placed the roasted potatoes in the pan; BaiZhi had already washed her hands beforehand to help Li Wei Yang peel the skin.Li Wei Yang actually shook her head and said: “Just bring them over.”
Bai Zhihurriedly smiled and consented, her hands held onto the red potatoes whose skinhad already been split opened and brought them to Li Wei Yang.
LiWei Yang wasn’t afraid of them being hot and quickly peeled off the skin of thepotatoes. The candlelight in the room was well-illuminated and revealed thesweet scent of the red potatoes.
Tan shismiled and summoned a few yatous over: “Come here.”
Zhao Yuewas the first one to react but she looked at Li Wei Yang and her legs didn’tmove an inch. Li Wei Yang smiled: “Go ahead.”
Yatousmerrily sounded, Zhao Yue, Bai Zhi, and Mo Zhu all gathered around the fire panand began to search inside for red potatoes and chestnuts. As Zhao Yue ate, sheconstantly touched her ear; it was evident that it was very hot.
Theatmosphere in the room was very relaxing and warming. Li Wei Yang watched andsuddenly stopped eating and her gaze fell on her young brother Min Zhi, who hadhis eyes open and gaped at everyone with curiosity.
Tan shi noticed her absent-mindedness and smilinglyordered: “Bring all these things out and share it amongst yourselves.”
Theyatous stared at one another and then simultaneously looked towards Li Wei Yang.Li Wei Yang nodded and they happily thanked Tan shi. They quickly dug out thefood in the fire pan, carried them on a tray, and then carefully left.
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Translator:Erie
Editor:S J and Anike
Previous:Chapter 100 Part 2
Next:Chapter 101 Part 2
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