Chapter 191 - Seen By Mother-in-law
Chapter 191: Seen By Mother-in-law
When Sang Wan and Shi Fengju got off the carriage at the second gate, they noticed specks of snowflakes gradually falling from the sky.
“We’re lucky to be back now. If the snow gets any heavier, it’ll be hard for us to get home!” Sang Wan wrapped her coat tightly around herself and rubbed her hands
“I’m here with you! What’s there to be afraid of!” Shi Fengju smiled and held her hand, “Come, be careful. The floor is slippery!”
Ever since that dream she had, he placed even more of his attention on her for fear of her thinking too much. Whenever he thought about how much she relied on him and how sad she must have been because he left her inside her dream, there was an indescribable feeling in his heart. He felt distressed yet happy at the same time, because she was finally dependent on him and treated him like an actual husband.
“Ah!” As soon as Shi Fengju spoke, Sang Wan almost slipped and fell onto the slippery ground.
“Look at you——” Shi Fengju held her firmly and laughed, “I ended up warning you in vain!”
Sang Wan smiled awkwardly and said, “That’s because they kept making me drink a few cups. Right now, when the wind blows, my head feels a little dizzy.”
Shi Fengju looked around him. There was only Liu Ya and two other servants following them. As such, he lifted Sang Wan up and laughed, “Then don’t drink next time. You’ll only feel unwell if you do! I’ll carry you so that you won’t end up swaying and falling again!”
“No! Put… put me down!” Sang Wan was frightened! They were now inside the household which was still considered a public place! If he carried her and paraded around, people would surely laugh at them if they saw them! How would she continue to manage the servants as the Young Mistress of the Shi household?
“Don’t move about!” Shi Fengju held her tightly with both arms and laughed, “Don’t worry, we won’t bump into anyone at this time! These are all our servants, what are you afraid of? If you move too much, both of us might end up falling. It all depends on you!”
Sang Wan opened her mouth but couldn’t find any words to refute. She gazed bluntly at Shi Fengju with eyes that were as bright as stars and her cheeks blushed even redder. Shi Fengju found her adorable and he lowered his head to give her a light kiss on her cheek, which made Sang Wan even more embarrassed. She let out a soft hum and hit him lightly before leaning against his chest. Shi Fengju chuckled and headed towards Ning Garden1 while carrying his wife.
Liu Ya and the rest pretended as if they did not see anything between the two.
Suddenly, Sang Wan felt her husband stop in his tracks, his muscles tightening. She asked faintly, “Have we arrived? Quickly let me down!”
“Mother…”
The word that Shi Fengju said with a forced smile felt like a crash of thunder by her ear. Her mind immediately went blank and she hurriedly struggled to get down, stumbling as she stood. She was so ashamed that she did not dare to look, “Mother…”
“What… what were the two of you doing!” Wang Shi, who was surrounded by a crowd of servants, returned to her senses and felt a burst of dizziness as she was fairly enraged!
Great, just great, this is just great!
That was her dear daughter-in-law whom she was extremely satisfied with and could not stop praising. But how could this daughter-in-law of hers torment her son like that right behind her back? Did she not have her own feet? Did she not know how to walk? How could she ask her son to carry her in the dark!
If it wasn’t because she was returning late at this hour after bringing several servants to visit her ill daughter in Jiao Garden, she would not have seen such an infuriating scene!
Sang Wan wished she could find a place to hide her embarrassment. She looked down and did not dare to make a sound while secretly complaining in her mind. She was now in trouble, her mother-in-law must be despising her! This was all Shi Fengju’s fault, she would not have ended up in this situation if not for him being carried away on a whim.
Shi Fengju was shocked as well. He was perfectly happy treating his wife nicely and loving her dearly, but they just had to bump into his mother. Really——
Shi Fengju did not know what to do at that moment as he watched Nanny Jiang hold his mother-in-law with a face of displeasure while the rest of the servants, together with Xiu Chun and Xiu Li, were nibbling hard on their lips as they tried not to laugh.
“Mother!” He quickly went forward to hold Wang Shi and forced a smile, “Why has Mother not rested yet at such a late hour!”
“Hmph!” Wang Shi snorted coldly and glared at him fiercely as she secretly scolded him in her heart: You good-for-nothing child! What kind of grown man would play around with his wife like this! Are you not afraid of others seeing you?”
“Mother, Sang Wan drank a little tonight so her head was a little dizzy. I was worried that she might fall, so I…”
“Hm, she drank a little?” Wang Shi said coldly, “Here I thought her legs were lame so she couldn’t walk!”
“Mother!” Shi Fengju frowned and smiled bitterly, “Could you not say such ominous words, it’s still the new year…”
“What? I can’t even make a comment? Does this Mother look objectionable to you?” Wang Shi got even more angry and she shook his hands off before striding forward angrily without glancing at Sang Wan.
“Old Mistress, please slow down!” Nanny Jiang quickly went up to support her while signalling for the rest to keep up.
Shi Fengju seized the chance to pull Sang Wan by her sleeve before saying softly, “Sang Wan, this is all my fault. Please understand. Once we’re back at Ning Garden, you can punish me however you want…”
What is he saying? Sang Wan was angry yet amused at the same time. She glanced at Shi Fengju before keeping up with the rest.
The two of them stood by Wang Shi’s left and right side respectively. Nanny Jiang, Xiu Chun and the rest moved to a side tactfully to make space for them.
“Hmph!” Wang Shi shook their hands away, repulsed, and said, “Why are you still following me? Go back now!”
“Mother, we will walk you back first! Don’t be angry anymore, it isn’t good to spoil your health at the beginning of the new year!” Shi Fengju quickly forced a smile.
“En, Mother…” Sang Wan forced an unnatural smile on her face.
“Hmph!” Wang Shi sneered and said, “Enough! You can stop pretending in front of me! I’m sure you must be secretly complaining about me deep inside your heart! Don’t think that I don’t know!”
“Mother!”
“This daughter-in-law wouldn’t dare!”
Shi Fengju and Sang Wan hurriedly denied. Even though Wang Shi was mad at them, Shi Fengju still held her forcefully while Sang Wan took a lantern from Xiu Chun to light the way ahead as she was not Wang Shi’s daughter.
Wang Shi kept a straight face without saying another word regardless what Shi Fengju spoke.
After they had arrived at the main courtyard, Wang Shi looked at both of them coldly and said, “Alright, stop being an eyesore here and go back now!” That was enough of a show!
“There’s no rush, “Shi Fengju quickly laughed, “We’ll go back once Mother goes to rest. Mother, where did you return from at such a late hour?” As he spoke, he helped Wang Shi into her room. Sang Wan quickly passed the lantern back to Xiu Chun and went forward to help Wang Shi take off her coat.
Seeing that both of them were trying to please her, her anger gradually disappeared. She couldn’t help but sigh when Shi Fengju asked, “Where else would I be other than Jiao Garden? Your big sister was fine before, so how did she fall ill! Ah, all I do as a mother is worry about all of you, when will I get to live my life peacefully!”
“The weather has been cold these past few days, it’s hard not to catch a cold. Mother, don’t worry, Big Sister will be alright.” Shi Fengju quickly smiled and comforted her before asking if a doctor had come to see her.
Wang Shi nodded and said, “The doctor has given her some medicine to take. I only left her side after seeing her take her medicine! From the way I see it, she isn’t simply ill, and when I asked her, she didn’t want to tell me. Hmph, help me ask about it later and see if your big brother-in-law has done something again!”
Shi Fengju nodded his head, “I understand, Mother. This is our home, if Big Brother-in-law ever dares to do anything to Big Sister, I will definitely not let him off!”
Wang Shi frowned and said, “We can’t get too involved since their matters are between them as a couple. Otherwise, it’ll be your sister who suffers!”
“Enough, enough, let’s not talk about it anymore!” Wang Shi waved irritably and said, “I’m going to bed now, so go back quickly! Stop being an eyesore here!”
Shi Fengju laughed, “Then we’ll come back again tomorrow to greet Mother. We’ll be leaving now!”
Wang Shi snorted and looked coldly at Sang Wan, “How are you feeling now? Can you still walk? Do you need me to get you some hangover soup?”
Sang Wan was feeling extremely embarrassed and she hurriedly forced a smile, “Your daughter-in-law… I can walk by myself, I wouldn’t dare to let Mother worry for me…”
Wang Shi let out another snort without saying another word. Shi Fengju and Sang Wan said their goodbyes and left.
Once they were out of the main courtyard, the two of them heaved a sigh of relief. Shi Fengju quickly held Sang Wan’s hands and said regretfully, “Sang Wan, it was all my fault!”
You still have the cheek to say! Sang Wan rolled her eyes at him. However, he did only do so out of kindness, and it was her bad luck to blame as well. Thinking about it, Sang Wan let out a bitter smile and sighed, “I can’t blame it all on you, my luck was bad as well!”
Sang Wan secretly anticipated that she might not be able to enjoy any peace for the next few days. No matter what, she should still serve her mother-in-law tamely until her anger finally subsided.
Shi Fengju quickly smiled and comforted her with a hug, “Don’t take it to heart. If Mother vents her anger on you, once we are back to Ning Garden, I won’t get frustrated at you no matter how much you were to get angry at me!”
“Let go of your hands!” Sang Wan pushed his hands that were around her and said, “Am I such an unreasonable person to you? Why would I make trouble for you out of nothing?”
Shi Fengju laughed, “Yes, yes, my wife is the most virtuous! In any case, it was my fault for causing you trouble! Don’t worry, I will be more careful in the future. “
Sang Wan looked at him and didn’t make a sound. Only that she could feel her blood freezing at the thought of what was to come the next day.
The more Wang Shi thought about it, the enraged she was. Just when she was about to take a sip from her cup, she suddenly slammed it onto the tea table and snorted angrily, “Nanny Jiang, what do you say? Was I too kind as a mother-in-law and spoiled her?”
Nanny Jiang panicked and forced a smile, “Old Mistress, your temper has always been good, and everyone in the household knows! Young Mistress always displays her fullest courtesy towards you and has never made any decisions by herself. Knowing full well about that, surely she isn’t unruly!”
“Are you speaking for her?” Wang Shi kept feeling sour whenever she recalled the scene, and she said, “You’ve seen it tonight! That was her husband! Did she not know that she should always obey her husband as a wife? How.. .how could she torment my son like that? Hmph, she even dared to do that in front of me, who knows what else my son has been suffering behind my back! That child is also another good for nothing. How can he allow his wife to climb over his head?”
The rage in Wang Shi kept burning. That was her son whom she had loved wholeheartedly and been proud of since young. She could never have the heart to let her son suffer and did her best to not inconvenience him. But look at what happened, he actually carried his wife on the long path home on such a late night! If she had not bumped into them, he might have carried her all the way back to Ning Garden!
Whatever next! The son whom she had taken care of wholeheartedly was not to be a drudge for another woman.