Chapter 208 - Going Back To Mengxian
Chapter 208: Going Back To Mengxian
When Ren Zhixian saw how she barged into his study room and surveyed every corner, even questioning him, he could not help but turn angry from shame, “How should I know! Maybe some fool took them away when cleaning the room!”
Shi Yumei laughed coldly and said, “Isn’t this place cleaned by Cui Bao? Which means she must be the one who took them away?”
Cui Bao was already feeling very uneasy. Upon hearing Shi Yumei, her knees went weak and she kneeled, “Please don’t be angry. Forgive me, but it isn’t me, it isn’t me!”
“Don’t point fingers without any evidence!” Ren Zhixian signalled Cui Bao to get up. He coughed once and said to Shi Yumei, “Maybe your brother was so vexed that he took them away! Forget them, I’ve always wanted to say this, and I’ll say this now! Since your family dislikes me, then I don’t want to stay here anymore. We’ll pack up and go back to Mengxian in two days!”
“What are you saying!” Shi Yumei threw away the thought of retrieving the things that were lost and said unbelievably, “Go back? Hmph, there isn’t even a place there to stand now, so where do you want us to stay! In what way did my mother and Fengju mistreat us, why are you maligning them!”
Ren Zhixian sneered and said, “They are naturally nice to you, the one they are not happy with is me! I, Ren Zhixian, still have some pride, I’m not going to wait for them to chase me before I leave! You are my wife, of course you have to follow me wherever I go! Hmph, I have many friends in Mengxian, it doesn’t matter which household we stay in temporarily, we’ll slowly find a suitable house there and rent! Hmph, even if I freeze or starve to death, I’m not going to continue to be put up with this resentment!”
“You must be crazy!” Shi Yumei’s body was trembling with anger. In her mother’s house, she was living a very spoilt life again, so why would she want to go back to suffer in Mengxian? But she was the wife of this person in front of her right now. If he wanted to leave, she had to follow him!
“You are the crazy one here! Wake up, this is Shi Household, not Ren Household. We have to go back eventually! In short, I have already decided! Tomorrow, you will tell your mother that we will be leaving in two days!” Ren Zhixian said decisively.
Shi Yumei panicked. She really didn’t want to leave this place! There is everything here, and there was no need for her to worry since her mother and brother would help her to resolve everything. These carefree days did not even last half a year, and she had to return to those messy days again?
Shi Yumei placed down her ego and begged Ren Zhixian while trying to convince him with benefits if they stayed. But would Ren Zhixian listen? That icy cold water poured on him during New Year’s Eve would never be erased from his mind. And what about the servants in their house? After that day of suffering, he had lost all respect and they had started to show signs of disdain towards him. He was infuriated but there was nothing he could do about it. With Cui Bao urging him endlessly, how he wished to return to Mengxian and feel free and contented!
“There’s a way to make me stay, “ Ren Zhixian chuckled coldly after hearing Shi Yumei persuade without stop, “Tell your brother to kowtow to me and apologize with a cup of tea, then I will forgive him and let what happened in the past stay in the past! Then I will remain and let you be filial to your mother, how about that?”
Shi Yumei was dumbfounded, and infuriated as well.
There was no way she’d suggest it to Shi Fengju in the first place and let him suffer from such grievance. Even if she were to suggest it, with his personality, he would definitely refuse to do it!
“You have nothing to say anymore, right?” Ren Zhixian grumbled and said, “If not, then do as I say! Don’t forget to let your mother know about this tomorrow!”
Shi Yumei turned completely stiff. She gritted her teeth and said, “Fine! I was the burdensome one in the first place, I shouldn’t have come back and added trouble for my mother and Fengju!”
Without waiting until the next day, Shi Yumei suggested to Wang Shi about them returning to Mengxian.
Wang Shi was curious and naturally asked why.
Shi Yumei certainly would not say that it was solely her husband’s idea. She came up with an excuse that Mengxian was her husband’s home, and it was only right to return after being away for so long.
Even though Wang Shi would not normally intervene in matters and wasn’t someone who would give too much thought, she was not a fool. Her daughter’s words seemed far-fetched and her complexion looked worse than normal, so she started questioning her. Initially, she thought it must’ve been because she heard some rumors in the household and had some grievances, so she called Sang Wan over to find out which servant had the impudence to speak badly about their masters behind their backs.
Now, things could no longer be kept in the dark. Without any choice, Shi Yumei relayed Ren Zhixian’s request to return without forgetting to exclude all the disgraceful words that he said. Her eyes soon turned red as she thought more about it.
Wang Shi could clearly see her unwillingness to leave, but she remained steadfast in her decision. Wang Shi immediately knew her son-in-law must be the one responsible which made her very unhappy. However, she was unable to bring herself to flare up as her daughter refused to say anything mean about him.
“Since this is what you want, then let’s wait for Fengju to come back first!” Wang Shi could only sigh.
On the same day when Shi Fengju returned home, Wang Shi requested for someone to call him over. Hearing that his big sister insisted on leaving, Shi Fengju said without any further thoughts, “I suppose Brother-in-law must be complaining about the lack of freedom in our household? Since he insists, then so be it. You can pack up and I will have someone send all of you off when you’re ready to leave!”
Shi Yumei froze. Although deep down she felt a little disappointed, she forced a smile and thanked her brother.
However, Wang Shi was unhappy about the decision and complained to Shi Fengju, “How can you speak this way? Do you only have eyes for your wife? Do you no longer care about others?”
Shi Fengju smiled and said, “Mother, Brother-in-law insists on leaving. I presume that Big Sister has already tried to convince him but it did not work. What do you want me to say? Do you want me to kneel down to keep him here!”
Wang Shi snorted and said, “That’s easy for you to say! But back in Mengxian, they have no stable income, no assets, and not even a place to rest their foot. How do you expect them to live their days!”
Shi Yumei was precisely worried about this, and she glanced towards Shi Fengju subconsciously.
“How is that difficult to resolve?” After Shi Fengi heard Wang Shi and his big sister’s words and could somewhat guess what Ren Zhixian was thinking, so he said, “I will ask a head servant to go along and buy a house with two courtyards. As for Brother-in-law, let him study in peace, I will have a servant send some money there as an allowance every month. Big Sister, what do you think?”
“Fenju, I really can’t thank you enough!” The massive worry in Shi Yumei’s heart was finally lifted, and she became elated in an instant.
Wang Shi was feeling better too and she clapped her hands together before letting out a sigh, “That is great! Ai, let’s hope that when he goes back, he will study hard and stop spending all the money on drinks to waste his days away!”
Shi Fengju merely smiled quietly but Shi Yumei became awkwardly stiff.
“In a few days, Third Sister will be marrying out. Why don’t you stay a few days and wait until after she’s married before leaving?” Wang Shi suggested.
However, Shi Yumei merely said, “Third Sister is only marrying as a concubine. There is nothing to be excited about and it makes no difference even if we were present! I think my husband will only become more impatient, so it’s best if we leave as soon as possible!”
Since she had insisted, Wang Shi did not continue. Shi Fengju suddenly remembered the concern that Sang Wan had for Shi Lian and his heart went cold.
Once Ren Zhixian received the Shi family’s response from Shi Yumei, he was secretly gloating to himself and thought that Cui Bao’s idea was indeed a fine one. The Shi family would never ignore the well-being of their eldest daughter! Now, they have a house and a monthly income! Thinking about his past days of enjoyment, and everyone sucking up to him, Ren Zhixian’s face lit up brightly. He could not wait to go back to the Mengxian that he had dreamt of.
When the two came back from Mengxian, they only had a small baggage. Now that they were leaving, their luggages were bloated. Of course, they had clothes, makeup, and other goods to bring back with them now. Wang Shi doted on her daughter, so she prepared several high-quality fabrics, accessories, birdnest, white fungus, ginseng, and so on for them to bring back with them as well. On the next day, Wang Shi took out two large boxes for Nanny Jiang to send over to them.
Shi Yumei was still packing her belongings with Cui Zhu and the two other maidservants. Seeing the things sent by her mother, she quickly received them and thanked Nanny Jiang before saying that she would thank her mother later.
A moment after Nanny Jiang acknowledged and left, Ren Zhixian suddenly came in again. He glanced at the two large boxes but took no notice of them. After all, what was Shi Yumei’s was also his, that included the two large boxes as well. He could very well wait until they returned to Mengxian before taking them for himself to examine closely.
He came to her because he had some questions for her.
“What? If you got something, say it!” Shi Yumei’s expression was dark and she demanded coldly.
Ren Zhixian pulled her to the side and asked, “Did your brother say where he bought our house? How big is the house? Is the furniture already prepared? How about our monthly allowance, did he say how much he’ll be giving every month?”
“You came to ask me this?” Shi Yumei was so angry that her head was throbbing.
“Yes!” Ren Zhixian had already been through so much that he no longer cared about his dignity. Without blushing or any shame, he said, “Aren’t I thinking for you? It doesn’t matter to me because I’m a man. Even if I am in a bad situation, I could just go to my friend’s place but you are different! You are the Eldest Missy of Shi Household, how can you bear experiencing hardship! Finding a good house with a complete set of furniture is all good for you! Furthermore, as the eldest missy of Shi Household, you are entitled to have a portion of Shi Household’s asset in the first place! That isn’t too much to ask for, right?”
“Get out! Now!” Shi Yumei said resentfully, If you really want to know, then ask my brother yourself. You may not trust him, but I do. He won’t mistreat his big sister! I will leave everything to him. If you’re unsatisfied, then do as you please!”
Ren Zhixian laughed coldly and said, “You really can’t tell who’s being good to you!” He said that and left.
After packing for two days, Shi Fengju ordered Head Servant Yu to bring two servants with him to accompany the couple, along with Cui Zhu and Cui Bao, back to Mengxian.
Upon leaving, Wang Shi and Shi Yumei, mother and daughter, could not help but hold onto each other’s hands longingly as they reluctantly bade farewell. Gu Fangzi was still sick in bed, but she ordered Lan Xiang to see them off on her behalf. Even though Gu Fangzi felt it was somewhat a pity since she would have one less person who supported her after Shi Yumei left, but it was not up to her to decide so it was only just a thought.
When the group arrived at Mengxian, Head Servant Yu ordered the coachman to stop at the end of a deserted street in the east side of the town. A servant got off the carriage to undo the lock before driving the carriage in through the side gate.
It was a house with two courtyards, with everything inside already prepared. There were more than ten rooms, more than enough for all of them to stay comfortably.
“All the furniture has already been prepared, and the kitchen servants are also hired. They’re husband and wife, so the man is in charge of looking after the household, and keeping it clean. They will immediately start work tomorrow! Please go in first! This old servant will have the servants move the things in!”