Chapter 118: The East Window Incident (Part 1)

  Rong Hua took it over and looked at it, which was the latest volume of the Tao family tree.

  The old lady smiled kindly and said, "Open it and take a look."

  Tao Ronghua flipped to Tao Zheng'an's page, and behind Mrs. Tao's name was clearly written her own name, Tao Ronghua.

  "You and your fifth sister have the same name, originally it was supposed to be you who changed your name but instead it was your fifth sister who did."

  Ronghua lowered her head and went to look at her past life's name again. The Fifth Miss, Tao Ronghua, had indeed been changed to Tao Ronghua. She never could have imagined that her past life would be affected because of her changing her name.

  "Your father was originally inconsiderate, how can the same name be recorded on the family tree? On the day you got married, I took charge and changed the name. You are now a first-class lady of the imperial court, bringing great glory to our Tao family."

  Upon hearing this, Rong Hua's heart skipped a beat. Previously, Tao Zheng'an didn't even bother to change her name, which meant he never considered her, an illegitimate daughter born out of wedlock, as part of the family, let alone think about when she would be included in the family tree.

  The old lady let her see this genealogy today, what does it mean? It's nothing more than wanting her to feel grateful for the kindness of the Tao family.

  Rong Hua raised her head and looked into Old Lady's eyes.

  The old lady's eyes were kind and gentle, "You can't even write two characters for 'Tao', let alone other things. In the future, your brothers and sisters, including Hong Ge, Er Fang, and San Fang, will all have to rely on you to take care of them."

  This was just an opening remark. If she didn't respond, the old lady wouldn't have revealed her intentions so quickly. Rong Hua nodded, "Grandma doesn't say it, I understand."

  The old lady said: "There are some things I don't want to mention to you. You just married into the Xue family, and it's only right that your mother's family should help you at this time. Who would have thought that your father would do something like this?"

  "Is it about what happened with Gu Ying last time?"

  The old lady nodded, "Originally wanted to drag on for a while, but Gu Ying unexpectedly took someone's life and was caught in the yamen. Don't know if Gu Ying will say something random in prison that implicates your father."

  Rong Hua's heart suddenly had a few points of surprise, so it seems that Gu Ying's affair was not arranged by Tao Zheng'an?

  Ronghua said: "Nor does one know when there will be news."

  The old lady shook her head, "Your father went to ask about it early this morning, but there's still no news till now. I'm afraid... you should be mentally prepared, after all, this case was handled by Lord Hou, maybe they'll even question Lord Hou."

  That is to say, if Gu Ying said something, she must tell Xue Mingrui about it.

  Ronghua's expression was somewhat embarrassed.

  "It's not your fault, you've just married in and haven't figured out the master's temper yet. If nothing happens on Gu Yanzhi's side, then there's no need to say anything. But if something does happen, go ask Master Hou what to do about it. Don't say let Master Hou do this or that, some things can be easily handled and will naturally be covered up, while others won't have a solution but will at least have a way out. I've also told your elder sister the same thing, we'll just observe for now and if things really don't work out, we'll come up with a plan together as a family."

  Mrs. Tao's approach left no room for criticism. For her, it was the easiest thing to do, and she had nothing more to say in excuse.

  Besides, even if she didn't ask for Xue Mingrui's opinion, today she hastily returned to her natal family. Although it was said that she came back to see the elder lady, there was another meaning behind it. How could others not notice?

  Ronghua sat in the old lady's house for a while, "There is still something to ask grandmother to help make a decision, originally wanted to talk to mother, but mother is in this state and I don't dare to mention it."

  The old lady smiled kindly and said, "What's on your mind? You can tell me."

  Ronghua said: "The old lady at home asked me to take care of the two estates first, but I don't understand the affairs of the estate. Although my mother also gave me the dowry estate, I didn't understand what was going on inside either. So I thought, can I choose someone from the side room to go to the old lady's two estates and take a look, so that I can understand the meaning inside?"

  The old lady seemed to have thought it through, "Since it's your concubine, you're in charge, let whoever you think is suitable go, just tell them not to embarrass the Tao family. I know you're narrow-minded and never like to make things difficult for others, but sometimes you need to assert your authority. The affairs on the Zhuangzi depend on having a few suitable attendants, it's the same as in the house, you need people by your side to feel at ease."

  The old lady immediately saw through her intention completely.

  Ronghua smiled and nodded in agreement.

  Ronghua was just about to serve the old lady a short rest when a maid came in and reported to Ruiqing, "Sixth Aunt and Uncle are back."

  The old lady smiled and said: "Come in quickly."

  Rong Hua lifted her head and saw Yan Hua and Meng Chun entering the house.

  Upon seeing Ronghua, Meng Chun's delicate white face relaxed slightly, as if she had let out a sigh of relief.

  Yan Hua looked somewhat embarrassed and unwilling, glanced at Rong Hua, then stepped forward to pay respects to the old lady.

  Ronghua also smiled and stepped forward to pay her respects, "Sixth Sister, Sixth Brother-in-law."

  Yan Hua mentioned Mrs. Dai's illness, and Meng Chun hastily said: "Mother asked me to bring some supplements for my mother-in-law."

  Yan Hua's face looked even worse, she raised her eyes and took a glance at Meng Chunzhi, but Meng Chunzhi seemed to have not seen her, and continued speaking on his own: "Mother said let Auntie eat first, if you like it, we can get more from the shop."

  Yan Hua lowered his head abruptly.

  Ronghua asked: "Does Sixth Uncle's family still run a shop like this?"

  The way of Meng Chun: "We've had such a shop at home for a long time, but we never put it up before." After a pause, he said, "I gave some to my mother-in-law and also took some for the old lady."

  The old lady heard this and smiled warmly, "It's hard for you to think of me in everything."

  Rong Hua looked at Yan Hua's face, and Yan Hua, who usually loved to talk, tightly closed her lips, her face becoming increasingly stiff. Then she looked at Meng Chunzi, whose face didn't have the same expression as Yan Hua's.

  Meng Chun looked at the little maid beside him after finishing speaking.

  The little maid hurried downstairs to fetch the gift.

  Rui Qing brought tea from outside and saw that the old lady's face looked strange.

  The old lady kept smiling as she waited for Meng Chun to bring up the gift.

  Box after box of gifts were moved in and piled high on the table, looking like a small mountain from afar. Everyone was more or less surprised, except for Sixth Master and his wife.

  It's just... there are too many.

  This doesn't look like something someone would bring as a gift.

  Rong Hua felt a slight shock in her heart and looked at Yan Hua, whose face sank even lower.

  The old lady still had a smile on her face, "Why did you send me so many, have you put down the ones from your mother-in-law's side?"

  Meng Chun smiled and said, "Don't worry, old lady, the gifts for your mother-in-law are not less than these." Then he looked at Rong Hua, "I don't know what Eighth Aunt likes, so I also prepared a gift for Eighth Aunt."

  It turned out that there was also hers, and the people in the house cast their eyes on Rong Hua, even Yan Hua, who had been lowering her head, looked up at Rong Hua.

  Facing a house full of piled-up things, it's easy to imagine what was prepared for her. Rong Hua smiled slightly, "Then thank you, Sixth Uncle."

  A thick astonishment flashed across Yan Hua's face.

  Meng Chun was blunt, "In that case, I'll have someone deliver it directly to Eighth Aunt's car."

  Ronghua did not refuse, and Meng Chun's face looked even better than when he entered the house. He stood up to apologize to Old Lady, Ronghua and others, "When I came in, I saw my father-in-law, greeted you, Mother-in-law, and then went to talk with Father-in-law."

  The old lady nodded and smiled, "Go"

  Meng Chun left, and Rong Hua also found an excuse to go out temporarily.

  The old lady looked at Yan Hua, who was sitting there more restrained than usual, especially with so many "gifts" beside her, she had never seen Yan Hua like this before.

  "You've spent a lot on me with so many gifts," said the old lady, glancing at Rui Qing.

  Rui Qingling understood and hurriedly went downstairs to fetch the gold ingot.

  The old lady continued: "You've just gotten married, what foundation do you have? I accept your kind intentions, and I'll take the gifts too. However, you must also accept my kind intentions." She then had Rui Qing bring over two gold ingots.

  That gold ingot seemed hot to the touch, Ruan Hua pushed it a few times, but finally still took it over, put away the gold ingot, and bowed her head again, her eyes already red.

  The old lady said, "I think Liu Ge Ye is also very good. You two just need to live a good life and don't think too much about other things. The imperial examination is coming soon, you should urge him to study hard."

  "Grandma, don't worry, I'll talk to him."

  Maybe it was because of those gifts that Yanhua felt uneasy, she stood up and made an excuse, "I'll go take a look at Second Sister." Then she hastily left.

  Yan Hua took people away, the old lady called Rui Qing, "Go and ask, what's wrong with Sixth Miss and Sixth Master? Is there anything going on in the Meng family?"

  Rui Qing said in a low voice: "Just now the servant girl asked some questions, it's roughly that Sixth Miss advocated for introducing some new goods, but they all ended up being stockpiled."

  So they're just giving them away as gifts to the in-laws? Is the Meng family trying to get rid of everything or are they underestimating the Tao family too much? Whatever the Meng family's intentions, she still wants to give those gold bars to Yan Hua.

  No matter whether Meng's family wanted to teach Yanhua a lesson, letting her be more restrained next time, or wanted Tao's family to buy out Yanhua's mistake this time, they have all gone too far.

  If it's the former, the Meng family should have reacted to these gold bars. If it's the latter... Old Lady Tao sighed and had Rui Qing change the tea again, then instructed Rui Qing, "Go ask again to make sure."

  Rui Qing nodded in response.

  Ronghua returned to the old lady's house, and Hongge also came back from the left wing of the temple.

  Originally depressed, Hong Ge couldn't help but smile when he saw Rong Hua and sat down beside her, asking her questions nonstop. At first, Rong Hua was worried that the old lady wouldn't like it, but unexpectedly, the old lady was very supportive of her being close to Hong Ge.

  The three of them - grandmother, mother and daughter - chatted happily for a while.

  The old lady said to Hong Ge: "Your eighth sister is just entering the mansion late and getting married early, otherwise she can really help me take good care of you."

  Ronghua knew it was a joke and couldn't help but curve up her lips.

  A few people were enjoying themselves when Rui Qing entered the house and whispered in the old lady's ear: "Jing Yi Shitai has arrived."

  The old lady's face changed color involuntarily.

  Jìng Yí Shī Tàizhě, that's the abbess who guided several young ladies from large families to cultivate their hair and practice asceticism.

  Last night, I lined up all night and didn't sleep. I was very tired. In the end, I was still cut in line by a ticket scalper... I'm so depressed. Finally, I didn't get an expert number, only a regular one. I wasted a whole night lining up. The security guard didn't care about the ticket scalpers at all.