Chapter 55: The Legacy of Disaster (Part 2) Additional Chapter

  Liao sighed, "In theory, you are an unmarried girl, I shouldn't be telling you this. Although I've only been married to your Third Uncle for a short time... Jinghua and Qiu Ge are both very good children. That night, I risked my life to protect the two of them. Later, I got separated from your Third Uncle and Qiu Ge. We were all women and children, and we suffered at the hands of those bandits, but it wasn't to that extent."

  Ronghua knew what Liao meant.

  Miss Ten, if she had really lost her virginity, wouldn't be like this now.

  "Those robbers initially eyed the golden hoop on Jinghua's neck, and after snatching the gold necklace, they were moved by her beauty and had evil intentions. Fortunately, people from the government office arrived later, and we managed to rescue Jinghua and hastily escaped back to our residence," said Liao Shi, who then remembered, "There are some things that only us two mothers should discuss."

  Rong Hua nodded slightly.

  Liao seemed to have some doubts, but still said: "How did you know we were there that night?"

  Rong Hua said, "It was the fourth aunt who came to our house and told me that my aunt was over there. I immediately asked someone to go find people while I rushed over to take a look."

  "Fourth Aunt? Are you referring to the Fourth Aunt in the mansion?" Liao Shi pondered for a moment, her face filled with even more doubt. She had never seen this Fourth Aunt before. Could it be that Fourth Aunt had secretly seen her and gone to seek help from Eighth Miss? But when it came time to rescue her, where did this Fourth Aunt disappear to?

  Liao's expression was unnatural, and Ronghua's suspicion of the fourth aunt deepened in her heart. That night must have been when the fourth aunt deliberately led her over; if she hadn't arranged for someone to find her family beforehand, it would probably have been her who got kidnapped instead of Ronghua.

  Miss Shi's affair was originally known by few people. How could it spread so quickly in the mansion? Liao Shi is not saying anything now, but she must have her own thoughts and plans.

  Rong Hua had just thought of this when he heard Liao Shi ask himself, "I heard that Sixth Miss was almost kidnapped by the thief that night?"

  Ronghua said: "The mansion is saying the same thing, it's just that the thief didn't succeed, it was just a false alarm." The incident of Yanhua being kidnapped might be a coincidence, and besides, Yanhua wasn't actually taken out of the mansion. With the news of the tenth miss spreading around, people didn't pay much attention to Yanhua's matter anymore.

  Liao's heart skipped a beat, this clearly showed that the eldest branch was protecting the sixth young lady. She had previously wanted to rely on the eldest branch to suppress the tenth young lady's matter, but it seemed that the eldest branch was not reliable, she needed to make arrangements early.

  Miss Ten hesitated and told her that fortunately, a young officer later led people to rescue her. When mentioning the person who saved her, Rong Hua noticed an unusual expression on Miss Ten's face.

  Rong Hua thought for a moment, "The matter of Shi Mei, it's just that those who don't know the inside story have spread bad rumors, there must be someone who knows what really happened at the time."

  Liao realized that she had forgotten this matter, and the person who rescued them at that time was the clearest. That person even sent Madame Anguo, her, and Jinghua to the entrance of the Tao residence together. Moreover, there were some things in it that couldn't be told to outsiders. On that night, half of Jinghua's sleeve was still torn off by the person who rescued her.

  In the midst of the commotion, that person repeatedly apologized, but unfortunately, Liao didn't have the energy to pay attention to these things at the time and didn't ask for the person's name.

  Ronghua then said a few words to Liao's wife and heard someone outside say: "The third master has returned."

  Tao Zhengchuan entered the house, and Rong Hua hastily stood up and bowed, "Third Uncle."

  Tao Zhengchuan came out of his elder brother's house, feeling anxious and worried. Especially when his elder brother mentioned Jinghua, he looked at him with an unfriendly gaze and said that they should prioritize the family's reputation. Tao Zhengchuan thought about it all the way but didn't know what to do for the best, nor could he come up with a foolproof plan. Unmarried young ladies like Yunying who had tarnished reputations often ended up unable to get married. Poor Jinghua was also a filial daughter, and he couldn't bear to part with her. Moreover, Liao Shi genuinely treated Jinghua well, so if he were to make any indication in front of his elder brother, he would be unable to explain himself to his wife when he got back. He could only appease his elder brother for the time being and discuss it with Liao Shi when he returned.

  Tao Zhengchuan was worried, entered the house and saw Rong Hua. He remembered that Rong Hua had saved Liao Shi before, and seeing that she was indeed as Liao Shi had said, polite and dignified, he also started to like this eighth niece of his. However, he wasn't good with words, so he just smiled and said: "When you have time, come sit with your third aunt more often."

  Ronghua smiled and replied.

  Jinxiu and Mugen have packed their things, and Ronghua bid farewell and left.

  Tao Zhengchuan indeed mentioned Jinghua's matter to Liao, seeing his wife's unpleasant expression, Tao hurriedly said: "I didn't say anything, I came back to discuss with you."

  Liao coldly snorted, "What does 'big brother' mean? What are you going to do with Jinghua? Send her to a nunnery to become a nun?"

  Tao Zhengchuan was originally a bit stout and when he got anxious, he started sweating profusely. "Don't get angry, big brother didn't say that."

  Liao looked at her husband and said, "Don't get me wrong, you're being overly cautious with me."

  Tao Zhengchuan hastily said: "I'm not back to discuss with you, what ideas do you have in your mind just say it, and see if it can be done." As he spoke, he tucked the quilt corner for Liao again.

  Liao's mother passed away early, and his father was a man who spent all day with books, so he didn't care much about Liao either. Otherwise, Liao's marriage wouldn't have been delayed again and again. After marrying Tao Zhengchuan, although Tao was indecisive, he knew how to be considerate of others. Just this one point made Liao feel contented, and she wanted to spend the rest of her life with Tao, not always living under someone else's roof like now.

  Liao's face could no longer be stern, and his voice softened. "It was still the eighth young lady who reminded me, that night I was in a hurry and didn't think of it either." He said as he expressed his thoughts, "I don't think he looks like an ordinary soldier, seems to have a small position, you try to find out what's going on with that person."

  Although Tao Zhengchuan couldn't refute Liao's words, he still found it difficult to say: "You didn't even ask for the person's name, and last night when the capital's garrison troops came out, how many people were there? To go find just one person, isn't that like looking for a needle in a haystack?"

  Liao's wife didn't let up, "Don't think that I, a woman, don't know anything. The turmoil in the capital is all because of the Imperial Guard Commander's residence. If you're not willing to go and investigate, then I'll ask my sister for help. Don't you want to think about this being a matter of life and death? If we find that person, it will be a great accomplishment, but if we can't find that person, who knows how long the rumors outside will last."

  Tao Zhengchuan said: "You are now just a one-sided love, what if that person already has a family..."

  Liao's eyes widened, "Jinghua is your biological daughter, it's only right that you take care of her marriage... If you don't care and leave Jinghua's matters to the eldest house, who knows what will happen in the future." Liao's eyes reddened as she spoke, thinking about her own situation in the boudoir, not to mention outsiders, even the sisters in the clan would make fun of her.

  Tao Zhengchuan knew what Liao was thinking about, and his back straightened up, "Alright, I'll do as you say, I'll definitely think of a way to find someone."

  Liao smiled with satisfaction, the maids in the house brought tea and retreated, Liao drank the tonic soup, "Sister-in-law means to marry Yao Hua to Lord Hou, but I'd like to talk to my sister..." Liao glanced at Tao Zhengchuan.

  Tao Zhengchuan was unclear about the situation.

  Liao said, "I think Ba Zhinu is very good, and Jinghua gets along well with her too. Ba Zhinu is a kind person, even if she becomes famous in the future, she won't look down on others."

  Tao Zhengchuan furrowed his brow, "This can't be spoken of lightly. Although the eighth young lady is good, she's still a concubine-born child after all. The Hou Mansion won't agree to it. Besides, big brother and sister-in-law have already made it clear that this marriage is for Yaohua," Tao Zhengchuan's face turned iron-gray, seemingly very fearful, "You can't be reckless, or else big brother will blame you later."

  Liao's most hated thing is to see Tao Zhengchuan's wretched appearance, in the future, the first house will become more and more prosperous, I'm afraid that the three houses will be suppressed for a lifetime, this time from Jinghua's matter can be seen, these people are all sacrifices of the first house.

  Liao's thoughts made her more and more anxious, she turned over in bed and ignored Tao Zhengchuan. When she first married into the Tao family, the eldest lady had indeed treated her like a sister. It is said that time reveals people's hearts, and Liao felt more and more that the eldest lady was just using her as a pawn. Rather than working for the eldest branch of the family, it would be better to think about herself. Unfortunately, Jinghua had encountered this situation, and in all these years in the Liao family, there wasn't anyone close to her among her relatives. Now only her eighth cousin, Ronghua, was the most suitable candidate.

  Tao Zhengchuan saw that Liao's family was angry, and hurriedly comforted him, "Don't think about this anymore, even if you go to say it, the Hou Mansion will not agree."

  Liao heard the words of hope and turned around, "Who says it's impossible? Just put the eighth young lady under the name of the madam. Besides, Master Hou had arranged a marriage before."

  Tao Zhengchuan said: "Those are all superficial things, a concubine is just a concubine, it's too forced."

  Liao furrowed her brow; she and Da Fang couldn't confront each other head-on, but there were always ways to stir up waves at the right moment.

  Tao Zhengchuan couldn't figure out what Liao was thinking, "Even if the eighth aunt married into their family, she would still be a member of the main house, what's the difference with the second aunt?"

  Liao's eyes turned white as he stared at Tao Zhengchuan, "How can you not understand? Erniang is the eldest lady's biological daughter and shares the same heart with her. Who else can intervene? But it's different for Bainiang, she's separated from the eldest lady by a belly, and in the future, she won't just rely on the eldest lady. As long as we get along well with her, things will naturally be different."

  Tao Zhèng Chuān finally understood Liao's meaning.

  Liao said: "However, such an opportunity is hard to come by, and I don't know if the eighth young lady has this good fortune."

  ……

  Ronghua came out of the courtyard and happened to meet Chen's mother leading someone who was also in a hurry.

  Rong Hua took a closer look and found that it was a Taoist nun, wearing a Taoist robe, shrinking her head and looking around, seeing Rong Hua immediately smiled and proactively came forward to greet her, "Which... which... is the young lady from the mansion?"

  "This is Eighth Miss."

  Rong Hua recognized her as Ma Dao Po, whom she had met before in Yao Hua Yuan Zi.

  Madam Ma heard that it was Eighth Miss, looked up and down at Ronghua a few times, and immediately showed an unusual expression on her face. She warmly took out a string of Buddhist beads from her sleeve and handed them to Ronghua, "Eighth Miss has a kind face, I'll give this string of Buddhist beads to you!"

  Originally wanted to write more, hehe, too tired, going to sleep.

  Just a heads up:

  Hehe, there will be many things happening again.