Chapter 11: Distant Allies and Nearby Enemies

  "This gift is not just from you," said Fu Mu, as the senior maid Bai He presented the gift list to Su Ying, "There are two inkstones left by Old Master Hou and several calligraphy paintings. Uncle Shu is a literary person, he likes this."

  Su Ying took the gift list, didn't need to look carefully, just looking at Mrs. Chen's tangled and heartbroken expression on the opposite side could tell that this time the old lady had spent a lot of money, for whom, it was naturally possible to guess.

  Su Ying's heart remained calm and unruffled, her face a picture of obedience as she bowed to Fu Mu: "I'll have my brother-in-law thank you for me, Mother."

  Mrs. Chen felt a pang in her heart as she watched Fu Mu add the antique calligraphy and painting to Su Ying's collection, and when Su Ying accepted it without hesitation, she grew even more anxious, "Elder sister, actually..."

  Fu's mother took over the conversation, her eyes staring straight into Su Ying's, smiling: "It's not a big deal, but it's just a matter of lifting your hand. The second master is now studying hard and plans to take part in the autumn examination. Although he has some confidence in passing, if he can get guidance from a wise person, it will be half the work with twice the result. That's why I thought of Uncle Fu, whose writing skills are top-notch, and who has been promoted to the position of National University Libationer, guiding the second master is not a problem at all. And in the future, when the second master passes the exam, he will naturally not forget Uncle Fu's help. Besides, our two families are relatives by marriage, so we should be helping each other out."

  Su Ying couldn't help but feel amused, she didn't expect them to shift their attention to her maternal uncle's family. Moreover, from the tone of the conversation, it seemed that if Fu Er Lao Ye were to fall out of favor in the future, they would push all the blame onto her maternal uncle's family.

  No wonder he was willing to spend so much money.

  After some thought, Su Ying naturally wouldn't take on this unpleasant task herself; however, she could push the very talented Fu Xueyang to Su Jiu's place, and let him thoroughly examine her, which would also be a good thing.

  She thought for a moment, then smiled and said: "This is not a difficult task, but as a woman, how can I give orders to my brother's family? Besides, it would be more appropriate if my younger brother took the name card of our old master and went to my elder brother's mansion in person. On the one hand, it shows sincerity, on the other hand, it is more proper."

  Hearing Su Ying say this, Madame Chen was naturally dissatisfied: "Elder sister is so petty, with you as a younger sister having a say, plus the good gifts from Old Lady, how could Uncle not agree?" As soon as she said this, the room became somewhat quiet.

  Su Ying could clearly see the change in Fu Mu's expression, sitting in the upper seat, her anger and frustration at Chen Furen's wrong words, but soon recovered naturally, with a hint of blame, smiled: "Don't listen to your brother's sister nonsense, she is also eager to be good, you are right, before I thought wrongly, but this matter..."

  Su Ying smiled and said, "Why don't I mention a few words to my mother, and let her and big brother discuss it briefly. If we say too much, it won't be good. The key is still up to little uncle. If he learns from what old lady said, big brother will naturally be happy to give him guidance."

  Such a result is considered satisfactory. Fu Mu smiled and nodded, without mentioning the rotten things that happened in Zhengyuan again, and let Su Ying leave.

  "Aunt?" Mrs. Chen was extremely dissatisfied, but after being glared at by Fu Mu, she shrank her neck and muttered: "I'm also doing it for Xu Yang's own good, Eldest Sister is clearly unwilling to see Xu Yang do well, doesn't want the second household to rise, what did I say wrong?!"

  "Alright, just a few less words." Madame Fu rubbed her brow, but in her heart she also felt that Madame Chen wasn't entirely wrong. This daughter-in-law of the Su family had too big of a temper and was too difficult to control. Nowadays, she didn't even put her mother-in-law in her eyes anymore, which wasn't what she wanted to see.

  However, she looked at Chen's wife who was still complaining. This niece was stupid and not a match for Su. However, being stupid also had its advantages, and at most, she would just have to spend more effort teaching her.

  Su Ying took the gift list given by Fu Mu back to the main courtyard and immediately ordered Lu Hui: "Get ready, I'm going back to my mother's house for a visit."

  "Add the white jade Guanyin statue from the warehouse to the gift list." Su Ying suddenly said as she turned around to open the warehouse, mentioning this white jade Guanyin statue brought up another annoying matter. This was actually given by Fu's grandmother when she was still alive, with an extraordinary quality and value worth a city.

  Fu's mother had hinted several times that Su should offer the white jade to her, but after being refused, she became angry and humiliated. For many days, she made Su stand in her courtyard, following rules, even making Su, the mistress of the marquis' manor, do chores like beating the dust off curtains.

  What a kind and gentle mother-in-law.

  Su Ying tapped her hand on the gift list given by Fu Mu, such a big sincerity, what should she use to return the gift?

  ……

  Unlike the Fu family who valued wealth and power, the Su family had a long tradition of valuing education and literature, with a depth and elegance that the Fu family couldn't match.

  Currently, the highest official in the Su family is Su Wen Zheng, Su Ying's father, who holds the position of Left Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Office of Scrutiny for Officials, responsible for supervising and impeaching officials, as well as handling major cases and evaluating officials. Next is Su Ying's older brother, Su Shen, a fourth-rank official serving as the Libationer of the Imperial Academy, in charge of university laws and teaching examinations.

  Madam Su had two sons and one daughter, Su Ying was the youngest in the family and also the legitimate daughter, younger than her second brother Su Yin by a generation. She was loved by her family since childhood and raised like a precious gem.

  Now she returned home, several sisters-in-law personally came to the front of the hanging flower gate to welcome her. They went to see Old Lady Su first and chatted with her for a while before being escorted to Madame Su's upper house. The sisters-in-law knew that the mother and daughter had private matters to discuss, so they exchanged a few pleasantries and excused themselves.

  Madam Su hugged Su Ying tightly and said, "You've lost so much weight!" Tears streaming down her face: "If you hadn't come back, I was going to send your sisters-in-law to the Hou residence to visit you. Now that I see you're in good spirits, much better than before when you were bedridden, I can finally rest assured."

  Su Ying's nose turned sour, and she rushed into Madame Su's arms, wailing loudly. She cried so hard that she couldn't catch her breath. Madame Su's heart skipped a beat, and she hastily dismissed the maids in the room. The nanny in front of her understood implicitly and chased everyone away, standing guard at the door to prevent anyone from approaching.

  Su Ying sobbed and told Su Furen: "When my daughter was at home, she was in good health and rarely got sick. How could it be that after marrying into the Hou Mansion for two years before Old Master's passing, there wasn't a single message? And even after the mourning period passed, my daughter's belly still didn't show any signs of movement."

  "My daughter thought there was something wrong with her body, so for the past two years she's been going to all sorts of doctors and taking medicine everywhere, almost as if taking medicine was eating a meal. Finally, after much difficulty, we received good news, but then unexpectedly had a miscarriage in less than two months. At that time, my daughter was so angry that she wished she could follow the child who had no fate to be born. Who knew that heaven wouldn't let me off so easily and instead made my daughter discover the reason!"

  Su Ying's hand was clenched tightly, her little finger's nail turned white and broke off at the root, and a blood bead seeped out immediately. She didn't feel it at all, but the hatred in her eyes made Mrs. Su look frightened.

  He hastily pulled up her hand, slowly prying open the clenched fingers to reveal several deep fingernail marks on her pale palm, almost piercing the skin. His heart ached unbearably, "Don't say anything else, good girl!"

  "Mother, my daughter is so resentful! What have I owed the Hou family that she would go to such great lengths to harm me and my child? He's her own grandson too!" Su Ying was like a madwoman, pounding her belly and then woodenly embracing it as she fainted into Madame Su's arms.

  Mrs. Su hugged Su Ying and stroked her back again and again, the protruding bones made her unbearable heartache, tears dripping down.

  After being the mistress of the Su family for so many years, Madam Su's decisiveness was not something that Su Ying could match. She comforted Su Ying who had fainted from crying, personally applied medicine to Su Ying's fingers, wiped away her tears and gritted her teeth, recalling how she had clenched her jaw when Fu Mu came.

  At that time, Mrs. Su was very dissatisfied with this marriage, but since it had been settled, there was no room for change. Before the wedding, when she went to the Hou Mansion to measure the main house, Madam Fu was evasive and unwilling at first, and the old servant sent by Mrs. Su returned dejectedly on her first attempt. It wasn't until Mrs. Su took matters into her own hands and personally visited the elder of the Fu family that Madam Fu reluctantly handed over the main house.

  Now that I think about it, there were already signs back then. This greedy and vicious old woman! Her spoiled daughter didn't marry into their family just to be bullied by this old woman for nothing!

  ……

  When Su Ying returned to the Hou Mansion in the afternoon, she couldn't help but look at Mrs. Su with some distress as she was moving precious medicinal materials for nourishment and health from the warehouse into carts like flowing water, while the housekeeper's wife stood by with a smile on her face.

  Su Ying pushed Su Furen, who was very generous and patted Su Ying's hand, lowering her voice to say: "Don't worry, our Su family is not easy to bully. Whatever you want to do, go ahead and do it. Even if the sky falls, the entire Su family will help you hold it up."

  Su Ying lowered her head to hide the tears that suddenly welled up, pursed her lips, raised her head and straightened her back. The spirit in her eyebrows and eyes was exactly like Su's wife, "Daughter has her own measure, won't let mother down."

  Sitting in the carriage on the way back, Su Ying appeared calm on the surface, but her heart was restless.

  [System, come out, I have something to ask you.] Su Ying rarely took the initiative to find the system, but there were some things she hadn't noticed at first before, and now no matter what, she had to ask clearly.

  "Hey, did you suddenly think of me? The metallic voice seemed to be lazy and let out a yawn, sounding particularly discordant, then changed to a cheap tone, "Don't you feel like it's been three autumns since we last met? Don't you feel particularly nostalgic for me?"

  Hehe, I really miss you! Su Ying said word by word, not waiting for the system to react to "hehe" and get angry, and continued: Is there nothing you want to tell me on your own initiative? She deliberately rubbed her red and swollen palm.

  No! The system's response was quick and sounded very serious and sincere.

  Su Ying sneered, "Believe it or not, I'll go back and put a knife in my backpack?"

  The system finally decided to say something.

  (^^) Darling clear sky? Moon