Chapter 269 To Jinling

After hearing Hualan's question, Mrs. Sheng was stunned for a moment.

Going to Jinling?
That is the current residence of Marquis Yongyi.

Ever since she lost contact with the Xu family, she has never been there again, and rarely keeps in touch with her old friends there.

When Mrs. Li Xu sent the message, Mrs. Sheng had to think carefully. Was this the woman's original intention, or was she instructed by the Xu family of the Yongyi Marquis' Mansion?

Minglan and Rulan, the two tactful ones, left first.

Hualan waited for a while, and seeing that her grandmother still hadn't made up her mind, she tentatively asked:
"Grandmother, why don't you go and take a look? Just think of it as visiting an old friend and accepting Li Xu's thank-you gift. Don't take the initiative to go to the Marquis's territory."

Hua Lan's words were also well thought out.

If this was really done intentionally by the Xu family, then when they arrived in Jinling, the Xu family, as the local tyrant of Jinling, would definitely know the news first.

Whether they will fulfill their long-cherished wish and reconcile, or just forget each other, it all depends on how my grandmother and the Xu family go.

Anyway, Hualan felt that her grandmother should go back and visit.

It's not that the family has to shamelessly cater to others, but people are homesick as they grow old. Hualan thought that she must let her grandmother see the old scenes that she experienced in her childhood again.

As for what will happen with the Xu family, no matter what the final outcome is, the future will be cut off by my grandmother's generation.

However, Hualan did not force Grandma Sheng to make a choice immediately. She just listened at the door for a while. Seeing that her grandmother did not respond, she said goodbye and went back to her room.

"Well, let's go to Jinling."

Finally, after thinking it over, Old Madam Sheng said:

"I'm afraid this is my last trip to Jinling. I have to visit my old friends after all."

It is not easy to go on this long journey, and there may never be another one in this lifetime. Old Mrs. Sheng feels that she should go and take a look.

Regardless of whether Li Xushi had persuaded the Xu family to give in through her words or they had no idea about the matter at all, Mrs. Sheng felt that she had a clear conscience and had nothing to be afraid of.

"Hey!" Hua Lan responded immediately and cheerfully.

After returning to the room.

She first asked Caizan to go to Ruolan and Minglan's room to ask, and received a reply from them that they also wanted to go to Jinling together.

This is not surprising.

After all, it’s rare for these two sisters to come out, so naturally they want to see everything new.

After deciding on the candidate, Hualan asked Cuichan to go to Changqing and ask him to prepare the carriage.

The round trip journey between Jinling and Youyang takes only one day by car, so there is no need to consider water transportation.

Day two.

The morning light is faint.

There was a little mist in the air, which seemed to be covered with a thin veil through the rising sun.

At the gate of Sheng Mansion.

The carriage is ready.

Sheng Wei and Li, Chang Wu and Kang Yun Er, and sisters Shu Lan and Pin Lan came out to see them off.

"Mother was so happy after she solved Shu'er's problem yesterday that she accidentally caught a cold and is now sleeping in the house." Sheng Wei said apologetically.

"It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter."

Old Madam Sheng nodded in understanding:

"We are only going to Nanjing to visit friends. We will be back in a few days and will go directly back to Bianjing by then. There is no need to rush to see you off this time."

"Yes!"

On the carriage to Jinling.

Minglan and Rulan were happily talking about what interesting things they had heard about in Jinling.

Amidst the laughter and joy, Old Lady Sheng looked worried.

"Grandma, are you worried about our great-grandmother's health?" After Hualan exchanged a few words with the chattering Rulan, she saw that Grandma Sheng looked worried, so she asked.

Old Madam Sheng nodded slowly and said with a worried look:
"Your great grandmother has always been in poor health, but she looked energetic because she was breathing freely. Now that Shulan's problem has been solved, she can breathe freely again.

And I happened to be sick today..."

Illness can be devastating, and it’s especially so for older people.

Since Old Madam Shengda fell ill at such an unexpected time, it was natural for her to think too much.

Minglan also came over at this time and comforted her:
"Grandmother is a lucky person, and she won't get any serious illness."

"Yep!"

Rulan responded a few times and said:

"We are going to Jinling. When we return to Youyang, we can ask a few famous doctors to take us to Youyang to help my great-grandmother with her medical treatment."

"That's not necessary."

After hearing her granddaughter's filial piety, Old Lady Sheng felt a little happier:
"You two can be so kind-hearted. It will be more helpful to your great-grandmother than having anyone else come to see her for treatment."

Old Mrs. He is an expert in gynecology. She has treated Old Mrs. Shengda countless times. Old Mrs. Shengda's condition was so bad that it was difficult to recover.

How long you can live depends on luck.

In order to take care of Mrs. Sheng's health, the carriage was not moving fast.

Move forward slowly all the way.

By the time we arrived in Jinling, it was already past noon.

Jinling City is one of the few cities in the Great Zhou that can be compared with Bianliang, and it is home to many dignitaries and wealthy merchants.

Therefore, once you enter the city gate, it is no longer as quiet and deserted as Youyang, but the surroundings are suddenly bustling, with an endless stream of street vendors appearing on the roadside.

It was a lively and noisy place.

No one in the group had lunch.

So as soon as she entered the city, Rulan clamored to find the best local restaurant to fill her stomach.

However, he was immediately interrupted by Old Lady Sheng.

"I have a house here, let's stay there first."

This was the arrogance of the only daughter of the Yongyi Marquis in the past. Although she had not been in Jinling for many years, there were still people taking care of that house.

Under the leadership of Mother Fang, the convoy drove all the way to the most prosperous area in Jinling City.

After traveling for a whole incense stick of time, the carriage finally stopped at the gate of a house with three entrances and three exits.

Mother Fang led a few old ladies to knock on the door and identify the person.

Old Lady Sheng, Hua Lan and others got off the car one after another.

Looking at the familiar house in front of her, Old Lady Sheng recalled the past and said to her granddaughters:
"This yard was given to me by my father. Now that I think about it, I have only lived in it a few times in the past few decades."

These decades, since she married into the Sheng family.

soon.

Mother Fang then brought out the steward who had been in charge of the mansion.

He is an old steward with white hair and beard.

As soon as he saw Old Madam Sheng, he immediately stepped forward to pay his respects, with tears in his eyes and calling her "girl", obviously he was also the old marquis's servant son who was married to Old Madam Sheng as a dowry.

It's just because of this house that it has been kept here.

I don’t know if it was because the scene brought back sad memories, but tears began to well up in Mrs. Sheng’s eyes.

The servants began to clean up the house and move things around.

After this circle, a day has passed.

Li Xu's location in Jinling was mentioned in the letter she sent earlier.

But Hualan would naturally not come in person.

We also need to give the Xu family, who have already learned of the situation, some time to react.

So, Hualan asked Changqing to deliver a letter to Li Xu's house, informing her of the location of Old Lady Sheng's house, and then quietly waited for her to come. At the same time, Old Lady Sheng also took her three granddaughters to visit friends everywhere.

Old Madam Sheng had many old friends in Jinling, most of whom were family members of high-ranking officials, and most of them were grandmothers.

Every time they visited, there would be a whole family around to chat with them, which made Ruolan and Minglan feel quite uncomfortable.

When visiting someone's home, it is natural to take the initiative to introduce yourself.

But Jinling is different from Youyang. The gateway here has a high status and is well-informed.

As time went by, the identity of Hualan as the wife of Marquis Pingyang gradually began to spread in Jinling City.

This meant that in addition to Mrs. Sheng’s close friends, many ladies who had received the news but were not familiar with her also began to take the initiative to visit Mrs. Sheng’s residence.

The thing Hualan was most worried about along the way finally came true in Jinling, the last stop of this journey.

Everyone who comes and goes is a guest, we can’t just turn them away.

As a result, for a while, there was a constant stream of guests in front of Old Lady Sheng’s house, and it felt like the house was full of distinguished guests.

The Mansion of Marquis Yongyi.

In the main hall of the Xu family.

The contemporary Marquis Yongyi and his wife sat upright in their chairs, their faces as gloomy as water.

"You haven't been here for such a long time, and now you're here you're making such a big noise. Are you trying to demonstrate to us?"

Although the Mansion of the Marquis of Yongyi is now in decline, compared with the prosperous military families and the nobles of Bian Jing, the Mansion of the Marquis of Yongyi still has some status in Jinling.

Therefore, all the noise made by Old Lady Sheng reached the ears of Marquis Yongyi without any leakage.

“If it’s not a demonstration, then what is it?”

The wife of the Marquis of Yongyi had silver-white hair and a bad complexion:
"I've already told you not to do this. It's just saving the wife and children of a Chamber of Commerce manager. Why are you still asking me this?"

"We still have the Yang family..." Marquis Yongyi replied in a deep voice.

"How can it be a face? After all, it's not her own blood, how can she ..."

"All right!"

Marquis Yongyi immediately interrupted his wife, not wanting her to continue. He frowned and said:

"No matter what, she is a member of my Xu family and my sister. Even though we had so many unpleasant things in the past, her last name is Xu after all!"

"If you hadn't said that, I would have thought her last name was Sheng." The wife of Marquis Yongyi muttered softly.

However, she didn't want to further anger her husband, so she just tasted it briefly.

After thinking for a moment, she said:

"Why not let that child-bearing family go to the house to express their gratitude earlier? We don't have to watch the grand scene over there. Otherwise, once she claps her hands and leaves, we will be laughed at for a long time behind our backs..."

She had reasons for her complaints.

After all, the more lively things were going on at Old Lady Sheng's place, the more embarrassed Marquis Yongyi felt.

Marquis Yongyi finally sighed.

"Go ahead. Let her come to our house tomorrow. There's no need to say anything about coming to visit our house. If she wants to come, don't stop her."

After saying this, Marquis Yongyi stood up and was about to go out.

Seeing this, the wife of the Marquis of Yongyi stretched out her hand to stop him:

"Where are you going? Aren't you waiting to see me at home?"

"I went to the military camp outside the city for training and disappeared."

Marquis Yongyi kept walking, and his voice came into the house from outside:
"Even if she wants to come back home, I'm afraid she just wants to see her father's tablet and burn some incense for the old man. I'd better not make things difficult for her. It's a win-win situation!"

"Both are suitable?"

The wife of the Marquis of Yongyi sneered immediately:
"I don't even dare to meet you, and you're still talking about a good match for you. That's all just bullshit."

After saying this, seeing that her husband had no intention of turning back, and the footsteps were getting farther and farther away, the wife of the Marquis of Yongyi stood there for a moment, and finally sighed:

"Forget it. I'll just avoid it, lest I get bullied by others and let Madam Sheng compete with me. My family won't be able to handle it."

The Yongyi Marquis Mansion eventually declined.

"Xi'er, pack up and go back to your parents' home."

"Girl, that family..."

"Let Ping'er come. He happens to be at home. Let him deal with that aunt."

The next day.

Li Xu came to the door.

Old Madam Sheng also turned away the lady who came to visit.

"Thank you very much, old lady, Madam, for your help that day!"

Although Li Xu returned to Nanjing to recuperate for more than a month, her expression and figure became more and more haggard, almost the same as when Hualan first met Shulan.

But as soon as she entered the hall, she immediately knelt down to thank him.

"Get up, get up!"

Old Madam Sheng asked Fang Mama to help her, and said:

"It's just a small favor, not worthy of such a great gift."

Old Madam Sheng was no longer in a hurry about the Xu family's affairs. Instead, she asked about the situation at Li Xu's family.

"The family is well taken care of by the master, and life goes on as usual, but..." When she said this, tears couldn't help but flow down Li Xu's face.

"What's wrong?" Old Mrs. Sheng asked quickly.

At the same time, Mrs. Sheng felt somewhat relieved.

It seems that the master and mistress of the Xu family are not mean and ungrateful people, otherwise the family would have lost its pillar and life would have been impossible.

"That's my child!"

Li Xu immediately looked sad and cried:
"He managed to escape the river and survive, but he was seriously ill and couldn't say anything after that. He just recovered a few days ago and left a letter at home before heading south to join the army!"

"Woooo~!"

After saying this, Li Xu no longer cared about etiquette and burst into tears on the spot.

"I only have this one son left in my family. What if... what if something happens to him in the future, how can we mother and I live on?"

Seeing this, Old Lady Sheng comforted her:

"There's nothing wrong with joining the army. Judging from your boy's temperament, he has the destiny of a general. It's not so easy for him to lose his life outside."

"You and your daughter just need to live a good life at home, and he can help provide some courage at the front."

Old Mrs. Sheng also sighed in her heart.

After all, it's the youthful spirit.

The family was suddenly struck by a disaster. In a desperate situation, he naturally did not think twice and looked for a way to avenge his father and vent his anger, so he joined the army.

Then there was another conversation.

However, when Li Xu said goodbye, she did not say a word about the Xu family.

Finally, Hua Lan asked:
"Has the master's family heard about your family's affairs?"

Li Xu lowered her head and said silently:

"The master knows it, otherwise my family wouldn't be able to survive."

"Ah."

Hua Lan nodded, but when she started talking, she saw that Li Xu did not continue the conversation. She just kept her head down and finally said:

"Madam, my daughter is still at home..."

"Hmm? Hmm! Go ahead, go ahead!"

Old Madam Sheng seemed to have just reacted and replied as if she heard something in surprise.

(End of this chapter)