Upon hearing this, the old lady became agitated. With a shrill voice she shouted, "You have the audacity to search your own grandma’s belongings? This is unheard of!" Having said this, she plunked herself on the bed and burst into tears.
While crying, she began to vent her grievances about the second room, appearing extraordinarily wronged, as though the people of the second room had deprived her of food and drink, and had been mistreating her.
Bai Ruozhu had been silent all this while. She had considered whether it was right to scheme against the old lady, but thinking back on the old lady’s antics, she felt there was absolutely no room for leniency.
It was bearable when the old lady stayed indoors, but when she stepped outside, she was a magnet for trouble. If she were to stay here for a long period, the old master would surely visit. What on earth would they do if he decided to execute his grand rescue plan for his son?
"Granny, where do you think you are going? My parents used to live in this room, and they must have forgotten their belongings. I should apologize for my mother’s oversight. Once we find the objects, we can clarify this misunderstanding," Bai Ruozhu said, deliberately emphasizing the words ’clarify misunderstanding’.
Having said this, she began rummaging about the room. The old lady, seeing that scolding her was ineffective, abruptly jumped off the bed to stop her. But Bai Ruozhu was quick and knew some self-defense techniques, thus effectively dodged her.
The old lady was so torn with anxiety that she stomped her feet in fury. Unable to stop Bai Ruozhu, she dramatically messed up her hair and wailed out loud, "You are shaming me, I... I’d rather knock my head and die!"
Saying this, she faked a movement to strike her head against the corner of a cupboard. Bai Yihong, alarmed, shouted, "Mother, don’t be impulsive!"
At his outcry, the unconscious Lin Ping, wrapped in his arms, was startled awake hearing that the old lady was going to kill herself.
By this time, Aunt Lin and Bai Zehao had rushed over and swiftly restrained the old lady.
Bai Ruozhu laughed coldly. She noted that her parents were compassionate and would allow her to carry on. With someone as afraid of death as the old lady, it would be strange if she truly knocked herself to death!
The old lady hadn’t expected Bai Ruozhu to remain undaunted and continue her search. In her anxiety, she screamed, "She wants to hound me to death! Look at the good daughter you have raised, Second Brother! Go ahead, I’ll die here for you all to see! Don’t stop me! Let Zhou Deshun take me back to the village for burial when I am dead! Let the villagers witness how I was hounded to death by my ungrateful descendants!"
Bai Ruozhu snickered, "Granny, why are you getting so hysterical when I am merely looking for my mother’s things? Could it be that you are feeling guilty? Have you hidden something under the kang?"
The old lady’s face turned pale, but she desperately tried to appear unruffled, "You’re trying to smear my reputation."
From her reaction, Bai Ruozhu deduced that there must be something hidden under the kang. She also noted that the old lady had a strange affection for the kang. When she had occupied the main house previously, she had refused to leave the kang, now she was even hiding stolen items under it.
She sprinted towards the kang and began searching it. Sure enough, she had chosen the right spot. When the old lady saw her touching the kang, she screamed as though she was being butchered.
Soon, Bai Ruozhu lifted the blanket on the kang and found a small bundle. She remembered that the old lady had been carrying this bundle when she arrived.
Ignoring the old lady’s wails, she rapidly unwrapped the bundle, and sure enough, found the silver lock and the clothes she had lost inside it!
Moreover, there was more; she saw a box of ointment and her countenance instantly darkened.
"I told you my mother had a lapse in memory, didn’t I? The silver lock was indeed forgotten in the main room after all." Her words sounded jesting, but her tone was icy cold. The people in the room seldom saw this side of Bai Ruozhu, and they shivered involuntarily.
Over the past half year, they remembered Bai Ruozhu as intelligent, capable, calm and having never lost her temper with anyone in the family. Confronted with this suddenly menacing version of her, they all fell silent.
The room descended into an eerie silence. The old lady opened her mouth to speak, but she was cowed by Bai Ruozhu’s glare and did not dare utter another word.
"Well, how come Zhang Sao’s medicine has also migrated over here? And isn’t this bundle not from our house?" Bai Ruozhu taunted while coldly fixing her gaze on the old lady.
Everyone present drew a sharp intake of breath. So, it was Zhang Sao’s ointment that caused Bai Ruozhu to flare up.
They had heard that those medicinal materials were very hard to gather. Bai Ruozhu had even tolerated the Du family’s embezzlement of her dividends to assemble these medicines. But what use could the old lady have of these medicines? She didn’t understand their value; stealing them was sheer wastefulness.
Not only did she steal from her own grandsons, she even stole from the neighbor’s house!
Bai Ruozhu snorted coldly, "Granny, now that we have found the items, I don’t have the time to waste on you. The Turkic people have started their activities again, they may retaliate against us anytime soon. We should all be on our guard."
After saying this, she passed the silver lock to her mother. Her tone immediately softened, "Mother, rest a while. Don’t sicken yourself over people like her."
As the mother and daughter linked arms to leave, the old lady finally recovered herself. Hatred flashed in her eyes as she bellowed, "Bai Ruozhu, this is all your fault!", turning to the others, she said, "She is harming all of you, aren’t you going to say anything?"
Bai Ruozhu and her mother exited the room without looking back. The others ignored the old lady and left on their own accord. The old lady clung to Bai Yihong, continuing her tirade against Bai Ruozhu. Bai Yihong’s expression darkened.
"Mother, that’s enough. Ruozhu is a good girl. Look around, who in this yard agrees with you?" Bai Yihong retorted angrily, his voice louder than usual.
Aunt Lin, who had been standing at the doorway, turned around and addressed the old lady, "Because Ruozhu has helped us out more, she made no mistake by saving people. We couldn’t care less about the Turkic people, we just hope she is safe. You cannot drive a wedge between us."
Old Lady Bai turned beet red with anger, her chest rising and falling dramatically, as though she were about to collapse.
Aunt Lin and Bai Yihong exited the main house. Even Bai Yihong found his mother’s conduct intolerable.
By nightfall, the old lady in the main room let out a horrified scream. She was once again frightened awake. Despite her loud voice, she was deathly afraid of dying.
But this time she clamped a hand over her mouth, not daring to scream or shout anymore.
Next morning, Bai Ruozhu was still debating whether or not to see Jiang Yichun when he arrived without being summoned.
Upon hearing a knock on the door, Guizhi opened it and shouted, "Master Jiang!" Bai Ruozhu’s heart pounded at the sound. Could he have already remembered something?
She gave a bitter smile. Elder Shougu had said it would take three to five days, how could he remember so quickly? He was probably here due to some other issue.
As she came forward, she saw Jiang Yichun still dressed in his dark robe, a wooden mask hiding his face.
"Oh, it’s Mr. Yichun. Please, come on in," the old lady, still spirited from the previous night’s scare, emerged from the main room in a rush.
"No need to trouble you, Old Lady Bai. I am here for Ruozhu to check my pulse, you carry on," Jiang Yichun replied, his tone noticeably colder and impatient.
Bai Ruozhu’s heart sank. Something serious must have happened, or else Jiang Yichun wouldn’t react .
She paid no mind to the old lady and brought Jiang Yichun to her room for a pulse examination, where, in a low voice, he bluntly stated, "I have received the Holy Edict to return to the capital immediately..."