By the time Tang Pei had finished paying homage to Tang Xu, Xu De invited him to the study for a talk.
Tang Pei then suggested that the young lady who came with him possessed supreme medical skills and requested that she take a look at his little cousin, and it would be best if she could prepare some medicine pills to strengthen her body.
Once Xu De heard this, he showed great delight and immediately had his servants invite Anning over.
After Anning entered the study, Xu De rose to give a greeting and earnestly requested Anning to help Xu Wan recuperate.
Anning nodded with a smile: "Even if you didn’t ask, I would have assisted. Your Wan’er and I are somewhat kin, and I naturally should help."
At this moment, Xu De was taken aback.
He didn’t recall having such an older girl in his family relatives.
Anning did not explain, and Xu De did not inquire further.
After that, Anning and Tang Pei stayed with the Xu Family for a while.
Anning helped manage the affairs of the inner house while taking care of Xu Wan’s health, and Tang Pei assisted Xu De with miscellaneous tasks, also welcoming and sending guests off on behalf of his cousin Tang Xu.
In the end, thanks to the aid of Tang Pei and Anning, the funeral arrangements for Tang Xu were quite appropriate.
Otherwise, just the father and daughter of the Xu Family would have been in over their heads.
After all, both father and daughter were extremely grieved at present, and with their poor health, they simply lacked the energy to manage funeral affairs well.
On the first day Tang Pei arrived, Xu De had personally written a letter and sent someone to deliver it to the Marquis Zhongyong’s Mansion in the Capital.
That day, Tang Bai hurried back from outside, and the elation on his face was visible to all.
Ms. Zhang’s maidservant had been keeping a keen eye on the main house, and upon seeing Tang Bai return in high spirits, she immediately went to inform Ms. Zhang: "Who knows if he has found someone else outside to fancy, looking at how he can’t hide the smile on his face. I’m afraid Madam will have to cry for a few more days now."
Upon hearing this, Ms. Zhang reveled in schadenfreude.
Tang Zong held Ms. Zhang in low regard these days, spending his days in the backyard with the concubines, so naturally, Ms. Zhang couldn’t stand to see the main house’s marital happiness and hoped every day that Tang Bai would seek pleasures outside.
Tang Bai didn’t disappoint her. Since Tang Pei’s death, Tang Bai’s actions became increasingly reckless, often going to brothels to drink and cause trouble, and upon returning home, he would quarrel with Mrs. Li, neglecting all family affairs and living a life of drunken stupor.
Mrs. Li was living a life as tormenting as frying in oil.
Seeing this, Ms. Zhang felt extremely pleased and let the main house create chaos while frequently putting ointment on the eyes of Mrs. Song.
When she heard Tang Bai return with joyful expressions, she immediately sent someone to eavesdrop, to see if the couple in the main house had gotten into another argument.
Tang Bai entered the room just as Mrs. Li was teaching her daughter Tang Yi how to manage things. Seeing him enter, she gave him a cold look, then told Tang Yi to take the servants and leave.
Tang Bai flopped down onto a chair, grinning happily at Mrs. Li.
Mrs. Li stepped forward with excitement, grasping Tang Bai’s hands: "My Lord, is there news of our Pei’er?" ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novᴇlfire.net
Tang Bai nodded, his smile revealing all his teeth: "Yes, yes, I just received a letter from my brother-in-law. Our Pei’er is at his place, helping with his niece’s funeral arrangements. Moreover, our son has been studying at Qingxi Academy all these years, and in this year’s imperial examination, our son ranked first in the first class."
Mrs. Li, coming from a family of scholars, naturally knew what ranking first in the first class meant.
Upon hearing this, tears fell from her eyes, and she immediately started sobbing while covering her face: "Pei’er is finally coming back, my Pei’er, it’s been over twenty years, I wonder if he still recognizes me."
Tang Bai, thinking of the hardships of these years, also felt a pang of distress.
He went over and embraced Mrs. Li, quietly comforting her: "Don’t cry, don’t cry. It’s good that the child is coming back. He was born to you; how could he not recognize you? Besides, the child has been with his great-great-grandmother all these years, surely well taken care of, probably even better than our Taotao who’s with us... "
Thinking of Tang Tao, Mrs. Li sobbed again: "Our Taotao is a good and legitimate Lord’s legitimate son, yet he has to run errands for the second wife every day, doing the steward’s tasks, and he’s never allowed to handle the matters that involve interactions with officials and nobles, our Taotao..."
Speaking of her second son, Mrs. Li also thought of her own daughter: "And our Yi’er, she should be the most noble young lady in this mansion, but from childhood, she has been suppressed by the concubine of the second wife. It infuriates me just to think about it."
"Not anymore, it won’t happen again."
Tang Bai patted and consoled Mrs. Li: "Now that Pei’er is able to come back, it means that great-great-grandmother has found a way. Perhaps even great-great-grandmother can return. As long as great-great-grandmother is back, she will surely decide for us. No matter how powerful Mrs. Song is, with great-great-grandmother above her, what can she do?"