I still need to treat her.
"It seems that Third Aunt’s illness is somewhat serious. I need to use acupuncture. Chun Ning, fetch my thickest set of silver needles. I’ll give Third Aunt several more treatments."
"Yes, sister."
Chun Ning is an honest child, and he turned and left immediately.
Behind them, Mrs. Huang slowly awoke again, moaning continuously.
"Nuannuan, you and Sister should take your Third Aunt back to her room to rest. Whether she needs acupuncture or medicine, however she needs to be treated, it’s up to you. Our Xiao family can afford food and medicine, we can’t mistreat your Third Aunt."
Mrs. Xu didn’t even bother to look at her.
Mrs. Huang has always had this ailment.
But when the Xiao family maintained their status, she also kept up appearances.
Now, she has completely lost her composure and has no idea how embarrassing she looks.
Mrs. Huang didn’t make a sound, silently stood up and refused Chun Nuan’s support, insisting that Chun Shu help her back to her room.
What could Chun Shu say?
This is her biological mother.
Entering the room, there was bound to be a scolding.
And sure enough, as soon as they entered, Mrs. Huang started berating Chun Shu.
"Aren’t you just a wonderful daughter, siding with outsiders to bully your own mother." Mrs. Huang scolded harshly: "You just watch them bully me, and you have the nerve for it?"
"If I weren’t here anymore, do you think they’d be kind to you four siblings?"
"I carried you for ten months, and you turn out to be an ungrateful wretch."
"None of the Xiao family are any good."
"What does it matter if you all bully me alone?"
...
She kept scolding, kept scolding, and Chun Shu did not respond with a single word.
She just stood quietly by, listening.
She couldn’t understand what Sister meant when she said mother was ill.
After all, this didn’t seem like the behavior of a sick person at all.
"No, I want to take you back to the Huang family. Only when we return to the Huang family will our family have a future." Mrs. Huang stood up frantically again: "This is a great opportunity, a chance missed won’t come back, only by returning to the Huang family can we return to the Capital."
"You foolish girl, do you know that the first and second branches don’t worry about the way back to the Capital? The first branch has Xiao Chunyu, even though she remarried, she married the Great General, so she can return anytime; the second branch has Xiao Chunnuan, she is so good at making medicine, so good at earning money, she doesn’t worry about travel expenses or her future."
"Xiao Chunsu, be clear-headed, even if I send you to be a concubine in the Huang family, it is an opportunity I begged for, if I wasn’t a girl from the Huang family, why would they consider you, a descendant of a criminal? The Huang family accepting you is also a risk they’re taking."
...
As she listened to her mother talk more and more absurdly, Chun Shu felt very helpless.
"Have you said enough?"
Half an hour later, Chun Shu handed over a cup of tea: "You’ve talked enough and talked yourself tired, have a sip and take a break. I’ll go find Sister to get some medicine, make some decoction for you."
"I don’t want..."
Mrs. Huang wanted to refuse the medicine but suddenly remembered Mrs. Xu’s words about what she’d be like if she weren’t here.
Why wouldn’t she be here?
She needed to live well!
To show them all.
After drinking a sip of tea, Mrs. Huang felt she could manage again and began scolding Chun Shu once more.
"If you want to return to the Capital, you go. I won’t return alone." Chun Shu threw down those words and turned to leave the room.
Outside, Chun Nuan was watching her.
"Sister." Chun Shu felt a little embarrassed: "Sorry to make you witness this."
"It’s nothing, we’re sisters, we share fortune and adversity, she can’t make decisions on her own, so don’t worry too much."
Not to mention, sending Chun Shu away from Changzhou would require a hefty sum of silver, and currently Mrs. Huang’s private stash isn’t enough, so there’s no need to worry about her insisting on sending Chun Shu away.
"Sister, my mother..."
"She is her, you are you, we can’t really know what she’s thinking, but we must remain steadfast." Chun Nuan patted the back of her hand: "Back when we reached Shu City, we struggled through hunger and cold, but we made it. What can’t we endure now?"
"There’s no rush for your marriage, good things don’t happen immediately, you’ll definitely find a good match."
"Sister, I’m not in a rush."
What’s the hurry?
To this point, she’s never thought there’s any advantage to getting married?
As a girl living in her parental home, at least she’s still considered family, but once married, she would become a guest, and the in-laws treat you as an outsider.
Once married, that’s in the truest sense of not having a home.
She doesn’t want to get married; she wants to rely on the Xiao family, and having Sister and Brother Chun Ning to support her means she doesn’t have to worry about anything, which is great.
"I’m heading to the Northern Desert later, I’ll leave the medicine for your mother to you. Make sure she takes it three times a day, and after the medicine, she should rest. Tell her not to worry too much; when I return, she should be almost recovered."