Chapter 239: 141 Strong as a Mother (second update)_2
“I have already eaten,” Gu Jiao said, “I am here to take you out of the residence.”
Madame Yao was stunned.
Gu Jiao paused, then asked, “Are you… willing to move out and live with us?”
Madame Yao had dreamt of hearing these words, dreamt of living alongside her daughter.
Madame Yao reached out and touched the hair at her daughter’s temple, “Did you come over so early just to take me out of the residence?”
Gu Jiao nodded honestly.
Madame Yao looked at her daughter fondly, “Jiaojiao… have you really accepted me?”
What she could not accept was not Madame Yao, but her mother.
But Madame Yao was her mother.
Madame Yao took her daughter’s hand and said gently, “Jiaojiao made a compromise because she is worried about me. I am very touched, and also very happy. But I… still cannot move out and live with Jiaojiao.”
“There is something wrong with that mistress,” Gu Jiao said.
As expected, she was worried about her, thought Madame Yao, who touched her daughter’s cheek with a mixture of elation and bitterness, “Mother knows, mother can handle it. Believe in mother, just this once.”
If it had been before, knowing she could move in with her daughter, she would have gone straight ahead, but she already knew about the incident in the Flower Room.
She spent the whole night thinking about what to do.
Should she move out, or should she continue to stay?
Before, she didn’t struggle because she felt hopeless, as her Yanyan could be in danger at any moment; she just wanted to stay with Yanyan and avoid the drama in the Marquis Residence.
But now she felt differently.
Avoiding certain people was not enough, for they considered it a cardinal sin for her and her two children even to be alive.
What’s more, she knew her daughter had been whipped for saving her.
If she hadn’t been so helpless, her daughter wouldn’t have had to endure such a severe whipping on her account!
Her heart was bleeding!
Her daughter had done too much for her; she could not always hide behind her and be a burden.
She hoped that one day when she moved in, it wouldn’t be because she had nowhere else to go.
She also hoped that when she was no longer around, her daughter could look back and remember her mother as someone who made her proud, not as a mother who was weak and pitiable.
This was the strength her daughter gave her.
“If I could… I’d rather you weren’t so capable,” she said.
It was her own incompetence that had forced her daughter to be strong.
She wanted to protect her own daughter.
Gu Jiao could not understand this emotion, but respected Madame Yao’s choice, “We will welcome you at our home whenever you need.”
After Gu Jiao departed, Madame Yao changed her clothes, put on two golden hairpins, and went to Songhe Court to pay her respects to the Old Madam Gu.
Hearing that Madame Yao had come to pay her respects, Old Madam Gu choked on her tea, “Who did you say has come?”
The little maid replied, “Madam, it’s the Madam, she has come to pay her respects to you!”
Ever since Madame Yao returned to the manor, she had been pretending to be ill and rarely paid her respects to old Madam Gu. What happened today? Was the sun rising from the west?
Old Madam Gu was in a bad mood. Firstly, because Gu Chenglin was still locked in the ancestral hall and secondly, because a thief had scared her in the Flower Room and caused an accident, but her grandson had yet to catch the thief.
She had never been this unlucky in her entire life.
“Tch,” she grimaced in pain, “Tell her to wait outside, say that I haven’t woken up yet.”
Madame Yao was kept waiting for half an hour, but she did not utter a word of complaint.
Old Madam Gu chuckled, “Oh, how she has changed! If we were talking ten years ago, she would have thrown a tantrum and left!”
In the end, Old Madam Gu had her come in.
Not only had Madame Yao arrived, she had also brought the pastries she baked herself.
Old Madam Gu laughed coldly, “What? Are you trying to poison me?”
“Your daughter-in-law wouldn’t dare,” Madame Yao said deferentially.
Even the tone of her voice had changed; it was filled with flattery and appeasement.
Old Madam Gu couldn’t help but take a second look at Madame Yao.
Madame Yao was previously cold and aloof, her demeanor one of indifference. Old Madam Gu found her irritating. However, Madame Yao had changed her outfit today and put on her hairpin. She finally looked like a noble woman from the marquis’ house.
Women needed to dress up and be subservient in front of their mother-in-law.
Old Madam Gu finally did not feel like she was punching cotton anymore, and she found Madame Yao pleasing to the eye for once.
“Mother, please have a taste,” Madame Yao presented the pastries with both hands, the epitome of obedience.
Old Madame Gu took a casual bite.