Xiao Xitian took a bite of potato, watching the flames in the stove, and asked, "If my mother is the legitimate eldest daughter of the General's mansion, why did the concubines bully her so badly, and the old general and old madam didn't intervene?"
What were concubines anyway...
In such a society with strict feudal hierarchy, how dare concubines bully a young lady? It was too outrageous!
Steward Cao listened and gave a wry smile, "It wasn't that they didn't intervene, it's just that they were also powerless. After the eldest young lady came of age, the old madam passed away, and the old general was bedridden with a serious illness, needing help with even basic bodily functions. Later, he couldn't even speak. How could he protect his daughter?"
"Then you could have entrusted mother to someone else..." Xiao Xitian exclaimed.
"Someone else?" Steward Cao ate half a potato and then picked up his pipe. "Is someone else very trustworthy? If it's not your own child, who would take care of her wholeheartedly? Moreover, the eldest young lady is naturally beautiful. What if she encounters someone with ill intentions? Do you know the consequences?"
Xiao Xitian said, "Oh," as if it made sense...
In the main room, Madam Gu sat on the kang, making cotton trousers. The white cotton was evenly spread on the lining, then another layer of cloth was placed on top, and it was slowly sewn.
Gu Zhenshan walked in with a teacup. He looked at Madam Gu's hands, then at her face, and felt a pang in his heart...
"Sister, have some tea!" Gu Zhenshan handed her the teacup.
Madam Gu's sewing hand paused slightly. She lowered her head and said nothing.
Gu Zhenshan sat on the edge of the kang and smiled, "Sister, come back to the capital with me. There, you won't lack food or clothing. I'll buy you whatever you want. Why endure hardship in the countryside?"
"Sister, I've kept your room for you. The bedding and pillows, as well as the fan, ink, paper, inkstone, and calligraphy you used, I haven't touched them. You'll be comfortable living there..."
Gu Zhenshan looked at the steaming teacup and sighed, "All these years, I've traveled all over the place, searching and inquiring for you. But you seemed to have vanished into thin air, with no news at all. Did you forget that the General's mansion still has a younger brother? Didn't you even write a letter to your brother? Wuwuwu!"
As Gu Zhenshan spoke, he started crying again.
A dignified man, the General of Jingbei, might appear as a resolute and strong man in front of outsiders, but upon seeing his own sister, the bitterness in his heart surged like a flood...
"Sister, hehe!" Gu Zhenshan, while crying, started laughing again. He wiped away his tears. "Sister, I see your family is quite large. I'll buy another house in the capital later and let them move in. You don't need to farm the land in Dashui Village anymore. How many copper coins can you earn in a year? I'll open a shop for you then, a restaurant, an inn, a general store, a pastry shop, anything, as long as you like it, hehe..."
The atmosphere inside the room was warm and harmonious, but the scene outside the door was a bit peculiar.
Old Man Yun, Yun Erman, Xiao Xitian, Yun Xiaobao, and Jin Xiaolou were all piled up like a pyramid, eavesdropping at the door.
"Ouch, Xiaolou, don't step on my foot!" Old Man Yun said.
Jin Xiaolou: "..."
It was truly helpless. He was at the bottom of these people, almost crushed into a meat patty.
"Daughter, your hearing is good. Listen carefully, what are they saying?" Old Man Yun asked.
Xiao Xitian pressed a paper cup against the door panel, her big eyes blinking. "Mother doesn't seem to have said anything..."
From beginning to end, it was her uncle rambling on, and her mother was the listener.
"Daughter, has Mother recognized this brother?" Yun Erman seemed a bit excited.
Who would have thought that their seemingly ordinary mother was actually the eldest daughter of the Jingbei General's mansion.
Life was truly fantastical, like a dream...
Yun Erman wasn't thinking of leveraging his mother's status to live a life of great wealth and luxury. Rather, with this new identity, his sister would become the young lady of the General's mansion.
If that were the case, no one would dare bully his sister anymore.
"Second Brother, Mother isn't speaking!" Xiao Xitian rolled her eyes.
Yun Xiaobao asked, "Did Grandma cry?"
"I don't think so!" Jin Xiaolou shook his head in denial. "Mother is such a strong person, she wouldn't cry..."
Old Man Yun tapped a knot on the door panel, his face full of worry. "Xitian, Erman, what if your mother is taken away by this so-called general? What will we do then?"
He suddenly lost his wife, and the children suddenly lost their mother and grandmother. Could they still live?
Xiao Xitian looked up at her father with a helpless expression. "Dad, stop worrying about those unlikely things. Mother would never abandon us..."
Even if she left, she would bring the whole family.
Although she was a transmigrator, she knew her mother's temperament very well.
"R-really?" The worry on Old Man Yun's face lessened slightly. He muttered to himself, "What's so good about the capital anyway? Everywhere you look, it's full of people. It's better to be free in the countryside. If you want to eat something, just wander around in the mountains. If you want to drink water, you can quench your thirst by finding any riverbed. But once you get to the capital, you have to pay for everything. Alas..."
"Oh, Dad!" Yun Erman nudged Old Man Yun. "Those are your outdated ideas. How many young people are willing to stay in a mountain沟 for their entire lives? Especially Sister, she's still so young. Can you bear to let her farm for a lifetime?"
Old Man Yun was stunned when he heard this, then he smacked the back of Yun Erman's head. "You little brat, you're starting to lecture me? When did I ever say your sister would farm for a lifetime?"
This brat. When the family was husking corn or harvesting wheat, even during the busiest farming seasons, he wouldn't let his younger daughter work in the fields. Yet Erman was talking about her farming for a lifetime. Was that even human language?
Xiao Xitian: "..."
You two are completely having a cross-dimensional conversation, not on the same channel at all.
Du Tieshan was busy preparing lunch. He came out of the kitchen carrying a slop bucket. When he looked towards the main house, he saw all the old and young people stacked together, as if glued to the door, whispering and eavesdropping on the conversation inside.
Du Tieshan: "..."
It would be much better to go in and listen openly. It was so cold outside; they might catch a chill.
Inside.
Gu Zhenshan talked a lot with Madam Gu. Finally, he took out a jade hairpin and smiled as he handed it to Madam Gu. "Sister, look, this was Mother's coming-of-age gift to you when you came of age. It's so beautiful and lovely, do you remember it?"
Madam Gu's body trembled. She slowly raised her head. Upon seeing the hairpin, she finally spoke...