Chapter 1061 - 1063: Stirring Up Trouble Behind the Scenes_1
Bai Ruozhu was stunned for a moment, "What slap?"
She had never met Bo Caiyue before, much less had the chance to slap her, so the slap Bo Caiyue mentioned seemed to have originated because of her, could it be...
"Did my grandmother hit you?" Bai Ruozhu mentioned the word "grandmother," feeling nauseous inside; she really didn’t want to call Mrs. Liu "grandmother" anymore.
Bo Caiyue snorted coldly, "Don’t pretend you don’t know. A few days ago, when your grandmother was taking a stroll in the garden and a light rain began to fall, she ordered a maid to fetch an umbrella. I happened to be passing by on my way back to the residence, and she asked me to give my umbrella to her. Normally, offering an old person an umbrella is the right thing to do, but her tone was so awful..."
As Bo Caiyue recounted her story, Bai Ruozhu got the picture, and she didn’t doubt what Bo Caiyue said; such behavior and words were unmistakably Mrs. Liu’s style.
It turned out that on the rainy day, Mrs. Liu had sent Tao Ren to fetch the umbrella and took shelter in the garden herself. She saw Bo Caiyue arriving with an umbrella and said to her, "Girl, don’t you know to greet your aunt by marriage? Hurry up and let me use your umbrella, or I’ll have to have a word with your family’s Old Master."
Bo Caiyue, being a concubine’s daughter of the Bo Residence, was not fond of or daring enough to stir up trouble. Although she was angry at Mrs. Liu’s words, she still walked over and said, "Aunt by marriage, didn’t you ask a maid to get an umbrella? She should be back soon. Otherwise, I can wait here with you."
As she spoke, she held her umbrella over Mrs. Liu. Her own maid was extremely displeased but didn’t dare to utter a word.
Mrs. Liu glared at Bo Caiyue with dissatisfaction and said, "Just give it to me when I tell you to. Why so much nonsense? Do you look down on me because I come from a smaller place? Let me tell you, even though we were from the North, my grandson is a successful candidate in the imperial examinations, and my granddaughter has done quite a bit of business in the Capital. They are much more noble than your status as a concubine’s daughter. You really think too highly of yourself, not even willing to lend an umbrella!"
This time Bo Caiyue couldn’t stand it anymore and angrily said, "How can you speak like this, old lady? I don’t recall offending you, did I? Your grandson and granddaughter’s prowess is your family’s business, you don’t need to compare them with me, a mere concubine’s daughter. Since they are so great, you should hurry back and reunite with them."
After Bo Caiyue finished speaking and turned to leave, who knew Mrs. Liu would dart in front of her, reaching out to snatch the umbrella, while her other hand delivered a slap across Bo Caiyue’s face.
"You want to chase me away? Don’t you see if you’re the master of this residence? You’re also at the age to discuss marriage. My granddaughter Bai Ruozhu is a Noble Lady by Imperial Decree, who knows many noblewomen in the Capital. I’ll have her spread the word, and see which family would still want to marry you!" Mrs. Liu shouted.
Bo Caiyue, trembling with anger but unable to argue about marriage as a young lady, ultimately threw the umbrella to Mrs. Liu and left with her maid in the rain.
After hearing all this, Bai Ruozhu couldn’t help but twitch at the corners of her mouth. Sure enough, Mrs. Liu had started causing trouble as soon as she arrived in the Capital. She looked down on a concubine’s daughter from the Marquis’ Residence; did she really think she was the wife of a high-ranking official?
Bo Caiyue, unaware of the Bai Family’s circumstances, naturally thought Mrs. Liu’s arrogance was backed by Bai Ruozhu. Fortunately, the matter was clarified today, or else Bai Ruozhu would have offended someone for no good reason.
"Things are not always what they seem. Have you seen how my grandmother usually picks on me? She has always disliked me, either finding fault with me or slandering me. By the way, your mother heard it earlier, too. She is not my father’s biological mother, and from now on, her issues are none of my business. I have never backed her up," said Bai Ruozhu, somewhat infuriated.
This incident reminded her of the time when Yu Hongxiu nearly lost her baby due to someone tripping her up; although the incident was largely due to the petty and malicious Lady Wang, it was also undoubtedly fueled by the trouble-making done by her second aunt-in-law, Xie Dun.
Bo Caiyue thought about how Liu Family had indeed come earlier to make trouble for Bai Ruozhu. Afterward, her own mother had erupted, telling the Liu Family to get lost, and Bai Ruozhu didn’t say anything more. She completely believed what Bai Ruozhu had said.
"That, that was a misunderstanding on my part," Bo Caiyue said with a slightly red face, looking very embarrassed.
Bai Ruozhu smiled at her and said, "It’s all right now that we’ve talked about it; otherwise, I wouldn’t have known about the trouble my grandmother’s been causing everywhere."
Bo Caiyue smiled back at Bai Ruozhu, and her worries dissipated.
At that moment, Bo Qun had fallen asleep after taking the medicine. The Bo Family’s Lady came out with her two sons from the room. As soon as she saw Bai Ruozhu, she quickly stepped forward, took Bai Ruozhu’s hand, and said, "Ruozhu, we owe you so much for today. I don’t know how to thank you."
"It’s what I should do. Besides, even if I weren’t here, there would still be Jiu Sheng, the Imperial Doctor, whose medical skills are supreme. He wouldn’t let the Marquis come to harm," Bai Ruozhu said with a smile.
The Bo Family’s Lady noticed that Jiu Sheng had already returned to the Palace to report, and she was somewhat annoyed that she had been too preoccupied with looking after Bo Qun to remember to give Jiu Sheng a Red Envelope.
Bai Ruozhu chuckled to herself, thinking that Jiu Sheng didn’t care about that at all. He had learned a set of needlework and could not have been happier; he was more pleased than if she had given him gold.
Afterward, Bai Ruozhu handed some pills to the Bo Family’s Lady and also gave her a bottle of purified alcohol. She explained how to take care of the patient, what to do in case of a fever at night, and so on. The Bo Family’s Lady and the children all took careful note. With Bo Jiayang’s description, now when they looked at Bai Ruozhu, their faces were filled with gratitude and admiration, almost to the point of calling her a Divine Doctor right away.
Having arranged everything for Bo Qun’s care, Bai Ruozhu thought for a bit and then said to the Bo Family’s Lady, "Madam, I know it’s not the right moment to bring this up, but the issues with my family have also been pretty severe. Please arrange for the Bai Family’s old master and Old Master to be well taken care of, so they won’t cause further chaos."
The Bo Family’s Lady responded hastily, "Alright, alright, I understand. It was my negligence before; otherwise, they wouldn’t have been able to behave like this. You should quickly return and see how your father is feeling; he must be the most distressed over today’s events."
Bai Ruozhu gave the Bo Family’s Lady a formal bow and said her goodbyes. After people walked away, Bo Jiayang asked what had happened, and the Bo Family’s Lady recounted the past affairs of the Bai Family to her three children.
"Alas, poor Bai Yihong was kept in the dark the whole time. Clearly, his real father had given Bai Fu silver, and Bai Fu had agreed. But as time went by, he selfishly focused only on raising his own son, stepping over the rightful heir as if he were dirt beneath his feet. He refuses to acknowledge anything now, just because he fears others will find out about his sordid deeds," said the Bo Family’s Lady angrily when she brought it up.
"What’s most despicable is that, even though Bai Yihong has chosen to forgive them, that Liu Family still demanded a compensation of five thousand taels of silver from Ruozhu," a maid standing by the Bo Family’s Lady couldn’t help but speak up.
Bo Jiayang and his siblings also felt indignant when they heard this, and their dislike for Bai Fu and the Liu Family grew even more. Meanwhile, Bai Ruozhu had already walked out of the Bo Residence’s Main Gate. Just then, she saw a horse carriage stopped at the entrance. A servant helped a young man down from the carriage and walked toward the Main Gate.
Bai Ruozhu stepped aside to give way. Even so, she still smelled the thick scent of alcohol. The intoxicated person suddenly stopped in his tracks, turned to look at her, and his body suddenly started to fall toward her...