Chapter 971 - 973 Bai Ruolan Goes Mad_1
Bo Zheng cast a faint glance at the Liu Family matriarch, pretending as if he hadn’t heard her at all. He didn’t look at her again or reply, simply leaving her hanging there.
Bai Ruozhu chuckled secretly to herself. It was no wonder Bo Zheng was in charge of the Marquis’ Residence; he really knew how to deal with people like the Liu Family matriarch—completely ignoring her and leaving her to stew.
The Liu Family matriarch grew even angrier, babbling on, but unfortunately for her, Bo Zheng was "deaf" to her words. He then stood up to take his leave from Bai Lu, saying he had some other matters to attend to and would come to visit again the day after tomorrow.
Bai Fu saw that Bo Zheng didn’t take his leave from him either, which made him feel somewhat despondent. He couldn’t let the Liu Family matriarch get away with it and lose face, so he had no choice but to reprimand her in a low voice, "Enough, stop your clamoring. You still haven’t learned proper manners after all this time."
Lately, in the Mountain Village old mansion, the Liu Family matriarch had been getting whatever she desired, like the wind at her back and the rain at her command. The widow Zhou had given birth to a baby boy, which pleased her immensely. Moreover, Widow Zhou was quite shrewd, frequently giving sweeteners to make her feel like she was truly the mistress of the house. Thus, when Bai Fu scolded her, she was immediately displeased.
"What’s all this talk about manners? Am I not just worried about you? Now that you have Marquis relatives, you want to ditch me, don’t you? Be careful they might sell you, and you wouldn’t even know!"
Bo Zheng hadn’t yet left the yard when he heard the Liu Family matriarch’s words loud and clear, and he silently resolved to never bring her to the Capital.
Bai Ruozhu went over to see off the guest, pretending not to hear the Liu Family matriarch’s words. After Bo Zheng had left, she went straight to find the Li Family matriarch.
"Aunt by marriage, do you wish for Grandpa to go to the Capital?" Bai Ruozhu asked quietly.
The Li Family matriarch was still tidying up after the banquet, and although she was the eldest daughter-in-law of Bai Lu’s branch, she was exceptionally nimble and industrious, with good relations with her sisters-in-law. Bai Ruozhu knew she was a sensible person.
"We don’t have any expectations of clinging to the glory of having Marquis relatives; people should accept their lot and not be too greedy," said the Li Family matriarch as she washed dishes, and Bai Ruozhu hurried over to give her a hand.
"If dad doesn’t want to go, none of us will have any objections. The journey is so long, and it wouldn’t be good if he got tired," the Li Family matriarch added as she wiped the beads of sweat from her forehead.
Bai Ruozhu nodded, inwardly wishing she had an aunt by marriage as good as her in her own family.
"What do you think, Ruozhu?" The Li Family matriarch asked as she looked at Bai Ruozhu.
"My second brother has passed the imperial examination and can study at the Imperial Academy. I’ve discussed it with my family and plan to head to the Capital as soon as possible. The more my brother learns at the Imperial Academy, the better his chances will be next year to be ranked on the Gold List. So I was thinking Grandpa could travel with us. With our care, you can rest easy." Bai Ruozhu thought for a moment, then added, "It’s best to have Boss come along too, to see if there are any development opportunities in the City, or if our Bai Family could relocate to the Capital City."
The Li Family matriarch suddenly looked up at Bai Ruozhu, her eyes filled with both excitement and concern. She wasn’t one of the older generation who couldn’t bear to part with the land. Who wouldn’t want to go to a bustling place like the Capital City? But living in the City was not easy for ordinary people—surely they couldn’t all depend on Bai Ruozhu for support?
The Li Family matriarch quickly regained her composure, "It would be good to take a look, and then we can talk about it."
"I think Great-Grandma’s brother wishes to meet Grandpa and the others. If Grandpa doesn’t go, I’m afraid Grandpa would start causing trouble again, and I’m really worried he might ask for something inappropriate," Bai Ruozhu reminded.
The Li Family matriarch shivered, "You’re right, I’ll talk to your Boss about it later."
Seeing that the Li Family matriarch understood, Bai Ruozhu dropped the matter.
Soon, the Liu Family matriarch was making a scene about returning to the Village, demanding that Bai Yihong take her back in the horse carriage. Since Bai Yihong’s family was also planning to return to the Back Mountain Village, they notified Bai Lu and took Bai Yizhong’s family back to the Mountain Village with them.
Bai Yihong arranged a horse carriage for Bai Yixiao and his family, and Bai Ruozhu squeezed in with Dengdeng and the three of them, suggesting that the old lady join Bai Ruolan in the other carriage.
Upon hearing this, the old lady burst out shouting, "You unfilial and conscienceless wretch, putting me in the same carriage as an imbecile, are you trying to kill your own mother? What exactly is on your mind?"
Bai Yihong also lost his temper, suddenly bellowing, "Mom, you can’t talk about Ruolan like this, who is responsible for her ending up this way?"
Bai Ruolan was already pitiable enough, yet the old lady still shouted so loudly, calling her an idiot; did she have any conscience at all?
Perhaps because Bai Yihong seldom lost his temper, his sudden outburst frightened the Liu Family matriarch into silence, who then stood stock-still.
Just then, Bai Ruolan, who had already boarded the carriage, suddenly let out an ear-piercing scream, exceptionally mournful, causing even the onlookers to shudder, and Bai Ruozhu couldn’t help but tremble. She had heard Bai Ruolan scream like this before, right after she was rescued from hanging herself, when she had been screaming wildly out of fright.
But with their care and treatment during this period, Bai Ruolan had improved quite a bit; at least she hadn’t been so manic for a long time, was able to feed and dress herself, and even spoke a few words from time to time. Could it be that she was now being triggered and regressing?
Before Bai Ruozhu could go to soothe her, Bai Ruolan suddenly leaped down from the horse carriage, her movements so quick that even the wax plum beside her couldn’t hold her back. She charged toward the old lady like a maddened beast, screeching something unintelligible, her hands ferociously striking and scratching at the old lady’s head and face.
Struck by pain, the Liu Family matriarch also screamed out, shouting as she did, "You fool, stop it, I’m your grandma, how can you hit me?"
Whether it was her words or her screaming that agitated Bai Ruozhu, Bai Ruolan became even more frantic, her facial expression ferocious as if she wanted to bite the Liu Family matriarch to death, who was now scared enough to hug her head and shrink to the ground.
Bai Ruozhu noticed Jianqi at her side move but then stop, while Muyu seemed to be enjoying the spectacle. She felt helpless knowing that everyone hated the Liu Family matriarch to death, but she didn’t want to let Ruolan continue her frenzy; what if her condition worsened?
"Jianqi, seal Ruolan’s acupoints; we can’t let her condition deteriorate," directed Bai Ruozhu.
Jianqi moved quickly, point-pressing Bai Ruolan’s acupoints, rendering her immobile; still, her eyes bulged, the whites of which were excessively wide, and the pupils appeared terrifyingly small.
"Make her fall unconscious," Bai Ruozhu quickly ordered, as Ruolan was too agitated at the moment and needed a good sleep.
Jianqi sealed Bai Ruolan’s acupoints for unconsciousness and brought her back on the horse carriage.
Wax plum couldn’t speak, but at this moment, her eyes were swollen from crying. She quickly wiped her tears and went to attend to Bai Ruolan, clearly indicating that she felt Bai Ruolan was tremendously pitiful.
Having taken care of Bai Ruolan for a long time, she had grown some affection for her.
When Bai Ruozhu went to check on the old lady, with so many people watching, she couldn’t just ignore her completely. But upon approaching, she found that the old lady had already fainted from fright...
----
Thank you to the Book Friends, D?n?n?°, Ming Yue in the sky, baby’s bean, いBlack and White Piano Keys゜ playing sadness", "if...", and Baby’s Reward, mwah~