Chapter Thirty-six: Old Lady Xu

  Mrs. Xu woke up and first saw Xu Ruoyi guarding beside her, she immediately showed a happy smile.

  Xu Ruoyi saw that she was awake, so he held her hand and said gently: "The doctor said that this pregnancy is a bit risky, you can't be as tired as today, you have to take good care of yourself from now on."

  "Madam Xu said with some fear: 'It's all Master's fault! I told you last night to wait a few more days before entering the ancestral hall, but you wouldn't listen. Now look what's happened? You almost harmed our child.'"

  Xu Ruoyi was somewhat displeased: "Isn't the child all right? Alright, Mingxuan has already entered the ancestral hall, so you don't have to worry anymore."

  "Madam Xu's face turned pale: 'You... what did you just say?'"

  Xu Ruoyi glanced at Mrs. Xu and sighed: "You really don't treat them as your own flesh and blood."

  "Who said that? I, I have always treated them as my own children." Mrs. Xu argued. However, looking at Xu Ruo Yi who was quietly staring at her, she suddenly couldn't say anything more.

  "Just by looking at your expression, I can tell what you're thinking. After all these years of marriage, don't you understand me? Don't I understand you? I didn't mind about the past, but this time, I really hope you can spare my face and be a little kinder to our child, and give them some of your love, okay?"

  Mrs. Xü gazed at Xü Ruòyì who was looking at her with eager eyes, and nodded silently with a bleeding heart.

  "Alright, you rest well. Don't worry about other things. Take good care of yourself and give birth to a big fat baby for me, that's the most important thing. I still have some official business to attend to, so I won't accompany you." After finishing speaking, Xu Ruoyi stood up and walked out.

  As soon as he left, Mrs. Xu hysterically threw out everything within her reach on the bedside table.

  "Ah yo!" A sharp cry, Mrs. Xu raised her head and saw that her daughter was standing at the door, covering her forehead with blood gushing out of her hand. She was shocked: "Xiayu, how is it you! Quick, quick, quick call a doctor!"

  Mr. Xú rushed out of bed with a nervous face, ran to Xu Mingxia's side, and shivered as he looked at the wound on her forehead, only to find that Xu Mingxia was injured in the hand, not the forehead, and all the blood came from her hand. Mrs. Xú let out a sigh of relief, thanking heaven and earth, no disfigurement, otherwise, she would regret it to death.

  The doctor hadn't left the Shangshu Mansion when he was summoned back again. Soon, the doctor examined Xu Mingxia's injured hand and found it wasn't serious, so he applied some medicine and took his leave. Xu Mingxia looked at her right hand, which was wrapped up like a rice dumpling, and complained to Lady Xu: "Mother, in just a few days it will be Princess Pinghe of Wusuo's birthday, and I had promised Wusuo that on that day we would perform together at the princess's birthday banquet. What can I do now?"

  Mrs. Xü was already annoyed, and now she's even more annoyed. She said: "The wound on your hand won't be a problem, it will definitely recover in a few days." After finishing speaking, she saw Xu Mingxia still pouting at her, so she comforted her for a while before making her crack a smile. Only when Mrs. Xü saw that her mood had improved did she mention the things that were bothering her.

  "What! You weren't pregnant at all!" Xu Mingxia exclaimed in surprise.

  Mrs. Xu hastily covered her mouth and anxiously said: "Be careful! You're going to kill your mother!"

  Xu Mingxia started complaining again: "Mother, what's the meaning of this? You tried to prevent Father from entering Seventh Brother into the family register by faking a pregnancy. As a result, Seventh Brother was still entered into the family register. What are you going to do now? Nine months later, where will you find a child for Father?"

  Mrs. Xu smiled mysteriously: "I have a wonderful plan."

  Xu Mingxia looked at her mother with suspicion, feeling that her mother's smile was like a fox, too sinister.

  On this day, Xu Mingjin and Xu Mingxuan came together to pay their respects to Mrs. Xu.

  Mrs. Xü was not lying in bed as usual, but sitting at the octagonal table with great energy, warmly pulling Xu Mingying and several siblings to say something. Seeing Xu Mingjin, she also smiled and pulled the two over, saying: "Old Mrs. is about to return from the Temple of Protection! Jin'er and Xuan'er are really destined to be with Old Mrs., Old Mrs. will definitely like you!"

  Xu Mingjin was taken aback, Old Madam? Which sacred direction is she from? However, Xu Mingjin heard that Xu Mingying was chatting excitedly with several sisters about her grandmother's long and short stories. Suddenly enlightened: It turns out that it was Xu Ruoyi's mother, who was also her nominal grandmother, who was coming back. I said so, how come back, only to see Mrs. Xu, originally in the Temple of Protecting the Country.

  Xu Mingjin looked at Mrs. Xu's genuine excitement and secretly increased her vigilance: looking at Mrs. Xu's appearance, this old lady would not let her and Mingxuan go easily.

  It turned out that Xu Mingjin was right.

  Two days later, the legendary Mrs. Xu finally returned to the mansion and received everyone in her own Chunhui courtyard. As expected, Mrs. Xu exchanged a few pleasantries with Mrs. Xu, then took her son's hand and carefully examined him.

  "You've lost weight."

  Xu Mingjin almost fainted, as if every mother who hadn't seen her son in a long time would say this sentence first when they met. Mrs. Xu didn't even look at Xu Ruoyi's slightly bulging belly, his somewhat fat and handsome face, all of which showed that he couldn't get any fatter, but Mrs. Xu said he had lost weight, and Xu Mingjin almost imperceptibly twitched the corner of her mouth.

  Her action seemed to have startled Mrs. Xu, who turned her old and piercing eyes towards Xu Mingjin, who was so frightened that he didn't dare move anymore.

  "Yi'er, you've just recognized me, where is my grandson?" Mrs. Xu scanned the room with her eyes and immediately fixed them on Xu Mingxuan's face. "Child, come closer and let me take a look."

  Xu Mingxuan slowly walked closer to her under the gaze of Old Lady Xu.

  Mrs. Xu slowly stretched out her withered hand, and gently stroked Xu Mingxuan's tender and pale face. After a while, a joyful expression gradually appeared on her face: "Not bad, he is my grandson! He looks exactly like his father when he was young!" As she spoke, she pulled over Xu Mingxuan's hand, and with trembling hands, took out a small box from beside her, opened it, and slowly took out a white jade pendant. Amidst the envious or jealous gazes of everyone around, she carefully hung the pendant around Xu Mingxuan's neck. At that moment, a burst of gasps echoed through the surroundings.

  Xu Mingjin guessed that this jade pendant must be worth a city, otherwise these people wouldn't have looked at it with such greedy eyes and wouldn't have been so jealous of Xu Mingxuan.

  "Don't you have a younger sister who is your mother's own child? Where is she?" Madam Xú asked Xú Míng Xuān.

  Xu Mingjin heard that Mrs. Xu asked her, and she hurried out of the crowd and knelt down in front of the old lady: "Granddaughter Mingjin, paying respects to grandmother."

  Mrs. Xü's sharp gaze, like a needle point, stared at Xü Míngjǐn for a while.

  Xu Mingjin's expression was solemn and respectful, without a single change.

  After a while, Mrs. Xu finally stopped her scrutinizing gaze and said calmly: "Get up!" Her expression was cold, without any of the enthusiasm she had shown to Xu Mingxuan.

  Xu Mingjin had already anticipated that Old Lady Xu would not like her, so she didn't take it to heart.

  Xu Mingxia has always been the most spoiled granddaughter of Old Lady Xu, but now she sees her sister and brother stealing the spotlight, especially Xu Mingxuan, who got such a good jade. That piece of jade, she had asked her grandmother for it many times, but her grandmother never agreed. Unexpectedly, today it was given to him. How could Xu Mingxia not be jealous? She saw that Old Lady Xu had already seen Xu Mingjin and his siblings, so she quickly rushed onto the kang and snuggled into Old Lady Xu's arms, complaining: "Grandmother, you don't love Xia'er anymore."

  Mrs. Xu smiled, and where was the solemn and sharp face she had just seen when she saw her nephew Xu Mingjin? Xu Mingjin coldly looked at the harmonious scene in front of him. For some reason, Xu Mingying and his three sisters also stood far away, not coming forward. It seems that this Mrs. Xu doesn't welcome her illegitimate granddaughter.

  "Grandma, you gave that jade pendant to Seventh Brother, what about the child in Mother's belly, what will Grandma give him?"

  Madam Xü had not yet responded when Madam Xü began to scold Xü Míngxiá: "You good-for-nothing, how can you speak to the old madam like that? The jade pendant is for whoever the old madam wants to give it to, what right do you have to question her?! The child in my belly is a legitimate son or daughter of the Xü family, and when the time comes, the old madam will definitely not mistreat him!"

  Xu Mingxia was scolded by her mother, with tears in her eyes staring at Old Lady Xu, I saw that she still had a soft spot for her.

  "Alright! Don't blame her, she's thinking of the child in your belly too." Madam Xu said slowly: "Besides, Grandmother isn't biased, didn't Mingxuan already enter the family tree? That means he's your child, I'll treat them equally." The old woman stared into Madam Xu's eyes.

  Mrs. Xü felt a chill run down her spine, it had been a long time since the old woman had looked at her with such a gaze, was she warning herself not to harbor any illusions about moving Xu Mingxuan? Thinking this, Mrs. Xü broke out in a cold sweat. And then thinking of the old woman's words, where she emphasized "Mingxuan is already part of our family register, isn't he your child too? I will treat him equally... Equally, Mrs. Xü's heart was burning with pain, unbearable.

  Xu Mingxia looked at her mother's uneasy expression and finally realized something was wrong, so she obediently shut up.

  Mrs. Xu slowly closed her eyes, as if meditating, and after a long while, she slowly opened them and said: "You all go back! I'm tired."