webnovelfull Chapter 150 Cruel
Chapter 150 Cruel
Chapter 150 Cruel
When Xu Rongrong's carriage turned into the intersection where the Xu Mansion was located, a group of children were noisily making a snowman on the street.
They were all dressed so round that they almost blended in with the chubby snowmen.
Xu Rongrong looked at it with a hint of envy on her lips.
In her two lives, she had only two girls, Wen Yao and Luo Shu, by her side, and no friends at all. Even when they played together in winter, it was only a little bit, and it was impossible for her to build a snowman as tall as a person.
It is even more impossible to be like these children, chasing each other, laughing and playing snowball fights in the streets and alleys.
She was so absorbed in watching them that she told the driver, "Go slowly, don't hit them."
Mu Rong had already gotten out of her carriage before entering the city, and the driver was replaced by an ordinary driver instead of Mu Ai.
But Mu Rong did not go far. He rode his horse and stayed by her side all the time.
At this moment, looking through the car window at the envy on her fair cheek, his heart ached slightly:
His little girl, the daughter of a sixth-rank official and the wife of a first-rank military marquis, actually envies even these common happinesses of ordinary people?
How did she survive all these years in the Xu Mansion?
Just as he was stunned, Xu Rongrong knocked on the car window, waking him from his thoughts.
He rode his horse closer and asked, "Are you feeling uncomfortable?"
Xu Rongrong shook her head and pointed to the dilapidated carriage not far behind her: "What should we do with that person?"
The person in the carriage was Chunwang. The other carriages were fine, considering the hasty journey. But the one holding him was old and battered, the jolting made him vomit repeatedly, and the interior was filled with a foul stench. They endured it until just before entering the city. To avoid attracting attention, Mu Rong had the carriage rinsed thoroughly, inside and out, and then… threw him inside.
The carriage was clean now, but in this freezing cold weather, it was bone-chilling. The remaining water from washing the carriage had frozen into ice, almost freezing him to death.
Fortunately, his mouth was blocked and all his wails were swallowed into his stomach.
Mu Rong had already made arrangements for Chunwang and wanted to discuss it back home, but now that she asked, he said, "Tomorrow is New Year's Eve, and the court will be sealed soon. His Majesty will surely be reluctant to investigate if I report this now. It would be better to imprison him in the dungeon of the Marquisate first. After the court opens on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, I will then go to the palace to present the case to His Majesty."
Xu Rongrong nodded, but when she heard that Mu Rong was going to report the case himself, she hesitated. "The person behind this matter... is extraordinary. Why don't I go and report it myself?"
Mu Rong's eyes lit up when he heard this: Is his little girl afraid that this will affect him? His heart warmed, and he resisted the urge to touch her hair. He smiled and said, "No need. I will handle it properly and will not implicate myself. In addition, I will also help you with the matters concerning the villagers of Yujia Village."
He paused: "But there is another matter right now."
After he finished speaking, he waved behind him, and a dark, narrow, and somewhat strange carriage slowly approached.
In fact, before entering the city, Xu Rongrong had already seen this strange carriage that suddenly appeared, but she had been holding back and had not asked anything. Now, when she saw the carriage driving to the side, she asked, "What's in the carriage?"
Mu Rong looked at her with a smile: "Have you forgotten the excuse for leaving the capital this time? What's inside is the result."
Xu Rongrong was shocked when she heard this: "You..."
Mu Rong nodded.
……
In front of the Xu Mansion, Butler Xu and Luo Shu, who had received the letter, were waiting at the door early.
They watched from afar Xu Rongrong and her group of three carriages, and a dark carriage from her in-laws' family slowly drove over.
The carriage stopped in front of the door, and Butler Xu quickly ordered the servant to put up a wooden stool.
Xu Rongrong walked down with the support of Wen Yao.
After not seeing her for a few months, she seemed to have become more stable, and Luo Shu almost didn't recognize her.
"Miss, you are finally back! I thought you were going to abandon me."
Xu Rongrong's eyes flashed with a hint of anxiety: "I originally thought so, but I also felt that as a county lady, it would not be grand enough to have only a maid by my side, so I had to come back to pick you up."
Upon hearing this, Luo Shu's eyes, filled with tears, widened. "Miss...are you telling the truth?"
Xu Rongrong couldn't help but burst out laughing. Seeing the young lady teasing him, Luo Shu wiped away his tears. He had thought the young lady had become calm and composed just now, but now she seemed even more childish than before!
She stamped her feet in anger: "Why do you tease me as soon as you come back, young lady?"
The two were talking here. Wen Yao glanced at the situation in front of the door and frowned, "Why are there only two of you?"
Not to mention the return of the county lady, even if it was the eldest daughter of a mansion, after being away for such a long time, there shouldn't be only two people waiting at the door to greet her.
Butler Xu coughed dryly twice and said, "Master hasn't finished his shift yet. The Second Miss has caught a cold today, so she didn't come out to greet him."
"What about the rest of the housekeepers and maids?"
"Because the second young lady was ill, everyone was busy inviting doctors and preparing medicine... I was careless for a moment."
Butler Xu also looked embarrassed when he spoke.
Xu Rongrong knew something was amiss, so she stopped Wen Yao, who was about to attack, and ordered, "Housekeeper Xu, please go to the Ministry of Works and tell my father that I have something important to discuss with him."
Butler Xu did not dare to delay and quickly got a carriage and set off.
……
On the way back to Wutongyuan, one has to pass by Baicuiyuan where Xu Yaoyao lives.
As soon as she approached the door, she could smell the strong smell of medicine coming from inside. Xu Rongrong frowned: "Is he really sick?"
Luo Shu snorted coldly, "How could that be! I don't know what good fortune the Second Miss has had lately, but she's hooked up with the granddaughter of the Minister of Revenue. She was even out in the garden with them yesterday, and this morning, upon hearing the news that you'd be returning home this afternoon, she suddenly fell ill."
He pretended to be sick just to avoid paying his respects to me.
But... the granddaughter of the Minister of Revenue? Isn't she the Fourth Prince's consort Cheng Jintong in her previous life?
Xu Rongrong was a little puzzled. In her past life, she had never heard of any interaction between the two. Moreover... Cheng Jintong was Lin Jiaoyue's close friend. Back in the hunting palace, it was she and Lin Jiaoyue who had come together to tease her. How could she now be associated with Xu Yaoyao?
Could it be that……
The enemy of my enemy is my friend?
Xu Rongrong said, "Keep a close eye on these two."
While the master and servant were talking, Xu Chaoqian limped back from outside.
Now his legs and feet can move freely, but they are not very comfortable and still hurt when it is cloudy or rainy.
He could have used the snowy weather and leg pain as an excuse to not go on duty today, but when he thought about having to greet the county lady's daughter at the door if he didn't go, he felt embarrassed, so he endured the pain and went on duty.
Before even stepping into Wutong Courtyard, he shouted, "Aiya... Sister Rong is back! If I weren't so busy today, I would definitely go to the city gate to welcome you back home." Xu Rongrong rolled her eyes inwardly, but a hint of gratitude appeared on her face. "If I really have to trouble you to go and pick you up in person, wouldn't I be committing a great act of filial piety?"
Xu Chaoqian said hurriedly, "You and I, father and daughter, depend on each other for survival. It's only natural. It's a pity that I can't leave today."
After he finished speaking, he paused and said, "Sister Rong, what's the matter with you coming back to see your father?"
Xu Rongrong said seriously: "It's the whereabouts of the madam."
In the back room where the carriages came in and out, Xu Chaoqian saw the dark, narrow carriage and his face suddenly changed.
"Xu Liushi has already...?"
Xu Rongrong nodded. Her original plan was to tell Xu Chaoqian that she had heard that Xu Liu had suffered a drowning disaster when she went south, so that she could die. However, she did not expect that Mu Rong had actually prepared Xu Liu's body.
Besides being surprised, she also felt a hint of gratitude in her heart.
However, what she didn't expect was that Xu Chaoqian didn't even look at the coffin in the carriage, and just said:
"Throw it away."