CHAPTER 338: CHAPTER 332: I AM THE MARQUIS MANSION DOWAGER 21

Zhang Feng’er thought of the words Mrs. Li had told her and nudged Tang Tao.

"You think, is the second aunt really that kind of person?"

Tang Tao glared at Zhang Feng’er: "Only you are so naive. Whatever she asks you to do, you just do it. I’ve already warned you not to trust your kind aunt too much, but you wouldn’t believe me."

Zhang Feng’er rarely lowered her head: "I thought since the master and madam care about nothing, our family must have someone to stand out. Otherwise, who in the Marquis Mansion would remember us? Who knew there were so many reasons behind it."

"Fool."

Tang Tao said, but he didn’t really blame Zhang Feng’er: "Hurry up and collect the usury you’ve put out, clean up your tracks, don’t mess around like this anymore, and also, didn’t mom tell you to pretend to be sick and push away the steward’s matters?"

"Okay, I understand."

Zhang Feng’er felt a bit reluctant to push away the steward’s matters.

She has always been someone who likes to take on tasks; she gets bored without things to do.

Tang Tao impatiently said: "I know what you are thinking. You’ll have your own things to do in the future. Didn’t father say that big brother is about to return? When big brother comes back, father might start stirring things up with the second house, just wait and watch the drama unfold."

Zhang Feng’er then smiled.

She did what she said, since she mentioned she would stop, she immediately called Qin Wu’s wife from the concubine room and asked her to quickly collect the usury and burn all those bills, vowing to never put out usury again.

Qin Wu’s wife was originally Zhang Feng’er’s maid, later on, Zhang Feng’er decided to marry her to Qin Wu. She was loyal to Zhang Feng’er, and upon hearing that they were pulling back, she immediately went back to discuss it with her husband.

That afternoon, Zhang Feng’er fell ill.

Tang Tao hurried out to find a doctor, and when the doctor was brought in and checked Zhang Feng’er’s pulse, the whole main room was delighted.

Zhang Feng’er was actually pregnant.

But the term was very short, just over a month, and Zhang Feng’er’s monthly cycles were somewhat irregular, so she didn’t know herself.

Now it was good, Zhang Feng’er had more reason to push away the steward’s matters.

After all, the doctor said that she had damaged her body when giving birth to Miss before, and this pregnancy was not stable either, she needed proper rest and could not exert herself anymore.

After seeing off the doctor, Tang Tao happily circled around the room.

Zhang Feng’er was also quite happy.

At the same time, she also felt somewhat fortunate—glad that she could rationalize this early, manage to invite the doctor to check, otherwise, this pregnancy might have been jeopardized.

After being happy for a while, Tang Tao immediately went to the main house.

Just as Mrs. Song was playing with Tang Rong and Tang Yi, seeing Tang Tao coming in, she smiled and asked, "Why do you have time today?"

Tang Tao quickly smiled and said: "Old Madam, I came today to bring good news, my wife, your granddaughter-in-law, is pregnant. The doctor just confirmed the happy pulse."

"Good, good."

Mrs. Song seemed particularly joyful: "This is truly a joyous occasion. You must treat Feng’er well in the future, tell her she can ask for anything she wants to eat or drink."

"Yes."

Tang Tao cheerfully agreed, and then added, "However, the doctor said that her pregnancy is not stable and her health is also a bit poor, mentioning that she can’t exert herself. So, I thought I’d mention it so someone can take over the steward’s duties since Feng’er..."

Mrs. Song’s face looked a bit displeased upon hearing this; after pondering for a while she said: "Let your second aunt take care of it. Let Feng’er rest well, and we can talk again after the child is born."

"Thank you, Old Madam, for your understanding of both of us."

Tang Tao cheerfully gave his respects: "I will leave now. Feng’er mentioned wanting to eat crispy cakes, I’ll go buy some for her."

Mrs. Song waved her hand: "Go ahead."

After Tang Tao left, Tang Yi also became restless.

After a while, she also made an excuse to leave.

Then, both Tang Qing and Tang Qin from the second household also came out, the three sisters went together to congratulate Zhang Feng’er.

Meanwhile, Anning and Tang Pei were close to arriving in Zhili, but they encountered a family of three, looking as if they were fleeing from disaster.

It was near a main road in a place surrounded by big mountains, next to a dense forest. A family of three dashed out from the woods, looking very disheveled.

Seeing Anning and Tang Pei with about ten robust guards, they immediately felt relieved.

Among the youngest girls, one rushed over, kneeling directly in front of Anning’s horse: "Miss, please save us. I beg you to save my brother and sister-in-law. I will repay your kindness by serving you as an ox or a horse in my next life."

The young girl looked young, small in stature, thin and pale, but she had large eyes and delicate features. Kneeling there with tears in her eyes, she looked extremely pitiful.

Anning became restless on her horse.

She jumped down from the horse, followed by Tang Pei.

Anning helped the young girl up: "Tell me, what happened?"

At that moment, the girl’s brother and sister-in-law also hurried over, kneeling down before Anning: "Miss, young master, we really have no other options. There are people chasing after us to kill us..."

Anning frowned: "In broad daylight, how could there be such fierce bandits."

Her words caused the family of three to cry incessantly.

At this time, three tall and strong men rushed out of the dense forest, each of them wielding a knife.

Anning knew at a glance that they were targeting the family of three.

She glanced at the guards behind her, and one of them drew his sword and approached.

The three men chasing them saw the formidable group and did not dare to engage, turning around and running away.

With the situation now safe, Anning led the family of three to sit down by the roadside.

She smiled at the young girl: "Tell me, what exactly happened?"

The young girl was quite polite and articulate: "To answer Miss, my brother and I serve at the border as guerrillas for the Wus. My brother’s name is Wu Sheng, and I am Wu Lan. My sister-in-law is Mrs. Lv, and my mother was the Third Miss of the Tang Family from Capital. After my mother married into the Wus, she did not have a good life. Later, she couldn’t bear the harsh sandstorms at the border and fell ill. My father did not seek medical treatment for her, and she passed away shortly after giving birth to me."

Anning was stunned; she then recalled that she indeed had an illegitimate granddaughter married into the Wus, and unexpectedly, she encountered her distant grandson and granddaughter here, which was quite fateful.

Tang Pei also smiled.

"What happened after that?"

Anning didn’t introduce Tang Pei but just stared at Wu Lan, asking.

Wu Lan was not foolishly filial and seemed quite insightful: "Later, my father remarried, and the stepmother mistreated us. If it weren’t for my brother and sister-in-law’s care, I might have died long ago. Now that the stepmother has given birth to a son, she couldn’t tolerate my brother and me even more. I don’t know what she told my father, but he started threatening to beat and kill us..."

Wu Lan spoke of her grievances and choked up for a while before continuing: "I secretly heard the stepmother planning to harm my brother and me. Frightened, I told my brother, and to save our lives, we quietly left the border and wanted to seek help from our maternal family. Little did we know, the stepmother would not tolerate us and even sent people to kill us, vowing not to stop until we were dead."

Tang Pei frowned deeply, anger apparent in his eyes.

No matter what, Wu Sheng and Wu Lan were Tang Pei’s cousins, and seeing his own people treated so harshly naturally angered him.

Anning was also very angry, slamming her palm down so hard that a stone beneath her shattered.

Wu Sheng, though not frightened, was particularly astonished.

Wu Lan, seeing Anning’s formidable demeanor, felt somewhat reassured.

Anning held Wu Lan’s hand: "In that case, you should come with us to the Capital."

Wu Lan hesitated: "This... We have already troubled Miss enough, we shouldn’t cause more trouble."

Tang Pei laughed.

He went over and pulled Wu Sheng: "Speaking of which, you should call me ’cousin’."

Wu Sheng looked at Tang Pei in surprise.

Tang Pei then said: "I am indeed from the Tang Family of the Capital, my father’s name includes ’Bai’."

Naturally, Wu Sheng had heard about his maternal family from his mother, including the names of two uncles and several aunts. Hearing that Tang Pei’s father was Tang Bai, he immediately smiled and became very affectionate: "Cousin."

He also had Mrs. Lv come over to pay respects.

Anning watched Wu Lan with a smiling gaze: "Speaking of which, your great-grandmother is my own sister, you should call me ’ancestress’. Well, meeting is also fate; how can it be considered a bother? Quickly wipe your tears, follow your ancestress, and I will ensure your safety."

Wu Lan broke into a smile, warmly calling out "ancestress."

After settling the Wu family of three, Anning called Tang Pei over.

"I was only concerned about you, forgetting you still have three illegitimate aunts. When they got married, I was no longer in the Capital, and likely Mrs. Song did not find them good matches either. When I get the chance, I must thoroughly investigate."

Tang Pei also said: "Judging by how our cousins from the Wu family are treated, it seems the other two aunts are not having a good time either."

"Sigh." Anning sighed deeply: "Such misfortune."