Joyful Motherhood in a Rural Family

Chapter 636: Chapter 636: Troubles Arise During Zhongyuan Festival (Part III)
 

The carriage sped along, and every now and then, complaints could be heard from inside.

“It’s all your fault! I told you to get up earlier, but you didn’t listen! Now we’ve missed it, who can you blame?”

“You blame everything on me? Who was it that took so long changing clothes three times? If not for your delay here, we would have surely caught up earlier and wouldn’t have to spend our own money hiring a carriage.”

“I changed my clothes because someone was too busy putting on makeup for their old face. Look at your age, you’re old and still using make-up, who are you trying to impress?”

“I’ll put on makeup for whoever I want! Even if I’m older, I’m still younger than you. You dare criticize me, an old man? Let me tell you…”

The arguments never seemed to stop from beginning to end.

Poor kids squeezed into a corner of the carriage, huddled together and not daring to utter a single word.

All they could do was let the carriage take them to an unknown future.

Unaware that another carriage was following them, Liu Sisi and the others took a break and had a rather forced meal before continuing on their way until evening fell. The carriage then turned off the official road and raced down a small path.

The destination was near!

Indeed, after racing along the path for nearly an hour, the carriage finally stopped in front of a grand manor.

They had finally arrived at the Di family’s old home!

At the moment, it was already afternoon, and they had been in the carriage for nearly the entire day!

Before everyone could jump out of the carriages, a large group of people walked out of the manor to greet them.

Liu Sisi took a casual glance and frowned.

A woman, not much older than her, was leading the group. She was dressed in simple yet exceptionally fine golden-thread snow gauze, which truly was worth its weight in gold. She looked incredibly luxurious.

“Is Seventeenth Master home? I was sent by Old Madam to greet the Seventeenth Master.”

This so-called Seventeenth Master naturally meant Elderly Mr. Di, who ranked seventeenth among the family members.

The young married woman greeted with a smile, “Old Madam has been talking about Seventeenth Master since yesterday, eagerly waiting for your return. That’s why she sent me out early to wait here for your arrival.”

Elderly Mr. Di’s smile froze on his face, unable to move for quite a while.

This extravagantly dressed woman was just a servant!

But that wasn’t important. The important thing was that the main family knew that their Third Child was now a captain and, more crucially, that their daughter-in-law was a Prefecture Princess, yet they only sent a servant to greet them. This was a slap in the face! A blatant slap in the face!

Liu Sisi raised her eyes slightly, taking in all the details of the woman in front of her.

“Father! From what Sisi sees, the main family’s master must be out and thus unable to greet us personally. In that case, we might as well find a wine-house on the street to stay for one night, so as not to trouble this nanny.”

Liu Sisi’s face was full of smiles, her voice clear and neither humbling nor arrogant, with no intention of making a scene.

She turned around and walked away.

As she left, Elderly Mr. Di followed her silently with his crutch.

Immediately, everyone from the four carriages got off, then got back on, and with not a single person missing, they directly sped away.

This left the young married woman standing there, speechless for a long time.

Only when the carriages were far away did she remember something and hurriedly chased after them, shouting at the top of her lungs, “Seventeenth Master! Seventeenth Master! Seventeenth…!”

The only response she received was the sound of the carriage’s trotting, the carriage wheels grinding against the stone slabs.

“Old Master, if we leave just like this, it will be a slap in the face to the Old Madam of the main Family. This…”

Zhao, standing beside them, looked conflicted, her eyes red as she gazed enviously at the magnificent main entrance that was gradually receding into the distance and the barely visible tip of the iceberg-like pavilions and towers.

How great it would be if she could live here!

“What do you mean by slapping Old Madam’s face? Even if the main family has produced some officials in the court, Ye Lei is still a sixth-rank official, not to mention, I, the Prefecture Princess, am personally visiting. She dare to deploy just one servant to greet me. It’s not just our Di Family’s face that’s being slapped, but also the face of our vast Great Zhao Country!”

Liu Sisi’s face didn’t look good!

Old Mr. Di’s face also looked very unhappy: “Sisi is right! The main family’s actions are too excessive! Let’s go, we’ll stay at a wine-house for one night, pay respects to our ancestors, and then go back!”

In the past, his branch of the family had no achievements and wasn’t given much attention, which was fine.

But now, as the carriage arrived at the doorway, dismissing them with just a nanny, it was a complete disregard.

Di Yelei comforted everyone: “It doesn’t matter! There are people in the world who are used to stepping on others when they’re down. If we have to deal with them at their level, we wouldn’t have time to focus on our jobs. Just focus on the bigger picture! When our brothers work together and earn a few more official positions, they will want us back, won’t they?”

“Good! Third Child has the spirit! That’s excellent!”

Old Mr. Di kept praising him.

“But I’m curious, where does the main family get their backing? How can they afford to treat even the Captain with such contempt?” Liu Sisi asked, full of curiosity.

Captain is a sixth-rank military officer, and above that is the general. Liu Sisi remembered clearly that Huo Qubing served as Captain before becoming a general in history.

Old Mr. Di’s mouth twitched, and after a while, he hesitated: “The current Right-handed Minister,Huairen with a surname of Di, is the main family’s brother.”

“The Right-handed Minister is from the Di main family? Sisi hasn’t heard of it before.” Liu Sisi was quite surprised.

So it turned out that Ye Lei also had such a relative with a prominent position!

On the other hand, the young married woman was unable to receive any guests and naturally felt offended. After going in, she added fuel to the fire and reported the matter once.

The Old Madam was sitting in front of the Buddha statue, her eyes closed as she silently recited the Heart Sutra. After a while, she opened her eyes, looked indifferently at the woman, and then closed her eyes again.

Seeing that the Old Madam hadn’t spoken for a long time, the young woman bowed and was about to leave when the Old Madam finally spoke.

“Did they really say that?”

The young woman’s body shook, and she quickly bowed again, not daring to conceal anything.

“Old Madam, the servant wouldn’t dare hide anything from you, and I specifically made it clear that I was sent by the Old Madam to greet them.” The woman emphasized this point.

“Hmm.”

Old Madam’s eyes remained closed, but her hand moved faster as she fiddled with the prayer beads.

After a while, she opened her eyes again and instructed, “Send someone to Macheng County overnight and investigate thoroughly. Make sure to be thorough, understood?”

The young woman’s face turned pale, but she bowed her head and replied.

“Yes, Old Madam.”

Of course, the Di Family didn’t know about it, and they stayed at an inn.

Money could make a ghost work for you.

With silver coins, everyone was not only well fed and well entertained but also had a hot bath and slept soundly. At daybreak, they checked out and left.

The purpose of this visit was to add some glamour to the family’s ancestry, as Liu Sisi had given birth to healthy triplets for the Di Family, and Di Yelei’s status had also improved. They intended to report this to their ancestors and record it in the family register.