Chapter 265 – Raising A Son In The Cultivation World (part 17)
Su Wanrong didn’t expect Yuan Dao to say this. She was both ashamed and annoyed. “Husband! How could you say that to me?! I admit that I hid it from you, so that is my fault. But, husband, you have to think about me. I alone do not own the soul-seeking incense. How could I talk about it casually to others? Besides, everything I have done is for the sake of…”
Yuan Dao stared at Su Wanrong. “Say it. Why don’t you continue? Who are you doing it for?”
Su Wanrong opened her mouth and suddenly ran out of words.
Yuan Dao sneered. “There’s no need to say it. You aren’t doing it for anyone at all. Aren’t you just doing it for yourself? You are a hypocritical and selfish woman!”
Su Wanrong suddenly laughed. “I’m vain and selfish? What about you? Are you any better than me? If you aren’t vain, then why did you want to marry me as an equal wife? Wasn’t it because you coveted the techniques handed down by the immortals of my Su family? You are not selfish? Then why do you want to take in a concubine after marrying me? You are just seeking personal gains! You are the most shameless and selfish person! Fortunately, you were inevitably punished for your misdeeds. In the end, you get nothing!”
Yuan Dao was angered by Su Wanrong’s words. She was challenging his authority! He slapped her.
Su Wanrong was knocked to the ground. There was blood oozing from the corner of her mouth. She slowly reached out and touched her face, raised her head slowly, and looked at Yuan Dao. “You hit me! You dared to hit me!”
The anger and dissatisfaction that had been accumulating in her heart for a long time finally burst out. Su Wanrong always believed that, even if she was married to Yuan Dao, because Yuan Dao married a wife first, she was always inferior in terms of name. Even if she was an equal wife, even if Yuan Dao and Liu Qingyun divorced, she was still inferior. In addition, she claimed to be the descendant of an immortal, and had an item like the soul-seeking incense in her hand. No matter who she got married to, it would bring huge benefits and honour to the other party. The other party should have regarded her highly.
But Yuan Dao dared to hit her now!
Su Wanrong couldn’t bear it anymore. She got up from the ground and rushed towards Yuan Dao like crazy. Originally, Yuan Dao didn’t care, since there were inherent differences in physical strength between men and women. But, out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of what Su Wanrong was holding. Upon closer inspection, it was actually a pair of scissors!
She actually wanted to attack him!
This realisation made Yuan Dao very angry. However, at this time, Su Wanrong had already rushed over and stabbed Yuan Dao with the scissors. Yuan Dao quickly avoided her, but Su Wanrong was crazy. Yuan Dao couldn’t resist her after a while, so Su Wanrong stabbed him several times.
Seeing this, Su Wanrong became even more agitated.
Yuan Dao dodged backwards. He touched a vase next to him, picked it up, and smashed it on Su Wanrong’s head. Su Wanrong’s eyes widened. Blood slowly seeped out from her forehead. There was an increasing amount of blood, and finally Su Wanrong’s eyes rolled and she fainted!
Yuan Dao watched Su Wanrong faint. He put the vase aside, and clapped his hands. “Servant, go and get a doctor for the madam. The madam went insane and tried to assassinate me, but I accidentally smashed a vase on the madam.”
Someone went immediately.
Not long after, someone invited a doctor to come.
The doctor bandaged Su Wanrong’s wound and said that the madam had lost a lot of blood and needed a tonic.
Yuan Dao didn’t take it seriously at all. She would still get three meals a day. He did not mention if there would be additional supplements for her.
He then only added a lot of guards in West Garden and added a few more locks to the door.
When Yuan Dao came out of West Garden, Yuan Ye rushed over to West Garden. “Father, how is mother’s condition? Please let me see mother! Even if mother does something wrong, you should forgive her for your son’s sake. How could you accidentally hurt mother?!”
Now that Yuan Dao knew the background of this son, he no longer had the same affection and tolerance for him in the past. “Servant, remove the people who are serving the second young master and hit them twenty times! Pick more obedient people to serve him!”
Yuan Ye turned pale. “Father!”
“Your mother lost her mind and wanted to take your father’s life with a pair of scissors! For your father, it was self-defence! Would it have been possible to kill your father by slashing his neck? Did you even think about your father?” Yuan Dao said coldly.
Yuan Ye saw that his father’s arm was also injured. “Father, I…”
“Go back to Boundless Courtyard and stay there! Someone, go lock it!” Yuan Dao didn’t even look at Yuan Ye and ordered the gates of West Garden to be locked.
Yuan Ye watched the gate get locked and couldn’t help but run a few steps forward. He leaned on the door and wailed. “Mother! Mother!”
Yuan Dao looked at him and sneered a few times. What a filial son! Snort! It was a pity that he only had his mother in his eyes. He couldn’t see his father at all! Look at this good child the Su family gave birth to!
Yuan Dao turned and walked away with no expression on his face. He left Yuan Ye alone at the gate, shouting and wailing.
It wasn’t until Yuan Lan arrived in a hurry when she got the news that she took Yuan Ye with her.
“Younger bro, I don’t understand what happened between our parents, but it’s a foregone conclusion that mother fell out of favour with father and grandmother. We can’t change anything. You have to take care of yourself!” Yuan Lan pulled Yuan Ye into the garden and found a secluded place to talk to him.
“Can you just watch mother suffer like this and do nothing? Then you and I are completely different!” Yuan Ye was full of grief and anger.
“That’s not what I meant. Although mother has fallen out of favour, she is still father’s wife and the mistress of the Yuan family. Besides, she still has you and me. As long as you and I live up to her expectations, are you afraid that your mother won’t have a bright future?” Yuan Lan advised.
Yuan Ye looked at Yuan Lan. “Older sister, what do you mean?”
Yuan Lan didn’t speak, but her expression was very clear.
Yuan Ye understood and nodded slowly. “Older sister is right! I know what to do!”
“You are mother’s good son, and older sister’s good younger brother! Work hard and cheer up mother! In the future, mother will rely on us!” Yuan Lan said. “In order not to make father and grandmother angry, in the future, older sister will treat you and Yuan Shou equally. Older sister will sometimes even value Yuan Shou more than you, but you have to remember that in this mansion, only you and I are real siblings and that blood is thicker than water. In older sister’s heart, you are my only younger brother! Older sister is all for your future!”
Yuan Ye nodded. “Older sister, don’t worry. Younger brother understands.”
Seeing this, Yuan Lan smiled with satisfaction. The sister and brother talked more before going back separately.
Yuan Lan watched Yuan Ye go away. She watched Yuan Ye retreat and a strange smile appeared on her face. After returning to Lofty Purple Hall, it so happened that Mrs. Li brought Yuan Lang to have fun with Mother Yuan. Yuan Shou now lived in Boundless Courtyard. Mother Yuan saw Yuan Ye and Yuan Shou less than Yuan Lang, who saw Mother Yuan every day. Therefore, Mother Yuan now preferred Yuan Lang.
In fact, Yuan Lang was now at the age where he should move to the front yard, but Yuan Dao was currently focussed on taking care of his body, and he didn’t care about anything else at all. He even rarely went to Mrs. Li’s courtyard. Mrs. Li’s boudoir was lonely. She was reluctant to let her young son go, and she was afraid of losing Mother Yuan’s favour, so she always pretended not to know.
Yuan Lan slowly stepped into the room and greeted Mother Yuan first, then to Mrs. Li. Yuan Lan was the eldest daughter after all. Although Mrs. Su had lost power, Mother Yuan liked Yuan Lan a lot. Mrs. Li also didn’t dare to be arrogant. She didn’t dare to accept Yuan Lan’s courtesy, so she quickly stood up and said, “Hello, young miss.”
When Mother Yuan saw that her daughter-in-law was sensible, and the concubine knew the rules, she felt happy in her heart. This was a sign of family harmony! Mother Yuan looked at the slim Yuan Lan and felt even more content because she taught her well. Her granddaughter did not follow her evil mother! “Lan’er, where were you just now? Lang’er has been yelling for his older sister to play with him.”
“Grandmother, I was worried about my second younger brother, so I went to find him,” Yuan Lan told the truth.
Speaking of Yuan Ye, the smile on Mother Yuan’s face suddenly diminished. Speaking of which, apart from that child, Yuan Ye was the official grandson of the Yuan family. It was a pity that this child was not well-educated and only thought of his mother!
When Yuan Lan saw this, she felt a little remorse. She didn’t expect that her grandmother would be too lazy to hide her dislike of her second younger brother. What the hell did mother do to disgust her father and grandmother, and to tire out her second younger brother?!
Mrs. Li still had a good impression of Yuan Lan. Besides, she was just a daughter. Seeing what happened, she quickly gave her son a look. Yuan Lang jumped off the chair and grabbed Yuan Lan’s hand. “Older sister, older sister, play with me!”
Yuan Lang’s tender voice made Mother Yuan come back to her senses. “Go play with Lang’er! He has been waiting for you for a long time.”
Yuan Lan nodded meekly, then took Yuan Lang’s hand and went to the table next to them. She suppressed her disgust and impatience, and played a game of generals and soldiers with him.
“Lan’er is still very good.” Mother Yuan smiled when she saw the harmonious relationship between the siblings.
Mrs. Li nodded and said with a smile, “Old madam, you raised them yourself. How could you be wrong?”
Mother Yuan gave her a meaningful look. “I’m getting old too, and the madam is ill again. It’s not good if there is nobody looking after the house.”
Mrs. Li’s heart beat faster and she couldn’t believe her ears.
Mother Yuan said, “You are still young and Lang’er is older now. You don’t need to be so hands on with him. From now on, it will be up to you to manage the house!”
Mrs. Li quickly stood up. “Old Madam, I…”
“Then it’s settled. There’s just one thing you have to keep in mind. Our Yuan family’s poetry and books are passed down to the next generation in our family and we treat people with generosity. There must be no scandals,” said Mother Yuan.
Mrs. Li was a smart person. Even if Mrs. Su lost power, she would never think of taking her place. Her identity as a concubine was destined to stay. Besides, Mrs. Su had a son and a daughter, and the daughter was accepted as an apprentice by an immortal. How could she be neglected? If something happened, she would be the first to suffer misfortune.
“This concubine understands. Please don’t worry, old madam!” Mrs. Li said solemnly. Just at that moment, she heard her son’s laughter. She turned her head and glanced to the side. Since Yuan Lan took the initiative to show her favour, she would naturally return the favour.
“Old madam, this concubine still has an idea. The eldest young lady is getting older. It’s time for her to learn some of these things. Why doesn’t the eldest young lady assist this concubine with the housekeeping and management!” Mrs. Li said respectfully.
Mother Yuan smiled and was gratified. “It’s still you who is sensible and generous! This proposal is very good. I almost overlooked it. Lan’er is the eldest young lady of the Yuan family after all. If does well, she can also help her siblings.”
Although Yuan Lan had been playing with Yuan Lang all the time, her focus was mostly on Mother Yuan and Mrs. Li. She naturally heard the conversation between the two.
Yuan Lan smiled slightly. Her painstaking efforts to please Yuan Lang, to win over Mrs. Li, and to flatter Mother Yuan were not in vain.
All the hard work finally paid off!
Originally, Yuan Lan didn’t need to be so careful. It was a pity that her biological mother was not up to the mark, and the good situation was single-handedly ruined by her mother. This harmed Yuan Lan and she had to make preparations. On the one hand, she surrendered his status to win over her concubine mother and younger brother, and on the other hand, she had to maintain a good relationship with her biological mother and her younger brother.
It was hard work, but it was fine as long as she could achieve her goals! Yuan Lan thought so.