Chapter 89: Wang Rouhua Goes Home

Chapter 89: Wang Rouhua Returns Home

Wang Rouhua sat in the carriage, gazing at the towering gates of the Wang residence for a long time. She clutched her sleeves tightly with both hands, her teeth grinding audibly, and several times she was tempted to turn the carriage around and head home. But finally, she let out a long sigh, loosened her sleeves, adjusted the ornaments in her hair, and carrying a large package, ascended the steps. Gently tapping the door knocker, the gas lamp outside the door cast her face in a ghostly pallor.

The side door creaked open, and an old gatekeeper peered out, inquiring upon seeing Wang Rouhua at the steps, "Miss, what business brings you to our Wang family in the evening?"

Wang Rouhua turned her face slightly, allowing most of it to be bathed in the light, and offered a bitter smile: "Brother Fu, have you forgotten me?"

The old gatekeeper rubbed his eyes and lifted the lantern he held, and after a long pause, he cried out in astonishment, "Fifth Miss, is it you?"

Tears welled in Wang Rouhua's eyes: "Do you still remember that mischievous Tan Tan?"

The old gatekeeper stretched out his trembling hand to touch Wang Rouhua's cheek, then abruptly withdrew it, ushered her into the main gate, and shouted desperately, "Young Master! Young Master! Tan Tan has returned! Fifth Miss has returned! Tan Tan has come home! Oh heaven, finally returned!"

The old gatekeeper's voice immediately brought life to this gloomy and dark mansion, as countless lamps in every room flickered to life.

Three scholars in scholar's everyday attire hurriedly emerged from the main hall. The scholar on the left glanced at Wang Rouhua and halted, turned his face away, his body trembling violently. The middle one patted his shoulder: "It's good you're back, good you're back. No need for such sadness."

The one on the right, Wang Su, looked Wang Rouhua over, frowning: "Where's your son? Why didn't you bring him?"

Suppressing the urge to rush toward the grieving scholar, Wang Rouhua curtsied gracefully: "Tan Tan greets Third Uncle. Xin Yuan is the Iron family's child. On New Year's Eve, he needs to stay home."

Wang Su rebuked sternly: "Iron family? As the family patriarch, why have I never seen the engagement documents sent by the Iron family? The child is yours, so naturally he is the Wang family's offspring."

Wang Rouhua was about to speak when the eldest Wang Yong angrily interjected: "Third Brother, Tan Tan has just returned. What are you discussing these matters for? On New Year's Eve, the most important thing is family reunion."

After scolding Wang Su, Wang Yong turned to Wang Rouhua and cursed: "You black-hearted woman, clearly residing in the capital all these years, yet you haven't come home once in nine years. Do your father and mother still matter to your heart? The timing is perfect; your mother is about to die, and you're just in time to see her one last time."

Wang Rouhua's face paled in shock, and the items in her hands fell to the ground. She cried out in anguish and rushed into the main hall, dashing along the familiar path toward the back courtyard.

In the back courtyard, Wang Chong, who was grieving, glared furiously at his elder brother: "My wife was perfectly fine. Why does Brother say she's about to die?"

Wang Yong stroked his beard: "If I don't say it, your stubborn daughter might turn and leave right away. She's lived this long; how does she not know a delaying tactic?"

Wang Chong stomped his foot, pointing toward the back hall: "Your sister-in-law is eating chicken in the back hall now. Tan Tan hates being deceived. I'll see how you deal with it."

Wang Yong laughed: "Women's affairs are ultimately for women to handle. We don't have many means to use."

Then, turning to the silent Wang Su: "Third Brother, is Tan Tan's child truly as you claim, a demon child?"

Wang Su tucked his hands into his sleeves: "Mr. Ge Yuan was deceived by this child. Ouyang Xiu and Mei Yaochen are his defeated opponents. Even Xia Song, whom you admire, couldn't take this child under his wing. What do you think, Big Brother?"

Wang Yong smiled: "Mr. Ge Yuan simply misjudged. As for Ouyang Xiu and the others, they merely lost in the game of chess. It doesn't count for much."

Wang Su let out a cold laugh: "Then what about our three nephews? One lies bedridden and unable to get up, another hides his pitch-black face in the house and dares not show himself, and the third spends all day drinking to drown his sorrows without ever leaving the mansion. How do you propose we deal with them?"

Wang Yong was stunned: "Are they Tan Tan's doing?"

"Tan Tan may hate them in her heart, but the child has a kind nature. How could she harm her own brothers and sisters so ruthlessly? Let me tell you, all of it was done by that monster-like child of hers."

Recalling the misfortunes of the three in their family, Wang Yong and Wang Chong grew angry, pointing at Wang Su's nose: "Since you know, why didn't you say anything back then? That child is so vicious; he should have been brought back to the mansion long ago and properly disciplined. How could we allow him to wander the streets?"

Wang Su frowned: "Didn't you know Tan Tan was in the capital? Why didn't you go find her and bring her back?"

Wang Chong said sadly, "Bringing her back may not be good for her. Your sister-in-law has been secretly visiting Tan Tan and her son once a month with the child. Every time she returns, she weeps bitterly, seeing how well the mother and son are doing, so she has given up on the idea of taking her back."

Wang Su shook his head: "It is exactly your kind of thinking that has left the Wang family without successors. If the Wang family truly has no talents to use, it would be heaven destroying the Wang family. We cannot blame the heavens or men. Now a fine family head is right in front of you, yet you show no reaction. Watching him being guided by a local village teacher, his mind opening but becoming more tyrannical each day, what reason is there for this?"

Wang Yong laughed: "A seven-year-old child is mischievous at most. Even if he harmed the young ladies while venting his anger at his mother, he used the methods of a child. As long as we bring the child back and I personally teach him, within three to five years, you will have a graceful gentleman as gentle as jade returned to you."

Wang Su sneered: "You are the gentle gentleman, but Father said you could not become family head. Having you as this gentle gentleman is enough; we do not need another one. Mr. Ge Yuan said this child has some fox-like nature, not only clever but slippery, which should be the result of being raised with a fox from a young age. If guided correctly, this child will not be difficult to become a qualified family head."

Wang Chong puffed out his chest proudly: "So my grandson is indeed a rare good seedling?"

At this point he glared furiously at Wang Yong: "Is it not because of you? Back then Xia Song that monster blindly messed up Tan Tan's fate calculation, causing them mother and son to wander the capital for years and suffer every hardship..."

Wang Yong raged: "Who said Xia Song got it wrong? If not for Tan Tan leaving, how could she bring us back a fine grandson? The saying that you live after meeting water is correct, isn't it?"

Wang Chong...

Wang Su sighed. His two elder brothers were excellent scholars, but when it came to family matters, they were muddled.

He looked worriedly toward the back courtyard, where it was very quiet, but this very quietness gave Wang Su a very bad feeling.

Tan Tan had been too calm, too calm...

Xiao Qiao'er, tied to a rope around her waist, crawled out from the drainage pipe, dripping wet, and raged, "Do I have to use this bamboo tube to take big deep breaths?"

Standing on the masonry, Tie Xinyuan nodded while holding a long bamboo tube: "Yes. With every breath, you must expel all the stale air and then breathe the air in the tube. I'll also use this fan to blow fresh air into it."

Xiao Qiao'er tossed a row of finger-thick iron grates to the ground: "You try it. The inside is stiflingly hot; it's not a place for people to stay. I still have to hold my breath, remove the grates, get rid of the debris, and most importantly, not forget to breathe as you said. Do you know how much effort I expended to break this grate?"

Tie Xinyuan laughed: "Hold on a bit longer. There's only one more grate left. That one should be thinner; you can pry it down."

After resting a while by the hot spring, Xiao Qiao'er signaled Tie Xinyuan to be careful around, then, carrying the sealed bamboo tube and a dim yellow lantern, walked into the dark drainage pipe again.

By now, the sky was completely dark. Outside the high walls was pitch black, but inside the walls, lights shone brilliantly. Occasionally, bright beef tallow lanterns sent beams of light skyward. These beams illuminated the high watchtowers, where a woman in red stood on a watchtower and leaped, flipping and falling from the height. In the garden, loud cheers erupted.

Whether that woman was smashed to death, Tie Xinyuan didn't care. This was just a trick; the place for women and children probably wouldn't be made bloody.

At the moment, he only wanted to know if Zhao Yunren, that chief culprit, was at the lotus pond. But whether he was there, Tie Xinyuan didn't care. Since he had sent people to burn his shop, he would burn his house in return, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

If he could burn Zhao Yunren to death, he thought it would be good.

From the bamboo tube came the whooshing sound of inhaling, indicating that Xiao Qiao'er was still alive. Standing in absolute darkness, Tie Xinyuan suddenly found that he quite liked this environment.

His body completely merged into the darkness. He could see others, but others couldn't see him. This feeling was wonderful.

"Hey, what are you thinking about?"

Tie Xinyuan looked at Xiao Qiao'er's bright eyes in the darkness: "You'd better put out the light first. A woman just climbed the watchtower in the garden."

Xiao Qiao'er leaped out of the hot spring, shivering: "Why is it so cold here?"

Tie Xinyuan handed a rope to Xiao Qiao'er: "If you're cold, then start working." Saying this, a wooden barrel rolled out from the darkness. Xiao Qiao'er pulled the rope hard, dragging the wooden barrel connected by the rope toward her and throwing it into the hot spring.

Watching the wooden barrels bob up and down in the hot spring, she continued pulling the ropes with satisfaction. They worked together to drag the barrels out from the pile of leaves.

How much power the 800 jin of light oil had, Xiao Qiao'er didn't know, but Tie Xinyuan knew very well how much destruction 800 jin of gasoline would cause when burned in a relatively sealed environment.

The gongs and drums in the garden grew denser. Tie Xinyuan gritted his teeth, trying to shake off the shadow of Old Liang always appearing before his eyes, and pushed the last gasoline-filled wooden barrel into the hot spring. Before that, Xiao Qiao'er carefully lit a fuse and stuffed it into this half-full gasoline barrel.

The fuse would burn slowly. Once it reached the end, it would ignite the gunpowder in the empty half-barrel. The gunpowder would tear through the thin barrier to ignite the gasoline. For safety, there were seven such barrels...