Chapter 263: All Your Doing
The old lady’s single sentence caused tears to burst instantly from Wen Yao’s eyes. Choking back her sobs, she gently rubbed Old Madam Luo’s chest to soothe her breathing and said, “Grandma, don’t worry. I won’t leave Dad, and I won’t leave you either. Are you feeling really uncomfortable right now? Grandma, don’t just endure it—tell me.”
Old Madam Luo shook her head, her voice somewhat faint. Still forcing a reassuring smile, she gently raised her hand to pat Wen Yao’s face and wipe away her falling tears. “Grandma is fine. Grandma still needs to live long enough to see you children accomplish great things in the future.”
Wen Yao buried her face in the old lady’s lap, weeping uncontrollably. In this moment, she was terrified—terrified that something terrible might happen to her grandmother. Birth, aging, sickness, and death were normal human experiences, but Wen Yao didn’t feel she possessed the mental fortitude to accept losing her.
Old Madam Luo looked ghastly pale, which frightened Nanny Shi and Nanny Du just as much.
“Miss, let’s help the old lady into the bedroom first. Lu Jiang has already gone to fetch the eldest young master and Doctor Jin. Don’t panic,” Nanny Shi quickly stepped forward to persuade her.
Old Madam Luo wanted to say she was alright, but right now she felt a tight, agonizing pain in her chest and could barely catch her breath.
Nanny Shi and Nanny Du hurriedly joined forces to support Old Madam Luo back into her former bedroom. Nanny Shi then rushed over to the old compound to retrieve the medicinal pills Doctor Jin had previously formulated for Old Madam Luo, feeding them to her right away.
After an unknown stretch of time, the sound of a carriage arrived in the courtyard, followed closely by Wen Jun calling out Wen Yao’s name from outside.
Nanny Shi hastened out. “Eldest Young Master, the old lady is inside the room.”
Wen Jun and Doctor Jin hurried over at a rapid pace. Doctor Jin went straight into the bedroom, while Wen Jun paused a step behind. His face was dark and gloomy. “Nanny, what happened? Why did Grandma suddenly fall ill?”
Nanny Shi stood respectfully to the side and kept her voice as low as possible as she recounted the day’s events to Wen Jun.
Wen Jun’s expression grew increasingly foul with every word.
“I’ll go see Grandma first,” Wen Jun said before stepping into the room. Doctor Jin had already placed his fingers on Old Madam Luo’s wrist to take her pulse, his brows deeply furrowed. Seeing the ghastly color of Old Madam Luo’s face as she lay on the bed, even the usually gentle-tempered Wen Jun couldn’t help but flare up in rage.
Before long, Old Man Wen and his two other sons and daughters-in-law rushed over as well.
When Lu Jiang picked up Doctor Jin and Wen Jun, villagers had spotted them. Combined with the fact that Lady Liu had only just left before they were fetched, the villagers feared something terrible had happened. They frantically ran up the hills and into the fields to locate the rest of the family.
Even Lu River had been dispatched by Nanny Shi to search for Wen Xiuyi.
“Old woman, how are you feeling?” Old Man Wen headed straight for Old Madam Luo the moment he entered the house, the anxiety on his face burning so intensely it was as if it might catch fire. Wen Xiuzhu and Wen Xiuqing also arrived in a desperate hurry alongside Lady Li and Lady Cai, only to be stopped by Doctor Jin before they could step through the door.
“Keep it down. She just slept after acupuncture,” Doctor Jin shot a look at Wen Jun. Wen Jun immediately supported Old Man Wen and guided him outside.
“Grandpa, let’s talk outside.”
Old Man Wen was completely bewildered and desperately worried about his wife’s health. He asked Doctor Jin anxiously, “Old Jin, what’s going on? What happened to my old woman?”
Doctor Jin let out a heavy sigh. “She was overcome with extreme rage. I’ve already applied acupuncture and will prescribe some medicine. Keep her well-nurtured and rested during this period—under no circumstances can she be angered again.”
“Angered?” Old Man Wen was even more confused. He looked at his eldest grandson. “Who angered your grandma?”
Suddenly, something struck Old Man Wen, and he asked, “Was it your mother?”
Wen Jun remained silent, but his silence served as a definitive answer.
Pacing back and forth on the spot in fury, Old Man Wen opened his mouth to unleash a torrent of curses, but seeing his eldest grandson, he ultimately forced himself to swallow his anger.
He repeatedly confirmed with Doctor Jin whether his wife was out of danger. Only after receiving Doctor Jin’s firm assurance did Old Man Wen’s heart finally settle back into his chest.
“Since she chose to leave back then, she should have stayed gone! What is she coming back for now? Throwing the whole family into turmoil,” Old Man Wen grumbled in anger.
Though he hadn’t named anyone directly, everyone present knew exactly who he was talking about.
Right now, Old Man Wen desperately wanted to know what she had done to anger his wife to such a state.
Wen Jun simply offered a single sentence: “Let’s wait until Father comes back before discussing it.”
Wen Xiuyi was dragged out again today by Magistrate Chen. Ever since realizing his own path to promotion, Magistrate Chen had become extraordinarily invested in the new high-yield crops. Aside from performing his routine duties at the yamen every day, he spent his time running around the various villages and hamlets with Wen Xiuyi.
At this moment, no one knew where he was. Lu River had to go to the yamen first to ask where they had gone today before riding out to call him back. Finding him in a short amount of time was no easy task.
And so, they waited all the way until close to dusk, when the yamen carriage responsible for shuttling Wen Xiuyi pulled up outside the Wen household in a frantic rush.
Before the carriage even came to a complete stop, Wen Xiuyi jumped down in an anxious frenzy.
“Mother! Mother! Where is my mother? How is she?” Spotting his son in the courtyard, he rushed forward, grabbed him, and demanded, “Jun, how’s your grandma? Huh? How is she?”
Wen Jun urged him to stay calm. “She’s sleeping. She woke up briefly this afternoon, and Yao Yao stayed with her. She ate a little bit and fell back asleep. Don’t shout—you’ll wake her up again in a moment.”
Wen Xiuyi hastily lowered his voice and asked, “What on earth happened? How did she suddenly…”
“My mother came,” Wen Jun offered just that single sentence, and Wen Xiuyi’s face instantly darkened.
Afterward, with the exception of Wen Yao, who stayed in the bedroom to accompany the old lady, the rest of the family gathered in the living room. This included Datou, Jin Xiuyi, and Xie Anyi, who had returned after their classes ended. Those two were now acting completely like part of the family.
After listening to Nanny Shi’s detailed account of the encounter, Old Man Wen’s face turned red with rage.
Seeing this, Wen Xiuyi quickly spoke up: “Dad, Dad, don’t get worked up! She didn’t get her way, did she? Look, all the kids are still right here at home. My mother was already driven sick by anger—you absolutely must not let yourself get enraged too!”
Datou also ran over in a hurry, wrapping his arms around Old Man Wen’s legs and pleading repeatedly, “Grandpa, please don’t be angry! Datou won’t go with her! Datou’s home is only here, only right here! Please don’t be angry!”
Old Man Wen choked back his anger for a long moment before raising his pipe stem and smacking Wen Xiuyi with it. “This is all your doing!”
Wen Xiuyi didn’t dodge, letting the old man vent his anger on him. No one else in the room dared to even breathe heavily.
Only after Old Man Wen had vented his temper and his complexion looked somewhat better did Wen Xiuyi dare to sit back in his seat.
He knew that Lady Liu and Meng De would come back to claim the children. He just hadn’t expected that because of the arrival of the three transmigrators/outsiders, the original storyline would deviate. Now, they weren’t just eyeing Datou—they actually wanted to take all three children away.
But why? Wanting to take Datou makes sense because he’s young and doesn’t remember things clearly yet. But what about Wen Jun and Wen Yao? Given Meng De’s profit-driven character design, there’s no way he would let Lady Liu demand all three children back without a good reason.
